Saturday, September 30, 2023
Friday, September 29, 2023
Thursday, September 28, 2023
Georgetown University hosts panel on transgender, nonbinary issues
Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr. (Photo courtesy of the LGBTQ Victory Institute)
A panel on transgender and nonbinary issues took place at Georgetown University on Tuesday.
The panel included Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr and her fiancée, journalist Erin Reed, who are both trans, and nonbinary Oklahoma state Rep. Mauree Turner. Charlotte Clymer was also on the panel that Amanda Phillips, a nonbinary Georgetown professor, moderated.
The panel began with a discussion about anti-trans laws that have been enacted across the country.
Reed said the Alliance Defending Freedom and the American Principles Project developed a strategy in response to North Carolina’s now repealed law that banned trans people from using public restrooms consistent with their gender identity.
They focused on states that are more “business-friendly and therefore harder to boycott, and started with sports. Reed said bans on gender-segregated sports put an “asterisk on [trans] identity” that made further attacks possible.
Clymer spoke on attitudes towards trans policies.
She referenced a survey that asked Americans if they supported nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ individuals. Around 75 percent of respondents, including almost half of Republicans, said yes. Clymer said the next question that asked if such protections exist concerns her.
Roughly half of respondents said yes.
While there are two U.S. Supreme Court rulings — Obergefell and Bostock — that extended marriage rights to same-sex couples and employment protections to LGBTQ people respectively, Clymer noted there are no federal protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Turner and Zephyr spoke about being censured for defending trans rights.
Oklahoma lawmakers in March censured Turner after they refused to turn into the authorities a trans person who had allegedly assaulted a state trooper.
Turner said in Oklahoma, where there is no public debate, and politicians are openly anti-trans, residents are fighting against an “apathetic” and “heinous” legislature. On the topic of activism, they said being a “truth teller,” and saying “absolutely not” is “what got [them] censured.”
Zephyr’s censure was in April after she criticized a bill to restrict gender-affirming health care in Montana. The protests that followed stemmed from trans issues, but Zepher said they were about much more.
“The protests […] were about recognizing that when you silence a legislator, you take away representation from their constituents,” she said. “That fight became a larger fight about democracy.”
The panelists talked about mental health and addressing it.
Turner said that being the representation they needed keeps them going.
“I didn’t think I was going to make it through middle school,” they said. “Representation matters for so many people […] if you can aid in being that representation, being that force that helps somebody else keep going, that is one of the most powerful experiences.”
The panel agreed that finding community is important to mental health.
“Sometimes our best activism is finding our community,” Reed said.
The panel also spoke about queer joy and strength.
“Queer joy is the thing they can’t take away,” Zephyr said.
Reed talked about photos of activists who were organizing before the Stonewall riots in 1969; they were smiling and enjoying their community.
“The queer story is a story of not just surviving in the margins but thriving in the margins,” Reed said.
Turner added “trans lives aren’t just lives worth fighting for, they are lives worth living.”
A self-described “journalist” who didn’t identify himself or his outlet asked the panel, “What is a woman?” Clymer turned the question back to him, and he said it “comes down to genetics.”
Clymer began to explain that chromosomes don’t always define sex. The audience member began to argue and ignored an event organizer who was asking him to leave. Security promptly escorted him out.
Reed continued Clymer’s point that even biological sex is difficult to define.
“Last year, 15 different state legislators tried to define sex, did you know that none of them managed to do so in a way that was scientifically correct?”
The panelists also offered advice to allies.
Clymer said treading about trans issues and being informed about them is a great start.
“You’ve got to step up,” she said.
Turner said allyship goes beyond relationships, and into the realm of being uncomfortable.
“Allyship is synonymous with action and moving forward,” they said.
A panel on transgender and nonbinary issues took place at Georgetown University on Tuesday.
The panel included Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr and her fiancée, journalist Erin Reed, who are both trans, and nonbinary Oklahoma state Rep. Mauree Turner. Charlotte Clymer was also on the panel that Amanda Phillips, a nonbinary Georgetown professor, moderated.
The panel began with a discussion about anti-trans laws that have been enacted across the country.
Reed said the Alliance Defending Freedom and the American Principles Project developed a strategy in response to North Carolina’s now repealed law that banned trans people from using public restrooms consistent with their gender identity.
They focused on states that are more “business-friendly and therefore harder to boycott, and started with sports. Reed said bans on gender-segregated sports put an “asterisk on [trans] identity” that made further attacks possible.
Clymer spoke on attitudes towards trans policies.
She referenced a survey that asked Americans if they supported nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ individuals. Around 75 percent of respondents, including almost half of Republicans, said yes. Clymer said the next question that asked if such protections exist concerns her.
Roughly half of respondents said yes.
While there are two U.S. Supreme Court rulings — Obergefell and Bostock — that extended marriage rights to same-sex couples and employment protections to LGBTQ people respectively, Clymer noted there are no federal protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Turner and Zephyr spoke about being censured for defending trans rights.
Oklahoma lawmakers in March censured Turner after they refused to turn into the authorities a trans person who had allegedly assaulted a state trooper.
Turner said in Oklahoma, where there is no public debate, and politicians are openly anti-trans, residents are fighting against an “apathetic” and “heinous” legislature. On the topic of activism, they said being a “truth teller,” and saying “absolutely not” is “what got [them] censured.”
Zephyr’s censure was in April after she criticized a bill to restrict gender-affirming health care in Montana. The protests that followed stemmed from trans issues, but Zepher said they were about much more.
“The protests […] were about recognizing that when you silence a legislator, you take away representation from their constituents,” she said. “That fight became a larger fight about democracy.”
The panelists talked about mental health and addressing it.
Turner said that being the representation they needed keeps them going.
“I didn’t think I was going to make it through middle school,” they said. “Representation matters for so many people […] if you can aid in being that representation, being that force that helps somebody else keep going, that is one of the most powerful experiences.”
The panel agreed that finding community is important to mental health.
“Sometimes our best activism is finding our community,” Reed said.
The panel also spoke about queer joy and strength.
“Queer joy is the thing they can’t take away,” Zephyr said.
Reed talked about photos of activists who were organizing before the Stonewall riots in 1969; they were smiling and enjoying their community.
“The queer story is a story of not just surviving in the margins but thriving in the margins,” Reed said.
Turner added “trans lives aren’t just lives worth fighting for, they are lives worth living.”
A self-described “journalist” who didn’t identify himself or his outlet asked the panel, “What is a woman?” Clymer turned the question back to him, and he said it “comes down to genetics.”
Clymer began to explain that chromosomes don’t always define sex. The audience member began to argue and ignored an event organizer who was asking him to leave. Security promptly escorted him out.
Reed continued Clymer’s point that even biological sex is difficult to define.
“Last year, 15 different state legislators tried to define sex, did you know that none of them managed to do so in a way that was scientifically correct?”
The panelists also offered advice to allies.
Clymer said treading about trans issues and being informed about them is a great start.
“You’ve got to step up,” she said.
Turner said allyship goes beyond relationships, and into the realm of being uncomfortable.
“Allyship is synonymous with action and moving forward,” they said.
Legal fog over central bank digital currencies "unacceptable", BIS warns
By Marc Jones
September 27, 202312:56 PM EDTUpdated 17 hours ago
Agustin Carstens leaves after G-20 finance ministers and central banks governors family photo during the IMF/World Bank spring meeting in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri
LONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Developing national digital currencies are at risk due to a lack of legal powers to issue them in most of the world, the head of the global central bank umbrella body, the Bank for International Settlements, warned on Wednesday.
While countries generally have laws on banknotes, coins and credit balances, an IMF paper in 2020 showed that close to 80% of central banks are either not allowed to issue a digital currency under their existing laws, or the legal framework is unclear.
"This needs to be rectified," the BIS' general manager Agustin Carstens said in a speech. "The public rightly demands forms of money that meet their needs and expectations."
His warning comes as central banks around the world push ahead with central bank digital currency (CBDC) development in a bid to make money more high tech and keep up with the features now offered by cryptocurrencies.
Some 11 countries have already launched them and next month the European Central Bank is expected to receive the green light to start work on a digital euro.
Carstens, whose organisation is overseeing much of the global test work, said central banks have a mandate to meet public demands and have also made significant investments into CBDCs.
"It is simply unacceptable that unclear or outdated legal frameworks could hinder their deployment," added Carstens, the former governor of the Mexico's central bank. "The work to address these issues needs to begin in earnest. And it needs to proceed at pace."
Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Josie Kao
Agustin Carstens leaves after G-20 finance ministers and central banks governors family photo during the IMF/World Bank spring meeting in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri
LONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Developing national digital currencies are at risk due to a lack of legal powers to issue them in most of the world, the head of the global central bank umbrella body, the Bank for International Settlements, warned on Wednesday.
While countries generally have laws on banknotes, coins and credit balances, an IMF paper in 2020 showed that close to 80% of central banks are either not allowed to issue a digital currency under their existing laws, or the legal framework is unclear.
"This needs to be rectified," the BIS' general manager Agustin Carstens said in a speech. "The public rightly demands forms of money that meet their needs and expectations."
His warning comes as central banks around the world push ahead with central bank digital currency (CBDC) development in a bid to make money more high tech and keep up with the features now offered by cryptocurrencies.
Some 11 countries have already launched them and next month the European Central Bank is expected to receive the green light to start work on a digital euro.
Carstens, whose organisation is overseeing much of the global test work, said central banks have a mandate to meet public demands and have also made significant investments into CBDCs.
"It is simply unacceptable that unclear or outdated legal frameworks could hinder their deployment," added Carstens, the former governor of the Mexico's central bank. "The work to address these issues needs to begin in earnest. And it needs to proceed at pace."
Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Josie Kao
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
'Laudate Deum,' to be title of Pope's Apostolic Exhortation on climate
Pope Francis' audience with rectors of Latin American universities
POPE
The title of Pope Francis' next Apostolic Exhortation will be "Laudate Deum," the Pope himself revealed, while addressing participants in a meeting of Latin American university rectors in the Vatican, and as he vehemently warned against a throwaway culture.
By Father Johan Pacheco
The name of Pope Francis' next Apostolic Exhortation on the environment will be Laudate Deum, Pope Francis has revealed.
The Holy Father shared this on Thursday, Sept. 21 when addressing in the Vatican some 200 participants in the meeting of the Rectors of public and private universities of Latin America and the Caribbean, sponsored by the Red de Universidades para el Cuidado de la Casa Común and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America on Sept. 20 and 21 at the Augustinianum on the theme "Organizing Hope," with the participation of some Prefects and Secretaries of Dicasteries of the Holy See.
During the occasion, the Pope reflected on various issues raised by the educators, including climate change, migration, and the culture of waste.
The Holy Father urged them to be creative in the formation of young people from today's realities and challenges. The rectors asked the Pope questions on environmental and climate issues to which he responded by emphasizing the deplorable "throwaway culture or culture of abandonment." He explained that it is "a culture of misuse of natural resources, which does not accompany nature to full development and does not let it live. This culture of abandonment," he said, "harms all of us."
The proper use of nature
Pope Francis also described it from the human point of view: "There is a throwaway culture that is always going on, there is a lack of education to use the things that remain, to remake them, to replace them in the order of the common use of things. And this throwaway culture also affects nature." And he insisted on the urgency of returning to the proper use of nature: "Today humanity is tired of this misuse of nature, and must return to the path of good use of nature. And how we use nature, a word that may sound strange, I would say: dialogue with nature, dialogue."
To this end, the Pope urged universities to create networks of awareness. "And at this point, you use a very beautiful word, which is organizing hope." "Reclaiming and organizing hope," Pope Francis said, "I like this phrase that you have said to me and one cannot help but consider it in the context of integral ecology, in this dimension according to which the youth of today have the right to a balanced cosmos and they have the right to hope and we have to help them to organize this hope, to make very serious decisions from this moment."
Nature is for all
Pope Francis also alluded to a "regenerative culture," identifying it as the fruit "of an economic crisis that is not always at the service of the development of the most needy. I would say that sometimes, or many times, it is not at the service of the development of everyone and creates more people in need. It is a culture of dispossession, we all have the right to the use of nature," to dominion over nature to make it grow and use it for the common good.
The Pope expressed his concern about "some abstract scientific type universities" that "do not use reality but science, an abstract science, not real, and so they walk on economic theories, social theories, everything is theory, but they never land" on the reality of the most needy. "The discarded, the outcasts, are men and women, whole peoples that we leave on the street like garbage, are they not? We have to be aware that we use the wealth of nature only for small groups through socio-economic theories that do not integrate nature, the discarded."
"Laudate Deum," the title of the next Apostolic Exhortation
Pope Francis called for alternatives to help overcome the environmental crisis and cited as an example the use of solar panels to provide electricity to Paul VI Hall and other areas of the Vatican. "We have to be very creative in these things to protect nature" because obviously electricity is made on the basis of coal or other elements, which always create problems in nature itself and "the young people we train have to become leaders on this point, convinced."
In his reflection, the Pope announced the name of his next Apostolic Exhortation: Laudate Deum, which will be published on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, Oct. 4: "a look at what has happened and say what needs to be done," he said.
Human and environmental degradation go together
The Holy Father also denounced the process of degradation that humanity is undergoing.
"There is a process of environmental degradation, we can say that in general. But this leads down, to the bottom of the ravine. Degradation of living conditions, degradation of the values that justify these living conditions, because they go together." And he explained that "inequality" is also "evident in the lack of access to basic necessities, and from here come all those visions that sociologically, in fact, without naming them, make women, indigenous peoples, Africans, people with fewer capabilities."
One of the forms of degradation and inequality, Pope Francis denounced, is "extractivism," that is, the hoarding of natural resources. "When this extractivist model goes on and enters people," he pointed out, "I extract the dignity of people, and this happens, never a geological extractivist model, so to speak, goes alone, it is always accompanied by the human extractivist model, the dignity of the person is extracted, they are slaves, said in another word. And please get this into children's heads, value education, so that they can evaluate these situations and can say clearly that this is called slavery."
Politics as the noblest vocation
Faced with this situation, the Pope called on university rectors to promote education in humanistic values and fraternal dialogue, helping students "enter politics" as a "noble vocation."
"Let us not forget that the noblest vocation of the human person is politics. Let us train our young people to be politicians, in the broadest sense of the term. Let us not forget that the noblest vocation of the human person is politics. We must train our young people to be politicians, in the broadest sense of the word. Not only to act in a political party, which is a small group, but to have political openness and to know how to dialogue with political groups with maturity, politics is not a disease, in my opinion it is the noblest vocation in a society, because it is the one that carries out development processes."
A human and Christian response to the migration crisis
The Pope also spoke about the current migration crisis.
"The migration drama in Europe today is extremely serious, extremely serious. And it cannot be solved by a mutual aid society, no. Here there is a humanistic and Christian question. Here there is a humanistic issue and a political decision, there are decisions that are human and Christian."
"I ask you," the Pope told the rectors, "out of respect for suffering humanity, to address this issue in your universities, but with the human density that it has. "So in summary I say this to you: migrants must be welcomed, accompanied, promoted and integrated. If we fail to integrate the migrant, we fail," he added.
"I want to say all this about migrants because the problem of migrants is very close to my heart," the Pope said again. He went on to say that "it is criminal what is being done today, here in Europe, sending them back, it is criminal. And I don't want to use euphemisms, I tell it like it is."
The three human languages: head, heart and hands
After reviewing all these situations, the Pope reminded that the task of universities should not be only to "teach things." "You must train boys and girls in the three human languages, that of the head, that of the heart and that of the hands.
"So that they learn to think what they feel and what they do, to feel what they do and what they think, and to do what they feel and what they think." Finally, he thanked those present and summed up his words by calling on universities to be: "creative in the face of reality and challenges, educators and not just dispensers of information."
POPE
The title of Pope Francis' next Apostolic Exhortation will be "Laudate Deum," the Pope himself revealed, while addressing participants in a meeting of Latin American university rectors in the Vatican, and as he vehemently warned against a throwaway culture.
By Father Johan Pacheco
The name of Pope Francis' next Apostolic Exhortation on the environment will be Laudate Deum, Pope Francis has revealed.
The Holy Father shared this on Thursday, Sept. 21 when addressing in the Vatican some 200 participants in the meeting of the Rectors of public and private universities of Latin America and the Caribbean, sponsored by the Red de Universidades para el Cuidado de la Casa Común and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America on Sept. 20 and 21 at the Augustinianum on the theme "Organizing Hope," with the participation of some Prefects and Secretaries of Dicasteries of the Holy See.
During the occasion, the Pope reflected on various issues raised by the educators, including climate change, migration, and the culture of waste.
The Holy Father urged them to be creative in the formation of young people from today's realities and challenges. The rectors asked the Pope questions on environmental and climate issues to which he responded by emphasizing the deplorable "throwaway culture or culture of abandonment." He explained that it is "a culture of misuse of natural resources, which does not accompany nature to full development and does not let it live. This culture of abandonment," he said, "harms all of us."
The proper use of nature
Pope Francis also described it from the human point of view: "There is a throwaway culture that is always going on, there is a lack of education to use the things that remain, to remake them, to replace them in the order of the common use of things. And this throwaway culture also affects nature." And he insisted on the urgency of returning to the proper use of nature: "Today humanity is tired of this misuse of nature, and must return to the path of good use of nature. And how we use nature, a word that may sound strange, I would say: dialogue with nature, dialogue."
To this end, the Pope urged universities to create networks of awareness. "And at this point, you use a very beautiful word, which is organizing hope." "Reclaiming and organizing hope," Pope Francis said, "I like this phrase that you have said to me and one cannot help but consider it in the context of integral ecology, in this dimension according to which the youth of today have the right to a balanced cosmos and they have the right to hope and we have to help them to organize this hope, to make very serious decisions from this moment."
Nature is for all
Pope Francis also alluded to a "regenerative culture," identifying it as the fruit "of an economic crisis that is not always at the service of the development of the most needy. I would say that sometimes, or many times, it is not at the service of the development of everyone and creates more people in need. It is a culture of dispossession, we all have the right to the use of nature," to dominion over nature to make it grow and use it for the common good.
The Pope expressed his concern about "some abstract scientific type universities" that "do not use reality but science, an abstract science, not real, and so they walk on economic theories, social theories, everything is theory, but they never land" on the reality of the most needy. "The discarded, the outcasts, are men and women, whole peoples that we leave on the street like garbage, are they not? We have to be aware that we use the wealth of nature only for small groups through socio-economic theories that do not integrate nature, the discarded."
"Laudate Deum," the title of the next Apostolic Exhortation
Pope Francis called for alternatives to help overcome the environmental crisis and cited as an example the use of solar panels to provide electricity to Paul VI Hall and other areas of the Vatican. "We have to be very creative in these things to protect nature" because obviously electricity is made on the basis of coal or other elements, which always create problems in nature itself and "the young people we train have to become leaders on this point, convinced."
In his reflection, the Pope announced the name of his next Apostolic Exhortation: Laudate Deum, which will be published on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, Oct. 4: "a look at what has happened and say what needs to be done," he said.
Human and environmental degradation go together
The Holy Father also denounced the process of degradation that humanity is undergoing.
"There is a process of environmental degradation, we can say that in general. But this leads down, to the bottom of the ravine. Degradation of living conditions, degradation of the values that justify these living conditions, because they go together." And he explained that "inequality" is also "evident in the lack of access to basic necessities, and from here come all those visions that sociologically, in fact, without naming them, make women, indigenous peoples, Africans, people with fewer capabilities."
One of the forms of degradation and inequality, Pope Francis denounced, is "extractivism," that is, the hoarding of natural resources. "When this extractivist model goes on and enters people," he pointed out, "I extract the dignity of people, and this happens, never a geological extractivist model, so to speak, goes alone, it is always accompanied by the human extractivist model, the dignity of the person is extracted, they are slaves, said in another word. And please get this into children's heads, value education, so that they can evaluate these situations and can say clearly that this is called slavery."
Politics as the noblest vocation
Faced with this situation, the Pope called on university rectors to promote education in humanistic values and fraternal dialogue, helping students "enter politics" as a "noble vocation."
"Let us not forget that the noblest vocation of the human person is politics. Let us train our young people to be politicians, in the broadest sense of the term. Let us not forget that the noblest vocation of the human person is politics. We must train our young people to be politicians, in the broadest sense of the word. Not only to act in a political party, which is a small group, but to have political openness and to know how to dialogue with political groups with maturity, politics is not a disease, in my opinion it is the noblest vocation in a society, because it is the one that carries out development processes."
A human and Christian response to the migration crisis
The Pope also spoke about the current migration crisis.
"The migration drama in Europe today is extremely serious, extremely serious. And it cannot be solved by a mutual aid society, no. Here there is a humanistic and Christian question. Here there is a humanistic issue and a political decision, there are decisions that are human and Christian."
"I ask you," the Pope told the rectors, "out of respect for suffering humanity, to address this issue in your universities, but with the human density that it has. "So in summary I say this to you: migrants must be welcomed, accompanied, promoted and integrated. If we fail to integrate the migrant, we fail," he added.
"I want to say all this about migrants because the problem of migrants is very close to my heart," the Pope said again. He went on to say that "it is criminal what is being done today, here in Europe, sending them back, it is criminal. And I don't want to use euphemisms, I tell it like it is."
The three human languages: head, heart and hands
After reviewing all these situations, the Pope reminded that the task of universities should not be only to "teach things." "You must train boys and girls in the three human languages, that of the head, that of the heart and that of the hands.
"So that they learn to think what they feel and what they do, to feel what they do and what they think, and to do what they feel and what they think." Finally, he thanked those present and summed up his words by calling on universities to be: "creative in the face of reality and challenges, educators and not just dispensers of information."
Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Monday, September 25, 2023
Sunday, September 24, 2023
Abia: Worshippers sent out as Adventist Church seals headquarters over leadership crisis
The church leaders sent the worshippers out of the church premises and locked the gate with a padlock immediately after Saturday’s service.
NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA • SEPTEMBER 23, 2023
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh Day Adventist Church on Saturday sealed off its Abia North Conference at Umuoriehi, in Umuahia North Local Government Area, over a leadership crisis rocking the headquarters.
The church leaders sent the worshippers out of the church premises and locked the gate with a padlock immediately after Saturday’s service.
They displayed placards with different inscriptions at the gate, such as “Sealed,” “End of an era,” and “We pray for a new era of unity, peace, mission-mindedness and genuine spirituality,” among others.
Speaking with reporters, Godson Chukwuocha, leader of the Umuahia/Ubakala/Umunneochi Zone, said they were ending the leadership crisis that had lingered at the church headquarters for the past four years.
Mr Chukwuocha said the members were assembled from the 17 districts that make up the conference.
He said the church decided to pass “a vote of no confidence” in Pastor Enyinnaya Uguru with his executive and asked them to leave office because their tenure had expired.
Mr Chukwuocha said Mr Uguru and his executive had been occupying the position for the past 12 years and had refused to leave, as against the church policy of four-year tenure.
He explained that their tenure expired in February, but the union, which is superior to the Conference, extended it to August after the plea by Uguru and his executive.
“The union again extended it and expected them to organise another election and hand over to a new executive between September 21 and September 23, but they refused,” he said.
Also, Iroabuchi Alozie, the secretary of the zone, said the church has a policy document that stipulates a four-year tenure.
According to him, today (Saturday) is supposed to have been the swearing-in of the new executive.
“But because we are men and women of integrity, we will not watch impunity continue in the Church of God.
“This is the fourth year we are in this crisis, and we cannot continue like this. We want to stop it now,” said Mr Alozie, the Umuahia District’s secretary.
The district leader, Adventist Women Ministry, Priscilla Ogidi, said the women had pleaded with Mr Uguru and his executive to leave the office for peace to reign, but they refused.
A pastor in Umuahia District, Festus Uzochukwu, expressed displeasure over the leadership crisis, saying, “This is God’s church, and there’s no battle anybody can fight for God.”
Eberechi Uwaoma, the assistant secretary of the youth wing in the district, said the church hierarchy was aware of the crisis and had ordered Mr Uguru and his executive to vacate, but they didn’t.
Mr Uguru or any of his executives could not be reached for comment despite attempts by reporters, as they were said to have left their residences in the church premises before the service.
(NAN)
The Seventh Day Adventist Church on Saturday sealed off its Abia North Conference at Umuoriehi, in Umuahia North Local Government Area, over a leadership crisis rocking the headquarters.
The church leaders sent the worshippers out of the church premises and locked the gate with a padlock immediately after Saturday’s service.
They displayed placards with different inscriptions at the gate, such as “Sealed,” “End of an era,” and “We pray for a new era of unity, peace, mission-mindedness and genuine spirituality,” among others.
Speaking with reporters, Godson Chukwuocha, leader of the Umuahia/Ubakala/Umunneochi Zone, said they were ending the leadership crisis that had lingered at the church headquarters for the past four years.
Mr Chukwuocha said the members were assembled from the 17 districts that make up the conference.
He said the church decided to pass “a vote of no confidence” in Pastor Enyinnaya Uguru with his executive and asked them to leave office because their tenure had expired.
Mr Chukwuocha said Mr Uguru and his executive had been occupying the position for the past 12 years and had refused to leave, as against the church policy of four-year tenure.
He explained that their tenure expired in February, but the union, which is superior to the Conference, extended it to August after the plea by Uguru and his executive.
“The union again extended it and expected them to organise another election and hand over to a new executive between September 21 and September 23, but they refused,” he said.
Also, Iroabuchi Alozie, the secretary of the zone, said the church has a policy document that stipulates a four-year tenure.
According to him, today (Saturday) is supposed to have been the swearing-in of the new executive.
“But because we are men and women of integrity, we will not watch impunity continue in the Church of God.
“This is the fourth year we are in this crisis, and we cannot continue like this. We want to stop it now,” said Mr Alozie, the Umuahia District’s secretary.
The district leader, Adventist Women Ministry, Priscilla Ogidi, said the women had pleaded with Mr Uguru and his executive to leave the office for peace to reign, but they refused.
A pastor in Umuahia District, Festus Uzochukwu, expressed displeasure over the leadership crisis, saying, “This is God’s church, and there’s no battle anybody can fight for God.”
Eberechi Uwaoma, the assistant secretary of the youth wing in the district, said the church hierarchy was aware of the crisis and had ordered Mr Uguru and his executive to vacate, but they didn’t.
Mr Uguru or any of his executives could not be reached for comment despite attempts by reporters, as they were said to have left their residences in the church premises before the service.
(NAN)
AMERICAN JESUITS
NEW DOCUMENTARY - PRODUCTION UPDATE
AMERICAN JESUITS
The script writing and editing for our next documentary continues to move forward, one step at a time.
We typically both write and edit at the same time. At this point, we wanted to share some early screen shots of the film, which can be found below. By all means, please pray for this new project, that we will have the wisdom to put all these parts of a very large puzzle together in a way that will be edifying and a blessing to those who see and hear.
Also, we are planning to offer a PRE-SALE for the DVD next month, as the conclusion of the editing phase draws near.
Our new DVD cover, featuring some of the key historic figures that pertain to Jesuitism in America. One of them is the founder of the OSS, which later became the CIA.
SCREEN SHOTS
Screen shot of book, ‘Americans Warned of Jesuitism, Or the Jesuits Unveiled,’ by John Claudius Pitrat (1855). One of many resources warning about the order in early America.
AMERICAN JESUITS
The script writing and editing for our next documentary continues to move forward, one step at a time.
We typically both write and edit at the same time. At this point, we wanted to share some early screen shots of the film, which can be found below. By all means, please pray for this new project, that we will have the wisdom to put all these parts of a very large puzzle together in a way that will be edifying and a blessing to those who see and hear.
Also, we are planning to offer a PRE-SALE for the DVD next month, as the conclusion of the editing phase draws near.
Our new DVD cover, featuring some of the key historic figures that pertain to Jesuitism in America. One of them is the founder of the OSS, which later became the CIA.
SCREEN SHOTS
Screen shot of book, ‘Americans Warned of Jesuitism, Or the Jesuits Unveiled,’ by John Claudius Pitrat (1855). One of many resources warning about the order in early America.
"Our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government"..
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By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near.
Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p.451.
Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p.451.
Vivek Ramaswamy Quotes From The Bible With Ease While Confessing to Being a Devout Hindu
By Mary Anthony
Published on : 22:00 PST, Sep 23, 2023
Published on : 22:00 PST, Sep 23, 2023
Cover Image Source: Getty Images| Photo by Scott Olson
Vivek Ramaswamy, an Indian-American businessman and 2024 first-time presidential candidate, recently said that despite being a devout Hindu, he has read the Bible closely. "I’ve actually read the Bible much more closely than many of, probably most of, my Christian friends," Ramaswamy said at a campaign stop Saturday, adding, "I got a religion award back when I was at St. X High School in Cincinnati." According to the reports in NBC News, with his rising popularity, Republican voters are becoming more interested in his religious convictions. "What is your opinion of Jesus Christ?" an Iowan asked Ramaswamy at a campaign stop in Nevada. The billionaire Republican leader explained that in his Hindu faith, Jesus is "a" son of God and not "the" son of God. The potential caucusgoer followed up with another question about "the fact that the only way to heaven is Jesus Christ."
While on a campaign trail over the Labor Day weekend, a voter in New Hampshire inquired about Ramaswamy's religion, which prompted him to give a response regarding the significance of religious freedom in the US: "I’m Hindu, and I’m proud of that. I stand for that without apology. I think I’m going to be able to be more ardent as a defender of religious liberty." As per reports, Ramaswamy was questioned frequently about his relationship with God on August 31, a day filled with campaign trips around Iowa, and by the end of the day, he was naturally incorporating Bible stories into his speeches. "Remember the Book of Exodus," Ramaswamy told a crowd of voters in Boone. "The Israelites escaped the pharaoh; they’re lost in the desert," he continued. He compared the ancient Biblical narrative to how Americans, in his opinion, felt lost these days amidst a political shift.
Vivek Ramaswamy, an Indian-American businessman and 2024 first-time presidential candidate, recently said that despite being a devout Hindu, he has read the Bible closely. "I’ve actually read the Bible much more closely than many of, probably most of, my Christian friends," Ramaswamy said at a campaign stop Saturday, adding, "I got a religion award back when I was at St. X High School in Cincinnati." According to the reports in NBC News, with his rising popularity, Republican voters are becoming more interested in his religious convictions. "What is your opinion of Jesus Christ?" an Iowan asked Ramaswamy at a campaign stop in Nevada. The billionaire Republican leader explained that in his Hindu faith, Jesus is "a" son of God and not "the" son of God. The potential caucusgoer followed up with another question about "the fact that the only way to heaven is Jesus Christ."
While on a campaign trail over the Labor Day weekend, a voter in New Hampshire inquired about Ramaswamy's religion, which prompted him to give a response regarding the significance of religious freedom in the US: "I’m Hindu, and I’m proud of that. I stand for that without apology. I think I’m going to be able to be more ardent as a defender of religious liberty." As per reports, Ramaswamy was questioned frequently about his relationship with God on August 31, a day filled with campaign trips around Iowa, and by the end of the day, he was naturally incorporating Bible stories into his speeches. "Remember the Book of Exodus," Ramaswamy told a crowd of voters in Boone. "The Israelites escaped the pharaoh; they’re lost in the desert," he continued. He compared the ancient Biblical narrative to how Americans, in his opinion, felt lost these days amidst a political shift.
Image Source: GettyImages| Photo by Scott Eisen
The Republican candidate had stated categorically that his Hindu faith would not be a barrier to his campaign in Iowa. "I’m a person of faith. Evangelical Christians across the state are also people of faith," he told NBC News back in July while highlighting faith during his political campaign. "We found commonality in our need to defend religious liberty, to stand for faith and patriotism, and stand unapologetically for the fact that we are one nation under God." At a town hall in Nashua, a voter had asked him, "How does your belief in your God inform policies that were originally informed by the belief in, fear of, and obedience to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?" Ramaswamy responded wisely, "Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian values; there’s no doubt about it. It is a historical fact."
The Republican candidate had stated categorically that his Hindu faith would not be a barrier to his campaign in Iowa. "I’m a person of faith. Evangelical Christians across the state are also people of faith," he told NBC News back in July while highlighting faith during his political campaign. "We found commonality in our need to defend religious liberty, to stand for faith and patriotism, and stand unapologetically for the fact that we are one nation under God." At a town hall in Nashua, a voter had asked him, "How does your belief in your God inform policies that were originally informed by the belief in, fear of, and obedience to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?" Ramaswamy responded wisely, "Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian values; there’s no doubt about it. It is a historical fact."
Image Source: GettyImages| Photo by Win McNamee
He went on to add, "We share the same values, the same Judeo-Christian values in power." He added, "I’m not running to be a pastor-in-chief. I’m running to be our commander-in-chief." He continued. "I think it’s legitimate to gain comfort with somebody who is of a different faith—I am a Hindu—occupying that office. But we share the same values in common. I think that is true. And because it’s true, I think that people will come to understand that for the commander-in-chief, that’s what matters."
He went on to add, "We share the same values, the same Judeo-Christian values in power." He added, "I’m not running to be a pastor-in-chief. I’m running to be our commander-in-chief." He continued. "I think it’s legitimate to gain comfort with somebody who is of a different faith—I am a Hindu—occupying that office. But we share the same values in common. I think that is true. And because it’s true, I think that people will come to understand that for the commander-in-chief, that’s what matters."
Catholic Teachings on Immigration Reform
Strangers No Longer
E-Newsletter
Migration
Catholic Social Thought
Catholic Teachings on Immigration Reform
by Sue Weishar, Ph.D.
The prospect for comprehensive immigration reform appears hopeful in 2013. When President Obama was asked by Meet the Press host David Gregory on December 30th what his second-term equivalent would be to his all-out effort to pass health care reform in his first term, the president responded, “Fixing our broken immigration system is a top priority. I will introduce legislation in the first year to get that done.” [1] According to Washington insiders, a group of six Senate leaders, three from each party [2], began work on an immigration bill shortly after the election. It is expected the “Gang of Six” will release a set of principles shortly after the inauguration and then introduce full legislative language in March or April. A vote is not expected until June at the earliest. [3]
To be decided in addressing the future of our nation’s estimated 11.1 million undocumented immigrants will be who is eligible to apply for legalization, whether legalization will lead to citizenship, how future employment verification systems will be designed, and whether or not U.S. guest worker programs will be overhauled, among several other important policy considerations. Various aspects of immigration reform will be a focus of JSRI publications in the coming year. This article will look at the principles and concerns that inform the U.S. Catholic Church’s response to immigration reform legislation.
2013 marks the 10th anniversary of the landmark pastoral letter by the Catholic Bishops of Mexico and the United States, Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope, which identifies the following five principles, based on Scriptures and Catholic Social Teaching, that guide the Church’s views on migration:
- Persons have the right to find opportunities in their homeland. (34.) All persons have the right to find in their own countries the economic, political, and social opportunities to live in dignity and achieve a full life through the use of their God-given gifts. In this context, work that provides a just, living wage is a basic human need.
- Persons have the right to migrate to support themselves and their families. (35.) The Church recognizes that all the goods of the earth belong to all people. When persons cannot find employment in their country of origin to support themselves and their families, they have a right to find work elsewhere in order to survive. Sovereign nations should provide ways to accommodate this right.
- Sovereign nations have the right to control their borders. (36.) The Church recognizes the right of sovereign nations to control their territories but rejects such control when it is exerted merely for the purpose of acquiring additional wealth. More powerful economic nations, which have the ability to protect and feed their residents, have a stronger obligation to accommodate migration flows.
- Refugees and asylum seekers should be afforded protection. (37.) Those who flee wars and persecution should be protected by the global community. This requires, at a minimum, that migrants have a right to claim refugee status without incarceration and to have their claims fully considered by a competent authority.
- The human dignity and human rights of undocumented migrants should be respected. (38.) Regardless of their legal status, migrants, like all persons, possess inherent human dignity that should be respected. Often they are subject to punitive laws and harsh treatment from enforcement officers from both receiving and transit countries. Government policies that respect the basic human rights of the undocumented are necessary.
Based on the above principles, the U.S. Bishops have offered the following recommendations for immigration reform legislation: [4]
Pope decries indifference toward migrants, as he prays for the dead in Marseille
For a second day in the French port city of Marseille, the pontiff took aim at European countries that have used “alarmist propaganda” to justify closing their doors to migrants.
France is a “host country” to migrants — especially to asylum seekers — and is supporting European solidarity policies, including through financing and fighting human trafficking, the French presidency said. The Vatican provided no readout of the meeting.
Macron’s centrist government has taken a harder line on migration and security issues after coming under criticism from French conservatives and the far right. With elections for the European Union’s parliament set for next year, Macron is pushing for the E.U. to strengthen its external borders and to be more efficient in deporting individuals who are denied entry.
Macron greeted Francis on a wind-swept promenade overlooking Marseille’s old port, and helped him walk into the Palais du Pharo for the Mediterranean bishops meeting. With his wife by his side, the French leader listened as a young Italian volunteer working in Greece and the bishop of Tirana, Albania, who fled to Italy during Albania’s communist rule, spoke of the welcomes they received in foreign countries.
“May we let ourselves be moved by the stories of so many of our unfortunate brothers and sisters who have the right both to emigrate and not to emigrate, and not become closed in indifference,” Francis said. “In the face of the terrible scourge of the exploitation of human beings, the solution is not to reject but to ensure, according to the possibilities of each, an ample number of legal and regular entrances.”
Francis’ two-day trip was scheduled months ago, but it is taking place as mass migration to Europe is once again making headlines. Nearly 7,000 migrants who boarded smugglers boats in Tunisia came ashore on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa within a day last week, briefly outnumbering the resident population.
Nevertheless, Francis said talk of a migration “emergency” only fuels “alarmist propaganda” and stokes peoples’ fears.
“Those who risk their lives at sea do not invade, they look for welcome, for life” he said. “As for the emergency, the phenomenon of migration is not so much a short-term urgency, always good for fueling alarmist propaganda, but a reality of our times.”
Pope Francis celebrates mass at the Velodrome Stadium in Marseille, France, on Saturday.Alessandra Tarantino / AP
Sep. 23, 2023, 11:22 AM EDT / Source: The Associated Press
By The Associated Press
Pope Francis challenged French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders to open their ports to people fleeing hardship and poverty, insisting Saturday that the continent isn’t facing a migration “emergency” but rather a long-term reality that governments must deal with humanely.
For a second straight day in the French port city of Marseille, Francis took aim at European countries that have used “alarmist propaganda” to justify closing their doors to migrants, and tried to shame them into responding with charity instead.
He called for migrants to have legal pathways to citizenship, and for the Mediterranean Sea that so many cross to reach Europe to be a beacon of hope, not a graveyard of desperation.
The Mediterranean, Francis told Macron and a gathering of regional bishops, “cries out for justice, with its shores that on the one hand exude affluence, consumerism and waste, while on the other there is poverty and instability.”
The pope’s visit to the city in southern France, which drew an estimated 150,000 well-wishers Saturday, comes as Italy’s far right-led government has reacted to a new wave of arriving migrants by threatening to organize a naval blockade of Tunisia and to step up repatriations. The French government, for its part, has beefed up patrols on its southern border to stop migrants in Italy from crossing over.
After the bishops’ meeting ended, Macron and Francis held a private, half-hour meeting. They spoke about migration issues and a series of other topics, the French presidency said, adding that both leaders share a “joint will” to bring human solutions to the situation.
Sep. 23, 2023, 11:22 AM EDT / Source: The Associated Press
By The Associated Press
Pope Francis challenged French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders to open their ports to people fleeing hardship and poverty, insisting Saturday that the continent isn’t facing a migration “emergency” but rather a long-term reality that governments must deal with humanely.
For a second straight day in the French port city of Marseille, Francis took aim at European countries that have used “alarmist propaganda” to justify closing their doors to migrants, and tried to shame them into responding with charity instead.
He called for migrants to have legal pathways to citizenship, and for the Mediterranean Sea that so many cross to reach Europe to be a beacon of hope, not a graveyard of desperation.
The Mediterranean, Francis told Macron and a gathering of regional bishops, “cries out for justice, with its shores that on the one hand exude affluence, consumerism and waste, while on the other there is poverty and instability.”
The pope’s visit to the city in southern France, which drew an estimated 150,000 well-wishers Saturday, comes as Italy’s far right-led government has reacted to a new wave of arriving migrants by threatening to organize a naval blockade of Tunisia and to step up repatriations. The French government, for its part, has beefed up patrols on its southern border to stop migrants in Italy from crossing over.
After the bishops’ meeting ended, Macron and Francis held a private, half-hour meeting. They spoke about migration issues and a series of other topics, the French presidency said, adding that both leaders share a “joint will” to bring human solutions to the situation.
France is a “host country” to migrants — especially to asylum seekers — and is supporting European solidarity policies, including through financing and fighting human trafficking, the French presidency said. The Vatican provided no readout of the meeting.
Macron’s centrist government has taken a harder line on migration and security issues after coming under criticism from French conservatives and the far right. With elections for the European Union’s parliament set for next year, Macron is pushing for the E.U. to strengthen its external borders and to be more efficient in deporting individuals who are denied entry.
Macron greeted Francis on a wind-swept promenade overlooking Marseille’s old port, and helped him walk into the Palais du Pharo for the Mediterranean bishops meeting. With his wife by his side, the French leader listened as a young Italian volunteer working in Greece and the bishop of Tirana, Albania, who fled to Italy during Albania’s communist rule, spoke of the welcomes they received in foreign countries.
“May we let ourselves be moved by the stories of so many of our unfortunate brothers and sisters who have the right both to emigrate and not to emigrate, and not become closed in indifference,” Francis said. “In the face of the terrible scourge of the exploitation of human beings, the solution is not to reject but to ensure, according to the possibilities of each, an ample number of legal and regular entrances.”
Francis’ two-day trip was scheduled months ago, but it is taking place as mass migration to Europe is once again making headlines. Nearly 7,000 migrants who boarded smugglers boats in Tunisia came ashore on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa within a day last week, briefly outnumbering the resident population.
Nevertheless, Francis said talk of a migration “emergency” only fuels “alarmist propaganda” and stokes peoples’ fears.
“Those who risk their lives at sea do not invade, they look for welcome, for life” he said. “As for the emergency, the phenomenon of migration is not so much a short-term urgency, always good for fueling alarmist propaganda, but a reality of our times.”
People wait for the arrival of Pope Francis at the Velodrome Stadium in Marseille, France, on SAturday. Alessandra Tarantino / AP
Saturday, September 23, 2023
Antichrist: The Key to Pope Francis’s Identity
Antichrist: The Key to Pope Francis’s
Identity
Berean Beacon
May 11, 2017
Amidst mystery and adulation, and indeed hero worship of Pope Francis, there is a key that reveals his character. The secret lies in his own practices and is not hidden except in plain view... Pope Francis is a master of these Jesuit Spiritual Exercises the teach people how to conduct their own spiritual conversion.
For more on the office of the Pope and the Papacy please visit:
Friday, September 22, 2023
Thursday, September 21, 2023
Monday, September 18, 2023
Sunday, September 17, 2023
California's lawsuit says oil giants downplayed climate change. Here's what to know
CLIMATE
Updated September 17, 20236:08 PM ET
Heard on Weekend Edition Sunday
By Juliana Kim,
Michael Copley
In this aerial picture taken on Aug. 21, a vehicle drives through floodwaters following heavy rains from Tropical Storm Hilary in Thousand Palms, Calif.Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images
The state of California has filed a sweeping climate lawsuit against Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron, as well as the domestic oil industry's biggest lobby, the American Petroleum Institute.
The suit, filed on Friday in San Francisco Superior Court, claims that the companies misled the public for decades about climate change and the dangers of fossil fuels. It demands the companies help fund recovery efforts related to California's extreme weather events, from rising sea levels to drought and wildfires, that have been supercharged by human-caused climate change.
"Oil and gas companies have privately known the truth for decades — that the burning of fossil fuels leads to climate change — but have fed us lies and mistruths to further their record-breaking profits at the expense of our environment. Enough is enough," Rob Bonta, California's attorney general, said Saturday in a statement.
CLIMATE
Why California's floods may be 'only a taste' of what's to come in a warmer world
Oil giants are already facing dozens of lawsuits from states and localities over their role in causing climate change. California's case adds to the legal threats facing America's oil and gas industry, forcing fossil fuel companies to defend themselves against the largest economy in the U.S. and a major oil-producing state.
On Sunday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the damage caused by oil and gas companies' deceit was "incalculable" and his state is prepared to enforce accountability.
"The scale and scope of what the state of California can do, we think can move the needle," Newsom said at a discussion organized by Climate Week NYC.
Why now?
The lawsuit comes after years of extreme weather events have battered California's economy and killed its residents. In just the past year, California has been inundated with record heat, explosive wildfires, unusual bouts of severe rain and snow, and a rising sea level that's threatened the state's shorelines — disasters that studies say were made more likely or more intense due to climate change.
California filed its lawsuit against Exxon and other oil and gas companies just a day after The Wall Street Journal reported that executives at Exxon continued in recent years to raise doubts internally about the dangers of climate change and the need to cut back on oil and gas use, even as the company publicly conceded that burning fossil fuels contributes to global warming.
CLIMATE
Exxon minimized climate change internally after conceding that fossil fuels cause it
Those efforts inside of Exxon, which continued until 2016, according to the Journal, were happening at the same time that scientists at the company were modeling troubling increases in carbon dioxide emissions without big reductions in fossil fuel consumption. The Journal cited internal company documents that were part of a New York state lawsuit and interviews with former executives.
In response to the Journal article, an Exxon spokesperson told NPR that the company has repeatedly acknowledged that "climate change is real, and we have an entire business dedicated to reducing emissions — both our own and others."
Wiles said in a statement this week that the documents the Journal uncovered will probably be used against Exxon in court.
What are the allegations?
In the 135-page California complaint, the state claims that oil and gas executives knew at least since the 1960s that greenhouse gasses produced by fossil fuels would warm the planet and change the climate. According to the suit, industry-funded reports themselves directly linked fossil fuel consumption to rising global temperatures, as well as damages to the air, land and water.
Despite this, oil companies intentionally suppressed the information from the public and policymakers, even investing billions to cast doubt and spread disinformation on climate change, the state alleges.
"Their deception caused a delayed societal response to global warming," the complaint said. "And their misconduct has resulted in tremendous costs to people, property, and natural resources, which continue to unfold each day."
The state further charges that the oil companies continue to deceive the public today about the science and reality of climate change, adding that the industry's investments in clean fuels and renewable energy are "nonexistent or miniscule" in comparison to the resources devoted to expanding their fossil fuel production.
How are companies responding?
Ryan Meyers, general counsel of the American Petroleum Institute, defended oil and gas companies and their commitment to reducing their environmental footprint, adding that climate policy should be for Congress "to debate and decide, not the court system."
"This ongoing, coordinated campaign to wage meritless, politicized lawsuits against a foundational American industry and its workers is nothing more than a distraction from important national conversations and an enormous waste of California taxpayer resources," Meyers said.
CLIMATE
Shell plans to increase fossil fuel production despite its net-zero pledge
Similarly, Shell spokesperson Anna Arata said that the company agrees climate change needs to be addressed, but it should be done collaboratively not by legal action.
"We do not believe the courtroom is the right venue to address climate change, but that smart policy from government and action from all sectors is the appropriate way to reach solutions and drive progress," she said in a statement.
Chevron agreed that climate change policy requires coordination. The company also accused California of being "a leading promoter of oil and gas development."
"Its local courts have no constructive or constitutionally permissible role in crafting global energy policy," the company said in a statement.
Exxon, BP and ConocoPhillips did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment.
Why Exxon?
Earlier investigations found Exxon worked for decades to create confusion about climate change, even though its own scientists had begun warning executives as early as 1977 that carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels were warming the planet, posing dire risks to human beings.
A study early this year in the journal Nature found that Exxon's scientists had modeled global warming trends with "shocking levels of skill and accuracy," according to the lead author.
Despite the warning from its own scientists, Exxon spearheaded and funded a highly effective campaign for more than 30 years that cast doubt on human-driven climate change and the science underpinning it.
CLIMATE
Exxon climate predictions were accurate decades ago. Still it sowed doubt
Scientists with the United Nations say the world is running out of time to prevent global warming that would cause more dangerous impacts, like storms and heat waves. Climate scientists say people need to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). The world is currently heading for about 2.5 degrees Celsius of warming.
Climate change is making California wildfires more explosive. Over the past two years, the threat of wildfires has led several big insurance companies to scale back their home insurance business in the state or to stop selling new policies altogether in order to avoid paying billions in damages.
Pope Francis and Bill Clinton set discussion on climate change at Clinton Global Initiative
Pope Francis attends the weekly general audience in St. Peter’s at the Vatican, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. Pope Francis will discuss how to address the world’s pressing issues with former President Bill Clinton to open this year’s Clinton Global Initiative, organizers announced Thursday. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | ap@dfmdev.com |
PUBLISHED: September 17, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. | UPDATED: September 17, 2023 at 11:38 a.m.
By GLENN GAMBOA (AP Business Writer)
NEW YORK (AP) — Pope Francis will discuss how to address the world’s pressing issues with former President Bill Clinton to open this year’s Clinton Global Initiative, organizers announced Thursday.
The pontiff will discuss broad issues — including climate change, the refugee crisis, the welfare of children — during an onstage videoconference with Clinton Monday morning, while also telling attendees about specific projects like the work of Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in Italy. The two-day conference will take place in New York on Monday and Tuesday, as leaders in politics, business and philanthropy gather to work on potential solutions to global concerns.
A conversation between U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also added to the conference Thursday, along with panels featuring Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Alphabet and Google President Ruth Porat, and NBA Hall of Famer and philanthropist Dwyane Wade.
They join previously announced “leaders, innovators and dreamers” including World Bank President Ajay Banga, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres and Ford Foundation CEO Darren Walker, as well as A-list actors and philanthropists Orlando Bloom, Matt Damon, and Ashley Judd. The annual conference, which returned last year after a six-year hiatus, is focused on securing commitments to address climate change, health care issues, gender-based violence, the war in Ukraine and other issues.
“Every day, billions of people around the world, even in the face of the most dire circumstances, make a profound decision to choose hope and keep going,” former President Bill Clinton told The Associated Press in an emailed statement last month. “At CGI, we’re focusing on how to move forward in the face of daunting challenges—to act now, find new partners, and stick with it to make a positive difference in people’s lives.”
PUBLISHED: September 17, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. | UPDATED: September 17, 2023 at 11:38 a.m.
By GLENN GAMBOA (AP Business Writer)
NEW YORK (AP) — Pope Francis will discuss how to address the world’s pressing issues with former President Bill Clinton to open this year’s Clinton Global Initiative, organizers announced Thursday.
The pontiff will discuss broad issues — including climate change, the refugee crisis, the welfare of children — during an onstage videoconference with Clinton Monday morning, while also telling attendees about specific projects like the work of Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in Italy. The two-day conference will take place in New York on Monday and Tuesday, as leaders in politics, business and philanthropy gather to work on potential solutions to global concerns.
A conversation between U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also added to the conference Thursday, along with panels featuring Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Alphabet and Google President Ruth Porat, and NBA Hall of Famer and philanthropist Dwyane Wade.
They join previously announced “leaders, innovators and dreamers” including World Bank President Ajay Banga, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres and Ford Foundation CEO Darren Walker, as well as A-list actors and philanthropists Orlando Bloom, Matt Damon, and Ashley Judd. The annual conference, which returned last year after a six-year hiatus, is focused on securing commitments to address climate change, health care issues, gender-based violence, the war in Ukraine and other issues.
“Every day, billions of people around the world, even in the face of the most dire circumstances, make a profound decision to choose hope and keep going,” former President Bill Clinton told The Associated Press in an emailed statement last month. “At CGI, we’re focusing on how to move forward in the face of daunting challenges—to act now, find new partners, and stick with it to make a positive difference in people’s lives.”
Saturday, September 16, 2023
Let's repent (of) 'ecological sins' says pope
Story by VRG •4h
Let's repent 'ecological sins' says pope© Provided by ANSA
(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 16 - Pope Francis on Saturday called on believers to repent their "ecological sins". "With the help of God's grace, let us adopt lifestyles marked by less waste and unnecessary consumption," the pope said via Twitter in a post with the hashtag #SeasonOfCreation. The pope has spoken out frequently about the need to combat the climate crisis. The message was posted in the run-up to the publication on October 4 of the second version of his Laudato Si' (Praise Be to You) encyclical. In the 2015 encyclical "on care for our common home", the Argentine pontiff criticized consumerism and environmental degradation, and called for action to combat global warming. (ANSA).
(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 16 - Pope Francis on Saturday called on believers to repent their "ecological sins". "With the help of God's grace, let us adopt lifestyles marked by less waste and unnecessary consumption," the pope said via Twitter in a post with the hashtag #SeasonOfCreation. The pope has spoken out frequently about the need to combat the climate crisis. The message was posted in the run-up to the publication on October 4 of the second version of his Laudato Si' (Praise Be to You) encyclical. In the 2015 encyclical "on care for our common home", the Argentine pontiff criticized consumerism and environmental degradation, and called for action to combat global warming. (ANSA).
Letter showing Pope Pius XII had detailed information from German Jesuit about Nazi crimes revealed
Historians have long been divided about Pius’ record, with supporters insisting he used quiet diplomacy to save Jewish lives while critics say he remained silent as the Holocaust raged.
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AP
SEP 16, 2023 - 06:10 EDT
Newly discovered correspondence suggests that World War II-era Pope Pius XII had detailed information from a trusted German Jesuit that up to 6,000 Jews and Poles were being gassed each day in German-occupied Poland, undercutting the Holy See’s argument that it couldn’t verify diplomatic reports of Nazi atrocities to denounce them.
The documentation from the Vatican archives, published this weekend in Italian daily Corriere della Sera, is likely to further fuel the debate about Pius’ legacy and his now-stalled beatification campaign.
Historians have long been divided about Pius’ record, with supporters insisting he used quiet diplomacy to save Jewish lives while critics say he remained silent as the Holocaust raged.
Corriere is reproducing a letter dated Dec. 14, 1942 from the German Jesuit priest to Pius’ secretary which is contained in an upcoming book about the newly opened files of Pius’ pontificate by Giovanni Coco, a researcher and archivist in the Vatican’s Apostolic Archives.
Coco told Corriere that the letter was significant because it represented detailed correspondence about the Nazi extermination of Jews from an informed church source in Germany who was part of the Catholic anti-Hitler resistance that was able to get otherwise secret information to the Vatican.
The letter from the priest, the Rev. Lothar Koenig, to Pius’ secretary, a fellow German Jesuit named the Rev. Robert Leiber, is dated Dec. 14, 1942. Written in German, the letter addresses Leiber as “Dear friend,” and goes on to report that the Nazis were killing up to 6,000 Jews and Poles daily from Rava Ruska, a town in pre-war Poland that is today located in Ukraine, and transporting them to the Belzec death camp.
According to the Belzec memorial which opened in 2004, a total of 500,000 Jews perished at the camp. The memorial’s website reports that as many as 3,500 Jews from Rava Ruska had already been sent to Belzec earlier in 1942 and that from Dec. 7-11, the city’s Jewish ghetto was liquidated. “About 3,000-5,000 people were shot on the spot and 2,000- 5,000 people were taken to Bełżec,” the website says.
The date of Koenig’s letter is significant because it suggests the correspondence from a trusted fellow Jesuit arrived in Pius’ office in the same three weeks before Christmas 1942 that Pius was receiving multiple diplomatic notes from the British and Polish envoys to the Vatican with reports that up to 1 million Jews had been killed so far in Poland.
While it can’t be certain that Pius saw the letter, Leiber was Pius’ top aide and had served the pope when he was the Vatican’s ambassador to Germany during the 1920s, suggesting a close working relationship especially concerning matters related to Germany.
According to “The Pope at War,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning anthropologist David Kertzer, a top secretariat of state official, Monsignor Domenico Tardini, told the British envoy to the Vatican in mid-December that the pope couldn’t speak out about Nazi atrocities because the Vatican hadn’t been able to verify the information.
“The novelty and importance of this document comes from this fact: that on the Holocaust, there is now the certainty that Pius XII was receiving from the German Catholic Church exact and detailed news about crimes being perpetrated against Jews,” Coco was quoted by Corriere as saying.
However, Coco noted that Koenig also urged the Holy See to not make public what he was revealing because he feared for his own life and those of the resistance sources who had provided the intelligence.
Pius’ legacy, and the revelations from the newly opened Vatican archives, are to be discussed at a major conference at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University next month that is notable because of its across-the-spectrum participant list and sponsorship. The Vatican, Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust research institute, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial as well as the Israeli and U.S. embassies are all backing it, among others.
The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, is to open the Oct. 9-11 meeting that will feature scholars including Kertzer, Coco and Johan Ickx, the archivist at the Vatican secretariat of state whose own book on the archives, “Pius XII and the Jews” published in 2021, praised Pius and the Vatican’s efforts to care for Jews and people fleeing the war.
Coco said Koenig’s letter actually was found in the Vatican’s secretariat of state archives and was turned over to the Vatican’s main Apostolic Archives only in 2019, because the secretariat of state’s papers were disorganized and scattered, with some of Pius’ documents kept in plastic containers in an attic storage space where heat and humidity were damaging them.
Undated file photo of Pope Pius XII.AP
AP
SEP 16, 2023 - 06:10 EDT
Newly discovered correspondence suggests that World War II-era Pope Pius XII had detailed information from a trusted German Jesuit that up to 6,000 Jews and Poles were being gassed each day in German-occupied Poland, undercutting the Holy See’s argument that it couldn’t verify diplomatic reports of Nazi atrocities to denounce them.
The documentation from the Vatican archives, published this weekend in Italian daily Corriere della Sera, is likely to further fuel the debate about Pius’ legacy and his now-stalled beatification campaign.
Historians have long been divided about Pius’ record, with supporters insisting he used quiet diplomacy to save Jewish lives while critics say he remained silent as the Holocaust raged.
Corriere is reproducing a letter dated Dec. 14, 1942 from the German Jesuit priest to Pius’ secretary which is contained in an upcoming book about the newly opened files of Pius’ pontificate by Giovanni Coco, a researcher and archivist in the Vatican’s Apostolic Archives.
Coco told Corriere that the letter was significant because it represented detailed correspondence about the Nazi extermination of Jews from an informed church source in Germany who was part of the Catholic anti-Hitler resistance that was able to get otherwise secret information to the Vatican.
The letter from the priest, the Rev. Lothar Koenig, to Pius’ secretary, a fellow German Jesuit named the Rev. Robert Leiber, is dated Dec. 14, 1942. Written in German, the letter addresses Leiber as “Dear friend,” and goes on to report that the Nazis were killing up to 6,000 Jews and Poles daily from Rava Ruska, a town in pre-war Poland that is today located in Ukraine, and transporting them to the Belzec death camp.
According to the Belzec memorial which opened in 2004, a total of 500,000 Jews perished at the camp. The memorial’s website reports that as many as 3,500 Jews from Rava Ruska had already been sent to Belzec earlier in 1942 and that from Dec. 7-11, the city’s Jewish ghetto was liquidated. “About 3,000-5,000 people were shot on the spot and 2,000- 5,000 people were taken to Bełżec,” the website says.
The date of Koenig’s letter is significant because it suggests the correspondence from a trusted fellow Jesuit arrived in Pius’ office in the same three weeks before Christmas 1942 that Pius was receiving multiple diplomatic notes from the British and Polish envoys to the Vatican with reports that up to 1 million Jews had been killed so far in Poland.
While it can’t be certain that Pius saw the letter, Leiber was Pius’ top aide and had served the pope when he was the Vatican’s ambassador to Germany during the 1920s, suggesting a close working relationship especially concerning matters related to Germany.
According to “The Pope at War,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning anthropologist David Kertzer, a top secretariat of state official, Monsignor Domenico Tardini, told the British envoy to the Vatican in mid-December that the pope couldn’t speak out about Nazi atrocities because the Vatican hadn’t been able to verify the information.
“The novelty and importance of this document comes from this fact: that on the Holocaust, there is now the certainty that Pius XII was receiving from the German Catholic Church exact and detailed news about crimes being perpetrated against Jews,” Coco was quoted by Corriere as saying.
However, Coco noted that Koenig also urged the Holy See to not make public what he was revealing because he feared for his own life and those of the resistance sources who had provided the intelligence.
Pius’ legacy, and the revelations from the newly opened Vatican archives, are to be discussed at a major conference at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University next month that is notable because of its across-the-spectrum participant list and sponsorship. The Vatican, Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust research institute, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial as well as the Israeli and U.S. embassies are all backing it, among others.
The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, is to open the Oct. 9-11 meeting that will feature scholars including Kertzer, Coco and Johan Ickx, the archivist at the Vatican secretariat of state whose own book on the archives, “Pius XII and the Jews” published in 2021, praised Pius and the Vatican’s efforts to care for Jews and people fleeing the war.
Coco said Koenig’s letter actually was found in the Vatican’s secretariat of state archives and was turned over to the Vatican’s main Apostolic Archives only in 2019, because the secretariat of state’s papers were disorganized and scattered, with some of Pius’ documents kept in plastic containers in an attic storage space where heat and humidity were damaging them.
Friday, September 15, 2023
Thursday, September 14, 2023
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Vivek Ramaswamy takes questions about his Hinduism — one Bible verse at a time
The Bible-quoting first-time candidate is getting asked about his Hindu faith repeatedly on the campaign trail as more Republicans learn about him and seek more information.
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Vivek Ramaswamy answers voter questions about his religious beliefs 00:35
Sept. 13, 2023, 5:00 AM EDT
By Alex Tabet, Katherine Koretski and Emma Barnett
NEVADA, Iowa — Republican voters eager to learn more about Vivek Ramaswamy are especially curious about one thing: his religion.
“What is your opinion of Jesus Christ?” an Iowan asked Ramaswamy at a campaign stop in Nevada on Saturday. When Ramaswamy explained that in his Hindu faith, Jesus is “a” son of God and not “the” son of God, the potential caucusgoer followed up with another question about “the fact that the only way to heaven is Jesus Christ.”
It’s a common occurrence as Ramaswamy hits the trail in Iowa. It was the second time he had been questioned about his faith that day and the sixth time in his last two visits to the state. It’s not just Iowa, either. In New Hampshire over Labor Day weekend, a voter asked about Ramaswamy’s religion, prompting an answer about the importance of religious liberty in the U.S.: “I’m Hindu, and I’m proud of that. I stand for that without apology. I think I’m going to be able to be more ardent as a defender of religious liberty.”
Ramaswamy, a first-time candidate, drew new attention after his debate performance last month — against a demographic backdrop that has been an obstacle for other Republican presidential hopefuls.
About two-thirds of Republicans in the 2016 Iowa caucuses identified as evangelical or born-again Christians, according to NBC News’ exit poll. And the evangelical constituency tends to reward Republican candidates who reflect their religious values, including past caucus winners like Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in 2016 and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008. Sandwiched in between: 2012 winner Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania and practicing Catholic — who won praise from influential Republican evangelicals as “an evangelical at heart” who spoke to their values.
On Aug. 31, a day packed with campaign stops throughout Iowa, Ramaswamy was quizzed about his relationship with God so many times that by the end of the day, he was weaving Bible stories into his campaign speech unprompted.
“Remember the Book of Exodus,” Ramaswamy told a crowd of voters in Boone. “The Israelites escaped the pharaoh; they’re lost in the desert,” he continued, analogizing the story to the feeling of being lost that he says many Americans feel today.
It’s a biblical reference Ramaswamy typically makes when he is asked about religion, but after a day of repeated questions about his Hindu faith, he was practically flexing his familiarity with the Bible.
Indeed, Ramaswamy is quick to tell Iowans about his familiarity with the Bible when he is asked, as well as the fact that he attended a Catholic high school.
“I’ve actually read the Bible much more closely than many of, probably most of, my Christian friends,” Ramaswamy said at a campaign stop Saturday, adding: “I got a religion award back when I was at St. X High School in Cincinnati.”
Ramaswamy insists his Hindu faith won’t be a hurdle for his campaign in Iowa. “I’m a person of faith. Evangelical Christians across the state are also people of faith,” he told NBC News in July. “We found commonality in our need to defend religious liberty, to stand for faith and patriotism and stand unapologetically for the fact that we are one nation under God.”
But he acknowledged he is asking evangelical voters for a degree of additional trust.
“I understand that requires some of you to make a bit of a leap to vote for somebody who isn’t nominally Christian,” Ramaswamy said Saturday. “But I promise you it’s a lot smaller of a leap than it seems.”
And this week, Ramaswamy expanded more, telling NBC News: “I think it’s legitimate to gain comfort with somebody who is of a different faith — I am a Hindu — occupying that office. But we share the same values in common. I think that is true. And because it’s true, I think that people will come to understand that for the commander-in-chief, that’s what matters.”
Though he’s regularly quoting the Bible and speaking about Christianity, Ramaswamy has also said he’s not pandering to voters — and he seemed to suggest that one rival, fellow Indian American Nikki Haley, has been.
“An easy thing for me to do being a politician to follow this track is shorten my name, profess to be a Christian and then run,” Ramaswamy said Sunday at a town hall in Hollis, New Hampshire. “Let’s be honest — it happens. Make Vivek ‘Vikki’ or whatever.”
Ramaswamy’s campaign has previously referred to Haley by her given first name, Nimarata, though she has gone by Nikki, her given middle name, her whole life. Haley converted to Christianity when she got married in the 1990s.
Haley's campaign declined to respond to Ramaswamy's comment.
Leaders in Iowa’s evangelical community acknowledge Ramaswamy’s Hindu faith is an obstacle to his campaign in Iowa, though they say it’s not an insurmountable one.
“There’s no doubt it’s probably another hurdle for him to win the Iowa caucuses to gain people’s support,” said Bob Vander Plaats, the president and CEO of the Family Leader Foundation.
Vander Plaats has been a kingmaker in recent Iowa Republican caucuses, having worked for the winning Huckabee campaign in 2008 and having endorsed Santorum’s and Cruz’s victorious bids in the next two election cycles. While he acknowledges Ramaswamy’s Hindu faith as a challenge, Vander Plaats said faith won’t be the only factor Iowans use to form their allegiances.
“I don’t think Iowans are going to have a litmus test with Vivek Ramaswamy,” Vander Plaats said. “It’s not like it’s a complete dealbreaker.”
Republican political strategist Dave Kochel, an Iowa caucus veteran who worked on Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign, also thinks Ramaswamy’s faith could stunt his campaign in Iowa. He remembers watching how Romney’s membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints affected his campaign. Romney came in second in the 2008 and 2012 Iowa caucuses.
“Senator Romney’s Mormonism was an issue in northwest Iowa and kind of held down turnout there even in the general election,” Kochel said.
Religious differences with some voters aside, religion and God are big parts of Ramaswamy’s campaign.
Ramaswamy has a series of “10 truths” that form the backbone of his stump speech and some of the written material distributed at those events. The first of those truths: “God is real.”
On the Sunday before Labor Day, Ramaswamy attended and spoke at a morning service at Village Bible Church in Amherst, New Hampshire.
He told NBC News afterward that he told congregants he feels God puts us on this Earth for a reason and that his family is following that sense of purpose to “restore a sense of purpose in this country.”
At a town hall in Hollis, New Hampshire, he told voters: “What I’ve found is that all of us — Jewish, Hindu, evangelical, Christian, Catholic — we’re not that different in wanting people in office who are forthright, who are honest.”
Pope Francis caused a stir by quoting Teilhard de Chardin. Here’s what you need to know about the ‘often misunderstood’ Jesuit.
September 05, 2023
(Photo by James T. Keane)
“To celebrate Mass in this land brought to my mind the prayer that the Jesuit Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin offered to God exactly a hundred years ago, in the desert of Ordos, not far from here,” said Pope Francis at the conclusion of Mass in Ulaanbaatar on Sunday, Sept. 3, during his historic visit to Mongolia. Calling him “often misunderstood,” the pope concluded with a quote from Teilhard’s The Mass on the World (La Messe sur le Monde), a version of which was written in 1923 near the northern border with Mongolia, where Teilhard was participating in a scientific expedition:
Radiant Word, blazing Power, you who mold the manifold so as to breathe life into it, I pray you, lay on us those your hands—powerful, considerate, omnipresent.
The mention of Teilhard caused a bit of a stir among reporters and Vatican watchers, not least because many fans of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.—whose writings were placed under a Vatican monitum in 1962 (renewed in 1981, just in case) for “dangerous ambiguities and grave errors”—have hoped for years that Pope Francis would remove any Vatican warnings from Teilhard’s writings and rehabilitate the theologian/scientist. In 2017, after all, scholars from the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture itself noted Teilhard’s “prophetic vision,” and four different popes—Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis—have referenced his writings (including, most recently, in “Laudato Si’”).
Thomas M. King, S.J.: "Teilhard was striving for sanctity by working in science, and this effort would require a new understanding of what it means to be holy."
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“To celebrate Mass in this land brought to my mind the prayer that the Jesuit Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin offered to God exactly a hundred years ago, in the desert of Ordos, not far from here,” said Pope Francis at the conclusion of Mass in Ulaanbaatar on Sunday, Sept. 3, during his historic visit to Mongolia. Calling him “often misunderstood,” the pope concluded with a quote from Teilhard’s The Mass on the World (La Messe sur le Monde), a version of which was written in 1923 near the northern border with Mongolia, where Teilhard was participating in a scientific expedition:
Radiant Word, blazing Power, you who mold the manifold so as to breathe life into it, I pray you, lay on us those your hands—powerful, considerate, omnipresent.
The mention of Teilhard caused a bit of a stir among reporters and Vatican watchers, not least because many fans of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.—whose writings were placed under a Vatican monitum in 1962 (renewed in 1981, just in case) for “dangerous ambiguities and grave errors”—have hoped for years that Pope Francis would remove any Vatican warnings from Teilhard’s writings and rehabilitate the theologian/scientist. In 2017, after all, scholars from the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture itself noted Teilhard’s “prophetic vision,” and four different popes—Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis—have referenced his writings (including, most recently, in “Laudato Si’”).
Thomas M. King, S.J.: "Teilhard was striving for sanctity by working in science, and this effort would require a new understanding of what it means to be holy."
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The renowned (or notorious, depending on whom you’re talking to) Jesuit priest was born in 1881 in France and entered the Society of Jesus in 1899. The forced exile of the Jesuits from France in 1902 meant that he completed most of his studies in England and taught for three years at a Jesuit high school in Egypt. Ordained in 1911, he spent several years studying paleontology (including work on the dig that supposedly discovered “Piltdown Man,” later exposed as a fraud) before being drafted into the army in World War I, where he served as a stretcher-bearer, an experience reflected in some of the images of The Mass on the World.
In 1923, he traveled to China on a scientific expedition and completed the text for The Mass on the World that Pope Francis referred to last week in Mongolia; he would return to China repeatedly over the next 25 years. His scientific work did not always endear him to his superiors. His work on evolutionary theory drew the attention of both his Jesuit superiors and the Holy Office, the precursor to today’s mostly defanged Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Teilhard was ordered to sign six statements on points where his thought appeared to conflict with traditional church teaching.
As the well-known Teilhard scholar Thomas M. King, S.J., once noted in America, “Teilhard was striving for sanctity by working in science, and this effort would require a new understanding of what it means to be holy.” Once it became clear to him that he would not be allowed to publish or teach during his lifetime, he accepted a position with a scientific foundation in New York in 1951.
In recent years, scholars have identified racist and eugenicist passages in Teilhard’s work on the biological and spiritual evolution of humanity; earlier this summer, America published an exchange between two scholars on the issue.
Teilhard died in New York City on Easter Sunday, April 10, 1955, and is buried on the grounds of the former novitiate of the New York Province of the Society of Jesus in Hyde Park, N.Y. Though the Culinary Institute of America (a different C.I.A., not the one the Jesuits control) has owned the property for more than 50 years, visitors can still request a key to the cemetery gate to visit Teilhard’s grave.
Among those who championed Teilhard's work was the famed theologian of the Second Vatican Council, Henri de Lubac, S.J.
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In 1923, he traveled to China on a scientific expedition and completed the text for The Mass on the World that Pope Francis referred to last week in Mongolia; he would return to China repeatedly over the next 25 years. His scientific work did not always endear him to his superiors. His work on evolutionary theory drew the attention of both his Jesuit superiors and the Holy Office, the precursor to today’s mostly defanged Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Teilhard was ordered to sign six statements on points where his thought appeared to conflict with traditional church teaching.
As the well-known Teilhard scholar Thomas M. King, S.J., once noted in America, “Teilhard was striving for sanctity by working in science, and this effort would require a new understanding of what it means to be holy.” Once it became clear to him that he would not be allowed to publish or teach during his lifetime, he accepted a position with a scientific foundation in New York in 1951.
In recent years, scholars have identified racist and eugenicist passages in Teilhard’s work on the biological and spiritual evolution of humanity; earlier this summer, America published an exchange between two scholars on the issue.
Teilhard died in New York City on Easter Sunday, April 10, 1955, and is buried on the grounds of the former novitiate of the New York Province of the Society of Jesus in Hyde Park, N.Y. Though the Culinary Institute of America (a different C.I.A., not the one the Jesuits control) has owned the property for more than 50 years, visitors can still request a key to the cemetery gate to visit Teilhard’s grave.
Among those who championed Teilhard's work was the famed theologian of the Second Vatican Council, Henri de Lubac, S.J.
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Much of Teilhard’s fame came posthumously, particularly with the publication of his major works The Divine Milieu and The Phenomenon of Man. Teilhard is remembered most for his concepts of the social evolution of humanity, which could be partially directed by humanity itself (transcending physical evolution); the convergence of all creation toward a moment of omniscience and unity of consciousness, which he called the “Omega Point” and identified with the Logos of Christ; and the integral relationship between humanity and the rest of matter in a constantly evolving universe.
That summary is painfully inadequate to the person or the subject: Readers seeking a more in-depth survey of Teilhard’s life and work might appreciate an online biography by the American Teilhard Association.
Among those who championed his work was the famed theologian of the Second Vatican Council, Henri de Lubac, S.J., who in 1965 published Teilhard de Chardin: The Man and His Meaning, followed by four more books on Teilhard in the coming years; others included Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, who wrote of Teilhard’s Christology in his Introduction to Christianity that “[i]t must be regarded as an important service of Teilhard de Chardin’s that he rethought these ideas from the angle of the modern view of the world.”
Flannery O’Connor used a quote from Teilhard for a 1961 short story that later became the title of a collection, “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” And probably Teilhard’s most famous quote comes from his 1936 essay, “The Evolution of Chastity”:
Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.
A personal moment, reflected in the picture above: In October 2014, while departing the subway at 231st and Broadway in New York City, I came across a street vendor selling secondhand books and magazines. Square in the middle of the table, among all those harlequin romances and old issues of Time, there it was: The Phenomenon of Man.
Perhaps a far more exacting authority than the Vatican had rehabilitated Teilhard de Chardin: The Bronx.
Flannery O’Connor used a quote from Teilhard for a 1961 short story that later became the title of a collection, “Everything That Rises Must Converge.”
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•••
Can Religious Persecution Ever Be Justified?
SEPTEMBER 12, 2023
Adventist expert shares lessons from the life and thought of Augustine.
Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review
John Graz, former International Religious Liberty Association secretary-general, discussed the influence and legacy of Augustine on religious persecution. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]
Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD) left an incontrovertible legacy, John Graz, former International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) secretary-general, said in a presentation to the recent 9th IRLA World Congress in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.
Augustine is often described as one of the most significant thinkers after the apostle Paul, and influenced other Christian thinkers such as Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, and John Calvin, he added. In his August 22 presentation, Graz reflected on Augustine’s shifting position on religious freedom, which went from advocating tolerance to persecution of dissenters.
“Augustine experienced the tension between aspiration to freedom and the reality imposed by the religious authorities of his time,” Graz said. “But the question we need to ask is, How did a man of his stature go from opposing persecution to justifying it? Why did he end up getting the infamous title of theorist of the Inquisition?”
In the following minutes, Graz attempted to provide the background for this shift.
Based on Biblical Principles
In his earlier years, Augustine promoted a peaceful approach and held to the Christian principles of the first centuries, Graz told congress attendees. He explained that the principle had been outlined by Lactantius, Constantine’s adviser, who had written, “Religion is a matter of will. It cannot be imposed by force.… There’s no union possible between truth and violence, justice and cruelty.”
Even if the conversion of heretics is a moral obligation, at the beginning Augustine claimed that it had to be done by discussion and demonstration in a peaceful way, Graz said. But unfortunately, he added, such an open position wouldn’t last for long.
Forcing Expected Results
In time, when Augustine discovered that a spirit of openness did not produce the expected results, he saw that through violence and the sanction of authorities, some heretics were returning to the Christian church, Graz said. After witnessing that coercion indeed could bring people to return to what he believed was right, Augustine wrote, “Experience has shown us again that fear and pain have been beneficial to many in order to be instructed or to practice what they had already learned.”
Graz explained that from then on, “coercion becomes for [Augustine] a means for finding the truth and consequently salvation. The end justifies the means.” He added, “This is a sure step to crossing a red line. It leads to the cancellation of people’s rights in general and freedom of religion or belief in particular.”
IRLA current secretary-general Ganoune Diop (right) introduces his predecessor, John Graz, during the 9th IRLA World Congress in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, on August 22. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]
John Graz (right) presents as Baptist World Alliance general secretary Elijah Brown and General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists general counsel Karnik Doukmetzian listen. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]
Augustine’s “gradual drifting away from the teaching of Jesus, the apostles, and the Church’s Fathers are lessons to be learned,” John Graz said. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]
An attendee to the 9th IRLA World Congress requests a clarification after the presentations at the event on August 22. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]
Coercion as an ‘Act of Love’
Unfortunately for freedom of conscience and religious freedom, Augustine began to attempt to justify coercion, calling it “an act of love.” “What is, then, the function of brotherly love?” he wrote. “Does it, because it fears the short-lived fires of the furnace for a few, therefore abandon all to the eternal fires of hell?”
At the same time, Graz explained, the justification of coercion implies limits that love inspires. Augustine asked civil authorities not to execute or torture the heretics. “Our desire is that justice be satisfied without the taking of their lives or the maiming of their bodies in any part,” he wrote, according to Graz.
Augustine’s critics in his own day reminded him that such thinking implied denying the position of Jesus, the apostles, and even Paul, who never called on public force to persecute opponents. What was Augustine’s answer to those objections? He replied that in the days of the apostles, the princes and the empire were not Christian, Graz shared. Now they were, so it was expected that they put themselves at the service of the church, to preserve unity and truth.
Partnering with the State
American historian and journalist James Carroll wrote that “it was the late Augustine who, no longer depending on the force of reason, justified the use of coercion in defending, and spreading, the orthodox faith.”
Justifying persecution is one thing, Graz said. But Augustine went further by encouraging civil authorities to correct heretics. “Partnering with the State to persecute so-called heretics, dissenting voices, because of loyalty to their conscience, has plagued the history of the medieval church since Augustine,” he said.
Best Intentions Are Not Enough
Graz emphasized that having the best intentions is not enough to protect the rights of every person to freedom of conscience and religious freedom. In the case of Augustine, “[his] gradual drifting away from the teaching of Jesus, the apostles, and the Church’s Fathers are lessons to be learned,” Graz said. “His example is good for us. It teaches that good, even the best intentions of human beings and of society, are not a criterion of freedom and even less of truth.”
Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review
Source: https://adventistreview.org/news/can-religious-persecution-ever-be-justified/
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