A New Mexico archbishop whose archdiocese is home to two major federal nuclear weapons research facilities and an Air Force base apologized for the atomic bombings of Japan and to Indigenous New Mexicans, uranium miners and scientists suffering from ill health related to the nuclear weapons industry.
Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe said the time has come for the world to fervently work to undertake the long process to achieve nuclear disarmament.
He made the comments in a homily during a Mass Aug. 9 marking the 77th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan.
The atomic bomb blast over Nagasaki was the second in four days carried out by the U.S. military in 1945. The first use of an atomic bomb in war occurred Aug. 6, 1945, over Hiroshima, Japan. The twin bombings led to an estimated 214,000 deaths and led to the end of the World War II.
“I am sorrowful for the death, destruction and suffering (the bombs) caused, just as your government should be sorrowful for the death, destruction and suffering it caused during World War II,” Archbishop Wester said during the Mass livestreamed from the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Albuquerque.
He called on American and Japanese people to “drive the international will to ensure that nuclear weapons are never used again.”
The appeal follows the January release of his pastoral letter, “Living in the Light of Christ’s Peace: A Conversation Toward Nuclear Disarmament.” In it, he invited people in New Mexico in particular, but around the world as well to begin conversations on how to end the nuclear threat facing the planet.
Archbishop Wester said he believes the Santa Fe Archdiocese must lead the call for nuclear disarmament because it is where the Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories are located. The labs conducts high-level weapons research and development….
The above comes from an August 12 story on the Catholic News Service.
Awesome. Important parts of the seamless garment of life.
He’d be better off calling out internet pornography use by men and boys in his archdiocese. Way more lost lives (marriages, souls, abortions) because of that than nuclear weapons in the last 20 years.
He is not on that Committee.
Grandstander. Pathetic grandstander. Poser. Were it not for the US’s possession of nuclear weapons, we wouldn’t be a free and prosperous nation. Thank God for nuclear weapons and the deterrent effect they have on our enemies.
More people have died of AIDS than nuclear war. The bishop should work to stop the immoral practices that led to most of those deaths. Just sayin’.
My father would almost certainly been in the invasion of the home islands. He was a sailor on our fleet carriers. A major kamikaze target
I’m glad we dropped the bombs. Saved both us and jap lives.
Exactly. One of my brothers, in the Army, was slated to be in the invasion of Japan. He was loading ships in preparation for the invasion.
I’ve meet former seminarians that went to the Pink Palace with Wester. He’s a fraud, to say the least…
He is a liberal-leftist prelate, who does not believe in authentic Catholic Faith and Morals, and supports liberal, immoral clergy and lay employees, and causes– such as the LGBT agenda. Nice socially, but very difficult to work with– his beliefs are exactly the same as McElroy, Mahony, Cupich, etc. His recent “nuclear weapons” sermon has nothing to do with this. A big problem, a potential danger, for your Catholic home and children. To say the least…
I am surprised CCD permits ad hominem attacks such as this! How uncharitable!
This is the top priority in the diocese? How about the 90% of young people leaving the Catholic faith?
Pardon my bluntness, but don’t you people actually read the article before you comment on it? It might do you folks good to do that first instead of just reading the title and subtitle before hitting the “Reply” button. This was his homily for the Mass commemorating the 77th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan. I am sure if the occasion called for it, Wester would touch upon the subject of young people “leaving” the Church. Everything in its proper place, people.
jon, Abp. Wester loves Fr. James Martin, S.J., promotes his books, and has invited the dissident priests’ group– the Assoc. of U S. Catholic Priests (AUSCP) — to come to his Archdiocese. They are exactly like the bad German bishops. Wester does not believe in withholding Communion from pro-abort Catholic politicians– including the strongly pro-abort Dem. NM Gov. — just like Cupich and McElroy. He is not very interested to promote Pro Life, he lumps it together with other social justice issues– he says the same things as McElroy and Cupich. He has publicly rebuked Pro Life priests, for reminding their parishioners to “vote Pro Life.” Ironically, the local secular news sources have rebuked Wester, and have supported the priests’ rights to state Catholic Pro Life views. NM is a staunchly Pro- Abortion Blue State, just like New York. Anyway– this prelate is a difficult man.
When you have a bishop like that, you pray for them. You have to be very well educated in the Catholic Faith. You have to not gossip. You have to know your place and you have to know what he is authorized to do.
You have to know what is something really inappropriate, what is something you just disagree with and if there is anything that is truly contrary to the Faith.
Bishops like this make you a better Catholic.
me– There are a great deal of very serious, bad situations, in today’s Catholic churches, schools, and institutions. What would you do, for example, if you sent your son to the Jesuits’ USF, and the head of their Theology Dept. (which has lost its accreditation) — what if you found out that the Dept. Head happens to be an ex-Catholic, and a priest of a new “gay church,” with a gay “husband,” and also encourages students to “explore gay sexuality,” including the “BDSM” culture, which performs Sado-Masochist, Master/Slave sex/”religious” practices? Well, me– what would you and your husband do, finding out such horrible things? What if you contacted the school President, rector of the campus church, and local Archbishop and auxiliary bishops– and they all just told you, that they aren’t interested to fix these bad situations– and so, you are left with nothing? What if they even publicly praised and honored the bad Theology Dept. head– right in front of you?? All you can do, is– leave that terrible situation, with your son, and go elsewhere. Nothing else your family can do.
Yes, you leave (or you never go to those kinds of Catholic colleges-stick to the Newman List).
If you told everyone who needed to be told, then you did you duty.
If they do not respond the way you hoped they would, you pray for their conversion.
And you might want to warn other Catholics but that can be tricky to not commit a sin.
I guess if it lost its accreditation, your prayers or complaining helped.
You have reminded me of how stressful it is to be in a situation like that (even if it is just as a member of a diocese.)
I have a good situation now but I did not always and I remember praying and being very upset and there was nothing to do but pray. Give it to Mary. Ask her to obtain her Son’s Will. Ask for what you want and act as if your prayer has been answered. Thanks and praise to the Lord. And trust Him.
Of course, people now like to expose things on the Internet.
jon ….. you are modest, self-effacing, unpretentious, tolerant, sympathetic and considerate of others …. said no one ever.
He is the defender of homo-hierarchy at all costs….
“boohemond” is wrong. The last time I checked Wester does not support marriage between people of the same sex, and he agrees with the Holy See that the Church cannot bless unions of those of the same sex. In fact he was clear on that. Always remember this, people: whenever the folks you’re debating have started to launch “ad hominem” attacks against you instead addressing the substance of your points, it’s a sure sign that they have lost the argument.
And by the way “bohemond”, I also support Burke and Schneider. So there.
You may support good orthodox bishops but you will never ever call out the corrupt ones…the ones covered for pederasts and perverts.
So people, “bohemond’s” comment there presents a teaching moment. Apparently “bohemond” wants us to continue to call out “corrupt bishops” who have “covered up” abuses. Now, should good Catholics have to acquiesce to such requirements? NO. This is because in our society the task of “calling out” anyone who is alleged and is found guilty of crimes belongs to a court of law. Bishops and priests who are guilty have already been “called out” by a court of law and have met justice. In light of that, it is the task of good Catholics to work so that things like this don’t happen again (hence the Dallas Charter), to pray for the guilty, to build up what is good in the Church, and to forgive. It is not the task of good Catholics to keep dredging up old litigation in the comment sections of blogs like this for the purpose of tearing down the Church, her institutions, and the faith of ordinary Catholics.
bohemond, because we are Catholics, if we do not have any personal knowledge of it and we have no just cause, we are not supposed to.
Bohemond, i just noticed that you did not say pedophiles. You said pederasts and perverts. I don’t want to read something into it but I kind of am.
jon, I don’t think this is done. Not by a long shot. Adults (especially young, vulnerable adults) are being hurt. Most of the cases I hear about now are young adults who trusted clergy that they should not have trusted. When it is reported, very little, if anything, happens.
jon, if you know of a pervert pedophile in the priesthood, and you know for sure, you had better raise awareness of it– callbpoluce, notify the priest’s superiors, notify the bishop, and warn parents to keep their kids away from the pedophile. That is your responsibility as a Catholic, and you commit a horrible sin if you lie, cheat, cover up, or refuse to report a crime. Do not let another “McCarrick” get away with it, as that dastardly man did for decades– and destroy young men.
ah jon and his pseudo intellectual answers. Notice the word justice did not appear anywhere in his response. The sexual corruption continues and not just against the young. The infamous Monsignor “Grindr” who was exposed by the Catholic Pilar has been returned to ministry. It never ever occurs to these men that maybe they no business being apart of clergy. There is a gay syndicate which is in operational control of the Church, yet people like jon claim were are not supposed to complain about. The Church has lost its moral standing because of the attitude like jon. I really dont care what he has to say, he will defend these creeps just because they wear a miter
bohemond, an analogy. Police can’t sit and wait for the trial and sentencing phases of a criminal before they go back out to protect and serve. When their part of the job is done, they turn it over to others and go back to work.
There was a typing error in my comment of Aug 14 at. 3:52 pm. “Call the police,” etc. So– if you know for sure that a bad priest has committed crimes of pedophilia– you had better call the police, notify the bishop, right awsy! Right now! You could also be prosecuted for covering up or failing to report a crime!
So just for the record here folks, neither “bohemond” nor “another” have truly given a sufficient refutation to my point that good Catholics have no responsibility whatsoever to keep dredging up, no obligation to keep re-hashing, and no requirement to keep “calling out” (especially in blogs like this) about bishops and priests for crimes that have already been litigated and prosecuted. NONE. Folks, be alert to what their argument leads to (and have led to): they will use (and have used) these old cases as a weak excuse to disobey the Magisterium about faith, morals, and liturgical discipline. They have said in the past (I know because I’ve read them here): “Why obey Traditionis custodes and adhere to Vatican II, and why listen to this homily about nuclear weapons: it’s from the same ‘filthy’ and ‘corrupt’ group of people who have ‘covered up’ abuses.” That’s one of the reasons why they relish bringing up these old cases: as a pretext to disobey; as a pretext to demean Vatican II and the Ordinary Form. Don’t fall for it people. As heinous as these crimes are (which have already been “called out”), and as sad as clergy unchastity is, they are not pretexts to disobey any teaching of the Magisterium. They are NOT. And this is not a mere “intellectual” argument folks. It’s street-smarts.
But bohemond, Jon did mention the word justice in his response to you.
I mistakenly gave Jon a thumbs down on his post Aug. 13 at 4:12 pm and should not have clicked up or down. It does seem Archbishop Wester has advocated some bad things, but I have often wondered myself why Nagasaki, a city with a large Catholic and, perhaps, other Christian population was chosen for a bombing. I remember watching a documentary on T. V. many years ago, and a retired American soldier told how he walked around a church that had been bombed, heard singing but no one was there.
By the way, the singing that elderly American veteran said he heard when he walked around that bombed out church in Japan was like a choir — many voices. The veteran was Caucasian, not a Japanese American veteran. We did have some from that war. I had relatives who were at the bombing of Pearl harbor too. They have all since passed away.
Back to work: stupid analogy..
After the meeting at Yalta, Russia was planning on a huge invasion of Japan in Aug. of 1945. America wanted to end the war ASAP, and lessen the further loss of lives as much as possible. You know all about the secret Manhattan Project, I’m sure. Well, scientists were working fast on that, and hoped to end the war before Russia started her Japanese invasion, in August– in which a further expansion of socialism and Communism might occur. Russia would become a Communist superpower, a big threat, to us and the rest of the world. In the Spring of 1945, much research was begun, to pick a coupje of Japanese cities for the awful nuclear bombs. The government had a list of criteria, such as, locations of Japanese military sites, weapons and warship manufacturing sites, and other criteria. They also knew the bombing results would be horrible, so that, too, was part of the criteria. I will have to stop here, or this post will get too long! But you can read all about this. Too bad Nagasaki, the Catholic center of Japan, made this list! It is also only because of weather conditions, that these two cities got chosen, in the end.
Actually, on the day that Nagasaki got bombed, the origival target was Kokura, the site of the largest weapons factory in western Japan. Nagasaki was the third choice on the list, after Hiroshima and Kokura. But the weather conditions in Kokura were not good that day, Aug. 9, 1945– and the pilots could not see their target very well. So they flew over to Nagasaki, instead, and dropped the second nuclear bomb. What a horror! Anyway, Japan surrendured shortly thereafter. And although Russia had just declared war on Japan– there was no invasion. The war ended, no more war.
At Yalta, Stalin had agreed that Russia would enter the war against Japan, three months after the surrender of Germany. Russia declared war on Japan on Aug. 8, 1945. Japan greatly feared Russia, and surrendered because of both the terrible shock of the horrific nuclear bombs, on Aug. 6th and Aug. 9th, 1945– plus, Russia entering the war against Japan. Japan surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945. Now I am in tears, thinking of the terrible suffering of innocent people, due to the nuclear bombs! And I feel so badly– because Yalta is in Ukraine!
I saw several documentaries, years ago, on the WWII atomic bombings of Japan, particularly, the bombing of Nagasaki, the Catholic center of Japan. It just made me cry. The atomic bomb was dropped at 11:02am, local time, and it detonated not far from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, or, Urakami Cathedral. The Cathedral and Catholic churches all were full of worshippers at Mass, on that Sunday morning, Aug. 9th, and were preparing for the Aug. 15th Feast of the Assumption. What a horrible death, for those poor Catholic worshippers. I also read the famous book, “A Song for Nagasaki”– I bet you may have read it, too.
So the Catholics of Nagasaki were sacrificial lambs like their Savior, and the blood of the martyrs were and are the seed of the Church. I pray to see Venerable Takashi Nagai soon should God be so merciful.
Hermoine, but he is almost always correct. And he corrects others who, if they can swallow their pride, will be better off for it.
Look at what you wrote-not exactly holy.
jon has offended me a couple of times but there are more times when he could explain the Faith better than anyone else on here.
bohemond, he is not defending the persons but the positions and the God who put them (or allowed them to be put) in those positions.
Which is a tenet of the Faith.
Being Catholic is hard. There is a lot of offering it up, overlooking faults, forgiving wrongs. Sometimes people are upset and they just don’t follow the path Jesus set out to take care of that. I’m guilty of it, too.
bgs– What a total joke! Naive to the hilt! Ever heard of a nasty thing in many powerful churches, called: “Hypocrisy?” And tell me– what did Jesus do, to the Hypocrite Pharisees, and Money Changers in God’s holy Temple?
matthew 23:2-3
St. Matthew 23:2-3— Here is the basic meaning of what Christ was saying: The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’s seat, but they are hypocrites. They love honor, and they do their religious works only to be seen– but they do not practice what they preach. They are hypocrites. And they place heavy burdens on the people, because they fail to do their jobs. Listen to the words they say (from Hebrew Scriptures) but do not imitate their bad examples. They are hypocrites.
good one, jon …. or bgs.
People, good Catholics will continue to resist the efforts of these commenters to destroy the faith of ordinary Catholics and to harm their trust in their anointed shepherds such as Wester. Just read they way the pour venom and malign the good name of a bishop of the Church, hurling all sorts of unfounded insinuations. These are not good people, frankly. They mean to divide the Church and to incite disobedience to our bishops’ teachings. They make up stories that sound fantastical, and ignore the good work being done by our spiritual leaders. Why? For various reasons. For one, it’s because the teachings of the Magisterium challenge their hatred and their shibboleths, just as Our Lord challenged the hypocrisy and the shibboleths of the pharisees and the scribes. Need proof? Just read their comments above. Another reason is because they refuse to accept the authentic tradition that the Magisterium is handing down to the Church. Well, they have met their match in Pope Francis who is calling them out for their divisiveness. He knows exactly how to deal with them, and they have been going uber-apoplectic since July 16 of last year. Because they refuse to be led by the anointed shepherds of the Church, they are drifting farther and farther away from the true Bride of Christ. People, this is not the time to be farther away from the Church. This is the time to stay even closer to her for the times are uncertain and perilous. “Ubi Petrus, ibi ergo ecclesia” (where Peter is, there must be the Church).
No. The topmost priority is the LGBT agenda. And immoral clergy, laymen and employees, and their radical causes. Plus– Wester has often been very cruel to Pro Life priests and laymen, similar to Cupich– and he also greatly supports feminists. Plus, he supports Pelosi and Biden. A very difficult prelate… to say the least..
My comment of Aug. 13 at 2:16am was a reply to top priority.
Looks like somedoby’s running for cardinal.
Liberal-leftist Abp. Wester never calls out horrific sins destroying our Church and our country. Yes, all war is terrible, and all nuclear bombs are terrible. What did Wester expect our country to do, after Pearl Harbor was bombed, Dec. 7, 1941, long before he was born? What if Japan’s next target was San Francisco? Our country needs and deserves Abp. Wester’s patriotic support! He should praise all those brave and wounded men, all those fighting for, and those involved in dangerous work, helping our great country! Potentially thousands of both Japanese and American lives were saved, ironically, by those horrific nuclear bombs, in Aug. of 1945. A terrible and true fact. Abp. Abp. Wester needs to publicly praise all those heroes and martyrs who have bravely suffered and died for this great country. They have not suffered for nothing. And he needs to pray for an end to nuclear war– and an end to all war. Of course.
‘Liberal-leftish”: What are you talking about? Are you just spewing more unwarranted attacks and negativity again on the ministers of the Church? Of course Wester has praised “all those brave and wounded men…and those involved in dangerous work helping our country.” I mean, Wester blogged recently about the dead officers who died in a helicopter crash fighting fires in New Mexico. These men were Bernalillo County Undersheriff Larry Koren, Lt. Fred Beers, Deputy Michael Levison and Bernalillo County Fire Rescue Specialist Matthew King. You stand corrected.
This is indeed a liberal-leftist prelate– very difficult to work with. He champions liberal feminism, the LGBT agenda, etc., to the hilt. Many of today’s Catholic leaders may seem nice socially– McElroy, McCarrick, Mahony, Cupich, etc.– but when you work with them, you might be quite worried, due to their liberal-leftist beliefs, and anti-Catholic, unChristian, immoral stances on things affecting good Catholics and their children and families. These are matters in the Church that are far worse, far more dangerous, than some forgotten sermon on nuclear weapons.
Sad to say, but here is more hateful rhetoric from “Reply to” against an anointed minister of the Church. Look what just happened, people. She claimed that Wester doesn’t support “all those brave men involved in dangerous work helping our country.” So I pointed to an instance when Wester did show support. Then she proceeds to dredge up more spurious “allegations”, “accusations,” “calumnies”, and hate. I am sure I can prove her wrong again, but one can’t convince those who are determined to cling to their hateful misconceptions.
jon, you have no idea of what you are talking about! To be a responsible Catholic and to worry because a bad Catholic prelate in your SF (or any other) Archdiocese has completely destroyed a very important group, or school, or any other Catholic institution or serious endeavor– is very serious! It has nothing to do with your dumb concepts of so-called “hate!” It has to do with being concerned due to this prelate’s massive destruction of Faith and Morals, in your Catholic group, school, etc. In these cases, all you can do is quit. And never return. No help from the Church. Looks lije you have never had real-life experience in the Church, dealing with these kinds of terrible situations.
I never thought that those on the right of things are so willing to adopt the emotionalism of leftists when it suits them. Sorry but there’s basically nothing of substance but only emotionalism in “Liberal-leftist’s” comments here.
jon, there is a lot of evil going on in today’s church and society. That is a reality. It has nothing to do with childish “emotionalism.” You must protect your wife and children, and help protect your neighborhood, and your parish church, and Catholic school, too.
Right. I should protect them from irrational, unwarranted emotionalism such as yours. Got it.
It looks like you have no real-life experience in these matters at all.
If you live in a bamboo house you shouldn’t bomb Pearl Harbor (I always say).
– Author Unknown ? ?
I am grateful for any and all lives saved. That said, the use of nuclear weapons violates the conditions necessary for just war. As has been described: “The Principles Of Jus In Bello – The rules of just conduct within war fall under the two broad principles of discrimination and proportionality. The principle of discrimination concerns who are legitimate targets in war… In waging war it is considered unfair and unjust to attack indiscriminately since non-combatants or innocents are deemed to stand outside the field of war proper. Immunity from war can be reasoned from the fact that their existence and activity is not part of the essence of war, which is the killing of combatants.” Similarly, the Nazi bombing of London was wrong as was the Allied bombing of Dresden. I am most grateful to the heroes of the Greatest Generation and for that fact that some survived after virtually saving the world. That said, that does not change what is considered just in war and while the other conditions for waging just war may have been met, bombing a city, with its inherent civilian population, is not moral. It’s a prime reason why we condemn terrorists for targeting civilians, regardless of whatever grievances they may have.
It would please God if man would not bomb each other.
Unless the bombing was a justified, proportionate moral act to stop an unjust aggressor. In that case bombing the aggressor pleases God very much.
Bombing is never a moral act. It may be a justifiable act ( in man’s mind) but it is never moral.
If bombing is good, then it is a moral act. When it is justifiable, it is a good thing to do, perhaps even morally obligatory if it is the best option among possibilities. Do you think self-defense is never a moral act, only justifiable? Saving an innocent’s life or your own from an unjust aggressor is a moral act, even if it means killing the assailant. Now extrapolate that to bombing. Bombing can be good.
You seem to think “justifiable” is a moral category in which an act is neutral, neither good nor evil, merely permissible. If an act is morally justifiable, it participates in moral goodness, which makes it objectively good.
The use of a bomb to destroy something like another weapon could be moral.
Never mind.
God is mocked when men abuse one another in every imaginable way especially those ways detailed in scripture. God is worshipped in the Sacrifice of the Mass, the sacrifice of our lives to God and our laying down of our lives for men. All impossible without the gift of faith we receive through the Church He established as the ordinary source of these graces to be able to love God and neighbor. Undeniable that many influential prelates have lost sight of that very simple principle that leads to salvation.
Keep it simple fellas…when you start improvising we can see you coming a mile away….
Especially when they are wrapped in the rainbow flag. Wester’s decision to promote baptizing children of gay married couples was a dead giveaway.
Gays are a nuclear bomb in the church. Destruction everywhere.
Much worse. What would you do if your important Catholic parish group or school now had two gay males as well as a lesbian female, leading it? And the two males lived together (before gay “marriage” was legal) and the self-described “lesbian feminist activist” was trying to “hook up” with parish girls, also saying she “hates Christ because He is a male,” and “hates men,” demanding that you all change all the written and spoken pronouns to “she,” at the church, for God or Christ? And all of these awful people are paid employees– and get Communion at Mass? What do you do? Wester loved all that, as well as the new parish pastor. And Wester publicly praised and supported these “bad” LGBT “Catholics!” He rebuked complainers! So what can you do? Leave and never return, that’s what.
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2022/07/31/baptize-children-lgbt-parents-243442
I think all people who request baptism should be given it but real thorough instruction needs to be given.
I do not think it is a matter of hospitality but a matter of salvation.
Seek the Will of the Lord. Look what Jesus suffered so that they could have salvation.
But those are my thoughts and I have no decision making power in the Church.
I can only pray and leave it to God.
You can also stay and do a Holy Hour every day in reparation.
In reparation for what? Gay Baptisms?
No. Of course not. For people in the parish who are sinning.
Oh– you mean, sinning, doing gay baptisms for gay “married” men living in sodomite sin, and their kids, living with gay “married men” doing sodomite sins… what other gay sins are there? How about “BDSM?” The kids could watch their gay “fathers” dress up in Drag– or in Halloween costumes, half-naked, and watch their “gay fathers” violently spank each other with big, long whips, and then do their sodomite and other gay sex sins… lots of reparations to do, for all these sins. Shouldn’t the Bishop sternly say “no” to them… and try to stop all of these terrible sins? Then, you would have a lot less work to do, making reparations for all those sins.
You know an awful lot of stuff that I don’t know about.
But baptism is Holy. It is never gay-in the new meaning of the word, at least.
We believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sin. There is no such thing as a gay baptism.
Maybe the bishop doesn’t have such a dirty mind.
Ephesians 5:3
I do not know any person who would know about all that stuff. I don’t want to know this stuff. I am old enough to be a great-grandmother. I really could have done without learning this stuff.
Baptism is a holy Sacrament, and little children are very innocent! The parents requesting Baptism for their child, are supposed to be good, practicing Catholics– not “living in sin,” and not exposing their children to horrific sins. Children must never be legally allowed to grow up in a filthy “gay home” of two men or two women, pretending to be “parents,” committing horrible gay sex pervert sins together! Because the Sacrament of Baptism is holy, the parents who request Baptism, must be good, practicing Catholics, leading good lives, right with God. And they must promise to bring up their child in the Catholic Faith, in a good, morally-decent home. The cleric who performs Baptisms has a big responsibility, to teach and guide his parishioners correctly, for Christ.
To “don’t want to know”. I hope you, dear lady, are never caught in traffic near a LGB+ Pride Parade in San Francisco or other large city because you will see a whole lot of things that you do not want to see, nor would you want any child to see, and many of our politicians are involved in them. Some things on here are posted to warn people to keep away from certain areas or places of decadence, and to keep their children away. Of course, there are always people who will do just the opposite and go there.
Horror of sin should make you want to baptize the infant. Give them a head start but…it is not our decision. It is for the Church to discern. According to NCR, the Vatican says that they are to be baptized if the parent agrees to raise the child in the Church. I cannot find verification for that and they do not give a source.
This article discusses this:
https://aleteia.org/2014/07/07/when-youre-gay-and-you-want-your-kids-baptized/
Colossians 3:2
Yes, the eradication of war would please God very much. But there are cases, all through human history, of being attacked, and then having to defend your country. When the Biblical Israelites fought an attacking enemy, God helped them defeat the enemy attacker. God is surely helping the Ukrainians defeat Russia, who attacked their country.
You should read the Bible more.
You need to respect those who defend your country and save your life, and the lives of your loved ones.
No, you tell Putin to read the Bible more. And stop his evil war on Ukraine.
If God is helping them, why are we sending billions in assistance to them? Oh, I forgot, It’s money-laundering.
God works through the hearts and hands of human beings, inspiring generous hearts to come to the aid of poor, helpless, suffering people, whose country has been ruthlessly and wrongfully invaded and destroyed, by an evil, unjust, menacing superpower. You must pray for this horrible, unjust war to end, and for the innocent people of Ukraine to be set free from Russia’s horrifying evils.
I told you to read the Bible more because of what you said “When the Biblical Israelites fought an attacking enemy, God helped them defeat the attacking enemy.”
Not always.
I did not think anyone who had read the whole Bible would write that.
Yes, it is legitimate to defend your country from an aggressor.
It is very bad manners to tell someone to “read the Bible more.” For starters, young David killed Goliath by supernatural means, defeating the Philistines, with God’s power at his side. Don’t you understand, that God is always on the side of the righteous, helping them defeat unjust aggressors? Now, you read your Bible– and find out. God will never be on the side of unjust, evil aggressors. In the end, Evil shall be overcome, God shall defeat the Devil and all his works. Crime does not pay. And all souls must face the Judgment Day, before God. Watch out, Vladimir Putin.
I am sorry if I hurt your pride. It is not bad manners to tell someone to do a good act. If someone told me to read the Bible more, my pride might be hurt if I thought they were insulting me. I should still go do it. It is one of those things like “Eat healthy.” You should do it no matter who tells you.
There are many instances where God helped the Israelites in war and there are instances where He used war to punish the Israelites.
We just had the reading from Jeremiah 38 yesterday where they put Jeremiah in a cistern. Do you know what he was doing? What happened to Israel? Do you know why?
No,.you cannot hurt oanyone’s pride. You hurt yourself, acting like a boor, with no social manners. And don’t do it in church— do not correct adults in church, telling them boorishly to “read the Bible” — you will be laughed at!
What religion are you?
Psalm 33: 16 – 19
A king is not saved by a great army,
nor a warrior delivered by great strength.
Useless is the horse for safety;
despite its great strength, it cannot be saved.
Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him,
upon those who count on his mercy,
To deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive through famine.
Once, many years ago, when I was involved in work at a beautiful church staffed by a well-known religious order, I found out that two of the priests were convicted pedophiles. Children from their Catholic school were also involved in this project. So I went to their religious superior, and voiced my concerns. He angrily accused me of “having no heart, no mercy,” for the pedophiles. Next, he told me that these priests went each vweek see their psychiatrists– and all the children they molested, went each week, to see their psychiatrists. So it all worked out fine. And the two priests were “always watched.” But they always wore their religious habits, same as the “normal” priests– and they participated in all of their religiois order’s Masses and liturgies, daily. I said, “No, this situation is not good! Why aren’t they serving time in jail?” The answer– because they are “privileged,” being priests of a well-known religious order. I said, “what about all the children at the school? And their parents, who pay money, in good faith, for a Catholic education? Convicted sex offenders are not supposed to be anywhere near children and schools. Being “supervised” doesn’t matter.” I got nowhere. So I quit.
A few years later, the Catholic school closed, and the property was sold.
I finished reading all the comments posted so far. I suspect that what I read, though, was really a script from the old radio show “It Pays to be Ignorant”.
They are holding a big Rosary Rally in reparation for the filthy sins of Gay weddings on Sat. Aug. 20th at Noon, at the Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa, CA. This resort hosts Gay weddings. You can call (707) 758-2357 for details.
Sorry– the number to call for the Rosary Rally in Napa is (707) 758-2352.
The oddest part of this hotel is the very blatant religious slant of the hotel. Besides rosary beads and bibles in every room, there is a Catholic chapel on site and religious statues on the grounds. There is also a program they advertise which offers free accommodations for Catholic clergy.
From Trip Advisor
Neither Putin nor Zelensky are all that innocent.
My remark was meant for “Reply to Billions’ ” Aug.14th post at 4:31 pm.
In the post-war years, most Americans were patriotic, and believed that dropping the horrific atomic bombs on Japan, though it was a terrible thing, actually saved thousands of lives, by bringing about the hoped-for result of an end to the war. And everyone also said, “Never again.” I am a patriotic American, and support my country, figuring that our President and the military and scientists all had a tough job to do, and they did what they did, to the best of their ability, to end that war, and save lives. I respect that. (But nobody likes war, or bombs. Horrible.) I am so proud that America, unlike an aggressive country, like Russia— has always had a strict policy of only engaging in war for self-defense, as the Bible teaches. And America stands proudly for the noblest form of government and way of life, in the world–Democracy!
If we fail to cherish, protect, and preserve our American Democracy, and excellent principles of our Judeo-Christian Western Civilization– religious freedoms will be greatly endangered– and may vanish.
Truman did Japan a favor, and many a Japanese knows it. Millions were saved. The alternative – invasion – would have been infinitely worse. Young children, girls too, were trained to sharpen bamboo to stick allied troops. The entire population was mobilized for national suicide if need be (see Okinawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima). So much for “civilians.”
Taisho Japan was fanatically nationalistic. The goal was to hold out and exact such a cost on allied invaders as to win a negotiated settlement and prevent occupation of the home islands – think Banzai attacks and Kamikaze.
Hirohito’s agreement to terms resulted in plots, mutinies, a coup, assassinations, and suicides. The Minister of War who was for fighting on, remained loyal to the Emperor, thwarted the coup, signed surrender documents, and committed suicide the next day. The plotters committed suicide too.
Good history lesson
I appreciated the post of Joe Jitsu. It is always very valuable, to learn all we can about history, and understand all of the amazing complex details! Wonderful to learn all the many amazing things, historically and culturally, about Biblical times, and the era of Jesus.
I did not give you a thumbs up nor a thumbs down as no one really knows the hearts of those involved in that war except God himself. I certainly had relatives whose lives were saved because they no longer had to fight in that war because of the bombing, yet innocents were killed by all sides. I will let God be the judge. Only he knows the whole truth.
My post was meant for Joe Jitsu’s post on Aug. 15 at 6:06 pm. It is very hard to reply to the proper person with so many of us posting replies, but I cannot think of a better way to do it. Trying to line it up from the original poster to whom one wants to reply does not always seem to me easy.
Of course– our original, authentic American Democracy has nothing to do with the corrupt extremes of modern capitalism, as rightly condemned by Pope St. John Paul II.
Target: Nagasaki
Nagasaki: Catholic
Truman: Mason
Coincidence? Yah sure!
BTW: Bravo Anne TE
Diem situation — deja vu
Nagasaki was not Catholic – it had Catholics. Truman didn’t pick targets and Nagasaki was not on the list of four. When Kyoto was vetoed for its cultural significance, Nagasaki, a major port and military industrial center, was added.
On Aug 9, Kokura Arsenal was obscured by smoke and clouds and the pilot couldn’t access his reserve fuel tank. Nagasaki was his secondary target. The rest is history.
Thankfully, the church hierarchy has already spoken about this to repeatedly condemn the attacks. Pope St. John Paul II addressed Japan’s ambassador to the Holy See by saying: ““The cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are a message to all our contemporaries, inviting all the earth’s peoples to learn the lessons of history and to work for peace with ever greater determination. Indeed, they remind our contemporaries of all the crimes committed during the Second World War against civilian populations, crimes and acts of true genocide,” (https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2014/08/06/the-anniversary-of-hiroshima-john-paul-ii-and-fulton-sheen-on-the-bomb-and-conversion/).
There’s no need for anyone to get up in arms about the Archbishop’s statement. It seems as though so many of us have greater allegiance to ideology, political leadings, even our country, more than to the teachings of our faith.
Wouldn’t it be just wonderful, if by some miracle, mankind lost the ability to know a lot of dangerous scientific knowledge, forever– like how to make atomic bombs? If something could happen, if God could forever hide this dangerous knowledge from mankind, and if mankind could lose all interest in making weapons for war, and lose all interest in hurting each other! If only!! Sure do hope Russia won’t end up starting WWIII, nor China, either!
to: “if only”
you may get your wish.
when Rome fell, the West lost
the knowledge of concrete making
for about 1000 years.
What will we lose this time?
I just read the story of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from a faithful Catholic view. The sparing of the priests was due to Mary’s intervention and the praying of the Rosary.
https://aleteia.org/2019/08/21/the-two-churches-that-survived-the-atomic-bombs-in-hiroshima-and-nagasaki/
There are other interviews with the priests online.