Showing posts with label 2021. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2021. Show all posts
Saturday, December 04, 2021
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Thursday, November 11, 2021
Wednesday, November 10, 2021
PD 10 - New Perspectives on Pandemic Preparedness
@ Timestamp 1:31:30 mins.
listen to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala state:
"My call to action would be a better global governance – it is too fragmented."
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization - WTO.
Sunday, October 31, 2021
Saturday, October 30, 2021
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
Monday, October 25, 2021
Fauci Pushes Back After New Documents on US-Funded Virus Research in China Fuel Criticism
Dr. Anthony Fauci is seen in New York City in a file photograph. (Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)MORE
AMERICA
By Zachary Stieber
October 25, 2021 Updated: October 25, 2021
Top American health officials who critics say misled Congress with claims regarding U.S.-funded virus research in China are pushing back after documents were released appearing to show that the United States did pay for gain-of-function research, contrary to the officials’ testimony.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) sent the documents last week to lawmakers. They show that the NIH funded research that increased the function of coronaviruses and MERS, experts said.
Dr. Francis Collins, the head of the NIH, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, who heads one of the institutes, told Congress earlier this year that the agency did not fund gain-of-function research.
Critics said the new documents were further proof Collins and Fauci misled Congress.
“In the letter they acknowledge that yes, the viruses did gain in function, they became more dangerous. So they’ve created a virus that doesn’t exist in nature to become more dangerous, that is gain-of-function,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a doctor, said on an “Axios on HBO” episode released Sunday.
“You take an unknown virus, you combine it with another virus and you get a super virus. You have no idea whether it gains functions or loses function, that’s what the experiment is, but I don’t know how anybody could argue that that’s not gain-of-function research,” he added later.
Fauci, though, is insisting that his testimony to Congress was not undercut by the agency’s disclosures.
AMERICA
By Zachary Stieber
October 25, 2021 Updated: October 25, 2021
Top American health officials who critics say misled Congress with claims regarding U.S.-funded virus research in China are pushing back after documents were released appearing to show that the United States did pay for gain-of-function research, contrary to the officials’ testimony.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) sent the documents last week to lawmakers. They show that the NIH funded research that increased the function of coronaviruses and MERS, experts said.
Dr. Francis Collins, the head of the NIH, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, who heads one of the institutes, told Congress earlier this year that the agency did not fund gain-of-function research.
Critics said the new documents were further proof Collins and Fauci misled Congress.
“In the letter they acknowledge that yes, the viruses did gain in function, they became more dangerous. So they’ve created a virus that doesn’t exist in nature to become more dangerous, that is gain-of-function,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a doctor, said on an “Axios on HBO” episode released Sunday.
“You take an unknown virus, you combine it with another virus and you get a super virus. You have no idea whether it gains functions or loses function, that’s what the experiment is, but I don’t know how anybody could argue that that’s not gain-of-function research,” he added later.
Fauci, though, is insisting that his testimony to Congress was not undercut by the agency’s disclosures.
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“Neither I nor Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the NIH, lied or misled about what we’ve done,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”
A key issue in the arguments revolves around how the parties define gain-of-function, a type of research that generally means increasing a biological agent’s transmissibility or pathogenicity.
Fauci acknowledged using a narrower term established under a framework (pdf) issued in late 2017 after the agency lifted a funding pause on most gain-of-function research.
“Neither I nor Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the NIH, lied or misled about what we’ve done,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”
A key issue in the arguments revolves around how the parties define gain-of-function, a type of research that generally means increasing a biological agent’s transmissibility or pathogenicity.
Fauci acknowledged using a narrower term established under a framework (pdf) issued in late 2017 after the agency lifted a funding pause on most gain-of-function research.
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That term is called “gain-of-function research of concern” and entails “a small subset” of gain-of-function research projects that “entail risks that are potentially significant enough to warrant additional oversight,” according to the NIH.
“Under those conditions which we have explained very, very clearly, [the research in question] does not constitute research of gain-of-function of concern,” Fauci said. “There are people who interpret it that way, but when you look at the framework under which the guidance is, that is not the case.”
Fauci used the broader term before a Senate panel on May 11. “The NIH and NIAID categorically has not funded gain-of-function research to be conducted in the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” he said at the time.
Gain-of-function research “describes a type of research that modifies a biological agent so that it confers new or enhanced activity to that agent,” the NIH said on its website, before removing the description last week.
The Wuhan labs that comprise the institute are located near where the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in late 2019.
The newly disclosed documents from the EcoHealth Alliance, which funneled NIH grant money to the institute, outline research conducted between June 1, 2018 and May 31, 2019.
Collins, who is stepping down before the end of the year, has also pushed back against critics, telling The Washington Post that the research did not meet the definition of gain-of-function.
Some experts disagree.
“The genetic manipulation of both MERS and the SARS conducted in Wuhan clearly constituted gain-of-function experiments,” Jonathan Latham, executive director of the Bioscience Research Project, told The Epoch Times in an email.
Others have said the experiments were risky and should not have been conducted.
EcoHealth Alliance has not responded to requests for comment.
That term is called “gain-of-function research of concern” and entails “a small subset” of gain-of-function research projects that “entail risks that are potentially significant enough to warrant additional oversight,” according to the NIH.
“Under those conditions which we have explained very, very clearly, [the research in question] does not constitute research of gain-of-function of concern,” Fauci said. “There are people who interpret it that way, but when you look at the framework under which the guidance is, that is not the case.”
Fauci used the broader term before a Senate panel on May 11. “The NIH and NIAID categorically has not funded gain-of-function research to be conducted in the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” he said at the time.
Gain-of-function research “describes a type of research that modifies a biological agent so that it confers new or enhanced activity to that agent,” the NIH said on its website, before removing the description last week.
The Wuhan labs that comprise the institute are located near where the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in late 2019.
The newly disclosed documents from the EcoHealth Alliance, which funneled NIH grant money to the institute, outline research conducted between June 1, 2018 and May 31, 2019.
Collins, who is stepping down before the end of the year, has also pushed back against critics, telling The Washington Post that the research did not meet the definition of gain-of-function.
Some experts disagree.
“The genetic manipulation of both MERS and the SARS conducted in Wuhan clearly constituted gain-of-function experiments,” Jonathan Latham, executive director of the Bioscience Research Project, told The Epoch Times in an email.
Others have said the experiments were risky and should not have been conducted.
EcoHealth Alliance has not responded to requests for comment.
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Event 201 Pandemic Exercise In 2019 Portended Climate Of Internet Censorship
October 19, 2021
Just weeks before the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed, a group of elite government officials, business people, and scientists gathered in New York to plan various strategies for steering society through a deadly pandemic.
The scenario may sound like some sort of a conspiracy theory, but it happened two years ago.
On Oct. 18, 2019, the World Economic Forum, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security hosted “Event 201” — a “high-level pandemic exercise,” during which world leaders simulated various policy responses to a global disease outbreak.
Must-read article: Bill Gates & World Economic Forum Ran Coronavirus Outbreak Simulation Just 6 Weeks Before The Real Outbreak.
When the initial diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed just weeks later, speculation abounded about the similarities—so many so that organizers issued a response.
While no hard evidence has been produced to substantiate the speculation, Event 201 did portend how many of the same global institutions would respond to some of the issues that arose from COVID-19 months later — including how they would push information censorship.
Event participants included then-Columbia University senior research scholar Avril Haines, who is now the U.S. Director of National Intelligence; Chris Elias, the president of the global development program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; George Gao, the director-general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention; and Stephen Redd, then-deputy director for public health service and implementation science at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The participants were presented with a simulated outbreak of “novel zoonotic coronavirus” transmitted from bats to pigs to people, leading to a severe pandemic.
“The disease starts in pig farms in Brazil, quietly and slowly at first, but then it starts to spread more rapidly in healthcare settings,” according to the Event 201 scenario.
“It is first exported by air travel to Portugal, the United States, and China and then to many other countries. Although at first some countries are able to control it, it continues to spread and be reintroduced, and eventually no country can maintain control,” it stated.
Participants were presented with policy decisions for four broad categories: medical response, travel and trade, finance, and communications.
On some issues, Event 201 was divergent from the real-life pandemic—perhaps most prominently with respect to travel and lockdowns, as Event 201 didn’t recommend lockdowns and was explicitly opposed to travel restrictions.
“Countries, international organizations, and global transportation companies should work together to maintain travel and trade during severe pandemics,” Event 201 said in its recommendations. “Travel and trade are essential to the global economy as well as to national and even local economies, and they should be maintained even in the face of a pandemic.”
But on communications, the recommendations from Event 201 are similar to those that followed COVID-19 — as were the actual events.
During the simulation, for instance, Gao said that “disinformation” spread throughout China and the rest of the world.
“There is misinformation, and people believe that this is a man-made — that a pharmaceutical company made the virus,” he said, adding that there were “deaths because of this misinformation.”
Redd also said there was misinformation related to treatments.
“We’re seeing instances of people trying treatments that are purported to be effective, but actually are harmful,” he said during the simulation.
During the simulated pandemic, some countries resorted to shutting down the internet to quell panic. Others worked with social media companies to censor what those states deemed misinformation.
Participants expressed opposition to internet shutdowns, but they agreed governments should work with social media companies to control the narrative.
Event 201 organizers made similar recommendations following the simulation.
“Governments will need to partner with traditional and social media companies to research and develop nimble approaches to countering misinformation,” the organizers stated. “For their part, media companies should commit to ensuring that authoritative messages are prioritized and that false messages are suppressed including through the use of technology.”
Redd also said government should surveil social media to fight disinformation.
“With social media platforms, there’s an opportunity to understand who it is that is susceptible, and in what form, to misinformation. So, I think there’s an opportunity to collect data from that communication mechanism,” said Redd, who has since retired. “With that ability, we can identify false information more quickly.”
Event 201 policies manifested following COVID-19, with governments and big tech platforms working in concert to surveil and censor content on numerous pandemic-related subjects.
During and following the discussions, it was revealed that the simulated pandemic resulted in 450,000 cases and 26,000 deaths within one month, 10 million cases and 660,000 deaths within three months, and 65 million deaths in the first 18 months. Participants were urged to prep their various sectors for a similar public health crisis.
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 was found to be within weeks of the Oct. 18, 2020, simulated pandemic.
When conspiracy theories began to spread about the relationship between the two events, organizers issued a response.
“Recently, the [Johns Hopkins] Center for Health Security has received questions about whether that pandemic exercise predicted the current novel coronavirus outbreak in China. To be clear, the Center for Health Security and partners did not make a prediction during our tabletop exercise,” Johns Hopkins stated on Jan. 24, 2020.
“For the scenario, we modeled a fictional coronavirus pandemic, but we explicitly stated that it was not a prediction,” organizers added. “We are not now predicting that the nCoV-2019 outbreak will kill 65 million people. Although our tabletop exercise included a mock novel coronavirus, the inputs we used for modeling the potential impact of that fictional virus are not similar to nCoV-2019.”
By Ken Silva, TheEpochTimes.com
Just weeks before the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed, a group of elite government officials, business people, and scientists gathered in New York to plan various strategies for steering society through a deadly pandemic.
The scenario may sound like some sort of a conspiracy theory, but it happened two years ago.
On Oct. 18, 2019, the World Economic Forum, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security hosted “Event 201” — a “high-level pandemic exercise,” during which world leaders simulated various policy responses to a global disease outbreak.
Must-read article: Bill Gates & World Economic Forum Ran Coronavirus Outbreak Simulation Just 6 Weeks Before The Real Outbreak.
When the initial diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed just weeks later, speculation abounded about the similarities—so many so that organizers issued a response.
While no hard evidence has been produced to substantiate the speculation, Event 201 did portend how many of the same global institutions would respond to some of the issues that arose from COVID-19 months later — including how they would push information censorship.
Event participants included then-Columbia University senior research scholar Avril Haines, who is now the U.S. Director of National Intelligence; Chris Elias, the president of the global development program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; George Gao, the director-general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention; and Stephen Redd, then-deputy director for public health service and implementation science at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The participants were presented with a simulated outbreak of “novel zoonotic coronavirus” transmitted from bats to pigs to people, leading to a severe pandemic.
“The disease starts in pig farms in Brazil, quietly and slowly at first, but then it starts to spread more rapidly in healthcare settings,” according to the Event 201 scenario.
“It is first exported by air travel to Portugal, the United States, and China and then to many other countries. Although at first some countries are able to control it, it continues to spread and be reintroduced, and eventually no country can maintain control,” it stated.
Participants were presented with policy decisions for four broad categories: medical response, travel and trade, finance, and communications.
On some issues, Event 201 was divergent from the real-life pandemic—perhaps most prominently with respect to travel and lockdowns, as Event 201 didn’t recommend lockdowns and was explicitly opposed to travel restrictions.
“Countries, international organizations, and global transportation companies should work together to maintain travel and trade during severe pandemics,” Event 201 said in its recommendations. “Travel and trade are essential to the global economy as well as to national and even local economies, and they should be maintained even in the face of a pandemic.”
But on communications, the recommendations from Event 201 are similar to those that followed COVID-19 — as were the actual events.
During the simulation, for instance, Gao said that “disinformation” spread throughout China and the rest of the world.
“There is misinformation, and people believe that this is a man-made — that a pharmaceutical company made the virus,” he said, adding that there were “deaths because of this misinformation.”
Redd also said there was misinformation related to treatments.
“We’re seeing instances of people trying treatments that are purported to be effective, but actually are harmful,” he said during the simulation.
During the simulated pandemic, some countries resorted to shutting down the internet to quell panic. Others worked with social media companies to censor what those states deemed misinformation.
Participants expressed opposition to internet shutdowns, but they agreed governments should work with social media companies to control the narrative.
Event 201 organizers made similar recommendations following the simulation.
“Governments will need to partner with traditional and social media companies to research and develop nimble approaches to countering misinformation,” the organizers stated. “For their part, media companies should commit to ensuring that authoritative messages are prioritized and that false messages are suppressed including through the use of technology.”
Redd also said government should surveil social media to fight disinformation.
“With social media platforms, there’s an opportunity to understand who it is that is susceptible, and in what form, to misinformation. So, I think there’s an opportunity to collect data from that communication mechanism,” said Redd, who has since retired. “With that ability, we can identify false information more quickly.”
Event 201 policies manifested following COVID-19, with governments and big tech platforms working in concert to surveil and censor content on numerous pandemic-related subjects.
During and following the discussions, it was revealed that the simulated pandemic resulted in 450,000 cases and 26,000 deaths within one month, 10 million cases and 660,000 deaths within three months, and 65 million deaths in the first 18 months. Participants were urged to prep their various sectors for a similar public health crisis.
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 was found to be within weeks of the Oct. 18, 2020, simulated pandemic.
When conspiracy theories began to spread about the relationship between the two events, organizers issued a response.
“Recently, the [Johns Hopkins] Center for Health Security has received questions about whether that pandemic exercise predicted the current novel coronavirus outbreak in China. To be clear, the Center for Health Security and partners did not make a prediction during our tabletop exercise,” Johns Hopkins stated on Jan. 24, 2020.
“For the scenario, we modeled a fictional coronavirus pandemic, but we explicitly stated that it was not a prediction,” organizers added. “We are not now predicting that the nCoV-2019 outbreak will kill 65 million people. Although our tabletop exercise included a mock novel coronavirus, the inputs we used for modeling the potential impact of that fictional virus are not similar to nCoV-2019.”
By Ken Silva, TheEpochTimes.com
Friday, October 15, 2021
Biden to meet Pope Francis to discuss climate change and support for poor
Biden to meet Pope Francis to discuss climate change and support for poor
Discussion will take place in late October
Discussion will take place in late October
Pelosi meets Pope Francis
President Joe Biden will meet with Pope Francis later this month for a discussion on how the US and the Vatican can work together on issues ranging from climate change to bettering treatment of the poor, the White House said on Thursday.
A statement from press secretary Jen Psaki indicated that the conversation would cover “efforts grounded in respect for fundamental human dignity, including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling the climate crisis, and caring for the poor”.
The meeting will take place on 29 October, two days before the US is set to take part in the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. It will also occur as the leaders of the G20 are meeting in Rome.
The president and senior administration officials are hoping to showcase the Biden administration’s efforts to fight the climate crisis at the Glasgow summit, and are ramping up pressure on Congress to pass his two infrastructure bills which include provisions aimed at addressing carbon emissions before the president heads abroad at the end of the month.
Pope Francis has called climate change a “global catastrophe”, noting its likelihood to have major effects on communities around the world and drive new mass migration as its effects become more pronounced.
"We need to ensure that the environment is cleaner, purer and that it is conserved. We must care for nature so that nature may care for us," he said in April during an Earth Day address.
Along with provisions aimed at beginning to tackle climate change, the White House-supported reconciliation package contains language expanding and reinforcing America’s social safety net. Progressives, with the backing of the administration, are hoping to include expansions of Medicare to include vision, dental, and hearing benefits. The plan also aims to change eligibility requirements allowing low-income residents of states that refused to opt-in to a Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act to access a federal Medicaid plan.
Some of the plan’s proposals aimed at helping low-income Americans in particular are at risk due to resistance to the size of the reconciliation package from two conservative Democrats in the Senate: Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, who have demanded large cuts to the bill.
While not mentioned by the White House’s statement, the issue of abortion could also come up during the President and first lady’s discussion with the Pope; the Catholic Church strictly opposes the procedure, which Mr Biden has supported as a protected medical practice as president.
Mr Biden is an active member of the Catholic Church and frequently attends Mass upon returning to his home in Wilmington, Delaware. He has faced critcism from some conservative members of the church for his stance on abortion rights, which his administration has defended since the president took office in January.
That issue recently charged back into the attention of the media with the implementation of a ban on abortions after six weeks into the pregnancy in Texas as well as an effort by attorneys for the state of Mississippi to overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case establishing abortion as a protected medical practice.
The Pope has called abortion “murder” but refused to take the same stance as some who claim that Mr Biden should cease receiving Communion until his policies align with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
“I never denied communion to anyone. But I never knew that I had in front of me anyone such as you described, that is true,” the Pope said to reporters in September.
Source
President Joe Biden will meet with Pope Francis later this month for a discussion on how the US and the Vatican can work together on issues ranging from climate change to bettering treatment of the poor, the White House said on Thursday.
A statement from press secretary Jen Psaki indicated that the conversation would cover “efforts grounded in respect for fundamental human dignity, including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling the climate crisis, and caring for the poor”.
The meeting will take place on 29 October, two days before the US is set to take part in the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. It will also occur as the leaders of the G20 are meeting in Rome.
The president and senior administration officials are hoping to showcase the Biden administration’s efforts to fight the climate crisis at the Glasgow summit, and are ramping up pressure on Congress to pass his two infrastructure bills which include provisions aimed at addressing carbon emissions before the president heads abroad at the end of the month.
Pope Francis has called climate change a “global catastrophe”, noting its likelihood to have major effects on communities around the world and drive new mass migration as its effects become more pronounced.
"We need to ensure that the environment is cleaner, purer and that it is conserved. We must care for nature so that nature may care for us," he said in April during an Earth Day address.
Along with provisions aimed at beginning to tackle climate change, the White House-supported reconciliation package contains language expanding and reinforcing America’s social safety net. Progressives, with the backing of the administration, are hoping to include expansions of Medicare to include vision, dental, and hearing benefits. The plan also aims to change eligibility requirements allowing low-income residents of states that refused to opt-in to a Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act to access a federal Medicaid plan.
Some of the plan’s proposals aimed at helping low-income Americans in particular are at risk due to resistance to the size of the reconciliation package from two conservative Democrats in the Senate: Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, who have demanded large cuts to the bill.
While not mentioned by the White House’s statement, the issue of abortion could also come up during the President and first lady’s discussion with the Pope; the Catholic Church strictly opposes the procedure, which Mr Biden has supported as a protected medical practice as president.
Mr Biden is an active member of the Catholic Church and frequently attends Mass upon returning to his home in Wilmington, Delaware. He has faced critcism from some conservative members of the church for his stance on abortion rights, which his administration has defended since the president took office in January.
That issue recently charged back into the attention of the media with the implementation of a ban on abortions after six weeks into the pregnancy in Texas as well as an effort by attorneys for the state of Mississippi to overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case establishing abortion as a protected medical practice.
The Pope has called abortion “murder” but refused to take the same stance as some who claim that Mr Biden should cease receiving Communion until his policies align with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
“I never denied communion to anyone. But I never knew that I had in front of me anyone such as you described, that is true,” the Pope said to reporters in September.
Source
Thursday, October 14, 2021
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Saturday, October 09, 2021
US House Speaker Pelosi meets the Pope as abortion debate rages back home
9 October 2021, 5:40 PM | Reuters | @SABCNews
Pope Francis welcomes U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as they meet at the Vatican, October 9, 2021.
Image: Reuters
Pope Francis met on Saturday with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic who has come under criticism from some bishops in the United States for her support for abortion rights.
Their meeting took place several weeks before Joe Biden is expected to meet the Pope while the US president is in Rome for talks between leaders of the Group of 20 major economies.
Biden, the second Catholic US president, has said he is personally opposed to abortion but, as a politician, cannot impose his views.
Pelosi, who has five children, has said she supports a woman’s right to choose.
Biden’s administration and Pelosi have urged judges to block a new Texas law that bars abortions from six weeks, saying it is unconstitutional. The ban was temporarily reinstated on Friday by a conservative-leaning appeals court.
The Catholic Church teaches that human life begins at the moment of conception and Biden and Pelosi have been criticised by conservative Catholic media and US conservative bishops, some of whom say neither should be allowed to receive communion.
Last month the Pope, asked about the US communion debate, told reporters abortion is “murder”, even soon after conception, and appeared to criticise US Catholic bishops for dealing with the issue in a political rather than pastoral way.
“Communion is not a prize for the perfect … communion is a gift, the presence of Jesus and his Church”, the Pope said.
In June, a divided conference of US Roman Catholic bishops voted to draft a statement on communion that some bishops say should specifically admonish Catholic politicians, including Biden. They take up the issue again next month.
In a statement, Pelosi said the audience with the Pope was a”spiritual, personal and official honor”. She praised his defence of the environment, immigrants, refugees and the poor.
The Vatican announced Pelosi’s audience with the Pope in its daily bulletin but gave no details.
Image: Reuters
Pope Francis met on Saturday with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic who has come under criticism from some bishops in the United States for her support for abortion rights.
Their meeting took place several weeks before Joe Biden is expected to meet the Pope while the US president is in Rome for talks between leaders of the Group of 20 major economies.
Biden, the second Catholic US president, has said he is personally opposed to abortion but, as a politician, cannot impose his views.
Pelosi, who has five children, has said she supports a woman’s right to choose.
Biden’s administration and Pelosi have urged judges to block a new Texas law that bars abortions from six weeks, saying it is unconstitutional. The ban was temporarily reinstated on Friday by a conservative-leaning appeals court.
The Catholic Church teaches that human life begins at the moment of conception and Biden and Pelosi have been criticised by conservative Catholic media and US conservative bishops, some of whom say neither should be allowed to receive communion.
Last month the Pope, asked about the US communion debate, told reporters abortion is “murder”, even soon after conception, and appeared to criticise US Catholic bishops for dealing with the issue in a political rather than pastoral way.
“Communion is not a prize for the perfect … communion is a gift, the presence of Jesus and his Church”, the Pope said.
In June, a divided conference of US Roman Catholic bishops voted to draft a statement on communion that some bishops say should specifically admonish Catholic politicians, including Biden. They take up the issue again next month.
In a statement, Pelosi said the audience with the Pope was a”spiritual, personal and official honor”. She praised his defence of the environment, immigrants, refugees and the poor.
The Vatican announced Pelosi’s audience with the Pope in its daily bulletin but gave no details.
Wednesday, October 06, 2021
N. H. state rep. resigns as committee chair after sharing controversial document about COVID-19 vaccine
Rep. Karen Umberger replacing Rep. Ken Weyler on committees
Updated: 4:21 PM EDT Oct 6, 2021
Adam Sexton
Political Director
Play Video
SHOW TRANSCRIPT
MANCHESTER, N.H. —
The New Hampshire Republican representative who shared a document with his colleagues that was riddled with conspiracy theories and anti-Catholic bigotry has resigned his position as chairman of the House Finance Committee.
Rep. Ken Weyler's resignation from the committee also means he is no longer chair of the Fiscal Committee.
^^ In the video player above, see recent coverage of this story ^^
Rep. Karen Umberger, R-Kearsarge, has replaced Weyler as chair of the House Finance Committee and of the Fiscal Committee. She is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel.
Weyler came under fire this week for sharing a document with committee members referred to as a “vaccine death report.”
The document contains conspiracy theories but also features blatant anti-Catholicism, including an allegation that top church leaders worship Satan. The “report” alleges that multiple popes have answered to a hidden leader known as “The Grey Pope."
The document also claims COVID-19 vaccines contain tentacled creatures and 5G technology intended for mind control.
Deputy Speaker Steven Smith told WMUR that Weyler did not read past the first few pages of the document he shared with the Fiscal Committee. In his resignation letter, Weyler apologized for sharing the document, Smith said.
Weyler also made headlines in September when Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette confronted him at a hearing for spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Before the representative resigned from the committees, Gov. Chris Sununu said Weyler’s actions clearly show a “detachment from reality.”
“Anyone in a leadership position really has no right to be putting that stuff out, promoting that type of stuff. That type of misinformation is dangerous,” Sununu said.
Updated: 4:21 PM EDT Oct 6, 2021
Adam Sexton
Political Director
Play Video
SHOW TRANSCRIPT
MANCHESTER, N.H. —
The New Hampshire Republican representative who shared a document with his colleagues that was riddled with conspiracy theories and anti-Catholic bigotry has resigned his position as chairman of the House Finance Committee.
Rep. Ken Weyler's resignation from the committee also means he is no longer chair of the Fiscal Committee.
^^ In the video player above, see recent coverage of this story ^^
Rep. Karen Umberger, R-Kearsarge, has replaced Weyler as chair of the House Finance Committee and of the Fiscal Committee. She is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel.
Weyler came under fire this week for sharing a document with committee members referred to as a “vaccine death report.”
The document contains conspiracy theories but also features blatant anti-Catholicism, including an allegation that top church leaders worship Satan. The “report” alleges that multiple popes have answered to a hidden leader known as “The Grey Pope."
The document also claims COVID-19 vaccines contain tentacled creatures and 5G technology intended for mind control.
Deputy Speaker Steven Smith told WMUR that Weyler did not read past the first few pages of the document he shared with the Fiscal Committee. In his resignation letter, Weyler apologized for sharing the document, Smith said.
Weyler also made headlines in September when Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette confronted him at a hearing for spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Before the representative resigned from the committees, Gov. Chris Sununu said Weyler’s actions clearly show a “detachment from reality.”
“Anyone in a leadership position really has no right to be putting that stuff out, promoting that type of stuff. That type of misinformation is dangerous,” Sununu said.
Monday, October 04, 2021
President Biden Pledges Agenda Will Get Done As He Leaves Democratic Caucus Meeting
President Biden pledges he will get his legislative agenda through Congress, telling reporters that "It doesn't matter when. It doesn't matter whether it's in six minutes, six days, or six weeks. We're going to get it done."
Sunday, October 03, 2021
On eve of huge Supreme Court term, a prayer from on high
Hundreds attend the annual Red Mass on Sunday at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in D.C. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)
By
Ian Shapira
Yesterday at 5:28 p.m. EDT
If any government entity needs thoughts and prayers these fractious days, the Supreme Court might be the most deserving.
On Sunday, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. was the sole member of the Supreme Court to join hundreds of other Washingtonians at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle for the Red Mass, a ceremony typically held on the Sunday before the first Monday in October, the opening of the high court’s term. The purpose of the ritual, which at the Washington cathedral dates to 1953, is to “invoke God’s blessings on those responsible for the administration of justice as well as on all public officials,” according to the event’s program.
The Supreme Court may need those blessings. On Monday, the justices will return to the courtroom for their first in-person session of oral arguments since the start of the pandemic. Their docket is explosive, to put it mildly: One case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, will ask the court to overrule Roe v. Wade to preserve a Mississippi law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Another case, backed by the National Rifle Association, is challenging a New York law that limits gun usage by requiring law-abiding citizens who want a permit to carry a concealed firearm outside their home to demonstrate a “proper cause.”
In political spotlight, Supreme Court embarks on extraordinarily controversial term
On top of the consequential docket, the court is mired in other volatility: In recent weeks, justices have been delivering public speeches against accusations of partisanship. (Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., nominated by President George W. Bush, said media and political commentary on the court’s emergency decision docket makes it seem like a “dangerous cabal” is making decisions outside the normal process.) A presidential commission is weighing proposals to change lifetime tenure for justices and even expand the number of seats on the bench. Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who is an 83-year-old Bill Clinton appointee, is facing pressure to step down so President Biden can replace him with another liberal who is younger.
And, if all of that weren’t high-stakes enough, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, who has been fully vaccinated since January, tested positive last week for the coronavirus. In a statement Friday night, the court said he was showing no symptoms. He will participate in oral arguments by telephone from his home.
The Supreme Court may need those blessings. On Monday, the justices will return to the courtroom for their first in-person session of oral arguments since the start of the pandemic. Their docket is explosive, to put it mildly: One case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, will ask the court to overrule Roe v. Wade to preserve a Mississippi law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Another case, backed by the National Rifle Association, is challenging a New York law that limits gun usage by requiring law-abiding citizens who want a permit to carry a concealed firearm outside their home to demonstrate a “proper cause.”
In political spotlight, Supreme Court embarks on extraordinarily controversial term
On top of the consequential docket, the court is mired in other volatility: In recent weeks, justices have been delivering public speeches against accusations of partisanship. (Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., nominated by President George W. Bush, said media and political commentary on the court’s emergency decision docket makes it seem like a “dangerous cabal” is making decisions outside the normal process.) A presidential commission is weighing proposals to change lifetime tenure for justices and even expand the number of seats on the bench. Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who is an 83-year-old Bill Clinton appointee, is facing pressure to step down so President Biden can replace him with another liberal who is younger.
And, if all of that weren’t high-stakes enough, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, who has been fully vaccinated since January, tested positive last week for the coronavirus. In a statement Friday night, the court said he was showing no symptoms. He will participate in oral arguments by telephone from his home.
During Sunday’s ceremony, though, the particulars of the court’s problems were not aired inside the soaring cathedral. Instead, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, spoke in general terms about the need for “fraternity,” “justice” and “mercy.”
Caccia also lauded the Red Mass as a “powerful reminder that justice has to do with something sacred, and that those who practice its administration are at the service of something larger and greater than themselves.” At one point, he also cautioned, “Today, like at the time of Jesus, there is the risk to exploit justice instead of deliver it . . . if we do not place ourselves before God in this way, there is the risk to ‘use’ even God for our own ends instead of serving Him.”
In previous years, more justices have attended the Red Mass, which is named for the red vestments that are worn by clergy during the ceremony and that represent “the tongues of fire symbolizing the presence of the Holy Spirit,” according to the event’s program.
In 2018, for instance, Roberts attended, but so did Justices Breyer and Clarence Thomas. In 2010, then-Vice President Biden plus five justices showed up: Roberts, Alito, Thomas, Antonin Scalia — all of them Catholic — plus Breyer, who is Jewish.
After Sunday’s service, celebrants filed outside and chatted beneath the steps to the church entrance. The road had been blocked off to traffic. Bystanders stood outside taking photos, and protest signs were propped up on the sidewalk.
Jacob Thayer, 31, a federal government attorney from Alexandria, described himself as antiabortion and a supporter of the Second Amendment. He said he was not steeped yet in the details of the court’s upcoming cases but hoped that the justices’s eventual opinions “are rooted in law” and that they can “help bring us together.”
Chris Huff, a law student at Catholic University, said he believed abortion rights deserved a reexamination.
“Roe v. Wade is based on science from the 1970s,” he said. “We might have a better understanding of the science of personhood now.”
His girlfriend, Nicole Schaeffer, also a Catholic University law student, said as far as the abortion case goes, “I’m praying they make the right decision. But the chances of it being overturned are unlikely due to Roe being a precedent.”
Caccia also lauded the Red Mass as a “powerful reminder that justice has to do with something sacred, and that those who practice its administration are at the service of something larger and greater than themselves.” At one point, he also cautioned, “Today, like at the time of Jesus, there is the risk to exploit justice instead of deliver it . . . if we do not place ourselves before God in this way, there is the risk to ‘use’ even God for our own ends instead of serving Him.”
In previous years, more justices have attended the Red Mass, which is named for the red vestments that are worn by clergy during the ceremony and that represent “the tongues of fire symbolizing the presence of the Holy Spirit,” according to the event’s program.
In 2018, for instance, Roberts attended, but so did Justices Breyer and Clarence Thomas. In 2010, then-Vice President Biden plus five justices showed up: Roberts, Alito, Thomas, Antonin Scalia — all of them Catholic — plus Breyer, who is Jewish.
After Sunday’s service, celebrants filed outside and chatted beneath the steps to the church entrance. The road had been blocked off to traffic. Bystanders stood outside taking photos, and protest signs were propped up on the sidewalk.
Jacob Thayer, 31, a federal government attorney from Alexandria, described himself as antiabortion and a supporter of the Second Amendment. He said he was not steeped yet in the details of the court’s upcoming cases but hoped that the justices’s eventual opinions “are rooted in law” and that they can “help bring us together.”
Chris Huff, a law student at Catholic University, said he believed abortion rights deserved a reexamination.
“Roe v. Wade is based on science from the 1970s,” he said. “We might have a better understanding of the science of personhood now.”
His girlfriend, Nicole Schaeffer, also a Catholic University law student, said as far as the abortion case goes, “I’m praying they make the right decision. But the chances of it being overturned are unlikely due to Roe being a precedent.”
Mercy and fraternity are vital in administering justice, Red Mass homilist says
OCT 3, 2021 LOCAL
Cardinal Wilton Gregory served as principal celebrant of the Mass. Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States; Bishop Michael Burbidge, bishop of Arlington, Virginia; Bishop Paul Loverde, retired bishop of Arlington; Bishop Joseph Coffey, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA; Washington Auxiliary Bishops Roy E. Campbell Jr. and Mario Dorsonville; Msgr. W. Ronald Jameson, rector of St. Matthew’s Cathedral; Msgr. Peter Vaghi, chaplain to the John Carroll Society; and several priests concelebrated the Mass.
Traditionally the Mass is attended by Supreme Court justices, members of the president’s cabinet, members of Congress, members of the diplomatic corps, government officials and lawmakers, judges and lawyers and others involved in the administration of justice.
In opening remarks, Msgr. Vaghi noted that among those attending the Oct. 3 Mass were John G. Roberts Jr., Chief Justice of the United States; Denis McDonough, the U.S. Secretary for Veterans Affairs; John DeGioia, president of Georgetown University; John Garvey, president of The Catholic University of America; and deans and students from area law schools.
As per District of Columbia COVID-19 safety regulations, those in attendance at the Mass wore masks. They were also seated socially distanced throughout the cathedral. In addition, the liturgy was livestreamed via the Internet.
Referring to the Mass’s Gospel reading from St. Mark in which the Pharisees challenged Jesus with questions about the law of Moses, Archbishop Caccia said in his homily, “Justice was being used as a pretext to challenge and condemn — or, we could say, to do injustice.”
“Today, like at the time of Jesus, there is the risk to exploit justice instead of delivering it,” he said. He noted “there is a logos, a reason, a logic built into us and into all of reality that is at the basis of justice,” and warned that “if we do not place ourselves before God … there is the risk to ‘use’ even God for our own ends instead of serving Him.”
Archbishop Caccia said that Jesus sought to lead the Pharisees from “the hardness of their hearts” and instead “place themselves in the presence of God with an openness to understand what is God’s plan.”
“Those who receive God and draw near to Him, draw near to His justice,” the archbishop said. “Without this humble attitude, we risk repeating what the ancient Romans expressed … Even just laws, they asserted, can result in injustice when unaccompanied by a just heart.”
Noting that the annual Mass was being offered just one day before the first anniversary of the publication of Pope Francis’s encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” (“Brothers and Sisters All”), Archbishop Caccia encouraged lawmakers to “not only draw near as neighbor to those in need, but take responsibility for them as a brother or sister.”
In quoting the encyclical in which Pope Francis wrote, “Each day we have to decide whether to be Good Samaritans or indifferent bystanders,” Archbishop Caccia told those in the legal profession that “each day we determine whether or not we’re ashamed to treat others as brothers and sisters.”
Noting that everyone is on a “journey of truth and continual conversion,” Archbishop Caccia urged those at the Mass to remember that “every time we treat others as objects that we can ‘grasp’ and use for our own purposes, we lose them. If we, however, receive them as a gift, we can start a relationship that may last a lifetime.”
“This is the relationship that God envisages for us,” he said, “and we are called to embrace this revelation with gratitude and let it inform our whole life.”
Archbishop Caccia prayed that the Holy Spirit “will come down upon each of us and all those involved in carrying out the sacred responsibilities of justice, public service and diplomatic work,” and asked God “for the grace to grow in justice as His beloved sons and daughters.”
“As we behold Jesus, who was not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters, and draw near to Him not to test Him but to learn from Him, we implore divine assistance to become ever more just and fraternal in our relations with one another,” he said.
At native of Milan, Italy, Archbishop Caccia entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See 30 years ago. He has served at the Apostolic Nunciature in Tanzania, was previously the papal nuncio to Lebanon and the Philippines and was assessor for general affairs in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State. He was named a bishop by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.
“It is fitting to start the new judicial year with this request for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who gives us true wisdom and joy, and generously bestows his guidance on all those who turn to him with a pure intention,” Archbishop Caccia said.
He said the Red Mass “is a powerful reminder that justice has to do with something sacred and that those who practice its administration are at the service of something larger and greater than themselves.”
Also at the Mass, Cardinal Gregory thanked Archbishop Caccia for “the witness you offer in the name of the Holy Father.”
Just prior to the end of the Mass, the congregation sang “America the Beautiful.”
After the Mass, the John Carroll Society hosted a brunch and honored several lawyers and law firms for their pro bono support of the Catholic Charities Legal Network.
This year’s honorees were attorneys Joseph J. Kavanaugh, partner in the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, LLP; Timothy P. O’Brien, a principal in the law firm of Joseph Greenwald & Lake; Angela Kuan and Theresa M. Hyatte. Also honored was the law firm of Baker & Hosteler, LLP.
Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, gives his homily at the 69th annual Red Mass on Oct. 3, 2021 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C. The annual Mass that seeks God’s blessings and guidance on those involved in the administration of justice is sponsored by the John Carroll Society of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)
Those involved in the “sacred responsibilities of justice, public service and diplomatic work,” must administer justice in a spirit of mercy and fraternity, the Vatican’s permanent observer to the United Nations said Oct. 3, 2021 during the annual Red Mass celebrated at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
“Justice without fraternity is cold, blind and minimalistic. Justice infused by fraternity, on the other hand, never remains an abstract application of norms to situations; rather it is transformed into an attentive application of laws to persons we care about,” said Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, who has served as the Vatican’s permanent observer to the United Nations since November 2019.
“Fraternity is what makes it possible for justice to be perfected by mercy for all involved, since the restoration of justice is always ultimately the resolution of a ‘family dispute,’ considering we are all members of the same human family,” he said.
Archbishop Caccia served as homilist at the 69th annual Red Mass that was sponsored by the John Carroll Society, a group of lay men and women in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington from a variety of professions who participate in religious, intellectual, charitable and social activities.
The Red Mass is traditionally held on the Sunday before the first Monday in October, the day on which the U.S. Supreme Court reconvenes after its summer recess. The Mass is offered to invoke God’s blessings on those responsible for the administration of justice as well as on all public officials, and is a tradition that dates back many centuries to Rome, Paris, and London. The name comes from the color of the liturgical vestments worn by the celebrants and the color of fire, a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
“Justice without fraternity is cold, blind and minimalistic. Justice infused by fraternity, on the other hand, never remains an abstract application of norms to situations; rather it is transformed into an attentive application of laws to persons we care about,” said Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, who has served as the Vatican’s permanent observer to the United Nations since November 2019.
“Fraternity is what makes it possible for justice to be perfected by mercy for all involved, since the restoration of justice is always ultimately the resolution of a ‘family dispute,’ considering we are all members of the same human family,” he said.
Archbishop Caccia served as homilist at the 69th annual Red Mass that was sponsored by the John Carroll Society, a group of lay men and women in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington from a variety of professions who participate in religious, intellectual, charitable and social activities.
The Red Mass is traditionally held on the Sunday before the first Monday in October, the day on which the U.S. Supreme Court reconvenes after its summer recess. The Mass is offered to invoke God’s blessings on those responsible for the administration of justice as well as on all public officials, and is a tradition that dates back many centuries to Rome, Paris, and London. The name comes from the color of the liturgical vestments worn by the celebrants and the color of fire, a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, was the main celebrant of the 69th annual Red Mass on Oct. 3, 2021 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)
Cardinal Wilton Gregory served as principal celebrant of the Mass. Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States; Bishop Michael Burbidge, bishop of Arlington, Virginia; Bishop Paul Loverde, retired bishop of Arlington; Bishop Joseph Coffey, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA; Washington Auxiliary Bishops Roy E. Campbell Jr. and Mario Dorsonville; Msgr. W. Ronald Jameson, rector of St. Matthew’s Cathedral; Msgr. Peter Vaghi, chaplain to the John Carroll Society; and several priests concelebrated the Mass.
Traditionally the Mass is attended by Supreme Court justices, members of the president’s cabinet, members of Congress, members of the diplomatic corps, government officials and lawmakers, judges and lawyers and others involved in the administration of justice.
In opening remarks, Msgr. Vaghi noted that among those attending the Oct. 3 Mass were John G. Roberts Jr., Chief Justice of the United States; Denis McDonough, the U.S. Secretary for Veterans Affairs; John DeGioia, president of Georgetown University; John Garvey, president of The Catholic University of America; and deans and students from area law schools.
As per District of Columbia COVID-19 safety regulations, those in attendance at the Mass wore masks. They were also seated socially distanced throughout the cathedral. In addition, the liturgy was livestreamed via the Internet.
People pray during the annual Red Mass on Oct. 3, 2021 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C. The Mass is held on the Sunday before the U.S. Supreme Court begins its session on the first Monday of October. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)
Referring to the Mass’s Gospel reading from St. Mark in which the Pharisees challenged Jesus with questions about the law of Moses, Archbishop Caccia said in his homily, “Justice was being used as a pretext to challenge and condemn — or, we could say, to do injustice.”
“Today, like at the time of Jesus, there is the risk to exploit justice instead of delivering it,” he said. He noted “there is a logos, a reason, a logic built into us and into all of reality that is at the basis of justice,” and warned that “if we do not place ourselves before God … there is the risk to ‘use’ even God for our own ends instead of serving Him.”
Archbishop Caccia said that Jesus sought to lead the Pharisees from “the hardness of their hearts” and instead “place themselves in the presence of God with an openness to understand what is God’s plan.”
“Those who receive God and draw near to Him, draw near to His justice,” the archbishop said. “Without this humble attitude, we risk repeating what the ancient Romans expressed … Even just laws, they asserted, can result in injustice when unaccompanied by a just heart.”
Noting that the annual Mass was being offered just one day before the first anniversary of the publication of Pope Francis’s encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” (“Brothers and Sisters All”), Archbishop Caccia encouraged lawmakers to “not only draw near as neighbor to those in need, but take responsibility for them as a brother or sister.”
In quoting the encyclical in which Pope Francis wrote, “Each day we have to decide whether to be Good Samaritans or indifferent bystanders,” Archbishop Caccia told those in the legal profession that “each day we determine whether or not we’re ashamed to treat others as brothers and sisters.”
Noting that everyone is on a “journey of truth and continual conversion,” Archbishop Caccia urged those at the Mass to remember that “every time we treat others as objects that we can ‘grasp’ and use for our own purposes, we lose them. If we, however, receive them as a gift, we can start a relationship that may last a lifetime.”
“This is the relationship that God envisages for us,” he said, “and we are called to embrace this revelation with gratitude and let it inform our whole life.”
Archbishop Caccia prayed that the Holy Spirit “will come down upon each of us and all those involved in carrying out the sacred responsibilities of justice, public service and diplomatic work,” and asked God “for the grace to grow in justice as His beloved sons and daughters.”
“As we behold Jesus, who was not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters, and draw near to Him not to test Him but to learn from Him, we implore divine assistance to become ever more just and fraternal in our relations with one another,” he said.
People bring up the offertory gifts at the annual Red Mass on Oct. 3, 2021 at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)
At native of Milan, Italy, Archbishop Caccia entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See 30 years ago. He has served at the Apostolic Nunciature in Tanzania, was previously the papal nuncio to Lebanon and the Philippines and was assessor for general affairs in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State. He was named a bishop by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.
“It is fitting to start the new judicial year with this request for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who gives us true wisdom and joy, and generously bestows his guidance on all those who turn to him with a pure intention,” Archbishop Caccia said.
He said the Red Mass “is a powerful reminder that justice has to do with something sacred and that those who practice its administration are at the service of something larger and greater than themselves.”
At the opening of the Oct. 3, 2021 Red Mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, a Knights of Columbus color guard stood at the front of the church as the congregation sang the National Anthem. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)
At the beginning of the Mass, a Knights of Columbus color guard marched down the aisle carrying the U.S. and Vatican flags. After the presentation of the colors, the congregation sang the National Anthem. During the Mass, prayers were offered for those who serve the public in federal, state and local offices; for those suffering from COVID and other health challenges; and for peace in the world.
At the beginning of the Mass, a Knights of Columbus color guard marched down the aisle carrying the U.S. and Vatican flags. After the presentation of the colors, the congregation sang the National Anthem. During the Mass, prayers were offered for those who serve the public in federal, state and local offices; for those suffering from COVID and other health challenges; and for peace in the world.
Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory elevates the Eucharist during the Oct. 3 Red Mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral. At left is Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States who was one of the concelebrants at the annual Mass that seeks God’s blessings on those who work in the administration of justice. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)
Also at the Mass, Cardinal Gregory thanked Archbishop Caccia for “the witness you offer in the name of the Holy Father.”
Just prior to the end of the Mass, the congregation sang “America the Beautiful.”
After the Mass, the John Carroll Society hosted a brunch and honored several lawyers and law firms for their pro bono support of the Catholic Charities Legal Network.
This year’s honorees were attorneys Joseph J. Kavanaugh, partner in the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, LLP; Timothy P. O’Brien, a principal in the law firm of Joseph Greenwald & Lake; Angela Kuan and Theresa M. Hyatte. Also honored was the law firm of Baker & Hosteler, LLP.
Pandora Papers in Latin America: Three active heads of state and 11 former presidents operated in tax havens
PANDORA PAPERS
Pandora Papers in Latin America: Three active heads of state and 11 former presidents operated in tax havens
Chile’s Sebastián Piñera, Dominican Republic’s Luis Abinader and Ecuador’s Guillermo Lasso feature in the new data leak. Among the region’s former presidents are Colombia’s Gaviria and Pastrana. In Brazil, the investigation has turned up the names of both the economy minister and the governor of the central bank
SR. GARCÍA
JAN MARTÍNEZ AHRENSJAVIER LAFUENTE
Mexico - 03 OCT 2021-19:41 CEST
Three current and 11 retired presidents, 90 politicians in the upper echelons of power, entire religious congregations, world-famous artists, billionaires and even the governor of a central bank; in Latin America a constellation of influential figures has made use of tax havens over the years.
Despite inhabiting the region dogged by more inequality than anywhere else in the world, members of its elite have used a network of trusts, shell companies and opaque business records in places such as the British Virgin Islands and Panama to keep a substantial portion of their assets from public scrutiny.
It is a complex, obscure corporate web that the publication of the Pandora Papers will put under the spotlight. Obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the data leak is based on 11.9 million files containing the work of 14 offshore law firms. This body of information has been reviewed and analyzed by a team of 600 journalists, with the participation of EL PAÍS and other media giants such as The Washington Post, The Guardian and the BBC as well as numerous local media sites.
While the results of the investigation have a global impact, they are particularly earth-shattering in Latin America, where around $40 billion is diverted to tax havens each year. As will be published in the coming days by EL PAÍS and the other media participants, of the 35 presidents or former presidents that appear in the documents, 14 are from this region. Most are conservative. Among them are three active heads of state, who have all been wealthy businessmen: Chile’s Sebastián Piñera, Ecuador’s Guillermo Lasso and the Dominican Luis Abinader. Eleven former presidents also emerge, such as César Gaviria and Andrés Pastrana from Colombia, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski of Peru, Porfirio Lobo of Honduras, Horacio Cartes of Paraguay, and Juan Carlos Varela, Ricardo Martinelli and Ernesto Pérez Balladares, all of Panama.
Regarding the Chilean president, whose business dealings involved sectors such as airlines, banking and real estate, the investigation carried out by Chilean media outlets CIPER and LaBot has exposed a particularly controversial activity among his offshore operations – namely, the sale of the environmentally sensitive copper and iron mine, Minera Dominga, in the British Virgin Islands together with businessman Carlos Alberto Délano, one of his childhood friends.
In December 2010, when Piñera had been in the presidential residence, La Moneda Palace, for just nine months, the presidential family sold the business to Délano with a deed signed in Chile for $14 million and another in the Virgin Islands for $138 million. The amount was to be paid in three installments, with a caveat: the last payment was conditional on there not being environmental protection imposed on the mining operations area, as environmental groups were demanding.
The decision on the viability of Minera Dominga was left in the hands of the Piñera government, which failed to promote environmental protection, so the third installment was finally paid. Despite the lack of transparency, the manager of Piñera’s business affairs stated, when asked, that the president had not managed his own companies for 12 years; that he had been not informed of the process of Minera Dominga’s sale, and that the judicial investigation into the operation had been wound up.
Another president featured in the Pandora Papers is the Dominican Luis Abinader, whose successful business career was in the hotel sector. The documents link him to two companies in Panama, Littlecot Inc. and Padreso SA. Both were created before he took office and were used to manage assets in Dominican Republic. Local media outlet Noticias Sin’s investigation flags up the fact that the shares of these companies were initially “payable to the bearer,” an instrument used to hide the beneficial owner of the companies.
JAN MARTÍNEZ AHRENSJAVIER LAFUENTE
Mexico - 03 OCT 2021-19:41 CEST
Three current and 11 retired presidents, 90 politicians in the upper echelons of power, entire religious congregations, world-famous artists, billionaires and even the governor of a central bank; in Latin America a constellation of influential figures has made use of tax havens over the years.
Despite inhabiting the region dogged by more inequality than anywhere else in the world, members of its elite have used a network of trusts, shell companies and opaque business records in places such as the British Virgin Islands and Panama to keep a substantial portion of their assets from public scrutiny.
It is a complex, obscure corporate web that the publication of the Pandora Papers will put under the spotlight. Obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the data leak is based on 11.9 million files containing the work of 14 offshore law firms. This body of information has been reviewed and analyzed by a team of 600 journalists, with the participation of EL PAÍS and other media giants such as The Washington Post, The Guardian and the BBC as well as numerous local media sites.
While the results of the investigation have a global impact, they are particularly earth-shattering in Latin America, where around $40 billion is diverted to tax havens each year. As will be published in the coming days by EL PAÍS and the other media participants, of the 35 presidents or former presidents that appear in the documents, 14 are from this region. Most are conservative. Among them are three active heads of state, who have all been wealthy businessmen: Chile’s Sebastián Piñera, Ecuador’s Guillermo Lasso and the Dominican Luis Abinader. Eleven former presidents also emerge, such as César Gaviria and Andrés Pastrana from Colombia, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski of Peru, Porfirio Lobo of Honduras, Horacio Cartes of Paraguay, and Juan Carlos Varela, Ricardo Martinelli and Ernesto Pérez Balladares, all of Panama.
Regarding the Chilean president, whose business dealings involved sectors such as airlines, banking and real estate, the investigation carried out by Chilean media outlets CIPER and LaBot has exposed a particularly controversial activity among his offshore operations – namely, the sale of the environmentally sensitive copper and iron mine, Minera Dominga, in the British Virgin Islands together with businessman Carlos Alberto Délano, one of his childhood friends.
In December 2010, when Piñera had been in the presidential residence, La Moneda Palace, for just nine months, the presidential family sold the business to Délano with a deed signed in Chile for $14 million and another in the Virgin Islands for $138 million. The amount was to be paid in three installments, with a caveat: the last payment was conditional on there not being environmental protection imposed on the mining operations area, as environmental groups were demanding.
The decision on the viability of Minera Dominga was left in the hands of the Piñera government, which failed to promote environmental protection, so the third installment was finally paid. Despite the lack of transparency, the manager of Piñera’s business affairs stated, when asked, that the president had not managed his own companies for 12 years; that he had been not informed of the process of Minera Dominga’s sale, and that the judicial investigation into the operation had been wound up.
Another president featured in the Pandora Papers is the Dominican Luis Abinader, whose successful business career was in the hotel sector. The documents link him to two companies in Panama, Littlecot Inc. and Padreso SA. Both were created before he took office and were used to manage assets in Dominican Republic. Local media outlet Noticias Sin’s investigation flags up the fact that the shares of these companies were initially “payable to the bearer,” an instrument used to hide the beneficial owner of the companies.
The president of Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, in a file photo from December 16, 2020.GLADYS SERRANO
A legislative reform in 2018 obliged the Abinader family to publicly register as beneficial owners. Upon becoming president in 2020, Abinader declared nine offshore companies that he controlled through a trust. Both he and Piñera used the Panama-based law firm, OMC Group, the firm used by Colombian singer Shakira for at least three of the offshore companies the Spanish Treasury has been tracking for years.
The third active head of state who appears in the documents obtained by the ICIJ is Guillermo Lasso, a conservative millionaire and former banker who was voted president of Ecuador last year. According to the documents and the investigation carried out by local media site El Universo, Lasso ended up operating through 14 offshore companies, most of them in Panama, closing them only after former left-wing Ecuadorian premier Rafael Correa promoted a law banning candidates from being the beneficial owners of companies located in tax havens.
In his defense, Lasso claims that he opened these opaque companies because national legislation prevents bankers from investing in his country. He also claims that 10 of these companies are already inactive; he denies any relationship with or profit from the other four.
Lasso was a client of Trident Trust, one of the largest providers of offshore entities in the world. This Swiss company is known for its discretion regarding these types of solutions and appears again and again in the operations uncovered by the data leak, together with the law firm Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee (Alcogal), which has a host of clients in Latin America. Alcogal created the majority of the 78 companies used by the Venezuelans accused of hiding $2 billion from the state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), in accounts in Andorra. A significant number of the Chavista hierarchy are among the beneficiaries of this scheme, according to Armando.info’s investigation.
In Brazil, the Pandora Papers shed light on the activities of the two most powerful men in the country’s economic sector: the economy minister, Paulo Guedes, and the president of the central bank, Roberto Campos Neto. Neither disclosed their offshore activities to the public before assuming positions involving decisions on these types of investments. This possible conflict of interest is particularly pertinent in the case of the economy minister who has pushed through a tax reform to reduce the pressure on private money in tax havens.
Guedes, 72, is listed as a shareholder in Dreadnoughts International Group, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands. It is what is known in financial jargon as a shelf company: firms that are opened in tax havens but can remain inactive for years, waiting for someone to give them a purpose. The documents show that Guedes, who is economic guru to Brazil’s premier, Jair Bolsonaro, and one of the country’s most controversial figures due to his connections with the financial elite, had at least $8 million invested in the company in 2014, registered in his name, that of his wife, Maria Cristina Bolivar Drumond Guedes, and that of his daughter, Paula Drumond Guedes. In response to the investigation, Guedes sent a statement to Piauí magazine pointing out that these activities “were duly declared to the tax authorities and other competent bodies, including his participation in the company Dreadnoughts International Group.” The statement also says: “His actions always respected the relevant legislation and were guided by both ethics and responsibility.”
Meanwhile, the central bank president, Campos Neto, owns two companies, Cor Assets and ROCN Limited, both registered in Panama in partnership with his wife, lawyer Adriana Buccolo de Oliveira Campos. The stated purpose of the companies was to invest in financial assets from Santander Private Bank, as a member of its executive board. The other opaque companies are Peacock Asset, managed by Goldman Sachs, and which was discovered in the Bahama Leaks investigation in 2016; and Darling Group, a “real-estate management” company.
A legislative reform in 2018 obliged the Abinader family to publicly register as beneficial owners. Upon becoming president in 2020, Abinader declared nine offshore companies that he controlled through a trust. Both he and Piñera used the Panama-based law firm, OMC Group, the firm used by Colombian singer Shakira for at least three of the offshore companies the Spanish Treasury has been tracking for years.
The third active head of state who appears in the documents obtained by the ICIJ is Guillermo Lasso, a conservative millionaire and former banker who was voted president of Ecuador last year. According to the documents and the investigation carried out by local media site El Universo, Lasso ended up operating through 14 offshore companies, most of them in Panama, closing them only after former left-wing Ecuadorian premier Rafael Correa promoted a law banning candidates from being the beneficial owners of companies located in tax havens.
In his defense, Lasso claims that he opened these opaque companies because national legislation prevents bankers from investing in his country. He also claims that 10 of these companies are already inactive; he denies any relationship with or profit from the other four.
Lasso was a client of Trident Trust, one of the largest providers of offshore entities in the world. This Swiss company is known for its discretion regarding these types of solutions and appears again and again in the operations uncovered by the data leak, together with the law firm Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee (Alcogal), which has a host of clients in Latin America. Alcogal created the majority of the 78 companies used by the Venezuelans accused of hiding $2 billion from the state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), in accounts in Andorra. A significant number of the Chavista hierarchy are among the beneficiaries of this scheme, according to Armando.info’s investigation.
In Brazil, the Pandora Papers shed light on the activities of the two most powerful men in the country’s economic sector: the economy minister, Paulo Guedes, and the president of the central bank, Roberto Campos Neto. Neither disclosed their offshore activities to the public before assuming positions involving decisions on these types of investments. This possible conflict of interest is particularly pertinent in the case of the economy minister who has pushed through a tax reform to reduce the pressure on private money in tax havens.
Guedes, 72, is listed as a shareholder in Dreadnoughts International Group, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands. It is what is known in financial jargon as a shelf company: firms that are opened in tax havens but can remain inactive for years, waiting for someone to give them a purpose. The documents show that Guedes, who is economic guru to Brazil’s premier, Jair Bolsonaro, and one of the country’s most controversial figures due to his connections with the financial elite, had at least $8 million invested in the company in 2014, registered in his name, that of his wife, Maria Cristina Bolivar Drumond Guedes, and that of his daughter, Paula Drumond Guedes. In response to the investigation, Guedes sent a statement to Piauí magazine pointing out that these activities “were duly declared to the tax authorities and other competent bodies, including his participation in the company Dreadnoughts International Group.” The statement also says: “His actions always respected the relevant legislation and were guided by both ethics and responsibility.”
Meanwhile, the central bank president, Campos Neto, owns two companies, Cor Assets and ROCN Limited, both registered in Panama in partnership with his wife, lawyer Adriana Buccolo de Oliveira Campos. The stated purpose of the companies was to invest in financial assets from Santander Private Bank, as a member of its executive board. The other opaque companies are Peacock Asset, managed by Goldman Sachs, and which was discovered in the Bahama Leaks investigation in 2016; and Darling Group, a “real-estate management” company.
Roberto Campos Neto.UESLEI MARCELINO (REUTERS)
Like Guedes, the central bank president claims that he declared all his money abroad to the Presidency of the Republic’s Ethics Commission, as well as to the Brazilian tax authorities and to the central bank itself. He also insists that he has built his “assets with the income acquired from 22 years working in the financial sector.”
Colombia is another Latin American country where a lack of transparency in the financial dealings of the political elite has been particularly extensive. Among the public figures who appear in the leak are two former presidents: the liberal César Gaviria Trujillo, who was in office from 1990 to 1994, and the conservative Andrés Pastrana Arango, who governed between 1998 and 2002. Both men, who retain significant political influence, resorted to these obscure corporate vehicles once they had already left power.
In Argentina, the Pandora Papers shed light on the activities of Jaime Durán Barba, a political consultant who catapulted Mauricio Macri to the presidency in 2015; and Zulema Menem, daughter of former president Carlos Menem (1989-1999). Also flagged up for murky offshore dealings is the late Daniel Muñoz, secretary of former President Néstor Kirchner, as well as several key figures that feature in the lawsuit filed for the receipt of alleged illegal commissions paid by public works contractors to Peronist governments.
The results of the investigation in Mexico are significantly more far-reaching, with the documents implicating more than 3,000 people, including three of the richest business tycoons in the country: the mining magnate Germán Larrea, the heiress of the Modelo beer group, María Asunción Aramburuzabala, and Olegario Vázquez Aldir, whose group controls private hospitals, hotel chains, insurance companies and the media. Their combined fortunes amount to more than $30 billion. Julio Scherer Ibarra.VICTORIA VALTIERRA (CUARTOSCURO)
All three used tax havens to create corporate vehicles through which to operate internationally. Larrea went so far as to open nine companies in the British Virgin Islands between 2013 and 2016 through which he managed the acquisition of luxury real estate in the US, leaving scarcely a trace. Aramburuzabala bought million-dollar properties in Utah and New York as well as two private planes. And Vázquez Aldir and his entourage acquired yachts, a plane and at least two mansions through eight shell companies. Neither Larrea nor Aramburuzabala have responded to questions from journalists working on the investigation while, speaking through a lawyer, Vázquez maintains that he complies with all tax and legal obligations both in Mexico and abroad.
A political figure in Mexico whose activities have featured big in the investigation is Julio Scherer Ibarra, who was legal advisor to president Andrés Manuel López Obrador up until a month ago. In 2017, he was listed as the sole owner of a firm based in the British Virgin Islands with assets valued at $2 million from his work as a private lawyer. The firm owned a company in the US that had a luxury apartment in an exclusive area of Miami. The business in the Virgin Islands became inactive in 2019, 11 months after Scherer joined the Mexican government, but the company in the US still owns the Miami apartment. Asked about these activities, the former presidential advisor has pointed out that on the dates he made the investments he was not a public official but an independent professional.
The Pandora Papers also show how there was a proliferation of people close to certain centers of Mexican power making intensive use of offshore financial services. This was the case in circles close to former president Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018) and also with large suppliers linked to the Mexican public oil company Pemex, an energy giant that is currently in debt to the tune of almost $114 billion.
EL PAÍS reporters Georgina Zerega, Elías Camhaji, Zorayda Gallegos, Eliezer Budasoff, Federico Rivas, Carla Jiménez and Inés Santaeulalia contributed to the reporting for this article.
The Pandora Papers investigations in Latin America counted on reporting from journalists at the following media outlets: La Nación, elDiarioAR, Infobae, El Deber, Agência Pública, Metrópoles, Poder360, Revista Piauí, Ciper, LaBot, CLIP, El Espectador/CONNECTAS, Costa Rica Noticias, Proyecto Inventario, Noticias Sin, El Universo, El Faro, Plaza Pública, Contracorriente, Proceso, Quinto Elemento Lab, Univision, Confidencial, Grupo ABC Color, Convoca, IDL-Reporteros, Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, Armando.info.
Like Guedes, the central bank president claims that he declared all his money abroad to the Presidency of the Republic’s Ethics Commission, as well as to the Brazilian tax authorities and to the central bank itself. He also insists that he has built his “assets with the income acquired from 22 years working in the financial sector.”
Colombia is another Latin American country where a lack of transparency in the financial dealings of the political elite has been particularly extensive. Among the public figures who appear in the leak are two former presidents: the liberal César Gaviria Trujillo, who was in office from 1990 to 1994, and the conservative Andrés Pastrana Arango, who governed between 1998 and 2002. Both men, who retain significant political influence, resorted to these obscure corporate vehicles once they had already left power.
In Argentina, the Pandora Papers shed light on the activities of Jaime Durán Barba, a political consultant who catapulted Mauricio Macri to the presidency in 2015; and Zulema Menem, daughter of former president Carlos Menem (1989-1999). Also flagged up for murky offshore dealings is the late Daniel Muñoz, secretary of former President Néstor Kirchner, as well as several key figures that feature in the lawsuit filed for the receipt of alleged illegal commissions paid by public works contractors to Peronist governments.
The results of the investigation in Mexico are significantly more far-reaching, with the documents implicating more than 3,000 people, including three of the richest business tycoons in the country: the mining magnate Germán Larrea, the heiress of the Modelo beer group, María Asunción Aramburuzabala, and Olegario Vázquez Aldir, whose group controls private hospitals, hotel chains, insurance companies and the media. Their combined fortunes amount to more than $30 billion. Julio Scherer Ibarra.VICTORIA VALTIERRA (CUARTOSCURO)
All three used tax havens to create corporate vehicles through which to operate internationally. Larrea went so far as to open nine companies in the British Virgin Islands between 2013 and 2016 through which he managed the acquisition of luxury real estate in the US, leaving scarcely a trace. Aramburuzabala bought million-dollar properties in Utah and New York as well as two private planes. And Vázquez Aldir and his entourage acquired yachts, a plane and at least two mansions through eight shell companies. Neither Larrea nor Aramburuzabala have responded to questions from journalists working on the investigation while, speaking through a lawyer, Vázquez maintains that he complies with all tax and legal obligations both in Mexico and abroad.
A political figure in Mexico whose activities have featured big in the investigation is Julio Scherer Ibarra, who was legal advisor to president Andrés Manuel López Obrador up until a month ago. In 2017, he was listed as the sole owner of a firm based in the British Virgin Islands with assets valued at $2 million from his work as a private lawyer. The firm owned a company in the US that had a luxury apartment in an exclusive area of Miami. The business in the Virgin Islands became inactive in 2019, 11 months after Scherer joined the Mexican government, but the company in the US still owns the Miami apartment. Asked about these activities, the former presidential advisor has pointed out that on the dates he made the investments he was not a public official but an independent professional.
The Pandora Papers also show how there was a proliferation of people close to certain centers of Mexican power making intensive use of offshore financial services. This was the case in circles close to former president Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018) and also with large suppliers linked to the Mexican public oil company Pemex, an energy giant that is currently in debt to the tune of almost $114 billion.
EL PAÍS reporters Georgina Zerega, Elías Camhaji, Zorayda Gallegos, Eliezer Budasoff, Federico Rivas, Carla Jiménez and Inés Santaeulalia contributed to the reporting for this article.
The Pandora Papers investigations in Latin America counted on reporting from journalists at the following media outlets: La Nación, elDiarioAR, Infobae, El Deber, Agência Pública, Metrópoles, Poder360, Revista Piauí, Ciper, LaBot, CLIP, El Espectador/CONNECTAS, Costa Rica Noticias, Proyecto Inventario, Noticias Sin, El Universo, El Faro, Plaza Pública, Contracorriente, Proceso, Quinto Elemento Lab, Univision, Confidencial, Grupo ABC Color, Convoca, IDL-Reporteros, Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, Armando.info.
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