Saturday, November 30, 2019
Friday, November 29, 2019
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Black Friday smart TV buyers should take this FBI cybersecurity advice
By James Leggate
Black Friday smart TV buyers, here’s some cybersecurity advice
The FBI’s Portland, Oregon, field office shared some tips this week for anyone who needs to secure a smart TV.
Savvy shoppers know that Black Friday presents some of the best deals of the year on pricey electronics like TVs.
Overall, the National Retail Federation expects Americans will spend about $730 billion this holiday season.
But new owners of internet-connected smart TVs might not be as good at spotting hackers as they are at spotting deals. The FBI’s Portland, Oregon, field office shared some tips this week for anyone who needs to secure a smart TV.
Some models of smart TVs include built-in cameras. They can be used for video chatting with friends and family, and some can let the TV recognize who is watching and suggest programming based on their past preferences.
But hackers may be able to access those TVs through the internet, allowing them to spy through the camera and microphone, or change channels, adjust the volume and play “inappropriate videos,” the FBI warned.
Hackers could even potentially use an unsecured TV as a backdoor to a router, potentially allowing them to access a computer or other device connected to the Wi-Fi, according to the FBI.
Here’s what the FBI recommends to keep hackers out of smart TVs:
- Because each smart TV is different, owners should search for the exact model number online and words like “microphone,” “camera” and “privacy” to learn how to control those features.
- Don’t leave security settings on the default option and chance passwords if possible. It’s also a good idea to check how to turn off microphones, cameras and personal data collection ahead of making a purchase, and considering a different model if they can’t be turned off.
- A piece of black tape can help when a camera can’t be turned off.
- Check whether the manufacturer can and whether it does update the device with security patches.
- Also check the privacy policy for the manufacturer and any streaming services, including what data they collect, how they store it and what they do with it.
Albania Mourns After Deadly Earthquake
EUROPE
'Everything We Have Is Destroyed': Albania Mourns After Deadly Earthquake
November 27, 20191:32 PM ET
Rescuers search a collapsed building for survivors in Durres, Albania, on Wednesday. More than two dozen people have been reported dead in the country after a powerful earthquake rocked the country earlier this week.Visar Kryeziu/AP
Across Albania, survivors of Tuesday's earthquake are combing the wreckage of homes and buildings and seeking signs of life in the rubble. Amid the flotsam of cratered neighborhoods and improvised tent cities, Albanians are observing a national day of mourning Wednesday for those they lost — and hoping that those still missing won't soon be counted among the dead.
At least 31 people reportedly have been killed, according to the Albanian Red Cross, and hundreds more have been injured. It is the deadliest earthquake to hit the country since 1979, when a 6.9 magnitude earthquake left more than 120 people dead in Albania and across the border in the former Yugoslavia.
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Caritas ‘outraged’ by child abuse scandal uncovered by CNN
National-World
By CNN
Published November 21, 2019 8:08 am
Caritas ‘outraged’ by child abuse scandal uncovered by CNN
Caritas Internationalis, a network of Catholic charitable organizations, urged its regional branches on Thursday to vet their staff and volunteers. It comes after CNN published an investigation into Father Luk Delft, a convicted abuser, who was moved to the Central African Republic by his religious order to work in a key role at the charity.
“We express our compassion and solidarity with the children and their families. We thank those who have come forward. They have our full support in telling their truth,” Aloysius John, the secretary general of Caritas Internationalis, said in a statement published on its website.
Delft, who had been convicted in Europe before going to work for the charity, has been accused of abusing at least two boys in the CAR.
The 50-year-old priest was only removed from the post after CNN revealed the new accusations against him to his superiors in the Salesians of Don Bosco, a religious order established specifically to protect children.
“Caritas Internationalis understands that those responsible have ensured that the accused is no longer in the Central African Republic, and both civil and religious authorities have been notified and are investigating the allegations,” the charity said.
It said it was assisting the local Caritas organization in CAR as it investigates the allegations.
“We thank those who have come forward. They have our full support in telling their truth. At Caritas, we are constantly working to improve our safeguarding of children both in the Central African Republic and in the rest of the world where Caritas works to help people in need. Our first duty is to protect those we serve,” the secretary general added.
By CNN
Published November 21, 2019 8:08 am
Caritas ‘outraged’ by child abuse scandal uncovered by CNN
Caritas Internationalis, a network of Catholic charitable organizations, urged its regional branches on Thursday to vet their staff and volunteers. It comes after CNN published an investigation into Father Luk Delft, a convicted abuser, who was moved to the Central African Republic by his religious order to work in a key role at the charity.
“We express our compassion and solidarity with the children and their families. We thank those who have come forward. They have our full support in telling their truth,” Aloysius John, the secretary general of Caritas Internationalis, said in a statement published on its website.
Delft, who had been convicted in Europe before going to work for the charity, has been accused of abusing at least two boys in the CAR.
The 50-year-old priest was only removed from the post after CNN revealed the new accusations against him to his superiors in the Salesians of Don Bosco, a religious order established specifically to protect children.
“Caritas Internationalis understands that those responsible have ensured that the accused is no longer in the Central African Republic, and both civil and religious authorities have been notified and are investigating the allegations,” the charity said.
It said it was assisting the local Caritas organization in CAR as it investigates the allegations.
“We thank those who have come forward. They have our full support in telling their truth. At Caritas, we are constantly working to improve our safeguarding of children both in the Central African Republic and in the rest of the world where Caritas works to help people in need. Our first duty is to protect those we serve,” the secretary general added.
Trump supporters say God chose him to be president
November 25, 2019, 5:16 PM EST
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Energy Secretary Rick Perry likens Trump to biblical kings, says he's 'the chosen one'
President Trump has been described as the "chosen one" by the Secretary of Energy Rick Perry.
In fighting back against impeachment, President Trump and his supporters like to point out that he was put into office by the votes of 63 million Americans. But according to some of his most ardent backers, the vote that counted was cast by God.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry restarted a debate over whether Trump’s presidency was ordained from heaven, telling Fox News that the former reality television star and businessman, despite his obvious moral shortcomings, was God’s choice for the Oval Office.
“God has used imperfect people all through history. King David wasn’t perfect. Saul wasn’t perfect. Solomon wasn’t perfect, and I actually gave the president a little one-pager on those Old Testament kings about a month ago and I shared it with him. I said, ‘Mr. President, I know there are people that say, “You know, you said you were the chosen one,” and I said you were. I said if you’re a believing Christian you understand God’s plan for the people who rule and judge over us on this planet in our government.’”
Energy Secretary Rick Perry likens Trump to biblical kings, says he's 'the chosen one'
President Trump has been described as the "chosen one" by the Secretary of Energy Rick Perry.
In fighting back against impeachment, President Trump and his supporters like to point out that he was put into office by the votes of 63 million Americans. But according to some of his most ardent backers, the vote that counted was cast by God.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry restarted a debate over whether Trump’s presidency was ordained from heaven, telling Fox News that the former reality television star and businessman, despite his obvious moral shortcomings, was God’s choice for the Oval Office.
“God has used imperfect people all through history. King David wasn’t perfect. Saul wasn’t perfect. Solomon wasn’t perfect, and I actually gave the president a little one-pager on those Old Testament kings about a month ago and I shared it with him. I said, ‘Mr. President, I know there are people that say, “You know, you said you were the chosen one,” and I said you were. I said if you’re a believing Christian you understand God’s plan for the people who rule and judge over us on this planet in our government.’”
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Albania hit by deadly 6.4 magnitude earthquake
26 November 2019
Albania quake: Rescuers search for survivors
At least 18 people have been killed after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit Albania, the defence ministry says.
The quake brought down buildings and left people trapped under rubble. One man died after jumping from a window in panic after the tremor struck.
The quake hit 34km (21 miles) north-west of the capital, Tirana, in the early hours of Tuesday.
Hours later, a separate earthquake struck the city of Mostar in Bosnia. There were no reports of casualties.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said rescuers would "continue to search patiently and thoroughly to the end".
"We have victims. We are working to do everything possible in the affected areas," he wrote on Twitter.
What has happened since the earthquake?
Soldiers, police and emergency workers have been searching through the debris of buildings, where people are still believed to be trapped. So far, some 42 survivors have been extracted from the ruins, according to officials.
The majority of fatalities occurred in the coastal city of Durres and in the town of Thumane, 40km to the north-west of Tirana and close to the epicentre, according to the defence ministry.
At least 18 people have been killed after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit Albania, the defence ministry says.
The quake brought down buildings and left people trapped under rubble. One man died after jumping from a window in panic after the tremor struck.
The quake hit 34km (21 miles) north-west of the capital, Tirana, in the early hours of Tuesday.
Hours later, a separate earthquake struck the city of Mostar in Bosnia. There were no reports of casualties.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said rescuers would "continue to search patiently and thoroughly to the end".
"We have victims. We are working to do everything possible in the affected areas," he wrote on Twitter.
What has happened since the earthquake?
Soldiers, police and emergency workers have been searching through the debris of buildings, where people are still believed to be trapped. So far, some 42 survivors have been extracted from the ruins, according to officials.
The majority of fatalities occurred in the coastal city of Durres and in the town of Thumane, 40km to the north-west of Tirana and close to the epicentre, according to the defence ministry.
Progressives Want to Eviscerate Freedom of Religion
By WESLEY J. SMITH
November 25, 2019 9:14 AM
The other day I wrote here about New York’s new law that prohibits an employer from punishing an employee for any reproductive health-care medical decision they make. I brought the statute up because it contains no exemption for religious organizations, thereby materially impacting the right of churches and faith-based institutions to the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the Constitution. As I wrote:
This would seem to literally mean that, say, the Catholic Archdiocese of New York is legally required to inform employees they have the right to act as they choose with regard to issues such as birth control, abortion, or sterilization surgery — and moreover, tell such employees that they can so act openly even though contrary to the faith without fear of subsequent job consequence. Or, as another example, a visibly pregnant teacher at a Catholic school could obtain an abortion, and the school would be prevented from taking any remedial action regarding her employment under threat of litigation.
Writing at Wonkette, Robyn Pennacchia had a fit. Yet, when you penetrate beneath all the anger, she actually agrees with my analysis! After quoting the above passage in full, she writes:
Yes. It would mean those things. People, regardless of who their employer is, have a right to make their own reproductive choices. Giving someone a paycheck every week does not mean you get final say in their personal medical decisions.
She also agrees with something else I wrote:
This much is clear: Progressives intend to shatter religious liberty as it applies in the public square, shriveling the First Amendment’s guarantee to a mere freedom of worship.
Absolutely, she writes:
If your practice of your religion extends to other people in the public square who have their own freedoms, then yes, you will just have to stick to worshiping. I don’t know what else to tell you. You can’t have a religion where you get to bar the people who work for you from taking birth control, just like you don’t get to have a religion where you get to open up a restaurant that does not serve black people, or a religion that says you get to murder anyone.
So, Pennacchia is really furious because I object to the state legally interfering with the Catholic Church’s (in my example) free exercise of the Catholic faith in its employment practices, when she thinks that is exactly what the law should do.
Here’s another caveat I issued with which Pennacchia seems to agree:
Laws such as this are not going to be limited to reproductive issues but eventually will also be passed regarding other individual behaviors as they may conflict with the moral teaching and dogmas of religious employers.
Precisely right, she admits.
Your religion is your religion and you can practice it, but it can’t be part of your religion for other people to practice it as well. No one gets to have that religion, regardless of how much they would enjoy it.
But that’s all wrong. If a Muslim school has a policy based on the faith that forbids its teachers from (as a hypothetical) presenting to their students as other than their biological sex, and a male teacher who identifies as a woman comes to school in a skirt and blouse, firing the teacher does not somehow “force” the transgender employee to follow Islam. Rather, forbidding the religious school from following its faith precepts in employment would be the true imposition, corroding its religious identity. Enforcing Islamic rules in employment policy thus permits the school to express faith through action — the very right that the First Amendment’s free exercise clause protects against state infringement.
The only real difference between Pennacchia and I is that I believe in the entirety of the First Amendment and she does not.
The other day I wrote here about New York’s new law that prohibits an employer from punishing an employee for any reproductive health-care medical decision they make. I brought the statute up because it contains no exemption for religious organizations, thereby materially impacting the right of churches and faith-based institutions to the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the Constitution. As I wrote:
This would seem to literally mean that, say, the Catholic Archdiocese of New York is legally required to inform employees they have the right to act as they choose with regard to issues such as birth control, abortion, or sterilization surgery — and moreover, tell such employees that they can so act openly even though contrary to the faith without fear of subsequent job consequence. Or, as another example, a visibly pregnant teacher at a Catholic school could obtain an abortion, and the school would be prevented from taking any remedial action regarding her employment under threat of litigation.
Writing at Wonkette, Robyn Pennacchia had a fit. Yet, when you penetrate beneath all the anger, she actually agrees with my analysis! After quoting the above passage in full, she writes:
Yes. It would mean those things. People, regardless of who their employer is, have a right to make their own reproductive choices. Giving someone a paycheck every week does not mean you get final say in their personal medical decisions.
She also agrees with something else I wrote:
This much is clear: Progressives intend to shatter religious liberty as it applies in the public square, shriveling the First Amendment’s guarantee to a mere freedom of worship.
Absolutely, she writes:
If your practice of your religion extends to other people in the public square who have their own freedoms, then yes, you will just have to stick to worshiping. I don’t know what else to tell you. You can’t have a religion where you get to bar the people who work for you from taking birth control, just like you don’t get to have a religion where you get to open up a restaurant that does not serve black people, or a religion that says you get to murder anyone.
So, Pennacchia is really furious because I object to the state legally interfering with the Catholic Church’s (in my example) free exercise of the Catholic faith in its employment practices, when she thinks that is exactly what the law should do.
Here’s another caveat I issued with which Pennacchia seems to agree:
Laws such as this are not going to be limited to reproductive issues but eventually will also be passed regarding other individual behaviors as they may conflict with the moral teaching and dogmas of religious employers.
Precisely right, she admits.
Your religion is your religion and you can practice it, but it can’t be part of your religion for other people to practice it as well. No one gets to have that religion, regardless of how much they would enjoy it.
But that’s all wrong. If a Muslim school has a policy based on the faith that forbids its teachers from (as a hypothetical) presenting to their students as other than their biological sex, and a male teacher who identifies as a woman comes to school in a skirt and blouse, firing the teacher does not somehow “force” the transgender employee to follow Islam. Rather, forbidding the religious school from following its faith precepts in employment would be the true imposition, corroding its religious identity. Enforcing Islamic rules in employment policy thus permits the school to express faith through action — the very right that the First Amendment’s free exercise clause protects against state infringement.
The only real difference between Pennacchia and I is that I believe in the entirety of the First Amendment and she does not.
What this sunny, religious town in California teaches us about living longer
By Sandee LaMotte, CNN
Updated 5:04 AM ET, Mon November 25, 2019
Source: CNN
The art of aging 08:04
(CNN) Spanish for "beautiful hill," Loma Linda, California is nestled between mountain peaks in the middle of the San Bernardino Valley. The city is known as an epicenter of health and wellness, with more than 900 physicians on the campus of Loma Linda University and Medical Center.
Quiz: Are you on track for a long life?
But that's not Loma Linda's only wellness claim to fame. This city of 21,000 is one of the five original blue zones, regions in the world where people live longest and are the healthiest. In fact, the people in this community tend to live eight to 10 years longer than the average American.
Experts say that's because Loma Linda has one of the highest concentrations of Seventh-day Adventists in the world. The religion mandates a healthy lifestyle and a life of service to the church and community, which contributes to their longevity.
'I never had stress'
"As far as I am concerned, stress is a manufactured thing," Dr. Ellsworth Wareham told CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta in 2015 as part of a Vital Signs special on blue zones.
Wareham was 100 years old at the time and still mowed his front yard.
‘They are PUBLIC GOODS’: AOC says she’s not just promising people ‘free stuff’
by Madison Dibble
| November 25, 2019 03:57 PM
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unloaded on those who qualify her policy propositions as “free stuff.”
Ocasio-Cortez, the 30-year-old socialist New York representative elected to Congress last year, expressed her frustration with critics who write off her policies, such as tuition-free college, "Medicare for all," and expanding public housing, as “handouts” or “free stuff” to rope in voters.
“It’s not that we deserve it because it’s a handout. People like to say, ‘Oh, this is about free stuff.’ This is not about free stuff,” Ocasio-Cortes said at a Bronx town hall over the weekend.
The freshman Democrat claimed those in her party who believe in free-market orientated policies try to paint her policies in a negative light.
“These are public goods. They’re public goods. So I never want to hear the word or the term ‘free stuff’ ever again ... because I’m tired of already hearing some of these neoliberal folks who are trying to like flip the script on us,” she explained.
She added, “Like when we’re talking about tuition-free public college or when we talk about public housing they say, ‘Oh, well, I don’t want to pay for a millionaire’s kid to go to college.’ That’s their like jujitsu on us that they’re trying to pull.”
Ocasio-Cortez argued that tuition-free college or taxpayer-funded universal healthcare should be looked at the same way Americans look at roads or libraries.
"Public education, libraries, [and] infrastructure policies (which we‘ve had before in America and elsewhere in the world!) are not ‘free stuff.’ They are PUBLIC GOODS,” she tweeted Monday. “And they are worth investing in, protecting, [and] advancing for all society and future generations.”
Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed Bernie Sanders, 78, for president and has touted his support for "Medicare for all," student loan forgiveness, and the Green New Deal as the main reasons she’s backing his presidential bid.
Sanders claimed that Ocasio-Cortez “will play a very, very important role” in his White House if he earns the Democratic nomination and defeats President Trump in 2020.
Monday, November 25, 2019
Francis' appointment of Jesuits to lead Vatican offices an 'anomaly' in church's history
Nov 25, 2019
Jesuit Fr. Antonio Guerrero Alves, the new prefect of the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy, is pictured in an undated photo. (CNS/courtesy Society of Jesus)
VATICAN CITY — When Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio in 2013 became the first Jesuit in history to be elected the Roman pontiff, there was not a single member of his religious order serving at the Vatican in a leadership position.
Six-and-a-half years later, Pope Francis has now appointed three of his former confreres in the Society of Jesus to the Vatican's highest posts. The latest was Spanish Jesuit Fr. Juan Guerrero Alves, who the pope appointed Nov. 14 to become the prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy.
From our sister publication: GSR in the Classroom is a supplementary curriculum for use in Catholic middle and high schools and faith formation programs. Learn more.
Guerrero, formerly an official at the Jesuit headquarters in Rome, joins Italian Jesuit Cardinal Luis Ladaria, who heads the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Canadian Jesuit Cardinal Michael Czerny, who leads the Vatican office that advocates for global migrants and refugees.
Church historians and theologians say the appointment of Jesuits to such roles represents a significant shift, especially given the rather contentious relations between the Vatican and the order under the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
"In the modern era, relations between the Jesuits and the papacy have been very hostile," said Michela Catto, an Italian church historian who has written a number of books on the Jesuits and their relations with the Vatican.
Catto, a researcher at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, called Francis' choices "an anomaly and certainly not traditional."
VATICAN CITY — When Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio in 2013 became the first Jesuit in history to be elected the Roman pontiff, there was not a single member of his religious order serving at the Vatican in a leadership position.
Six-and-a-half years later, Pope Francis has now appointed three of his former confreres in the Society of Jesus to the Vatican's highest posts. The latest was Spanish Jesuit Fr. Juan Guerrero Alves, who the pope appointed Nov. 14 to become the prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy.
From our sister publication: GSR in the Classroom is a supplementary curriculum for use in Catholic middle and high schools and faith formation programs. Learn more.
Guerrero, formerly an official at the Jesuit headquarters in Rome, joins Italian Jesuit Cardinal Luis Ladaria, who heads the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Canadian Jesuit Cardinal Michael Czerny, who leads the Vatican office that advocates for global migrants and refugees.
Church historians and theologians say the appointment of Jesuits to such roles represents a significant shift, especially given the rather contentious relations between the Vatican and the order under the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
"In the modern era, relations between the Jesuits and the papacy have been very hostile," said Michela Catto, an Italian church historian who has written a number of books on the Jesuits and their relations with the Vatican.
Catto, a researcher at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, called Francis' choices "an anomaly and certainly not traditional."
HOW WASHINGTON CAME TO BE WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON IN THE LAP OF ROME CHAPTER IV
HOW WASHINGTON CAME TO BE WASHINGTON.
This few seem to know ; the many reckon, it happened so. Such are oblivious to the fact, that before even Washington was even a dream in the minds of men, Rome had plotted to hold the continent. By Rome, we mean the power that makes Rome what she is, and what she is to be, ” the prince of the power of the air,” who has incarnated himself in Jesuitism, as Christ is incarnated in Christianity ; the power that works in darkness, and plans the suppression of the the truth and the overthrow of the rule of Christ. ” For we wrestle not,” says Paul, “against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”(Eph. 6:12) John said: “He that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. “(1 John 3:8) In this manifestation of Christ through the proclamation of the truth, lies the hope of the world. If then we charge Romanism with being cunning, subtle, and sly, the reason for the charge is supplied in the words quoted, which inform us of the cunning craftiness whereby Rome lies in wait to deceive.
THE POWER IS UNSEEN.
It is shadowy. It inhabits the air and infects it. Romanism is the malaria of the spiritual world. It stupefies the brain, deadens the heart, and sears the conscience as with a hot iron. It stands across the track of the world s life, with gifts in its hands, offering rule, supremacy, power and wealth to all who will fall down and worship her.*
They who yield have peace and praise. They who refuse must fight a desperate foe. The many do not believe this. They are blinded by ambition and fear, and they see it not. Deaf are they and they hear not the truth, and yet the truth remains. The what is, is the outgrowth of the what has been. Don t forget it. A wise, astute, cunning, comprehensive intellect has helped Romanism in the past, and is helping it now.
Washington is in the lap of Rome, because of influences which stirred the hearts of people and made them to act worse than they knew.
A few facts will make all this plain. Columbus was actuated by a desire to promote the interests of Romanism, when he traversed an unknown sea and discovered this Western World. Cortez and Pizarro went to Mexico and Peru, and captured them for the same purpose. Their lives were full of cruelty, but that did not hurt them with Rome. Lord Baltimore came to Maryland to find a refuge for persecuted” (2 Thess. 2:8,9) Romanists and named the place of retreat Mary’s land.
To escape the fangs of Romanism and priestly intolerance, the Puritans forsook their homes beyond the sea, came to New England, and on Plymouth Rock built an altar to liberty, sought on bleak New England shores freedom to worship God. They have been called narrow in their thought, and it is claimed they meant by liberty, liberty for themselves, and the right to banish all who thought differently.
Roger Williams, in the furnace fire of affliction and persecution, had the fetters of slavery to creed burned away, and came forth, through the wilderness and the sleet and snows of winter, to ” What Cheer Rock,” where he became the champion of liberty for all.
Archbishop Hughes once said : “Far be it from me to diminish, by one iota, the merit that is claimed for Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and perhaps other states, on the score of having proclaimed religious freedom, but the Catholics of Maryland, by priority of time, had borne away the prize.” This is untrue, both as regards time and character of what purported to be religious freedom. The Roman Catholic colony sailed up the Potomac in 1634. In Maryland the boasted law was passed in 1649, two years after the doctrine of religious freedom was proclaimed in Rhode Island. Bancroft, in speaking of what was done in Maryland, says : “The controversy between the king and the parliament advanced, the overthrow of the monarchy seemed about to confer unlimited power in England upon the embittered enemies of the Romish Church ; and, as if with a foresight of impending danger, and an earnest desire to stay its approach, the Roman Catholics of Maryland, with the covert countenance of their governor and of the proprietary, determined to place upon their statute-book an act of guaranty of religious freedom, which had ever been sacred upon their soil. This is the language of the Act : And whereas the enforcing of the conscience in matters of religion had frequently fallen out to be of dangerous consequences in those commonwealths where it has been practiced, and for the more quiet and peaceable government of this province, and the better to preserve mutual love and amity among the inhabitants, no person within this province professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall in any ways be troubled, molested, or discountenanced for his or her religion, or the free exercise thereof.” This, then, is their law poor as it is. In Rhode Island , their code of laws passed in 1647, closes with the following noble avowal of religious liberty to all: ” Otherwise than this what is herein forbidden, all men may walk as their consciences persuade them, every one in the name of God. And let the lambs of the Most High walk in this colony without molestation, in the name of Jehovah their God, for ever and ever.”
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Former CIA Analyst to CBN News: 'An American Insurrection is Now Underway'
Former CIA Analyst, Author, and Adjunct professor at Georgetown University, Dr. Michael Scheuer.
The Pro-Sabbath Sunday
Photo by Eliza Tan
October 25, 2019
The Asbury Student Congress recently passed a bill to open the Kinlaw Library and the Luce Activities Center on Sundays from 2-10 p.m. I was one of just two people to vote against it, and here’s why:
Closing much of campus on Sundays is reflective of Asbury’s commitment to Sabbath, taking a day away from work and devoting ourselves to rest, worship and community. In doing so, the buildings on campus designed primarily for work, including not only the library and gym, but also the academic buildings, CPO and the practice rooms in McCreless, shut down. They are available only under special circumstances. Buildings designed more for community, such as the dorms and the Student Center, remain open.
I do not believe this bill is somehow an attack on the Sabbath or that the proponents of this bill do not care about the Sabbath. The holiness of our community does not depend on whether people are able to use the Luce on Sunday afternoons.
But I do not believe that by closing the Luce and the library on Sundays Asbury is “forcing” the Sabbath on anyone. It is certainly encouraging practicing the Sabbath on Sundays, but that isn’t the same thing as forcing me to take a Sabbath. I can study in my room or in common areas of the dorm and I can study with a group of friends in the Student Center. Is that an ideal situation? Perhaps not, but in my experience, it is functional enough.
The proponents of this bill point out that many students choose to Sabbath on Saturdays. I’m glad that they do. That said, scripturally speaking, as far as I can see when the practice of Sabbath is instituted in Exodus and Deuteronomy, it is given both to individuals and the community as a whole. As for why Sunday, while there’s nothing special about Sunday, it seems to make the most sense. A recent student survey conducted before the bill was proposed found that when students take a Sabbath, about two-thirds do so on Sunday, mostly Sunday, or some combination of Saturday and Sunday.
With regards to students taking the Sabbath on a Saturday, if that is what works for someone, great! But Asbury as a community has a legitimate interest in promoting a collective day of Sabbath rest, and Sunday appears to be the day to do so. As such, no one is forcing a Sunday Sabbath on anyone, but campus will not be the best place to do work on those Sundays.
I understand why keeping the library and gym closed on Sundays is unpopular. I understand that it puts athletes who compete on Saturdays at a disadvantage, as well as students who don’t have cars and can’t easily travel elsewhere. As an athlete who doesn’t have a car, I get that. In a perfect world, there would be another place closer to campus where students who aren’t taking a Sabbath could study or work out on Sundays.
Obviously, that’s not the world we live in and we are forced to deal with this tradeoff. Is the university’s encouragement of Sunday as a Sabbath day of rest worth the frustration and inconvenience of the library and Luce being closed on Sundays? With the available alternatives, imperfect as they may be, I believe the answer is yes.
Modern Christianity has a tendency to view the Sabbath as another relic from the Old Testament — a helpful guide, perhaps, but not something to be taken literally. Asbury, by letting much of campus lay idle on Sundays, stands opposed to this. I find that refreshing, and when we move beyond the tradition of shutting down most of campus on Sundays, I will be sad to see it go.
Saturday, November 23, 2019
Amnesty International: Facebook and Google, a ‘threat’ to ‘human rights’
Facebook and Google, a ‘threat’ to ‘human rights’, declares Amnesty International
Thursday, 21 November 2019
©Belga
Amnesty International has strongly criticized the economic model of the Internet giants Facebook and Google that is “based on monitoring”, calling it a “systemic threat to human rights.”
The NGO argued in a report that by making their free online services indispensable to billions of people, and by using the collected personal data for targeted advertising, these groups threaten freedom of opinion and expression.
“Their insidious control of our digital lives undermines the very foundation of privacy and it is one of the major challenges of our time in terms of human rights,” Amnesty’s Secretary General Kumi Naidoo said in a communication.
“Google and Facebook have gradually chipped away at the respect of our privacy. Today we are trapped. Either we submit to this vast monitoring machine — where our data is easily used to manipulate and influence us — or we give up the benefits of a digital world,” he added.
The Brussels Times
Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospitalized for chills and fever, Supreme Court says
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital on Friday night after experiencing chills and a fever, the Supreme Court said Saturday night.
Ginsburg, 86, was initially evaluated at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., before being transferred to Johns Hopkins for further evaluation and treatment of any possible infection, the Supreme Court said in a press release.
Her symptoms have abated after intravenous antibiotics and fluids and she is expected to be released from the hospital as early as Sunday morning, according to the release.
Ginsburg has suffered a number of hospital stints recently.
RUTH BADER GINSBERG MISSES SUPREME COURT ARGUMENTS DUE TO ILLNESS
She missed oral arguments before the high court on Nov. 13 -- which she almost never does -- due to a stomach bug.
Ginsburg has also had two separate bouts with cancer in the past year. Her recovery from lung cancer caused her to miss court sessions in January, her first time doing so in her quarter-century as a justice.
In August, she had radiation treatment for a tumor on her pancreas.
Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil?
And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.
2 And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?
3 And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they which were with him;
4 How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone?
5 And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
6 And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered.
7 And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him.
8 But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.
9 Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?
10 And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
11 And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.
Luke 6:1-11.
Friday, November 22, 2019
US-China trade war could spark real war: Kissinger
World
US-China trade war could spark real war: Kissinger
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger speaks during a National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) conference Washington, DC. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty images)
21 Nov 2019 04:37PM(Updated: 21 Nov 2019 06:00PM)
BEIJING: Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger warned on Thursday (Nov 21) that an armed conflict could break out between the United States and China if they fail to resolve their trade war.
The sober remarks from Kissinger, who was instrumental in normalising diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing, came at a conference in Beijing on the future of the two economic giants.
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"If conflict is permitted to run unconstrained, the outcome could be even worse than it was in Europe," he said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum.
"World War I broke out because of a relatively minor crisis ... and today the weapons are more powerful," the former top diplomat said.
China and the US have been caught in a trade dispute for 18 months, with the two sides struggling to reach an agreement despite a series of negotiations.
21 Nov 2019 04:37PM(Updated: 21 Nov 2019 06:00PM)
BEIJING: Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger warned on Thursday (Nov 21) that an armed conflict could break out between the United States and China if they fail to resolve their trade war.
The sober remarks from Kissinger, who was instrumental in normalising diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing, came at a conference in Beijing on the future of the two economic giants.
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"If conflict is permitted to run unconstrained, the outcome could be even worse than it was in Europe," he said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum.
"World War I broke out because of a relatively minor crisis ... and today the weapons are more powerful," the former top diplomat said.
China and the US have been caught in a trade dispute for 18 months, with the two sides struggling to reach an agreement despite a series of negotiations.
Question of the week: Should hunting be allowed on Sundays?
Nov 19, 2019
Lauren Shaulis
Berlin
Sunday, the most sacred day of the week, the Sabbath, the day of rest, should not be mistreated as “just another day.” A day God proclaimed as holy should not be disrespected or ignored. Hunting, a sport many of my family members participate in, should not consume every hour of every day.
Sundays can be the day when an avid hunter spends time with his or her family — a day free of stress. Six days of hunting, consecutively, provides plenty of opportunity for the sport; I feel another day would be just unnecessary.
That beloved 24-hour time period allows the deer and worried mothers with sons hunting for the first time a chance to breathe a sigh of relief. Sundays are the perfect depiction of “everything in moderation” and “too much of a good thing.”
Sundays can equip the average citizen with a regulated pause from the pursuit of the sport without ceasing it completely. Some traditions hold truths far more complex and necessary than most could ever realize.
Peyton Betcher
Windber
As soon as the leaves begin to fall off the trees, millions of American hunters begin to gather their weapons and camouflage gear in preparation for daily hunting over the next few months. However, www.congressionalsportsmen.org confirms that in certain states, including Pennsylvania, hunting has never been permitted on Sundays.
More specifically, only 11 states to this day continue to follow strict Sunday restrictions. Originally, the Puritans designed the law as a part of the Blue Laws in order to encourage church attendance.
When these restrictions were first set, several other activities were also illegal on Sundays, including drinking alcohol and working in any capacity.
Thursday, November 21, 2019
The Immoral Attack on Capitalism (re: Marco Rubio)
By KEVIN D. WILLIAMSON
November 19, 2019 6:30 AM
Sen. Marco Rubio (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)
They want to take your property for the benefit of ‘the common good,’ which will happen to coincide with their political interests. Hard pass.
This is a time of great forgetting, and one of the things that has been forgotten is why we have a federal government and what it is there to do.
From Senator Marco Rubio and his “common-good capitalism” to Senator Elizabeth Warren and her “accountable capitalism,” politicians right and left who want politicians to have more power over private economic decisions assume a dilemma in which something called “capitalism” must be balanced against or made subordinate to something called the “common good.” This is the great forgetful stupidity of our time.
Capitalism is not a rival to the common good. Capitalism, meaning security in one’s own property and in the right to work and to trade, is the common good that governments exist to secure.
The U.S. government exists to see to the liberty of the American people. That is it. That is its only reason for being. It is an instrument and a convenience, the purpose of which is to ensure that Americans are able to enjoy their liberty and property — liberty and property being overlapping concepts.
What is contemplated by Senator Rubio and Senator Warren — along with a few batty adherents of the primitive nonidea known in Catholic circles as “integralism” and everywhere else more forthrightly as “totalitarianism” — is to invert the purpose of the U.S. government. Protecting Americans against those who would use force to curtail their liberty and take control of their property for their own ends is the duty of government; Rubio, Warren, et al. would have the government become the party that curtails Americans’ liberty and takes control of their property for its own ends. Which is to say, in the name of the “common good,” they would organize an assault on the actual common good the U.S. government was in fact constituted to protect. This account isn’t fringe libertarianism — it’s right there in the founding documents.
Being the nightwatchman is a difficult and generally thankless job, one that tends to receive attention only for its failures. But that is the job Senator Rubio and Senator Warren asked for and campaigned for. But there is a lot more political juice in being the bandit, taking control of other people’s property for your own purposes. And let’s have no more high-minded talk about the national interest from Senator Rubio, whose idea of the national interest is broad enough to encompass shilling for billionaire sugar barons, or from Senator Warren, who has never met a tax increase on rich people she didn’t like except for the one on medical-device manufacturers, who are (surprise!) clustered around Boston.
They want to take your property for the benefit of ‘the common good,’ which will happen to coincide with their political interests. Hard pass.
This is a time of great forgetting, and one of the things that has been forgotten is why we have a federal government and what it is there to do.
From Senator Marco Rubio and his “common-good capitalism” to Senator Elizabeth Warren and her “accountable capitalism,” politicians right and left who want politicians to have more power over private economic decisions assume a dilemma in which something called “capitalism” must be balanced against or made subordinate to something called the “common good.” This is the great forgetful stupidity of our time.
Capitalism is not a rival to the common good. Capitalism, meaning security in one’s own property and in the right to work and to trade, is the common good that governments exist to secure.
The U.S. government exists to see to the liberty of the American people. That is it. That is its only reason for being. It is an instrument and a convenience, the purpose of which is to ensure that Americans are able to enjoy their liberty and property — liberty and property being overlapping concepts.
What is contemplated by Senator Rubio and Senator Warren — along with a few batty adherents of the primitive nonidea known in Catholic circles as “integralism” and everywhere else more forthrightly as “totalitarianism” — is to invert the purpose of the U.S. government. Protecting Americans against those who would use force to curtail their liberty and take control of their property for their own ends is the duty of government; Rubio, Warren, et al. would have the government become the party that curtails Americans’ liberty and takes control of their property for its own ends. Which is to say, in the name of the “common good,” they would organize an assault on the actual common good the U.S. government was in fact constituted to protect. This account isn’t fringe libertarianism — it’s right there in the founding documents.
Being the nightwatchman is a difficult and generally thankless job, one that tends to receive attention only for its failures. But that is the job Senator Rubio and Senator Warren asked for and campaigned for. But there is a lot more political juice in being the bandit, taking control of other people’s property for your own purposes. And let’s have no more high-minded talk about the national interest from Senator Rubio, whose idea of the national interest is broad enough to encompass shilling for billionaire sugar barons, or from Senator Warren, who has never met a tax increase on rich people she didn’t like except for the one on medical-device manufacturers, who are (surprise!) clustered around Boston.
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Christians turn to artificial intelligence to stop porn use
By BY GOPAL RATNAM
CQ-ROLL CALL
NOV 20, 2019 | 7:45 AM
Evangelical groups are turning to artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to help their members fight addiction to online pornography in a budding industry that one scholar calls an emerging "purity-industrial complex."
As pornography has exploded beyond just websites to apps and social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, Tumblr and others, tech companies closely affiliated with church groups are capitalizing on the fears of devout Christians that "porn is the greatest threat to Christian purity and even the moral standard of the nation," said Samuel Perry, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Oklahoma and author of "Addicted to Lust."
A recent report by the Washington-based National Center on Sexual Exploitation cited a study of university students that found that 93% of boys and 62% of girls were exposed to online pornography during their adolescence.
Another study showed that among college-going men, nearly half were exposed to pornography as early as 13 years of age. A majority, or about 61 percent, of those accessing salacious material did so using their smartphones, the center said.
Pope arrives in Thailand to encourage Catholic minority
Human trafficking, peacemaking likely to be brought up
PUBLISHED : 20 NOV 2019 AT 13:19
WRITER: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pope Francis walks with his cousin Ana Rosa Sivori as he arrives at Military Air Terminal of Don Muang Airport in Bangkok on Wednesday. (AP photo)
Pope Francis arrived in Bangkok on Wednesday to begin a tour of Thailand and Japan, part of a mission to boost the morale of those countries' tiny minority Catholic communities and speak about issues of concern including human trafficking and peacemaking.
He is expected to highlight his admiration in Thailand for the community's missionary ancestors who brought the faith to this Buddhist nation centuries ago and endured bouts of persecution more recently.
Francis' three-day visit to Thailand, followed by three days in Japan, will be a welcome break for the 82-year-old pope. He is enduring fresh opposition from Catholic conservatives in the US over his just-concluded meeting on the Amazon, as well as a new financial scandal at home.
Leaving those concerns behind, Francis will meet with Thailand's supreme Buddhist leader, Thai authorities, as well as all the Catholic bishops of Asia — a rare chance for him to address some of the major challenges facing the Catholic Church in the region and the men responsible for dealing with them.
On the eve of the trip, the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said interfaith relations and emphasising the dignity of every person are likely to be raised.
Vatican visit: a retrospective
By God's grace
Thousands to throng to Pope's mass
Francis has made the fight against human trafficking a hallmark of his papacy. He is expected to raise this issue in Thailand, which is a key transit point for victims of human trafficking, forced labour and the sex trade.
Francis is also expected to encourage the Catholic community, which represents just 0.6% of its 69 million people, as well as encourage the largely Buddhist country to continue welcoming migrants and showing tolerance to people of other faiths. That message is also intended to reach the country's small Muslim community amid a persistent insurgency in the far south bordering Malaysia.
Thirty-five years after St John Paul II became the first pope to visit Thailand, Francis is marking the 350th anniversary of the creation of a stable apostolic vicariate in Thailand, then known as Siam, after Dominican missionaries first brought the faith in 1567, followed by members of Francis' own Jesuit order.
Francis will pray at the tomb of Nicholas Bunkerd Kitbamrung, known as the Rev Benedikto Chunkim, who became the first martyred priest of modern Thailand when he was killed in 1944. Francis is also likely to refer to seven other martyrs killed in 1940 as a nationalistic government sought to convert all Thais to Buddhists.
Throughout his visit, he will have a special interpreter by his side: his second cousin, Sister Ana Rosa Sivori, who has been a missionary in Thailand since the 1960s.
Pope Francis arrived in Bangkok on Wednesday to begin a tour of Thailand and Japan, part of a mission to boost the morale of those countries' tiny minority Catholic communities and speak about issues of concern including human trafficking and peacemaking.
He is expected to highlight his admiration in Thailand for the community's missionary ancestors who brought the faith to this Buddhist nation centuries ago and endured bouts of persecution more recently.
Francis' three-day visit to Thailand, followed by three days in Japan, will be a welcome break for the 82-year-old pope. He is enduring fresh opposition from Catholic conservatives in the US over his just-concluded meeting on the Amazon, as well as a new financial scandal at home.
Leaving those concerns behind, Francis will meet with Thailand's supreme Buddhist leader, Thai authorities, as well as all the Catholic bishops of Asia — a rare chance for him to address some of the major challenges facing the Catholic Church in the region and the men responsible for dealing with them.
On the eve of the trip, the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said interfaith relations and emphasising the dignity of every person are likely to be raised.
Vatican visit: a retrospective
By God's grace
Thousands to throng to Pope's mass
Francis has made the fight against human trafficking a hallmark of his papacy. He is expected to raise this issue in Thailand, which is a key transit point for victims of human trafficking, forced labour and the sex trade.
Francis is also expected to encourage the Catholic community, which represents just 0.6% of its 69 million people, as well as encourage the largely Buddhist country to continue welcoming migrants and showing tolerance to people of other faiths. That message is also intended to reach the country's small Muslim community amid a persistent insurgency in the far south bordering Malaysia.
Thirty-five years after St John Paul II became the first pope to visit Thailand, Francis is marking the 350th anniversary of the creation of a stable apostolic vicariate in Thailand, then known as Siam, after Dominican missionaries first brought the faith in 1567, followed by members of Francis' own Jesuit order.
Francis will pray at the tomb of Nicholas Bunkerd Kitbamrung, known as the Rev Benedikto Chunkim, who became the first martyred priest of modern Thailand when he was killed in 1944. Francis is also likely to refer to seven other martyrs killed in 1940 as a nationalistic government sought to convert all Thais to Buddhists.
Throughout his visit, he will have a special interpreter by his side: his second cousin, Sister Ana Rosa Sivori, who has been a missionary in Thailand since the 1960s.
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Why Black Protestants and Evangelicals Still Preach Politics
Amid increasing polarization and shifting church trends, the black church continues to speak out on matters of justice.
Kate Shellnutt November 15, 2019 9:05 AM
Image: The Washington Post / Contributor / Getty
Hundreds gathered in a Chicago sanctuary last night to hear Christian leaders calling on believers to engage the political process and advocate for their convictions in the election year ahead.
The Faith and Politics Rally was organized by the And Campaign, a nonpartisan group that says Christians have a “particular obligation” to provide moral leadership and seek the common good—an approach that has become increasingly contentious in the US.
A majority of Americans believe churches should “keep out” of politics, according to a survey released today by the Pew Research Center. Evangelicals and Protestants from historically black churches—both represented at the recent rally—are the only major religious traditions that still want faith communities to “express their views” on social and political issues.
“While a misappropriation of the separation between Church and State has sometimes been used to suggest people of faith are the only people who can’t consider their values when participating in politics, we know that both our faith and the demands of citizenship require that we bring our full selves to the project of self-governance,” And Campaign leaders declared in their 2020 presidential election statement.
Evangelicals (in this survey, a multiethnic sample) and historically black Protestants tend to rank as most devout among religious groups in the US. They share core theological beliefs and a corresponding desire to see those beliefs shape their lives and communities. Evangelicals and black Protestants are the two traditions that consider their faith the most important source of meaning in their lives. But they often come from different racial and cultural contexts as they consider how to apply it to the political realm.
According to Pew, black Protestants are the most likely to say churches don’t have enough influence in politics (54%), compared to 48 percent of evangelicals and 28 percent of Americans overall.
“It’s less about politics in the electoral sense … and more of a sense of black folks seeing faith as a way to rectify and address issues of injustice,” said Jason Shelton, a sociologist at the University of Texas at Arlington whose research focuses on the black church. “The separation of realms (faith and politics) is clear for white evangelicals much more than it is for African American Protestants, even though they have the same heightened religious sensibilities.”
“There’s sense of right and wrong in a moral sense that’s been fused together … The pulpit has inspired us to say, ‘This is the direction we gotta move for social change, to create a better day.’”
Politics at the pulpit
For generations, African Americans have relied on their faith and the church in the midst of injustice, oppression, and suffering. And the black church has played a unique role in addressing community needs and fostering leaders to advocate for change.
Religious fundamentalism is a ‘plague,’ pope says
Junno Arocho Esteves
Nov 19, 2019
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Pope Francis greets Father Guillermo Marco, Muslim leader Omar Abboud and Rabbi Daniel Goldman, co-presidents of the Argentine Institute for Interreligious Dialogue, Nov. 18, 2019, in the apostolic palace of the Vatican. (Credit: CNS photo/Vatican Media.)
ROME - Interreligious dialogue is an important way to counter fundamentalist groups as well as the unjust accusation that religions sow division, Pope Francis said.
Meeting with members of the Argentine Institute for Interreligious Dialogue Nov. 18, the pope said that in “today’s precarious world, dialogue among religions is not a weakness. It finds its reason for being in the dialogue of God with humanity.”
Recalling a scene from the 11th-century poem, “The Song of Roland,” in which Christians threatened Muslims “to choose between baptism or death,” the pope denounced the fundamentalist mentality which “we cannot accept nor understand and cannot function anymore.”
“We must beware of fundamentalist groups; each (religion) has their own. In Argentina, there are some fundamentalist corners there,” he said. “Fundamentalism is a plague and all religions have some fundamentalist first cousin.”
According to its website, the Institute for Interreligious Dialogue was founded in Buenos Aires in 2002 and was inspired by then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as a way “to promote understanding among men and women of different religious traditions in our city and the world.”
The pope welcomed the members of the institute who are in Rome to reflect on the document on “human fraternity” and improving Christian-Muslim relations, which was signed Feb. 4 by Francis and Sheikh Ahmad el-Tayeb, the grand imam of al-Azhar and a leading religious authority for many Sunni Muslims.
Pope Francis greets Father Guillermo Marco, Muslim leader Omar Abboud and Rabbi Daniel Goldman, co-presidents of the Argentine Institute for Interreligious Dialogue, Nov. 18, 2019, in the apostolic palace of the Vatican. (Credit: CNS photo/Vatican Media.)
ROME - Interreligious dialogue is an important way to counter fundamentalist groups as well as the unjust accusation that religions sow division, Pope Francis said.
Meeting with members of the Argentine Institute for Interreligious Dialogue Nov. 18, the pope said that in “today’s precarious world, dialogue among religions is not a weakness. It finds its reason for being in the dialogue of God with humanity.”
Recalling a scene from the 11th-century poem, “The Song of Roland,” in which Christians threatened Muslims “to choose between baptism or death,” the pope denounced the fundamentalist mentality which “we cannot accept nor understand and cannot function anymore.”
“We must beware of fundamentalist groups; each (religion) has their own. In Argentina, there are some fundamentalist corners there,” he said. “Fundamentalism is a plague and all religions have some fundamentalist first cousin.”
According to its website, the Institute for Interreligious Dialogue was founded in Buenos Aires in 2002 and was inspired by then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as a way “to promote understanding among men and women of different religious traditions in our city and the world.”
The pope welcomed the members of the institute who are in Rome to reflect on the document on “human fraternity” and improving Christian-Muslim relations, which was signed Feb. 4 by Francis and Sheikh Ahmad el-Tayeb, the grand imam of al-Azhar and a leading religious authority for many Sunni Muslims.
Pope Francis Wants to Add ‘Ecological Sin’ to Catechism
ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images
THOMAS D. WILLIAMS, PH.D. 18 Nov 2019
ROME — Pope Francis told a group of lawyers that he could like to introduce the category of “ecological sin” into official Catholic teaching.
“We must introduce – we are thinking about it – in the Catechism of the Catholic Church the sin against ecology, the ecological sin against the common home, because it is a duty,” the pope said Friday in addressing participants in an international conference on penal law.
More specifically, Francis said, are all those actions that can be considered as “ecocide,” for instance, “the massive contamination of air, land and water resources, the large-scale destruction of flora and fauna, and any action capable of producing an ecological disaster or destroying an ecosystem.”
Ecocide “is to be understood as the loss, damage or destruction of the ecosystems of a given territory, so that its utilization by inhabitants has been or can be seen as severely compromised,” he said, adding that such a sin is “a fifth category of crimes against peace, which should be recognised as such by the international community.”
The pontiff said that such actions are “usually” caused by corporations, and “an elementary sense of justice would require” that they be punished for them.
An ecological sin is “an action or omission against God, against one’s neighbour, the community and the environment,” Francis said, quoting the Fathers of the recently concluded Pan-Amazon Regional Synod. “It is a sin against future generations and is manifested in acts and habits of pollution and destruction of the harmony of the environment, in transgressions against the principles of interdependence and in the breaking of networks of solidarity between creatures.”
Above and beyond its sinfulness, failure to care for the environment is an injustice and a crime, Francis suggested and should be legally enforced. “I would like to appeal to all the leaders and actors in this area to contribute their efforts to ensuring adequate legal protection for our common home,” he said.
THOMAS D. WILLIAMS, PH.D. 18 Nov 2019
ROME — Pope Francis told a group of lawyers that he could like to introduce the category of “ecological sin” into official Catholic teaching.
“We must introduce – we are thinking about it – in the Catechism of the Catholic Church the sin against ecology, the ecological sin against the common home, because it is a duty,” the pope said Friday in addressing participants in an international conference on penal law.
More specifically, Francis said, are all those actions that can be considered as “ecocide,” for instance, “the massive contamination of air, land and water resources, the large-scale destruction of flora and fauna, and any action capable of producing an ecological disaster or destroying an ecosystem.”
Ecocide “is to be understood as the loss, damage or destruction of the ecosystems of a given territory, so that its utilization by inhabitants has been or can be seen as severely compromised,” he said, adding that such a sin is “a fifth category of crimes against peace, which should be recognised as such by the international community.”
The pontiff said that such actions are “usually” caused by corporations, and “an elementary sense of justice would require” that they be punished for them.
An ecological sin is “an action or omission against God, against one’s neighbour, the community and the environment,” Francis said, quoting the Fathers of the recently concluded Pan-Amazon Regional Synod. “It is a sin against future generations and is manifested in acts and habits of pollution and destruction of the harmony of the environment, in transgressions against the principles of interdependence and in the breaking of networks of solidarity between creatures.”
Above and beyond its sinfulness, failure to care for the environment is an injustice and a crime, Francis suggested and should be legally enforced. “I would like to appeal to all the leaders and actors in this area to contribute their efforts to ensuring adequate legal protection for our common home,” he said.
How Vermont’s Catholic Church stashed away a half-billion dollars in assets
The Cathedral of St. Joseph in Burlington on Friday November 15, 2019.
Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
When Vermont’s Catholic Church recently came clean about its half-century-long history of child sex abuse claims against 10% of its clergy, many wondered how much money the state’s largest religious denomination had on hand to deal with a potential new wave of lawsuits.
The statewide Diocese of Burlington’s latest public financial statement lists $16 million in unrestricted net assets.
But that figure doesn’t include an estimated $500 million in property that church leaders stashed into trusts more than a decade ago to protect those assets from priest abuse settlements.
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In the spring of 2006, then-Bishop Salvatore Matano began to see how much the scandal, first exposed by the Boston Globe, would cost the church.
The Vermont diocese had paid one accuser $20,000 to drop his court case in 2003. A year later, two more men demanded $120,000 and $150,000 respectively before they agreed to settle. In 2006, the church, facing a six-figure debt and a seemingly endless series of civil lawsuits, saw individual settlement claims rise to nearly $1 million.
That’s when Matano hatched an idea. The bishop told his attorney to place each of the diocese’s local parishes — some 130 at the time — into separate trusts whose holdings could only be tapped for “pious, charitable or educational purposes,” shielding the property from potential multimillion-dollar jury verdicts.
The Messengers*
*See Appendix.
The Lord has often given me a view of the situation and wants of the scattered jewels who have not yet come to the light of the present truth, and has shown that the messengers should speed their way to them as fast as possible, to give them the light. Many all around us only need to have their prejudices removed and the evidences of our present position spread out before them from the Word, and they will joyfully receive the present truth. The messengers should watch for souls as they that must give account. Theirs must be a life of toil and anguish of spirit, while the weight of the precious but often-wounded cause of Christ rests upon them. They will have to lay aside worldly interests and comforts and make it their first object to do all in their power to advance the cause of present truth and save perishing souls.
They will also have a rich reward. In their crowns of rejoicing those who are rescued by them and finally saved will shine as stars forever and ever. And to all eternity they will enjoy the satisfaction of having done what they could in presenting the truth in its purity and beauty, so that souls fell in love with it, were sanctified through it, and availed themselves of the inestimable privilege of being made rich, and being washed in the blood of the Lamb and redeemed unto God.
I saw that the shepherds should consult those in whom they have reason to have confidence, those who have been in all the messages, and are firm in all the present truth, before they advocate new points of importance, which they may think the Bible sustains. Then the shepherds will be perfectly united and the [62] union of the shepherds will be felt by the church. Such a course I saw would prevent unhappy divisions, and then there would be no danger of the precious flock being divided and the sheep scattered without a shepherd.
I also saw that God had messengers that He would use in His cause, but they were not ready. They were too light and trifling to exert a good influence over the flock and did not feel the weight of the cause and the worth of souls as God's messengers must feel in order to effect good. Said the angel, "Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord." They can accomplish but little good unless they are wholly given up to God and feel the importance and solemnity of the last message of mercy that is now being given to the scattered flock. Some who are not called of God are very willing to go with the message. But if they felt the weight of the cause and the responsibilities of such a station, they would feel to shrink back and say with the apostle, "Who is sufficient for these things?" One reason why they are so willing to go is that God has not laid upon them the weight of the cause. Not all who proclaimed the first and the second angel's message are to give the third, even after they fully embrace it, for some have been in so many errors and delusions that they can but just save their own souls, and if they undertake to guide others, they will be the means of overthrowing them. But I saw that some who have formerly run deep into fanaticism would be the first now to run before God sends them, before they are purified from their past errors; having error mixed with the truth, they would feed the flock of God with it, and if they were suffered to go on, the flock would become sickly, and distraction and death would follow. I saw that they would have to be sifted and sifted, until they were freed from all their [63] errors, or they could never enter the kingdom. The messengers could not have that confidence in the judgment and discernment of those who have been in errors and fanaticism that they could have in those who have been in the truth and not in extravagant errors. Many, also, are too apt to urge out into the field some who have but just professed the present truth, who have much to learn and much to do before they can be right in the sight of God themselves, much less point out the way to others.
The Lord has often given me a view of the situation and wants of the scattered jewels who have not yet come to the light of the present truth, and has shown that the messengers should speed their way to them as fast as possible, to give them the light. Many all around us only need to have their prejudices removed and the evidences of our present position spread out before them from the Word, and they will joyfully receive the present truth. The messengers should watch for souls as they that must give account. Theirs must be a life of toil and anguish of spirit, while the weight of the precious but often-wounded cause of Christ rests upon them. They will have to lay aside worldly interests and comforts and make it their first object to do all in their power to advance the cause of present truth and save perishing souls.
They will also have a rich reward. In their crowns of rejoicing those who are rescued by them and finally saved will shine as stars forever and ever. And to all eternity they will enjoy the satisfaction of having done what they could in presenting the truth in its purity and beauty, so that souls fell in love with it, were sanctified through it, and availed themselves of the inestimable privilege of being made rich, and being washed in the blood of the Lamb and redeemed unto God.
I saw that the shepherds should consult those in whom they have reason to have confidence, those who have been in all the messages, and are firm in all the present truth, before they advocate new points of importance, which they may think the Bible sustains. Then the shepherds will be perfectly united and the [62] union of the shepherds will be felt by the church. Such a course I saw would prevent unhappy divisions, and then there would be no danger of the precious flock being divided and the sheep scattered without a shepherd.
I also saw that God had messengers that He would use in His cause, but they were not ready. They were too light and trifling to exert a good influence over the flock and did not feel the weight of the cause and the worth of souls as God's messengers must feel in order to effect good. Said the angel, "Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord." They can accomplish but little good unless they are wholly given up to God and feel the importance and solemnity of the last message of mercy that is now being given to the scattered flock. Some who are not called of God are very willing to go with the message. But if they felt the weight of the cause and the responsibilities of such a station, they would feel to shrink back and say with the apostle, "Who is sufficient for these things?" One reason why they are so willing to go is that God has not laid upon them the weight of the cause. Not all who proclaimed the first and the second angel's message are to give the third, even after they fully embrace it, for some have been in so many errors and delusions that they can but just save their own souls, and if they undertake to guide others, they will be the means of overthrowing them. But I saw that some who have formerly run deep into fanaticism would be the first now to run before God sends them, before they are purified from their past errors; having error mixed with the truth, they would feed the flock of God with it, and if they were suffered to go on, the flock would become sickly, and distraction and death would follow. I saw that they would have to be sifted and sifted, until they were freed from all their [63] errors, or they could never enter the kingdom. The messengers could not have that confidence in the judgment and discernment of those who have been in errors and fanaticism that they could have in those who have been in the truth and not in extravagant errors. Many, also, are too apt to urge out into the field some who have but just professed the present truth, who have much to learn and much to do before they can be right in the sight of God themselves, much less point out the way to others.
Monday, November 18, 2019
Vatican’s Top Financial Regulator Departs Unexpectedly Amid Scandal
EUROPE
Pope replaces René Brülhart as the president of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority
René Brülhart, pictured in 2016, has been replaced as president of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority. PHOTO: FABIO FRUSTACI/ZUMA PRESS
By
Francis X. Rocca
Updated Nov. 18, 2019 12:36 pm ET
ROME— Pope Francis unexpectedly replaced the Vatican’s top financial regulator amid a brewing financial scandal over the Holy See’s investments in London real estate.
The Vatican said Monday that René Brülhart’s mandate as president of its Financial Information Authority, or AIF, had ended but didn’t say why the pope had decided not to renew it. The body’s main functions are to prevent financial crimes at the Vatican and to oversee the cleanup of the Vatican Bank, which has long been plagued by financial scandals.
The Vatican said the pope had chosen a new president but didn’t provide a name. The successor is set to take over next week, after the pope returns from a trip to Asia.
The departure extends a period of turmoil at the Vatican that has harmed the confidence of financial regulators around the world in sharing information with AIF as part of a coordinated crackdown on money laundering, financing of terrorism, tax fraud and other financial crimes.
In October, Vatican police raided the offices of AIF and the Secretariat of State, the Holy See’s executive, as part of an investigation into a large property investment in London.
RELATED
A Top Vatican Official Resigns Amid London Real-Estate Scandal (Oct. 14)
The Vatican prosecutor’s investigation came in response to a complaint from the Vatican Bank, which had balked at a request from the Secretariat of State for a loan of more than €100 million ($110 million) to finance the acquisition of a property in London’s upmarket Chelsea neighborhood, according to Vatican officials. The Vatican Bank viewed the deal, which required clearance by AIF, as suspicious.
ROME— Pope Francis unexpectedly replaced the Vatican’s top financial regulator amid a brewing financial scandal over the Holy See’s investments in London real estate.
The Vatican said Monday that René Brülhart’s mandate as president of its Financial Information Authority, or AIF, had ended but didn’t say why the pope had decided not to renew it. The body’s main functions are to prevent financial crimes at the Vatican and to oversee the cleanup of the Vatican Bank, which has long been plagued by financial scandals.
The Vatican said the pope had chosen a new president but didn’t provide a name. The successor is set to take over next week, after the pope returns from a trip to Asia.
The departure extends a period of turmoil at the Vatican that has harmed the confidence of financial regulators around the world in sharing information with AIF as part of a coordinated crackdown on money laundering, financing of terrorism, tax fraud and other financial crimes.
In October, Vatican police raided the offices of AIF and the Secretariat of State, the Holy See’s executive, as part of an investigation into a large property investment in London.
RELATED
A Top Vatican Official Resigns Amid London Real-Estate Scandal (Oct. 14)
The Vatican prosecutor’s investigation came in response to a complaint from the Vatican Bank, which had balked at a request from the Secretariat of State for a loan of more than €100 million ($110 million) to finance the acquisition of a property in London’s upmarket Chelsea neighborhood, according to Vatican officials. The Vatican Bank viewed the deal, which required clearance by AIF, as suspicious.
Sunday, November 17, 2019
Pope decries that “greed of a few” worsens poverty of others
Frances D'Emilio
Nov 17, 2019
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pope Francis sits at a table during a lunch, in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2019. Pope Francis is offering several hundred poor people, homeless, migrants, unemployed a lunch on Sunday as he celebrates the World Day of the Poor with a concrete gesture of charity in the spirit of his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi. (Credit: AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino.)
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis on Sunday decried that the “greed of a few” wealthy people is compounding the plight of the poor before sharing a meal with the jobless and the homeless that has become a tradition of his papacy.
Celebrating a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica dedicated to heightening awareness about poor people worldwide, Francis lamented the lack of concern about growing income gaps between the haves and have-nots.
“We go our way in haste, without worrying that gaps are increasing, that the greed of a few is adding to the poverty of many others,” Francis said in his homily, with poor people among those accorded seats in the basilica for the Mass.
Francis later invited hundreds of needy, including migrants, to dine with him in a Vatican hall.
Addressing the public in St. Peter’s Square following the end of the service, Francis said such initiatives pay witness to “the attention that must never be lacking toward these brothers and sisters of ours.”
He expressed dismay over the ‘’indifference of society toward poor people.”
Pope Francis sits at a table during a lunch, in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2019. Pope Francis is offering several hundred poor people, homeless, migrants, unemployed a lunch on Sunday as he celebrates the World Day of the Poor with a concrete gesture of charity in the spirit of his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi. (Credit: AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino.)
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis on Sunday decried that the “greed of a few” wealthy people is compounding the plight of the poor before sharing a meal with the jobless and the homeless that has become a tradition of his papacy.
Celebrating a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica dedicated to heightening awareness about poor people worldwide, Francis lamented the lack of concern about growing income gaps between the haves and have-nots.
“We go our way in haste, without worrying that gaps are increasing, that the greed of a few is adding to the poverty of many others,” Francis said in his homily, with poor people among those accorded seats in the basilica for the Mass.
Francis later invited hundreds of needy, including migrants, to dine with him in a Vatican hall.
Addressing the public in St. Peter’s Square following the end of the service, Francis said such initiatives pay witness to “the attention that must never be lacking toward these brothers and sisters of ours.”
He expressed dismay over the ‘’indifference of society toward poor people.”
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Op-Ed: Moderate House Dems Should Consider A Coup Of Their Own
Posted on November 14, 2019
In 2018, an electoral tsunami propelled a takeover of the House of Representatives by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the Democratic Party.
Heavy-hitting Democratic party donors were stirred into a frenzy over accusations of Russian collusion that would eventually be dismissed by the Mueller investigation. Pelosi was able to raise a colossal amount of money, leading Democrats into picking up 41 seats on the way to regaining the House majority for the first time in eight years. There is no question that this was a formidable and impressive effort. What is more impressive is how it was accomplished. Despite all the partisan anti-Trump rhetoric at Hollywood fundraisers, Pelosi recruited and supported moderate candidates skillfully threading the needle when talking about the President.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
While much of the celebrity and media attention was garnered by progressive freshmen members like U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), it was the moderate Democratic candidates that did most of the heavy lifting in regaining the majority, by winning swing districts. This is what U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi did in NY-22, and it resulted in even pulling off some shocking victories in deep red Trump districts like U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn was able to do in OK-5.
Candidates like Brindisi and Horn didn’t tout far left tropes like massive tax hikes and focused on kitchen table issues such as lowering healthcare costs and social security. Democrats who won the swing districts or scored the massive upsets didn’t run against Donald Trump, they ran far and away from the so-called progressive agenda espoused by Democrats from overwhelmingly liberal districts. Indeed, many thought the results of the 2018 elections were poised to usher in a more moderate and pragmatic Democratic Party.
Whatever some of us may have thought would happen with the House Democrats agenda in 2019, it soon became obvious that moderates in the Democratic Party were a prop to be seen and not heard. Instead of having a national conversation about fixing health care, or helping the middle class, the themes dominating the Democratic Party in the House quickly became the “Green New Deal” and a verifiable infatuation with impeaching President Trump. If a House Democrat dared try to change the conversation to more pressing and mainstream issues, they were swiftly threatened with the prospect of a well-funded primary opponent.
Friday, November 15, 2019
USCIRF commissioner resigns, cites concern over 'move towards more bureaucratic controls'
By Samuel Smith, CP Reporter| Friday, November 15, 2019
Kristina Arriaga | Becket
Longtime religious freedom advocate Kristina Arriaga has resigned as a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, citing concerns over the possibility of more bureaucratic control and what she says is the commission’s inability to live up to its full potential.
Arriaga, who was appointed to the bipartisan congressionally-mandated commission by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan in 2016 and served as the commission’s vice chair in 2017 and 2018, informed Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of her decision to resign from the volunteer role this week.
Her term was set to end in May 2020.
On Thursday, Arriaga sent a note to fellow USCIRF commissioners, stating that “[t]he move towards more bureaucratic controls has undermined the independence of commissioners to the point I can no longer be an effective advocate for religious freedom.
Longtime religious freedom advocate Kristina Arriaga has resigned as a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, citing concerns over the possibility of more bureaucratic control and what she says is the commission’s inability to live up to its full potential.
Arriaga, who was appointed to the bipartisan congressionally-mandated commission by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan in 2016 and served as the commission’s vice chair in 2017 and 2018, informed Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of her decision to resign from the volunteer role this week.
Her term was set to end in May 2020.
On Thursday, Arriaga sent a note to fellow USCIRF commissioners, stating that “[t]he move towards more bureaucratic controls has undermined the independence of commissioners to the point I can no longer be an effective advocate for religious freedom.
In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Arriaga voiced her displeasure with a Senate bill introduced in September that she fears would “shift” USCIRF’s stated purpose and “burden commissioners with new bureaucratic hurdles.”
“[The bill] would gut USCIRF by changing its mission and burdening commissioners with the very kind of innovation-killing bureaucracy they were designed to fight,” Arriaga told The Christian Post in an email.
“The bill expanded USCIRF’s mission to include monitoring the ‘abuse of religion to justify human rights violations.' This expansion creates an ideological loophole for USCIRF to denounce, for instance, sex segregation at religious services, circumcision or religions that oppose same-sex relationships.”
Important changes coming to YouTube;..
Important changes coming to YouTube; you need to take action
YouTube Creators
3 days ago
Details
Hi,
Important changes that may impact your monetization and content discoverability are coming.
Starting today, all creators are required to tell us if their content is made for kids in order to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and/or other applicable laws. To help you comply, we are introducing a new audience setting in YouTube Studio.
Depending on the amount of made for kids content on your channel, you can set your audience at either the channel level or the video level. For those who are setting at the channel level, it is just one click.
YouTube Creators
3 days ago
Details
Hi,
Important changes that may impact your monetization and content discoverability are coming.
Starting today, all creators are required to tell us if their content is made for kids in order to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and/or other applicable laws. To help you comply, we are introducing a new audience setting in YouTube Studio.
Depending on the amount of made for kids content on your channel, you can set your audience at either the channel level or the video level. For those who are setting at the channel level, it is just one click.
Ezekiel 7
Ezekiel 7 King James Version (KJV)
7 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land.
3 Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations.
4 And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
5 Thus saith the Lord God; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come.
6 An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come.
7 The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains.
8 Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations.
9 And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth.
10 Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.
11 Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of their's: neither shall there be wailing for them.
12 The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.
13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.
14 They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.
15 The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.
16 But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.
Jesuit priest new Prefect of Secretariat for Economy
Spanish Father Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, 60, is scheduled to take office in January 2020
November 14, 2019
Father Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves SJ (Society of Jesus)
Pope Francis has chosen a Jesuit priest as the Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy of the Holy See.
Father Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves is scheduled to take office in January 2020. Normally the head of such a top Vatican office would also be named a bishop, but the Jesuit Superior General, Father Arturo Sosa, asked the pope not to elevate the new prefect to the episcopate so he could return to normal Jesuit ministry after his service in the Roman Curia.
The Secretariat for the Economy has been without a prefect since last year when its former head, Cardinal GeorgePell, was charged and found guilty on five counts of sexual assault on two minors.
Father Guerrero, 60, is the Delegate for Interprovincial Houses and Works of the Society of Jesus in Rome. He is also a General Councillor.
"As a Jesuit, it is a joy to receive a mission directly from the pope. It is a privileged way to realize my vocation," the newly named prefect told Vatican News.
"The obedience I profess has always led me along unexpected paths, led me where I would never have dared to venture. And so, I am grateful. Obedience is, for me, a privileged place of encounter with the Lord," he said.
Born in Merida, Spain, Father Guerrero entered the Society of Jesus in 1979 and was ordained a priest in 1992. He has degrees in economics, philosophy and theology and speaks Italian, English, French, Portuguese and Spanish.
In 2008 he was appointed as provincial of the Jesuit Province of Castilla in Spain that has over 600 Jesuits. In 2014 he was sent to Mozambique, serving as treasurer and project coordinator of the Jesuit mission there.
In 2017 he was sent to Rome as Delegate for the Interprovincial Roman Houses and Works - a position that oversees some 360 Jesuits and various ministries such as the Pontifical Gregorian University, The Pontifical Biblical Institute, The Pontifical Oriental Institute, the Vatican Observatory, La Civiltá Cattolica, Centro Aletti, the Russian College, the Bellarmino College, the Gesù College and the Communication Dicastery (Vatican Radio).
"This call was something completely unexpected. Initially, it filled me with anxiety, and I felt quite numb. But I welcome it with humility, with confidence in the Lord and in the team that is already working in the Secretariat for the Economy. I will collaborate in the service of this mission by offering the best of myself," Father Guerrero said.
"My desire is to get to know and to begin to work with the team at the Holy See's Secretariat for the Economy. I hope to contribute to the economic transparency of the Holy See, and to help to use efficiently the goods and resources that are at the service of the important evangelizing mission of the Church," he said.
Father Sosa, the Jesuit Superior General, expressed the joy of the Society of Jesus in its availability for service to the Pope and the Holy See.
Father Guerrero's appointment comes just one day after the High Court of Australia decided to hear a second appeal from Cardinal Pell, who in 2017 was found guilty of sexually abusing two choirboys in the 1990s.
Pell first took a leave of absence from his post as head of the Secretariat for the Economy to face his abuse charges in Australia in 2017.
His five-year term as prefect of that secretariat officially came to an end this past Feb. 24. That position had since been vacant until the new appointment of Father Guerrero.
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