Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Israel Withdraws Protestant Broadcaster's License Over Proselytism


Homepage of Shelanu TV, a Protestant television station that has had its broadcasting license withdrawn in Israel.

(Tel Aviv) The Christian television station is called Shelanu TV and, according to its own statements, was “wonderfully” granted a license to broadcast its program in Israel via cable. Shelanu TV started broadcasting on April 29, 2020, but the problems began after only a few days.

Shelanu TV produces its program in Hebrew. However, the crux of the matter from the very first broadcast days was that the television channel, according to the accusation, wanted to convert the Jews to Christianity.The television station belongs to the American company God TV and is Protestant and pro-Israeli. Nevertheless, there were complaints in the past two months, then protests against the broadcaster. It was accused of proselytism.

The discomfort became a political scandal when the station's director, Ward Simpson, emphasized the "importance" that viewers should convert to Christ.

The Israeli broadcasting agency announced to Shelanu TV on June 25 that the broadcasting license had been withdrawn. The drastic measure was justified by the fact that the broadcaster addressed primarily the Jews and not the Christians of Israel.

God TV claims to reach 300 million viewers worldwide by sharing the Gospel in numerous countries on every continent.

Proselytism is not fundamentally prohibited in Israel, at least not entirely. Officially, the law only provides for a ban on minors unless the parents have given their consent.

Shelanu TV describes the cancellation of its license as "unprecedented" and complains of "overt religious discrimination". After the media had already reported on the move by the Israeli authorities on June 28, it was confirmed by the broadcaster yesterday.


Text: Andreas Becker 
Image: Shelanu TV (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Israeli Police Bar French President From Entering St. Anne’s Church

French President Emmanuel Macron clashed with police officers on Wednesday visiting Israel in Jerusalem who refused to let him enter St. Anne's Church.

"I don't like what you did in front of me," Macron yelled in English at a policeman who had stood up in front of him. "This is France and everyone knows the rules," Macron emphasized. "Please go away, provocations are unnecessary, is that clear?" Added the head of state.

The Catholic Church of St. Anne has been part of the French territory since the Ottoman Empire ceded the basilica in 1856 to the then Emperor Napoleon III. It is subordinate to a French order today.

The incident commemorates a dispute by former President Jacques Chirac during a visit to Jerusalem in 1996. "Do you want me to go back to my plane?" Chirac demanded at the time, to Israeli security forces. Like Macron, he spoke of a “provocation”. Chirac was also initially not admitted to the St. Anna Church.

In 1996 Jacques Chirac tussled with Israeli security forces. Picture: Jim Hollander / Keystone

The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu later apologized to Chirac, who declared the matter settled. Macron had already met with Netanyahu in the morning.

Source: oli / sda

https://m.bazonline.ch/articles/13695345

AMDG

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Israeli Government Confiscating Church Land — Council of Jerusalem Churches Threatens to Close Church of Holy Sepulcher

Edit: one of the most persuasive pieces of evidence pointing to the truth of the Catholic Church, for my part, is the pervasive and ancient hostility of the Synagogue to the will of God. Time and time again, they betrayed their covenant with the Lord, and time and time again, the Lord offered them relief from the just punishments they had received for their transgressions. Today is no different. The Jews have the opportunity to do penance and count themselves as true Christians. The pearl of great price!

[Middle East Monitor] The Council of Jerusalem Churches has achieved a new victory against the Israeli government, with an “unprecedented number of US churches condemn[ing] Israeli attempts to confiscate church lands,” a Council statement – a copy of which was sent to MEMO – said on Friday.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, who heads the Council of Jerusalem Churches has toured the USA and EU countries to lobby against an Israeli law – known as the “Properties Bill” – which was recently advanced in the Knesset to target church property.
Following the tour, a group of US churches sent a letter to the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemning the Israeli move, the statement said. The US churches wrote in their letter: “The extent to which the Jerusalem Patriarchs and Heads of Churches consider this legislation to be an existential threat cannot be overstated”.
The letter added:
When the bill was first introduced this past February, the Heads of Churches protested by closing the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in a historic act of solidarity. In response, eighteen religious leaders in the US, representing a diverse spectrum of Christianity, wrote to [US] President Trump expressing the need to protect the vulnerable Christian community in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Mr Secretary, all efforts must be made so that a similar crisis may be avoided.
Read further...

AMDG

Monday, August 10, 2015

Nablus: Father of 18 Year Old Girl Killed in Arson Attack Succumbs to Burns

Photo of 18 Month Old Child Killed in the Fire
(Jersualem) On Saturday morning, the father of an 18 month old child has died, who herself was killed as a result of the arson attack by Jewish settlers in Nablus. The 32-year-old man died as a result of the severe burns he had suffered the attack. In critical condition are his wife and first-born child of four years.
On July 31st, the House of the  Dawabsha family had been set in fire in Duma near Nablus by Jewish settlers in the occupied territories. The younger child in the family died instantly in the flames (see Palestinian child dies in attack by Jewish settlers in Nablus ). The parents and the elder son were taken to hospital with serious burns.The father, Saad Dawabsha has now succumbed to serious injuries. He suffered second-degree burns all over his body. The condition of his wife and four year old son is still critical.
According to witnesses, Jewish settlers threw firebombs against the family home. On house walls were the slogans "revenge" and "Long live the Messiah."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack as "terrorist".
Text: Asianews / Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Asianews
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Is Pope Francis Hiding The Cross Before the Chief Rabbis? Inclination to Zionism

(Jerusalem)  Pope Francis hid his pectoral cross in order not to “insult”  the Chief Rabbi of Israel? He certainly offered at the grave of Theodor Herzl, a recognition previously inconceivable for the Catholic Church, including obeisance to Zionism. A recognition that the Church refused for over a hundred years for theological reasons. What are Pope Francis’ objective with it? Was the role of Rabbi Abraham Skorka especially to achieve the recognition previously refused by previous popes  of Zionism?

Meeting with  Chief Rabbi and the Hidden Cross

On Monday, Pope Francis paid the two Chief Rabbi’s of Israel a "courtesy call". The encounter took place in the Heichal Shlomo Center next to the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem instead. Contrary to expectations, both Chief Rabbis had appeared, and the Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef.
His father, Ovadja Joseph,  who was   from 1973-1983 Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, had in 2009 as head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas movement  had forbidden Sephardic Jews from attending any meetings with Pope Benedict XVI.   Holy Land  (see separate report 700,000 Orthodox Jews at the Funeral of Grand Rabbi - Ovadja Josef Denounced Meeting with Benedict XVI as  "idolatry". ).
While his father as head of the anti-Zionist Shas movement refused a meeting, the son took part, considering   his institutional role as Chief Rabbi and thus as one of the two Israeli constitutional judges.

"Crucifixes Are an Insult to Jews"

Both incumbent Chief Rabbis, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau and the Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Joseph are sons of former Chief Rabbis. From the father of David Lau, Israel Meir Lau, Chief Rabbi of 1993-2003 comes the statement: "Crucifixes are an insult to Jews. The cross is against the Jewish religion and the sight of the cross is forbidden for a Jew."
Did Pope Francis therefore hid his cross during his meeting with the Chief Rabbi? Or was it just a coincidence that the cross slipped just at this meeting behind the cincture?  During the meeting with the Chief Rabbis, the papal pectoral cross was behind the cingulum, so that, in any event, it was not even partially visible as a cross.

Sensational Bow of a Pope Before Zionism

Certainly not a coincidence, however, was the reverence that  Pope Francis demonstrated to Zionism before the meeting with the Chief Rabbis. The Pope put flowers down on the grave of Theodor Herzl, who is honored in Israel as the "Father of the Fatherland". Such recognition of Zionism, a political movement of Judaism, had still been made by no pope, because it has to do with politics and not religion. So the visit of the Pope in the Holy Land was paved by incoherence and other controversial statements that is precisely expressed in its preferred, though not theologically easily understandable attitude towards Judaism. Since the Holy Land trip it may  his  attitude is now favorable towards  Zionist Judaism. The role of his rabbinical friend Abraham Skorka seems to have been decisive for this recognition of Zionism.

The Church Rejects Zionism

The question is not trivial, since Pope Pius X in 1904 met with Theodor Herzl and rejected the creation of a Jewish state for theological reasons and this attitude of the Catholic Church has been determinative  ever since (see report  Pius X and Theodor Herzl - Gesture of Apology by Pope Francis ? ). The State of Israel was never officially been recognized by the Catholic Church, as also a part of Judaism rejects Zionism today. It was not until 1984, that the State of Israel was first mentioned by John Paul II in a papal encyclical. Only in 1994 diplomatic relations were established between Israel and the Holy See. Pope Benedict XVI. 2009 had   complied with all diplomatic usage to visit the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem.  However, from a recognition of Zionism or a visit to the grave of Theodor Herzl was not considered.  Zionism is a certain political movement within Judaism. For this reason alone, the popes refused recognition in the past, which would have at least met interference in political affairs.
But Pope Francis apparently wants to make policy, as his invitation by Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Abu Mazen shows in the Vatican. Thus, Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu, the "hawks"  in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Islamist Hamas movement which controls the Gaza Strip, were ignored. Whether the papal political activism will be successful remains to be seen. The question of what significance an invitation to   "common prayer," which appears to be the facade for  negotiations,  will form without falling into a soup of religious syncretism.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Images: Screenshots
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD




























































































What Kind of Theology Did Pope Francis Represent in Yad Vashem?

(Jerusalem) To  Pope Francis address on May 26, 2014 at  the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem in Israel  the traditional site "Messa in Latino published the commentary of a priest. He wrote several theological and less theological comments on the Pope's address, for which we ask for discussion. The full speech of Pope Francis has been published in English translation by the Holy See, as well, the speech will be viewed as a video ( here ). The intertitles are from the editorship.

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A Necessary Theological Clarification 

by a priest
The first step is to join in the outrage that  the Pope participated  about the murder of the Jews in the concentration camps during the Second World War . Any form of violence and terrorist oppression no matter by what political direction, or on account of which diabolical intention whatsoever, is to be unequivocally condemned. It is also important to remember again and again, so that the same is not repeated. As far as the connected theory. The practice is unfortunately different. The killing goes on even today in various parts of the world and even among us in the "civilized" parts of the world. The Nazis murdered secretly and illegally, while the scandalous murder of unborn children is done in broad daylight and in a "legal".

All Crimes Condemn - None Worse Than the Other

Neither the crimes against the Jews, the crimes of National Socialism, the crimes of Bolshevism, the crimes against the Christians by the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, crimes against Christians in Mexico, the crimes of the military dictatorships in Latin America, the crimes in the Far East, the crimes in Libya, Syria, etc., may be forgotten. There is no crime for the victims, which is worse than the others.
Nevertheless some of the Pope’s statements serve that  no matter how good the intentions may have been, that they perhaps meet  certain expectations, also giving rise to possible misunderstandings.
On Monday, Pope Francis at Yad Vashem literally:
“Adam, where are you?” (cf. Gen 3:9). Where are you, o man? What have you come to? In this place, this memorial of the Shoah, we hear God’s question echo once more: “Adam, where are you?” This question is charged with all the sorrow of a Father who has lost his child. The Father knew the risk of freedom; he knew that his children could be lost… yet perhaps not even the Father could imagine so great a fall, so profound an abyss! Here, before the boundless tragedy of the Holocaust, That cry – “Where are you?” – echoes like a faint voice in an unfathomable abyss…

Daring Heterodox Exegesis

Allow me humbly to point out that God, if He in the Book of Genesis asked this question, certainly thought neither of the Holocaust nor about Yad Vashem. Such exegesis is more than just a heterodox venture.
May I also humbly point out that God addresses His message to the people and not to the Son (just because the singular is used), because the (single) Son of the Father (the Trinity should be sufficiently present to  a pope) is Christ. But man is an adopted son of God and not of the Father, understood as the first divine person. Man is God's adopted son through the redemptive Incarnation of Christ. For the Jewish theology, God is neither a trinity nor does the adoption apply to all men, but only for a people, namely them. But that has been defined for two thousand years by the rejection of Jesus Christ and thus God. Theologically considered, blessings can hardly grown out of this rejection. Did the Pope at Yad Vashem present Jewish theology instead of Christian?

Conspicuous and Manifest Heresy?

To say that, as Pope Francis at Yad Vashem, that "perhaps not even the Father  could imagine  such a fall, such a precipice" "imagine" the humanity could provide an even more demonstrative and overt heresy dar.
God knows everything, that much Pope Bergoglio should at least know from the Catechism. To say that God was even prematurely to give  free will to the people because he "could possibly not imagine"  the consequences, is a downright obscene heresy and especially blasphemy. 
Through the modal adverb “maybe"  the heretical contents of the statement is in no way weakened. The assertion that there it is  only a possibility,  or one does not categorically exclude the possibility that God could not be omniscient, opens the door to doubt and is with certainty  not Catholic.

The Past is Passed, But Prevent Suffering Today

I finally allow myself, even if only in passing, also to point out that the "bottomless pit" of racism and state terrorism by Israel against the original indigenous people of the Holy Land, but also engaged against the present population of the occupied territories, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, is certainly well known to the Father and the whole Holy Trinity.  But "maybe"  Pope Bergoglio is not informed, though he stood at the new "Wailing Wall", who built the State of Israel. Instead of losing a word about the expulsion, oppression and harassment of Christians by Israel, or of the whole people of the Holy Land, the Pope laid a wreath on the grave of the founder of Zionism.
It’s also a dubious act, the new Papaboys do not want to see.
Introduction / Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Messa in Latino
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

German Papal Advisor: "No Mission to the Jews" --- Good Friday Prayers for the Jews "Problematic"

(Bonn / Rome) The German Fundamental Theologian  Gregor Maria Hoff is the new advisor to Pope Francis on Judaism. Last 20 February he was appointed Advisor of the Pontifical Commission for Religiosu Relations with Jews founded in 1974 by Pope Paul VI.. Hoff is Professor of Fundamental Theology and Ecumenical Theology at the Catholic Theological Faculty of Paris-Lodron University in Salzburg. He already belongs to the Sub-Commission for Religious Relations with Judaism of the German Bishops' Conference. This is  followed by the appointment  to Rome, where he takes the place of the Aachen theologians for Ecumenism, Hans Hermann Henrix. The preliminary discussions, said Hoff in an interview with the Deutsche Welle, had already begun in mid-2013, soon after the election of Pope Francis.
Gregor Maria Hoff Papal Consultor to Judaism
The Commission, which was created in the aftermath of the Conciliar Constitution of Nostra Aetate  in 1965, is concerned among other things, with the preparation of the Pope's trip to the Holy Land. Otherwise the task belongs, says Hoff,   to  the Commission, especially that of drawing "significant documents" that bring "expression to the positions of the church, the pope and the Vatican to Judaism".
One of the topics with which Hoff is concerned as the Fundamental Theologian and now as Pope Consultor, is the question of "whether the evangelization of the Jews may be an issue for the Church." Because, says Hoff apodictically : "The Catholic Church is operating no mission to the Jews." Pope Francis is supposed to have said, says Hoff, in his Apostolic Letter Gospel Gaudium   "emphasizes that God continues to act in the people of the Old Covenant, therefore that God in his covenant first chose the Jewish people of Israel." Other issues facing the theologian and ecumenicist concerns, "Trinity and monotheism."
2015: 50th Anniversary of Nostra Atetate - Francis "Rethinks" Good Friday "Hopefully"
The Roman Commission would have to deal with the  "fifty year anniversary" of Nostra Aetate, which is celebrated in 2015. This conciliar Constitution had "meant a very large incision". Because "since then the relations between the Catholic Church and Judaism have changed dramatically," said Hoff. This applies "especially in Germany," where the relations are  "very good and intense".
During the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. there were "even irritations", due to the reformulation of the Good Friday prayer for the traditional rite. Hoff holds the new version as "problematic" and "hopes" himself "that he thinks this phrase will be revised again by Pope Francis."  It doesn't mean it's a "real burden" in places.  The relationships were "so good" that one "such irritation can be settled  between us."
The "importance of the State of Israel's existence," because of the "theological significance of the country" imposed "election of the Jewish people" and the "question of the existence of the State of Palestine as well as the human rights issues"... "is a very sensitive matter, which touches part of the theological issues," said Hoff.
Pope to Visit Israel, not the Holy Land
Hoff in his interview with Deutsche Welle never spoke of  a trip of Pope Francis to the "Holy Land", but only about a "trip to Israel." On this trip "to Israel"  it will be shown, which accents the Pope "will set".  "Francis will certainly be good for the Catholic-Jewish relations," assured the German Fundamental Theologian and pope consultant. This would have been previously shown in his "very strong personal relations with the Jewish community in Buenos Aires".
Hoff believes that the Pope would bring in "Israel" a "certain" climate in the talks and will make a "programmatic" statement with the contents: "God continues to act in the people of the Old Covenant." 
Otherwise would the Pope in the Middle East issue take any particular position. He would then only be "lost in the nettles" said Hoff.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Strasbourg Cathedral
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Pope Francis to Travel With Rabbi Skorka to the Holy Land on May 2014 -- Skorka Utters Nonsense About the Pope

Edit: basically, it looks like these reports by Jewish leaders, organizations, publications and some Catholic ones, are not credible.

(Rome) Pope Francis is to visit on the Holy Land 25th and 26th May, according to CNN reports, citing Israeli sources. He is not to do it with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, as hoped by Constantine Opel, but with his Jewish friend, Rabbi Abraham Skorka. Skorka recently gave an interview about his days as a "personal guest" of the Pope in the guest house Santa Marta and utters some veritable "nonsense" about Pope Francis. Or not?

The visit of the Pope to the Holy Land, was recently confirmed by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Fouad Twal for 2014, without so far announcing an exact date.

To the Holy Land Not with Patriarch Bartholomew, but with Rabbi Skorka

Pope Francis has long been already thinking about a trip to the Holy Land. Originally it was just after his election that he would visit together with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople the holy sites of Jesus. A gesture in memory of the joint meeting in Jerusalem of Pope Paul VI. and Patriarch Athenagoras in 1964. An event that could be found in 2014 to take place exactly fifty years later, so the desire of Constantinople. A sign to make the special closeness between the Roman and Byzantine church could be made visible.

But this idea soon appeared in the background. Instead, Pope Francis looked around for a personal tour guide. He contacted his friend, the Argentine Rabbi Abraham Skorka, with whom he had worked as Archbishop of Buenos Aires on a conversation book, and invited him to accompany him on his journey to the Holy Land.

Skorka: "The Pope Has Celebrated the Beginning of Shabbat in the Vatican"

Skorka said in an interview for the Jewish monthly Pagine Ebraiche, was completely reproduced in the Osservatore Romano in its issue of 25-26th of November, which he gave, when he met at the Community of Sant'Egidio in Rome, as a "personal guest of Bergolio in Santa Maria":

"We were close for a few days, the three daily meals and have shared other moments both public and private. We talked about everything: about dialogue, but also about the journey that we will do together to Israel [...] Together we have celebrated the beginning of Shabbat, he was by my side when I recited the Kiddush and has broken challah, which Zion Evrony, the Israeli Ambassador, brought to the Holy See. They were unforgettable days and I think that they have a value that goes beyond the affection and confidence that has always connected us."

In the interview, Skorka always speaks of Pope Francis as Bergoglio. Likewise, he does not speak of a trip to the Holy Land, but of a trip to Israel, which is considered another territory in extent and possible destinations and represents a delicate question. In September, the President of the National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has invited the Pope to Palestine. On Monday, Pope Francis will receive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will in audience.

The Skorka interview is interesting because of the unusually harsh criticism were expressed by the rabbi against the "World rabbbinate  in all its parts," which in his opinion "is going through a deep and destructive crisis"  both in "Israel" as well as "in all communities of the Diaspora."

  Skorka sees "Ideal Judaism" According to Rabbi Heschel, Who Worked on Nostra Aetate

 "The Church is in crisis, we are in a crisis," said Skorka who sees the "model of the ideal Judaism" which is "according to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel." Heschel, born in 1907 in Warsaw and died in New York in 1972, who together with the German Cardinal Augustin Bea, was instrumental in the "Jewish declaration" of the Second Vatican Council in the Declaration Nostra Aetate concerned with the relationship of the Church to non-Christian religions. In 1971 he was called by Pope Paul VI. and received in audience.

Most Important Signal of this Pontificate? "The Rejection of Proselytism"

However, as Skorka draws a parallel between his proposals for a reform of Judaism and those of Pope Francis for the Catholic Church, the rabbi responds to the question about the new pope's "important signal": "I see great value in Bergoglio's comments against proselytism. It is a point on which he insists with a special emphasis and gets even more weight when we think of the evangelizing framework within which these statements were made."

Pope Francis wants to Only Introduce More Catholics to Faith"?

 Skorka has in an interview then that one must remember how evangelization was until recently connected inseparably with proselytism:

"But now, the Pope speaks of it only to introduce Catholics to the faith."

The rabbi emphasizes in an interview several times that Pope Francis rejects "proselytism". However, as the Vatican expert Sandro Magister draws attention, something is wrong in the end quite complete, when Skorka concludes with the statement: "Now, however, the Pope speaks of it to introduce only the Catholics to the faith."

L'Osservatore Romano Printed the "Nonsense" Without Batting an Eyelash?

"Only the Catholics?" Asks Sandro Magister. "The Osservatore Romano reprinted the interview without batting an eyelash. But how could Pope Francis ever say such nonsense?" asks the Vatican expert.

Overall, it is striking that since this pope took office Jewish representatives are often at the Vatican in and out. With the Skorka interview, who says he is reproducing a statement of Pope Francis, is in the last three months already the third controversial statement that was made ​​public after a meeting with the Pope by Jewish representatives (see the report What has Pope Francis really say as chairman of the World Jewish Congress - Violent polemics in Poland and the report Pope Francis Condemns Catholic protest against syncretistic "commemorative liturgy" in Buenos Aires A riddle? .

Text: Settimo Cielo / Giuseppe Nardi
 image: Settimo Cielo
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMGD

Friday, October 12, 2012

Newsbytes -- Berlin's Cardinal Woelki Nominated for Homosexual Award

Celebrant in the Old Pontifical Mass in the St. Peter's Basilica -- Berlin's Cardinal Honored by Homosexual Organization -- Israeli Military Vehicles Enter Gaza Strip -- Reconciliation with the SSPX not Desired -- Legionaries of Christ Under New Leadership

Vatican.  The Traditional Pontifical Mass on the 3rd of November celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica will be celebrated by the Prefect of the Liturgy Commission, Antonio Cardinal Cañizares Llovera.  This will be reported by the organizers shortly.  There are several thousand pilgrims expected for the pontifical Mass.  At first there were rumors circulating that Pope Benedict XVI was going to celebrate the Mass.

Berlin Cardinal Nominated for Homosexual Prize

Germany.  Berlin's Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki has been nominated for a dubious homosexual honor.  This was according to the Berlin association "Bündnis gegen Homophobie".  The alliance is advertised on the homepage of the anti-Church association "Lesbians and Gays Germany".  The Cardinal is on a list of nominees with the singer Gabi Decker, the Turkish feminist Seyran Ateş and the infamous German urine showered David Berger.  At the end of November one will be chosen.  Cardinal Woelki was nominated because at the Katholikentag (an festival event going over days with a lot of "ecumenism" which could be described as unCatholic) in Mannheim in harsh contrast to the Faith, he recognized homosexual unions:  "If two homosexuals responsibly take care of one another, if they are stable and true with each other, you must see that in a similar way like heterosexual relationships."

Israeli Military Vehicles Drove into Gaza Strip

Occupied Palestine.  Israeli military vehicles drove this Wednesday several hundred meters into the area of the village of Sofa over the border zone-- east of the 71,000 population city of Rafa on the southern border of the Gaza Strip.  Two bulldozers accompanied the border guards as usual.  They were greeted by massive rifle fire fro the houses of those surprised living nearby.  Then as usual, the fields, which were full of crops just before the harvest, were rolled over.  This occurrence was followed by an air attack by the Israelis on the 60,000 population city of Beit Lahya in the north of the Gaza Strip.  A rocket attack destroyed homes there.   There was panic among the inhabitants.

No Reconciliation is Desired With the Society of St. Pius X

Vatican.  It is up to the Society of St. Pius X to reconcile itself.  That is what the Faith's Guardian, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller said for the Catholic newspaper 'Tagespost'.  The Pope has exhausted all possibilities:  "We could not persuade them."  The Vatican is supposed to never have sought a compromise in doctrinal questions:  "The Church is not a negotiating partner where the truth is convened."  They don't wish their separate parts to return as part of negotiations.  There are no compromises possible in doctrinal questions -- explained the Archbishop, known for his own doctrinal errors.

Legionaries of Christ Under New Leadership


Mexico.  The General Superior of an order troubled by the abuse scandal,  'Legionaries of Christ', Father Alvaro Corcuera (55) has been put into retirement.  This was reported by the Order in a press release.  The reason was because of necessary health and ability, to lead the Order in this historical moment. Transitionally, the General Vicar, the German Sylvester Heereman (38),  will lead the Order.  The Papal delegate of the Order, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis (76), stressed that this is not an official ouster and that no new director will be elected.

Link to kreuz.net...

Friday, February 24, 2012

Imam Thinks Israel Should not Exist: Banned in Vienna!


Edit: it's not like the Immam is singing the praises of Medjugorje, promoting women priests or displaying blasphemous portraits at the Cathedral bookstore or anything. In any event, Cardinal Christoph von Schönborn had to move quickly to protect the reputation of his predecessor's masterwork of false irenicism.

He thinks the death penalty for adultery is justified, and denies that the State of Israel has a right to exist. [Gasp]  Update:  Only after media reports did Cardinal Schönborn forbid further entrance of radical preacher at Church Institute.

Vienna (kath.net) He thinks that the death penalty for adultery is justified.  He denies that the State of Israel has a right to exist. He is promoting the re-establishment of the Caliphate in the Islamic world.   And Shaker Assem, speaker of the Panislamic "Hizb ut-Tahir" (Party of Freedom), which planned a Califate conference for the 10th of March ("Die Presse", reports),  regularly preaches on Friday in the Islamic prayer center of the Viennese Afro-Asiatic Institute (AAI).   "Die Presse" news reported this on Friday.  The Institute was founded by Cardinal König as a "political development house of education"  and is according to the times an ecclesiastical foundation, which is supported by means from the Archdiocese of Vienna.

For AAI- business manager, Nikolaus Heger this is a "difficult situation",  over which there has been much discussion.  Assem is also a good "dialog partner", who  seeks discussion and disputation.  "If you were to pole Muslims, you would find many who do not believe Israel should exist."  Exactly for this reason, it is important to draw people like him into the dialogue, Hegner says.

Update on Friday:  The controversial Caliphate preacher Shaker Assem may not lead the Friday prayer of the Viennese Afro-Asiatic Institute (AAI).  The Archdiocese of Vienna reported this on Friday in a communique.  Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has come to this decision as the protector of the Institute founded by Cardinal Franz König with AAI- business leader Nikolaus Heger. "The Archdiocse must generate clarity over the situation, especially when the State authorities have not yet evaluated Imam Assem as a hate preacher," it reads.

More from Die Presse...

From kathnet...

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Jerusalem: Anti-Christian Slogans Smeared on Monastery Walls


Christian clergy and nuns were spit on or had stones thrown at them, New Testaments were burned.  Radical Jewish settlers are prime suspects.

Jerusalem (kath.net/idea) The walls of a Greek Orthodox Monastery in Jerusalem are smeared with anti-Christian graffiti. Unknown individuals sprayed among other things, "Death to Christians". Press reports suggest that the signature "Maccabees of Mignon" point to settlers as the originators of the defacing. "Maccabees of Mignon" is the name of an illegal settlement near Ramallah in West Jordan.

In the past Christians were repeated victims of attacks by ultra-Orthodox Jews. The ecumenical news agency ENI news reported that Christian clergy and nuns were spit on or had stones thrown at them, and that anti-Christian statements were sprayed on the walls of church buildings. The religious court Beth Din Tzedek, the highest authority for ultra-Orthodox community in Haredi, has sharply condemned these activities. Also, messianic Jews, who believe in Jesus Christ as the chosen Messiah of Israel, complain about stalking by Orthodox Jews. They accuse the anti-Christian recruits of Jewish Orthodox Groups Yad L'Achim of passing out fliers and holding demonstrations, accusing them of 'steeling souls and attempting to "brainwash" Jews'. A New Testament was burned. Of the 7.7 million inhabitants of Israel, 76 percent are Jews, 15 are Muslim and 2 percent are Christian. The number of Messianic Jews stands from 10.000 to 15.000.

  Link to kath.net...

Monday, March 21, 2011

Christian Palestinian victim 'stabbed 10 times [allegededly] by Zionist haredim' terrorists!

Editor: You've got to pick a side.  We're on the Catholic side, every day, all day, to the death.  If a Jew fell upon a Catholic in Palestine, would anyone hear about it?  Let's hope the Israeli government, which has almost nothing to do with authentic Judaism as many Orthodox Rabbis will attest, does something to put a stop to this.  Christians have been leaving Palestine over many years for obvious reasons.

Hassan Shaalan
Published: 03.20.11

Alber Halul, who was stabbed Saturday night by a group of masked men he claims are haredim, recounted the attack Sunday. "They threatened to shoot us if we resisted and stabbed me 10 times – in my head, my leg, and my neck," he told Ynet.

Halul, a 22-year old Christian Arab from the Galilee town of Gush Halav, was assaulted while with a group of friends at Ein Zeitim forest, near Safed.

He says that at around 12:30 am two vehicles arrived at their gathering place and eight masked men alighted, and attacked them. Halul is currently being treated for wounds in his back, head, and legs at Ziv Hospital in Safed.

"At around 12:30 five masked drove up in a Nissan jeep and began driving in circles near us. Then they left and came back with another vehicle, and came closer," he recalled from his hospital bed.

"They threw stun grenades and fired in the air. Then eight masked men got out of the car and began to attack us. The guys I was with ran away but I stayed to protect a girl who was with us. They stabbed me 10 times in my head, my leg, and my neck until they hit me hard and I fell to the ground."

Halul says he knows the men were ultra-Orthodox Jews although they wore masks. "While they were attacking us one of the said that if we dared to resist they'll shoot us and we knew from their accent and their clothes that they were ultra-Orthodox," he said.

It wasn't the first time the 22-year old was attacked due to his race. "I won't return to the forest again. The Jews' hatred and racism against us has reached a point of real violence that threatens our lives," he said.

"I don't want to blame anyone and hope that the police will reach the people behind this attack because such people shouldn't be walking the streets – they are a menace to the Jewish and Arab public."

But police have not yet made any arrests in the case, and say they have no suspects. "The case is still being investigated," police said in a statement.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4045047,00.html

Friday, February 19, 2010

Sex abuse claims against famed rabbi grip Israel

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli police said on Friday they were looking into allegations of sexual abuse against one of the country's most famous and politically influential rabbis, in a case that has triggered dramatic headlines this week.

World

Mordechai Elon -- known as "Rabbi Motti" by viewers of his popular TV show and by many young men in the West Bank settler movement -- has vehemently denied the accusations by a group of fellow rabbis who say their aim is to combat sexual harassment by authority figures.

But that has not stopped a wave of soul-searching, which has some parallels with recent turmoil in the Roman Catholic church.


(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis; editing by Andrew Roche)


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Related Articles:

Jerusalem Post...

Rabbis coming out to denounce Motti...

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Making Sense of Benedict’s Jewish Policy – Forward.com

Making Sense of Benedict’s Jewish Policy – Forward.com

John Allen

By this stage, outsiders trying to make sense of Pope Benedict XVI’s approach to Jewish-Catholic relations might be forgiven for wondering if the pontiff suffers from an undiagnosed case of schizophrenia.

After all, this is the pope who made a point of visiting a Cologne synagogue in 2005 on his first foreign trip, and Auschwitz on his second, only later to revive a controversial Good Friday prayer for the conversion of Jews. More recently, this is the pope who rehabilitated a Holocaust-denying traditionalist bishop and who announced that Pope Pius XII (whose alleged “silence” during the Holocaust remains a bone of contention between Jews and Catholics) is a step closer to sainthood, only to visit Rome’s Great Synagogue on January 17 to express his “esteem and affection” for Judaism, and to pledge that the “faces, names, tears and desperation” of Holocaust victims must never be forgotten.

We see that John Allen is as slavishly devoted as ever to the party line, but he is right after all considering Holy Father's ultimate concern in his policy that, "Benedict’s top priority is internal, directed at the inner life of the Catholic Church. His aim is to restore a strong sense of traditional Catholic identity, in order to inoculate the church against infection by radical secularism." However, there are others, in Israel, who view things a little bit differently, like this Jewish paper which views Benedict's maneuvers as essentially hostile. We've seen a lot of negative reaction to Benedict's various changes and some of his public acts which don't bode well for an integralist Catholic viewpoint, like changinig the Good Friday prayers to make the Jews and the traditionalists happy at the same time. The prayer actually called for the conversion of the Jews, and a loud minority were, not suprisingly, unhappy with the prayer and their views were reported far and wide. Fact is, most Jews don't care about Benedict's activities, they don't go to services either. Why don't we spend more time talking to those Jews and get them to come to Mass, permanently!

Vatican Blames Israel for Driving Christians Out of the Area

January 20, 2010

A Vatican synod being convened by Monsignor Nikola Eterovic will address an internal document addressing the plight of the dwindling Christian minority in the rapidly growing Islamic population in the Mideast. 150 bishops are expected to attend the synod which will be held on October 10-24.

The internal Vatican documents pertaining to the meeting place the ongoing Israel-PA (Palestinian Authority) conflict at the heart of regional instability and conflict, adding “radical terrorism” over recent years exploited the conflict towards advancing political Islam in countries including Egypt.

Israel’s “ongoing occupation” is blamed for restricted access to houses of worship in those areas, hampering religious life. In Iraq, the report states all Iraqis became victims but the small and weak Christian population was among the principal victims.

The Vatican believes the solution remains in the hands of “the stronger countries, to settle the conflict between Israel and the PA.

A Vatican statement added “Violence is in the hands of the strong and weak alike, the latter resorting to whatever violence is within reach in order to be free.”

When asked if the Vatican document was referring to yishuvim throughout Yehuda and Shomron and ongoing construction in the eastern capital, Eterovic explained that while the Vatican was not making policy decisions, it does adhere to and accept the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, which in this case, support the Roadmap Plan and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

The bishop added that while many of the 17 million Christians living between Iran and Egypt have fled, the numbers of Christians in the region has grown due to the influx of manual laborers, Christians, in a number of Arab countries, some that had a minimal or no Christian presence prior to their arrival.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Rabbi calls Israel's Treatment "Outrageous"

Haaretz

Israel's behavior toward the Vatican over the past 15 years has been "outrageous," one of the figures behind the 1994 establishment of diplomatic relations between Jerusalem and Vatican City told Haaretz last week. "Any [other] country would have threatened to withdraw its ambassador long ago over Israel's failure to honor agreements," Rabbi David Rosen said.

Rosen is to attend the meeting scheduled in Rome today between Pope Benedict XVI and a delegation from Israel's Chief Rabbinate, which is taking place at a time of crisis in the Vatican's relations with Israel and with Jewish leaders.

Rosen, a British-born former chief rabbi of Ireland who is the international director of interreligious affairs of the American Jewish Committee, said the Vatican agreed to diplomatic relations with Israel after Jerusalem pledged to recognize the legal status of Catholic institutions in Israel and exempt Vatican property in Israel from taxes. The process was to take two years, he said.
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"Fifteen years later, the state has not ratified an agreement recognizing the church's legal status," Rosen said. He said the Vatican wants its internal hierarchy recognized by Israeli law, which at present treats each Catholic church as a separate nonprofit organization.

Israeli bureaucrats wore down the Vatican by negotiating every tax clause separately instead of granting a general concession, as expected by the Vatican, Rosen said. He called claims that the Vatican wants Israel to cede territory to it "falsehoods" propagated by "xenophobes."

Last month Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon discussed the legal issues in Rome with Vatican officials. He later said the talks "broke down" and that there was a "crisis" in relations.

Meanwhile, some Israeli politicians and Jewish leaders were angered by the Pope's proclamation last month that Pope Pius XII is eligible for for beatification, despite evidence that he may have turned a blind eye to the Holocaust.

"Most people don't know that almost every current problem in Vatican-Jewish relations began not with Pope Benedict, but with his predecessor Pope John Paul II, who is now seen as a saint by Jews," Rosen said.

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Monday, January 4, 2010

Tolerance for Diversity and Intolerance

Tiberias Haredi Jews want segregated bus lines so that "males and females may sit on seperate sides of the bus" and that they may be generally seperated from non-religious Jews. We like this. We hope the religious Jews beat the non-religious ones, as one interviewee feared would happen, on the head with the Torah.

Someone in Liberal Oregon can't understand, or appreciate cultural diversity, at least not the domesticated kind of diversity one might appreciate on a planned and disneyfied cruise and tour of Uganda. It irks him that somewhere, someone else's truth isn't the same as his for the Ugandan government is getting a democratic law passed which will punish homosexuals with death. It's not exactly the kind of democracy we had in mind though here at the epicenter of cultural niceness where some values are more equal than others.

Perhaps what we need is to get newly Knighted Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan on an away team to discuss tolerance and diversity to the Ugandan people, that is, even before economic sanctions hit and Ugandan children might starve in order that the 5-10% of our population that really values these things can feel less impotent than they usually do.



Then perhaps they will understand. Even the usually morally moribound Anglican Church is supporting this legislation which was once, more or less, a standard in European societies, at least until the French Revolution came along.

Uganda has banned radio adverts by witches but before you go around criticizing and getting all superior on the poor Ugandans, we do too, except we tend to call them psychics or palm readers.

Our enthusiasm for Uganda increases when we see that the government not only takes swindlers like fortune tellers to jail and prevents them from preying on ordinary people, but it even takes care of false versions of Catholicism, like the Brazilian Catholic Church, which permits its ministers to marry. Like the Old Catholics in Europe, they have quite a few problems with adult supervisions. By comparison, the Roman Catholic Church worldwide, though considerably less corrupt than the cannibal conference of the United Nations, and all of the heresy we talk about that it does suffer from, is nothing.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Is the Left Anti-Semitic After All?

Well, the left hates Joey Liberman (I), so it must be anti-semitic, because it hates Israel. Does the knife cut both ways? Never before has supporting Israel been so much fun, because you get to trash two faulty ideologies at once.

The Examener

Ruminations, December 27, 2009

Health insurance lives saved vs. lives lost
The Institute of Medicine, the health branch of the National Academy of Sciences, issued an analysis that concluded 22,000 lives were lost in 2006 due to a lack of health insurance. Many proponents of the new health care proposals are projecting their figures across 10 years and estimating that the new Congressional health care bill will save, conservatively, 150,000 lives over 10 years.

Although this analysis is speculative, it is an interesting and worthwhile exercise to examine the potential effect of health insurance on longevity. Rather than focusing on the dollars and cents side of the health care debate, perhaps adding an additional balance sheet focusing on lives would be worthwhile.

Saving 22,000 lives per year is based upon 30 million of people who are currently uninsured obtaining insurance and thus being able to afford to see their doctors once a year. If 30 million more people will go to their doctor once a year and, according to some estimates, a doctor and an assistant (nurse, physician’s assistant, or another doctor, etc) can see and examine 2,000 people per year (one visit per person). That means we’ll need 30,000 new medical professionals to see 30 million people. Where will they come from? They won’t materialize from thin air. With current staffing levels, regardless of insurance, we won’t have enough medical professionals to see these people. So maybe, unless or until we can expand our medical professionals, the 30 million people currently uninsured still won’t be able to see a doctor and 22,000 lives we estimated that would be saved will be lost anyway.

While accepting the estimate of 22,000 lives saved in one year, let’s consider the number of lives that the new health care bill may cost. For instance, won’t cutting nearly $500 billion from Medicare over 10 years have an adverse affect on the life spans of 46 million seniors? That’s an average cut of $10,000 per person over 10 years. It seems that by reducing health care by that amount, for a group whose earning power is limited and whose advancing years makes their health precarious enough without the cuts, will contribute to the lives lost count. Will it contribute to the premature death of more than 150,000 over ten years? Could be.

And, while we are on the subject of saving lives, there is no doubt that American medical innovation over the last decades has saved millions of lives. In fact, it is so advanced and superior, that, according to Deloitte & Touche, last year 400,000 people came from foreign lands to get health care in the United States. They came from all over including places such as Canada and Great Britain, where national health care is provided gratis. Why did they come? Not to save money, that’s for sure. They came because they wanted innovative health care that was unavailable in their home countries. Many, including those with diverse political perspectives as liberal former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich and conservative Fox commentator John Stossel, believe that a new health care system will not provide new innovations and, consequently it may cause a number of premature deaths that innovation could have saved.

So, on balance, will the new health care bill in Congress save lives? Maybe not.

Lieberman and anti-Semitism
The last two members of the Democratic caucus fell into line last week and supported the Democrats health care bill. Joe Lieberman (I, CT) and Ben Nelson (D, NE) voted to end debate on the bill and proceed towards its passage.

The left has been almost apoplectic on the about Joe Lieberman (I, CT), who threatened to join Republicans and filibuster the Senate Health Care bill. But when Lieberman’s objections to the “public option” and to the provision to allow people under 65 to apply for Medicare were met, he withdrew his filibuster threat and supported the bill. Lieberman had held out on principle. And by mollifying Lieberman, the Democrats were able to secure his support. But the left still treats him as a traitor.

Ben Nelson (D, NE), the last hold out, came back to the party-line when he was offered a $100 million subsidy for his Nebraska voters and tax breaks for Nebraska insurance companies. After he came back, the left treated him like a hero.

You can agree or disagree with Nelson and Lieberman but can you hold a mercenary in higher regard than a man who stands on principle?

It doesn’t seem so for many of the left. Rosa DeLauro (D, CT) says, “I'll say it flat out, I think he [Lieberman] ought to be recalled." MoveOn.org has raised one million dollars so that when Lieberman “comes up for re-election, we'll make sure we send him home for good.” Michael Moore demands that Connecticut recall Lieberman and wants to punish Connecticut for electing Lieberman by means of a boycott. MSNBC news commentator Keith Obermann said that Lieberman was “embarrassing humanity.” And the Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation has been pressured to sever relationship with Lieberman’s wife, Hadassah.

Is there something else at work here – something other than political opposition? When people oppose President Barack Obama, some of Obama’s supporters are quick to state or imply that the reason for the opposition to Obama is racism. Could one conclude that the reason for the strong opposition to Lieberman is anti-Semitism?

First of all, let’s set aside the lunatic fringe that will always be with us. There is no doubt that there is a small group of people who don’t like Lieberman because he is a Jew – just as there exists a small group of people who don’t like Obama because he is black. Small fringe groups, however outrageous their beliefs, are of little concern; when the group gets large or influential, that’s when it bears watching.

In Lieberman’s case, the left has other reasons to dislike him. In 2006, Lieberman returned from a fact-finding trip to Iraq and declared the war not only winnable but worth fighting. This infuriated the left and, at the Connecticut Democratic state Convention, instead of nominating the incumbent Lieberman, anti-war candidate Ned Lamont was nominated for senator. Lieberman then had the effrontery, in the eyes of the left, to run for senator as an independent against a party-line Democrat – and he won.

In 2008, Lieberman spoke at the Republican National Convention and endorsed Republican John McCain.

While many on the left urge rapprochement with Cuba, Lieberman has remained strongly anti-Castro.

And, while a significant portion of the American left leans toward Palestine in the Israeli-Palestinian controversy, Lieberman is strongly pro-Israel.

So the resentment of Lieberman for opposing the party orthodoxy has been building. Was the Health Care kerfuffle the tipping point? Is it a knee-jerk reaction to dismiss Lieberman detractors as anti-Semites? Let’s explore that notion.

There still is a remnant of anti-Semitism in the United States and some of it by seemingly responsible public figures and politicians who should know better. Former Senator Fritz Hollings (D, SC), for example, implied that President Bush initiated the war on terror in order to appease Jews.

While anti-Semitism in the United States is not at the levels it had been in the 1930s, it still exists. In November 2005, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a Campus Anti-Semitism briefing report (http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/081506campusantibrief07.pdf) that said, “Indeed, anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism flourish on college campuses because of the energetic focus of a determined minority and their willingness to dedicate themselves to this cause.” If that was and is the case, we don’t need to wonder that the attitudes of people who have been subjected to academic precepts of anti-Semitism made to sound intellectual will become anti-Semites themselves.

But according to the Commission, it is a small group of determined activists that foment anti-Semitism on campus. And who is it that leads political groups? Small groups of determined activists.

One of the Commission’s major findings is that “The assault on Jewish nationalism is embedded in the ideology of the left” and that "Anti-Semitic bigotry is no less morally deplorable when camouflaged as anti-Israelism or anti-Zionism." As was pointed out above, Lieberman strongly supports Israel.

Former Soviet dissident and Israeli government official Natan Sharansky stated that “One of the major difficulties in grappling with the new anti-Semitism is the ease with which it can be denied. Unlike in the past, post-modern anti-Semitism no longer exclusively involves such phenomena as violence against the Jews, sporting swastikas and burning synagogues. While these phenomena do indeed exist and are even increasing, especially in Europe, today they form only part of the problem.”

So, is opposition to Lieberman anti-Semitism camouflaged as politics or is it legitimate political opposition? It’s probably both. There is no doubt Lieberman has, overall, a liberal voting record. But liberal-versus-conservative voting records are hard to measure; the big issues for the left over the past year have been the war in Iraq, the presidential election and health care. Lieberman has, at times, opposed the left on all three.

Just as Lieberman has taken principled stands to oppose the left, it is fair to say that many on the left are taking principled stands in opposing Lieberman. Some of that opposition may be anti-Semitism camouflaged in principle and some, when it is expressed with venom and rancor, may not be camouflaged but blatant anti-Semitism.

The conclusion? It’s worrisome.

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