U.S. Is Poised to Put Heavy Weaponry in Eastern Europe

Stryker vehicles from the Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment took part in a military exercise in Riga, Latvia.

OKSANA DZADAN / ASSOCIATED PRESS

By ERIC SCHMITT and STEVEN LEE MYERS
JUNE 13, 2015


RIGA, Latvia — In a significant move to deter possible Russian aggression in Europe, the Pentagon is poised to store battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy weapons for as many as 5,000 American troops in several Baltic and Eastern European countries, American and allied officials say.

The proposal, if approved, would represent the first time since the end of the Cold War that the United States has stationed heavy military equipment in the newerNATO member nations in Eastern Europe that had once been part of the Soviet sphere of influence. Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine have caused alarm and prompted new military planning in NATO capitals.

It would be the most prominent of a series of moves the United States and NATO have taken to bolster forces in the region and send a clear message of resolve to allies and to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, that the United States would defend the alliance’s members closest to the Russian frontier.

After the expansion of NATO to include the Baltic nations in 2004, the United States and its allies avoided the permanent stationing of equipment or troops in the east as they sought varying forms of partnership with Russia.

United States Army soldiers met with residents in Bialystok, Poland.
ARTUR RESZKO / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

“This is a very meaningful shift in policy,” said James G. Stavridis, a retired admiral and the former supreme allied commander of NATO, who is now dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. “It provides a reasonable level of reassurance to jittery allies, although nothing is as good as troops stationed full-time on the ground, of course.”


The amount of equipment included in the planning is small compared with what Russia could bring to bear against the NATO nations on or near its borders, but it would serve as a credible sign of American commitment, acting as a deterrent the way that the Berlin Brigade did after the Berlin Wall crisis in 1961.

“It’s like taking NATO back to the future,” said Julianne Smith, a former defense and White House official who is now a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a vice president at the consulting firm Beacon Global Strategies.

The “prepositioned” stocks — to be stored on allied bases and enough to equip a brigade of 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers — also would be similar to what the United States maintained in Kuwait for more than a decade after Iraq invaded it in 1990 and was expelled by American and allied forces early the next year.

The Pentagon’s proposal still requires approval by Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and the White House. And political hurdles remain, as the significance of the potential step has stirred concern among some NATO allies about Russia’s reaction to a buildup of equipment.

“The U.S. military continues to review the best location to store these materials in consultation with our allies,” said Col. Steven H. Warren, a Pentagon spokesman. “At this time, we have made no decision about if or when to move to this equipment.”

Senior officials briefed on the proposals, who described the internal military planning on the condition of anonymity, said that they expected approval to come before the NATO defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels this month.

The current proposal falls short of permanently assigning United States troops to the Baltics — something that senior officials of those countries recently requested in a letter to NATO. Even so, officials in those countries say they welcome the proposal to ship at least the equipment forward.

“We need the prepositioned equipment because if something happens, we’ll need additional armaments, equipment and ammunition,” Raimonds Vejonis, Latvia’s minister of defense, said in an interview at his office here last week.

“If something happens, we can’t wait days or weeks for more equipment,” said Mr. Vejonis, who will become Latvia’s president in July. “We need to react immediately.”

Mark Galeotti, a professor at New York University who has written extensively on Russia’s military and security services, noted, “Tanks on the ground, even if they haven’t people in them, make for a significant marker.”

As the proposal stands now, a company’s worth of equipment — enough for about 150 soldiers — would be stored in each of the three Baltic nations: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Enough for a company or possibly a battalion — about 750 soldiers — would be located in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and possibly Hungary, they said.

American military specialists have conducted site surveys in the countries under consideration, and the Pentagon is working on estimates about the costs to upgrade railways, build new warehouses and equipment-cleaning facilities, and to replace other Soviet-era facilities to accommodate the heavy American weaponry. The weapons warehouses would be guarded by local or security contractors, and not by American military personnel, officials said.

Positioning the equipment forward saves the United States Army time, money and resources, and avoids having to ship the equipment back and forth to the United States each time an Army unit travels to Europe to train. A full brigade’s worth of equipment — formally called the European Activity Set — would include about 1,200 vehicles, including some 250 M1-A2 tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, and armored howitzers, according to a senior military official.

The Army previously said after the invasion of Crimea last year that it would expand the amount of equipment it stored at the Grafenwöhr training range in southeastern Germany and at other sites to a brigade from a battalion. An interim step would be prepositioning the additional weapons and vehicles in Germany ahead of decisions to move them farther east.

Army units — currently a battalion from the Third Infantry Division — now fly into the range on regular rotations, using the same equipment left in place. They train with the equipment there or take it to exercises elsewhere in Europe.

That, along with stepped-up air patrolling and training exercises on NATO’s eastern flank, was among the initial measures approved by NATO’s leaders at their summit meeting in Wales last year. The Pentagon’s proposal reflects a realization that the tensions with Russia are unlikely to diminish soon.

“We have to transition from what was a series of temporary decisions made last year,” said Heather A. Conley, director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

The idea of moving prepositioned weapons and materials to the Baltics and Eastern Europe has been discussed before, but never carried out because it would be viewed by the Kremlin as a violation of the spirit of the 1997 agreement between NATO and Russia that laid the foundation for cooperation.

In that agreement, NATO pledged that, “in the current and foreseeable security environment,” it would not seek “additional permanent stationing of substantial ground combat forces” in the nations closer to Russia.

The agreement also says that “NATO and Russia do not consider each other as adversaries.” Many in the alliance argue that Russia’s increasingly aggressive actions around NATO’s borders have made that pact effectively moot.

The Pentagon’s proposal has gained new support because of fears among the eastern NATO allies that they could face a Russian threat.

“This is essentially about politics,” Professor Galeotti said. “This is about telling Russia that you’re getting closer to a real red line.”

In an interview before a visit to Italy this week, Mr. Putin dismissed fears of any Russian attack on NATO.

“I think that only an insane person and only in a dream can imagine that Russia would suddenly attack NATO,” he told the newspaper Corriere Della Sera. “I think some countries are simply taking advantage of people’s fears with regard to Russia.”


Eric Schmitt reported from Riga, Latvia, and Vilnius, Lithuania, and Steven Lee Myers from Washington.


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Armed Conflict in the Last Days

June 15

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. Jeremiah 25:32.

Soon grievous troubles will rise among the nations—trouble that will not cease until Jesus comes. As never before we need to press together, serving Him who has prepared His throne in the heavens and whose kingdom ruleth over all. God has not forsaken His people, and our strength lies in not forsaking Him.

The judgments of God are in the land. The wars and rumors of wars, the destruction by fire and flood, say clearly that the time of trouble, which is to increase until the end, is very near at hand. We have no time to lose. The world is stirred with the spirit of war. The prophecies of the eleventh of Daniel have almost reached their final fulfillment.

Soon strife among the nations will break out with an intensity that we do not now anticipate. The present is a time of overwhelming interest to all living. Rulers and statesmen, men who occupy positions of trust and authority, thinking men and women of all classes, have their attention fixed upon the events taking place about us. They are watching the strained, restless relations that exist among the nations. They observe the intensity that is taking possession of every earthly element, and they realize that something great and decisive is about to take place, that the world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis.

A moment of respite has been graciously given us of God. Every power lent us of Heaven is now to be used in working for those perishing in ignorance. There must be no delay. The truth must be proclaimed in the dark places of the earth.... A great work is to be done, and to those who know the truth for this time, this work has been entrusted.

In the last scenes of this earth’s history, war will rage. There will be pestilence, plague, and famine. The waters of the deep will overflow their boundaries. Property and life will be destroyed by fire and flood. We should be preparing for the mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for them that love Him. There is a rest from earth’s conflict.

Maranatha, p.174

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World Refugee Day: push forward, not back

June 15, 2015




Boats in the Andaman Sea wandering off the coast of Thailand carrying Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi migrants from Myanmar. Estimations had eight thousand people stranded at sea. (Thapanee Letsrichai)



(Rome) June 15, 2015 — For World Refugee Day this weekend, Jesuit Refugee Service urges you to remember that the key to change is within each of us. While governments decide to accept or reject refugees, only we have the power to truly welcome them. We must change our fixed view of refugees as 'the other.'

Refugees around the world are being pushed back and pushed out. Australia is pushing refugees from Nauru to Cambodia. Colombians are being kicked out of Venezuela. Kenya has threatened to expel nearly half a million Somali and other refugees. Boats with Rohingya asylum seekers are turned away again and again by countries in Asia Pacific, left stranded at sea. Thousands of people are drowning attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from the Middle East and North Africa.

Even where refugees are not literally expelled, they are often shunned, mistreated or jailed. Their very presence is criminalised and they are often excluded from their host communities. In South Africa, foreigners are facing violence and riots, forcing them to flee their homes. In Europe, refugees are forced to rely on the informal labour and housing markets. In the United States, refugees fleeing widespread violence in Central America are held in detention.

The key to change need not always be a top-down approach. German and Swedish policy makers have exemplified that leaders can encourage this shift in our societal perception, but we must start with our own individual perceptions. Refugees are the 'we,' the 'us,' as opposed to 'they' or 'them.' Let’s not just save lives; let's save dignity.

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Two Catholic U.S. bishops resign in child sex abuse scandal

By Isla Binnie


VATICAN CITY | Mon Jun 15, 2015 12:11pm EDT


By Isla Binnie


VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Monday accepted the resignation of two U.S. bishops 10 days after a local prosecutor filed criminal charges against their diocese for failing to protect children from a sexually abusive priest.

Archbishop John Nienstedt of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and one of his deputies, auxiliary Bishop Lee Piche, resigned over their links to Curtis Wehmeyer.

Wehmeyer, who has been dismissed from the priesthood, is serving a five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2012 to criminal sexual conduct with two minors and possessing child pornography.

The pontiff accepted the resignations the week after approving an unprecedented Vatican tribunal intended to judge bishops for covering up or failing to report sexual abuse, which has caused worldwide scandal for more than a decade.

Minnesota prosecutor John Choi brought the charges against the archdiocese on June 5. Hundreds of civil cases have already been filed against it for allegedly failing to supervise priests or ignoring sexual abuse by the clergy.

Anne Barrett Doyle of BishopAccountability.org, an independent group that helps tackle the issue in the Catholic Church, said the resignations were "disgracefully overdue".

"Today's news from Minnesota is a sobering reminder that the real source of accountability in the Catholic abuse crisis continues to reside outside the church," Doyle said.

"Nienstedt and Piche would still be in power if not for (Choi's) recent indictment of the archdiocese."

Nienstedt said in a statement he was leaving because his leadership had "drawn attention away from the good works (of the Church)."

"I leave with a clear conscience knowing that my team and I have put in place solid protocols to ensure the protection of minors and vulnerable adults," he said.

Piche said people of the archdiocese needed healing and hope. "I was getting in the way of that and so I had to resign," he said in a statement.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), called for a detailed investigation of the alleged cover-up.

"There were dozens of Church staff who could and should have stopped many of these abusers' crimes by simply calling 911. But they protected themselves and their jobs by staying silent. They too should be ousted by the Vatican," SNAP said.

Choi described "a disturbing institutional and systemic pattern of behaviour" stretching back decades at the highest level of leadership in the archdiocese, which has 187 parishes and 90 schools.

Victims told investigators that Wehmeyer gave them beer and marijuana or cigarettes, showed them pornographic images and touched their genitals in a camper parked on parish grounds or while camping, according to the complaint.

He is also awaiting trial on charges of assaulting a third child.

The archdiocese was charged with three misdemeanour counts of contributing to the need for protection or services for the minors who were the victims of sexual abuse and three misdemeanour counts of contributing to the minors' delinquency or status as juvenile petty offenders. The archdiocese also faces a related civil complaint.

Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Bernard Anthony Hebda of Newark as apostolic administrator to run the archdiocese until a new archbishop is appointed.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales and Isla Binnie, Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Bishop John Nienstedt in Dallas, Texas, in this file photo taken June, 13, 2002.
REUTERS/RICK WILKING/FILES

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Protecting the Whole of Creation (Encyclical)

«PROTECTING THE WHOLE OF CREATION». A service that the Bishop of Rome is called to carry out

Pope Francis' Encyclical on ecology will be published soon. With its publication, the Church's Magisterium takes the environmental issue to the heart of its social doctrine. The Editorial summarizes the ecological path which the Popes have indicated in the last 50 years until today. In fact, at the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis said that «to guard the entire Creation» is «a service which the Bishop of Rome is called to do». Pope Francis has always strived for the harmony between all living beings: he has an anthropological, but not anthropocentric view. His commitment leads us towards an ecological spirituality which is a spiritual and sacramental life that is not alienated from the fact that we inhabit the created world as our «home».
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Feasting or Fasting?

FEASTING OR FASTING?

June 10, 2015 Lee Folkman


On Oct. 22, 1844, Jesus Christ, our High Priest, entered once into the Most Holy Place of the Heavenly Sanctuary. Then began the process of cleansing of the sanctuary, of which every tenth day of every seventh month of every year was a type. The day of atonement was a day of solemnity when all in the camp of Israel were to “afflict [their] souls and do no work at all,” (King James Version, Leviticus 16:29), neither an Israelite nor a sojourner. “For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD” (vs. 30). It was a day when all who were not found afflicting their souls on that day would be separated, or cut off, from among God’s people. This day was also known as “the fast” (Acts 27:9) because it was a day of fasting and prayer in connection with the work of the high priest.

During the last few decades, a movement to promote the moral obligation to keep the feast days recorded in Leviticus has been making inroads among reform-minded Seventh-day Adventists. Why so much emphasis on the feasts in the great antitypical day of the fast? Is this new light that needs to be proclaimed before Jesus can return? Or is it a scheme of the enemy of souls to divert sincere followers of Jesus Christ from the true latter rain message? 

HOW SHALL WE KNOW?

When studying either the Scriptures or the Spirit of Prophecy, it is important to allow plain statements to guide our understanding of more difficult passages. Regarding her own writings, Ellen White wrote:

“The testimonies themselves will be the key that will explain the messages given, as scripture is explained by scripture” (1 Selected Messages, 42).

“...the key to the testimonies is the testimonies themselves... (15 Manuscript Releases, 295).

A key is a simple instrument used to unlock a complicated mechanism. In like manner, simple statements, in context, help us to understand or unlock more difficult passages. When one utilizes complex reasoning to explain a simple passage of scripture or testimony, one is missing the key. Here are some simple passages that help us to understand the feast day question.

THE TWO-FOLD SYSTEM OF LAW

Most Adventists agree that the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy present a two-fold system of law: the ceremonial and the moral. What makes up the ceremonial and the moral laws? Consider the following passages from Ellen White:

“There are two distinct laws brought to view. One is the law of types and shadows, which reached to the time of Christ, and ceased when type met antitype in his death. The other is the law of Jehovah, and is as abiding and changeless as his eternal throne. After the crucifixion, it was a denial of Christ for the Jews to continue to offer the burnt offerings and sacrifices which were typical of his death. It was saying to the world that they looked for a Redeemer to come, and had no faith in Him who had given his life for the sins of the world. Hence the ceremonial law ceased to be of force at the death of Christ” (Signs of the Times, July 29, 1886), emphasis mine.

“While the death of Christ, as we have seen, brought the law of types and shadows, or the ceremonial law, to an end, it did not in the least detract from the dignity of the moral law, or make it void. On the contrary, the very fact that Christ died to satisfy the claims of that law, shows the immutability of its character” (Signs of the Times, July 15, 1880).

“The moral law was never a type or a shadow...” (Review and Herald, April 22, 1902)

These passages, and others like them, clearly point out the difference between the two systems of law. A law that is a type or shadow would fall under the ceremonial law, while the moral law was never a type or shadow, but existed from eternity. One is typical; the other is eternal.

FEASTS – MORAL OR CEREMONIAL?

Because the ceremonial law came to an end by the death of Christ, while the moral continues to this day, any moral obligations we have to God are solely those that fall under the moral law. Under which law do the feast days fall?

“The Passover was to be both commemorative and typical, not only pointing back to the deliverance from Egypt, but forward to the greater deliverance which Christ was to accomplish in freeing His people from the bondage of sin. The sacrificial lamb represents ‘the Lamb of God,’ in whom is our only hope of salvation. Says the apostle, ‘Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.’ 1 Corinthians 5:7...” (Patriarchs and Prophets, 277).

“The Feast of Tabernacles was not only commemorative but typical. It not only pointed back to the wilderness sojourn, but, as the feast of harvest, it celebrated the ingathering of the fruits of the earth, and pointed forward to the great day of final ingathering, when the Lord of the harvest shall send forth His reapers to gather the tares together in bundles for the fire, and to gather the wheat into His garner...” (Ibid, 541).

Paul said, “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). The sheaf of first-fruits, which at the time of the Passover was waved before the Lord, was typical of the resurrection of Christ.

“Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (1 Corinthians 15:23). Like the wave-sheaf, which was the first ripe grain gathered before the harvest, Christ is the first-fruits of the harvest of redeemed ones when He returns.

Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection, explained in the OT types were fulfilled, not only as to the event, but also as to the time.

“In like manner, the types which relate to the second advent must be fulfilled at the time pointed out in the symbolic service. Under the Mosaic system, the cleansing of the sanctuary, or the great Day of Atonement, occurred on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month, [Leviticus 16:29-34.] when the high priest, having made an atonement for all Israel, and thus removed their sins from the sanctuary, came forth and blessed the people. So it was believed that Christ, our great High Priest, would appear to purify the earth by the destruction of sin and sinners, and to bless his waiting people with immortality...” (The Great Controversy, 398, 399).

Just as it is clear that there are two systems of law, it is also clear that the feast days fall under the ceremonial law. The moral law, existing from creation, was never a type or shadow. The feasts, on the other hand, were commemorative of events relating to the Hebrew nation and fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Both the ceremonies and the appointed times were typical of the life, death, and high priestly ministry of Jesus. This places the feast days under that law which the death of Christ abolished. This is why the apostle Paul plainly stated,

“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbaths: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17).

Indeed, they “are a shadow of things to come.” They taught and continue to teach us the work of Jesus Christ in the heavenly temple, that temple made without hands, which the Lord built and not man. This our pioneers, including the messenger of the Lord, clearly understood, as evidenced by the following quote from Ellen White:

“One day as Elder Corliss stepped out of a train, the guard [conductor] stopped him with the request that he explain Colossians 2:16. They stopped, and as the crowd rushed by, the explanation was given, and from Leviticus 23:37, 38 it was shown that there were sabbaths besides the Sabbath of the Lord…” (Review and Herald, January 7, 1896)

The explanation given is that these sabbaths are shadows and are not the Sabbath of the Lord. It is only recently that a movement has arisen which seeks to complicate that which the Lord had already made plain.

So, are we feasting or fasting? Do we teach the observance of the shadows that pointed forward to the reality, or do we accept the fact that the reality has come in the person of Jesus Christ? Even now He stands in this great antitypical day of fasting, performing a work that will prepare His people to stand before a holy God without an intercessor and to be translated without seeing death. Afflict your souls, dear brothers and sisters, and prepare to meet your God.

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Stephen Bohr - A Retirement Explanation

secretsunsealed

Published on Jun 5, 2015

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Pope's Top Priority Heal Wound Through Ecumenism

Pope's Top Priority Heal Wound Through Ecumenism, Sun Worship, and Mingling with Miry Clay

ProphesyAgainTV

Published on Jun 7, 2015


Study Guide: http://prophesyagain.org/wp-content/u... 

“We have come to a time when God's sacred work is represented by the feet of the image in which the iron was mixed with the miry clay...If the government would honor the Sabbath as God has commanded, it would stand in the strength of God and in defense of the faith once delivered to the saints. But statesmen will uphold the spurious Sabbath, and will mingle their religious faith with the observance of this child of the Papacy, placing it above the Sabbath which the Lord has sanctified and blessed, setting it apart for man to keep holy, as a sign between Him and His people to a thousand generations. The mingling of church craft and state craft is represented by the iron and the clay. This union is weakening all the power of the churches. This investing the church with the power of the state will bring evil results. Men have almost passed the point of God's forbearance. They have invested their strength in politics, and have united with the papacy. But the time will come when God will punish those who have made void His law, and their evil work will recoil upon themselves.” {1MR 51.1}

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Agents of Satan In Professed Adventism

Evangelism # 47 Agents of Satan In Professed Adventism

HISVineFreeSDAChurch

Published on Jun 7, 2015


Reaching To The World With God's Way To Eden Restored — #47 — Agents of Satan In Professed Adventism — By Pastor Charles Mills — Port St Lucie FL At HIS Vine Free Seventh-day Adventist Church

Living a Life of Profession without True Conversion brings us into the pathway that Satan may use us as his agents.

It is our Prayer that all who want to hear Present Truth will watch our sermons here online. We post presently every week here on our Church Pastor's YouTube Channel the Sabbath Worship Service.

HIS Vine Free Seventh-day Adventist Church is preaching the Historic Message given by God to His people to proclaim to the world for a witness.

We are a Self-Supporting Seventh-day Adventist Church as a member of the International Association of Free Seventh-day Adventists.

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Christian World Communions: Five Overviews of Global Christianity, AD 1800–2025

This 8-page report is the twenty-fifth in an annual series in the IBMR. This year we set out a 5-fold panorama of descriptors of the relatively unknown Conference of Christian World Communions (CCWC)—historical, documentary, photographic, confessional, and statistical.

A Christian World Communion (CWC) is defined here as an ongoing body uniting only churches and denominations with one similar ecclesiastical tradition or characteristic (Adventist, Anglican, Baptist, Disciples, Eastern Orthodox, Evangelical, Lutheran, Methodist, Old Catholics, Oriental Orthodox, Pentecostal, Reformed, Roman Catholic, Salvationist, etc.) though recognizing the existence and legitimacy of all the others.

Persons invited to the annual conference are few enough to allow everyone to get to know the others in the short three days. Those invited are heads of Communions¬—patriarchs, presidents, popes, archbishops, bishops, chairmen—with each bringing no more than one or two colleagues. No press are invited, nor observers. There is no centralized budget. Subjects discussed can be seen in the notes in Global Table 1's right-hand column. Average attendance in the early days was 15, rising gradually to 35 today (see Global Table 1 column T).

This first page draws attention to noteworthy aspects of the five tables that follow.

Global Table 1: Historical Overview

CCWC leadership has always insisted on a 3-day conference every October as top priority. This first global table reveals the success of this policy. The first Communion in this sense was the Lambeth Conference (1873), attended by 76 bishops, followed closely by 5 other Communions. By 1957 the movement was strong enough for the 7 major CWCs to hold their inaugural CCWC (see top photo in Global Table 3). Each year's activities and personages are described using the 26 letters A to Z as codes. This permits us to compress a large amount of data about each conference on its own line.

Landmark personages in this history of development are W. A. Visser 't Hooft, E. Perret, H. Meyer, B. B. Beach, J. Hale, P. Duprey, L. Vischer, John Paul II, D. Lotz, J. Peterson, J. Graz, A. D. Falconer, and S. Nyomi.

Global Table 2: Documentary Overview

Two streams of documents are relevant here. First, the CCWC has commissioned 97 research papers from 1957 as listed here in this table. A minority have been published, but most remain unpublished.

The second stream consists exclusively of published International Bilateral Dialogues (IBDs). These are agreements between any 2 worldwide CWCs who agree to sit down for a period of at least several months to discuss each other's difficult doctrines or central dogmas and to seek mutual answers and explanations. When each party feels satisfied, a joint statement of agreement is compiled and then jointly published. As Global Table 5 Line 48 indicates, by 2009 there exist at present 290 published IBDs, with 8 new ones currently under way.

In our accounting process in Global Table 1, category D enumerates only the first stream above, but category S includes the IBD summaries in Growth in Agreement I (1984), II (2000), and III (2007). Total IBDs = 300 by AD 2010. This means that the total professional documents generated by the CCWC has now passed 850—a formidable amount of scholarship and planning.

Global Table 3: Photographic Overview

Photos taken at each year's CCWC convey the humor, excitement, learning, and fellowship experienced, as well as the determination of all present to strive for the fulfillment of Christ's keyword: "so that they all may be one." The 1957 2nd meeting (top) identifies all 14 of those present by name and Communion. Note the large number of research reports as Visser 't Hooft finishes his opening paper. In 1986 Pope John Paul II (right) addresses the other 20 CWCs, drawing attention to the value of personal friendship. And on the last day of the 20th century, CCWC delegates (bottom) met in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, representing 91 percent of global Christianity, conversing in an estimated 3,000 different languages.

Global Table 4: Confessional Overview

The CCWC has 23 committed regular attending Communions. Some 50 additional CWCs are in full sympathy but have not been invited. Another 100 have friendly links to existing CCWC members. Lastly, some 110 may be described as opposed to ecumenism or conciliarism in general.

Global Table 5: Statistical Overview

This final table presents a statistical overview of the entire world's 2.2 billion Christians and their activities, encompassing 2 alternative parallel but different groupings: first, the (a) Global Christian Forum (GCF), which is bringing together all Christians of every variety. So far the Forum has held conferences together at the global level (Nairobi 2007, New Delhi 2008) and increasingly at regional levels. There has been remarkable success in the determination to invite as speakers church leaders who hitherto have avoided each other. Second, the ministry of (b) the Conference of Christian World Communions (CCWC) over its 50 years has developed such cooperation to a fine art.

These two global enterprises are now discovering powerful ways of working together in 80 varieties of ministry under 10 main global ministries or concepts or keywords in widespread or current use (background, presence, mission, common witness, baptism, unity, renewal, communications, evangelism, evangelization), for the period AD 1800–AD 2025.

In the light of history's 20 centuries of Christian disagreements, misunderstandings, rivalries, and even excommunications and outright warfare, the recent global developments sketched in this report are clearly of immense significance. {26}


This report, which is also available as a separate offprint, was prepared by David B. Barrett, a contributing editor, Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing, who publish widely in the field of missiometrics. Most subjects mentioned in this report are expanded in detail in their World Christian Encyclopedia (1982, 2001) andWorld Christian Trends (2001), and are updated in http://worldchristiandatabase.org. Detailed footnotes for Global Table 5 can be found atwww.globalchristianity.org/ibmrnote.php.

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'Real peace can never be secured by compromising principle'

Continuing His instruction to His disciples, Jesus said, “Beware of men.” They were not to put implicit confidence in those who knew not God, and open to them their counsels; for this would give Satan’s agents an advantage. Man’s inventions often counterwork God’s plans. Those who build the temple of the Lord are to build according to the pattern shown in the mount,—the divine similitude. God is dishonored and the gospel is betrayed when His servants depend on the counsel of men who are not under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Worldly wisdom is foolishness with God. Those who rely upon it will surely err.

“They will deliver you up to councils, ... yea and before governors and kings shall ye be brought for My sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.” Matthew 10:17, 18, R. V. Persecution will spread the light. The servants of Christ will be brought before the great men of the world, who, but for this, might never hear the gospel. The truth has been misrepresented to these men. They have listened to false charges concerning the faith of Christ’s disciples. Often their only means of learning its real character is the testimony of those who are brought to trial for their faith. Under examination these are required to answer, and their judges to listen to the testimony borne. God’s grace will be dispensed to His servants to meet the emergency. “It shall be given you,” says Jesus, “in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” As the Spirit of God illuminates the minds of His servants, the truth will be presented in its divine power and preciousness. Those who reject the truth will stand to accuse and oppress the disciples. But under loss and suffering, even unto death, the Lord’s children are to reveal the meekness of their divine Example. Thus will be seen the contrast between Satan’s agents and the representatives of Christ. The Saviour will be lifted up before the rulers and the people.

The disciples were not endowed with the courage and fortitude of the martyrs until such grace was needed. Then the Saviour’s promise was fulfilled. When Peter and John testified before the Sanhedrin council, men “marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13. Of Stephen it is written that “all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.” Men “were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.” Acts 6:15, 10. And Paul, writing of his own trial at the court of the Caesars, says, “At my first defense no one took my part, but all forsook me.... But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me; that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.” 2 Timothy 4:16, 17, R. V. DA 354.3

The servants of Christ were to prepare no set speech to present when brought to trial. Their preparation was to be made day by day in treasuring up the precious truths of God’s word, and through prayer strengthening their faith. When they were brought into trial, the Holy Spirit would bring to their remembrance the very truths that would be needed.

A daily, earnest striving to know God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, would bring power and efficiency to the soul. The knowledge obtained by diligent searching of the Scriptures would be flashed into the memory at the right time. But if any had neglected to acquaint themselves with the words of Christ, if they had never tested the power of His grace in trial, they could not expect that the Holy Spirit would bring His words to their remembrance. They were to serve God daily with undivided affection, and then trust Him.

So bitter would be the enmity to the gospel that even the tenderest earthly ties would be disregarded. The disciples of Christ would be betrayed to death by the members of their own households. “Ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake,” He added; “but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Mark 13:13. But He bade them not to expose themselves unnecessarily to persecution. He Himself often left one field of labor for another, in order to escape from those who were seeking His life. When He was rejected at Nazareth, and His own townsmen tried to kill Him, He went down to Capernaum, and there the people were astonished at His teaching; “for His word was with power.” Luke 4:32. So His servants were not to be discouraged by persecution, but to seek a place where they could still labor for the salvation of souls.

The servant is not above his master. The Prince of heaven was called Beelzebub, and His disciples will be misrepresented in like manner. But whatever the danger, Christ’s followers must avow their principles. They should scorn concealment. They cannot remain uncommitted until assured of safety in confessing the truth. They are set as watchmen, to warn men of their peril. The truth received from Christ must be imparted to all, freely and openly. Jesus said, “What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.” 

Jesus Himself never purchased peace by compromise. His heart overflowed with love for the whole human race, but He was never indulgent to their sins. He was too much their friend to remain silent while they were pursuing a course that would ruin their souls,—the souls He had purchased with His own blood. He labored that man should be true to himself, true to his higher and eternal interest. The servants of Christ are called to the same work, and they should beware lest, in seeking to prevent discord, they surrender the truth. They are to “follow after the things which make for peace” (Romans 14:19); but real peace can never be secured by compromising principle. And no man can be true to principle without exciting opposition. A Christianity that is spiritual will be opposed by the children of disobedience. But Jesus bade His disciples, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.” Those who are true to God need not fear the power of men nor the enmity of Satan. In Christ their eternal life is secure. Their only fear should be lest they surrender the truth, and thus betray the trust with which God has honored them.

It is Satan’s work to fill men’s hearts with doubt. He leads them to look upon God as a stern judge. He tempts them to sin, and then to regard themselves as too vile to approach their heavenly Father or to excite His pity. The Lord understands all this. Jesus assures His disciples of God’s sympathy for them in their needs and weaknesses. Not a sigh is breathed, not a pain felt, not a grief pierces the soul, but the throb vibrates to the Father’s heart. 

The Bible shows us God in His high and holy place, not in a state of inactivity, not in silence and solitude, but surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of holy intelligences, all waiting to do His will. Through channels which we cannot discern He is in active communication with every part of His dominion. But it is in this speck of a world, in the souls that He gave His only-begotten Son to save, that His interest and the interest of all heaven is centered. God is bending from His throne to hear the cry of the oppressed. To every sincere prayer He answers, “Here am I.” He uplifts the distressed and downtrodden. In all our afflictions He is afflicted. In every temptation and every trial the angel of His presence is near to deliver.

Not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father’s notice. Satan’s hatred against God leads him to hate every object of the Saviour’s care. He seeks to mar the handiwork of God, and he delights in destroying.

The Desire of Ages, p. 354-356

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Peru Honors Adventist Leader for Promoting Religious Freedom

John Graz receives the country’s congressional medal.

POSTED JUNE 4, 2015

By Bettina Krause, IRLA, and Adventist Review staff

Peru’s government has decorated John Graz, public affairs and religious liberty director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, with a prestigious award for his international work promoting the right of all people to worship according to the dictates of their conscience.




John Graz, center, receiving Peru's congressional medal for his work promoting religious freedom.



The national parliament presented Graz with its congressional medal during a packed session in the capital, Lima, on May 28.

“Religious freedom is not the defense of one religion against others, but it is the defense of the individual right to be different, and to believe according to conscience,” Graz said in a speech to lawmakers.

The award follows a more than 15-year relationship between Peru and the International Religious Liberty Association, an Adventist-affiliated organization led by Graz.

In 2009, Peru hosted the association’s first Festival of Religious Freedom, an event that drew more than 40,000 people to the National Stadium in Lima. The purpose of the festival, Graz said, was simply to say “thank you” to the government of Peru for the religious freedom protections enjoyed in the country. Since then, some 30 festivals have been held on six continents.

Graz, who is retiring later this year, said the congressional medal belongs to all those who have worked so hard through the years to promote the principle of religious liberty in Peru.

While in Peru, Graz also gave a lecture at the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s University of Peru, where he was awarded the Fernando Stahl Medal for his two decades of work promoting religious liberty around the world. The medal is named for the Adventist Church’s first missionary to the Peruvian Andes in the early 1900s. Fernando and his wife, Ana, revolutionized the lives of the indigenous people in that area — bringing education, medical care, and spiritual hope.

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The Flame Symbol Cropping Up All Over

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

The Flame Symbol Cropping Up All Over

One thing I have noticed is this flame symbol showing up in the logos of politicians and also in false Dominionist, globalist Christian ministries. It seems to be all over.

Seventh Day Adventist church

The Unitarians are in on this action too






Rand Paul has his flame with torch for his logo. [He's part of the same system too]

Different churches have this three-part flame as well as globalist directed ministries.....

and other organizations...

Is this symbol being so widely used as a nod to Lucifer as the "bringer of light"? Is this an advanced torch symbol now always with three tiers to the flame? Surely some use the symbol not knowing it's real meaning but have you noticed this one is growing more numerous? I believe the three lines or "flames" have meaning too. "Triple flames" appear in the occult. Even the Celts had a symbol that was three flames:

 

"Celtic Symbol of the Triple Flame (Arwen):

The ancient Celts were keenly aware of the metaphorical significance of fire and its spiritually transformative properties. Examples of this knowledge are found in Celtic statues and art in the form of three flames or rays found upon the faces of deities or Celtic clansmen and women. These flames were rendered in lines aspiring up and outwards to the subject's forehead with the base of the three lines meeting at the bridge of the nose. This motif is symbolic of Arwen a Celtic concept of enlightenment, inspiration, and total unification of polarities (in other words, a calm balance struck between male/female, physical/ethereal, etc. within the human awareness)."


and then there is this:


"Tomoe (Mitsu tomoe, Futatsu tomoe, Tomoe-mon, Fire-wheel)

This symbol is ubiquitous on Buddhist and Shinto temples all over Japan. Its name is tomoe, meaning turning or circular, referring to the motion of the earth. The tomoe is related to the yin yang symbol, and has a similar meaning, representing the play of forces in the cosmos. Visually, the tomoe is made up of interlocked flames (or magatama) resembling tadpoles.

The most common tomoe emblem has three flames (triple, or ‘mitsu’ tomoe), but one, two, or four are not uncommon. A mitsu- tomoe reflects the threefold division of Shinto cosmology, and is said to represent the earth, the heavens, and humankind. It is often associated with the Shinto war deity Hachiman."Some will claim that the Holy Spirit is displayed as a tongue of fire, and that is all that these churches are doing, but I think there is something more insidious about this flame symbol especially the ones with three parts. This is connected to torch symbology as well.

The TORCH is a symbol used within the occult:

"Masonic author, Manley P. Hall, 33 Degree Mason, states that "the torches represent the occult arts and sciences, the doctrines and dogmas by the light of which Truth is made visible." [Hall, Freemasonry of the Ancient Egyptians to Which Is Added an Interpretation of the Crata Repoa Initiation Rite , Los Angeles, The Philosophers Press, 1937, p. 122; Emphasis added]"

Notice how many of these are shaped like tear-drops or "6"s as well. They draw the flame a certain way on purpose.

Source

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Standoff continues after Dallas Police HQ attack

WFAA Staff, WFAA8:30 a.m. CDT June 13, 2015



(Photo: WFAA)


DALLAS — Dallas police were in a standoff Saturday morning after suspects in an armored van opened fire on the department's headquarters before leading officers on a chase to Hutchins, about 10 miles southeast.

At 5:40 a.m., police said the suspects' vehicle had been "disabled" with a .50 caliber rifle, but a standoff continued.

Sources told News 8 that the suspect in the armored van may have been injured in the initial shootout Saturday. Police had not communicated with the suspect for quite some time, as of 8:30 a.m.

Police were using robots to examine the suspect's vehicle.

The South Side on Lamar apartment complex in the 1400 block of South Lamar was evacuated as a precaution after one or more bombs were discovered outside police headquarters.

Just after 6 a.m., Dallas Police Maj. Max Geron said on Twitter that officers were clearing the station.

"Not 'evacuating' but getting officers to clear in service from the station," he said in response to a tweet.

The area around Dallas police headquarters was sealed off after suspicious packages were found following a shootout. (Photo: WFAA)


Dallas police Chief David Brown said four suspicious bags were found outside the building. Two explosive devices were found and detonated, while the other two ended up being trash, according to Maj. Geron.

WFAA

REPLAY: Chief Brown on Dallas police HQ assault

One bag exploded as a bomb squad robot tried to move it. Another explosive, found under a police vehicle, was detonated in a controlled explosion around 5:45 a.m. No officers were injured in the detonations, Geron said.

A suspicious bag found near the Northeast substation was cleared just after 7:30 p.m.



Gunfire was reported just after midnight Saturday outside the Dallas Police Department headquarters. (Photo: Courtesy: @TheStreetFA via Instagram)


Police alerted other law enforcement agencies in the region to search for any suspicious devices. It could still be several hours until residents were able to return home, police said, due to the continued search for additional explosives.

The situation began at 12:30 a.m. Saturday when gunfire was reported outside police headquarters.

"Witnesses observed what they believed to be multiple suspects firing guns at the Dallas Police Department's headquarters," Chief Brown said. "The suspects were parked in front of police headquarters. As police officers arrived, the suspects rammed Dallas police officers' squad cars and began shooting at the officers, striking the squad cars but missing the officers."

Nearby residents reported hearing automatic gunfire and video posted to social media shows what appears to be an armored van with gun ports on its sides ramming Dallas police squad cars and exchanging gunfire with police before fleeing the area.



VIDEO: Evacuated resident speaks to News 8 about Dallas Police HQ attack

Read more: http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/crime/2015/06/13/updates-gunfire-reported-at-dallas-police-headquarters/71165792/

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Happy Sabbath

Confidence in the Leading Men

Those who have not been in the habit of searching the Bible for themselves or weighing evidence have confidence in the leading men and accept the decisions they make; and thus many will reject the very messages God sends to His people if these leading brethren do not accept them. 

Testimonies to Ministers, 106-107.

Pope Francis I and Vladimir Putin

POPE FRANCIS I and VLADIMIR PUTIN

EvenAtTheDoor



Published on Jun 11, 2015

The Pope is steadily climbing into power as the world' global peacemaker. This is frightening, for many are unaware what the Papacy' next modus operandi. Only by reading The 13th and 17th chapter of Revelation will you understand her true goals.

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A plea for Unity sent to the John 17 Movement of Phoenix, AZ

It's no secret that division in a family brings harm and pain on many levels. The church which is described as the family of God remains divided. The attitudes and harsh judgements amongst professing Christians have caused deep wounds and centuries of conflicts.

"Father I pray that those who believe in me will be one so the world will know you sent me." That prayer of Jesus in the 17th chapter of the Gospel according to John is the reason Roman Catholics and a variety of Protestant Christians met together on May 23rd, 2105 in Phoenix, Arizona.

There was a declaration made that day by those in attendance to see the Church in Phoenix becoming relationally unified in a way that would make the claims of Jesus visibly seen and felt by those within and outside of the church.

My impression of our day but even more of the effort and working together of so many leading up to Saturday's meeting gives me hope that the church in all of its rich diversity can live and work as one family in the unity of the Holy Spirit.

Joe Tosini


Founder, John 17 Movement

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Obama Recalls His Work for Catholic Church: ‘Every Human Being, Made in the Image of God, Deserves to Live in Dignity’

ht
http://www.mrctv.org/videos/obama-my-first-job-was-catholic-



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Obama launches new $34 million climate change initiative - Washington Times

Obama launches new $34 million climate change initiative - Washington Times



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What will the pope’s climate encyclical, expected 18 June, say?

Read more

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Supreme Court Sides With Obama on Jerusalem Passport Row

BY REUTERS 6/8/15 AT 3:15 PM

A Muslim woman and an ultra-orthodox Jewish man (C) walk near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City June 8, 2015. RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS




WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday struck down a law that would let American citizens born in Jerusalem have Israel listed in passports as their country of birth, saying it encroached on the president's exclusive power to recognize foreign governments.

The 6-3 ruling, a victory for President Barack Obama, comes at a time of strained relations between Israel and the United States, the Jewish state's most important ally. The Obama administration had said if the law were enforced it would have caused "irreversible damage" to America's ability to influence the region's peace process and reversed long-standing American policy not to recognize Jerusalem as part of Israel.

Writing for the court in an important ruling on separation of powers within the U.S. government, Kennedy said the U.S. Congress, which enacted the law in 2002, has a role to play in foreign policy but cannot make decisions on recognizing foreign governments. The U.S. Constitution makes that the president's "exclusive power," Kennedy wrote.

Congress passed the law when President George W. Bush was president. Neither his administration nor Obama's ever enforced it. While Israel calls Jerusalem its capital, few other countries accept that. Most, including the United States, maintain embassies in Tel Aviv.

"Congress cannot command the president to contradict an earlier recognition determination in the issuance of passports," added Kennedy, a conservative who often holds the key vote in close cases.

Ari and Naomi Zivotofsky, the American parents of now-12-year-old Menachem Zivotofsky, had waged a long court battle to have their son's U.S. passport state he was born in Israel.

The case touched upon what Kennedy called the "delicate subject" of Jerusalem's status. The city, considered holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians, is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians and has been a point of contention in the Middle East for decades.

Seeking to remain neutral on the issue of sovereignty over Jerusalem, the State Department allows passports to name the city as the place of birth, with no country name included. The ruling means Menachem Zivotofsky's passport will simply list "Jerusalem" as his birthplace.

The court was divided. Its four liberals joined Kennedy in the majority. Conservative Clarence Thomas agreed with the outcome but differed over the legal rationale. The other conservatives, John Roberts, Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito, dissented, saying the law did not involve recognition of a foreign government.

"Never before has this court accepted a president's direct defiance of an act of Congress in the field of foreign affairs," Chief Justice Roberts wrote in dissent.

U.S. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said the ruling "confirms the long-established authority of the president over the conduct of diplomacy and foreign policy. The decision also respects his ability to ensure that his determinations regarding recognition are accurately reflected in official documents and diplomatic communications, including passports."

'CENTRAL FALLACY'

Lawyers for the Zivotofsky family, Nathan and Alyza Lewin, expressed disappointment in a ruling they said highlights the "central fallacy" in the attitudes of U.S. presidents since Israel's founding in 1948.

"Presidents have been permitted by American public opinion to maintain, as American foreign policy, the absurd position that no country is sovereign over Jerusalem, and that no part of the city, including the western portion of Jerusalem, is in Israel," they said.

Nabil Abu Rdaineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, hailed the "important decision" that runs in accord with U.N. resolutions, adding, "This is a clear message that Israel occupies East Jerusalem as well as the West Bank and Gaza Strip."

Palestinians want East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in a 1967 war, as capital of the state they aim to establish alongside Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Zev Elkin, an Israeli cabinet minister with responsibility for Jerusalem, said in remarks carried by the website of the Maariv newspaper: "United Jerusalem is the capital of the state of the Jews, the state of Israel, and will remain so forever."

Elkin called on the Obama administration "to recognize a simple fact that is the cornerstone of Jewish tradition and of Christian tradition: Jerusalem is the heart of hearts of the land of Israel, and the eternal capital of the state of Israel."

An estimated 50,000 American citizens were born in Jerusalem and could, if they requested it, list Israel as their birthplace if the law had been enforced.

In his dissent, Scalia said the passport law "has nothing to do with recognition." The ruling, Scalia wrote, "will erode the structure of equal and separated powers that the people established for the protection of their liberty."

Strained relations between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were on full display in March when the Israeli leader delivered a speech to the U.S. Congress aligning himself with Obama's Republican foes and criticizing Obama's bid to secure an international deal with Iran to curb Tehran's nuclear program.

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Obama and Pope Francis Teaming Up to Push Liberal Agendas in 2015

December 31, 2014 By Greg Campbell

Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, has emerged as a somewhat controversial figure. While maintaining semblances of the Catholic stance on social issues, Pope Francis seems to be more-malleable on these issues than any other Pope in history.

The Pope has struck a liberal tone on certain key issues and has even agreed to address the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics on the importance of combating climate change- a catch-all term favored by liberals to encompass any slight variance in weather.

The Pope is expected to address the United Nations in 2015 on the issue and call for a summit of world religious leaders from many different faiths to discuss the issue.

Further, the Pope was reportedly involved in the recent thawing of relations with Cuba, a nation that has been on-the-outs with the U.S. for a half-century due to the Communist dictatorship that infests the imprisoned island.

The Pontiff has also spoken-out against trickle-down economics, the economic policy that serves as a generator of economic growth and is aimed more at providing opportunities for the poor rather than mere handouts and government dependency.

As Pope Francis crusades for liberal political issues, it seems clear that Obama, who has served as arguably the most-hostile president to religion in history, has found a true ally and a way to help mend fences with Catholics who have taken issue with his extreme secular agenda.

The Washington Times reports:

President Obama increasingly is finding a key policy ally in the Vatican, with Pope Francis standing virtually shoulder to shoulder with the White House on income inequality and a historic diplomatic reboot with communist Cuba. The pontiff next year also appears poised to offer greater support to the president on climate change initiatives and reportedly wants to be a leading voice at a U.N. global warming summit next year, where the American president will make perhaps his greatest pitch to date for more dramatic action on the environment.

But in the long term, analysts say, Democrats may pay something of a political price.
To soothe American Catholics, who may have grown suspicious of the church’s partnership with a liberal White House, the pope in the coming months and years is likely to zero in on fundamental disagreements with the Democratic Party on issues such as abortion and religious liberty, said Joseph Prud’homme, a political science professor and the director of the Institute for the Study of Religion, Politics, and Culture at Washington College.

 “I believe Francis will remind the faithful in his position as supreme pastor about what he has consistently said about life and religious liberty. I hope, and I expect, that he will, after these initiatives [on Cuba and climate change], remind the faithful of the unending position of the church with respect to the sanctity of human life, the importance of religious liberty,” Mr. Prud’homme said

He added that Francis could create a deeper, almost irreparable rift between the church and the Democratic Party and create further headaches for liberal Catholics in electoral politics unless the Democratic Party “changes and recalibrates its center of gravity away from these issues which, from the position of the church, represent grave and serious moral error.”

While abortion and other moral issues represent a philosophical chasm between the Catholic Church and the Democratic Party, the past several years have proved the two can work together.

The White House praised the pope this month for playing a critical role in a landmark deal with Cuba, one in which the U.S. will re-establish formal diplomatic ties and open an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than five decades.

Francis invited administration officials and representatives of Cuban President Raul Castro’s government to the Vatican for a series of meetings this fall. The first Latin American pope also sent letters to Mr. Obama and Mr. Castro, urging the two leaders to change course and end the isolation of the past 50 years.

“He played a very important role,” Mr. Obama said of the pontiff in an interview with ABC News this month. “The pope doesn’t wield armies. He can’t impose sanctions. But he can speak with great moral authority, and it makes a difference. And it certainly made a difference in this case.”…

The pope also has become one of the Democrats’ biggest allies on income inequality, which Mr. Obama has cast as perhaps the biggest challenge facing the U.S. economy today.

Last year, Francis offered a clear rejection of “trickle-down economics,” seemingly embracing Democratic policies of greater redistribution of wealth to struggling Americans.

“Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories, which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world,” he said. “This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system.”

High-profile Democrats, such as Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, cited the pope’s words when arguing for more government spending on programs to aid low-income Americans and to shrink the wage gap between the rich and the poor.
“Those of us in America should pay heed” to the pontiff’s words, he said after Francis’ comments on income inequality.

Of course, helping the poor is a very Christian message; however, the kind of policies pushed by Obama and other leftist zealots only bind the poor to government dependency and President Obama’s radically-secular agenda and war on religion should be enough to spook the Pope from associating too-closely with a man who serves as one of the most-hostile leaders to religious freedom in the civilized world.

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Catholics organize to promote pope's climate change message

USA TODAY NETWORK AP 10:06 a.m. EDT  May 25, 2015



(Photo: Wally Santana, AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — When Pope Francis releases his much-anticipated teaching document on the environment and climate change in the coming weeks, a network of Roman Catholics will be ready.

There will be prayer vigils and pilgrimages, policy briefings and seminars, and sermons in parishes from the U.S. to the Philippines.

These environmental advocates — who work with bishops, religious orders, Catholic universities and lay movements — have been preparing for months to help maximize the effect of the statement, hoping for a transformative impact in the fight against global warming.

"This is such a powerful moment," said Patrick Carolan, executive director of Franciscan Action Network, a Washington-based advocacy group formed by Franciscan religious orders. "We're asking ourselves, 'What would be the best way for us to support the faith community in getting this out and using it as a call to action?'"

Francis is issuing the encyclical by the end of June with an eye toward the end-of-year U.N. climate change conference in Paris. While previous popes have made strong moral and theological arguments in favor of environmental protection, Francis will be the first to address global warming in such a high-level teaching document.

The pope, who will address the U.N. General Assembly Sept. 25 when he visits the U.S., has said he wants the encyclical to be released in time to be read and absorbed before the Paris talks.  Advocates are pressing for a binding, comprehensive agreement among nations to curb rising global temperatures, which scientists say are largely driven by carbon emissions.

"People are really putting a lot of weight on this," said Nancy Tuchman, director of the Institute of Environmental Sustainability at Loyola University Chicago. "I think the real hope is that he says it like it is and tells us there has to be a call to action and it has to be immediate."

The institute, which has been working to unite 28 U.S. Jesuit colleges and universities as a common voice on climate change, plans to collect papers from students, faculty and staff with their reflections on the document and how they can be "one of its champions," Tuchman said. A school colloquium on the papers is planned for Sept. 9.

Carolan was among about 40 Catholic leaders who gathered in Rome this month for a strategy meeting organized by the Global Catholic Climate Movement, a network he co-founded which includes organizations representing religious orders, church aid agencies, Catholic social justice advocates and others. The movement started a petition that urges political leaders to take action to curb global warming and plans a prayer vigil in Washington the night before Francis' Sept. 24 address to Congress, where he is likely to touch on environmental protection.

His audience at the Capitol will include skeptics on climate change, and like-minded groups are preparing a response to the encyclical.

The Heartland Institute, a conservative Chicago-based think-tank that sent a team to Rome last month to warn the pope against the U.N.'s climate change agenda, says it is building relationships with Catholic leaders and planning to distribute reports on sustainable development and challenges to climate science to a Catholic audience.

Jim Lakely, a Heartland spokesman, said since the Rome event, the institute has heard from Catholic groups, bloggers and others "who share our concern that the pope is being misadvised by the United Nations on this complicated scientific issue."

At the same time, however, other Catholics worldwide are mobilizing to echo the pope's words among the faithful.

Catholic Earthcare Australia, the ecology agency of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, plans an event on the encyclical at the Australian Parliament and will publish a book on the encyclical for use in parishes.

In the Philippines, the Archdiocese of Manila's decade-old ecology ministry is asking bishops to encourage all parishes to ring their church bells when the encyclical is released, among other efforts to highlight the pope's statement, ministry director Lou Arsenio said. Each September, the Manila ecology ministry holds a month of liturgies and church activities on environmental protection called a "Season of Creation."

"The big issue here is that environmental issues are not just about science but about ethics and moral values," said Pablo Canziani, an atmospheric physicist who works with the Argentine bishops' conference.

Canziani, who worked with then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires before he became Pope Francis, recently led a two-day environmental seminar organized for Argentine diocesan priests. Canziani said he and others also hope to incorporate prayers related to the encyclical in the many upcoming Argentine pilgrimages to shrines dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

In the U.S., Dan Misleh, director of the Catholic Climate Covenant, an education and advocacy network that works with the U.S. bishops, is preparing model sermons on the expected themes of the encyclical.

Over the last 15 years or so, Catholic and other faith traditions have been increasingly taking up environmental protection, or what they call creation care, as a moral issue, emphasizing the impact not only on nature but also on poor people who struggle for access to clean water and farmable land and are often the most vulnerable in natural disasters.

However, theologians and secular environmental activists say this stunningly popular pope, who has captured the world's attention, can bring into focus the human toll from climate change in a way few other leaders can.

"The social justice aspect, and the way climate change is going to affect the poor and underprivileged and less privileged — that's not the first thing people think about when they think about climate change," said Lou Leonard, a World Wildlife Fund vice president who specializes in climate change issues. "For those who see this primarily as an issue of polar bears or other impact on species — which is all really important — this is an opportunity to say this is as much a human issue as anything else."

The church, given its reach and structure, also provides an unparalleled network for amplifying calls to reduce global warming.

Bishops' conferences in many countries, including in the U.S., have social justice programs that focus on the environment. Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, head of the U.S. bishops' domestic justice and human development committee, speaks frequently about Catholic teaching on preserving creation and the impact of climate change on the poor.

Global warming has also emerged as an issue for Caritas International, a confederation of Catholic charitable groups who play a major role in development and disaster relief in more than 160 countries. Caritas leaders worldwide said in a survey released this month that climate change was a top contributor to food insecurity.
Major environmental organizations are also abuzz about the encyclical and have been contacting Catholic groups for guidance. In webinars for them, Carolan has been explaining what an encyclical is. Misleh has cautioned the groups that the pope will be making a theological statement and speaking "as a Catholic, not a member of the Sierra Club."

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