AND THE THIRD ANGEL FOLLOWED THEM, SAYING WITH A LOUD VOICE, IF ANY MAN WORSHIP THE BEAST AND HIS IMAGE, AND RECEIVE HIS MARK IN HIS FOREHEAD, OR IN HIS HAND. *** REVELATION 14:9
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Storm Lashes Northeast With Snow After Icing South
Photo (Courtesy) http://www.livescience.com/43378-naming-winter-storms.html
Brian K. Sullivan, ©2014 Bloomberg News
Published 1:37 pm, Thursday, February 13, 2014
(Corrects “above” to “below” in 14th paragraph.)
Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The winter storm that cut electricity to more than half a million customers across the South and grounded 10,000 flights this week turned its power on the U.S. Northeast, bringing heavy snow from Virginia to Maine.
In Washington, 11 inches (28 centimeters) were reported at American International College, said Carl Erickson, a meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. New York’s Central Park had 9.5 inches by 10:45 a.m. and 12 inches were on the ground in Fort Lee, New Jersey, the National Weather Service said.
At least 14 deaths were blamed on the system as it moved out of the Deep South, the Associated Press reported.
The storm “is going to continue to deepen and strengthen as the day goes on and the snow will expand up through the Boston area up to Maine,” Erickson said. “It looks like there will be a very large swath of 6 to 12 inches from Virginia to Maine.”
The storm contributed to 10,681 flights being canceled across the U.S. in the past three days, said FlightAware, a Houston-based airline tracking service. As of noon New York time, 5,883 flights were scrubbed today.
More than two-thirds of all trips from Washington’s Reagan National Airport were called off, as well as at least half at New York’s LaGuardia, the company said. US Airways, a unit of American Airlines Group Inc., canceled all flights into Charlotte, North Carolina, for the rest of the day.
Power Out
About 610,000 homes and businesses from Arkansas to New Jersey were without power as of 11:30 a.m. New York time, according to utility websites. More than half were in North Carolina and South Carolina. New Jersey and New York utilities reported about 6,000 customers blacked out.
Heavy snow fell in New York, where the weather service increased its forecast to 10 to 16 inches from 8 to 12. The snow was expected to change to sleet and rain later today before beginning again tonight, said Joey Picca, a weather service meteorologist in Upton, New York.
Across western Connecticut, 20 inches may fall and northern New Jersey could get 17, the weather service said.
“We’re looking for more snow to come across the area late this afternoon into the evening and that would give us another few inches,” Picca said.
N.Y. Emergencies
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for New York City, Long Island and the mid-Hudson Valley. He didn’t close roads, as he has done in previous storms, though he urged motorists to stay off them and said there may be shutdowns later.
Cuomo warned residents not to get complacent because of this winter’s frequent snowfalls.
“Don’t get cocky about it, don’t take it casually because any one of them could generate a loss of life,” Cuomo said on a conference call with reporters. “These storms are more frequent and they’re more ferocious.”
New York has had eight days this season with a snowfall of 3 inches or more, the most since 1960-61, according to Weather 2000 Inc. It has also had the most days with maximum temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (zero Celsius).
The snow even shut down the Heraeus Precious Metals Management gold refinery in Newark, New Jersey.
Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport reported 12.3 inches, Erickson said. More than 8 inches fell in Washington, while Philadelphia reported 8.8.
Government offices in Washington closed, and classes were canceled in Philadelphia and Washington.
Icy South
The South is struggling to recover from snow and ice that has been falling there for the past two days. As of 9 a.m., 19 inches were reported in Cherry Grove, West Virginia, 18 in Winchester, Virginia, and 15 in Saluda, North Carolina, according to the U.S. Weather Prediction Center.
A half-inch or more of ice fell across a wide area of central Georgia, including in Augusta and Marietta, the center said. Three inches coated Forest Acres, South Carolina, where the state asked people not to drive until the storm passes.
A half-inch of ice is all that’s needed to bring down a power line, said Rob Carolan, owner of Hometown Forecast Services Inc. in Nashua, New Hampshire.
The precipitation “is starting to wind down over the Southeast,” Carolan said, and should improve starting tomorrow.
The storm also prompted warnings across eastern Canada from Quebec to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, according to Environment Canada. Parts of eastern Quebec may get as much as 20 inches of snow, the weather agency said.
After the system pulls away from the Northeast tomorrow, there is a chance a smaller storm could bring an additional 1 to 3 inches from North Carolina to Washington in two days, Erickson said.
--With assistance from Lynn Doan in San Francisco, Jim Polson in New York, Cheyenne Hopkins in Washington, Duane D. Stanford in Atlanta, Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas, Rebecca Penty in Calgary and Freeman Klopott in Albany. Editors: Charlotte Porter, Richard Stubbe
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net
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Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Georgia, an Unlikely Winter Wonderland, Braces for More Snow
By Reuters
Filed: 2/10/14 at 4:30 PM | Updated: 2/11/14 at 2:29 PM
Two weeks ago a 2 inch snowfall brought the Atlanta area to a halt Mark Makela/Reuters
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Officials across the southeastern United States braced on Monday for a blast of freezing rain, snow and ice, with Georgia's governor advising "extreme caution" and declaring a state of emergency across almost one-third of the state.
The storm is expected to bring a wintry mix to a broad swath of the country stretching from Texas to North Carolina, according to the National Weather Service. It comes two weeks after a 2-inch snowfall brought the Atlanta area to a halt, stranding hundreds of thousands of commuters and leading to intense criticism of local and state officials for failing to prepare.
"Ice is the big danger here," Georgia Governor Nathan Deal told reporters. "We are exercising extreme caution."
Widespread power outages are likely from ice forming on power lines, a problem the state did not face during the storm that hit on January 28.
The amount of ice possible could be "catastrophic," a Georgia Power official told reporters, adding the utility was bringing in extra crews from outside the state.
"The next three days are going to be challenging days," Deal said.
Deal, a Republican up for re-election this year, has admitted the state's response to last month's storm fell short and vowed to take steps to be better prepared.
The governor said he had put the state's National Guard on notice on Sunday that they could be called up to help, and he directed transportation officials to have equipment in place in areas where snow and ice are expected.
The state's new system for notifying residents about hazardous weather is ready and may be used over the next few days, Deal said.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said the city had doubled its ability to salt roads and was coordinating closely with the state and other municipalities after missteps during the previous storm.
"We're going to be in constant contact with the state," Reed said.
Many Atlanta-area school systems announced they would be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Some schools in Mississippi also announced cancellations, and the South Carolina General Assembly session was called off again due to the weather.
The weather service said northeast Georgia and the western Carolinas would experience the heaviest precipitation on Wednesday, with snow accumulations of 6 to 8 inches in the mountains.
The largest ice accumulations were expected along the Interstate-20 corridor from Augusta, Georgia, to Columbia and Florence in South Carolina.
Forecasters said widespread travel delays were likely by mid-week across the region.
Arkansas has replenished its stocks of road salt and was pre-treating possible trouble spots ahead of the storm.
"It's been a rough winter for us this year. There are a lot more winter events that we're used to. In a typical year, we spend $6 million a year on weather and I suspect that we've already eclipsed that," said Randy Ort, a spokesman for the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department.
Two massive searches in the state were going on ahead of the storm, one for a small plane that disappeared with its pilot on January 31 and the other for a woman who jumped into an icy river over the weekend to avoid a jack-knifed truck skidding her way on a frozen road.
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Earthquake of 6.9 magnitude strikes western China
AFP | Feb 12, 2014, 03.16 PM IST
BEIJING: A strong and shallow 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck China's far western region of Xinjiang on Wednesday, but in a sparsely populated area, the US Geological Survey said.
The tremor was only 12.5 kilometres (eight miles) deep but hit about 270 kilometres east-southeast of Hotan, the USGS said, in an extremely remote area.
China's Earthquake Networks Centre gave the magnitude of the afternoon quake as 7.3.
Another tremor of magnitude 5.7 struck five minutes later, five kilometres deep, followed by a series of aftershocks of up to 4.2 magnitude, it said.
"We were at the office at the time and felt strong shaking, the windows were rattling," a reporter in Keriya county near the epicentre told state broadcaster CCTV, adding that few people lived in the mountainous area and there were no reports yet of casualties or damage.
CCTV reported that Hotan was not seriously affected, while several people in the city told AFP they felt less than a minute of shaking.
"The earthquake lasted less than one minute, it was not strong, there are no buildings collapsed," said one resident by phone.
An expert told CCTV that the affected area often experienced earthquakes but was thinly populated, so the impact was likely to be limited.
A previous 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck the same county in March 2008, affecting 40,000 people, destroying 200 homes and causing an overall 10 million yuan ($1.7 million) in damage.
China is regularly hit by earthquakes, especially its mountainous western and southwestern regions.
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake in Sichuan province in the southwest killed about 200 people last April, five years after almost 90,000 people died when a huge tremor struck the same province.
Twin 5.6 and 5.9 magnitude quakes killed at least 95 people in the northwest province of Gansu last July.
But according to the USGS website, there was a 65 percent chance the latest quake had not caused any fatalities. "There is a low likelihood of casualties," it said.
Once a link on the Silk Road, Xinjiang covers 1.7 million square kilometres (660,000 square miles) -- a sixth of China's territory.
It is home to the country's mostly Muslim Uighur minority, and has seen sporadic attacks on police amid complaints by the ethnic group of religious and cultural repression.
Beijing has justified tighter security in the area to stem a separatist movement it claims has links with foreign terrorist groups.
Xinjiang is rich in natural resources, containing roughly 30 per cent of China's onshore oil and gas deposits and 40 per cent of its coal, according to the official website china.org.mtp
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Monastic Life At The Top Of The Charts
EndrTimes:
Yet, another story in a growing trend of National Public Radio (as well as the mainstream media) highlighting and promoting Roman Catholicism...
Voilà:
Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles. Courtesy of the artist
by NPR Staff
February 11, 2014 2:00 AM
Morning Edition
7 min 20 sec
When the sisters of aren't hard at work on the monastery grounds, they're topping the charts with albums of sacred music. The group's topped the Billboard classical charts, and now it's releasing its latest, Lent at Ephesus. Mother Cecilia, prioress of the abbey in rural Missouri and the group's arranger, tells NPR's Renee Montagne, "We're not fabricating anything; this is just music we're pulling from our life, our everyday life."
"We're hard workers," Mother Cecilia says. "We really follow the rules of St. Benedict very closely — his ora et labora, which is 'pray and work.' And we have a small farm. We have a cow to milk twice a day, rain or shine, whether it's 100 degrees or 20 below. And then, of course, the processing of the milk; we make all sorts of dairy products for our table. And, of course, the recreation and our meal times fill up the day."
Mother Cecilia, 10 years prior, played French horn with the Columbus Symphony.
"God's ways are very mysterious, aren't they?" Mother Cecilia asks. "The poet Francis Thompson has termed God 'The Hound of Heaven' in one of his famous poems, and that's the best way I can describe how he was just after me my whole life, since I was a young girl. And for many years, I didn't even really want to think about it or face it, and I think it came out of dormancy with a couple of very profound episodes. One was my exposure to sacred music. ... It just lifted my spirit to God, and made me think on eternal things, up out of the petty things of life."
The success of the album, the profits from which will be used to pay off the abbey's debt and aid in expanding the monastery grounds, has not distracted the sisters from their ora et labora.
"The CDs are something that God has allowed to happen," Mother Cecilia says. "It's a wonderful thing insofar as it brings souls closer to God, and in the meantime helps us pay our debt, but other than that, life just flows along at the priory just the same way it did before. And that's the way we love it; that's the way we want. No tours, no concerts, you know? Just simple monastic life."
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Mass. Suit Aims To Clarify Religious Groups' Latitude In Hiring
by Tovia Smith
February 12, 2014 5:00 AM
Morning Edition
4 min 49 sec
When it comes to hiring pastors and teachers, religious organizations like churches or schools are exempt from most employment discrimination laws. But a lawsuit in Massachusetts wants to clarify how much leeway they have. For example, can they discriminate against people in same-sex marriages for non-religious jobs like gym teacher or cafeteria worker?
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Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Trawl the Net, says Congress report on U.S. security clearances
By Doina Chiacu
WASHINGTON Tue Feb 11, 2014 10:25am EST
The Capitol building is seen before U.S. President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address in front of the U.S. Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington January 28, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Gary Cameron
Related Topics
U.S. »
Politics »
(Reuters) - The U.S. security clearance process that failed to flag former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden and the Washington Navy Yard shooter needs reforms as simple as letting investigators use the Internet and forcing local law enforcement to cooperate, a congressional report said on Tuesday.
The report suggested federal investigators be allowed to tap tools ordinary Americans use to find out about a specific person: Facebook, Twitter and Google.
The Office of Personnel Management's Investigative Handbook, updated in 2007, places an almost blanket restriction on Internet use, it said, but social media and search sites "contain a treasure trove of information about their users".
"Congress should force OPM's investigative practices into the 21st century by allowing investigators to use the Internet and social media sources in particular for the first time," it said.
The report was compiled by the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee and reflected closer government scrutiny of the security clearance process and the contractors who carry it out. The report was released before a committee hearing with key figures in the security process.
It was triggered by last September's killings of 12 people at the Navy Yard. Shooter Aaron Alexis was a Defense Department contract employee who received a "secret" clearance in 2008 despite his involvement in a series of violent incidents and his erratic behavior.
Last month, the Justice Department accused United States Investigations Services, the largest private provider of security checks for the government, of bilking the government of millions of dollars through improper background checks.
USIS vetted both Alexis and Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who disclosed secrets about U.S. government surveillance before taking refuge in Russia.
The House committee report said Congress had a responsibility to determine how Alexis got clearance despite red flags, which included a warning from his mother to his employer that Alexis had "a history of paranoid episodes and most likely needed therapy.
Much of Alexis' background information was not passed on to the adjudicator who granted his clearance, the report said. Specifically, his 2004 arrest was not included in the Office of Personnel Management's background investigative file that went to the Navy, which ultimately granted him clearance twice.
MORE REGULAR CHECKS NEEDED
The committee, led by Republican U.S. Representative Darrell Issa, said legislative fixes it was considering included requiring continuous evaluation of clearances, which now have to be re-evaluated every five or 10 years.
It also proposed giving government greater access to the mental health information of people holding clearances and ensuring local law enforcement offices fulfill their obligation to provide specific information to background investigators.
The report said local police departments are now required by law to cooperate in federal security clearance investigations, but more than 450 offices around the country do not, including New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
The OPM is in charge of background investigations for security clearances for non-intelligence personnel. Information compiled by OPM and its contractors is relayed to the agency that requested clearance, which decides whether to grant it.
In prepared testimony before the committee, OPM Director Katherine Archuleta, who has been in the job three months, said that last week she ordered the quality review process be done only by federal employees, not contract workers.
"We no longer will have contractors participating in our ongoing final federally controlled quality review process," she said.
The Justice Department lawsuit said USIS failed to perform quality control reviews of its background investigations.
The new CEO of USIS, which said it is cooperating with the government, tried to minimize contractors' role.
"It is critical to recognize that USIS and OPM's other contractors have no role in deciding whether an individual actually receives or retains a security clearance," Sterling Phillips said in prepared testimony. "We only collect and report information and we do not even make a recommendation."
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by David Storey and James Dalgleish)
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Over 100 killed in Algerian military plane crash
One report says there was a lone survivor in the Algerian military plane crash. The aircraft involved in the plane crash was built in the US.
By Aomar Ouali, Associated Press / February 11, 2014
Algiers, Algeria
An Algerian military transport slammed into a mountain Tuesday in the country's rugged eastern region. A civil defense official said 102 people on board were killed but one managed to survive.
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition
The US-built C-130 Hercules transport crashed about noon near the town of Ain Kercha, 30 miles southeast of Constantine, the main city in eastern Algeria.
Commander Farid Nechad, who is based in Algiers but was coordinating recovery efforts, told The Associated Press that 103 people including the crew had been on the plane but so far only 55 bodies had been found due to the difficult conditions at the crash site.
He did not give any further details about the survivor except to say the person had been sent to Constantine hospital.
Civil defense officials at the scene told journalists that women and children were among the dead at the snowy crash site. Local reporters said the C-130 plane could be seen broken into three parts.
The plane had taken off from the southern Saharan city of Tamanrasset and was heading to Constantine.
Officials have so far not given an official death toll.
"Unfavorable weather conditions and storms accompanied by snow in the region were behind the crash," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Winds were 17-28 knots at the time, according to the aviation-safety.net website.
The worst plane crash in Algerian history occurred in 2003, when 102 people were killed after a civilian airliner crashed at the end of the runway in Tamanrasset. There was also a single survivor in that crash.
In November 2012, an Algerian military cargo plane crashed in southern France, killing all six people aboard.
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Justice Department will advocate for same-sex couples' rights, Holder says
Faith Compiled by Mark Kellner
Monday, February 10, 2014
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice beginning Monday will instruct its employees nationwide to apply the same protections and privileges to spouses in same-sex marriages as they do to heterosexual marriages, regardless of how a given state might view those relationships.
Addressing the Human Rights Campaign's annual gala in New York City Sunday night, Attorney General Eric Holder said: "This means that, in every courthouse, in every proceeding, and in every place where a member of the Department of Justice stands on behalf of the United States — they will strive to ensure that same-sex marriages receive the same privileges, protections and rights as opposite-sex marriages under federal law."
In practical terms, this would mean same-sex spouses could not be compelled to testify against each other, such couples could jointly file for bankruptcy, and would have the same prison visitation and furlough rights as traditionally married couples now have, reported David Sherfinski in The Washington Times.
Sherfinski also quoted Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., who, speaking on CBS, said the move "appears to be another example of the Obama administration imposing its will on the states. It could be an issue for other states that are having this debate or have made different policy decisions."
Holder said his actions stem from the Windsor decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which in June overturned several sections of the 1993 Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. Earlier, Holder and President Obama said the Justice Department would no longer defend DOMA before the high court, believing the measure to be unconstitutional.
The move drew a positive response from HRC President Chad Griffin, who said in a statement: "This landmark announcement will change the lives of countless committed gay and lesbian couples for the better. While the immediate effect of these policy decisions is that all married gay couples will be treated equally under the law, the long-term effects are more profound."
Those "profound" effects didn't warm the hearts of traditional marriage advocates, however.
"While the Supreme Court's ruling in the Windsor case last summer required the federal government to recognize such unions in states which also recognize them, the Court was conspicuously silent on the status of such couples when they reside in a state which considers them unmarried. The Obama administration's haste to nevertheless recognize such unions in every state actually runs counter to the Windsor decision's emphasis on the federal government's obligation to defer to state definitions of marriage," said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins in a statement released by the group.
Perkins' statement also called for activists to support the State Marriage Defense Act of 2014, introduced by Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas. The bill currently has 51 co-sponsors and was referred to the House Judiciary Committee for action on Jan. 9. Weber's bill would prohibit moves such as those envisioned by Holder in those state that do not recognize same-sex marriages.
Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, released a statement blasting the move: "The American public needs to realize how egregious and how dangerous these usurpations are and how far-reaching the implications can be. The changes being proposed here to a process as universally relevant as the criminal justice system serve as a potent reminder of why it is simply a lie to say that redefining marriage doesn't affect everyone in society."
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Monday, February 10, 2014
Because words matter
By Kira Dault
While she was visiting and speaking at Yale Law School, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor caused some ripples with her use of the term "undocumented immigrants" instead of "illegal alien." (This was not the first time Sotomayor had used the term, but she was asked a direct question about it.) Pundit Laura Ingraham even went so far as to claim that Sotomayor's allegiance was primarily to her "immigrant family," implying that the Supreme Court Justice could not function as an unbiased member of the most powerful court in the country. (As a side note, Sotomayor's family is from Puerto Rico, which makes them United States citizens, and neither illegal nor alien.)
Sotomayor claimed that the term "alien" was insulting, saying, “I think people then paint those individuals as something less than worthy human beings and it changes the conversation,” Sotomayor said. In other words, the term "illegal alien" allows the rest of us to keep our mental distance. If they are both illegal and alien, then why should we care?
The backlash against Sotomayor was hardly surprising, but it is important, even when the difference between "undocumented immigrant" and "illegal alien" seems only a matter of semantics anyway. Words matter. There is a reason that we don't use racial slurs. The words that we use to describe people matter, and it has everything to do with allowing the people we name to be seen and embraced as fully human. This is why it is so important to choose our words carefully.
Immigration reform has been getting a great deal of coverage in this past year, and even though just about everyone seems to think that we need to do something to fix the system, the bill is still stagnated in Congress. But maybe, for those of us not in Congress or in a position to get something done directly, a small change in the words that we use could start to change our attitudes, both about immigration reform and about undocumented persons.
Image: Public domain via Wikimedia.
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The Obamas show their spiritual side at the National Prayer Breakfast
The first couple was joined by Vice President Joe Biden for the annual affair, with USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah slated as the guest speaker.
By Leslie Larson / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Thursday, February 6, 2014, 8:30 AM
Updated: Thursday, February 6, 2014, 10:41 AM
washingtonpost.com
The President and First Lady attend the National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton on Thursday.
President Obama and the First Lady joined thousands from the Washington elite early Thursday for the National Prayer Breakfast, an event that hit a decidedly more spiritual tone in 2014 than the highly politicized spirit at the 2013 occasion.
The first couple was joined by Vice President Joe Biden for the annual affair, with USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah slated as the keynote speaker.
During Obama's message, the President highlighted the peril of those enduring religious persecution worldwide and praised America's commitment to freedom of worship, saying "religion strengthens America."
Obama’s focus on free exercise comes as his administration has been criticized for trumping the right of conscience for religious organizations who object to providing contraception, as mandated by the Affordable Care Act.
Calling the promotion of religious freedom a "key objective" in American foreign policy, he specifically mentioned the lack of freedom for Christians and Tibetan Buddhists in China, and other global spots known to suppress religious practices of the minorities. He also urged North Korea to release Christian missionary Kenneth Bae and for Iran to release pastor Saeed Abedini. Abedini’s wife has expressed her frustration at the State Department’s perceived hesitancy in addressing her husband’s imprisonment.
RELATED: OBAMA'S BOTCHED BIBLE VERSE ACTUALLY HIS FAVORITE
In discussing the State Department's commitment to work on behalf of universal human rights, he offered praise for Secretary of State John Kerry and his work on a Middle East peace deal, saying that the Obama administration will "stand against the ugly tide of anti-Semitism."
Kerry has faced criticism in recent days for alluding to those boycotting Israel in comments at a conference in Germany, earning scorn from Israeli leaders for seemingly legitimizing those in opposition to Israel's policies.
Obama’s speech was preceded by Shah’s message, in which he called on leaders to commit “to end extreme poverty in our lifetime.”
AFP PHOTO/Jewel Samad
In his speech, President Obama stressed the importance of religious freedom worldwide.
Referencing the parable of the Good Samaritan, he said the Biblical story was an example to all “to practice our faith the hard way by serving the least fortunate" and to "prioritize the poor."
The message of religious freedom and protecting the poor marked a vast difference from conservative pundit Dr. Ben Carson’s keynote address at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast. He was criticized by some for using his speech to slam the President's healthcare reform instead of delivering a spiritual message.
RELATED: SUSAN RICE TWEETS DEFENSE OF JOHN KERRY
Gospel singer Yolanda Adams and Christian contemporary artist Steve Green were on hand to serenade the crowd gathered at the Washington Hilton.
“Soul Surfer” author Bethany Hamilton was also among the guests at the head table.
Hamilton read two passages from the New Testament and then shared her story of recovery after she lost her arm in a shark attack as a teenager.
Haitian President Michel Martelly and Albania's President Bujar Nishani attended the event with other world leaders, members of Congress and some of Washington's most celebrated names.
The sitting President has always attended the event since it began 1953.
The event is sponsored by the Fellowship, an elusive Christian group also referred to as the Family. This year's gathering was hosted by Reps. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and Janice Hahn (D-Calif.)
llarson@nydailynews.com
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What You Missed at the National Prayer Breakfast
Scripture, foreign dignitaries, and rare bipartisan unity in Washington
President Barack Obama closes his eyes as a prayer is offered at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Feb. 6, 2014.
Prayers Prayed. Lots. It is a prayer breakfast after all.
Unity Displayed. Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Calif.) and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) co-chaired this year’s breakfast. It’s about the only thing they agree on, and as Gohmert pointed out, it was probably the only time you will ever see Hahn to his right on anything—because that’s where she was seated.
Foreign Dignitaries Present. President of Albania Bujar Nishani and President of Haiti Michel Martelly. Martelly has a bilateral meeting with Obama in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon.
Scripture Read. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) read the famous “for everything there is a season, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to weep and a time to laugh…a time to love, a time to hate” passage from the Hebrew text of Ecclesiastes. Bethany Hamilton, an evangelical surfer who lost her left arm to a shark, read the Good Samaritan passage from the gospel of Luke and Paul’s letter to the Ephesians about how wide and long and deep and high the love of Christ is.
Best lines: Ray LaHood, Obama’s former Secretary of Transportation, got the first giant smile from the president with his crack, “Louie Gohmert has been transformed…let’s hope this miracle continues beyond the 9:30 hour.” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), noted how it is much easier to overcome partisan fights in Congress when you are holding hands praying and singing. Keynote speaker Rajiv Shah, the USAID Administrator, told of how his car got stuck in the mud when he was visiting Ethiopia with Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.). The senator, Shah said, suggested that “everyone under 70 should get out and push,” leaving Shah “covered in mud again because of Congress.”
Most Poignant Moment. Shah sobered up the house with a story of his trip to a Somali refugee camp with Jill Biden two years ago. They met a mother who, desperate to escape the famine, alternated carrying each of her two children until they all became so weak and she knew she could only carry one. “She looked down at her two children and she said a prayer—then she made the excruciating decision to leave one of them behind so she could save the other,” he recalled. “Were they somehow lesser than our sons and daughters? Did their fathers love them less? Did their mothers? Did God?” Let that one sink in.
Noticeably Absent. Talk of immigration reform. Health care. Little Sisters of the Poor. Immigration reform. Health care. Hobby Lobby.
Name Dropped. By the president: Kenneth Bae, American missionary held captive in North Korea since October, and US pastor Saeed Abedini, Idaho pastor imprissoned in Iran for 18 months. By Shah: Pope Francis, for shining a “bright light” on poverty.
Mystery Policy. Obama’s “men of color” mentorship initiative line from the State of the Union popped up again.
Noted. Obama wanted to clarify that his surfing is not very good. Body surfing, he explained, was more his specialty.
Over and out until next year.
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A voice crying in the wilderness
The Jesuits and Syria
Feb 10th 2014, 13:01 by B.C.
AS I have written in previous postings, the Society of Jesus pops up in the most unlikely places, from the battle zones of Latin America to the radiated ruins of Hiroshima and even (since the election last year of the first Jesuit pope) at the apex of ecclesiastical power. Long regarded as the brainiest and most culturally adventurous arm of the Catholic church, many Jesuits have stood out for their willingness to go to the edge—of civilisational fault-lines or of battle-lines in a physical sense.
The latest reminder of that comes from the besieged Syrian city of Homs, where an operation to relieve the suffering of trapped civilians has been in progress, under cover of a very patchy ceasefire. A complex diplomatic game had to be played in recent days in order to let this limited mission proceed; but before the diplomacy even started, a big part in alerting world opinion to the plight of people in Homs was played by an elderly Dutch Jesuit, Father Frans van der Lugt, who spoke to the world from the embattled city centre in a shaky video clip. Speaking in Arabic, he said:
Christians and Muslims are going through a difficult and painful time and we are faced with many problems. The greatest of these is hunger. People have nothing to eat. There is nothing more painful than watching mothers searching for food for children in the streets...I will not accept that we die of hunger. I do not accept that we drown in a sea of hunger, letting the waves of death drag us under. We love life, we want to live. And we do not want to sink in a sea of pain and suffering.
Prior to the emergence of the film-clip, Father van der Lugt's Dutch colleagues had been out of direct contact with him for a few months, and they were worried about him. A trained psychotherapist who is now in his 70s, he has been living in the Middle East since 1966. In the 1980s he set up an agricultural project outside Homs where young people with mental health problems could work. At an earlier stage in the current war, many Christians left the city after rebel forces moved in; he chose to stay, telling objectors that "I am the shepherd of my flock". He is said to be the last European living in the heart of the city, now besieged by government forces. In a documentary to be shown by a Dutch TV channel this week, the courageous Jesuit's friends and family speak of their fears for his life and their respect for the defiant choices he has made.
Concern over Father van der Lugt's safety became particularly acute after the disappearance of last July of the best-known Jesuit in Syria, Father Paolo dall'Oglio. The Italian priest was kidnapped in rebel-held territory and his fate is unknown, although he was said by a senior opposition figure to have been killed by his captors.
A Jesuit spokesman, Jan Stuyt, told the Dutch press (link in Dutch) that the filmed message from Father van der Lugt seemed like a genuine expression of his feelings and had not been made under duress. But the spokesman also sounded a note of caution about the evacuation of civilians from Homs, a concern that is being aired in other Dutch circles. His experience in the war zones of ex-Yugoslavia told him that "it can be dangerous to separate men from women". As is recalled by many people in the Netherlands (where embarrassment over the failure of a Dutch UN contingent to stop the Srebrenica massacre is still acute), taking certain non-combatants out of the firing line can sometimes enable an attacker to act with even greater ruthlessness.
But whatever the military interests of besiegers or defenders, the world is compelled to pay attention when a man who could easily be living in comfortable Dutch retirement tells the world that he and the people around him are sinking in a sea of pain.
Source
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No excuses for priestly child abuse
Photo (Courtesy) http://www.expressnews.com/news/religion/article/U-N-report-accuses-Vatican-of-protecting-priests-5209266.php
By James Carroll | Globe Columnist
February 10, 2014
ON THE QUESTION of how far papal authority extends, the canon law of the Catholic Church could not be clearer: “The vicar of Christ. . . possesses full, immediate, and universal ordinary power in the Church, which he is always able to exercise freely.” (Can. 331) Note that canon law does not say, “except in cases of priestly sex abuse of children.” Canon law does not say that priests and bishops are independent contractors. Canon law does not say that what happens in Catholic parishes and dioceses around the world has nothing to do with Rome. In fact, another canon reads, “By virtue of his office, the Roman pontiff not only possesses power over the universal church, but also obtains the primacy of ordinary power over all particular churches and groups of them.” (Can. 333)
How to square that sweeping papal power with the shameless dodge put forward by the Holy See in this era of church disgrace — the claim that, when it comes to protecting children from abuse, the Roman Catholic Church is legally responsible only to safeguard those living in the confines of Vatican City, a tiny city-state that would fit inside New York’s Central Park eight times? Washing the Vatican’s hands of broader responsibility for the staggering transnational accumulation of rapes by priests, and systematic enabling of those rapes by bishops, a Vatican spokesman said, “When individual institutions of national churches are implicated, that does not regard the competence of the Holy See . . . The competence of the Holy See is at the level of the Holy See.”
Last week, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child mocked that claim by issuing a scathing indictment of Catholic child abuse, laying full responsibility at the feet of the pope himself. The committee, investigating priestly abuse under the authority of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which the Vatican is a signatory, reminded the Holy See that “by ratifying the convention it has committed itself to implementing the convention not only on the territory of the Vatican City state, but also as the supreme power of the Catholic Church through individuals and institutions placed under its authority.” The UN committee, that is, upholds canon law better than the Vatican does.
The pope’s men, including squads of lawyers who deny that offending priests and bishops are “employees” and insist that the pope as a sovereign head of state is immune from lawsuits, are obviously seeking to fend off the threat of multinational litigation that could saddle the Vatican with billions of dollars in liabilities. So far, courts have mostly sided with the Holy See.
But the Vatican strategy has come at a terrible moral cost. Once again, protection of church power and possessions is trumping the profound moral obligation to reckon with the truth of what is still happening in the Catholic Church. And now comes this next lie — the ridiculous assertion that the pope does not exercise full and complete authority over priests and bishops. When parishioners fight the closure of beloved churches, they appeal to Rome. When English-speaking Catholics are directed to say at Mass that Jesus died for “many” instead of for “all,” the fiat comes from Rome. “The competence of the Holy See” is exercised at every level of church life everywhere.
Protection of church power is trumping the obligation to reckon with the truth of what is still happening.
The UN report is so blistering because the committee clearly concludes that, despite a Vatican official’s assertion that the church “gets it,” the hierarchy still does not understand the urgency of protecting children. The Holy See hides behind reporting law loopholes that exist in many nations. It still does not hold to account the abuse-enabling bishops, a failure permanently on display in the honors accorded to cover-up icon Cardinal Bernard Law. And the UN commission, surprisingly impolitic, properly calls attention to the broader culture of Catholic sexual repressiveness — “barriers and taboos” — because it is the source of what endangers children. Vatican push-back in the name of “religious freedom” misses the point, and deflects the core UN indictment.
Pope Francis has appointed a Commission for the Protection of Minors, and the UN urges that it be independently empowered and fully transparent. Francis has generated enormous hope for a new day in the Catholic Church, but on the abuse question he has miles to go. The message from the United Nations is that the world is more appalled by Catholic crimes than defensive church officials are. If the church does not address those crimes, others will. James Carroll writes regularly for the Globe.
Source
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By James Carroll | Globe Columnist
February 10, 2014
ON THE QUESTION of how far papal authority extends, the canon law of the Catholic Church could not be clearer: “The vicar of Christ. . . possesses full, immediate, and universal ordinary power in the Church, which he is always able to exercise freely.” (Can. 331) Note that canon law does not say, “except in cases of priestly sex abuse of children.” Canon law does not say that priests and bishops are independent contractors. Canon law does not say that what happens in Catholic parishes and dioceses around the world has nothing to do with Rome. In fact, another canon reads, “By virtue of his office, the Roman pontiff not only possesses power over the universal church, but also obtains the primacy of ordinary power over all particular churches and groups of them.” (Can. 333)
How to square that sweeping papal power with the shameless dodge put forward by the Holy See in this era of church disgrace — the claim that, when it comes to protecting children from abuse, the Roman Catholic Church is legally responsible only to safeguard those living in the confines of Vatican City, a tiny city-state that would fit inside New York’s Central Park eight times? Washing the Vatican’s hands of broader responsibility for the staggering transnational accumulation of rapes by priests, and systematic enabling of those rapes by bishops, a Vatican spokesman said, “When individual institutions of national churches are implicated, that does not regard the competence of the Holy See . . . The competence of the Holy See is at the level of the Holy See.”
Last week, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child mocked that claim by issuing a scathing indictment of Catholic child abuse, laying full responsibility at the feet of the pope himself. The committee, investigating priestly abuse under the authority of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which the Vatican is a signatory, reminded the Holy See that “by ratifying the convention it has committed itself to implementing the convention not only on the territory of the Vatican City state, but also as the supreme power of the Catholic Church through individuals and institutions placed under its authority.” The UN committee, that is, upholds canon law better than the Vatican does.
The pope’s men, including squads of lawyers who deny that offending priests and bishops are “employees” and insist that the pope as a sovereign head of state is immune from lawsuits, are obviously seeking to fend off the threat of multinational litigation that could saddle the Vatican with billions of dollars in liabilities. So far, courts have mostly sided with the Holy See.
But the Vatican strategy has come at a terrible moral cost. Once again, protection of church power and possessions is trumping the profound moral obligation to reckon with the truth of what is still happening in the Catholic Church. And now comes this next lie — the ridiculous assertion that the pope does not exercise full and complete authority over priests and bishops. When parishioners fight the closure of beloved churches, they appeal to Rome. When English-speaking Catholics are directed to say at Mass that Jesus died for “many” instead of for “all,” the fiat comes from Rome. “The competence of the Holy See” is exercised at every level of church life everywhere.
Protection of church power is trumping the obligation to reckon with the truth of what is still happening.
The UN report is so blistering because the committee clearly concludes that, despite a Vatican official’s assertion that the church “gets it,” the hierarchy still does not understand the urgency of protecting children. The Holy See hides behind reporting law loopholes that exist in many nations. It still does not hold to account the abuse-enabling bishops, a failure permanently on display in the honors accorded to cover-up icon Cardinal Bernard Law. And the UN commission, surprisingly impolitic, properly calls attention to the broader culture of Catholic sexual repressiveness — “barriers and taboos” — because it is the source of what endangers children. Vatican push-back in the name of “religious freedom” misses the point, and deflects the core UN indictment.
Pope Francis has appointed a Commission for the Protection of Minors, and the UN urges that it be independently empowered and fully transparent. Francis has generated enormous hope for a new day in the Catholic Church, but on the abuse question he has miles to go. The message from the United Nations is that the world is more appalled by Catholic crimes than defensive church officials are. If the church does not address those crimes, others will. James Carroll writes regularly for the Globe.
Source
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Montana Catholic diocese files for bankruptcy amid 362 sex abuse claims
The diocese of Helena filed for bankruptcy in advance of a proposed $15 million settlement for victims of clergy sex abuse. Bishop Georg Leo Thomas apologized to the victims, while maintaining that most of the accused clergymen have died.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: Friday, January 31, 2014, 3:58 PM
Updated: Wednesday, February 5, 2014, 3:37 PM
Published: Friday, January 31, 2014, 3:58 PM
Updated: Wednesday, February 5, 2014, 3:37 PM
JON EBELT/AP
Bishop George Thomas, right, apologized to the victims in a statement. He said most clergy members who were credibly accused have died, and none remain in active ministry.
HELENA, Mont. — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena filed for bankruptcy protection Friday as part of a proposed $15 million settlement for hundreds of victims who say clergy members sexually abused them over decades while the church covered it up.
The Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan comes after confidential mediation sessions with the plaintiffs' attorneys and insurers, resulting in a proposed deal to resolve the abuse claims, diocese officials said.
Bishop George Leo Thomas expressed "his profound sorrow" and apologized to the victims in a news conference.
"I know the pain is real, the pain is in the present tense, and in the name of the church, I want to say I'm sorry and we're sorry as a church," Thomas said.
RELATED: POPE BENEDICT DEFROCKED 400 PRIESTS OVER TWO YEARS
The $15 million "will at least be a beginning point for people who are seeking resolution in their lives and in their hearts," he added.
In addition to the money, the diocese must publicly apologize, publish the names of clergy members who have been credibly accused of abuse, offer to meet with abuse survivors, provide victim counseling and reinforce its policies and procedures to prevent abuse, plaintiffs' attorneys said.
The diocese already has set up abuse-prevention programs, including worker screenings, a claims-review board and a hotline to report abuse.
The settlement details are being worked out, but the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Montana would be responsible for approving and supervising the disbursement of $15 million to compensate the 362 victims identified in the two lawsuits.
RELATED: U.N. COMMITTEE CRITICIZES VATICAN FOR ALLEGEDLY ENABLING CHILD SEX ABUSE
In addition, at least $2.5 million will be set aside for victims who come forward later, according to the diocese.
The church anticipates paying that $2.5 million, with the rest paid by insurers.
The victims and creditors will have the chance to vote on the proposed settlement, diocese officials said.
Church officials are planning to pay the diocese's share of the settlement with cash, though they may have to sell some property in the future, Thomas said.
RELATED: CATHOLIC OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF COVERING UP ABUSE TO BE FREED FROM JAIL
The diocese was in a precarious financial position before the lawsuits were filed, and a reorganization was already likely, he said.
Court documents filed Friday show the diocese has estimated assets between $1 million and $10 million, and estimated liabilities between $10 million and $50 million.
Molly Howard, an attorney for the plaintiffs in one of the lawsuits, said she believes the bankruptcy process will resolve the case more quickly than years of litigation and trials with uncertain outcomes.
"Given the age and ill health of many of the victims, this is in their best interest," Howard said.
Bishop George Thomas, right, apologized to the victims in a statement. He said most clergy members who were credibly accused have died, and none remain in active ministry.
HELENA, Mont. — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena filed for bankruptcy protection Friday as part of a proposed $15 million settlement for hundreds of victims who say clergy members sexually abused them over decades while the church covered it up.
The Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan comes after confidential mediation sessions with the plaintiffs' attorneys and insurers, resulting in a proposed deal to resolve the abuse claims, diocese officials said.
Bishop George Leo Thomas expressed "his profound sorrow" and apologized to the victims in a news conference.
"I know the pain is real, the pain is in the present tense, and in the name of the church, I want to say I'm sorry and we're sorry as a church," Thomas said.
RELATED: POPE BENEDICT DEFROCKED 400 PRIESTS OVER TWO YEARS
The $15 million "will at least be a beginning point for people who are seeking resolution in their lives and in their hearts," he added.
In addition to the money, the diocese must publicly apologize, publish the names of clergy members who have been credibly accused of abuse, offer to meet with abuse survivors, provide victim counseling and reinforce its policies and procedures to prevent abuse, plaintiffs' attorneys said.
The diocese already has set up abuse-prevention programs, including worker screenings, a claims-review board and a hotline to report abuse.
The settlement details are being worked out, but the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Montana would be responsible for approving and supervising the disbursement of $15 million to compensate the 362 victims identified in the two lawsuits.
RELATED: U.N. COMMITTEE CRITICIZES VATICAN FOR ALLEGEDLY ENABLING CHILD SEX ABUSE
In addition, at least $2.5 million will be set aside for victims who come forward later, according to the diocese.
The church anticipates paying that $2.5 million, with the rest paid by insurers.
The victims and creditors will have the chance to vote on the proposed settlement, diocese officials said.
Church officials are planning to pay the diocese's share of the settlement with cash, though they may have to sell some property in the future, Thomas said.
RELATED: CATHOLIC OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF COVERING UP ABUSE TO BE FREED FROM JAIL
The diocese was in a precarious financial position before the lawsuits were filed, and a reorganization was already likely, he said.
Court documents filed Friday show the diocese has estimated assets between $1 million and $10 million, and estimated liabilities between $10 million and $50 million.
Molly Howard, an attorney for the plaintiffs in one of the lawsuits, said she believes the bankruptcy process will resolve the case more quickly than years of litigation and trials with uncertain outcomes.
"Given the age and ill health of many of the victims, this is in their best interest," Howard said.
Ron Zellar/AP
The Cathedral of St. Helena is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Diocese in Helena, Montana. The diocese doesn’t expect to have to liquidate any assets or close programs because of the bankruptcy filing.
RELATED: EX-PRIEST HEADS TO CANADA COURT OVER INUIT SEX ABUSE
The Helena diocese is the 11th in the nation to seek bankruptcy protection in the face of sex-abuse claims.
David Clohessy, the executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, criticized the diocese for seeking bankruptcy protection, saying it will allow church officials to keep records closed that might have come out in a trial.
He also said the settlement falls short because it does not publicly name the church officials who shielded and protected predator clergy members.
"Those individuals have to be exposed and punished," Clohessy said.
RELATED: LOS ANGELES CATHOLIC CHURCH SEX ABUSE FILES RELEASED
Thomas said in response that church officials will comb their records to see if there were "intentional failures of leadership." But the records from the time of the abuse are incomplete, he said.
The two lawsuits filed in 2011 claim clergy members groomed and then abused the children from the 1940s to the 1970s. They claim the diocese shielded the offenders and knew or should have known the threat they posed to children.
The plaintiffs, the diocese and the Ursuline Sisters of the Western Province, another defendant, began mediation talks in 2012, but the talks faltered with legal challenges by the church's insurers over the claims they are obligated to cover.
A court hearing was scheduled for Friday ahead of the first civil trials, which were to begin in March. Howard said she expects the court proceedings will be suspended.
RELATED: CHURCH SLOW ON PUNISHING PRIESTS, NOT ON SAVING $57M
The diocese's territory covers all or part of 23 counties in western Montana and employs about 200 people in its parishes, schools and social-service programs. It was created in 1884, five years before Montana became a state, and covered the entire state until the Diocese of Great Falls was formed in 1904, according to the Helena diocese's website.
The Diocese of Great Falls-Billings now covers the eastern half of Montana.
Most clergy members who were accused in the lawsuits have died, and none remains in active ministry, diocese officials said.
In one of the lawsuits, the plaintiffs said they were repeatedly raped, fondled or forced to perform sex acts while at school, on the playground, on camping trips or at the victims' homes.
The second lawsuit, filed a week after the first in 2011, includes 95 of the 362 plaintiffs and contains similar allegations against priests, but also alleged that nuns at the Ursuline Academy in St. Ignatius abused dozens of Native American children.
The Ursulines are not part of the proposed settlement, the diocese said.
Blaine Tamaki, the plaintiffs' attorney in that lawsuit, said the case against the Ursulines will proceed to its July date.
Tom Johnson, an attorney for the Ursulines, acknowledged the sides were still far apart in negotiations, but that the order intends to either settle or file for bankruptcy on its own.
The Cathedral of St. Helena is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Diocese in Helena, Montana. The diocese doesn’t expect to have to liquidate any assets or close programs because of the bankruptcy filing.
RELATED: EX-PRIEST HEADS TO CANADA COURT OVER INUIT SEX ABUSE
The Helena diocese is the 11th in the nation to seek bankruptcy protection in the face of sex-abuse claims.
David Clohessy, the executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, criticized the diocese for seeking bankruptcy protection, saying it will allow church officials to keep records closed that might have come out in a trial.
He also said the settlement falls short because it does not publicly name the church officials who shielded and protected predator clergy members.
"Those individuals have to be exposed and punished," Clohessy said.
RELATED: LOS ANGELES CATHOLIC CHURCH SEX ABUSE FILES RELEASED
Thomas said in response that church officials will comb their records to see if there were "intentional failures of leadership." But the records from the time of the abuse are incomplete, he said.
The two lawsuits filed in 2011 claim clergy members groomed and then abused the children from the 1940s to the 1970s. They claim the diocese shielded the offenders and knew or should have known the threat they posed to children.
The plaintiffs, the diocese and the Ursuline Sisters of the Western Province, another defendant, began mediation talks in 2012, but the talks faltered with legal challenges by the church's insurers over the claims they are obligated to cover.
A court hearing was scheduled for Friday ahead of the first civil trials, which were to begin in March. Howard said she expects the court proceedings will be suspended.
RELATED: CHURCH SLOW ON PUNISHING PRIESTS, NOT ON SAVING $57M
The diocese's territory covers all or part of 23 counties in western Montana and employs about 200 people in its parishes, schools and social-service programs. It was created in 1884, five years before Montana became a state, and covered the entire state until the Diocese of Great Falls was formed in 1904, according to the Helena diocese's website.
The Diocese of Great Falls-Billings now covers the eastern half of Montana.
Most clergy members who were accused in the lawsuits have died, and none remains in active ministry, diocese officials said.
In one of the lawsuits, the plaintiffs said they were repeatedly raped, fondled or forced to perform sex acts while at school, on the playground, on camping trips or at the victims' homes.
The second lawsuit, filed a week after the first in 2011, includes 95 of the 362 plaintiffs and contains similar allegations against priests, but also alleged that nuns at the Ursuline Academy in St. Ignatius abused dozens of Native American children.
The Ursulines are not part of the proposed settlement, the diocese said.
Blaine Tamaki, the plaintiffs' attorney in that lawsuit, said the case against the Ursulines will proceed to its July date.
Tom Johnson, an attorney for the Ursulines, acknowledged the sides were still far apart in negotiations, but that the order intends to either settle or file for bankruptcy on its own.
.
The Real Purpose Behind the Celebration Movement
Last updated :
February 12, 2003
Inculturation:
Malachi Martin explains it like this:
"The idea was to adapt so severely to the culture of the alien (one who was not a Catholic) that the missionary would acquire the mind of that culture, and would revamp both doctrine and moral practice to fit that alien culture." - The Jesuits, Malachi Martin.
This actually means that the Jesuit would try to be as much like the people in the particular group that he was seeking to win over to his side-as he could. But all the while, he was sneaking in Catholic doctrines, little by little, until the church or group became Catholic in their thinking-without even realizing it! This is one of the tactics that the Jesuits are notorious for.
Acculturation:
In this way, they believe, people will feel "comfortable" in the Catholic church and perhaps eventually join the catholic faith. For instance, Malachi Martin, former Jesuit, tells of how in some Catholic churches now they have coffee afterwards for "socialization time". Their bands play "Blues music-using trombones, kazoos, saxophones and top it off with drums to add a rhythmic foundation." - The Encounter, Malachi Martin.
And a Catholic priest, Andrew Greeley, tells a story of how things have changed in the Catholic church, for the purpose of enlarging their congregations:
"In many new Catholic churches, statutes, the stations (of the cross), and the stained glass windows have either been swept away or reduced to the diagrams or abstractions that would not offend the most fundamental protestant. Reverence and awe have been replaced by often cloying informality; solemnity by 'letting it all hang out' manners. Great music has been replaced by bad pseudo-folk music... As part of the final phase of our acculturation into American life, it became appropriate to abandon the whole mess, to... eliminate the mysteries and the medals, the invocations and the pieties, the blessings and the rosaries, the May crownings and the mumbo jumbo." - How to Save the Catholic Church, Andrew Greeley.
Then we see people in our own Adventist churches complaining because some of our churches have adapted by doing the Eucharist, selling rosaries in our hospitals, doing the stations of the cross... then there is the celebration movement.
I'll come back if I can and explain that tie-in to you, and what it is they are 'REALLY' celebrating and the incorporation of the Charismatic Movement into the churches.
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Celebration Part 2
I have done extensive research on the subject.
In the book "How to Save the Catholic Church" by Andrew Greeley, the word "celebration" used over and over. First we need to understand that EG White warned that the Alpha of the pantheism in our own church would wax worse and worse into the omega, and that few would recognize this spiritualism for what it really was- in the various forms it would take.
"...the natural world is a sign of God, not merely because God created it, but because God, somehow actually is IN it." How to Save the Catholic Church, pg. 40.
"The catholic religious imagination says that God lurks in every place." - Ibid. pg. 43.
Just like the Baal worshippers of old, the Catholic church (whose teachings were adopted from the ancient mystery religion of Babylon, by the way) sees God in all of nature. "...in the sticks and stones, the sky and the stars, the caves, the dances, in conception, birth, growth, and death... God is still there-not totally encompassed by these material realities but nonetheless totally present in and among them." How to Save the Catholic Church, pg. 48.
Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order, believed that one could see God in all things, and spent much of his time trying to do just that. You see, the Catholic church believes that because God supposedly is "in" everything... that this means that everything is something to "celebrate". In fact, when explaining what a true catholic who understands his religion would say if you ask him what his religion means:
"...it means that God loves us and celebrates our life with us and comes to be with us and our families as we celebrate the passage of life and the fact of His love." Ibid. pg. 80,81.
Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (who's ideas were said by Malachi Martin to be what was behind the idea of Vatican II) believed in the evolution of humankind towards the "Ultra Human"... He taught that all things were progressing toward perfect unity, until there was "The Omega Cosmic (pantheistic) Christ" which meant that all of mankind together was "God".
Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, page 364, "Rapidly are men ranging themselves under the banner they have chosen, restlessly waiting and watching the movements of their leaders. There are those who are watching and waiting and working for our Lord's appearing; while the other party are rapidly falling into line under the generalship of the first great apostate. They look for a god in humanity, and Satan personifies the one they seek. [b]Multitudes will be so deluded through their rejection of truth that they will accept the counterfeit. Humanity is hailed as God.[/b]"
Two more quotes and I think you will get the picture:
"The Catholic theologian Richard Mc Brien says, 'The Catholic vision sees God in and through all things: other people, communities, movements, events, places, objects, the world at large, the whole cosmos.... all these are potential carriers of the Divine Presence.." How to Save the Catholic Church, pg. 41.
From the Trappist Monk, Thomas Merton:
"Celebration is not noise. It is not just a spinning head. it is not just individual kicks. it is the creation of a common identity, a common consciousness. Celebration is everybody making joy..."
The Celebration Movement has to do really with creating a common identity, where everyone in all churches are doing the same thing, together. EG White identified pantheism with Theosophy, which is known as the New Age Movement. Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin was known as "Father of the modern New Age Movement".
In the same year the World Council of Church's Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry Document was agreed to by our SDA leadership... The entire SDA 1982 Collegiate Quarterly was put out for all our college and university students to study. The general idea throughout this quarterly was that we, as SDAs need to realize that basically all religions are the same and we ought to rejoice in our common identity with them. (sounds just like Teilhard, doesnt it?) What do you know? I was looking through this quarterly and lets look at pg. 62...
Art Esposito, 'chairman of the Modern Language Department and director of the English Language Institute at Atlantic Union College' [b] tells us how to achieve our 'unique centre of exaltation' -through the creative forces within us. (just so you know, he just told us we need to find the "God within ourselves). And then he goes on to explain that neither you nor I can really know much about God -until we associate with those around us... so lets read now from -pg 62 of this Collegiate quarterly at what Art Esposito has to say:
"Obviously, however, this knowledge can only be shared if possessed. And just here lies a problem: There are as many different views of God as there are individual human beings. [b] As the French theologian philosopher PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN[b] puts it in his book The Divine Milieu: 'We must never lose sight of it: just as in the experimental zones of the world, men, wrapped up as they are in the universe, each represent in relation to that universe an independent centre of perspective and activity (so that there are as many partial universes as there are individuals), just so in the area of heavenly realities, [b]so filled we are with the same creative and redemptive force that each constitutes a unique centre of exaltation (so that there are as many partial conceptions of God as there are Christian souls.' An individual's conception of God is relative to his or her position in the universe. One's God is never the ultimate, but always part and incomplete.
However, it is possible to enter into communion with a "more complete God' by interrelating with others. But of course our total knowledge of God is limited by the variety of people with whom we interrelate."
Just so you know In case you didn't realize-we were just told by Esposito that we need to learn about God from Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin... and that we cannot have a true picture of God will we realize we are all parts of God and that if we ecumenize with other churches, we will then realize what the complete Omega God is.
Our SDA Ministry Magazine, the official magazine for our SDA ministers had on its cover... a picture of the second coming of Christ called "The Return of the Cosmic King" ... (that term means the New Age Cosmic Christ).
Matthew Fox, former Dominican Priest heartily endorses Teilhard's Cosmic Christ". He even has his own witch on his staff, Miriam Starhawk who is the most well known Wiccan Witchcraft propagandist...
"At a recent summer workshop on creation spirituality in North Carolina there were not only Roman Catholics and Quakers, Anglicans and Methodists, but Southern Baptists [b]and Seventh-Day Adventists." - Matthew Fox, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, pg. 239.
By the way, Wiccan Witches over and over use the word "celebration" in their literature... they say every event in life is a celebration too. EG White in Great Controversy said spiritualism IS witchcraft and has "invaded churches".
I hope you are getting the picture of what the Celebration Movement is all about?
Claudia Thompson
PO Box 502
Stewartstown PA 17363
Source
Saturday, February 08, 2014
"The Advent Movement" by Maurice Berry

Remnant SDA Church
Published on Jan 12, 2014
"The Advent Movement"
Sermon by Maurice Berry
Vesper Service: January 10, 2014
"Tried By The Fire" Meetings
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Be Not Decieved - Bill Hughes
Bill Hughes - Be Not Decieved

Jesus is going to win
Published on Jan 18, 2014
No description available.
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Be Not Deceived, Deluded, Occupied or Entranced
October 20, 2013
CHRIST is coming with clouds and with great glory. A multitude of shining angels will attend Him. He will come to raise the dead, and to change the living saints from glory to glory. He will come to honor those who have loved Him, and kept His commandments, and to take them to Himself. He has not forgotten them nor His promise. There will be a relinking of the family chain. When we look upon our dead, we may think of the morning when the trump of God shall sound, when “the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Cor. 15:52. A little longer, and we shall see the King in His beauty. A little longer, and He will wipe all tears from our eyes. A little longer, and He will present us “faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” Jude 24. Wherefore, when He gave the signs of His coming He said, “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
As It Was In Noah’s Day…
But the day and the hour of His coming Christ has not revealed. He stated plainly to His disciples that He Himself could not make known the day or the hour of His second appearing. Had He been at liberty to reveal this, why need He have exhorted them to maintain an attitude of constant expectancy? There are those who claim to know the very day and hour of our Lord’s appearing. Very earnest are they in mapping out the future. But the Lord has warned them off the ground they occupy. The exact time of the second coming of the Son of man is God’s mystery. Christ continues, pointing out the condition of the world at His coming: “As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the Flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the Flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Christ does not here bring to view a temporal millennium, a thousand years in which all are to prepare for eternity. He tells us that as it was in Noah’s day, so will it be when the Son of man comes again.
How was it in Noah’s day? “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Gen. 6:5. The inhabitants of the antediluvian world turned from Jehovah, refusing to do His holy will. They followed their own unholy imagination and perverted ideas. It was because of their wickedness that they were destroyed; and today the world is following the same way. It presents no flattering signs of millennial glory. The transgressors of God’s law are filling the earth with wickedness. Their betting, their horse racing, their gambling, their dissipation, their lustful practices, their untamable passions, are fast filling the world with violence.
Iniquity Shall Abound
In the prophecy of Jerusalem’s destruction Christ said, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” This prophecy will again be fulfilled. The abounding iniquity of that day finds its counterpart in this generation. So with the prediction in regard to the preaching of the gospel. Before the fall of Jerusalem, Paul, writing by the Holy Spirit, declared that the gospel was preached to “every creature which is under heaven.” Col. 1:23. So now, before the coming of the Son of man, the everlasting gospel is to be preached “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Rev. 14:6, 14. God “hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world.” Acts 17:31. Christ tells us when that day shall be ushered in. He does not say that all the world will be converted, but that “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” By giving the gospel to the world it is in our power to hasten our Lord’s return. We are not only to look for but to hasten the coming of the day of God. 2 Peter 3:12, margin. Had the church of Christ done her appointed work as the Lord ordained, the whole world would before this have been warned, and the Lord Jesus would have come to our earth in power and great glory.
Those Who Heed The Warning Will Be Saved
After He had given the signs of His coming, Christ said, “When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” “Take ye heed, watch and pray.” God has always given men warning of coming judgments. Those who had faith in His message for their time, and who acted out their faith, in obedience to His commandments, escaped the judgments that fell upon the disobedient and unbelieving. The word came to Noah, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me.” Noah obeyed and was saved. The message came to Lot, “Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city.” Gen. 7:1; 19:14. Lot placed himself under the guardianship of the heavenly messengers, and was saved. So Christ’s disciples were given warning of the destruction of Jerusalem. Those who watched for the sign of the coming ruin, and fled from the city, escaped the destruction. So now we are given warning of Christ’s second coming and of the destruction to fall upon the world. Those who heed the warning will be saved.
Because we know not the exact time of His coming, we are commanded to watch. “Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching.” Luke 12:37. Those who watch for the Lord’s coming are not waiting in idle expectancy. The expectation of Christ’s coming is to make men fear the Lord, and fear His judgments upon transgression. It is to awaken them to the great sin of rejecting His offers of mercy. Those who are watching for the Lord are purifying their souls by obedience to the truth. With vigilant watching they combine earnest working. Because they know that the Lord is at the door, their zeal is quickened to cooperate with the divine intelligence’s in working for the salvation of souls. These are the faithful and wise servants who give to the Lord’s household “their portion of meat in due season.” Luke 12:42. They are declaring the truth that is now especially applicable. As Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses each declared the truth for his time, so will Christ’s servants now give the special warning for their generation.
But Christ brings to view another class: “If that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him.” The evil servant says in his heart, “My lord delayeth his coming.” He does not say that Christ will not come. He does not scoff at the idea of His second coming. But in his heart and by his actions and words he declares that the Lord’s coming is delayed. He banishes from the minds of others the conviction that the Lord is coming quickly. His influence leads men to presumptuous, careless delay. They are confirmed in their worldliness and stupor. Earthly passions, corrupt thoughts, take possession of the mind. The evil servant eats and drinks with the drunken, unites with the world in pleasure seeking. He smites his fellow servants, accusing and condemning those who are faithful to their Master. He mingles with the world. Like grows with like in transgression. It is a fearful assimilation. With the world he is taken in the snare. “The lord of that servant shall come . . . in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.”
I Will Come On Thee As A Thief
“If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” Rev. 3:3. The advent of Christ will surprise the false teachers. They are saying, “Peace and safety.” Like the priests and teachers before the fall of Jerusalem, they look for the church to enjoy earthly prosperity and glory. The signs of the times they interpret as foreshadowing this. But what saith the word of Inspiration? “Sudden destruction cometh upon them.” 1 Thess. 5:3. Upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth, upon all who make this world their home, the day of God will come as a snare. It comes to them as a prowling thief.
The world, full of rioting, full of godless pleasure, is asleep, asleep in carnal security. Men are putting afar off the coming of the Lord. They laugh at warnings. The proud boast is made, “All things continue as they were from the beginning.” “Tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.” 2 Peter 3:4; Isa. 56:12. We will go deeper into pleasure loving. But Christ says, “Behold, I come as a thief.” Rev. 16:15. At the very time when the world is asking in scorn, “Where is the promise of His coming?” the signs are fulfilling. While they cry, “Peace and safety,” sudden destruction is coming. When the scorner, the rejecter of truth, has become presumptuous; when the routine of work in the various money-making lines is carried on without regard to principle; when the student is eagerly seeking knowledge of everything but his Bible, Christ comes as a thief.
Everything in the world is in agitation. The signs of the times are ominous. Coming events cast their shadows before. The Spirit of God is withdrawing from the earth, and calamity follows calamity by sea and by land. There are tempests, earthquakes, fires, floods, murders of every grade. Who can read the future? Where is security? There is assurance in nothing that is human or earthly. Rapidly are men ranging themselves under the banner they have chosen. Restlessly are they waiting and watching the movements of their leaders. There are those who are waiting and watching and working for our Lord’s appearing. Another class are falling into line under the generalship of the first great apostate. Few believe with heart and soul that we have a hell to shun and a heaven to win.
The crisis is stealing gradually upon us. The sun shines in the heavens, passing over its usual round, and the heavens still declare the glory of God. Men are still eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying, and giving in marriage. Merchants are still buying and selling. Men are jostling one against another, contending for the highest place. Pleasure lovers are still crowding to theaters, horse races, gambling hells. The highest excitement prevails, yet probation’s hour is fast closing, and every case is about to be eternally decided. Satan sees that his time is short. He has set all his agencies at work that men may be deceived, deluded, occupied and entranced, until the day of probation shall be ended, and the door of mercy be forever shut.
Watch Ye Therefore, And Pray Always
Solemnly there come to us down through the centuries the warning words of our Lord from the Mount of Olives: “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”
The Desire of Ages, Pp. 632-636
Be Not Deceived, Deluded, Occupied or Entranced.
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