The Lion of Rome

A few years ago, I read a story on the Internet, which I can no longer find; it was written by a man that once suffered from same-sex attraction.

He wrote that he was outraged that then Bishop Burke of LaCrosse in Wisconsin would speak out firmly against sodomy. This man sent letters to the Bishop, hateful and spiteful letters. A few years later, he had a conversion to Christ and His Church. By then, Raymond Leo Burke was the Archbishop of St. Louis, in Missouri. The man that harassed him so many times sought him out in St. Louis and was surprised when the Archbishop accepted his request for a meeting. He came to the Archbishop and apologised. Archbishop Burke then went to a closet to retrieve a shoebox. Inside the shoebox were all the letters of harassment and hate that the man had sent to him. Archbishop Burke explained that he would regularly pray over the letters for the man and gave him back his letters with his blessing.

I have a personal friend that knows Cardinal Burke personally, I told him this story and his reply was, "I don't know that I've ever heard that but I believe it because that is exactly the kind of thing that Cardinal Burke would do." 

As we digest the news, or rumour, that this holy man is about to be purged from the Curia and demoted, let us remember that God is in control and will not be mocked.

When I wrote my disgust last night to a priest friend, he responded, "The boat is Peter's and Christ is asleep, wake Him with prayer and penance."

There is nothing good that I can say about what is happening in Rome and I should say as little as possible or nothing at all; but my conscience will not allow it, I will therefore attempt to be as temperate as I can be.

The Church is in crisis as at no time in the last 500 years. Not since the protestant revolution have we been at such risk of another schism. We see daily a Vatican spin office polish an apple that is well beyond its freshness. Quotes and pictures and "rock-star" imaging. I am sick from it and sick of it. True humility is shown in the second paragraph above, not in daily issuances by hirelings in the Church of Christ over the daily action of a humble Bishop of Rome. True humility is submitting oneself to ones state in life and showing respect for those who have duties to fulfil. True humility is respecting that which came before and passing it on. True humility is not treating the Church as if it is nothing more than a political game that would make Ottawa, Washington or London blush. True humility would mean that you would do everything in your power to not scandalise the faithful. True humility would prevent one from engaging in a persecution of the most faithful followers of the Church. True humility would accept the place where you are asked to live rather than spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to make another place your own because you feel better there. True humility would not compromise the safety and security of your staff and innocent people around you by following the need to be prudent in a dangerous world rather than insist on the adulation. True humility would put on red shoes made by a local cobbler, subsidiarity it is called, and understand the symbolism behind them -- walking in the blood of the martyrs.

I could go on, but I need to stop now before I take a speckle-fitted nutty or become a Trad Behaving Badly, except for this:

They may think that they have set us back, that they will undo all that has been done for restoration. They are wrong. We will not be moved. We will not be silenced and they cannot hide. We are not our parents or our grandparents that had no knowledge and no tools. They were raised to "pray, pay and obey" and that allowed these rats, these wolves to destroy the liturgy and faith and the tolerated pederastic infiltration. We will not tolerate this anymore.

They will be outed in this life and judged by God in the next.

Do you miss him yet?

PostScript: Conclaves happen, this will not go on forever. Doctrine cannot be changed, the Holy Spirit will not allow that, though He will allow man to not listen to Him and put in the Chair someone who will tickle their ears. The day will come when there will be another Pope, a true restorationist.

A Lion in Rome.

Canadian Bishops and Durocher -- full of gas

In a move reminiscent of former Winnipeg Archbishop Weisgerber's plastic water-bottle sermon-from-the-mount, Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishop's President Paul-Andre Durocher has now decided that the greatest ill in Canada is its potential of becoming a global energy "super-power." 

Retired Archbishop of Winnipeg, Weisgerber

Quoted on Radio VM, Durocher states that while it is not a "position" it is a "working tool and reflection on issues of social justice. It is made for the education of adult faith on the social doctrine of the Church."

Originating as a Jesuit document, its English release is set for this week in Toronto. It is good to know that the Sisters of Sainte-Anne de Lachine, the Sisters of IBVM (Loreto in Toronto), the Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland and Sisters Foundation St. Joseph of the Diocese of London all support the document. Considering that each of these former Orders are on their literal death beds, what they think is hardly relevant to the Church.

CCCB President, Bishop Durocher

This is nothing more than Marxist drivel coming out of our Bishops Conference and our debauched and corrupted religious orders, particularly the Jesuits. They would prefer perhaps that North America should continue to buy its energy needs from the same people chopping. What can we expect, when the Bishop of Rome, himself a Jesuit, makes an absurd statement that the greatest problem facing the world today is "youth unemployment."

Where did these clericalists learn their economics; or do we already know?

Canada continues to be have no law protecting children at any stage from abortion. Catholics contracept at the same rate as everyone else, Mass attendance is in decline, our schools are threatened by the homosexualists and our Catholic brothers and sisters are being slaughtered. Yet, the greatest economic development is the concern of our bishops? Development that will lead to security and prosperity for our country and our native peoples in a sustainable manner? 

What poppycock! 

What drivel!

They are an affront to the Christ and His Church and to we the Catholic people.


PostScript: for more on Mario Bard, the author of the Radio VM report, read this little ditty on "sacred meals."

Thanks to New Catholic for the tip.

Bill Donahue and the Catholic League - Blowhards, Hypocrites and Irish Mafia Dons

The scandal caused by the Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan continues with its big apologist Bill Donahue and the Catholic League.

Call these two clowns, "The Gangs of New York."

Last March, he spoke openly against those homosexualist groups that desired to take part as a "group" in the St. Patrick's Day Parade rather than be happy with their own June festivities proving that it's not about the parade, its about destroying Catholic culture and faith. 

Timothy Dolan is wrong to sanction the parade's decision and he is more wrong to act as Grand Marshall. This Prince of the Church with his smiles at the "gay-friendly" parish of St. Francis Xavier, his "bravo" to an athlete that came "out" has scandalised faithful Catholics around the world.

Donahue sided with Dolan and now is distancing himself because of a technicality. The parade will not permit a prolife group to March as a "group" so therefore, the Catholic League will withdraw. He is withdrawing not because of the presence of the homosexualists but because the pro-lifers are barred.

His hypocrisy is blatant and open.

The Catholic League and Bill Donahue have lost all credibility. 

The knives in New York are out

Matt C. Abbot reports on the "case of the missing Monsignor" and it includes and an update about Father Wylie formerly of Holy Innocents Parish.

With this column by Father Rutler, one can wonder, is he next?

 

September 14, 2014

I do not like most jargon, as it diminishes the creative power of the noble English language rightly used. For instance, I do not like to be told by bureaucratic sorts to “prioritize.” (Apparently, the first recorded instance of its use was in the 1972 presidential campaign.) As with all things, Christ the Living Word put it better when he said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). God and his promise of eternal life should have priority over every other desire or concern.

Recently, many television viewers complained about a news bulletin covering the beheading of the journalist and devout Catholic, James Foley. Their objection was not to the horror of the news, but that it had interrupted the broadcast of a soap opera. We are learning quickly that people with that defective kind of priority will soon find out the hard way that life is not a soap opera. We are now engaged in a war, whether or not some politicians hesitate to call it that, and it must have priority over all other interests. The war is being fought by enemies of God, deluded by the conceit that they are fighting for God.

This is so hard for an indulged and selfish culture to accept, inasmuch as it means acknowledging that good and evil exist, though many would prefer to ignore the latter. Christians are being martyred in the Middle East, and public officials still find it hard to mention that those who are being crucified, beheaded, and driven from their homes are suffering because they are Christians.

The auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, Shlemon Warduni, said on Vatican radio: “We have to ask the world: Why are you silent? Why do not you speak out? Do human rights exist, or not? And if they exist, where are they? There are many, many cases that should arouse the conscience of the whole world: Where is Europe? Where is America?” The genocide of Christians, who have been in Iraq since shortly after the Resurrection, does not seem to have priority in the attention of many in our country.

As this suffering continues, many in the United States are willing to tolerate heresy and moral decadence in a vain attempt to “get along” with others. While Christians must “love the sinner and hate the sin,” there are an increasing number of people who are intimidated into enabling the sinner to advertise his sin. In 1992, Cardinal O’Connor said that compromising Catholic truth for the sake of political correctness “was not worth one comma in the Apostles' Creed.”

The holy martyrs in the Middle East honor the Church and atone for our degeneracy. Their bishops are willing to struggle and die with them. They must be amazed that people in other places have their priorities so wrong.

Cardinal McCarrick - Modern Judas to Christ and His Church

The phrase "there is no fool like an old fool" was never more true when it comes to former Washington Archbishop, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

Public court records include the testimony that "McCarrick, wearing just underwear then got into bed with one of its priests." If you wish to read the rest of the filth of this so-called Prince of the Church I refer you to Richard Sipe or the facts as documented by Matt C. Abbott.

Not enough for McCarrick, now he praises Mahomet and its false god with its statement equivalent to our signing of the Holy Trinity. He even wishes "peace" upon the so-called prophet who was nothing more than a murderer, warlord, thief, rapist, bigamist and child-molester. McCarrick was speaking to an Islamic group with links to the Muslim Brotherhood, a terrorist organisation now once again illegal in Egypt.

You can read the commentary by Walid Shoebat, former Muslim terrorist and a Christian and the report by Neil Munro at the Daily Caller with erudite quotes by Robert Spencer who knows a thing or two about the subject.

You may ask, "But Vox, the Bishop of Rome, Jorge Bergoglio prayed with an Imam in the Vatican." 

Yes, and he was wrong for doing it.

These Cardinals are a disgrace and an affront to Christ, His Church and all of us as Catholics.

May St. Joseph, Patron of the Church, open their eyes soon, or close them as heaven sees fit.

Eternal memory

Wiping out John Paul II and Benedict XVI

Socci - "DARKNESS IN ROME: Liberation Theology Triumphant as Work of John Paul II & Benedict XVI is Completely Wiped Out."

The Last Supper, with Marx, Lenin, Mao, Castro, and others outside a Caracas school (2007)

THE “D’ESCOTO CASE” AND THOSE WHO WANT TO WIPE OUT THE WORK DONE BY JOHN PAUL II AND BENEDICT XVI

Antonio Socci

Libero

 September 7, 2014

In the era of (Pope Francis), the Vatican has practically rehabilitated Liberation Theology, which came into existence in the 1960s and has caused untold disasters, mainly in Latin America, by fostering the Church’s subordination to Marxist thought.

Read the rest at Rorate. 

We are in trouble Voxers, big trouble.

Rob Ford and why he will be re-elected

After a year of planning, Dr. Charles McVety of Canada Christian College which had permits in the past for their parade "Jesus in the City" was denied at the last minute by Toronto bureaucrats; the same ones that issue parades for radical Islamists and homosexualists.

Dr. McVety got in touch with Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.

The parade when on.

And this friends, is why Rob Ford will be re-elected as Mayor of Toronto. A flawed individual just like the rest of us, and a real mensch!

TBB* rant of the day

So, when all hell breaks loose in October, the question to ask is "Where will Peter be?"

The next question is "Where will that leave us?"

I've asked it for weeks now.

Maybe we already know.

Communion for the Remarried. Francis Has a Yes "In Pectore"

The pope has given the go-ahead for discussion. He doesn't say whether he is on the side of those in favor or those against, but he appears to be much closer to the former than to the latter. An Australian theologian explains why

by Sandro Magister




ROME, September 8, 2014 – The latest to call for a radical change in the Church's practice and doctrine on marriage is the Belgian bishop of Antwerp, Johan Jozef Bonny.

He did so in early September with a thirty-page memorandum in multiple languages, which he also sent to Pope Francis.

Because the presumed support of Jorge Mario Bergoglio is inevitably part of the arguments of the cardinals, bishops, and theologians who are calling for the change, which would mean granting Eucharistic communion to the divorced and remarried: a key argument of the synod of bishops on the family set to have its first session in Rome this October.

Pope Francis has never said explicitly what his position is in the dispute - to which he intentionally gave free rein - between the proponents and opponents of the change.

When, for example, he defended in strong words the encyclical of Paul VI "Humanae Vitae," he disappointed the innovators, who see that very encyclical as an emblem of the disastrous detachment of the magisterium of the Church from the spirit of the times and the practice of the faithful themselves.

But on the contrary there are are increasingly numerous testimonies on how Bergoglio, as an archbishop, encouraged his priests to give communion to the cohabiting and remarried. He himself, as pope, spoke by telephone last April with a civilly divorced and remarried woman of Buenos Aires and advised her to “go receive communion in another parish if her pastor did not give it to her.” This according to the woman's account, which has not been refuted.

Read the rest here.

And this:

Pope's Morning Homily: Good News Brings Joy, Renewal

Says the Gospel Can Only Be Lived Fully by a Heart That Is Joyful and Renewed

Vatican City, September 05, 2014 (Zenit.org) Staff Reporter | 1506 hits

In his homily in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican on Friday morning, the Holy Father reflected on the “newness” of the Gospel – as Good News, and as a bringer of New Things – that frees the person who believes it from slavery to automatic legalism, and opens the heart to the new commandment: love.

The Gospel reading for Friday told the story of the Scribes, who badgered Jesus about the behavior of His disciples, by pointing out that they did not – as the disciples of John the Baptist regularly did – fast and offer prayers. The Lord would not let Himself be provoked, however:

“New wine, new wineskins: the ‘novelty’ of the Gospel – and what does the Gospel bring us? Joy and renewal [It. novità]. These Doctors of the Law were hidebound by their commandments, their rules. St. Paul, speaking of them, tells us that, before faith came – that is, Jesus – we were all kept in custody, as prisoners under the Law. This Law, of this people, was not bad: they were cared for, but they were prisoners, awaiting the advent of faith – that faith, which would be revealed in Christ, itself.” Jesus told the peopel to obey the law but not to follow the example of bad priests!

Pope Francis went on to observe that the People had both the Mosaic Law and a host of customs and smaller legal requirements that the Doctors of the Law had codified. “The Law,” said Pope Francis, “cared for the people, albeit as prisoners are cared-for, and the people were awaiting liberty – that ultimate liberty that God would give to His people through His son.”:

“One of you might say to me: ‘But Father, don’t Christians have laws?’ Yes. Jesus said: ‘I do not come to [abolish the Law], but to fulfil it.’ – and the Beatitudes, for example – the law of love – total love – as Jesus loved us, are the fullness of the Law. Jesus, when he reproves these Doctors of the Law, is taking them to task for not caring for the people with the Law, but making them slaves to so many little laws, so many little things that had to be done.” So many "little laws' like not receiving communion in the case of mortal sin -- divorced and remarried without a declaration of nullity that the first "marriage" did not exist??

Pope Francis went on to explain that all these “little things” that had to be done, had to be done without the freedom that Jesus brings to us with the new law, which He promulgated with His blood. “This,” he said, “is precisely the ransom that the people were awaiting,” while they were, “under the guardianship of the Law, however as prisoners.” The Holy Father also explained that another central lesson of this reading is that the Lord wants us not to be afraid of changing things according to the law of the Gospel: Specifically what do we need to change now, Holy Father? What exactly is it that you are referring to? Never have I heard this passage interpreted in this manner. My understanding is that Our Blessed Lord did not come to "destroy the law but to fulfill it?"

“St. Paul clearly distinguishes the children of the law from the children of faith: new wine in new wineskins – and this is why the Church asks all of us to change certain things.Change what, Holy Father? Please tel us!  She asks us to let go of decadent structures – they are useless – and to take up new wineskins, those of the Gospel. One cannot understand the mentality of these Doctors of the Law – for example – these Pharisaical ‘teachers’: the style of the Gospel is a different style, that brings the fullness of the Law – yes- but in a new way: it is the new wine in new wineskins.” "Decadent structures? Like ancient church buildings sold off for bookstores, concert venues, banquet halls and mosques? "Cannot understand these Doctors of Law?" Yes, you are right, We can understand these "Doctors" of some new "Law."

Pope Francis concluded, saying once again that the Gospel is something new, something that brings joy, something that can only be lived fully by a heart that is joyful and renewed, and prayed that God give everyone the grace to keep the new commandment of love, and the joy of that freedom, which the Good News brings.  

Have a thumbs up kind of day!

*TBB = Trad Behaving Badly

Each and ever Muslim who keeps silence is a traitor!

Rally for Iraqi Christians on Parliament Hill - Archbishop Prendergast

What he said.

Washington Monsignor's posts scrubbed from Archdiocesan webpage! -- Updated

Updated:

Monsignor Pope's blog is back up and he answers the question, "What happened to the St. Patrick's Parade Post?"

Therefore, based on the facts we can know and can conclude:

1. The chancery masters (the Archbishop and his minions) were apoplectic that the Monsignor would write against the imprudent and insane decision of the Cardinal Archbishop of New York.

2. They scrubbed the blog post.

3. They scrubbed the blog.

4. They did not expect that the Catholic and Trads Behaving Badly blogosphere would blow-up in their faces.

5. They reposted Monsignor's blog, less the article (archived forever below).

6. They think we're stupid and have found out suddenly that really, they are.

Msgr. Charles Pope wrote this article below on his blog earlier today. The  blog, once a popular part of the web page of the Archdiocese of Washington has been scrubbed.

Time to End the St. Patricks Parade and the Al Smith Dinners?

By: Msgr. Charles Pope

The time for happy-clappy, lighthearted engagement of our culture may be nearing an end. Sometimes it takes a while to understand that what used to work no longer works. Let me get more specific.

Decades ago the “Al Smith Dinner” was a time for Republicans and Democrats to bury the hatchet (even if only temporarily) and come together to raise money for the poor and to emphasize what unites us rather than what divides us. But in the old days the death of 50 million infants was not what divided us. We were divided about lesser things such as how much of the budget should go to defense and how much to social spending. Reasonable men might differ over that.

But now we are being asked to raise toasts and to enjoy a night of frivolity with those who think it is acceptable to abort children by the millions each year, with those who think anal sex is to be celebrated as an expression of love and that LGBTQIA… (I=intersexual, A= Asexual) is actually a form of sanity to which we should tip our hat, and with those who stand four-square against us over religious liberty.

Now the St. Patrick’s Parade is becoming of parade of disorder, chaos, and fake unity. Let’s be honest: St. Patrick’s Day nationally has become a disgraceful display of drunkenness and foolishness in the middle of Lent that more often embarrasses the memory of Patrick than honors it.

In New York City in particular, the “parade” is devolving into a farcical and hateful ridicule of the faith that St. Patrick preached.

It’s time to cancel the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and the Al Smith Dinner and all the other “Catholic” traditions that have been hijacked by the world. Better for Catholics to enter their churches and get down on their knees on St. Patrick’s Day to pray in reparation for the foolishness, and to pray for this confused world to return to its senses. Let’s do adoration and pray the rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet unceasingly for this poor old world.

But don’t go to the parade; stay away from the Al Smith Dinner and all that “old school” stuff that hangs on in a darkened world. And as for St Patrick’s Day, it’s time to stop wearin’ the green and instead take up the purple of Lent and mean it. Enough of the celebration of stupidity, frivolity, and drunkenness that St Paddy’s day has become. We need penance now, not foolishness. We don’t need parades and dinner with people who scoff at our teachings, insist we compromise, use us for publicity, and make money off of us. We’re being played for (and are?) fools.

End the St Patrick’s parade. End the Al Smith Dinner and all other such compromised events. Enough now, back to Church! Wear the purple of Lent and if there is going to be a procession, let it be Eucharistic and penitential for the sins of this age.

For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!

How say you?

Assumption Windsor to close -- oldest Catholic parish in Canada west of Montreal

Assumption Church of Windsor, the oldest parish in Canada west of Montreal is to be closed immediately. It is also the home of the traditional Mass community in Windsor.

The church needs $10,000,000 in repairs.

The amount paid out due to priests convicted of sexual crimes in the Diocese of London.

I am speechless.

St. Perfectus of Cordoba, Priest & Martyr, Intercede for us

Beheaded by the Moors of the Umayyad Caliphate (Muslims), Saint Perfectus (Santo Perfecto, died 850) was charged with "blasphemy", denouncing Islam and Muhammad to the very end:

"I have cursed, yea, and I will curse your prophet :

I have called and I do call him the spawn of devils, 

a magician, an adulterer, and a liar! 

I denounce the profanations of your sect to be the invention of hell."

While uttering these truths, the scimitar separated his head from his body.

Perfectus, a Spanish priest who served at the basilica of St. Aciscius just outside the city walls, was stopped one day on his way to market by a group of Muslims. Seeing that he was a priest, they asked him to explain the "catholic faith" and to share with them his opinions about Christ and Muhammed. Fearing that he would only provoke his audience, Perfectus declined. But when the Muslims swore to protect him, he proceeded, in Arabic, to decry Muhammed as one of the false prophets foretold by Christ and as a moral reprobate who had seduced the wife of his kinsman.

Though angered by the harsh attack, the Muslims respected their oaths and let Perfectus go on his way. But a few days later the priest ran into some of the same group, who no longer felt constrained by their earlier promise. Seizing Perfectus, they took him before the magistrate and testified that he had disparaged the prophet. As they led Perfectus to prison to wait out the holy month of Ramadân, he repeatedly denied his guilt. Only when he realised that his fate was sealed did he repeat his denunciation of Islam. On April 18, 850, Perfectus was decapitated before the crowds that had gathered to celebrate the end of the feast. He died on Easter Sunday.

St. Perfectus was one of the Martyrs of Córdoba whose martyrdom was recorded by Saint Eulogius in the Memoriale Sanctorum.

James Foley, Requiescat in Pace

The Moslem barbarians (I will not give them the credence of identifying them as a nation state), continue their slaughter of humans as if they were nothing more than animals. The practice of slitting the throats of animals in a painful and torturous manner under the religious edict of "Halal" is good practice for the necks of humans beings. 

The death cult of Mahomet, the diabolical, murderous, lecherous, thief and child-molester which some poor souls think is a prophet of the one God of the Universe continues unabated.

The question now is, will the man occupying the White House that says "America is no longer a Christian nation" and applauds and longs for the sound from the minaret of his evil "Muslim faith" do anything considering the beheading of this latest American. He clearly cares not for Syria or Iraqi Christians, will he care for his own?

Following up on the "smiting of the neck" of the "Jew" Nick Berg, another American journalist and a Catholic, James Foley, has been dispatched to eternity with all the efficiency of a Halal butcher.

May Nick have said yes to the Messiah Yeshua and be with Him now. May James who knew the Messiah and His Mother through the Rosary that strengthened him be in the arms of the Lord.

May his parents be comforted.

May these devils be confounded.

Courtesy of Father Z and James' mother's Twitter:

Phone call home
A letter from James Foley, Arts ’96, to Marquette.

Marquette University has always been a friend to me. The kind who challenges you to do more and be better and ultimately shapes who you become.

With Marquette, I went on some volunteer trips to South Dakota and Mississippi and learned I was a sheltered kid and the world had real problems. I came to know young people who wanted to give their hearts for others. Later I volunteered in a Milwaukee junior high school up the street from the university and was inspired to become an inner-city teacher. But Marquette was perhaps never a bigger friend to me than when I was imprisoned as a journalist.

Myself and two colleagues had been captured and were being held in a military detention center in Tripoli. Each day brought increasing worry that our moms would begin to panic. My colleague, Clare, was supposed to call her mom on her birthday, which was the day after we were captured. I had still not fully admitted to myself that my mom knew what had happened. But I kept telling Clare my mom had a strong faith.

I prayed she’d know I was OK. I prayed I could communicate through some cosmic reach of the universe to her.

I began to pray the rosary. It was what my mother and grandmother would have prayed. 
I said 10 Hail Marys between each Our Father. It took a long time, almost an hour to count 100 Hail Marys off on my knuckles. And it helped to keep my mind focused.

Clare and I prayed together out loud. It felt energizing to speak our weaknesses and hopes together, as if in a conversation with God, rather than silently and alone.

Later we were taken to another prison where the regime kept hundreds of political prisoners. I was quickly welcomed by the other prisoners and treated well.

One night, 18 days into our captivity, some guards brought me out of the cell. In the hall I saw Manu, another colleague, for the first time in a week. We were haggard but overjoyed to see each other. Upstairs in the warden’s office, a distinguished man in a suit stood and said, “We felt you might want to call your families.”

I said a final prayer and dialed the number. My mom answered the phone. “Mom, Mom, it’s me, Jim.”

“Jimmy, where are you?”

“I’m still in Libya, Mom. I’m sorry about this. So sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, Jim,” she pleaded. “Oh, Daddy just left. Oh … He so wants to talk to you. How are you, Jim?” I told her I was being fed, that I was getting the best bed and being treated like a guest.

“Are they making you say these things, Jim?”

“No, the Libyans are beautiful people,” I told her. “I’ve been praying for you to know that I’m OK,” I said. “Haven’t you felt my prayers?”

“Oh, Jimmy, so many people are praying for you. All your friends, Donnie, Michael Joyce, Dan Hanrahan, Suree, Tom Durkin, Sarah Fang have been calling. Your brother Michael loves you so much.” She started to cry. “The Turkish embassy is trying to see you and also Human Rights Watch. Did you see them?” I said I hadn’t.

“They’re having a prayer vigil for you at Marquette. Don’t you feel our prayers?” she asked.

“I do, Mom, I feel them,” and I thought about this for a second. Maybe it was others’ prayers strengthening me, keeping me afloat.

The official made a motion. I started to say goodbye. Mom started to cry. “Mom, I’m strong. I’m OK. I should be home by Katie’s graduation,” which was a month away.

“We love you, Jim!” she said. Then I hung up.

I replayed that call hundreds of times in my head — my mother’s voice, the names of my friends, her knowledge of our situation, her absolute belief in the power of prayer. She told me my friends had gathered to do anything they could to help. I knew I wasn’t alone.

My last night in Tripoli, I had my first Internet connection in 44 days and was able to listen to a speech Tom Durkin gave for me at the Marquette vigil. To a church full of friends, alums, priests, students and faculty, I watched the best speech a brother could give for another. It felt like a best man speech and a eulogy in one. It showed tremendous heart and was just a glimpse of the efforts and prayers people were pouring forth. If nothing else, prayer was the glue that enabled my freedom, an inner freedom first and later the miracle of being released during a war in which the regime had no real incentive to free us. It didn’t make sense, but faith did. 

Letter from the Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon

Another Catholic Genocide

While we look upon a genocide of our Catholic and non-Catholic brethren of Iraq and Syria, let us look back for a few minutes at another genocide--the first really of modern times and one committed by those of the same blood. Like England, one day France will have to come to terms with the horror which it committed upon its own citizens.

The Freemasons of France outdid England, but England has no reason to be praised.

May the English Martyrs and the Martyrs of Vendee intercede. 

Vendée French call for revolution massacre 

to be termed 'genocide'

It was one of the most infamous episodes of the bloody French Revolution.

By Henry Samuel in Paris

1:25PM GMT 26 Dec 2008

In early 1794 – at the height of the Reign   of Terror – French soldiers marched to the Atlantic Vendée, where peasants had risen up against the Revolutionary government in Paris.

Twelve "infernal columns" commanded by General Louis-Marie Turreau were ordered to kill everyone and everything they saw.

Thousands of people – including women and children – were massacred in cold blood, and farms and villages torched.

In the city of Nantes, the Revolutionary commander Jean-Baptiste Carrier disposed of Vendéean prisoners-of-war in a horrifically

efficient form of mass execution. In the so-called "noyades" –mass drownings – naked men, women, and children were tied together in

specially constructed boats, towed out to the middle of the river Loire and then sunk.

Now Vendée, a coastal department in western France, is calling for the incident to be remembered as the first genocide in modern

history.Residents claim the massacre has been downplayed so as not to sully the story of the French Revolution.

Historians believe that around 170,000 Vendéeans were killed in the peasant war and the subsequent massacres – and around 5,000

in the noyades.

When it was over, French General Francois Joseph Westermann penned a letter to the Committee of Public Safety stating: "There is no

more Vendée... According to the orders that you gave me, I crushed the children under the feet of the horses, massacred the women who, at

least for these, will not give birth to any more brigands. I do not have a prisoner to reproach me. I have exterminated all.”

Two centuries on, growing calls from local politicians to have it declared a "genocide" have sparked intellectual debate.

"There was in the Revolution a clearly stated programme to wipe out the Vendéean race," said Philippe de Villiers, European deputy and

former presidential candidate for the right-wing traditionalist Movement for France (MPF) party.

"Why did it take place? Because a people was chosen to be liquidated on account of their religious faith. Today we demand a law officially

declaring it as a genocide; we demand a statement from the president; and recognition by the United Nations."

Mr de Villiers – who opposes Turkish entry into the EU – was in Armenia last month, where he compared the Vendée of 1794 to the 1915

massacres of Armenians. In neither case, he said, "have the perpetrators admitted their fault or asked forgiveness of the victims".

The bloody events of the Vendée were long absent from French history books, because of the evil light they shed on the Revolutionaries.

However, they were well known in the Soviet bloc. Lenin himself had studied the war there and drew inspiration for his policies towards the peasantry.

According to the historian Alain Gérard, of the Vendéean Centre for Historical Research, "In other parts of France the revolutionaries killed the

nobles or the rich bourgeoisie. But in Vendée they killed the people.

"It was the Revolution turning against the very people from whom it claimed legitimacy. It proved the faithlessness of the Revolution to its own

principles. That's why it was wiped out of the historical memory," he said.

While today nobody denies that massacres took place, some historians argue they cannot be called "genocide" as there were excesses on

both sides in what was a civil war, and they do not fit the UN criteria of killings based on ethnic or religious identity. "The Vendéeans were no more

blameless than were the republicans. The use of the word genocide is wholly inaccurate and inappropriate," said Timothy Tackett of the University of

California.

For Mr. Gérard, the massacres were clearly "a deliberate policy on the part of the authorities". For Mr. de Villiers, an aristocrat whose family seat

is in the Vendée, genocide does indeed apply as his forebears were killed for religious reasons: they had rebelled to protect their priests, who refused

to swear an oath to the new constitution.

"It's the rare case of a people rising up for religious reasons. They did not rebel because they were hungry, but because their priests were being

killed," he said.

"It is my burden – and my great honour – to defend the Vendée to the end of my days. The Vendée is not just a province of France, it is a province

of the spirit. If today we enjoy the freedom to worship the way we choose, it is largely down to the sacrifice of those who died here."

The grave for Gravel

Raymond Gravel is dead.

The former male same-sex prostitute entered the priesthood with improper formation within one year of meeting the then bishop of Joliet. He became a Member of Parliament until ordered by the Church, in spite of his bishop, to make a choice, politics or priesthood.  

Raymond Gravel undermined church teaching during his priesthood. In death, as in life, he is lionised by the secular media for his dissent. There is no need to list his betrayal of the Bride of Christ here but questions about Gravel have been asked for decades and they persist. The bishops of Joliet have been complicit in the scandal of this man.

He chose to go so far as to sue LifeSiteNews in an attempt to break-him and the funding for this came from no less than six religious orders or houses in Quebec.

My sources tell me that his wish is for the lawsuit to continue beyond the grave.

May God have mercy on the soul of this priest.