Friday, May 31, 2019
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Dershowitz: Shame on Robert Mueller for exceeding his role
May 29, 2019 - 01:45 PM EDT
The statement by special counsel Robert Mueller in a Wednesday press conference that "if we had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime we would have said that" is worse than the statement made by then FBI Director James Comey regarding Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign. Comey declared in a July 2016 press conference that "although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive highly classified information."
Comey was universally criticized for going beyond his responsibility to state whether there was sufficient evidence to indict Clinton. Mueller, however, did even more. He went beyond the conclusion of his report and gave a political gift to Democrats in Congress who are seeking to institute impeachment proceedings against President Trump. By implying that President Trump might have committed obstruction of justice, Mueller effectively invited Democrats to institute impeachment proceedings. Obstruction of justice is a "high crime and misdemeanor" which, under the Constitution, authorizes impeachment and removal of the president.
Until today, I have defended Mueller against the accusations that he is a partisan. I did not believe that he personally favored either the Democrats or the Republicans, or had a point of view on whether President Trump should be impeached. But I have now changed my mind. By putting his thumb, indeed his elbow, on the scale of justice in favor of impeachment based on obstruction of justice, Mueller has revealed his partisan bias. He also has distorted the critical role of a prosecutor in our justice system.
Virtually everybody agrees that, in the normal case, a prosecutor should never go beyond publicly disclosing that there is insufficient evidence to indict. No responsible prosecutor should ever suggest that the subject of his investigation might indeed be guilty even if there was insufficient evidence or other reasons not to indict. Supporters of Mueller will argue that this is not an ordinary case, that he is not an ordinary prosecutor, and that President Trump is not an ordinary subject of an investigation. They are wrong. The rules should not be any different.
Remember that federal investigations by prosecutors, including special counsels, are by their very nature one sided. They hear only evidence of guilt and not exculpatory evidence. Their witnesses are not subject to the adversarial process. There is no cross examination. The evidence is taken in secret behind the closed doors of a grand jury. For that very reason, prosecutors can only conclude whether there is sufficient evidence to commence a prosecution. They are not in a position to decide whether the subject of the investigation is guilty or is innocent of any crimes.
That determination of guilt or innocence requires a full adversarial trial with a zealous defense attorney, vigorous cross examination, exclusionary rules of evidence, and other due process safeguards. Such safeguards were not present in this investigation, and so the suggestion by Mueller that Trump might well be guilty deserves no credence. His statement, so inconsistent with his long history, will be used to partisan advantage by Democrats, especially all those radicals who are seeking impeachment.
No prosecutor should ever say or do anything for the purpose of helping one party or the other. I cannot imagine a plausible reason why Mueller went beyond his report and gratuitously suggested that President Trump might be guilty, except to help Democrats in Congress and to encourage impeachment talk and action. Shame on Mueller for abusing his position of trust and for allowing himself to be used for such partisan advantage.
Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus, at Harvard Law School. His new book is "The Case Against the Democratic House Impeaching Trump." You can follow him on Twitter @AlanDersh
BY ALAN DERSHOWITZ, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill
The statement by special counsel Robert Mueller in a Wednesday press conference that "if we had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime we would have said that" is worse than the statement made by then FBI Director James Comey regarding Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign. Comey declared in a July 2016 press conference that "although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive highly classified information."
Comey was universally criticized for going beyond his responsibility to state whether there was sufficient evidence to indict Clinton. Mueller, however, did even more. He went beyond the conclusion of his report and gave a political gift to Democrats in Congress who are seeking to institute impeachment proceedings against President Trump. By implying that President Trump might have committed obstruction of justice, Mueller effectively invited Democrats to institute impeachment proceedings. Obstruction of justice is a "high crime and misdemeanor" which, under the Constitution, authorizes impeachment and removal of the president.
Until today, I have defended Mueller against the accusations that he is a partisan. I did not believe that he personally favored either the Democrats or the Republicans, or had a point of view on whether President Trump should be impeached. But I have now changed my mind. By putting his thumb, indeed his elbow, on the scale of justice in favor of impeachment based on obstruction of justice, Mueller has revealed his partisan bias. He also has distorted the critical role of a prosecutor in our justice system.
Virtually everybody agrees that, in the normal case, a prosecutor should never go beyond publicly disclosing that there is insufficient evidence to indict. No responsible prosecutor should ever suggest that the subject of his investigation might indeed be guilty even if there was insufficient evidence or other reasons not to indict. Supporters of Mueller will argue that this is not an ordinary case, that he is not an ordinary prosecutor, and that President Trump is not an ordinary subject of an investigation. They are wrong. The rules should not be any different.
Remember that federal investigations by prosecutors, including special counsels, are by their very nature one sided. They hear only evidence of guilt and not exculpatory evidence. Their witnesses are not subject to the adversarial process. There is no cross examination. The evidence is taken in secret behind the closed doors of a grand jury. For that very reason, prosecutors can only conclude whether there is sufficient evidence to commence a prosecution. They are not in a position to decide whether the subject of the investigation is guilty or is innocent of any crimes.
That determination of guilt or innocence requires a full adversarial trial with a zealous defense attorney, vigorous cross examination, exclusionary rules of evidence, and other due process safeguards. Such safeguards were not present in this investigation, and so the suggestion by Mueller that Trump might well be guilty deserves no credence. His statement, so inconsistent with his long history, will be used to partisan advantage by Democrats, especially all those radicals who are seeking impeachment.
No prosecutor should ever say or do anything for the purpose of helping one party or the other. I cannot imagine a plausible reason why Mueller went beyond his report and gratuitously suggested that President Trump might be guilty, except to help Democrats in Congress and to encourage impeachment talk and action. Shame on Mueller for abusing his position of trust and for allowing himself to be used for such partisan advantage.
Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus, at Harvard Law School. His new book is "The Case Against the Democratic House Impeaching Trump." You can follow him on Twitter @AlanDersh
Pope Francis Denies He Knew of Abuse by McCarrick
Pope Francis at the Vatican last week.
Filippo Monteforte/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
By Jason Horowitz
May 28, 2019
ROME — For nearly a year, Pope Francis remained mostly silent in the face of a searing accusation by a former papal ambassador to the United States that he knew, and did nothing about, the sexual misconduct of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick — a silence that fueled criticism that he was tone deaf on the issue of sex abuse that was plaguing his church.
But in an interview published Tuesday, just weeks after Francis issued the first law requiring that officials in the Roman Catholic Church worldwide report cases of clergy sexual abuse to their superiors, he directly denied the accusation.
“About McCarrick I knew nothing. Obviously, nothing, nothing,” he said in the wide-ranging interview with the Mexican television network Televisa, a transcript of which was also published by the Vatican’s own news outlet, Vatican News. He added that before a church investigation reported the misconduct, “I knew nothing, no idea.”
Last August, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, a former ambassador to Washington, said that he had personally told Francis about penalties imposed on Mr. McCarrick, a former archbishop of Washington, by the pope’s predecessor, Benedict XVI.
In the interview, Francis said, “I don’t remember if he told me about this. If it’s true or not. No idea! But you know that about McCarrick, I knew nothing. If not, I wouldn’t have remained quiet, right?”
The pope accepted Mr. McCarrick’s resignation from the College of Cardinals last year after he was accused of abusing seminarians and minors and then, after he was found guilty by a church court, expelled him from the priesthood.
Filippo Monteforte/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
By Jason Horowitz
May 28, 2019
ROME — For nearly a year, Pope Francis remained mostly silent in the face of a searing accusation by a former papal ambassador to the United States that he knew, and did nothing about, the sexual misconduct of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick — a silence that fueled criticism that he was tone deaf on the issue of sex abuse that was plaguing his church.
But in an interview published Tuesday, just weeks after Francis issued the first law requiring that officials in the Roman Catholic Church worldwide report cases of clergy sexual abuse to their superiors, he directly denied the accusation.
“About McCarrick I knew nothing. Obviously, nothing, nothing,” he said in the wide-ranging interview with the Mexican television network Televisa, a transcript of which was also published by the Vatican’s own news outlet, Vatican News. He added that before a church investigation reported the misconduct, “I knew nothing, no idea.”
Last August, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, a former ambassador to Washington, said that he had personally told Francis about penalties imposed on Mr. McCarrick, a former archbishop of Washington, by the pope’s predecessor, Benedict XVI.
In the interview, Francis said, “I don’t remember if he told me about this. If it’s true or not. No idea! But you know that about McCarrick, I knew nothing. If not, I wouldn’t have remained quiet, right?”
The pope accepted Mr. McCarrick’s resignation from the College of Cardinals last year after he was accused of abusing seminarians and minors and then, after he was found guilty by a church court, expelled him from the priesthood.
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Jared Kushner, Google’s Schmidt and Microsoft’s Nadella to attend secret Bilderberg Meeting
Published Tue, May 28 2019 7:02 AM EDTUpdated Tue, May 28 2019 12:27 PM EDT
David Reid@cnbcdavy
Key Points
The annual Bilderberg Meeting, designed to foster warmer relations between the United States and Europe, starts Thursday in Switzerland and runs through Sunday.
The event’s website says about 130 participants from 23 countries have confirmed their attendance this year.
Getty Images
Jared Kushner, senior advisor to President Donald Trump, is set to attend this year’s Bilderberg Meeting in the Swiss town of Montreux this week.
Founded in 1954, the Bilderberg Meeting was designed to foster warmer relations between the United States and Europe. The annual talk fest is considered secretive because guests are not allowed to reveal who said what at the meeting.
The Bilderberg guest list typically includes top politicians, business leaders, financiers, academics and influential members of the media. The event’s website said Tuesday that about 130 participants from 23 countries have confirmed their attendance this year.
Borderless (2019) | EMERGENCY BACKUP
Warning:
Some offensive and vulgar language used during this documentary video.
The Rev. Franklin Graham packs E. Providence park with evangelical message
By Alex Kuffner
Posted May 26, 2019 at 10:26 PM
Updated May 26, 2019 at 10:32 PM
Graham▲
The Rev. Franklin Graham in an interview before his time on stage at Bold Point Park in East Providence Sunday evening. [The Providence Journal / Alex Kuffner]▲
"It’s wonderful to see a turnout like this in Rhode Island," says one attendee. "We’re not the Bible Belt, after all."
EAST PROVIDENCE — The Rev. Franklin Graham has made headlines when he's waded into the political arena, whether he's voicing support for President Donald Trump or, as he did recently, chastising the openly gay Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg.
But in his visit to Rhode Island on Sunday the eldest son of the late evangelical leader Billy Graham wanted the focus to be on his conservative vision of Christianity.
"I want people to know how they can have a relationship with God," Graham said before taking the stage at Bold Point Park.
In this stop on his Decision America Northeast Tour, he preached his evangelical Christian message to the capacity crowd, which answered with cries of "Amen!" and "Hallelujah!"
"God loves you," said Graham, the CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
More than 4,000 people attended the free event. They included Denise Morel, of East Providence, who, before Graham took the stage, said she came out to hear a celebration of Christianity.
"It’s wonderful to see a turnout like this in Rhode Island," says one attendee. "We’re not the Bible Belt, after all."
EAST PROVIDENCE — The Rev. Franklin Graham has made headlines when he's waded into the political arena, whether he's voicing support for President Donald Trump or, as he did recently, chastising the openly gay Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg.
But in his visit to Rhode Island on Sunday the eldest son of the late evangelical leader Billy Graham wanted the focus to be on his conservative vision of Christianity.
"I want people to know how they can have a relationship with God," Graham said before taking the stage at Bold Point Park.
In this stop on his Decision America Northeast Tour, he preached his evangelical Christian message to the capacity crowd, which answered with cries of "Amen!" and "Hallelujah!"
"God loves you," said Graham, the CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
More than 4,000 people attended the free event. They included Denise Morel, of East Providence, who, before Graham took the stage, said she came out to hear a celebration of Christianity.
Monday, May 27, 2019
Pope blasts fearful, ‘racist’ attitude toward migrants
Elise Harris
May 27, 2019
SENIOR CORRESPONDENT
Pope Francis delivers his message during his visit to a refugee center on the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria, Monday, May 6, 2019. (Credit: AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino.)
ROME - A day after Europe hit the voting booths for the latest round of European Parliament elections, with the migrant crisis a major talking point, Pope Francis issued a message urging society to drop skepticism and prejudice towards newcomers, calling the attitudes racist.
In his May 27 message for the World Day for Migrants and Refugees, Francis said the migration issue is not just about migrants and refugees, but “it is also about our fears.”
“The signs of meanness we see around us heighten our fear of ‘the other,’ the unknown, the marginalized, the foreigner,” he said, noting that many migrants seeking a better future end up as the recipients of this meanness.
While some fear is normal and even legitimate, “the problem is not that we have doubts and fears,” he said. “The problem is when they condition our way of thinking and acting to the point of making us intolerant, closed and perhaps even - without realizing it - racist.”
Pope Francis delivers his message during his visit to a refugee center on the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria, Monday, May 6, 2019. (Credit: AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino.)
ROME - A day after Europe hit the voting booths for the latest round of European Parliament elections, with the migrant crisis a major talking point, Pope Francis issued a message urging society to drop skepticism and prejudice towards newcomers, calling the attitudes racist.
In his May 27 message for the World Day for Migrants and Refugees, Francis said the migration issue is not just about migrants and refugees, but “it is also about our fears.”
“The signs of meanness we see around us heighten our fear of ‘the other,’ the unknown, the marginalized, the foreigner,” he said, noting that many migrants seeking a better future end up as the recipients of this meanness.
While some fear is normal and even legitimate, “the problem is not that we have doubts and fears,” he said. “The problem is when they condition our way of thinking and acting to the point of making us intolerant, closed and perhaps even - without realizing it - racist.”
Sunday, May 26, 2019
Saturday, May 25, 2019
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director asked to resign
L. Francis Cissna oversaw the agency during the final iteration of the travel ban, attempts to repeal status for “Dreamers” and repeated attempts to limit undocumented immigrants crossing the southern border.
Lee Francis Cissna, director of U.S. Customs and Immigration Services, testifies before the House Homeland Security Committee's Border and Marine Security subcommittee on Capitol Hill on May 22, 2018.Aaron P. Bernstein / Getty Images file
May 24, 2019, 6:38 PM ET
By Julia Ainsley
WASHINGTON — The director of the agency overseeing legal entry into the United States, including through green cards and asylum, was asked to resign from the agency on Friday, according to a letter sent out to the agency and obtained by NBC News.
L. Francis Cissna has served as President Trump’s only director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security. He oversaw the agency during the final iteration of the travel ban, attempts to repeal status for “Dreamers” and the administration’s repeated attempts to limit the ability for undocumented immigrants crossing the southern border from Central America to claim asylum.
USCIS is now on the verge of finalizing a rule to restrict legal immigrants who use public benefits from receiving green cards, or legal permanent residency.
Since the abrupt firing of former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in April, Cissna’s departure has been rumored to follow. The White House, at the direction of senior adviser Stephen Miller, has been eliminating staff who are seen as out of step with more hardline policies.
May 24, 2019, 6:38 PM ET
By Julia Ainsley
WASHINGTON — The director of the agency overseeing legal entry into the United States, including through green cards and asylum, was asked to resign from the agency on Friday, according to a letter sent out to the agency and obtained by NBC News.
L. Francis Cissna has served as President Trump’s only director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security. He oversaw the agency during the final iteration of the travel ban, attempts to repeal status for “Dreamers” and the administration’s repeated attempts to limit the ability for undocumented immigrants crossing the southern border from Central America to claim asylum.
USCIS is now on the verge of finalizing a rule to restrict legal immigrants who use public benefits from receiving green cards, or legal permanent residency.
Since the abrupt firing of former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in April, Cissna’s departure has been rumored to follow. The White House, at the direction of senior adviser Stephen Miller, has been eliminating staff who are seen as out of step with more hardline policies.
Border Patrol seizes aircraft loaded with meth, fentanyl after it flies into US
ABCNews
By Mark OsborneMay 25, 2019, 5:55 AM ET
WATCH: The Tohono O'odham Nation, the third largest Native American reservation in the U.S., has become one of the busiest drug and human smuggling corridors in North America.
An ultralight aircraft carrying half a million dollars worth of methamphetamine and fentanyl across the southern border was nabbed by Border Patrol agents late Thursday, according to the agency, but the pilot managed to make an escape.
The single-person aircraft was tracked flying across the U.S.-Mexico border by agents in the Nogales and Tucson, Arizona, stations at about 11 p.m. The ultralight craft was tracked to a landing site on a dirt road south of Tucson, Customs and Border Protection said in a press release.
The drugs were found, but the pilot was not.
"An [Air and Marine Operations] helicopter crew and Border Patrol agents conducted an exhaustive search of the area, but did not find the presumed pilot," CBP said in a statement.
Authorities seized 143 pounds of meth and 220 grams of fentanyl worth about $500,000 -- packed into two plastic containers riding shotgun on the aircraft.
Despite the relatively small quantity, fentanyl is so strong -- about 50 times stronger than heroin -- that it is measured in micrograms, or 1 milllionth of a gram, according to the Harm Reduction Coalition.
Flying drugs across the border is not as common as other methods, but the Border Patrol said, "Transnational criminal organizations use a wide range of techniques to smuggle both humans and narcotics into the United States."
Even drones are being used to smuggle drugs over the border. A man in San Diego was sentenced to 12 years in prison in January 2018 for remotely piloting a drone to bring meth into the U.S., according to San Diego ABC affiliate KGTV.
An ultralight aircraft carrying half a million dollars worth of methamphetamine and fentanyl across the southern border was nabbed by Border Patrol agents late Thursday, according to the agency, but the pilot managed to make an escape.
The single-person aircraft was tracked flying across the U.S.-Mexico border by agents in the Nogales and Tucson, Arizona, stations at about 11 p.m. The ultralight craft was tracked to a landing site on a dirt road south of Tucson, Customs and Border Protection said in a press release.
The drugs were found, but the pilot was not.
"An [Air and Marine Operations] helicopter crew and Border Patrol agents conducted an exhaustive search of the area, but did not find the presumed pilot," CBP said in a statement.
Authorities seized 143 pounds of meth and 220 grams of fentanyl worth about $500,000 -- packed into two plastic containers riding shotgun on the aircraft.
Despite the relatively small quantity, fentanyl is so strong -- about 50 times stronger than heroin -- that it is measured in micrograms, or 1 milllionth of a gram, according to the Harm Reduction Coalition.
Flying drugs across the border is not as common as other methods, but the Border Patrol said, "Transnational criminal organizations use a wide range of techniques to smuggle both humans and narcotics into the United States."
Even drones are being used to smuggle drugs over the border. A man in San Diego was sentenced to 12 years in prison in January 2018 for remotely piloting a drone to bring meth into the U.S., according to San Diego ABC affiliate KGTV.
5 Catholic priests charged in Michigan sex abuse investigation
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announces criminal charges against 5 Catholic priests in Michigan.
JUNFU HAN, DETROIT FREE PRESS
NIRAJ WARIKOO | DETROIT FREE PRESS
Updated 4 hours ago
As part of the state's investigation into sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Friday criminal sexual conduct charges against five priests in Michigan.
"Some of these clergy ... preyed on young children," Nessel said at a news conference about the men who were priests at the time of the alleged abuse. She said the five cases were the "tip of the iceberg" as investigators continue to track down hundreds of tips on abuse by Catholic priests.
In some of the incidents, the priests mixed their sexual activity with references to Catholic beliefs or committed the acts during Catholic rituals such as confession, according to allegations in affidavits.
In other cases, the priests plied children with drugs such as cocaine, marijuana and alcohol before sexually assaulting them, allege prosecutors and police. In one case, a priest is accused of threatening to kill his victim if the boy reported the abuse.
Deputy Solicitor General Ann Sherman, who is helping with the investigations, said that some Catholic Church officials have alarming views on sexual abuse of children.
"I am deeply disturbed by what we have discovered," Sherman said at the news conference. "I'm also disturbed by some attitudes of some of the hierarchy in the church ... who demonstrated a serious misunderstanding of sexual assault."
In one case, a priest "explained that this child victim needed to simply admit that he teased, enticed, or gave permission for the abuse to occur," Sherman said. "This attitude is horrific. Sexual abuse is never the fault of the victim and it certainly can never be that sexual abuse of a child is a child's fault."
Nessel urged people who are victims or may have information about abuse to contact them. She was joined by several attorneys on her staff pursuing justice for victims and also an abuse victim, Andy Russell, who urged victims to come forward.
"We are your voice," Nessel said. "We are here for you."
Licensed Undocumented Immigrants May Lead To Safer Roads,
Licensed Undocumented Immigrants May Lead To Safer Roads, Connecticut Finds
LISTEN· 4:34
May 24, 20197:04 AM ET
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Brazil's highest court votes to make homophobia a crime
The decision comes amid fears the country's far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, will roll back LGBTQ social gains.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro speaks during a ceremony at the Federation of Industries of Rio de Janeiro (FIRJAN) headquarters in Rio de Janeiro on May 20, 2019.
Mauro Pimentel / AFP - Getty Images
May 24, 2019, 5:32 PM ET
By The Associated Press
A majority in Brazil's supreme court has voted to make homophobia and transphobia crimes like racism, a decision coming amid fears the country's far-right president will roll back LGBTQ social gains.
Six of the Supreme Federal Tribunal's 11 judges have voted in favor of the measure. The five other judges will vote in a court session on June 5, but the result will not be modified. The measure will take effect after all the justices have voted.
Racism was made a crime in Brazil in 1989 with prison sentences of up to five years. The court's judges ruled that homophobia should be framed within the racism law until the country's congress approves legislation specifically dealing with LGBTQ discrimination.
Taiwan recognized same-sex marriage for the first time.
Here are the scenes of joy.
Same-sex couples tied the knot in emotional scenes in Taiwan, the first legal marriages in Asia hailed by activists as a social revolution for the region. (Reuters)
May 24, 2019 at 1:33 PM EDT
Taiwan last week became first place in Asia to recognize same-sex unions, in what is considered a landmark achievement for LGTBQ rights. On Friday, the first couples began tying the knot at Taipei’s Xinyi District Household Registration office.
Hundreds of same-sex couples exchanged vows, according to Time magazine. Throngs of reporters with cameras filled the office, alongside couples dressed to wed, as the unions were made legal.
The legislature of the island near China voted last week, 66 to 27, to recognize the marriages, beating a two-year deadline established by Taiwan’s high court on May 24, 2017. The court ruled then, Nick Aspinwall wrote in The Washington Post, that barring same-sex couples from marrying violated the Taiwanese constitution.
Conservative opposition followed, and Taiwanese voters in a November 2018 public referendum chose not to extend full rights to same-sex couples. But the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) helped pass legislation that provides same-sex couples with child custody, tax and insurance benefits.
Taiwan becomes first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage
On Friday, couples basked in the glow of matrimony.
“Taiwan’s gay people have gone through a tough path,” Shane Lin, who married Marc Yuan, said during a post-wedding news conference, according to Inkstone News, which transcribed a video from ETtoday. “Today I can openly tell everyone, in front of so many people, that we are getting married and we are gay.”
School strike for climate: Protests staged around the world
24 May 2019
Belgium students among one million expected in more than 100 countries
School students around the world have gone on strike to demand action on climate change.
Organisers said more than a million people were expected to join the action in at least 110 countries on Friday.
They are calling on politicians and businesses to take urgent action to slow global warming.
The strikes are inspired by student Greta Thunberg, who has become a global figurehead since protesting outside Sweden's parliament in 2018.
Carrying a "school strike for climate change" sign, the then 15-year-old said she was refusing to attend classes until Swedish politicians took action.
School students around the world have gone on strike to demand action on climate change.
Organisers said more than a million people were expected to join the action in at least 110 countries on Friday.
They are calling on politicians and businesses to take urgent action to slow global warming.
The strikes are inspired by student Greta Thunberg, who has become a global figurehead since protesting outside Sweden's parliament in 2018.
Carrying a "school strike for climate change" sign, the then 15-year-old said she was refusing to attend classes until Swedish politicians took action.
The Swedish teen behind the climate strikes
The solo protest led to various movements across Europe, the US and Australia, known as Fridays for Future or School Strike for Climate.
The last co-ordinated international protest took place on 15 March, with an estimated 1.6 million students from 125 countries walking out of school.
The solo protest led to various movements across Europe, the US and Australia, known as Fridays for Future or School Strike for Climate.
The last co-ordinated international protest took place on 15 March, with an estimated 1.6 million students from 125 countries walking out of school.
Friday, May 24, 2019
Adventists and Lutherans share combined Easter service
By Daniel Kuberek - May 3, 2019
Conference president Pastor David Butcher (left) with Pastor David Gogoll.
Seventh-day Adventist campers in South Australia were joined by hundreds of Lutheran worshippers from the Barossa Valley region for a combined Good Friday Easter service on April 18.
The South Australian Conference’s Big Camp meetings are held at Faith Lutheran College in Tanunda, traditionally during the first week of the April school holidays.
“That created something of a problem,” said Pastor Garry Hodgkin, one of the organisers of the program. “The Barossa Lutherans normally utilise this facility for a combined Easter service.”
“Because of that clash, they actually approached us and said, ‘Look, would you be prepared to do a combined worship event on Good Friday?’ We thought about it, we prayed about it, and thought it would be a worthwhile project.”
The program featured musical items from Seventh-day Adventist musical group One Accord, as well as praise time, led by Gilson College chaplain Pastor Mau Tuaoi. Heather Slade from the Lutheran group shared a children’s story, before ministers from both the Lutheran and Seventh-day Adventist Church presented short sermonettes on the significance of Easter.
Lutheran senior Pastor David Gogoll presented on the practical outcomes of the cross. “There are all sorts of theories, we call them the theories of atonement, about what actually happened on the cross. But at the heart of what happened on the cross was that God wants a relationship with you. That God loves you,” he told the capacity crowd.
A presentation by South Australian Conference president Pastor David Butcher followed, speaking on the practical meaning of resurrection. “God’s love is all encompassing,” he preached. “But we live in a world of pain and the resurrection, the return of Jesus provides the only hope.”
Reflecting on combined worship, Pastor Hodgkin said, “This event was not planned as an ecumenical gathering, but rather as a wonderful opportunity to express friendship and provide witness to other Christian people.”
“The thing that I particularly appreciate about this service is that we’ve got other individuals coming along to our Big Camp who are not Seventh-day Adventist. In this particular gathering today, we had about 400 Lutherans. We had about 350 Adventists. So often at our Big Camps, it’s a matter of us talking to ourselves.”
Pastor Butcher echoed these sentiments. “One of the things we want to look at is how to better connect with the local community when we do run camp.”
The event was also live streamed by local production ministry, Living Ministry Media.
Source
Thursday, May 23, 2019
The Jesuits and the Inquisition, 1540-1556
The Jesuits and the Inquisition, 1540-1556 | The Protestant Reformation
June 4, 2008 by Marge Anderson
The greatest of these clerical orders by far was the Society of Jesus, founded in 1540 by the Spaniard Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556). Loyola, who had been a soldier, turned to religion after receiving a painful wound in battle. From the first the Jesuits were the soldiery of the Catholic church; their leader bore the title of general, and a military discipline was laid down in Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises, which set the rules for the order.
The Jesuits have always been a center of controversy. To their hostile critics, the Jesuits have seemed unscrupulous soldiers of the pope, indulging in dirty fighting if such tactics seemed likely to bring victory. They have been accused of preaching and practicing the doctrine that the end justifies the means and also of pursuing worldly power and success. Yet historical record leaves no doubt of Jesuit success in bolstering the spiritual as well as the material credit of Catholicism.
Jesuits seemed to be everywhere, in Hungary, in Poland, in England, in Holland, trying to win back lands and peoples from the Protestants. They were winning new lands and peoples on the expanding frontiers of the West, in India, in China, in Japan, in North America. They were martyrs, preachers, teachers, social workers, counselors of statesmen.
As realists they particularly sought to influence the politically powerful and to mold the young men who would later become leaders. Their schools rapidly acquired great fame, not only for the soundness of their Catholic doctrines, but also for their humanistic classical teaching and their insistence on good manners, adequate food, and exercise.
While the Society of Jesus was the chief new instrument of the Catholic Reformation, an old instrument of the church was also employed—the Inquisition. This special ecclesiastical court in its papal form had been started in the thirteenth century to put down the Albigensian heresy, and in its Spanish form in the fifteenth century to bolster the efforts of the new Spanish monarchy to force religious uniformity on its subjects. Both papal and Spanish inquisitions were medieval courts that used medieval methods of torture, and both were employed against the Protestants in the sixteenth century.
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
In Mexico, Thousands of Adventists Clean The Streets in Chiapas
A group of Seventh-day Adventists in the city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, in Chiapas, Mexico, pauses for a photo after cleaning several city blocks near the Belisario Dominguez Boulevard, on Apr. 28, 2019. More than 5,000 members took to the streets of their city in support of the local government’s “Let’s Clean Tuxtla,” initiative. Photo: Chiapas Mexican Union
May 15, 2019 | Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico | Uriel Castellanos/IAD News Staff
More than 5,000 Seventh-day Adventists in Tuxtla Gutierrez in Chiapas, Mexico, cleaned streets in support of the city’s “Let’s Clean Tuxtla” initiative. Thousands of children, young people, and adults from dozens of Adventist Churches in Tuxtla, woke up early on Sunday, Apr. 28, 2019, to sweep, clear debris, and collect trash in four areas near the city’s main road, Belisario Dominguez Boulevard.
Wearing Pathfinder uniforms or special shirts identifying them as Seventh-day Adventists, the group cleared parks, emptied lots and held signs encouraging drivers and onlookers to keep the city clean.
Young people clean fields and empty lots in the city as part of the day’s activity. Photo: Chiapas Mexican Union
“For Seventh-day Adventists, the environment in which we live in is very important so that’s why as church members we try to get involved in these types of projects,” said Pastor Daniel Torreblanca, communication director for the church in Chiapas and one of the main organizers of the event. “A clean city, is a happy city, hence, it produces happy and healthy citizens.”
Torreblanca said it was important to join the city’s initiative to clean and beautify the city as a way of raising awareness and getting citizens more involved.
Consuelo Anahí Ruíz Cruz, secretary of the environment and urban mobility of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, thanked the Adventist Church on behalf of the city leaders for such a large impact across the city. “We would not be able to carry out this initiative of ‘Let’s Clean Tuxtla’ without the support of your [Adventist] churches,” said Ruíz. The Adventist Church has been the largest religious organization to support the initiative so far, said Ruíz.
Jonathan Duffy (ADRA International), World Humanitarian Summit (Istanbul, 2016)
Share: Jonathan Duffy (ADRA International), World Humanitarian Summit (Istanbul, 2016), Member States and Stakeholders Announcements,
Jonathan Duffy (ADRA International), World Humanitarian Summit (Istanbul, 2016), Member States and Stakeholders Announcements,
The Summit has three main goals:
1. To re-inspire and reinvigorate a commitment to humanity and to the universality of humanitarian principles.
2. To initiate a set of concrete actions and commitments aimed at enabling countries and communities to better prepare for and respond to crises, and be resilient to shocks.
3. To share best practices which can help save lives around the world, put affected people at the center of humanitarian action, and alleviate suffering. ... Show more »
World Humanitarian Summit
English 23 May 2016
English 24 May 2016
Italian high schoolers are helping bring secret Vatican archives to the masses
MAY 21, 2019 / 9:06 AM / CBS NEWS
Deep inside Vatican City lies a bunker holding a remarkable historical record – a catalog of every word written by every pope over more than 1,000 years. The secret archive holds millions of church documents including decrees and correspondence from every pope dating back more than a millennia.
Lined up, it would stretch more than 50 miles – about the length of the Panama Canal. Today, only academics with special permission can access it; otherwise it's locked away.
Marco Maiorino, a paleographer who studies ancient texts, showed CBS News' Seth Doane the frescoed room where the archives started. Valuable records – including a papal correspondence from the 13th century – have not been digitized and remain inaccessible for most. The document includes obscure abbreviations and are handwritten in Medieval Latin.
Transcribing them is difficult for a human expert, Maiorino said. It's even more difficult for a computer, which needs to identify letters to transcribe and make text searchable. Enter an unlikely group of helpers: hundreds of high schoolers in Rome who are teaching the computers how to read the handwritten Latin.
"The program doesn't know which of these letters are an 'e' or a 'b' so by highlighting them we can teach the program," explained one of the students taking part in the effort.
The idea to include the high schoolers was Paolo Merialdo's, a professor at Roma Tre University in Rome. Merialdo enlisted 600 Italian high school students to help the computers develop a linguistic artificial intelligence.
"We are providing a sort of 'Google Translate' for paleographers," Merialdo said.
Artificial intelligence can "democratize" these documents by allowing them to be digitized and made accessible beyond the Vatican walls. The technology could also one day be used to decipher ancient manuscripts anywhere. If successful, so many more people will be able to explore the ancient writings that surround them.
First published on May 21, 2019 / 9:06 AM
© 2019 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
FAITH COMMUNITIES CAN CHANGE THE DIALOGUE FROM HATE AND IGNORANCE TO PEACE, ..
ADRA PRESIDENT: "FAITH COMMUNITIES CAN CHANGE THE DIALOGUE FROM HATE AND IGNORANCE TO PEACE, LOVE, AND ACCEPTANCE"
Published:
May 19, 2019
SILVER SPRING, MD – During a recent summit held in Geneva, Switzerland, Jonathan Duffy, president for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) joined hundreds of interfaith world leaders to discuss fostering inclusivity and countering hate speech to enhance the protection of religious minorities, refugees, and migrants.
Duffy served on a panel of esteemed lawyers and executive directors, organized by the International Association for the Defense of Religious Liberty. He shared what the global trends in migration are and highlighted what drives migration.
In his opening statement, Duffy highlighted four “C’s” that drive migration: concentration, corruption, conflict, and climate change.
“The concentration I speak of is a concentration of jobs, wealth, and knowledge, both individually and geographically,” Duffy says. “Knowledge and economy with its associated emphasis with technology is concentrating wealth and power, and with it, jobs. This is leading toward a migration to the cities.”
Duffy highlighted the second “C”, which was corruption. “It’s arguably the biggest drag on economic development,” he adds. He quoted from former World Bank president, Jim Young Kim, who likened corruption to that of a dollar put into the pocket of a corrupt official or business person that is a dollar stolen from those who need it most.
May 19, 2019
SILVER SPRING, MD – During a recent summit held in Geneva, Switzerland, Jonathan Duffy, president for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) joined hundreds of interfaith world leaders to discuss fostering inclusivity and countering hate speech to enhance the protection of religious minorities, refugees, and migrants.
Duffy served on a panel of esteemed lawyers and executive directors, organized by the International Association for the Defense of Religious Liberty. He shared what the global trends in migration are and highlighted what drives migration.
In his opening statement, Duffy highlighted four “C’s” that drive migration: concentration, corruption, conflict, and climate change.
“The concentration I speak of is a concentration of jobs, wealth, and knowledge, both individually and geographically,” Duffy says. “Knowledge and economy with its associated emphasis with technology is concentrating wealth and power, and with it, jobs. This is leading toward a migration to the cities.”
Duffy highlighted the second “C”, which was corruption. “It’s arguably the biggest drag on economic development,” he adds. He quoted from former World Bank president, Jim Young Kim, who likened corruption to that of a dollar put into the pocket of a corrupt official or business person that is a dollar stolen from those who need it most.
Monday, May 20, 2019
Billionaire pledges to pay off student debt of 2019 class at commencemen...
Last words of Billionaire philanthropist Robert Smith's speech:
"and may god hold you on the cradle of "her" hands.
Listen for yourself...
Sunday, May 19, 2019
'As a grandfather, this is the battle of my life,' UN Secretary General on climate change
ReutersNews
May 16, 2019
Rumble / Trending News — United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said on Thursday that as a grandfather, climate change was the battle of his life. Rough cut (no reporter narration).
Saturday, May 18, 2019
Trump admin is denying citizenship to some children of same-sex couples
By Jennifer Hansler, CNN
Updated 3:09 AM ET, Sat May 18, 2019
Same-sex couple: Our daughter is being denied citizenship
(CNN) Roee and Adiel Kiviti have been married almost six years and live in the United States. They are both American citizens, as is their 2-year-old son, Lev. However, they say their infant daughter, Kessem, has been denied birthright citizenship under a State Department policy that considers her "born out of wedlock" -- and they're not the first LGBT family to be affected by the policy under the Trump administration.
Both children were born in Canada using an egg donor and a surrogate mother. The Kivitis told CNN's Brianna Keilar that it was "a straightforward procedure" to obtain Lev's US passport. This was not the case when they sought to do the same for Kessem in early May.
The Kivitis said it initially seemed that their daughter's passport application would be processed under the policy for children born abroad of two US parents. However, they were later told her application had been flagged for surrogacy. Under the State Department policy on "assisted reproductive technology," "a child born abroad to a surrogate, whose genetic parents are a U.S. citizen father and anonymous egg donor, is considered for citizenship purposes to be a person born out of wedlock." When asked for comment on the Kivitis' story, a State Department official directed CNN to this operational guidance.
"We feel that it targets specifically LGBT families," Adiel Kiviti told Keilar on "CNN Right Now."
"To be honest, when a straight couple is using surrogacy, or when a straight couple is using an egg donation or sperm donation, nobody asks them if they are the biological parents of the child, it's just an assumption. But when an LGBT family's coming and applying, our application was flagged as surrogacy."
The Kivitis said they were asked to provide additional documentation like surrogacy and residency papers.
"Our position was and remains that we should be treated as a married couple and the minimal requirements that are in that regulation should be applied to us as well," Roee Kiviti told CNN in a separate interview. "Any additional requirements beyond that are discriminatory."
He thinks they should be processed under INA301(c) which applies to US children born in wedlock to two US citizen parents.
'This is an affront on American families'
Roee Kiviti told CNN that it is not just LGBT families who should be concerned about the policy.
"I think especially after the Supreme Court ruling (legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide), there's no such thing as gay marriage. There's marriage. We are a family," he said.
"This is not an affront on LGBT families. This is an affront on American families, and it should worry everyone," Roee Kiviti said.
A number of Democratic politicians have expressed outrage at the Kivitis' story, which was first reported in The Daily Beast.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Friday that the policy "is an unconscionable attack on American families and violates our Constitution."
"No matter how hard the President and his Administration may try, they cannot change the meaning of family or what it means to be an American," the California Democrat said.
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel also condemned the policy as "unconscionable."
"I call on the State Department to immediately end this shameful discrimination and treat all families with dignity and equality," the New York Democrat said in a statement Thursday.
The Kivitis told CNN that they have not yet received the official letter rejecting Kessem's application but that they've been told it will be denied. Once that happens, they said, they plan to pursue legal action.
A federal judge recently ruled in favor of another same-sex couple who faced a similar hurdle under the State Department's surrogacy policy.
Andrew and Elad Dvash-Banks sued the State Department after only one of their twin boys -- the one conceived using American citizen Andrew Dvash-Banks' sperm -- was granted US citizenship. Their other son was conceived using sperm from Elad Dvash-Banks, who is Israeli.
The judge ruled in February that the State Department statute does not contain language "requiring a 'blood relationship between the person and the father' in order for citizenship to be acquired at birth."
The State Department appealed that ruling last week. It said it does not comment on pending litigation.
Source
Stop Blending Religious Liberty With Global Leftism, Please
March 8, 2019 ChurchMouse
`Ello me lads! Mouse here, fresh off a stroll around Turtle Bay in Manhattan. I highly recommend Patsy’s Pizzeria, satisfying my peckish impulses at a reasonable price—a mere 21 Pound sterling.
What I don’t recommend—indeed I recoil at the notion—is the grand Seventh-day Adventist Movement hitching itself to the United Nations through the dubious efforts of one Ganoune Diop. The blighter is singled-handedly demonstrating that timeless cosmological maxim: Any nation, organization, or individual will eventually and ultimately be liberalized, save for a conscious decision to resist it. But I digress.
The United Nations
The United Nations is not simply inept, like the League of Nations was.
It came together in 1945 as an artifact of another age, even as its delegates marched into the modern glass and steel building on Turtle Bay. The motivation in favor of its organization—persuasive at the time—concealed the fact that it was built to counter the wrong threat. The world’s problems no longer lay with rogue industrialized nations on a conquering spree, but rather with an international ideology determined to subjugate civilization with its own global agenda (think Agenda 21, the Earth Charter, and Agenda 2030).
The UN helped a little during the Korean War, but was of little use against communism, which essentially infiltrated and shaped the UN Agenda. Today, the UN busies itself by making sure its doors are thrown open to an army of Third World dictatorships—for sale to the highest bidder—and by implementing a progressive global agenda. Quite accordingly, the UN is three parts incompetent and one part corrupt (or is it the other way around?). I suppose it doesn’t matter.
Agenda 2030—Sustainable Development Goals
Their most recent agenda is a grab bag of leftist goodies with a few human rights fixations tossed in—known affectionately by misty-eyed liberals as the Sustainable Development Goals. Or Agenda 2030, for short.
On paper, the Sustainable Development Goals are: poverty, hunger, health, education, global warming, gender equality, water, sanitation, energy, urbanization, environment and social justice (I presume they want to end poverty and hunger—and increase gender equality and social justice).
I daresay, who isn’t against ending poverty and hunger? All Bill Clinton had to say, under duress for his moral transgressions in the 1998 impeachment hearings was “I just want to feed the hungry children.” Goodbye heel. Hello hero. Glitterati movie stars, celebrating their fourth award for yet another licentious cinema flick are wont to say “I’m working to end world poverty.” Goodbye smuttiness. Hello greatness.
But the real UN Agenda, on display in Agendas 21 and 2030, is implementing global leftism amidst the empty shriek of self-righteous human rights outrage. Weary of the transcendent Law of God, they seek to make us the multilateral shell of international organizations, assigning to themselves the task of fashioning a New Moral law for a New Global machine. In that New Law, human justice prevails over all. Social justice!
It's not that the multicultural society is an unheard of thing. Africans and Pakistanis have been changed by their exposure to jolly old England. And England (God save the Queen) has been changed by its exposure to them. But it is generally the worst qualities that have been passed to each side, especially recently as grinning Muslim rape hordes have invaded the British commonwealth.
While liberal elites parcel out the carbon atoms of the North Pole, their anorexic souls are being carved up into offerings placed upon the altar of multicultural new world order. And they are taking us with them.
Adventists Wonder After The UN
On January 29, 2019, the Seventh-day Adventist Church helped to organize a symposium at the United Nations (UN) Secretariat in New York City, New York. The theme of this meeting was how church organizations can assist the UN in achieving its 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Various speakers, including Ganoune Diop, urged faith-based organizations to join in promoting this agenda—creating a harmonious multicultural paradise, constructed on the sands of social justice.
Ontario SDA Earth Day Summit Inspires Thousands To Acknowledge God as Creator & Care for His Planet
Ontario Conference’s Inaugural Earth Day Summit Inspires Thousands To Acknowledge God as Creator and Care for His Planet
Christelle Agboka
Published:
May 12, 2019According to a U.N. report released on May 6, one million plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction.[1] Moreover, four decades after the first Earth Day in 1970, the global population has doubled, we’re emitting 2.4 times more Co2—causing sea levels to rise—and more than 170 animal species have been declared extinct.[2] Only a “transformative change” in how we engage with nature will stall these trends.[3]
Enter the 2019 Earth Day Summit, held on April 21, in Mississuaga, Ontario, Canada. During this inaugural event, thousands of guests, many who are not Adventist, interacted with nearly 50 colorful booths on topics as varied as the incredible immune system, the marvel of the brain, the intelligently designed smile, pollution on campus, the creative complexity of the human body, the theology of recycling, gardening and more. Themed “His Creation, Ours to Care For,” the event gathered a broad spectrum of visitors of all ages, religious backgrounds, ethnicities, and walks of life.
The initiative was realized by Mansfield Edwards, president of Ontario Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 2017, Edwards envisioned an Earth Day event that would offer ways to combat these stats and speak to the nearly 50 percent of 18–29 year-olds who believe the Church is anti-science.[4] There, leading scientists and theologians would share evidence for the biblical creation account while emphasizing our responsibility to care for the earth created for us.
“It’s all about being relevant in our society, considering the input of biblically sound stewardship strategies to climate change,” said Ontario Conference president Mansfield Edwards, as quoted from an Adventist Review article on the event. “I am convinced Seventh-day Adventists should be among the leading promoters of Earth Day as stewards of God’s creation.”
Seventh-day Adventist Church Responds to Equality Act
Proposed legislation passed by U.S. House of Representatives raises troubling religious freedom issues.
On Friday, May 17, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act (H.R. 5). The bill, if it were to become law, would extend protection to gay, lesbian, and transgender individuals across a broad spectrum of U.S. civil rights laws. This would include employment, housing, public accommodation, and social services.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is concerned that this legislation would further erode the religious liberty of faith communities and their members. This bill makes no allowance for communities or individuals of faith who hold traditional views of marriage and gender.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church believes that every human being, regardless of their beliefs or choices, is created in the image of God and thus deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. We recognize LGBT individuals often suffer unjust discrimination and are in need of legal protection.
Unfortunately, in attempting to provide protection for some, the Equality Act unnecessarily infringes upon the rights of others.
The way forward means addressing the concerns of both the LGBT and religious communities. We believe there is a better approach, one that builds upon the civil rights protections offered in the Equality Act by also reaffirming the First Amendment religious freedom rights of people of faith.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church reaffirms its biblical interpretation of marriage, gender, and our long-held commitment to the separation of church and state. The Seventh-day Adventist Church calls on Congress to pass legislation that guards the civil rights of all Americans, while unequivocally protecting the right of faith communities to live, worship, and witness according to their convictions.
Pope Francis calls for new ‘supranational’ authorities to enforce UN goals
Pope Francis calls for new ‘supranational’ authorities to enforce UN goals
Thu May 2, 2019 - 6:40 pm EST
ROME, May 2, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis made a strong new push for globalism on Thursday, calling for a supranational, legally constituted body to enforce United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and implement “climate change” policies.
Speaking to members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, the Pope said: “When a supranational common good is clearly identified, there is need for a special legally constituted authority capable of facilitating its implementation.”
“Think of the great contemporary challenges of climate change, new slavery and peace,” he told members of the Pontifical Academy, who are meeting this week at the Vatican for a plenary session themed: “Nation, State, Nation-State.”
Featured speakers at the May 1-3 plenary include German Cardinal Walter Kasper, who spoke on: “Peace Stemming from Justice. Theological Reflections Between Men, Communities and Nations”; Archbishop Roland Minnerath of Dijon, France, who delivered the opening talk on day two, themed: “Nation, State, Nation-State and the Doctrine of the Catholic Church”; and German climatologist and founding director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, who addressed the Pontifical Academy on “The State of the World.”
In his address to the academy, the Pope said that while “the principle of subsidiarity” requires that “individual nations must be given the power to operate as far as they can reach,” nonetheless “groups of neighboring nations — as is already the case — can strengthen their cooperation by attributing the exercise of certain functions and services to intergovernmental institutions that manage their common interests.”
The thrust of the Pope’s remarks, however, focused on growing trends toward nationalism which he said threatens migrants, the “universal common good” and the power of the United Nations and other transnational bodies to implement the Sustainable Development Goal agenda.
The Church “has always exhorted men to love their own people and homeland,” he said. “At the same time,” he added, “the Church has warned persons, peoples and governments about deviations from this attachment when it is about excluding and hating others, when it becomes conflictual nationalism that builds walls, indeed even racism or anti-Semitism.”
“The Church observes with concern the re-emergence, almost everywhere in the world, of aggressive currents towards foreigners, especially immigrants, as well as that growing nationalism which neglects the common good,” Pope Francis continued.
“There is a risk of compromising already established forms of international cooperation, undermining the aims of international organizations as a space for dialogue and meeting for all countries on a level of mutual respect, and hindering the achievement of the sustainable development goals unanimously approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 25 September 2015,” he told members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
Pope Francis addresses the General Assembly during his visit to the United Nations headquarters in New York, U.S., Sept. 25, 2015. Luiz Rampelotto/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
Thu May 2, 2019 - 6:40 pm EST
Diane Montagna
ROME, May 2, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis made a strong new push for globalism on Thursday, calling for a supranational, legally constituted body to enforce United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and implement “climate change” policies.
Speaking to members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, the Pope said: “When a supranational common good is clearly identified, there is need for a special legally constituted authority capable of facilitating its implementation.”
“Think of the great contemporary challenges of climate change, new slavery and peace,” he told members of the Pontifical Academy, who are meeting this week at the Vatican for a plenary session themed: “Nation, State, Nation-State.”
Featured speakers at the May 1-3 plenary include German Cardinal Walter Kasper, who spoke on: “Peace Stemming from Justice. Theological Reflections Between Men, Communities and Nations”; Archbishop Roland Minnerath of Dijon, France, who delivered the opening talk on day two, themed: “Nation, State, Nation-State and the Doctrine of the Catholic Church”; and German climatologist and founding director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, who addressed the Pontifical Academy on “The State of the World.”
In his address to the academy, the Pope said that while “the principle of subsidiarity” requires that “individual nations must be given the power to operate as far as they can reach,” nonetheless “groups of neighboring nations — as is already the case — can strengthen their cooperation by attributing the exercise of certain functions and services to intergovernmental institutions that manage their common interests.”
The thrust of the Pope’s remarks, however, focused on growing trends toward nationalism which he said threatens migrants, the “universal common good” and the power of the United Nations and other transnational bodies to implement the Sustainable Development Goal agenda.
The Church “has always exhorted men to love their own people and homeland,” he said. “At the same time,” he added, “the Church has warned persons, peoples and governments about deviations from this attachment when it is about excluding and hating others, when it becomes conflictual nationalism that builds walls, indeed even racism or anti-Semitism.”
“The Church observes with concern the re-emergence, almost everywhere in the world, of aggressive currents towards foreigners, especially immigrants, as well as that growing nationalism which neglects the common good,” Pope Francis continued.
“There is a risk of compromising already established forms of international cooperation, undermining the aims of international organizations as a space for dialogue and meeting for all countries on a level of mutual respect, and hindering the achievement of the sustainable development goals unanimously approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 25 September 2015,” he told members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
Pope urges foreign media to use power of press to seek truth
May 18, 2019 at 7:18 am Updated May 18, 2019 at 9:23 am
Pope Francis shares a laugh with a group of faithful as he poses for a family photo, at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday May 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
By
The Associated Press
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis urged foreign correspondents on Saturday to humbly use the power of the press to search for the truth and give voice to the voiceless, saying journalism is an important tool to counter the hatred, prejudice and fake news.
In an audience with the Foreign Press Association in Rome, Francis also urged journalists to not fall prey to sending click-bait headlines and half-reported stories, saying errors can not only misrepresent the truth but damage entire communities.
He lamented attacks on journalists around the globe and assured reporters that the Catholic Church at large appreciated their work “even when you touch a raw nerve, including within the ecclesial community.”
While Francis meets with journalists regularly during his foreign trips, it was the first time a pope has received the Foreign Press Association, which represents journalists from more than 50 countries, since St. John Paul II in 1988.
Francis kept his distance from the press in his native Argentina. But in the past year, he and his aides have repeatedly praised the role of the media in exposing the clergy abuse scandal and for reporting about the plight of migrants, “forgotten wars” and other cases of human suffering.
Rome’s ‘Festival of Peoples’ celebrates diversity amid anti-immigrant backlash
May 17, 2019
FAITH AND CULTURE CORRESPONDENT
Pope Francis meets a group of migrants recently arrived from Libya, wearing shirts with writing reading "Thank you Pope Francis, at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday May 15, 2019. (Credit: AP Photo/Andrew Medichini.)
ROME - It’s become a staple of Francis’s pontificate to use words and events to indirectly send a message to nationalists and populists that when it comes to immigration the Church has no intention of backing down.
Whether Francis is criticizing those who prefer to build walls instead of bridges, carrying immigrant children on the popemobile after his audience, or meeting with evicted Roma people his point is clear, and a multicultural event in Rome this Sunday might be the latest message the pontiff sends to the anti-immigration camp.
“The Festival of Peoples wishes to offer an important witness of civil cohabitation between different peoples,” said Father Pierpaolo Felicolo, director of the Migrants office of the Diocese of Rome, in a May 15 interview with local media.
“Through the years, the city has learned the beauty of being together and we must still commit to abandoning all clichés that exist surrounding immigration and let the normality of the encounter between different cultures emerge,” he said.
On May 19 hundreds of representatives from different countries and cultures will gather at Rome’s St. John Lateran cathedral to celebrate the 28th edition of the “Festival of Peoples.” The theme this year will be “In the Common Home, One Human Family,” drawn from a speech by Francis during the interreligious meeting in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Feb. 4.
Pope Francis meets a group of migrants recently arrived from Libya, wearing shirts with writing reading "Thank you Pope Francis, at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday May 15, 2019. (Credit: AP Photo/Andrew Medichini.)
ROME - It’s become a staple of Francis’s pontificate to use words and events to indirectly send a message to nationalists and populists that when it comes to immigration the Church has no intention of backing down.
Whether Francis is criticizing those who prefer to build walls instead of bridges, carrying immigrant children on the popemobile after his audience, or meeting with evicted Roma people his point is clear, and a multicultural event in Rome this Sunday might be the latest message the pontiff sends to the anti-immigration camp.
“The Festival of Peoples wishes to offer an important witness of civil cohabitation between different peoples,” said Father Pierpaolo Felicolo, director of the Migrants office of the Diocese of Rome, in a May 15 interview with local media.
“Through the years, the city has learned the beauty of being together and we must still commit to abandoning all clichés that exist surrounding immigration and let the normality of the encounter between different cultures emerge,” he said.
On May 19 hundreds of representatives from different countries and cultures will gather at Rome’s St. John Lateran cathedral to celebrate the 28th edition of the “Festival of Peoples.” The theme this year will be “In the Common Home, One Human Family,” drawn from a speech by Francis during the interreligious meeting in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Feb. 4.
Taiwan becomes first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage
Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage May 17, as thousands of demonstrators outside parliament cheered and waved rainbow flags. (Reuters)
By Nick Aspinwall
By Nick Aspinwall
May 17, 2019 at 8:40 AM EDT
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Thousands of marriage-equality advocates celebrated Friday in the pouring rain outside Taiwan’s legislature as it voted to become the first in Asia to fully legalize same-sex unions.
The law — which allows for same-sex couples to apply for “marriage registration” as part of “exclusive permanent unions” — came a week before Taiwan’s codes barring same-sex marriage would have been automatically dropped by court order.
Lawmakers had faced pressure from LGBT groups demanding sweeping changes and from religious groups and others opposing the changes. Friday’s 66-to-27 vote recognizes same-sex marriages and gives couples many of the tax, insurance and child-custody benefits available to male-female married couples.
Taiwan’s high court ruled on May 24, 2017, that barring same-sex couples from marrying violates the Taiwanese constitution and gave the legislature two years to pass a corresponding law or see same-sex marriage become legalized automatically.
The process frequently stalled amid conservative opposition. And in November 2018, Taiwan voted in a public referendum to deny same-sex couples full marriage rights.
» No more Sunday games for Detroit Catholic parish, school sports teams
No more Sunday games for Detroit Catholic parish, school sports teams
Catholic News Service | Michael Stechschulte | May 17, 2019
A coach kneels in prayer Oct. 13, 2018, during a high school game at Hurley Field in Berkeley, Mich. As part of a new pastoral note encouraging Catholics in the Archdiocese of Detroit to keep Sunday as a day of holiness, rest and family togetherness, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron introduced a new policy requiring Catholic parishes and schools to stop scheduling athletic games and practices on Sundays. CNS photo/Tim Fuller, courtesy Archdiocese of Detroit
As part of a new pastoral note encouraging Catholics in the Archdiocese of Detroit to keep Sunday as a day of holiness, rest and family togetherness, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron introduced a new policy requiring Catholic parishes and schools to stop scheduling athletic games and practices on Sundays.
“In shifting away from the hustle of required sporting activities on Sunday, we will reclaim this holy day and create more time for families to choose activities that prioritize time spent with each other and our Lord,” Archbishop Vigneron wrote in “The Day of the Lord,” released May 15 as the fourth in a series of teaching notes supporting the themes of his 2017 pastoral letter, “Unleash the Gospel.”
The policy, which goes into effect Aug. 1, is not meant to lessen the archdiocese’s commitment to youth athletics, said Father Stephen Pullis, director of the archdiocese’s Department of Evangelization, Catechesis and Schools.
“At the synod, the question came up about how we can best live our life as a church together, to bear witness to the world about what we believe,” Father Pullis told Detroit Catholic, online news source for the archdiocese. “What came through very clearly was that athletics are a wonderful part of the life of our local church, but they’ve also in some ways taken a disproportionate amount of time and attention for families.”
He added, “We really needed to say that Sunday is about being for and with the Lord, for and with the family, and for and with those in need.”
Friday, May 17, 2019
Nations stirring up nationalism betray their mission, pope says
Carol Glatz
May 2, 2019
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Pope Francis listens as Stefano Zamagni, president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, speaks during a meeting with participants attending the plenary meeting of the academy at the Vatican May 2, 2019. (Credit: CNS photo/Vatican Media.)
ROME - Migrants are not a threat to a nation’s culture, traditions and values, Pope Francis said.
Every nation is a product of immigration and the integration of diverse peoples, united by specific values, cultures and “healthy traditions,” he said.
That is why any nation that “stirs up nationalistic sentiments in its people against other nations or groups of people would betray their mission,” the pope said May 2.
Francis gave a lengthy speech to members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, who were holding a plenary meeting May 1-3 at the Vatican on the nature and role of the nation-state, the development of international cooperation and today’s resurgence of nationalism.
The Catholic Church, the pope said, has always promoted love and respect for one’s nation and cultures while also warning against turning such affection into the hatred and exclusion of others - a “confrontational nationalism that puts up walls, indeed, even racism and anti-Semitism.”
“The Church notes with concern the reemergence, a bit everywhere in the world, of aggressive currents against foreigners, especially immigrants, as well as that growing nationalism that overlooks the common good,” he said.
The state is meant to be at the service of people, families, the common good and peace, he said. “However, too often states become subservient to the interests of a dominant group, mostly for economic profit, who oppress - among other things - ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities who are on their territory.”
Pope Francis listens as Stefano Zamagni, president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, speaks during a meeting with participants attending the plenary meeting of the academy at the Vatican May 2, 2019. (Credit: CNS photo/Vatican Media.)
ROME - Migrants are not a threat to a nation’s culture, traditions and values, Pope Francis said.
Every nation is a product of immigration and the integration of diverse peoples, united by specific values, cultures and “healthy traditions,” he said.
That is why any nation that “stirs up nationalistic sentiments in its people against other nations or groups of people would betray their mission,” the pope said May 2.
Francis gave a lengthy speech to members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, who were holding a plenary meeting May 1-3 at the Vatican on the nature and role of the nation-state, the development of international cooperation and today’s resurgence of nationalism.
The Catholic Church, the pope said, has always promoted love and respect for one’s nation and cultures while also warning against turning such affection into the hatred and exclusion of others - a “confrontational nationalism that puts up walls, indeed, even racism and anti-Semitism.”
“The Church notes with concern the reemergence, a bit everywhere in the world, of aggressive currents against foreigners, especially immigrants, as well as that growing nationalism that overlooks the common good,” he said.
The state is meant to be at the service of people, families, the common good and peace, he said. “However, too often states become subservient to the interests of a dominant group, mostly for economic profit, who oppress - among other things - ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities who are on their territory.”
Pope Francis: 'The common good has become global'
By Courtney Grogan
Pope Francis meets with participants in the plenary session of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences at the Vatican's Clementine Hall, May 2, 2019. Credit: Vatican Media.
Vatican City, May 2, 2019 / 11:01 am (CNA).- Pope Francis called on nations to work toward a global common good Thursday, particularly in confronting climate change, human trafficking, and nuclear threats.
“In the current situation of globalization not only of the economy but also of technological and cultural exchanges, the nation state is no longer able to procure the common good of its population alone,” Pope Francis told the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences May 2.
“The common good has become global and nations must associate for their own benefit,” Francis said, noting that some nations today have “a spirit of opposition rather than cooperation.”
The pope called “building the common good of humanity, a necessary and essential element for the world balance.”
“While, according to the principle of subsidiarity, individual nations must be given the power to operate as far as they can, on the other hand, groups of neighboring nations - as is already the case - can strengthen their cooperation by attributing the exercise of certain functions and services to intergovernmental institutions that manage their common interests,” he said.
Pope Francis said that when a “supranational common good” is clearly identified, as in the case of climate change or human trafficking, it necessitates a special legal authority capable of facilitating solutions.
He called for new paths of cooperation among nations to achieve peace today when “multilateral nuclear disarmament appears outdated and does not stir the political conscience of nations that possess atomic weapons.”
Vatican City, May 2, 2019 / 11:01 am (CNA).- Pope Francis called on nations to work toward a global common good Thursday, particularly in confronting climate change, human trafficking, and nuclear threats.
“In the current situation of globalization not only of the economy but also of technological and cultural exchanges, the nation state is no longer able to procure the common good of its population alone,” Pope Francis told the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences May 2.
“The common good has become global and nations must associate for their own benefit,” Francis said, noting that some nations today have “a spirit of opposition rather than cooperation.”
The pope called “building the common good of humanity, a necessary and essential element for the world balance.”
“While, according to the principle of subsidiarity, individual nations must be given the power to operate as far as they can, on the other hand, groups of neighboring nations - as is already the case - can strengthen their cooperation by attributing the exercise of certain functions and services to intergovernmental institutions that manage their common interests,” he said.
Pope Francis said that when a “supranational common good” is clearly identified, as in the case of climate change or human trafficking, it necessitates a special legal authority capable of facilitating solutions.
He called for new paths of cooperation among nations to achieve peace today when “multilateral nuclear disarmament appears outdated and does not stir the political conscience of nations that possess atomic weapons.”
Thursday, May 16, 2019
HUD's Ben Carson broke law with furniture order, GAO says
Housing and Urban Development spokespeople offered conflicting accounts of what Secretary Ben Carson knew about the furniture order. | Alex Wong/Getty Images
By KATY O'DONNELL
05/16/2019 06:50 PM EDT
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson broke the law when he failed to report an order for a $31,561 dining room table set for his office as well as the installation of an $8,000 dishwasher in the office kitchen, the Government Accountability Office found in a report published Thursday.
Agencies are required to notify Congress of expenditures over $5,000 to furnish an executive's office.
Carson canceled the table order after it surfaced in news reports in early 2018, and he appeared to blame the fiasco on his wife, Candy, in congressional testimony. HUD spokespeople offered conflicting accounts of what Carson knew about the order.
Congressional appropriators requested the GAO investigation.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee in charge of HUD, called the debacle "another example of the Trump administration trying to cast aside the law if it doesn't suit them."
"I am also disturbed by the pattern of false statements and attempts to conceal this incident, mislead the public, and prevent Congress and the American people from seeing how taxpayer dollars are being mismanaged," Reed said in an e-mailed statement.
HUD officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
'We all need to be a little more like Kendrick': Friends and family remember STEM hero
Kendrick Castillo and his father, John Castillo. Courtesy: Knights of Columbus #4844 via Facebook
By Mary Farrow
Denver, Colo., May 15, 2019 / 05:12 pm (CNA).- A funny, selfless, and kind kid who loved tinkering with his car, goofing around with his friends, and above all, serving others, whether at Knights of Columbus pancake breakfasts or in robotics class - this was the Kendrick Castillo that friends and family gathered to remember at a celebration of his life on May 15 at Cherry Hills Community Church.
“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat, but if it dies, it produces much fruit,” Fr. Javier Nieva, pastor of St. Mary’s in Littleton, Colo., said at the ecumenical celebration. The quote, from Jesus, is in the Gospel of John.
“We celebrate fruits today,” Nieva said. “Not death (but the) fruits of his life.”
Kendrick laid down his life for others not only “in the moment of dying, but in his love for his family, his passion for service, his love for the truth” and helping others, Nieva said.
Kendrick Castillo, 18, gave his life to protect his friends when he jumped into the line of fire to stop a school shooter on May 7, according to witnesses. Castillo was the only casualty in the shooting at STEM high school in Highlands Ranch, Colo.; eight other students were injured in the incident.
On a sunny Wednesday afternoon in May, friends and family packed Cherry Hills Community Church to remember a funny and kind friend, parishioner and son who was always smiling and helping others. On display at the church were some things representative of Kendrick’s hobbies and passions: a kayak, a red blazer he wore while ushering at Notre Dame parish, robotics and engineering paraphernalia.
Former teachers and friends from school took to the stage one by one to share a favorite memory of Kendrick, to extol his virtues and thank his parents.
Joseph Nguyen, a family friend of the Castillos and a member of the Catholic charitable group the Knights of Columbus, presented Kendrick’s parents, John and Maria Castillo, with a plaque that honored Kendrick as a full member of the Knights.
“Kendrick is forever a brother within the Knights of Columbus,” Nguyen said, presenting a plaque that came from members throughout the country and the world.