Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Cable News Talking Heads: Why Such Horrendous Crimes?

By: Dr. J. P. Hubert

I noticed that the former Headline News "HLN" a sister network to CNN has reformatted its content recently. The latest iteration is called "HLN News and Issues." At night the network presents 2 similar shows in succession, hosted by 2 women respectively each of whom have hour long programs.

The first is Jane Velez Mitchell a self-professed recovering alcoholic attorney and former Celebrity Justice personality who spends most evenings railing against the unending parade of domestic violence and murder cases which she showcases each night. She is routinely assisted by a panel of guests including lawyers, mental health professionals and law enforcement officers. Understandably, Velez-Mitchell is particularly bothered by all of the violence which is currently being perpetrated against women and children. There seems to be a very feminist bias to her commentary however.

The second woman is Nancy Grace, a former Prosecutor turned talk-show host who nightly delivers a steady diet of murder, violence and kidnapping cases which usually follow the current news quite closely. Grace also employs a panel of experts heavily represented by Prosecuting and Defense attorneys and other Law Enforcement and Mental Health Professionals. In many ways the programs are similar in content and topics although Grace seems to be a bit more theatrical and caustic to her own guests and experts. Velez-Mitchell who is more polite to guests is quite dramatic in expressing her outrage over the horrendous nature of much of what she covers.

The interesting thing to me has been the fact that both women especially Velez-Mitchell seem truly perplexed about how to explain what appears to be a marked increase in terrible crimes especially those involving spouses, children and families. The various psychological/psychiatric experts all attempt to offer explanations but none to date have tumbled to what is decidedly a spiritual aspect or component of the rising crime problem they are witnessing. Rather, they look completely to naturalistic/secular explanations for what is transpiring. Not once to my knowledge have either of the hosts included a religious "expert" among their panelists.

Traditional Roman Catholics have no difficulty understanding the likely cause of the steadily increasing and horrendous family violence problem which is occurring. It is part of the overall process of an almost total falling away (Apostasy) from the True Faith (Traditional Roman Catholicism) which has since the close of the Second Vatican Council been increasing at an impressive rate. This must be added to the Apostasy which was already underway due to the Protestant Reformation, the loss of much of Christendom to Islam and the rise of Atheism in the wake of the French and Russian Revolutions. As I have written elsewhere all of these have contributed to the progressive loss of the social Kingship of Christ. The result of losing

"the social Kingship of Christ--and with it Christendom's hindering effect over evil--has been the creation of a plethora of civil laws throughout the formerly Christian world which are antithetical to the Divine Law of Christ (abortion, contraception, in-vitro fertilization, surrogate pregnancy, physician assisted suicide, destructive embryo research, legalized sodomy, gay 'marriage' etc). Is it any wonder then that there exists almost complete moral anarchy where once there was the great Judeo-Christian ethic? Unfortunately, the conciliar popes through their embrace of neo-modernism have facilitated rather than help retard the emergence of global evil and the eventual appearance of Antichrist."
MORE...

Some readers may be outraged to hear that the conciliar popes and Vatican hierarchy have (whether purposely or through malfeasance) helped bring about increasing amounts of global evil. As I have written elsewhere the conclusion seems unavoidable that the traditional restraining or hindering effect of the Roman Catholic Church over evil has largely been removed.

Man Allegedly Murders Wife and 5 Children: Flees to Haiti

"In No Uncertain Terms this is the Most Horrific and Violent Event this Community has ever Experienced"

CHRISTINE ARMARIO, Associated Press Writer

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) -- The husband of a woman found dead in a Florida apartment along with her five young children boarded a flight for Haiti, and police said Sunday the couple had a history of domestic violence calls to their homes over the past decade.

Mesac Damas, 33, who has family in Haiti, left Miami International Airport on Friday, said Collier County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Michelle Batten. Sheriff's officials said they want to talk to Damas, who is a person of interest. They were not calling him a suspect.

The victims found Saturday were Guerline Damas, 32, and her children: Michzach, 9; Marven, 6; Maven, 5; Megan, 3; and 11-month-old Morgan. Batten would not say how they died.

Family members contacted authorities Friday saying they hadn't heard from the mother. A deputy went to the home and knocked on the front door, but got no answer, said Capt. Chris Roberts of the sheriff's special investigations division.

He did not look through any of the apartment's windows.

"With the information the deputy had, I think what he did was reasonable," Roberts said.

A missing person report was filed Saturday, and the sheriff's office later entered the home in a gated community in Naples in southwest Florida and found the bodies, Batten said.

"In no uncertain terms, this is the most horrific and violent event this community has ever experienced," Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said.

Roberts said the couple had been married two years but together for about 10. Police had been called a handful of times to their homes since 2000 for domestic disturbances, he said.

"...and because wickedness is multiplied, most men's love will grow cold." Matt. 24: 12

More Natural Disasters: Catastrophic Flooding in Georgia

Southeast Floods Block Highways; Death Toll Rises To 8
Southeast Creeks Turning Into Rivers

KATE BRUMBACK, Associated Press Writer

Posted: 5:46 am EDT September 22, 2009 Updated: 9:26 am EDT September 22, 2009

AUSTELL, Ga. -- Washed-out roads and flooded interstate highways around Atlanta added to the misery Tuesday after days of torrential rain in the Southeast that claimed at least eight lives, including a 15-year-old boy whose body was found in the Chattooga River.

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency also reported a new death in Douglas County west of Atlanta, bringing the toll in that county to four people. No more details were immediately available.

The victims included a toddler swept away from his family when a swollen creek ripped apart their trailer home in west Georgia on Monday. Many others were drivers whose vehicles were pushed off roads by rapidly rising waters. One man in Chattanooga, Tenn., was missing two days after betting onlookers he could swim across a flooded ditch next to his house.

Authorities urged people who don't need to drive to stay home, a day after Gov. Sonny Purdue declared a state of emergency in 17 counties.

"It's going to be a long morning. We're asking people to be patient," DOT spokeswoman Crystal Paulk-Buchanan said.

The good news was that the rain was tapering off in many areas. The National Weather Service said there was more rain to come, but the likelihood and severity will decline in the coming days.

Days of downpours and thunderstorms saturated the ground from Alabama through Georgia into eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, just months after an epic two-year drought in the region ended after winter rains.

As Tuesday rush-hour began in the Atlanta area, Interstate 20 west of the city was closed in two spots by water spilling over the major artery for commuter traffic from the sprawling western suburbs. Portions of at least two other interstates in the metro area were also closed, as was I-75 in Houston County in central Georgia.

Hundreds of roads and bridges were under water or washed out in the Atlanta area and other parts of the state, including 17 bridges on state and interstate highways.

Dozens of roads remained closed in western North Carolina and several small landslides were reported. Officials said the flooding there was the worst since remnants of hurricanes Frances and Ivan came through in 2004.

As much as a foot of rain fell over parts of the Atlanta area Monday. The town of Dallas northwest of Atlanta had 16 inches in a 48-hour period, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said.

Aerial shots showed schools, football fields, used car lots and even entire neighborhoods submerged by the deluge, sending some unlucky residents scurrying for higher ground.

"It's a mess all over," said Lisa Janak of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.

As the storm front rumbled through west Georgia, it turned a normally sleepy creek into a surging headwater that tore apart 2-year-old Preston Slade Crawford's mobile home around 2 a.m. Monday. The body of the drowned boy nicknamed "Scooter" wasn't found until hours later. His parents had been rescued from the raging waters as another son, Cooper, age 1, clung to his mother's arms in Carroll County, west of Atlanta.

Pat Crawford, the boy's grandmother, watched helplessly as the family's mobile home was whisked away.

"Y'all gotta help us! Y'all gotta save us!" Crawford remembers Bridgett Lawrence and Craig Crawford shouting above the roaring water. She said she was on higher ground, but couldn't get to them because the current was so bad.

About 12,000 Georgia Power customers were without power late Monday.

Crews in the tiny Georgia town of Trion worked to shore up a levee breached by the Chattooga River and in danger of failing. The town evacuated more than 1,500 residents, and Red Cross workers set up an emergency shelter.

Emergency officials were often forced to improvise to rescue dozens of people stranded in their homes and cars.

"We're using everything we can get our hands on," Douglas County spokesman Wes Tallon said. "Everything from boats to Jet Skis to ropes to ladders."

Other southeastern states were hit less severely.

In Kentucky, rescue crews went on more than a dozen runs to help stranded people after 4 inches of rain fell on parts of Louisville on Sunday, said city fire department spokesman Sgt. Salvador Melendez.

Water rose as high as window-level on some houses in North Carolina's Polk County, forcing emergency officials to evacuate homes along a seven-mile stretch of road. Flooding in more than 20 counties in western North Carolina closed roads, delayed school and forced evacuations.

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Will the "Third Rome" Reunite With the "First Rome"?

Editor's NOTE:

This Zenit article if true would represent the exact opposite of what Our Lady called for at Fatima in which she indicated that if Russia were consecrated to her Immaculate Heart by the Pope and all of the Bishops of the world on the same day, Russia would be converted to Roman Catholicism and would cease perpetrating its errors throughout the world--the worst of which is atheism.

There is no evidence that Benedict XVI intends to consecrate Russia according to the wishes of Our Lady. Moreover, there is evidence that he has participated in falsifying and de-legitimizing the Fatima apparitions. It is extremely unlikely barring a complete change of mind and heart that Benedict would push the Russian Orthodox (Moscow) Patriarch (Kirill) to return the Orthodox church to the one True Faith of Roman Catholicism, accept the Filioque clause of the Nicene Creed and accept the papal primacy of the Bishop of Rome.

What is being described here is a false ecumenism the same as what the conciliar church has advocated since the close of the Second Vatican Council. Russian Orthodox Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev is certainly correct about the Novus Ordo liturgy being Protestant. It would be completely ridiculous for the Russian Orthodox to reject their liturgy in favor of the conciliar Novus Ordo Missae. It is much closer to the Traditional Roman Catholic Latin Liturgy which must be reinstated (by order of Quo Primum it has never been abrogated) than it is to the Novus Ordo which should be promptly discarded.

Until the current Vatican hierarchy is willing to reinstate the Tridentine Latin Mass as the one and only Latin rite and until it is willing to either radically correct or totally reject the Second Vatican Council, the Russian Orthodox should have nothing to do with the conciliar church based in Rome.

--Dr. J. P. Hubert


Will the "Third Rome" Reunite With the "First Rome"?

Recent Meeting Could Mark Turning Point

By Robert Moynihan

WASHINGTON, D.C., SEPT. 21, 2009 (Zenit.org)- Sometimes there are no fireworks. Turning points can pass in silence, almost unobserved.

It may be that way with the "Great Schism," the most serious division in the history of the Church. The end of the schism may come more quickly and more unexpectedly than most imagine.

On Sept. 18, inside Castel Gandolfo, the Pope's summer palace about 30 miles outside Rome, a Russian Orthodox Archbishop named Hilarion Alfeyev, 43 (a scholar, theologian, expert on the liturgy, composer and lover of music), met with Benedict XVI, 82 (also a scholar, theologian, expert on the liturgy and lover of music), for almost two hours, according to informed sources. (There are as yet no "official" sources about this meeting -- the Holy See has still not released an official communiqué about the meeting.)

The silence suggests that what transpired was important -- perhaps so important that the Holy See thinks it isn't yet prudent to reveal publicly what was discussed.

But there are numerous "signs" that the meeting was remarkably harmonious.

If so, this Sept. 18 meeting may have marked a turning point in relations between the "Third Rome" (Moscow) and the "First Rome" (Rome) -- divided since 1054.

Archbishop Hilarion was in Rome for five days last week as the representative of the new Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.

One key person Archbishop Hilarion met with was Cardinal Walter Kasper. On Sept. 17, the cardinal told Vatican Radio that he and Archbishop Hilarion had a "very calm conversation."

Cardinal Kasper also revealed something astonishing: that he had suggested to the archbishop that the Orthodox Churches form some kind of "bishops' conference at the European level" that would constitute a "direct partner of cooperation" in future meetings.

This would be a revolutionary step in the organization of the Orthodox Churches.

Papal-Patriarch encounter?


Cardinal Kasper said a Pope-Patriarch meeting was not on the immediate agenda, and would probably not take place in Moscow or Rome, but in some "neutral" place (Hungary, Austria and Belarus are possibilities).

Archbishop Hilarion himself revealed much about how his Rome visit was proceeding when he met on the evening of Sept. 17 (before his meeting with the Pope) with the Community of Sant'Egidio, an Italian Catholic group known for its work with the poor in Rome.

"We live in a de-Christianized world, in a time that some define -- mistakenly -- as post-Christian," Archbishop Hilarion said. "Contemporary society, with its practical materialism and moral relativism, is a challenge to us all. The future of humanity depends on our response… More than ever before, we Christians must stand together."

A report from Interfax, the news service of the Moscow Patriarchate, on Sept. 18 revealed that Archbishop Hilarion spoke to the Pope about "cooperation between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches in the area of moral values and of culture" -- in particular during the "Days of Russian Spiritual Culture," a type of exhibit with lectures scheduled for spring 2010 in Rome. (One might imagine that the Pope himself could attend such an exhibition).

In memory of the visit, Archbishop Hilarion gave the Pope a pectoral cross, made in workshops of Russian Orthodox Church, the report said, Interfax reported.

Today, an Interfax report supplied details of Hilarion's remarks this morning in the catacombs of St. Callixtus.

"Denied by the world, far from human eyes, deep under ground in caves, the first Roman Christians performed the feat of prayer," Hilarion said. "Their life brought the fruit of holiness and martyr heroism. The Holy Church was built on their blood shed for Christ."

Then the Church came out of the catacombs, but Christian unity was lost, the archbishop said.

Archbishop Hilarion said that human sin is the cause of all divisions, while Christian unity can be restored only in the way of sanctity.

"Each of us, conscientiously fulfilling a task the Church has given him or her, is called to personally contribute to the treasury of Christian sanctity and work to achieve God-commanded Christian unity," the archbishop said.

A second Interfax report today added further information about the meeting with the Pope.

Growing influence

"During a talk with Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk pointed out the status of Orthodox believers in Western Ukraine where three Orthodox dioceses had been almost eliminated as a result of coercive actions of Greek Catholics in late 1980s and early 1990s," Interfax reported.

Archbishop Hilarion "stated the need to take practical steps to improve the situation in Western Ukraine," within the territories of Lvov, Ternopol and Invano-Frankovsk Dioceses, the report said.

Meanwhile, in Russia itself, the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church, headed by Patriarch Kirill, seems to be growing, though not without opposition.

The rise in Russia of Kirill and his increasing influence in legislative matters seems to be arousing opposition from the "siloviki," forces connected with the old KGB.

In an article in the current issue of Argumenty Nedeli, Andrey Uglanov says that Kirill's extraordinary activity has attracted attention from some who do not like to have their positions questioned, let alone challenged. And that has become Kirill's "big problem."

These "siloviki," Uglanov says, have been offended by Kirill's "anti-Stalinist and anti-Bolshevik actions," including his appearance at the Solovetsky stone in Moscow's Lubyanka Square on the very Day of the Memory of the Victims of Political Repression.

In this context, Hilarion's visit to Rome takes on even more importance.

The Russian Orthodox Church is a power in Russia, but it faces opposition and needs allies.

What is occurring in Hilarion's visit to Rome, then, may have ramifications not only for the overcoming of the "Great Schism," but also for the cultural, religious and political future of Russia, and of Europe as a whole.

It is especially significant, in this context, that Hilarion, Kirill's "Foreign Minister," has some of the same deep interests as Benedict XVI: the liturgy, and music.

"As a 15-year-old boy I first entered the sanctuary of the Lord, the Holy of Holies of the Orthodox Church,” Hilarion once wrote about the Orthodox liturgy. “But it was only after my entrance into the altar that the 'theourgia,' the mystery, and 'feast of faith' began, which continues to this very day.

"After my ordination, I saw my destiny and main calling in serving the Divine Liturgy. Indeed, everything else, such as sermons, pastoral care and theological scholarship were centered around the main focal point of my life -- the liturgy."

Liturgy

These words seem to echo the feelings and experiences of Benedict XVI, who has written that the liturgies of Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday in Bavaria when he was a child were formative for his entire being, and that his writing on the liturgy (one of his books is entitled "Feast of Faith") is the most important to him of all his scholarly endeavors.

"Orthodox divine services are a priceless treasure that we must carefully guard," Hilarion has written. "I have had the opportunity to be present at both Protestant and Catholic services, which were, with rare exceptions, quite disappointing… Since the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, services in some Catholic churches have become little different from Protestant ones."

Again, these words of Hilarion seem to echo Benedict XVI's own concerns. The Pope has made it clear that he wishes to reform the Catholic Church's liturgy, and preserve what was contained in the old liturgy and now risks being lost.

Hilarion has cited the Orthodox St. John of Kronstadt approvingly. St. John of Kronstadt wrote: "The Church and its divine services are an embodiment and realization of everything in Christianity... It is the divine wisdom, accessible to simple, loving hearts."

These words echo words written by Cardinal Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI, who often said that the liturgy is a "school" for the simple Christian, imparting the deep truths of the faith even to the unlearned through its prayers, gestures and hymns.

Hilarion in recent years has become known for his musical compositions, especially for Christmas and for Good Friday, celebrating the birth and the Passion of Jesus Christ. These works have been performed in Moscow and in the West, in Rome in March 2007 and in Washington DC in December 2007.

Closer relations between Rome and Moscow, then, could have profound implications also for the cultural and liturgical life of the Church in the West. There could be a renewal of Christian art and culture, as well as of faith.

All of this was at stake in the quiet meeting between Archbishop Hilarion and Benedict XVI on Friday afternoon, in the castle overlooking Lake Albano.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Roman Curia Redesigned in 1967 by Paul VI: Changes helped Conciliar Church Deviate from Traditional Catholic Faith

Few people are aware that in the wake of the second Vatican Council Paul VI asked an individual who is now known to have been a Free Mason (Cardinal Jean Villot) to engineer an overhaul of the Roman Curia (administration). Prior to that time the Pope was not only supreme head of the Church but of the entire Roman Curia as well.

In addition to heading up the Roman Curia, the Pope was also the ultimate authority (Prefect) over the Holy Office (which insured Catholic orthodoxy) the foremost among the Roman Congregations. Prior to the Papacy of Paul VI, the primary papal duty had been eternal vigilance concerning the preservation of Catholic orthodoxy--in response to any and all attacks against the faith.

As a result of the radical changes in the Roman Curia the Holy Office became the CDF (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) which was given its own supreme authority in the form of a Cardinal Prefect separate and apart from the Pope. Moreover, the Vatican Secretary of State was promoted to the new and powerful position of ruling over the entire Roman Curia allowing political considerations to gain primacy over those of faith and morals. In a sense, the result was to render the Pope a kind of conciliar figure-head devoid of power consistent with the new collegiality of the second Vatican Council.

The new Curial arrangement quickly resulted in a diplomatic change from the Traditional Catholic opposition to Communism--to the new Vatican Ostpolitik which called for a constructive engagement through dialogue with the Communist nations of both the USSR and China. Recall, by mutual agreement between John XXIII and the Moscow Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Moscow would send representatives to Rome if in exchange the Second Vatican Council refrained from mentioning Communism in a negative light. Prior to 1958 such an arrangement would have been inconceivable!

In the view of the contributors to The Devil's Final Battle compiled by Fr. Paul Kramer, the dramatic changes which were made to the Roman Curia had a negative effect on the acceptance of the Fatima apparitions (including the call for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the publication of the Third Secret which was to have occurred no later than 1960 by order of Our Lady). Recall that it was John XXIII who refused to reveal the third secret after becoming Pope in 1958 alleging that the message had no relevance to his Papacy.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican Secretary of State according to Fr. Kramer in The Devil’s Final Battle was allegedly heavily involved in the attempts to de-legitimize the Fatima apparitions as was the Cardinal Prefect of the CDF (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI) and the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos. This and the infamous press conference of June 26, 2000 have contributed to the doubts which still exist regarding whether or not the complete text of the Third Secret has been revealed. Note that Sr. Lucy (the last remaining living Fatima seer) consistently maintained up until her death that the consecration of Russia to Our Lady had not been properly accomplished. (The Blessed Virgin Mary stated clearly at Fatima her intention that Russia specifically was to be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart by the Pope in concert with all the Bishops of the world on the same day. This has not been done). It is important to note that all of the Fatima content is completely orthodox in contradistinction to much of the teaching of Vatican II, the post-Vatican conciliar church and the Novus Ordo Missae which are heterodox.

--Dr. J. P. Hubert

"The Secret" Warned Against Vatican Council II and the New Mass

An Exclusive Fatima Crusader Interview with Fr. Paul Kramer

For a short piece which provides some background information about the Third Secret of Fatima and its relationship to the Second Vatican Council and the Novus Ordo Missae
See THIS...

What/Where is the Roman Catholic Church?

In light of Traditional Catholic dogma/doctrine, how should the Second Vatican Council be viewed ? Is it consistent with Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition and prior Magisterial teaching?

What explains the tremendous amount of "bad fruit" which has been forthcoming since the close of the Council in 1965? “By their fruits you shall know them” (Matt. 7:16)

This site explores these questions and more in an attempt to place the Second Vatican Council in proper perspective.