The following comes from a Jan. 28 story on RT.com.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has asked for a state-level ban on legal moves to allow same-sex marriage, noting that this position was based on the very nature of Christianity.
Speaking before upper house members, Patriarch Kirill said that the move would protect the family as a public institution.
“In a response to the broad international discussion of this issue we would like to make a resolute statement – marriage is a union between a man and a woman, based on love and mutual understanding and made in order to give birth to children,” Russia’s head cleric stated.
Patriarch Kirill promised that the church would provide support to all state and public institutions that seek to protect the traditional Christian values. He stressed, however, that such a move was not caused by a desire to influence politics, rather by the very nature of Christianity.
In addition the Patriarch noted that wider promotion of religious education could help the authorities tackle extremism and terrorism. Prepared citizens could offer ‘intellectual resistance’ both to Islamist extremists and to mass culture with its cult of hedonism and aggression, he added.
He also noted that simple urges for friendship and peaceful coexistence were not enough and that the correct attitude to other religions can only be based on one’s own religious obligations.
The Russian Orthodox Church has never accepted same-sex marriage, but statements from its representatives have become especially harsh as gay-related topics reached the top of the public agenda in the country.
This happened after last year’s adoption of the federal law banning the promotion of homosexual relations to minors. The law has faced immense criticism in Russia and abroad, however its sponsors and the Russian authorities argued that the legislation is not discriminatory and was only introduced in order to protect the children.
As the discussion heated up, the head of the Holy Synod’s department for relations between the Church and the Society suggested a nationwide referendum on introducing criminal responsibility for homosexuals (something that was abolished in Russia in 1993, soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union).
The cleric’s idea has not yet materialized. Moreover, President Vladimir Putin played it down in a recent TV interview stressing that Russia was a secular state and such initiatives were unlikely to gain any momentum.
To read the original story, click here.
NEW YORK TIMES
MOSCOW — Facing a scandal over photographs of its leader wearing an enormously expensive watch, the Russian Orthodox Church worked a little miracle: It made the offending timepiece disappear.
Editors doctored a photograph on the church’s Web site of the leader, Patriarch Kirill I, extending a black sleeve where there once appeared to be a Breguet timepiece worth at least $30,000. The church might have gotten away with the ruse if it had not failed to also erase the watch’s reflection, which appeared in the photo on the highly glossed table where the patriarch was seated.
The church apologized for the deception on Thursday and restored the original photo to the site, but not before Patriarch Kirill weighed in, insisting in an interview with a Russian journalist that he had never worn the watch, and that any photos showing him wearing it must have been doctored to put the watch on his wrist.
AH, WHAT A VIRTUOUS MAN TO LISTEN TO…………..
The NY TIMES supports abortion and sodomy marriage. It is very biased and trys to tear down all that is good. Make no mistake about their motives.
There is no human being without sin.
Those who twist the message of the article with issues that have nothing to do with the topic have sinister motives.
Exactly, Phil.
First, your quoting of the intolerant, bigoed, anti-Catholic, anti- Christian NY Times gives me pause as to the credibility of what you’re claiming….
But even if the facts are true what does that have to do with their oppostion to same-sex disordered unions? You forget the NY Time’s whole mission is to do the work of the ‘Devil’ in finding anything that might discredit anyone opposed to sodomy. Nice try though….
The New York Times has the same level of veracity as Barack Obama!
NY TIMES… Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha……..
A BILLIONAIRE TURNED ASCETIC
THE PERSONAL FORTUNE OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHOODX
PATRIARCH IS 4 BILLION DOLLARS?
There have also been many other scandals that involved clergymen. What is more, the life story of Patriarch Kirill raises too many questions to view him as a
true bearer of the moral values preached by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).
According to Russia’s Novaya gazeta, it is in the 1990s that the current ROC primate (chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Foreign Church Relations Department and Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad at the time) “made a name for
himself and scraped up a fortune which, after all, allowed him to ascend the patriarch’s throne.” Before mounting this throne, Kirill made a personal
fortune that some experts estimate at 4 billion dollars, the newspaper claims. Speaking of Vladimir Gundyayev’s business, the publication refers to an “extensive dossier” compiled by Doctor of History Sergei Bychkov, who has published dozens of articles – mainly on the future patriarch’s tobacco business (he also conducted transactions in seafood and oil). None of his publications has been officially denied. Kirill has admitted that much of the information that Bychkov gathered is hard facts, Novaya gazeta notes.
It is not and has never been a sin to be wealthy.
I wish I were wealthy so that I could better help my Parish and those in need, especially as it applies to the Church Doctrine on Subsidiarity.
Sodomy is a mortal sin.
Phil, do you remember ever reading this in the Bible. Jesus taught the redistribution of wealth and how to do it:19:16-29pp — Mk 10:17-30; Lk 18:18-30 16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” the man inquired. Jesus replied, ” ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” 20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven
Jesus did not teach the FORCED redistribution of wealth by any type of government.
Everything Jesus taught was VOLUNTARY on the part of the sinner. FREE WILL was and is integal to salvation.
People must be able to choose.
Thank you for the much needed clarity, Chris. Too many would have us pick and choose only those statements that we like from the Bible when backing a particular position. Even Atheists could quote, saying:
“There is no God!” Your bible says so.
And yet by putting things into context, we know Scripture says, “The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God, They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways: there is none that doth good, no not one.” Psalm 14:1
God bless and multiply the love of reading all the fine print!
Chris, where is the word forced? Jesus answered “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. So where is the word forced?
“In a response to the broad international discussion of this issue we would like to make a resolute statement – marriage is a union between a man and a woman, based on love and mutual understanding and made in order to give birth to children,”
Regardless of the red herrings thrown up by “anonymous”‘ The Russian Patriarch’s statement is unarguably true. The keystone of the sodomite agenda for the destruction of Christian influence is so-called “gay marriage.” What for centuries was a disgusting perversion has become cool and hip in the minds of “Progressives” and “Liberals”. “woe unto those who call evil good and good, evil.”
hosemonkey, 1st Century CE thru 14th Century CE:
• The early Christian church was hostile to marriage, believing that marriage and family were distractions from the path to salvation. To remain single and celibate was the ideal.
• Nero married two men, Sporus in 54 CE, and Doryphorus in 68 CE.
• Same sex weddings took place in increasing numbers over a period of time, but were outlawed in 342 CE.
• Basil I, founder of the Macedonian dynasty, entered into three same-sex unions, first with Nicholas, a monk of the church of St. Diomede; then to John, son of a wealthy widow in Achaia, Greece; and then later to the Emperor Michael. After Basil entered a formal union with Nicholas it was reported that “they rejoiced in each other.”
• “Canon law made two changes that were to have long-term effects. First, the church pressured individuals to marry in the presence not only of witnesses, but also of a priest, and to perform this ceremony ‘at church.’ Second, it downplayed the need for parental consent, and foregrounded the mutual will of the intended spouses as the major criterion in the making of a valid marriage. This revolutionary doctrine would endure and flourish over the centuries.”
• Love preceding marriage began to take hold in Europe, when previously affectionate feelings or familial devotion was expected to develop after marriage.
The “Church” was never hostile to marriage.
The Catholic “Church” did not exist before Christ.
Marriage is acknowledged in the New Testament scriptures. The first recorded miracle by Jesus is at a wedding feast in Cana, and the Catholic Church believes this signifies his approval of the institution of marriage as well as his recognition of the importance of the public celebration of a wedding. Furthermore Jesus forbade divorce and indicated that in the state of marriage “the two become one flesh”.
Only those who wished consecrate their lives entirely to God without distraction were required to be celibate.. This is still the case.
1 Cor 32-34
” I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.
But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided.
And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband.”
In addition going back to Genesis (Old Testament)- God made Adam and Eve.
He did not make Adam and Adam, or Eve and Eve denoting homosexuality.
Chris, Have You ever heard of the Trinity? Need I explain this further?
Our Orthodox brothers are looking quite Catholic (Universal) on this but who am I to judge?
Viva el ecumenismo!
God bless them for embracing these very valuable truths and honoring God’s command on the Natural law. I am grateful…
This hardly seems like a unifying national idea. Yes, there is a vocal, hateful nationalist movement afoot in Russia. But its numbers are small. I believe there are far more people who are unmoved by Putin’s attacks on minorities. But Russians are desperate for something. It explains why many are even growing nostalgic for Joseph Stalin, remembering him for bringing order, purpose and meaning, never mind his atrocities. Many Russians speak fondly of Soviet times — even young people who never lived through them. Last year, in a poll measuring Russians’ feelings about their country, 42 percent said there was nothing to be proud of (up from 37 percent in 2005). Nineteen percent said it was difficult to answer the question. The poll was taken by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion, which is generally respected though government-run, diminishing its credibility. Still, the fact that the government collected and publicized these disappointing numbers suggests that these feelings could be even more pervasive.
Russia may be being converted. Some of their new laws are more moral than ours.
Perhaps we should ask the world to pray the Rosary for the USA, whose law makers promote abortion, contraception, and sodomy marriage.
People get what they deserve when they vote for immoral people to futher their own desires, rather than God’s will.
It appears it is the Eastern Orthodox – Russia, Putin, this patriarch – who are standing up to the sodomites and their ultimate goal of legal access to children for raping. Where are the Catholics? Praying for rain?
It is tragically sad that non Catholics are behaving more like Catholics than we Catholics are. Many Protestants and Orthodox are doing things that we used to do. Because the Catholic Church has befriended the world, she is now afraid of it, instead of the opposite. When you try to get along with evil, evil will conquer you. We look at Putin, the Russian leader, and he has more morality than most Western leaders have. May God bless and guide him as well as His Beatitude for having the courage to speak the eternal truth than we Catholics are no longer professing.
I agree Father Karl…thank you for your wisdom and knowledge.
“raped with beer bottles’
In May, a gay man from the southern Russian city of Volgograd who was tortured to death in an apparent hate crime, was sexually assaulted with beer bottles, and had his skull “smashed with a stone.” The naked and beaten body of the 23-year-old man was found in the courtyard of an apartment building in the city. “He was raped with beer bottles and had his skull smashed with a stone,” said Natalia Kunitskaya, a spokeswoman for the Volgograd region branch of the Investigative Committee. She went on to admit that the attack was believed to have been a hate crime, which was noted as a rare admission from Russian law enforcement agencies on the issue of homophobia in the country.
Chris, what’s your opinion on…“raped with beer bottles”
Thank you Father Karl! Excellent guidance!
” When you try to get along with evil, evil will conquer you.” – Father Karl
“Never forget that there are only two philosophies to rule your life: the one of the cross, which starts with the fast and ends with the feast. The other of Satan, which starts with the feast and ends with the headache.”
― Fulton J. Sheen, Seven Words of Jesus and Mary: Lessons from Cana and Calvary
“Far better it is for you to say: “I am a sinner,” than to say: “I have no need of religion.” The empty can be filled, but the self-intoxicated have no room for God.”
― Fulton J. Sheen, Seven Words of Jesus and Mary: Lessons from Cana and Calvary
Catherine this is how I know that you are faithful, by your consistency! Its much refreshing.
PRAISE BE JESUS CHRIST!
Abeca, God bless you sweet sister in Christ!
Taken from Catholic Bible 101 –
Against Temptation
“Jesus Christ gave up his life that we might live, therefore, whoever wishes to carry the cross for his sake must take up the proper weapons for the contest, especially those mentioned here. First, diligence; second, distrust of self; third, confidence in God; fourth, remembrance of the Passion; fifth, mindfulness of one’s own death; sixth, remembrance of God’s glory; seventh, the injunctions of Sacred Scripture following the example of Jesus Christ in the desert”……St. Catharine of Bologna, On the Seven Spiritual Weapons
“We can’t have full knowledge all at once. We must start by believing; then afterwards we may be led on to master the evidence for ourselves. ” St. Thomas Aquinas
If Putin represents morality, then the word has no useful meaning.
brilliantly said.
Amen, Man (X)Ray(Vision). You saw right through ’em. I was starting to worry.
YFC is gay, Hymie. He supports sodomy.
He refuses to acknowledge the good that oneone does if they do not support sodomy lifestyle.
My response was to Man Ray, by name, Dottie. And I don’t feed the trolls.
No Dottie, what you write about me is not true. I think Francis is a pretty good dude, especially for his work on behalf of the poor. JPII was amazing at bringing the gospel to young people. Neither are supporters of “sodomy”. I can probably think of others. Please don’t make things up about me that you know nothing about.
Like immoral OBAMA, Putin is not the Church.
However for whatever reason, Putin seems to be seeing the errors of the past within his own Country.
Russia goes against the Obama administration at the United Nations regarding abortion and sodomy marriage.
I believe Putin is recognizing the fruits of embracing that which is against God. Not that he is embracing God, per se. But Putin, no dummy, sees the good of it – if only on the natural level. That is, however, a start.
To paraphrase Our Lord, “… if you don’t believe Me, believe the miracles.” That is believe the good fruits that will come to you if you follow what I command because it is inherently advantageous for you to do so.
We in the United States just haven’t progressed past the vast wasteland of desolation we seem determined to create in pursuing our ‘own’ ways first.
Introducing the real Putin, the real Kirill, the real KGB (now FSB) courtesy of Ion Pacepa. Read ’em and weep, Father Karl et al.:
https://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=35388
Is it any different in the West, Hymie. The answer is, “No.” Many of our career politicians are making themselves rich by bilking the middle class and the poor.
I didn’t say anything about getting rich, Anne. And you didn’t read my reference.
Yes, I read it, Hymie, but others deny that the patriarch was or is a KGB agent. It remains to be seen. I believe Blessed Pope John Paul II and President Ronald Regan knew already that the Berlin Wall was coming down when Regan made his famous speech with the words, “Mr. Gorbechev brings down those walls.” Regan had talked with Gorbechev during their “fireside chats” and knew that Gorbechev had had a very religious grandmother who had had an influence on him. I think he had been baptized also as a child. I got all that information when other Christian websites long ago. As I have said, “It remains to be seen.”
Correction: “from” not “when” other Christian websites long ago.
Thanks for that. Really interesting article. It appears to veer off into wild conspiracy theory, but then the claims it makes are all substantiated elsewhere. Most striking is that the source is about as conservative as it gets, and criticisms it makes are the same I’ve seen from the New Yorker/NYT and more Left media in the last couple of years. Rare bit of consensus there.
Fascinating read, Hymie. Thanks for the link. It dovetails nicely into what I’ve read in:
The Naked Communist, by W. Cleon Skousen and Masters of Deceit, by J. Edgar Hoover.
Homeschooling one’s children can be an exercise in education for oneself. Wow. Thanks for the heads-up regarding the Patriarch. Watch and pray are still the words of the day.
Glad you liked. See bottom–responded wrong place.
Madrid: Spanish prosecutors have opened an investigation into newly chosen Spanish Cardinal Fernando Sebastian Aguilar after a gay-rights group accused him of hate speech for calling homosexuality a “defect”. The public prosecutor for the southern province of Malaga, Juan Carlos Lopez, said he had opened a preliminary inquiry “to clarify whether the allegations constitute a criminal offence,” according to a document obtained yesterday. Sebastian, who is close to Pope Francis, is one of 19 new cardinals chosen by the pontiff last month to be officially appointed on February 22. A week after being picked, the 84-year-old archbishop emeritus of Pamplona gave an interview to a Malaga newspaper that drew condemnation from gay-rights activists. “A lot of people complain and don’t tolerate it but with all respect I say that homosexuality is a defective way of manifesting sexuality, because that has a structure and a purpose, which is procreation,” he said. He compared homosexuality to his own high blood pressure — “a defect I have that I have to correct as far as I can” — and said “Pointing out a defect to a homosexual is not an offence, it is a help because many cases of homosexuality can be recovered and normalised with adequate treatment.” After the interview was published, gay and lesbian rights group Colegas lodged a complaint against Sebastian for violating the constitution’s guarantees of dignity and non-discrimination and for “clearly inciting hate and discrimination”. “We’re very satisfied because this is the first time” such an investigation has been opened, Colegas president Paco Ramirez told yesterday. The archbishopric of Malaga condemned the move, saying Sebastian had not used the word “disease” and accusing his critics of “distorting his words”. Activists have launched a petition to the pope to withdraw his nomination of Sebastian, which the website hosting it, change.Org, says has gathered 20,000 signatures.
I’m an old Cold Warrior. How has it come about that the Russians look virtuous and Christian (in this one narrow point, admittedly) while my country’s leaders looks like a bunch of randy pagans? Who in the 1980s would have thought things would come to this point?
anonymous, if you were receiving emergency treatment at the hands of a doctor and noticed his expensive gold watch, i don’t think you would spite the life-saving gift and interrupt room him with kibbitzing about high costs of medical care,etc. the russian patriarch is speaking as an emergency spiritual physician in the hopes of rescuing people from spiritual death. while all of the capital since can lead to death of the soul, chosen homosexual behavior is soul killing. it is an act of love to declare the truth on this to a smoke-filled world. what God has laid in human nature as his given we call ‘nature;l law’. moral codes express and reflect this . the jewish and christian scriptures confirm it from above, almost as though saying ‘you have guessed correctly’. once the Dalai Lama shocked some of his converts from christianity when he answer a query about homosexual behavior, affirming that Buddhism, too, considered it wrong. they had thought they were leaving a narrow moral code , the decalogue, when they went to another eastern religion.
The Eight Fold Path of Buddhism is quite similar to the Ten Commandments, and most Buddhists do not worship Buddha as a god. South.
The Anonymous post above on Sunday, Feb. 2, at 6:17 pm was mine. I sent it out accidentally before finishing it, but it seems the rest does not matter.
Perhaps Putin is correct: America is no longer a virtuous nation, and Russia and its Orthodox Church, are more so. Of course, this is an overstatement, but the trends in the USA are unmistakable. Just think of Nancy Pelosi, Miss, “I am so Catholic,” is going to accept the Margaret Sanger award in March of this year. Planned Parenthood, the charnel house of horrors for the unborn, has no greater honor. Surely Satan is laughing out loud; poor Ms. Pelosi, and poor millions of women that see this awful person as a role model. And, what about the continuous nutty failures of our wonderful bishops to step up and direct that Catholic pastors explicitly teach that sex outside of marriage, including all pre-marital sex, and all homosexual sex, is always wrong, and always a mortal sin. Where is that teaching? Instead, we look to Africa for nobility among our bishops (except for a few other marvels, like Cardinal Burke, Bishop Morlino and a couple of other courageous clergy). Instead we get the constant temporizing, the constant whining about being “pastoral” as lives end, with souls — uninformed about the need for salvation — going to their judgment like cattle on a train hurtling towards a rendering plant. At least in Russia, the leader of the Church steps up and calls a sin, a sin. But, here we have laughing-boy Cardinal Dolan yucking it up with the Abortionist-in-Chief (who also has learned to love the votes behind homosexual marriage supporters). If Mary said that Russia needed to be, and would be, converted, what would She say about America?
Anonymous has a hissy-fit and I’m not sure exactly why. I think the Patriarch can be accused of tastelessness in the matter of wearing such a watch. But I ask myself why anyone today wears a watch? With radio, car clocks, computers, telephones, and tablets all showing the precise time, why burden oneself with a watch, let alone a ridiculously expensive one?
You may think him a hypocrite for being a Christian leader with great wealth. But you won’t even put you name on your post. Why be so shy in flinging such harsh criticisms.You must ask if he is speaking Truth of the Bible. Not from your own interpretation, but from the historical understanding of the great saints and writings of the popes of the modern age.
Sidestepping a debate over the legacy of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said World War II had “redeemed Russia from its sins.” “The church does not look at the war as historians or politicians do,” Patriarch Kirill I said in a May 9 sermon at the Church of Christ the Savior to mark the Russian victory over Nazi Germany. “The church has a particular stance, a particular spiritual point of view.” The Patriarch said he believed the war–which Russians call the Great Patriotic War–had redeemed the nation from its sins, the “bloody events of the beginning of the 20th century.” “How many lies, how much evil and human suffering there was. But God washed away these lies and this evil with our blood, with the blood of our fathers, as has happened more than once in human history.” While Kirill did not mention Stalin by name, he nonetheless took issue with historians who equate Nazi Germany with Stalin-era Russia. “When some homegrown historians tell us that the evil here was no less than there, they are not seeing beyond their own noses, and fail to see the divine horizon beyond their extremely primitive and sinful analysis,” said Kirill. ” Sidestepping a debate over the legacy of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said World War II had “redeemed Russia from its sins.”
Well gotta hand it to the Orthodox at least they are doing what our Roman Catholic bishops should be doing! You see our bishops are still concerned with dancing girls, giant puppets, hand holding, kiss of peace, felt banners, polyester vestments, altar girls, lay people handing out Holy communion, drums, guitars, tambourines, rock music, life teen, social justice, and not worried about restoring the Traditional Latin Mass and sacraments to Holy Church!!!! But like someone in Rome said on an airplane this past Summer “who am I to judge” ???????
Well, news reports that the United Nations just sent a scathing rebuke to the Vatican regarding Her handling of the pedophilia scandal. A rebuke that forced the Vatican to call out the gay lobby ideologues pushing the buttons at the UN as their recommendation included mandatory sex education in Catholic schools, a cease and desist regarding restrictions on abortion, AND the Church’s supposed mistreatment of homosexuals.
The Vatican also had to correct the marketing attempts of the producers of “Philomena,” who would put forth that the Holy Father would be watching it. The Vatican response basically was a shame on you to those trying to use PF as a marketing tool.
God bless the UN and others for showing their true colors. Perhaps the roots of the faithful Catholic’s ‘obsession’ with these matters will come to light. And be fought from the top down out of necessity.
Ann Malley, Even when the survivors catch a break – and catch a big one they did in the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Report – they still can’t catch a break. First, the break they caught: for the first time, on a major international scale the world has heard what the victims have been saying for years. That’s historic. The David of Truth has slain the Goliath of the Code of Silence. For that, the survivors deserve an immense amount of credit.It’s only through the courage, the perseverance, and the suffering of the survivors that the people in the pews and the world at large have learned of the extent of this largest crisis in the Roman Catholic Church in 500 years. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child Report is described in news reports as “scathing,” and “blistering” against the Vatican regarding sexual abuse. The Church is called out on a global stage for its “code of silence” and the upholding of the Church’s reputation and the protection of the perpetrators over concern for and action on behalf of children — the victims.
Anonymous, I think you misunderstand me. I am exceedingly glad that the United Nations has come to bear on the Vatican as, sadly, in matters of abuse, in this case, physical abuse against children, they are having to answer for their inconsistency and lack of follow through with what Holy Mother Church actually teaches. (I grew up with the victims of pedophilia and had encounters myself in that area by my former pastor.)
That said, the United Nations is not a religious institute and that is why at this moment, in my opinion, the piggyback issues of abortion and homosexual morals have been brought up as well. And I am GLAD! Not because I believe Church teaching should be changed, but rather because I would like to see Church teaching taught. Consistently. And accountability taken from the top down to see that it is in every parish.
You may not agree, you may agree. I do not know. But by having the United Nations act in this way, they have just raised the issue of the so called Catholics who are ‘obsessed’ with the issues of homosexuality and abortion. I doubt the Vatican responded by saying that the UN was obsessed with these issues – but perhaps those in authority learned that it is precisely these issues which are rocking the Church in the current day. Not poverty as widespread as that is.
God bless and thanks for responding!
correction to Anonymous:
… I should have said that the United Nations is demonstrating to Church hierarchy that the ambiguous disconnect between Church teaching, the exercise of authority, and the rampant inconsistency with seemingly no accountability will not be tolerated.
The report, released by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva, strongly urged the Vatican to oblige its priests and bishops to take all reports about abuse to the police and end what it termed a “code of silence” under which whistle-blowers were “ostracized, demoted and fired.” As a first step, the report urged the Vatican to appoint representatives of victims groups to the commission created by Francis in December to investigate abuse, and asked the Vatican to report back on progress made by 2017. Although the committee’s recommendations are nonbinding, they are a challenge to the pope, whose popularity has soared since he was elected in March, in part with the assumption that he would reform the Vatican. “Pope Francis has already missed opportunities to assert his authority to reverse the Church’s damaging policies over clerical abuse and unless he responds positively and quickly to the demands of the committee, he risks history judging his whole papacy a failure,” said Keith Porteous Wood, the executive director of Britain’s National Secular Society, which gave evidence to the committee
Tom writes: “…Pope Francis has already missed opportunities to assert his authority to reverse the Church’s damaging policies over clerical abuse and unless he responds positively and quickly to the demands of the committee, he risks history judging his whole papacy a failure,” said Keith Porteous Wood, the executive director of Britain’s National Secular Society, which gave evidence to the committee.”
It amazes me how anybody outside the Church or any religious context can presume to know what would determine a Pope’s failure. I pray, whatever he does, he does it swiftly and with authority.
The UN panel gave credence to decades of well documented horrific crimes and cover ups. Catholic officials can’t spin or promise their way out of the crisis. Catholic officials should not be surprised when well educated objective adults judge them on consistent self serving actions, and not on professed intentions to do better in the future. The Vatican’s belligerence is deeply disappointing. Listening and learning, not ducking and dodging, can help protect children. People should ask themselves “who do I believe an impressive impartial panel of experts with an unblemished track record, or a handful of powerful complicit clerics with an extraordinarily blemished track record?” Pope Francis should instruct prelates to call off attack dogs and study the full UN panel report and start taking tangible abuse prevention steps. This is the only way the church hierarchy will be able to start safeguarding children and restoring its justifiably tattered reputation.
Even when the survivors catch a break – and catch a big one they did in the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Report – they still can’t catch a break.
First, the break they caught: for the first time, on a major international scale the world has heard what the victims have been saying for years. That’s historic. The David of Truth has slain the Goliath of the Code of Silence.
For that, the survivors deserve an immense amount of credit.
It’s only through the courage, the perseverance, and the suffering of the survivors that the people in the pews and the world at large have learned of the extent of this largest crisis in the Roman Catholic Church in 500 years.
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child Report is described in news reports as “scathing,” and “blistering” against the Vatican regarding sexual abuse.
The Church is called out on a global stage for its “code of silence” and the upholding of the Church’s reputation and the protection of the perpetrators over concern for and action on behalf of children — the victims.
ANN M, As far as the UN is concerned, the Code of Canon Law is not a religious document. It’s a constitution. The church’s teachings about abortion, homosexuality, etc., aren’t religious views—THEY ARE THE LAWS OF A NATION-STATE.
I was clouding my views on the report with American thinking about religious freedom. And that’s exactly what the Vatican wants.
If the Vatican is going to scream “religious rights,” they should not be a nation-state, immune from civil liability. If they truly want to continue to reap the rewards and benefits of their nation-state status, they should openly state, “Yes, these are our laws” and not claim “religious persecution.” But they aren’t. Instead, they are (oddly) trumpeting typical Western values of religious freedom … while at the same time decrying Western values for taking the world off of the track of moral righteousness. You can’t cherry-pick teachings on Western values to help you escape prosecution or taxation. You’re either a state or a religious faith. The Vatican can’t have it both ways.
God bless and guide Patriarch Krill. May he use any wealth he has for good. Who knows? Perhaps the watch company gave him that watch. I doubt we know the whole story.
After all, St. Nicholas of Myra was a wealthy man who used his wealth helping others. Saving three women from prostitution by providing their dowries were three of his good deeds.
Harley Davidson gave Pope Francis a motorcycle. So, yes, I’d say it is entirely possible that the watch was a gift. Good point, Ann T.
Ann Malley, What charity did Krill give his 30,000 (gift) watch to? PARIS (AP) — Pope Francis’ Harley-Davidson is hitting the road after an unspecified European buyer agreed to pay 241,500 euros ($327,000) including taxes and fees for the motorcycle at a Paris auction to benefit charity. The Bonhams auction house said the telephone buyer agreed to pay far more than the expected pre-sale price of more than 12,000 euros ($16,000) at the auction at Paris’ Grand Palais. A Harley-Davidson leather jacket signed by Pope Francis sold for 57,500 euros including fees. It’s unknown whether the pontiff ever rode the custom 2013 Dyna Super Glide that was a gift from Willie Davidson, a retired Harley-Davidson designer and grandson of the company’s co-founder. Money from the sale will be donated to charity Caritas Roma, which runs a soup kitchen and hostel for the homeless in Rome.
And St. Nicholas of Myra is one of the patrons saints of Russia.
Anne T St. Nicholas and St. Patrick are some of my favorite saints. Praise Be Jesus Christ for these wonderful saints. I get a good feeling….thanks for bringing him up!
I also love St. Padre Pio and some more….
Its hard being a sinner but these saints sure bring us a lot of great inspiration to be better and of course our Blessed Mum does a lot more than just inspire us but she sure teaches us to love better since she knows well, she is closest to Jesus. What better way to learn to love, than have our blessed Mum show us how through her son Jesus!
Well, Abeca, the trolls are coming, and there will now be endless “dialog”, so I am going off of here. It has been somewhat “hilarious” to hear all the pots calling the kettles black, if you know what I mean. In other words, we in the United States and the West need to clean up our own houses before we tell the ones in the East what they should be doing. They have gotten it right, at least on this one.
There is one last thing I want to say, Abeca, and that is that Pope Frances has come out strongly against so-called same-sex marriages and also against homosexual adoptions, but there are those who are trying to drive a wedge between him and Ex Pope Benedict IXI and Patriarch Kirill, so as to make others think the three are not of one mind on this issue when they are.
Correction, Benedict XVI.
Actually, Anne, I was calling the chamber pot red, not black. And the East we’re speaking of has made its life’s work keeping our house in disorder.
PS: St. Nicholas inherited his wealth and gave it away. Comrade Metropolitan Kirill made his ($4 Billion to date–yes, that’s a “B”) in the tobacco (and alcohol) import business through a government subsidized monopoly–he’s keeping it. Of course that pales in comparison to Putin’s $40-70 Billion–and growing. To each according to their . . . Boy, am I in the wrong business.
That $40-70b estimate is pure speculation and rumor. It’s also years old, so if true, would place him among–or above–Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. His declared net worth is a couple of million. He might be somewhere in between? It’s hard to imagine he’s not, being essentially a dictator of an empire of corruption, and gatekeeper of oligarchs. It’s a double edged sword, though. If you run a fowl of Putin, you end up like Boris Berezovsky.
Actually, Man Ray, it would make him the richest in the world. That aside, you’re right, there is Berezovsky, but also Alexander Litvinenko (spot o’ polonium tea), Anna Politkovskaya (at times poisoned, humiliated, tortured, oh, and–almost forgot–shot to death) and 142 other journalists.
The more I think about that, the more sense it makes. Carlos Helu managed to attain that distinction with a telecommunications monopoly in Mexico. That’s nothing compared to dictatorial control of the petrochemical resources of a country the size of a continent.
With a little cunning, and never more than a middle class salary, the son of a factory worker and military officer can become the world’s richest person. Putin. An inspiration to all.
The very public manner in which he makes examples of critics, obstacles, and the disloyal… and the general manner that everything about his reign can be charitably considered the triumph of ruthlessness and cynicism, makes any kind of assertions of morality disturbing. How blind can you be?
Ah, sometimes I wish this man were Pope…
I think its disgusting how homosexuals have abused and ruined the word “gay”. People who are defying God should not be considered “happy” and “carefree”.
As tragic as suicide among gays may be, the fact that the rates are high indicate that at least there is some sense of the objective wrongness of the behavior. God help us when all moral sensibilities leave us.
Anonymous, So are you saying that people who have “some sense of the objective wrongness of the behavior” see suicide as a solution? A purification perhaps? May I just say that that perspective is simply sick. If turning away from being gay were such a great thing, then you would see suicide reduced in religious families who teach that homosexuality is a sin. Instead, there is actually a lot of evidence that suicide among gay people is high in families that are not accepting of their children. Among children raised in supportive families, outcomes are much better.
Those who refuse to turn away from sin commit suicide.
They do not turn to Jesus for comfort.
Judas Iscariot did the same thing.
That is sick.
If you are genuinely pro-life, please view this report and tell me that suicide by gay kids is not the result of anti-gay taunts: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/02/05/11-year-old-boy-bullied-for-liking-gay-my-little-pony-attempts-suicide-may-have-brain-damage/
YFC, suicide is not ALL about you and others with an SSA disorder! Here are just a few sobering facts with regards to suicide just to put things in perspective:
(the following is derived from) https://facts.randomhistory.com/2009/07/15_suicide.html
— Suicide rates are the highest among the 65+ age group. This is followed by ages 25-64 and lastly by ages 10-24.
–Many more suicides are linked to psychiatric illness than to serious medical disorders such as Huntington’s disease or cancer.
–Suicide is the leading cause of death for people with schizophrenia.
–China accounts for nearly a quarter of the global total of suicides with between 250,000 and 300,000 suicides a year.
–The suicide rate for Alaskan Native Indians is twice that of the U.S. population, and in western Alaska, the Eskimo suicide rates are even higher.
–Divorced people are three times as likely to commit suicide as people who are married.
–Divorced and separated men are two and a half times more likely to commit suicide than married men.
–Children of divorce are at a higher risk for committing suicide when they grow up.
–Children of parents who commit suicide are a higher risk to committee suicide later in life.
When did I say suicide was all about gay people? Do you actually read posts you reply to?
YFC, lighten up. I never accused you of saying suicide was all about merry and lighthearted people. You need to look in the mirror before you reprimand others for saying something they never said :(
Not a “solution” YFC, just indicative.
Practicing homosexuals demanding “equality” and recognition is as perverse as serial killers marching for freedom. Both are mortal sins that will condemn the individual to eternal damnation without repentance.
Homosexuals clearly wish to destroy the moral fabric of society. They want to return us to the ethical equivalent of savages in caves—except with better electronics.
Clearly you are wrong. Gay people don’t want to destroy anything, they just want from their government what everyone wants: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Suicide is a mortal sin. It is provoked by Satan. Suicide indicates despair not repentance.
Suicide can also indicate mental illness, Anonymous, which is not a sin, rather a condition to be compassionated.
compassionated? what does that mean?
As I pointed out in response to a previous article–the “Kalashnikov/Pardon My AK-47” one a couple weeks ago–Kirill is KGB (codename “Mikhaylov”), as were his two fellow canididates for Patriarch, as was his predicessor. The Russian Orthodox Church is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Kremlin which itself is now FSB/KGB run. During the Cold War, Kirill was the KGB’s man on the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches. Putin’s Russia continues to arm terrorist organizations the world over. Liberation Theology is a KGB invention.
Disinformation is still their game, and from the reponses here, I’d say they’re pretty good at it.
https://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=35388
Actions speak louder than words.
The Russians votes at the United Nations are more humane and more moral than that of the Obama administration.
Russians vote against abortion, and against sodomy marriage.
But to the vigilant, “Active Measures” speak louder than words, Dottie.
Then you also need to be very vigilent of Obama, his administration appointees, and all those who voted for him.
He is an Active Measure.
Russians get to vote?!?
I thought Putin had eliminated that right…!
The latest fashion craze among our extreme right wing brethren in Russia is a t-shirt decorated with skulls, knives and the cross, carrying the slogan “Orthodoxy or Death!”
We can’t imagine this working for other denominations. “Methodism or Death!” somehow fails in the balls department. So why not join the Russian Orthodox Church, get your t-shirt and clunking metal cross, and get stuck into the mission to joyfully stamp on everyone else’s form of faith?
The Orthodoxy or Death! t-shirt: yours for only 750 Rubles.
As the church has become increasingly prominent, it has developed an alliance with Putin. Dale Herspring, a Kansas State University political science professor and foreign policy expert, believes each side has its reasons for developing such a relationship. He told FoxNews.com the praise from the Orthodox Church comes from its historical secondary presence to government.
“The Orthodox Church has long been subordinate to the state,” he said. “This does not mean that the Church is not prepared to raise issues. But when the state has made a decision, the issue is resolved.”
Herspring noted that the church can hardly spurn a onetime apparatchik of the secular state, given the Christian belief of redemption. As for Putin, Herspring believes his backing of the church is at least partly political.
“He has long had a soft spot for the Church,” Herspring said. “He wore a cross even while he was a KGB officer (given to him by his mother). He has been seen often in church since the end of the USSR.
“I wouldn’t call him a religious fanatic, but I think he sees the church as part of Russia,” he said. “He believes strongly in the country’s “Russianness” so he believes in the Church.”
The Mafia also display a particular antipathy towards sodomy, but we’d hardly call that a charism, would we.
Good one, Hymie!
Cheers, Ann.
I would never look to Russia as a hotbed of piety, nor of morality.
Under the Communist regime, it was bad.
Since the fall of Communism, it has been bad.
In both cases, the Russian Orthodox Church was not a shining example of goodness, as it (a) collaborated with the powers of Communism for many years, and now (b) persecutes other religions such as Catholicism for not being “Russian enough.”
Trying to having a monopoly of citizens’ faith is always bad news, and leads to corruption in the state religion, as history has always demonstrated.
Sadly.
Surely, Michael, you can’t mean that it was wrong for the Spanish Inquisition to try to gain a monopoly on the citizens’ faith! They were promoting Catholic Truth. How can that ever be wrong?
Why, the only problem with torturing people to admit their heresy, putting a sword to their neck to demand conversion, and executing those who refuse is when its done by a false religion. Anything that brings someone to the True Faith and communion with Rome can only be moral and just (as long as they promote the latin mass at the same time).
Michael, you almost act as if Protestants should be allowed to defy the Pope!
Wow, you are justifying using a sword and torture as a means of evangelization and the maintenance of orthodoxy? Bizarre. Simply bizarre.
Methinks JonJ is poking fun at fanatics who think violence is a proper tool to use in evangelization.
I could be wrong, but I believe his post in tongue in cheek, and pretty clever as well…
Glad you liked the link, Ann M and Man Ray. The best I could do for relevance and breadth. Ion Mihai Pacepa is the highest ranking Soviet bloc intelligence officer ever to defect to the West (was chief of Romanian Intelligence and more; still has a price on his head). I recommend any Catholic interested in the “framing” of Pius XII, or the true origins of Liberation Theology, to read his new book “Disinformation” which breaks new ground on both. His coauthor is Catholic Professor Ronald Rychlak (author of “Hitler, the War, and the Pope”). The Introduction by former CIA Director James Woolsey concludes with, “. . . they open a world that many of us didn’t know existed and almost all of those of us who did know had seriously underestimated.”
This millionaire schismatic bishop lives in stark contrast to our humble Pope Francis, whose insights I treasure:
https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=20416
The Pope acknowledges that it seems odd to speak about the blessing of poverty, especially at a time when many people are suffering because of a worldwide financial crisis. But he points to the birth of Jesus in lowly circumstances, saying that this shows “God’s choice to be poor.”
The Greek word used for “poor” in the Gospel means something more than material poverty, the Pope tells young people. The word refers to a beggar, he says, and this conveys “a sense of one’s limitations and existential poverty.” The Christian “beggar” knows that he must rely utterly on God, the Pope says. He cites St. Therese of Lisieux and St. Francis of Assisi as remarkable examples of that attitude.
Pope Francis offers young people three pieces of advice in his message: First of all, try to be free with regard to material things.
Second, if we are to live by this Beatitude, all of us need to experience a conversion in the way we see the poor.
However – and this is my third point – the poor are not just people to whom we can give something. They have much to offer us and to teach us.