Saturday, March 27, 2010

Top Vatican cardinal defends pope amid scandal


Updated March 27, 2010
Top Vatican cardinal defends pope amid scandal


VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican said Saturday that recent attacks on the church over its handling of clerical sex abuse cases have been harmful, but insisted the pope's authority had not been weakened.

Instead, the Vatican spokesman said, Pope Benedict XVI's authority and the commitment of the Vatican doctrinal and disciplinary office "have been confirmed in their support and guidance to bishops to combat and root out the blight of abuse wherever it appears."

"The way in which the church deals with it is crucial for her moral credibility," said the spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, in a comment on Vatican Radio.

Revelations of the sexual abuse of children by priests at Catholic institutions have swept across Europe and into Benedict's native Germany. The pope himself has come under fire for a case dating to his tenure as archbishop of Munich and another dating to his stint as the head of the Vatican office responsible for disciplining priests.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, a top Vatican official, acknowledged in an interview published Saturday that church authorities had on occasion maintained silence over cases of sex abuse. But he defended the pope, saying Benedict "was the first one who — already as a cardinal —felt the need for new, harsher rules."

Attacks on the pope go "beyond any limit of justice and loyalty," Kasper told Corriere della Sera.

The cardinal, however, called for a cleanup and said the church must be more alert and brave in dealing with any sex abuse. He said a growing awareness of the problem makes the path of renewal "irreversible."

"We need a culture of attentiveness and courage, and a housecleaning," Kasper, also a German, said in the interview.

Until recently, Benedict had received high marks for his handling of sex abuse.

Taking a much harder stance than his predecessor, John Paul II, Benedict disciplined a senior cleric who had been championed by the Polish pontiff and defrocked others under a new policy of zero tolerance.

But reaction changed after a case that involved the Rev. Peter Hullermann, accused of abusing boys, and his transfer to the pope's former archdiocese of Munich.

While Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now the pontiff, was involved in a 1980 decision to transfer Hullermann to Munich for therapy, Ratzinger's then-deputy took responsibility for a subsequent decision to let the priest return to pastoral duties. Hullermann was convicted of sexual abuse in 1986.

However, The New York Times reported Friday that Ratzinger was copied in on a memo stating Hullermann would be returned to pastoral work within days of beginning psychiatric treatment. The archdiocese insisted Ratzinger was unaware of the decision and that any other version was "mere speculation."

Kasper said in the interview that "especially in big dioceses, I have the impression that bishops were often not informed, unfortunately." He said this needed to change, along with the process of selection at seminars.

In another case, documents show the Vatican office responsible for disciplining priests, while headed by Ratzinger, halted a church trial of a Milwaukee priest accused of molesting some 200 deaf boys from 1950-1975.

Despite the grave allegations against the Rev. Lawrence Murphy, Ratzinger's deputy, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, shut the process down after Murphy wrote Ratzinger a letter saying he had repented, was old and ailing, and that the case's statute of limitations had run out.

Bertone now serves as the Vatican's secretary of state.

The Vatican said the case only reached the Vatican in 1996, that Murphy died two years later, and that there was nothing in the church's handling of the matter that precluded any civil action from being taken against him.

The abuse scandal in dioceses, monasteries and other Catholic institutions has spread to countries including Austria, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Still, Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, insisted that "many positive signals" had been coming from several bishops' conferences, such as the reaffirmation or updating of directives for the handling and prevention of abuse.

He said the media attacks "have undoubtedly proved harmful" but insisted that most cases under scrutiny took place years, or even decades, ago.

Lombardi pointed in particular to a recent report in the U.S. church — rocked by a massive sex abuse scandal in 2002 — which shows a decline in the number of abuse allegations.
.

.

The Sunday movement is now making its way in darkness


The same masterful mind that plotted against the faithful in ages past is still seeking to rid the earth of those who fear God and obey His law. Satan will excite indignation against the humble minority who conscientiously refuse to accept popular customs and traditions. Men of position and reputation will join with the lawless and the vile to take counsel against the people of God. Wealth, genius, education, will combine to cover them with contempt. Persecuting rulers, ministers, and church members will conspire against them. With voice and pen, by boasts, threats, and ridicule, they will seek to overthrow their faith. By false representations and angry appeals they will stir up the passions of the people. Not having a "Thus saith the Scriptures" to bring against the advocates of the Bible Sabbath, they will resort to oppressive enactments to supply the lack. To secure popularity and patronage, legislators will yield to the demand for a Sunday law. Those who fear God cannot accept an institution that violates a precept of the Decalogue. On this battlefield comes the last great conflict of the controversy between truth and error. And we are not left in doubt as to the issue. Now, as in the days of Mordecai, the Lord will vindicate His truth and His people.

By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near.

As the approach of the Roman armies was a sign to the disciples of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, so may this apostasy be a sign to us that the limit of God's forbearance is reached, that the measure of our nation's iniquity is full, and that the angel of mercy is about to take her flight, never to return. The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress which prophets have described as the time of Jacob's trouble. The cries of the faithful, persecuted ones ascend to heaven. And as the blood of Abel cried from the ground, there are voices also crying to God from martyrs' graves, from the sepulchers of the sea, from mountain caverns, from convent vaults: "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?"

The Lord is doing His work. All heaven is astir. The Judge of all the earth is soon to arise and vindicate His insulted authority. The mark of deliverance will be set upon the men who keep God's commandments, who revere His law, and who refuse the mark of the beast or of his image.

God has revealed what is to take place in the last days, that His people may be prepared to stand against the tempest of opposition and wrath. Those who have been warned of the events before them are not to sit in calm expectation of the coming storm, comforting themselves that the Lord will shelter His faithful ones in the day of trouble. We are to be as men waiting for their Lord, not in idle expectancy, but in earnest work, with unwavering faith. It is no time now to allow our minds to be engrossed with things of minor importance. While men are sleeping, Satan is actively arranging matters so that the Lord's people may not have mercy or justice. The Sunday movement is now making its way in darkness. The leaders are concealing the true issue, and many who unite in the movement do not themselves see whither the undercurrent is tending. Its professions are mild and apparently Christian, but when it shall speak it will reveal the spirit of the dragon. It is our duty to do all in our power to avert the threatened danger. We should endeavor to disarm prejudice by placing ourselves in a proper light before the people. We should bring before them the real question at issue, thus interposing the most effectual protest against measures to restrict liberty of conscience. We should search the Scriptures and be able to give the reason for our faith. Says the prophet: "The wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand."

Those who have access to God through Christ have important work before them. Now is the time to lay hold of the arm of our strength. The prayer of David should be the prayer of pastors and laymen: "It is time for Thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void Thy law." Let the servants of the Lord weep between the porch and the altar, crying: "Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach." God has always wrought for His people in their greatest extremity, when there seemed the least hope that ruin could be averted. The designs of wicked men, the enemies of the church, are subject to His power and overruling providence. He can move upon the hearts of statesmen; the wrath of the turbulent and disaffected, the haters of God, His truth, and His people can be turned aside, even as the rivers of water are turned, if He orders it thus. Prayer moves the arm of Omnipotence. He who marshals the stars in order in the heavens, whose word controls the waves of the great deep, the same infinite Creator will work in behalf of His people if they call upon Him in faith. He will restrain the forces of darkness until the warning is given to the world and all who will heed it are prepared for the conflict.

Testimonies for the Church Volume Five (1882-1889), E.G. White, pp. 450-453.
.

Friday, March 26, 2010

The Roman Church is far-reaching in her plans and modes of operation

U2 @ Fordham University - Bronx, N.Y. - March, 2009.


"The pacific tone of Rome in the United States does not imply a change of heart. She is tolerant where she is helpless. Says Bishop O'Connor: 'Religious liberty is merely endured until the opposite can be carried into effect without peril to the Catholic world.'. . . The archbishop of St. Louis once said: 'Heresy and unbelief are crimes; and in Christian countries, as in Italy and Spain, for instance, where all the people are Catholics, and where the Catholic religion is an essential part of the law of the land, they are punished as other crimes.'. . .

"Every cardinal, archbishop, and bishop in the Catholic Church takes an oath of allegiance to the pope, in which occur the following words: 'Heretics, schismatics, and rebels to our said lord (the pope), or his aforesaid successors, I will to my utmost persecute and oppose.'"--Josiah Strong, Our Country, ch. 5, pars. 2-4. [SEE APPENDIX FOR CORRECTED REFERENCES.]

It is true that there are real Christians in the Roman Catholic communion. Thousands in that church are serving God according to the best light they have. They are not allowed access to His word, and therefore they do not discern the truth. [PUBLISHED IN 1888 AND 1911. SEE APPENDIX.] They have never seen the contrast between a living heart service and a round of mere forms and ceremonies. God looks with pitying tenderness upon these souls, educated as they are in a faith that is delusive and unsatisfying. He will cause rays of light to penetrate the dense darkness that surrounds them. He will reveal to them the truth as it is in Jesus, and many will yet take their position with His people.

But Romanism as a system is no more in harmony with the gospel of Christ now than at any former period in her history. The Protestant churches are in great darkness, or they would discern the signs of the times. The Roman Church is far-reaching in her plans and modes of operation. She is employing every device to extend her influence and increase her power in preparation for a fierce and determined conflict to regain control of the world, to re-establish persecution, and to undo all that Protestantism has done. Catholicism is gaining ground upon every side. See the increasing number of her churches and chapels in Protestant countries. Look at the popularity of her colleges and seminaries in America, so widely patronized by Protestants. Look at the growth of ritualism in England and the frequent defections to the ranks of the Catholics. These things should awaken the anxiety of all who prize the pure principles of the gospel.

Protestants have tampered with and patronized popery; they have made compromises and concessions which papists themselves are surprised to see and fail to understand. Men are closing their eyes to the real character of Romanism and the dangers to be apprehended from her supremacy. The people need to be aroused to resist the advances of this most dangerous foe to civil and religious liberty.

Many Protestants suppose that the Catholic religion is unattractive and that its worship is a dull, meaningless round of ceremony. Here they mistake. While Romanism is based upon deception, it is not a coarse and clumsy imposture. The religious service of the Roman Church is a most impressive ceremonial. Its gorgeous display and solemn rites fascinate the senses of the people and silence the voice of reason and of conscience. The eye is charmed. Magnificent churches, imposing processions, golden altars, jeweled shrines, choice paintings, and exquisite sculpture appeal to the love of beauty. The ear also is captivated. The music is unsurpassed. The rich notes of the deep-toned organ, blending with the melody of many voices as it swells through the lofty domes and pillared aisles of her grand cathedrals, cannot fail to impress the mind with awe and reverence.

This outward splendor, pomp, and ceremony, that only mocks the longings of the sin-sick soul, is an evidence of inward corruption. The religion of Christ needs not such attractions to recommend it. In the light shining from the cross, true Christianity appears so pure and lovely that no external decorations can enhance its true worth. It is the beauty of holiness, a meek and quiet spirit, which is of value with God.
.

The Great Controversy (1911), E.G. White, pp. 565-567.
.
Note:Highlights added.
.

Let the watchmen now lift up their voice and give the message which is present truth for this time


The people need to be aroused in regard to the dangers of the present time. The watchmen are asleep. We are years behind. Let the chief watchmen feel the urgent necessity of taking heed to themselves, lest they lose the opportunities given them to see the dangers.

If the leading men in our conferences do not now accept the message sent them by God, and fall into line for action, the churches will suffer great loss. When the watchman, seeing the sword coming, gives the trumpet a certain sound, the people along the line will echo the warning, and all will have opportunity to make ready for the conflict. But too often the leader has stood hesitating, seeming to say: "Let us not be in too great haste. There may be a mistake. We must be careful not to raise a false alarm." The very hesitancy and uncertainty on his part is crying: "'Peace and safety.' Do not get excited. Be not alarmed. There is a great deal more made of this religious amendment question than is demanded. This agitation will all die down." Thus he virtually denies the message sent from God, and the warning which was designed to stir the churches fails to do its work. The trumpet of the watchman gives no certain sound, and the people do not prepare for the battle. Let the watchman beware lest, through his hesitancy and delay, souls shall be left to perish, and their blood shall be required at his hand.

We have been looking many years for a Sunday law to be enacted in our land; and, now that the movement is right upon us, we ask: Will our people do their duty in the matter? Can we not assist in lifting the standard and in calling to the front those who have a regard for their religious rights and privileges? The time is fast approaching when those who choose to obey God rather than man will be made to feel the hand of oppression. Shall we then dishonor God by keeping silent while His holy commandments are trodden underfoot?

While the Protestant world is by her attitude making concessions to Rome, let us arouse to comprehend the situation and view the contest before us in its true bearings. Let the watchmen now lift up their voice and give the message which is present truth for this time. Let us show the people where we are in prophetic history and seek to arouse the spirit of true Protestantism, awaking the world to a sense of the value of the privileges of religious liberty so long enjoyed.

God calls upon us to awake, for the end is near. Every passing hour is one of activity in the heavenly courts to make ready a people upon the earth to act a part in the great scenes that are soon to open upon us. These passing moments, that seem of so little value to us, are weighty with eternal interests. They are molding the destiny of souls for everlasting life or eternal death. The words we utter today in the ears of the people, the works we are doing, the spirit of the message we are bearing, will be a savor of life unto life or of death unto death.

My brethren, do you realize that your own salvation, as well as the destiny of other souls, depends upon the preparation you now make for the trial before us? Have you that intensity of zeal, that piety and devotion, which will enable you to stand when opposition shall be brought against you? If God has ever spoken by me, the time will come when you will be brought before councils, and every position of truth which you hold will be severely criticized. The time that so many are now allowing to go to waste should be devoted to the charge that God has given us of preparing for the approaching crisis. .

(5T) Testimonies for the Church Volume Five (1882-1889), E. G. White, pp.715-717.

Note: Blue Bolds and Highlights added.
.

In the House of the Strong Man Sodomy is the Key


Interviewing Deprogrammers: In the House of the Strong Man Sodomy is the Key

Interview with Marion Knox by Elana Freeland


Excerpt of article:

E: Do you think all homosexuals are sodomized early?

M: I don’t think that very many homosexuals become homosexual without being sexually abused early. They may not all have been sodomized, but a large portion were.

As far as religions go, Catholics and Masons are at the top of the list. It’s possible that the Catholic hierarchy may even have an unofficial doctrine to sodomize three year olds so as to bind them to the Church. They say, “Give us a child until he’s five and he’ll always be Catholic,” but they don’t start any religious training with the children until they’re five. I recently freed a guy who was sodomized by a priest when he was probably three and then at thirteen was put in Boys Town in Nebraska, and the priest there would take him into a room, lock the doors, and make him do whatever he wanted him to do. A first-hand witness of the corruption at Boys Town.

.

Sex abuse scandal in US, Italy taints papacy

March 26, 2010 - 5:15am



Members of the SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priest) , display a photo of Pope Benedict XVI when he was cardinal during a press conference in front of The Vatican Thursday, March 25, 2010. Two Wisconsin bishops urged the Vatican office led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger now Pope Benedict XVI to let them conduct a church trial against a priest accused of molesting some 200 deaf boys, but the Vatican ordered the process halted, church and Vatican documents show. Despite the grave allegations, Ratzinger's deputy at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ruled that the alleged molestation had occurred too long ago and the accused priest, Rev. Lawrence Murphy, should instead repent and be restricted from celebrating Mass outside of his diocese. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)


By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press Writer

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Revelations that the Vatican halted the investigation of a Wisconsin priest accused of molesting some 200 deaf boys have eerie echoes in Italy, where 67 deaf men and women accused two dozen priests of raping and molesting children for years.

Only now _ a year after the Italian case became public _ is the Vatican directing the diocese to interview the victims to hear their testimony about the accusations, The Associated Press learned Thursday.

The two cases are the latest in a burgeoning abuse scandal on both sides of the Atlantic that now threatens to tarnish the papacy itself. The office charged with disciplining clergy was long led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, and a church prosecution in the Wisconsin case was stopped after an appeal to Ratzinger.

The Vatican strongly defended Benedict on Thursday and denounced what it said was a concerted campaign to smear him and his aides for a problem that Rome insists is not unique to the Catholic Church.

Benedict's actions have been marked by "transparency, firmness and severity in shedding light on the various cases of sexual abuse committed by priests and clergymen," the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said in a front-page article.

It lashed out at what it said was a "prevailing trend in the media" to ignore facts and spread an image of the Catholic Church "as if it were the only one responsible for sexual abuses _ an image that does not correspond to reality."

The Vatican was responding to the release of documents, first reported by The New York Times, that showed how the pope's former office told a Wisconsin bishop to shut down a church trial against the Rev. Lawrence Murphy, a Milwaukee priest accused of molesting some 200 deaf boys from 1950 to 1975.

Murphy died in 1998, two years after Ratzinger first learned of the accusations, and more than 20 years after they came to the attention of the Milwaukee diocese.

While the Vatican has not directly addressed the Italian abuse case, first reported as part of an AP investigation last September, it bears marked similarities to the allegations brought in Wisconsin.

Both involve some of society's most vulnerable: deaf children for whom the admonition "never tell" is easy to enforce because they have difficulty communicating. And in both, the major priority of church officials grappling with how or whether to discipline accused predators appeared to be protecting the church from scandal.

In a signed statement last year, the 67 former pupils at a school for the deaf in Verona described sexual abuse, pedophilia and corporal punishment from the 1950s to the 1980s. They named 24 priests, brothers and lay religious men at the Antonio Provolo Institute for the Deaf.

While not all acknowledged being victims, 14 of the 67 wrote sworn statements and made videotapes, detailing abuse, some for years, at the hands of priests and brothers of the Congregation for the Company of Mary.

One victim, Alessandro Vantini, told the AP last year that priests sodomized him so relentlessly he came to feel "as if I were dead."

"How could I tell my papa that a priest had sex with me?" Vantini, 59, said through a sign-language interpreter. "You couldn't tell your parents because the priests would beat you."

The bishop of Verona, Monsignor Giuseppe Zenti, initially accused the former students of lying. However, after one of the accused lay religious men admitted to sexual relations with students, the bishop ordered an internal investigation. It found some abuse occurred, albeit a fraction of what had been alleged.

Advocates for the victims, however, said the diocese investigation was fatally flawed because no one interviewed the former students.

Last summer, the diocese forwarded its files to the Vatican office that prosecutes sex crimes by clergy, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It was headed for years by Ratzinger, who issued a 2001 directive that requires bishops to report suspected clerical abuse cases to the Vatican, but makes no mention of calling police.

The Vatican studied the file but took no action until Feb. 15, when Cardinal William Levada instructed Zenti to interview the former students to determine if any action should be taken against the priests, diocesan spokesman the Rev. Bruno Fasani told the AP.

In his letter to the Verona church authorities, Levada said Ratzinger's old office, which he now heads, had reviewed the files about the alleged abuse and "considers it opportune to proceed" with interviews of the former students.

Fasani said the diocese maintained that it did not interview the alleged victims because they never made a formal complaint to the bishop. The diocese also said it didn't know how to contact them, even though they are all members of a Verona deaf association with ties to the church-run school.

Marco Lodi Rizzini, a spokesman for the accusers, scoffed at the suggestion that the diocese didn't know how to reach the former students. He said he spoke with Zenti twice about the accusations and sent the victims' testimonies about the abuse to the diocese last year.

He said the former students were more than happy to speak to investigators. "Better late than never."

Fasani said the diocese was now forming a team to conduct the interviews after receiving instructions from Levada.

"This is a shameful thing. We never received a formal complaint," he insisted. "It was never formally presented to us."

Vantini and other alleged Verona victims are due to appear on state-run RAI television on Friday to tell their stories.

Benedict also has come under pressure over a case dating back to his time as archbishop of Munich, in his native Germany, three decades ago.

The Munich archdiocese has said that Ratzinger was involved in a 1980 decision to allow a priest who had been accused of abusing boys, the Rev. Peter Hullermann, to be transferred there for therapy.

However, Ratzinger's then-deputy, Gerhard Gruber, said earlier this month he took full responsibility for a subsequent decision to allow the priest to return to pastoral duties. Hullermann was convicted in 1986 of sexual abuse during a later posting.

The New York Times reported Friday that the future pope was copied in on a memo saying that the priest would quickly be returned to pastoral work, and that church officials could not rule out that Ratzinger read it.
.
.
.

11 killed when truck, church van crash in Ky.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogCeSITwQgYhttp://


11 killed when truck, church van crash in Ky.
(AP) – 1 hour ago

MUNFORDVILLE, Ky. — A truck crossed a Kentucky interstate median and hit a Mennonite church van headed to a wedding, killing 11 people, state police said Friday.

State police Trooper Charles Swiney said two children survived the crash with the tractor-trailer on northbound Interstate 65.

A pastor for the family in the van says they were Mennonites on their way to a wedding in Iowa. Authorities say the truck driver was also killed.

Officials say the tractor-trailer crossed the median and struck the church van head-on around 5:30 a.m. CDT near Munfordville, about 75 miles south of Louisville.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was dispatching a team to investigate the crash.

Pastor Leroy Kauffman with the Marrowbone Christian Brotherhood in Burkesville says the two surviving children were taken to a nearby hospital.

Kauffman said there were three young children on board ages 1, 3 and 5. He said the father was an assistant pastor at the church and there was also a couple on board the van who were engaged to be married, although they were traveling to someone else's wedding.

"They had a July wedding planned but they won't need that now," Kauffman said. "They'll have a wedding in heaven I guess."

He said the family's house burned down in December and they had just moved into a new home built by church members.

"We're experiencing a lot of heartache and a lot of sadness, but with that a hope," Kauffman said. "We know where these people are going, they were all saved Christians and walking with the Lord."
.
.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hLwSxXtdifP0CI2hAcp3nu-NSl-QD9EME7FG5
.
.

South Korean Ship Sinks; Incident Under Investigation

VOA News 26 March 2010


Photo: AP
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (C) talks with Defense Minister Kim Tae-young (2nd R) during National Security Council ministers meeting in Seoul, 26 Mar 2010


The South Korean cabinet is meeting in emergency session, after a South Korean navy ship sank near the disputed sea border with North Korea. South Korea's Yonhap news agency is also reporting that the South Korean navy has fired at an unidentified vessel in the area.

It was not immediately clear why the South Korean ship sank, but media reports from Seoul say officials there are investigating whether the vessel was hit by a North Korean torpedo.

The South Korean navy says about half of the more than 100 sailors on board were rescued, but the others are feared dead.

The ship went down late Friday local time in disputed waters off the western coast of the Korean peninsula.

The developments follow recent warnings from North Korea that it was bolstering its defenses in response to joint U.S.-South Korean military drills this month.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
.
.
.

Red Alert (Update): South Korean Ship Sinking

March 26, 2010

A South Korean ship has been sunk in the vicinity of the maritime border with North Korea. While details are sketchy, initial reports suggest that some South Korean naval ships had been involved in combat with an unidentified ship in the area immediately preceding the incident. Other reports suggest that the ship was struck by a torpedo. Yet another indicates a stern explosion.

Tensions between the two Koreas have always been at least moderately high, but recent governments in the South have tended to seek a rapprochement. Last year, however, a new government came to power that revoked the “Sunshine Policy” and took a firmer stance against the North. Read more.

Man who wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger

Rembert G. Weakland

Photo(Courtesy)http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/05/27/us/weakland_span.jpg


Page last updated at 18:04 GMT, Thursday, 25 March 2010


Go to "the" link for Rembert G. Weakland's interview: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8588025.stm



For the first time, the Pope himself has been implicated over sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.

He is accused of doing nothing when given the chance to defrock a priest, Rev Lawrence Murphy, who molested deaf boys in his care.

The BBC's Eddie Mair has spoken to Rembert G. Weakland, who, in 1996, when he was Archbishop of Milwaukee, tried to blow the whistle.

He wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger, who is now Pope, and had a meeting with his then deputy, Cardinal Bertone, who is now the Vatican's secretary of state.

He told the PM programme that when he became Archbishop of Milwaukee in 1977, Father Murphy already had many abuse allegations against him.

.

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?


14Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

15And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

16And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

17Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

18And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.


2 Corinthians 6:14-18.
,

Thursday, March 25, 2010

One thing hasn't "changed"

How about a little wag the Al Qaeda?

It's Bin Laden time, again.

Hacker gets 20 years for stealing credit card data


By DENISE LAVOIE (AP) – 8 hours ago

BOSTON — A computer hacker from Florida was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison for helping engineer one of the largest thefts of credit and debit card numbers in U.S. history.

U.S. District Judge Patti Saris sentenced Albert Gonzalez of Miami, who pleaded guilty last year to breaking into computer systems of major retailers, including TJX Cos. and BJ's Wholesale Club.

Prosecutors had sought 25 years for Gonzalez, saying he victimized millions of people and cost companies, banks and insurers nearly $200 million. His lawyer had argued Gonzalez should get no more than 15 years.

Gonzalez pleaded guilty last year in three separate hacking cases brought in Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. The Thursday hearing dealt with the Massachusetts case. A second sentencing Friday, also in Boston, will deal with the others.

Gonzalez's Boston attorney, Martin Weinberg, has said his client, a self-taught computer genius, displayed behavior consistent with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism. A defense psychiatrist's report described Gonzalez as a socially awkward Internet addict with an "idiot-savant-like genius for computers and information technology."

Authorities said Gonzalez and two foreign co-defendants would drive past retailers with a laptop computer, tapping into those with vulnerable wireless Internet signals. They would then install "sniffer programs" that picked off credit and debit card numbers as they moved through a retailer's computers before trying to sell the numbers overseas, authorities said.

Gonzalez, known online as "soupnazi," became a Secret Service informant after he was first arrested for hacking in 2003.

But even as he helped the government nail other hackers, prosecutors said, he kept breaking into retailers' computer systems, amassing $2.8 million he used to buy a Miami condo, a car, Rolex watches and a Tiffany ring for his girlfriend.


Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j5MSHPWZoNf5DJLQAWDM1oS73B3gD9ELRUBO0
.

No child left behind?

President Obama signs the health care reform bill on Tuesday. Photo: Pete Marovich, ZUMApress.com


In the recently passed law now popularly called Obamacare one very important group was left out of all together. It's hard to imagine that in such a much ballyhooed 2,000 + page bill something as fundamental as coverage for children with pre-existing medical conditions was overlooked. What else could the framers of this voluminous transcendental legislation have forgotten to include in it?

No child left behind? No, instead the whole category, children were just forgotten in the mad rush "to pass something".
Arsenio.


Here are some articles where this blunder is discussed in detail:


Shocker: AHIP Already Finding Loopholes in Health Insurance Reform
Daily Kos (blog) - ‎57 minutes ago‎
"The law is clear: Insurance plans that cover children cannot deny coverage to a child because he or she has a pre-existing condition," Health and Human ...
ObamaCare: Why Kids May Not Be Covered Until 2014 Forbes (blog)
10 Ways The New Healthcare Bill May Affect You San Francisco Chronicle
Coverage For Sick Kids Under Question In New Law Kaiser Health News
.
.
Health care reform bill 101: rules for preexisting conditions
Christian Science Monitor - Peter Grier - ‎Mar 24, 2010‎
23, by our calculation), insurers will no longer be able to exclude children with preexisting conditions from being covered by their family policy. ...
Video: Senate GOP Sends Health Bill Back to House The Associated Press
Gap in health care law's protection for children The Associated Press
Congressman's view: Health-care reform is pro-life Pine Journal
,
,
Panel on New Health Care Reform Law; US Relations With Israel
FOXNews - ‎4 hours ago‎
Starting this year, insurance companies will be banned forever from denying coverage to children with preexisting conditions. ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE ...

.
Chat transcript: We get deep into the bill in this one
Washington Post (blog) - Boris Markovich - ‎6 hours ago‎
Many of my patients are asking me about the future of "pre-existing conditions" and denial of coverage to children and adults due to various illnesses. ...
.
.
Health Care Reform: Socialist or Misunderstood?
MyFox Illinois (blog) - Ryan Blesse - ‎3 hours ago‎
The bill will eliminate the denial of coverage for those with preexisting conditions and place them instead in what is known as “high risk pools” – except ...
Change to believe in or focus for hate-mongering? The Hill (blog)
The day after the passage of reform The Carrboro Citizen
Health care reform is here Lexology (registration)
..

Oops: O-Care forgets to cover young adults, children with preexisting conditions
Hot Air (blog) - ‎Mar 24, 2010‎
Exit question courtesy of Tom Maguire: How did both Democratic and Republican researchers miss the loophole about preexisting conditions for kids? ...
,
,
Not So Fast, Kid
Heritage.org (blog) - ‎Mar 24, 2010‎
This year … parents who are worried about getting coverage for their children with pre-existing conditions now are assured that insurance companies have to ...
Kids With Medical Conditions Can Still Be Denied Insurance Portfolio.com (blog)
Health reform currently leaves kids' coverage incomplete FierceHealthcare
Whoops! ObamaCare doesn't cover pre-existing conditions after all, until 2014 San Francisco Examiner (blog)
,,

Health Care Bill Summary and Timeline of Changes 2010-2018
Associated Content - ‎8 hours ago‎
2010: Children with pre-existing conditions can not be denied health coverage. 2010: Adults who were previously denied insurance due to pre-existing ...

,,
Timeline: When health care reform will affect you
CNN (blog) - ‎2 hours ago‎
Insurers will be barred from imposing exclusions on children with pre-existing conditions. Pools will cover those with pre-existing health conditions until ...

,,
Health care for people with pre-existing conditions
Today's THV - ‎Mar 22, 2010‎
Immediately after the bill is signed, insurance companies will have to cover children with pre-existing conditions, but they can continue to deny adults ...
Pre-existing conditions Patriot-News
.

Ex-S.F. Arhcbishop Given 10-1 Odds Becoming Next Pope


By Matt Smith, Thursday, Mar. 25 2010 @ 3:15PM


What are the odds?

​The Irish bookie site Paddypower is laying down 3-to-1 odds Pope Benedict XVI will be ousted over accusations that he was behind misdeeds such as helping shield a priest who purportedly raped hundreds of deaf boys. But when God shuts a door, he opens a window -- and if a Pope is canned over a molestation scandal, he's got to be replaced. And Paddypower is giving former San Francisco archbishop William Levada a decent enough 10-1 shot of becoming the next pontiff.

And if protecting priests accused of child rape is an attribute befitting the vicar of Christ, Levada would seem like a natural for the papal gig.

SF Weekly has reported extensively about Levada's baroque efforts to obscure his machinations shielding priests from rape allegations.

In January, 2006, SF Weekly's Ron Russell reported that Levada apparently lied under oath to deny allegations that he'd paid hush money to victims of a priest accused of child rape:

Levada knew about allegations that the priest had abused not one but three male victims, and that Levada authorized secret payments to each of them after they threatened to make the allegations public in a lawsuit.

In July, 2005, Russell documented how Levada projected himself as a reformer on the issue of priestly sex abuse, even as victim advocates alleged he was shielding priests accused of rape. Levada even teamed up with an accused rapist to write church rules dealing with priests accused of rape.

In this ironic way, American bishops now follow a program for dealing with sex-abuse complaints that was significantly influenced by two men:

A Catholic priest and lawyer who has had two serious sexual-abuse cases filed against him -- one of which the church recently agreed to settle by paying an alleged victim $2.7 million ... And an archbishop who has helped shield the lawyer/priest for nine years -- and who has now been appointed to what many consider to be the Roman Catholic Church's second most powerful position.

Russell's ouvre of articles about Levada's creepy past make discomforting reading that's nonetheless necessary for those wishing to become informed Papal bettors. Our research indicates no pope has been removed from office since Gregory XII in 1415 -- the gig comes with some job security. But it is not altogether unprecedented for a pontiff to be deposed or resign; in fact, speculation was rampant the aging John Paul II would resign earlier this decade.

In the event of a papal opening, Levada is among the seven most "papable" cardinals, according to Paddypower. There are reasons to short-sell Levada, however: For one, elevating him to Pope would do little to quell the child rape scandals that plague the church.

.

Source: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2010/03/irish_bookies_ex_sf_arhcbishop.php

Fidel Castro Applauds Passage of Obama's Health Care Overhaul


AP

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Thursday declared passage of American health care reform "a miracle" and a major victory for Obama's presidency, but couldn't help chide the United States for taking so long to enact what communist Cuba achieved decades ago.

It perhaps was not the endorsement President Obama and the Democrats in Congress were looking for.

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Thursday declared passage of American health care reform "a miracle" and a major victory for Obama's presidency, but couldn't help chide the United States for taking so long to enact what communist Cuba achieved decades ago.

"We consider health reform to have been an important battle and a success of his (Obama's) government," Castro wrote in an essay published in state media, adding that it would strengthen the president's hand against lobbyists and "mercenaries."

But the Cuban leader also used the lengthy piece to criticize the American president for his lack of leadership on climate change and immigration reform, and for his decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, among many other things.

And he said it was remarkable that the most powerful country on earth took more than two centuries from its founding to approve something as basic as health benefits for all.


"It is really incredible that 234 years after the Declaration of Independence ... the government of that country has approved medical attention for the majority of its citizens, something that Cuba was able to do half a century ago," Castro wrote.

The longtime Cuban leader -- who ceded power to his brother Raul in 2008 -- has continued to pronounce his thoughts on world issues though frequent essays, titled "Reflections," which are published in state newspapers.

Cuba provides free health care and education to all its citizens, and heavily subsidizes food, housing, utilities and transportation, policies that have earned it global praise. The government has warned that some of those benefits are no longer sustainable given Cuba's ever-struggling economy, though it has so far not made major changes.

In recent speeches, Raul Castro has singled out medicine as an area where the government needs to be spending less, but he has not elaborated.

While Fidel Castro was initially positive about Obama, his essays have become increasingly hostile in recent months as relations between Cuba and the United States have soured. Washington has been increasingly alarmed by Cuba's treatment of political dissidents -- one of whom died in February after a long hunger strike.

Cuba was irate over the island's inclusion earlier this year on a list of countries Washington considers to be state sponsors of terrorism. Tensions have also risen following the arrest in December of a U.S. government contractor that Havana accuses of spying.

In Thursday's essay, Castro called Obama a "fanatic believer in capitalist imperialism" but also praised him as "unquestionably intelligent."

"I hope that the stupid things he sometimes says about Cuba don't cloud over that intelligence," he said.
.
.

.

Russian bombers 'intercepted in British airspace

A RAF Tornado below one of the TU-160s


By Barry Neild, CNN

Updated 1611 GMT (0011 HKT) March 25, 2010 12:11 p.m. EDT


London, England (CNN) -- Rare photos of Russian strategic bomber jets purportedly intercepted in British airspace show Moscow's war machine is becoming increasingly bold, analysts said Thursday as Russia denied any territorial violations.

Britain's Ministry of Defence released images it said were taken earlier this month of two Russian Tu-160 bombers -- known as Blackjacks by NATO forces -- as they entered UK airspace near the Outer Hebrides islands off Scotland's northwest coast.

It said the March 10 incident, which resulted in crystal clear images of the planes against clear blue skies and a dramatic sunset, was one of many intercepts carried out by British Royal Air Force crews in just over 12 months.

"This is not an unusual incident, and many people may be surprised to know that our crews have successfully scrambled to intercept Russian aircraft on more than 20 occasions since the start of 2009," Wing Cdr. Mark Gorringe, of the RAF's 111 Squadron, said in a statement.

The RAF said two of its Tornado fighter jets from its base at Leuchars, on Scotland's east coast, were dispatched to tail the Russian Blackjacks as they approached the western Isle of Lewis.

"The Tornados shadowed the Russians as they flew south, then the Blackjacks turned north, just short of the Northern Ireland coast, and eventually left UK airspace," the statement said.

"After four hours, the Tornado crews stood down and returned to Leuchars."

Several of the images show the name Vasily Reshetnikov in Russian lettering near the cockpit of one plane. Reshetnikov was a celebrated Soviet pilot who fought on the Eastern Front in World War II.

Russian military authorities on Thursday confirmed their aircraft had been in the area, but denied any violation of British airspace.

"Our planes fly in strict accordance with the international rules government the use of airspace over neutral waters without violating the borders of foreign countries," Defense Ministry spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Vladimir Drik told CNN.

"The routine flights by the Tu-160 missile carriers took place in accordance with those conditions on March 10. They did not violate British airspace, and objective control materials confirm that."

Experts say regardless of the exact flight paths, the increased sorties by Russian aircrafts in international airspace show Moscow is flexing its muscles as it re-emerges as a global military player.

"Russia is now an oil exporting state so they've got more money to spend on their armed forces after the 1990s when they were bankrupt," defense analyst Tim Ripley told CNN.

Ripley said the increase in air activity began shortly before Russia's brief 2008 territorial skirmish with Georgia, but while it was a clear show of strength, it did not represent sinister intent.

While ties between Russia and the UK have been strained in recent years, Ripley said talks with Washington that look set to result in a new arms control deal were a clearer indication of Moscow's global military outlook.

CNN's Maxim Tkachenko in Moscow, Russia, contributed to this report

..

.,

Documents: Ratzinger Didn’t Discipline Wis. Priest for Sex Abuse



Documents: Ratzinger Didn’t Discipline Wis. Priest for Sex Abuse
Vatican Defends Actions



Updated: Thursday, 25 Mar 2010, 11:56 AM CDT
Published : Thursday, 25 Mar 2010, 11:49 AM CDT

Associated Press

Vatican City - The Vatican on Thursday strongly defended its decision not to defrock an American priest accused of molesting some 200 deaf boys in Wisconsin and denounced what it called a campaign to smear Pope Benedict XVI and his aides.

Church and Vatican documents showed that in the mid-1990s, two Wisconsin bishops urged the Vatican office led by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- now the pope -- to let them hold a church trial against the Rev. Lawrence Murphy. The bishops admitted the trial was coming years after the alleged abuse, but argued that the deaf community in Milwaukee was demanding justice from the church.

Despite the extensive and grave allegations against Murphy, Ratzinger's deputy at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ruled that the alleged molestation had occurred too long ago and that Murphy -- then ailing and elderly -- should instead repent and be restricted from celebrating Mass outside of his diocese.

The official, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone -- now the Vatican's secretary of state -- ordered the church trial halted after Murphy wrote Ratzinger a letter saying he was ill, infirm, and "simply want to live out the time that I have left in the dignity of my priesthood."

The New York Times broke the story Thursday, adding fuel to a swirling scandal about the way the Vatican in general, and Benedict in particular, have handled reports of priests raping children over the years.

On Thursday, a group of clerical abuse victims staged a press conference outside St. Peter's Square in Rome to denounce Benedict's handling of the case and gave reporters church and Vatican documents on the case.

Afterward, Italian police detained four American abuse victims for 2 1/2 hours because they didn't have a permit for the news conference and suggested they get a lawyer in case a judge decided to press charges, the victims said.

"We've spent more time in the police station than Father Murphy did in his life," Peter Isely, the Milwaukee-based director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said after his release.

Speaking at the earlier press conference, Isely called the Murphy case the most "incontrovertible case of pedophilia you could get."

"The goal of Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, was to keep this secret," he said, flanked by photos of other clerical abuse victims and a poster of Ratzinger. "We need to know why he (the pope) did not let us know about him (Murphy) and why he didn't let the police know about him and why he did not condemn him and why he did not take his collar away from him."

The Vatican issued a strong defense in its handling of the Murphy case. The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said there was no cover-up and denounced what it said was a "clear and despicable intention" to strike at Benedict "at any cost."

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, issued a statement noting that the Murphy case had only reached the Vatican in 1996 -- some 20 years after the diocese first learned of the allegations. He also said Murphy died two years later -- in 1998 -- and that there was nothing in the church's handling of the matter that precluded any civil action from being taken against him.

In fact, police did investigate the allegations at the time and never proceeded with a case, Lombardi noted.

Murphy worked at the former St. John's School for the Deaf in St. Francis from 1950 to 1975. His alleged victims were not limited to the deaf boys' school. Donald Marshall, 45, of West Allis, Wisconsin, said he was abused by Murphy when he was a teenager at the Lincoln Hills School, a juvenile detention center in Irma in northern Wisconsin.

"I haven't stepped in a church for some 20 years. I lost all faith in the church," he told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday. "These predators are preying on God's children. How can they even stand up at the pulpit and preach the word of God?"

Church and Vatican documents obtained by two lawyers who have filed lawsuits alleging the Archdiocese of Milwaukee didn't take sufficient action against Murphy show that as many as 200 deaf students had accused him of molesting them, including in the confessional, while he ran the school.

While the documents -- letters between diocese and Rome, notes taken during meetings, and summaries of meetings -- are remarkable in the church officials' repeated desire to keep the case secret, they do suggest an increasingly determined effort by bishops, albeit 20 years later, to heed the despair of the deaf community in bringing a canonical trial against Murphy.

Ratzinger's deputy, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, though, shut the process down after Murphy wrote Ratzinger a letter saying he had repented, was old and ailing, and that the case's statute of limitations had run out.

"I have just recently suffered another stroke which has left me in a weakened state," he wrote Ratzinger. "I have repented of any of my past transgressions, and have been living peaceably in northern Wisconsin for 24 years. I simply want to live out the time that I have left in the dignity of my priesthood."

"I ask your kind assistance in this matter," he wrote the man who would be pope within a decade.

According to the documentation, in July 1996, then-Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland sent a letter seeking advice on how to proceed with Murphy to Ratzinger, who led the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 1981 until 2005, when he was elected pope.

Weakland explained that he was writing because he had only recently learned that the reason Murphy stopped working in 1975 was because he had been accused of soliciting sex in the confessional, one of the gravest sins in canon law.

Weakland received no response from Ratzinger, and in October 1996 convened a church tribunal to hear the case.

In March 1997, Weakland wrote to the Vatican's Apostolic Signatura, essentially the Vatican high court, asking its advice because he feared the statute of limitations on Murphy's alleged crimes might have expired.

Just a few weeks later, Bertone told the Wisconsin bishops to begin secret disciplinary proceedings against Murphy according to 1962 norms concerning soliciting sex in the confessional, according to the documents.

But a year later, Bertone reversed himself, advising the diocese to stop the process after Murphy wrote to Ratzinger. Bertone suggested that Murphy should instead be subject to "pastoral measures destined to obtain the reparation of scandal and the restoration of justice."

The archbishop then handling the case, Bishop Raphael Fliss, objected, saying in a letter to Bertone that "I have come to the conclusion that scandal cannot be sufficiently repaired, nor justice sufficiently restored, without a judicial trial against Fr. Murphy."

Fliss and Weakland then met with Bertone in Rome in May 1988. Weakland informed Bertone that Murphy had no sense of remorse and didn't seem to realize the gravity of what he had done, according to a Vatican summary of the meeting.

But Bertone insisted that there weren't "sufficient elements to institute a canonical process" against Murphy because so much time had already passed, according to the summary. Instead, he said Murphy must be forbidden from celebrating Mass publicly outside his home diocese.

Weakland, likening Murphy to a "difficult" child, then reminded Bertone that three psychologists had determined he was a "typical" pedophile, in that he felt himself a victim.

But Bertone suggested Murphy take a spiritual retreat to determine if he is truly sorry, or otherwise face possible defrocking.

"Before the meeting ended, Monsignor Weakland reaffirmed the difficulty he will have to make the deaf community understand the lightness of these provisions," the summary noted.

The documents contain no response from Ratzinger.

The documents emerged even as the Vatican deals with an ever-widening church abuse scandal sweeping several European countries. Benedict last week issued an unprecedented letter to Ireland addressing the 16 years of church cover-up scandals there. But he has yet to say anything about his handling of a case in Germany known to have developed when, as cardinal, he oversaw the Munich Archdiocese from 1977 to 1982.

Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said in the statement that a lack of more recent allegations was a factor in the decision not to defrock Murphy and noted that "the Code of Canon Law does not envision automatic penalties."

After Murphy was removed from the school in 1974, he went to northern Wisconsin, where he spent the rest of his life working in parishes, schools and, according to one lawsuit, a juvenile detention center.

Previously released court documents show Weakland oversaw a 1993 evaluation of Murphy that concluded the priest likely assaulted up to 200 students at the school.

Weakland resigned as archbishop in 2002 after admitting the archdiocese secretly paid $450,000 to a man who accused him of sexual abuse.



Source: http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/20100325-wisconsin-sex-abuse-vatican

..

Massive right-wing conspiracy? Deja Vu?

It's like deja-vu, allover again!

During this week's news (noose) stories there have been several incidents of intimidation and harassment. Earlier during this week-end's Obamacare marathon, a few congresspeople and other politicians allege that they were heckled by Tea Paty enthusiasts at the Capitol. According to the reports racial slurs were used against Congressional Black Caucus members such as John Lewis (D) of Georgia; Who were called racial epithets and spat upon. Also, Congressman Barney Frank was derided with homophobic insults. Oh, no! All this occurred while these lawmakers were proceeding to vote for the comprehensive overhaul of the U.S. health care system.

After all the celebration from the passing of the transformational law, a few stories surfaced about Democrat Congresspeople fearing retribution for having voted for the bill. Congresswoman Slaughter of New York claims someone threw bricks that broke her office window in Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls, Slowly I turned, step, by step, inch by inch...

Next, a brother of a Congressman from Virginia had his Natural gas line to his stove cut. These incidents were not attributed to vandals, but, to Tea Party members and to right-wing citizens who were sore about losing the Democrat Health Care Overhaul.

Since Tuesday when the Healthcare Law was signed by President Obama, several Democrat Congresspeople state that they have received telephone death threats. The FBI is currently investigating the death threats.

Is this a resurgence of the infamous MASSIVE RIGHT WING CONSPIRACY.

No, not Conspiracies? Here we go again.

Are these Democrats, Conspiracy Theorist Nutjobs?

After bullying their way against the will of the people to impose a fundamentally transformational, whimsical law; Now they are scared?

Is this how the nerds and geeks feel in schools when the bullies constantly harass and assault them? Yet, no one can protect them 24 hours a day. They have no bodyguards. Most of those students have to continue going to the same school at the risk of being bothered over and over again; With the risk of losing their lives eventually.

When the shoe is on the other foot it sure feels strange don't it?

The same "Krewe" that was so bombastic and belligerent on their path to passing this tyrannical - paradigm shifting legislation; Is now paranoid and in fear for their lives?

Dish it out, but, ....

Not for nothing, but, Congressman Erick Cantor (R) of Virginia, has also had shots fired at this office. He believes that it's inexcusable to use the recent "threats" for political gain or attention. ..


Arsenio.
,..

US campaigners for sex abuse victims held after Vatican protest


US campaigners for sex abuse victims held after Vatican protest
Times Online - Richard Owen - ‎1 hour ago‎
Four American campaigners for the victims of clerical sex abuse were this morning detained by police after holding an "unauthorised" demonstration on the edge of St Peter's Square to protest against decades of Church "silence".

Pope Benedict faces child abuse cover-up queries BBC News
Abuse victims demand pope open files on pedophiles Reuters
CNN - The Associated Press - The Guardian - Aljazeera.net
all 986 news articles »
.
.

O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech






Psalm 17


1Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.

2Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.

3Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

4Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.

5Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.

6I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.

7Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.

8Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

9From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

10They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.

11They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;

12Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

13Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

14From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

15As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.


King James Version (KJV)
Public Domain

.

Earthquake Rattles the Philippines


Kelly Heffernan-Tabor Created: 3/25/2010 10:03:18 AM

Updated: 3/25/2010 10:22:00 AM


Manila, Philippines -- A magnitude 6.0 earthquake originating from Mindoro province in the Philippines was felt all the way to the capital, Manila, and its nearby provinces on Thursday.

The tremor stopped people in the busy streets of Manila in the early afternoon and people evacuated buildings. Others stayed in open areas and stayed away from buildings as a precautionary measure.

"I came from the third floor from my office. We felt the tables moving that is why we told everyone to go down and then everyone went down," said company employee Ed Baldoria.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has been constantly monitoring the earthquake from their operation room.

"There was an earthquake of magnitude 6.0 at around 1:29 PM. Essentially; this earthquake was generated by movement along the Manila Trench. This has caused the earthquake that was felt in metro Manila and surrounding provinces. The highest was intensity 5 in Lubang Island and Manila City," said PHILVOLCS Director Renato Solidum.

Although the earthquake that shook Manila was only classified as a "moderate" earthquake by PHILVOLCS seismologist Delfin Garcia, PHILVOLCS staff are still determining if there was any damage in the affected areas.


CBS
.
.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

European Citizens' Initiative for a work-free Sunday

A warm welcome to all European citizens,

please discover our online campaign for the first European Citizens' Initiative


Daring more democracy

Since the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, all European citizens have received a new tool to directly take part in European decision-making. We as European citizens have a say in Europe - also in other ways than only through the EU elections. Due to the European Citizens' Initiative, we can call the EU-Commission for new policy proposals. Let us take this unique chance and make a step forward towards more democracy beyond all partisan politics.

Support the first European Citizens' Initiative for a work-free Sunday in Europe!

The European Citizens´ Initiative


Sunday is for children

"Mum and dad belong to us on Sunday": Nowadays, this slightly changed former German labour union slogan is more up to date than ever before. Many times, especially children suffer from the so-called "flexibilization" of the labour market. Children have a right to their parents and vice versa. We can only protect children, if their parents have time for them. With a free Sunday, there is at least one fixed spare day a week. This is, why we demand a work-free Sunday in Europe.

Sunday - A day like no other
.
.

List of our supporters
Nr. name family name country
12.430 Anna Theodora Gringhuis NL
12.429 Patrick Mercieca MT
12.428 Anita Van Ree NL
12.427 Hubert Langer DE
12.426 Nelleke Keita IE
12.425 Van Ree NL
12.424 Joseph & Barbara Quinn GB
12.423 Martin Mark DE
12.422 Walburga, Sr. Veridiana Duerr DE
12.421 Beate Börger DE
12.420 Ulrich Börger DE
12.419 Michel GRIVOIS FR
12.418 Lothar Lemke DE
12.417 Marja Benders-Molenaar NL
12.416 de Noray jouslin de Noray FR
12.415 Gerrit W. Bok NL
12.414 rainer Johler AT
12.413 Briem DE
12.412 J MALJAARS NL
12.411 Joost Kos NL
12.410 Marijke Kluin NL
12.409 Bernd Hofmann DE
12.408 jeroen vliet NL
12.407 gheorghe buluc RO
12.406 Pavel Eugen Vasilie RO
12.405 Heidi Farrugia NL
12.404 H Tanis NL
12.403 Kees Hendriksen NL
12.402 Ester Trouwborst NL
12.401 Liviu PETRINA RO
12.400 Liviu PETRINA RO
12.399 Bienvenue MALHAIRE FR
12.398 Isabelle MALHAIRE FR
12.397 Bienvenue MALHAIRE FR
12.396 Alastair Attard MT
12.395 J.C. Spaargaren NL
12.394 Hendricus Kramer NL
12.393 Mária Kubovicsová SK
12.392 Gesche Schultheiß DE
12.391 Erik van Hartingsveldt NL
12.390 L. A. Schaap NL
12.389 Sandra Caster NL
12.388 Berníce Berg NL
12.387 Heidi Rothmaier DE
12.386 Pieter Van Werkhoven NL
12.385 JEAN-LOUP KLOECKNER FR
12.384 Frans de Kok NL
12.383 Benjamin Beldman NL
12.382 Janez Rus SI
12.381 Valéria Dujčáková SK
12.380 Alexandra Dujčáková SK
12.379 Nathalie Dayon FR
12.378 Jeffrey Mifsud MT
12.377 M.A. Buitink NL
12.376 Thomas Niebrügge DE
12.375 Huig H.R.de.Kreij NL
12.374 Patrick Meijer NL
12.373 Clemente Luis Rodríguez Grajales ES
12.372 Heemskerk NL
12.371 Thierry Lievens BE
12.370 Reinhold Laux DE
12.369 Petronella Noorlander - Scheppink DE
12.368 Cornelis Noorlander DE
12.367 Claire A FR
12.366 G.A. van Eck GB
12.365 NINA AND CHRIS SANSONE MT
12.364 Simon Hettenkofer DE
12.363 jako beekman NL
12.362 jac post NL
12.361 silva matos SI
12.360 G.H.M. Verhoef Boone NL
12.359 H Verhoef NL
12.358 Jansen NL
12.357 Jansen NL
12.356 carel Van Leeuwen NL
12.355 Noelle Delécrin FR
12.354 laignelot FR
12.353 Jaco Bouwman NL
12.352 Sušnik Janez SI
12.351 Hubertus Dr. Dessloch DE
12.350 Aart van der Hoeven NL
12.349 Hubertus Dr. Dessloch DE
12.348 Krijn van Lienden NL
12.347 Marie Choquet GB
12.346 Jasper Jansen NL
12.345 Nathalie Oboeuf GB
12.344 Bruno FREMONT FR
12.343 Jérôme SAINTON FR
12.342 Stephen Azzopardi MT
12.341 Marie-Christine Koral FR
12.340 Renate Weiß DE
12.339 Wilhelm Schmitz DE
12.338 Henk Jansen NL
12.337 Alain Kautzmann FR
12.336 Manuel Borg MT
12.335 christiane dandurand FR
12.334 Erwin Doll DE
12.333 PASCAL FAGNIEZ FR
12.332 Tim Hovius NL
12.331 Jacobus Hennipman GB
.
.
Source:http://www.free-sunday.eu/en
.
DE (DEUTSCH) :http://www.free-sunday.eu/de

EUROPEAN UNION: APPEAL FOR A WORK-FREE SUNDAY


Wednesday 24 March 2010
14:02 - EUROPEAN UNION: APPEAL FOR A WORK-FREE SUNDAY

(Brussels) – Over 100 MEPs have expressed their support for the conference “Protection of work-free Sunday” which is about to start at the European Parliament with some 350 participants. German MEP Thomas Mann (EPP/CDU), promoter of the conference and vice-president of the Parliamentary Commission for External Affairs, presented today an appeal signed by all parties involved in the event: “The protection of a work-free Sunday – reads the document – is of great importance to the health of workers, for the reconciliation of work and family life and for the life of civil society as a whole. This day of rest contributes to strengthening social cohesion in our societies, a cohesion that is most threatened by the current economic crisis”. The Heads of State or Government who are due to meet tomorrow in Brussels for the Spring Summit are urged to “adamantly resist the increasing economic pressure” and to “commit themselves to protect and promote the work-free Sunday as a pillar of the European social model in their countries’ legislation”. The European Union, for its part, should “effectively strengthen the European social model, as wished for by millions of citizens in Europe”. (continued)


Other news of the day
(abridged)




.