Pope Benedict remains well, prays for world suffering from coronavirus
Pope Benedict prays daily for the victims of the coronavirus pandemic and their loved ones.Mon Mar 30, 2020 – 2:54 pm EST
Pope Benedict XVI greets the pilgrims during his weekly general audience in St Peter’s square at the Vatican on October 26, 2006. Giulio Napolitano / Shutterstock.com
March 30, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Amidst news reports that the Vatican is seeing more coronavirus infections among its members, a well-informed source in Rome told LifeSiteNews that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is healthy and well-protected. He lives secluded in his residence Mater Ecclesiae and offers prayers for the afflicted and those who take care of the sick.
Since the news broke that there a new coronavirus cases in the Vatican, Catholics around the world wondered about the status of Pope Benedict. LifeSite reached out to a well-informed source who responded under condition of anonymity. The source related that Pope Benedict is doing well and in good spirits.
Pope Benedict is living at the monastery Mater Ecclesiae in the Vatican and follows the strict rules of the Italian government, the source told LifeSiteNews. Pope Benedict lives a cloistered life. He prays daily for the victims of the pandemic and their loved ones. Additionally, Pope Benedict offers special prayers for medical doctors and the health care personnel, as well as for those who carry political responsibility and make important decisions regarding the health and safety of citizens.
As LifeSite had reported on March 27, a member of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State had been tested positive for the coronavirus, at the time becoming the fifth infected member of the Vatican. Subsequently, another employee of the Secretariat of State has been tested positive.
On Saturday, March 29, it was reported by Reuters that neither Pope Francis nor his close collaborators have the virus infection and that 170 people at the Vatican were tested.
Italy itself so far has 101,739 infected persons, with 11,591 patients who have died of the coronavirus.SUBSCRIBEto LifeSite’s daily headlinesSUBSCRIBEU.S. Canada World Catholic
Pope Benedict XVI has resided in Mater Ecclesiae monastery since May of 2013, the year he resigned.
He has only recently raised his voice in defense of priestly celibacy when publishing an essay, in a collaborative book by Cardinal Robert Sarah. This publishing project had caused a controversy, at the end of which Pope Francis decided that he did not want to have Archbishop Georg Gaenswein – the Prefect of the Papal Household – at his side during public appearances. Thus, Gaenswein – who is also the personal secretary of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI – remains at the retired Pope’s side during this time of trial. Additionally, Pope Benedict is being taken care of by some religious sisters.
St. Benedict exhorts us: “Keep death daily before your eyes.” In this prompting taken from the fourth chapter of our patron’s Rule, we are reminded that God is the ultimate master of our lives, even if His presence is not always evident. In a fatherly way, St. Benedict also calls us to weep for our sins in fear of the coming Judgment. The reality of death and judgment reminds us to trust in the mercy and justice of God alone, whereas being forgetful of death can lead us to rely on ourselves and the world’s solutions to our problems.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, life for the monks in Norcia (all healthy as of March 30) continues much as normal, with a few exceptions. Every morning, during the solemn high Conventual Mass, we have added prayers against pestilence. In the afternoon, we process through the property with relics of the True Cross, praying for liberation from “plagues, famines and wars,” as did the ancients, who knew these tribulations often arise together. Particularly in our prayers are the many doctors and nurses who are sacrificing much — and risking much — to keep others alive and return them to health. Our region of Umbria’s population is geographically dispersed, so the cases of coronavirus around us are fewer than in the far north. We know that this could quickly change.
A striking change for us has been the complete absence of visitors to the chapel. Although Norcia is off the beaten path, we are blessed to be able to often share our life — the chanted Office and Holy Mass — with visitors. The measures adopted by the Italian government have meant that most Italians now live in an imposed cloister in their homes and our friends abroad cannot travel. Hiddenness from the world takes on an almost sacramental symbolism during this extraordinary crisis.
For centuries, it was not possible to see up-close the mysteries of the altar. In certain periods, curtains were drawn at the most important moments of the Mass. Still today, the solemn prayers of consecration are said in the lowest of tones – a whisper – as the drama of the liturgy unfolds. The hiddenness intrinsic to the Mass (with an iconostasis in the Byzantine rite) was common to all in some form for many hundreds of years; it summoned an atmosphere of mystery. In our age, which demands to see in order to believe, God is offering us a chance to rediscover mystery – the mystery of the Mass’s unseen efficacy (2 Cor 4:18). We must rely on an invisible medicine for our ultimate salvation in the face of this invisible threat.
One of the monastery’s greatest blessings in recent years has been the new monastic life born in trial. Many of the monks were clothed and made professions in the period after the 2016 earthquakes. Now, new monks persevere amid the pandemic. For example, on the Feast of the Annunciation, a young novice made his simple vows. Though no lay faithful attended, a full array of monks, angels and saints were there to watch. A spring snowfall brought a further sense of the unexpected to the event, making the feast’s momentous Gospel all the more prescient: “no word shall be impossible with God.”
It becomes clearer every day that we will all be suffering with the physical, economic, psychological and spiritual consequences of the coronavirus for some time. We should be willing to learn the lessons God wants to teach us. A great temptation is to demand that God return what we have lost. In the field of tragedy, God sows seeds of new life. We all must water them with our prayers (both seen and unseen), our sacrifices and, perhaps, even our lives. But death does not have the last word.
Very Rev. Dom Benedict Nivakoff, O.S.B. Prior
What a fortunate cat to have two such protectors!!! +rhg
Remnant Editor’s Introduction: During this seemingly apocalyptic moment, we must be ever mindful of the fact that, despite the great apostasy that’s been unfolding in the Church for decades, God Himself has not abandoned us.
Good priests all over the world are answering the call of the disenfranchised faithful, to help them maintain the lumen Christi in the midst of the present darkness that seems to be enveloping the whole world. In this moment of desolation, many of them are beginning to understand the warp and woof of the Modernist revolution that has decimated the Catholic Church, nearly destroyed the venerable Roman Rite and left us all spiritually abandoned outside of locked churches.
In the face of this chastisement, when so many bishops have fled and taken our Sacraments with them, we’re so grateful that at least a few good shepherds have broken the chains of collegiality in order to bring to us the consolation of Christ’s truth and call the scattering sheep back into the protection of the fold.
Clearly, we are not alone. God is again raising up his prophets.
Millions of Catholics are struggling to assimilate everything that has happened in the last few weeks. On this First Sunday of Passiontide, Archbishop Viganò honors us with this interview, in which he provides honest and Christocentric guidance.
First he reminds us that “disease – and therefore epidemics, suffering, and losing a loved one – must be accepted in a spirit of faith and humility, even in atonement for our own personal sins.” We must allow this scourge to soften our hearts and induce us to repent and turn back to God.
Then he enjoins all baptized Catholics to keep in mind that despair is certainly not an option and that we should “bear these trials for the sins of others, for the conversion of those who do not believe, and to shorten the time the Holy Souls have to spend in Purgatory.”
If “something as terrible as covid-19 can also be an opportunity for us to grow in Faith and active Charity,” so too can it become an opportunity for our shepherds to resolve to soften their hearts and realize they must not go on “offending the Majesty of God” and even disobeying His mother: “Our Lady of Fatima asked the Pope and all Bishops to consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart,” Archbishop Viganò recalls, and she “announced wars and disasters until this came about. Her calls have gone unheard. The Hierarchy must now reform and obey the Mother of God!”
So, how must the Church respond to this crisis?
His Excellency warns that “the pope, the Hierarchy, and all Bishops, Priests and Religious must immediately and absolutely convert.” Bishops especially must “regain consciousness of their own Apostolic Authority” since the time has come to “put an end to synodal paths,” to that “hypocritical use of the word ‘dialogue’ instead of fearlessly preaching the Gospel,” and so too the bishops must stop “teaching false doctrines”, stop being afraid of “preaching about purity and holiness,” while “being silent in front of the arrogance of evil.”
The sheep will follow, but the shepherds must learn to lead us away from the world and back to Christ.
May God bless and keep Archbishop Viganò. His is a voice crying in the wilderness, and I would plead with our readers to pray for him and to ask God to grant him the grace and the courage to continue to sound the alarm before it’s too late. Nations and men alike must turn back to Almighty God. – Michael J. Matt
Interview with Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò
Michael J. Matt (MJM): Your Excellency, how do you feel ordinary Catholics are to assess the covid-19 pandemic?
+ Carlo Maria Viganò: The coronavirus pandemic, as with all diseases and death itself, are a consequence of original sin. The sin of Adam, our first parent, deprived him and us not only of divine grace, but also all the other good things God gave to creation. Then disease and death came into the world as a punishment for disobeying God. The Redemption we were promised in the Protoevangelium (Genesis 3), prophesied in the Old Testament and brought to completion with the Incarnation, Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord, redeemed Adam and his descendants from eternal damnation; but its consequences were left as a mark of the Fall and will only finally be restored at the Resurrection of the flesh, as we proclaim in the Creed, and which will happen before Judgment Day. This must be remembered, especially at a time when the basic tenets of the Catechism are unknown or denied.
Catholics know that disease – and therefore epidemics, suffering, and losing a loved one – must be accepted in a spirit of faith and humility, even in atonement for our own personal sins. Thanks to the Communion of Saints – thanks to whom the merits of all the baptized are passed on to everyone else in the Church – we may also bear these trials for the sins of others, for the conversion of those who do not believe, and to shorten the time the Holy Souls have to spend in Purgatory. Something as terrible as covid-19 can also be an opportunity for us to grow in Faith and active Charity.
As we have seen, if we only consider the clinical side of the disease – which plainly we must do everything we can to fight – completely removes the transcendental side of our lives, thus leaving them without any spiritual outlook and inevitably locking us into blind and hopeless selfishness.
MJM: Several Bishops and Priests have claimed the God “does not punish” and that considering coronavirus as a scourge is a “pagan idea.” Do you agree?
The first ever punishment, as I was saying, was visited upon our first parent. However, as we hear in the Exsultetwhich is sung during the Easter Vigil, O felix culpa, qui talem ac tantum meruit habere Redemptorem! O happy fault, that merited to possess such and so great a Redeemer!
A father who does not punish his children does not love them, but neglects them; a doctor who uncaringly observes the patient getting worse until gangrene does not want his recovery. God is a loving Father because He teaches us what we have to do to be worthy of eternal happiness in Paradise. When we disobey His commandments by sinning, He does not let us die but comes to find us and sends us many signs, often very sternly. Then we mend our ways, repent, do penance, and return to our old friendship with Him. You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you. I think the words of Our Lord leave no room for ambiguity.
I should also like to add that the truth about a just God Who rewards the good and punishes the wicked is part of our common inheritance from natural law which Our lord gave everyone throughout history. An irrepressible call to our earthly paradise, which shows even pagans how the Catholic Faith is the necessary completion of everything which sincere and well-disposed hearts suggest to them. I am surprised that nowadays, instead of stressing this truth written deeply into everyone’s hearts, those who seem to feel such great sympathy for the pagans fail to accept something the Church has always considered the best way of attracting them.
MJM: Does Your Excellency feel that there are certain sins which have provoked the wrath of God rather than others?
The crimes which stain each of us in the eyes of God are another hammer blow on the very nails used to pierce Our Lord’s sacred and venerable Hands, a lash ripping away the flesh from His Sacred Body, a spit in His beloved Face. If only we realized these things, we would never sin again. And sinners would weep with profound sorrow for the rest of their lives. And yet here is what really happened: during His Passion, our divine Savior took upon Himself not just original sin, but also all the sins all men have committed and will commit. The most glorious thing is that Our Lord went to die on the Cross, when just one drop of his Most Precious Blood would have been enough to redeem us all. Cujus una stilla salvum facere totum mundum quit ab omni scelere, as Saint Thomas teaches us.
As well as the sins committed by individuals, there are also the sins of societies, of nations. Abortion, which is still murdering innocent children even during the pandemic; divorce, euthanasia, the abhorrence of so-called gay “marriages,” the celebration of sodomy and other terrible perversions, pornography, the corruption of children, speculation by the financial elite, the profaning of Sundays, and the list goes on…
MJM: May we ask why Your Excellency makes a distinction between the sins of individuals and the sins of nations?
Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches that it is the duty of the individual to recognize, worship, and obey the one true God. By the same token societies – which comprise many individuals – cannot fail to recognize God and ensure that their laws allow members of society to reach the spiritual end to which they have been destined. There are nations which do not merely ignore God, but deny Him openly. There are those which require their citizens to accept laws against natural morals and Catholic teaching, such as recognizing the right to abortion, euthanasia, and sodomy. Others corrupt children and violate their innocence. Those who allow people to blaspheme God’s Divine Majesty cannot evade God’s punishment. Public sins require public confession and public atonement, if public forgiveness is sought. Let us not forget that the ecclesiastical community, which is also a society, is not exempt from heavenly punishment when its leaders become responsible for collective offences.
MJM: Is Your Excellency saying that the Church can have faults?
The Church has always been unfailingly holy, because She is the Mystical Body of Our Lord and Savior, and it would be not only rash but indeed blasphemous even to begin to consider that this divine institution which Providence placed on this earth to provide us all with Grace as the only Ark of Salvation might be even minimally imperfect. The praises we sing of the Mother of God – whom we call precisely Mater Ecclesiae – can be sung of the Church, the Mediatrix of all graces via the Sacraments, the Mother of Our Lord, onto Whose limbs it holds. The Church is the Ark of the Covenant, guardian of the Blessed Sacrament and the Commandments. The Church is the Refuge of Sinners, to whom it grants pardon after a good confession. It is Health of the Sick, upon whom it has always lavished much care. This Queen of Peace promotes harmony by preaching the Gospel. However, it is also terrible as an army set in battle array, because Our Lord has given his sacred ministers the power to crush demons and the authority of the Keys to Heaven. Let us not forget that the Church is not only the Church Militant here on earth, but also the Church Triumphant and the Church Penitent, whose members are all saints.
I must also say that although the Church is holy, some of Her members and of Her hierarchy here on earth may be sinners. In these troubled times, there have been many clerics unworthy of the name, as the abuse scandals committed by them and, unfortunately, even Bishops and Cardinals, have shown. The faithlessness of the Sacred Pastors is a scandal for their confreres and for many among the faithful, not only in terms of lust of thirst for power, but also – I might say especially – when they touch the integrity of the Faith, the purity of the Church’s teachings and the holiness of morals. They have even committed acts of unprecedented gravity, such as we saw with the adoration of the pachamama idol in the Vatican itself. Indeed, I think Our Lord has rightly become indignant at the great multitude of scandals committed by those who ought to be setting a good example, because they are Shepherds, to the flocks to whom they have been entrusted.
Let us not forget that the example given by so many in the Hierarchy is not merely a scandal for Catholics: it is a scandal for those outside who look at the Church as a lighthouse and a point of reference. Nor is this all: this scourge cannot dispense the Church, in her Hierarchy, from making a proper examination of her conscience for giving in to the spirit of this world. She cannot escape her duty to condemn firmly all those errors she has allowed in after the second Vatican Council, which have brought down upon her all those just punishments. We must mend our ways and return to God.
It pains me to have to say that even now, after we have seen the divine wrath beating down upon the world, we go on offending the Majesty of God by speaking of mother earth demanding respect, as the Pope said a few days ago in his umpteenth interview. What we must do is ask forgiveness for the sacrilege perpetrated in the Basilica of Saint Peter’s, and reconsecrate it before the Holy Sacrifice of Mass can be said there. We should also call a public procession to show penance, even if only Prelates take part under the Pope’s guidance. They must call down the mercy of God upon themselves and upon His people. This would be a sign of that true humility we are all waiting to see, as reparation for all the offences committed.
How are we to contain our bewilderment when we hear words like those said in Santa Marta on 26 March? The Pope said, “The Lord must not find us, at the end of our lives, and say to us, ‘You are corrupt. You have left the path I showed you. You have bowed down before idols’.” Such words as these are truly bewildering, especially if we remember that he himself brought off a terrible sacrilege before the eyes and ears of the whole world, before the very Altar of the Confession of Saint Peter, a real profanation, an act of pure apostasy, with those filthy and satanic images of pachamama.
MJM: On the Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lady, the Bishops of Portugal and of Spain dedicated their countries to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Bishops of Ireland and of England and Wales did the same. In many Dioceses and towns elsewhere, the Bishops and the local authorities have placed their communities under the protection of Mary Most Holy. How does Your Excellency consider there events?
These are actions which fill my heart with hope. Although they are not enough to atone for our faults they have been completely ignored by those at the top of the Church, even though the simple faithful have long cried out for solemn acts such as these by their Shepherds. Our Lady of Fatima asked the Pope and all Bishops to consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart, and announced wars and disasters until this came about. Her calls have gone unheard. The Hierarchy must now reform and obey the Mother of God! It is shameful and scandalous that no Bishop in Italy has joined in with this great initiative!
MJM: How do you judge the suspension of the Sacraments which we have seen in almost all the world?
This is a terrible suffering, perhaps even the worst the faithful have ever seen. It is unbelievable to think such a thing has been denied to the dying.
At this juncture, it seems most that the Hierarchy, with very few exceptions, had no scruple in closing the churches and in preventing the participation of the faithful in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. They have behaved like cold bureaucrats, like executors of the will of the Prince, and most of the faithful have taken their actions as a sign of their lack of Faith. Who can blame them?
I almost wonder – and it is a terrible thing to think – whether the closure of churches and the suspension of all Celebrations might not be another punishment by God, in addition to the pandemic. That they might know that by what things a man sinneth, by the same also he is tormented. (Wisdom 11, 17) Offended though He is by the slovenliness and lack of respect shown by his priests, outraged by the profanation of the Blessed Sacrament which occurs every day when they give Communion in the hand, and tired of silly songs or heretical homilies, is still – from His place of silence within the Tabernacle – satisfied by the austere composed praise offered by the many Priests who are still saying the Mass of all time. The Mass which goes back to the time of the Apostles. And which has always been the beating heart of the Church down through the centuries. Let us remember this most solemn warning: God is not mocked.
Clearly I understand and share the basic worries about safety and protection which the authorities require for public health. However, just as they have the right to pass measures for things affecting our bodies, so the Church authorities have the right and the duty to worry about the health of our souls. They cannot deny the faithful the spiritual sustenance they receive from the Eucharist, not to mention the Sacrament of Confession, Mass, and Viaticum.
When so many shops and restaurants were still open, the various Bishops’ Conferences had already suspended all sacred functions, even when the civil authorities had not asked them to do so. This is further proof that the Hierarchy is in a dreadful state and shows that Bishops are all too willing to sacrifice the well-being of souls to pacify the power of the state or the dictatorship of ideas.
MJM: Your Excellency mentioned restaurants. What do you say about the meals for the poor which were offered in the last few months in places of worship?
For Catholics, helping those in need is an act of charity. It reminds us that God is love. We have to love God above all things with our whole hearts, and love our neighbor for love of Him. Thus, in accordance with the beatitudes, we can see Our Lord in the poor, in the sick, in prisoners, and in orphans. From the very start, the Church has always been a luminous example in this field. Even the pagans admired us for it. History shows us the many impressive works of aid which have been started thanks to the generosity of the faithful, even in times of great hostility by states. Rulers have often taken over these works under orders from freemasons, who clearly despised the great works of so many good Catholics. Caring for the poor and those on the edges of society is not something that started with Bergoglio or with various woke associations.
We must realize that when the new regime helps the poor, it does so with absolutely no reference whatever to the supernatural. All we are seeing is works of corporal mercy, whereas works of spiritual mercy have been utterly wiped out. Nor is this all: the current Papacy has completely eliminated any form of apostolate, and says the Church must not perform any missionary activity, which it calls proselytism. We can only provide food, hospitality, and health care, but nobody provides food, hospitality, or care for the souls of those who so desperately need it. The modern Church has been turned into a sort of ONG. True Charity is nothing to do with its masonic imitation, however much they try to hide it with an extremely vague sense of spirituality: it is the exact opposite, because the various bodies we see at work today deny that there is only one true Church, whose message of salvation must be preached to those outside it. This is not all: the Church has drifted so far after the Council in questions of religious freedom and ecumenism that many charitable bodies now confirm the people entrusted to their care in their paganism or atheism. they even offer them places of worship where they can go and pray. We have even seen terrible examples of Masses where, at the explicit request of the Celebrant, instead of the Holy Gospel a reading is taken from the Koran or, as happened more recently, idolatry has been practiced in Catholic churches.
I think the decision to turn churches into refectories or dormitories for the needy is proof of this basic hypocrisy which, as we have seen with ecumenism, makes an apparently good thing (such as feeding the hungry or sheltering the homeless) – and exploits it to help the grand masonic plan for one world religion with no dogmas, no ceremonies, no God. Using churches as hostels, in the presence of smug Prelates who drop by to serve pizzas or pork chops with an apron over their ecclesiastical dress means profaning them. Especially when those smiling to the photographers absolutely never open the doors of their own mansions to those they want to take advantage of for political purposes. Let me go back to what I was saying and repeat that all this sacrilege is the underlying cause of the current pandemic.
All too often they use the poverty and homelessness of these poor people so they can appear on the front pages of the newspapers. This we saw only too often with the landings of all those immigrants. The only purpose was to set up a new industry for reception, behind which are hidden not only mean economic interests but also their complicity with those who seek to destroy a Christian Europe starting with Italy.
MJM: In other cases, such as the city of Cerveteri near Rome, the forces of law and order stopped a Priest who was saying Mass. How have the Church authorities reacted to this sort of thing?
Cerveteri may simply have been an excess of zeal by two local policemen, especially if they have to work under all the extra stress that has arisen since to coronavirus outbreak. It must also be clear, though, especially in a country like Italy which signed a Concordat with the Church in 1929, that the ecclesiastical authorities have sole rights over places of worship. The Holy See and the local Ordinary really ought to have protested over such a violation of the Lateran Treaty, which was confirmed again in 1984 and which is still in force. Yet again, the authority of Bishops, given directly to them by God, melts away like snow and shows how cowardly they all are. This might lead to even worse abuses in the future if it is not corrected now. Let me take this opportunity to ask for a forthright condemnation of this unacceptable meddling by government forces in affairs which are the direct responsibility of the Church Authorities.
MJM: Pope Francis invited all Christians, Catholics and non-Catholics, to come together on 25 March to ask God to put an end to this pandemic, and let it be understood that members of other religions could pray too.
The religious relativism which was brought in with Vatican II led many people to believe that the Catholic Faith was no longer the only means to salvation, or that the Blessed Trinity was the Only True God.
In his Abu Dhabi declaration, Pope Francis said that God wants all religions. Not only is this a blatant heresy, it is also a very serious apostasy and a terrible blasphemy. Saying that God wants to be worshipped as something other than how He revealed Himself means that the Incarnation, Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Savior are completely meaningless. It means that the reason for founding the Church, the reason for which millions of holy Martyrs gave their lives, for which the Sacraments were instituted, along with the Priesthood and the Papacy itself, are all meaningless.
Unfortunately, just when we should be doing atonement for our offences against the divine Majesty of God, here is someone who asks us to pray to Him along with those who deny the divine Maternity of His Mother, on Her Feast day.
Would this not be the best way to put an end to the current pestilence?
MJM: It is also true that the Apostolic Penitentiary has granted special Indulgences to those struck by this terrible affliction and for those who assist them materially and spiritually.
Firstly let me stress that Indulgences can never take the place of the Sacraments. We must firmly resist the villainous decisions taken by several Shepherds, who have forbidden the Priests from hearing Confessions or baptizing children. These measures – along with the ban on public Masses and the suspension of Holy Communion – go against the law of God, and are proof that behind it all is Satan. Only the Evil Serpent can explain these measures which will bring about the spiritual loss of so many souls. It would be like ordering doctors not to treat patients in danger of death.
The example of the Bishops in Poland should be followed by the universal Church: they ordered more Masses to be said so that more faithful could go safely to hear Mass. This would happen if the Hierarchy actually cared about the eternal salvation of Catholics. Do not forget that in Poland, the effects of the pandemic are much lower than in other countries.
The Church’s teaching on Indulgences has not been swept away by the revolutionaries, and this is a good thing. However, whereas the Bishop of Rome has the power to draw upon the infinite riches of Grace, it is also true that Indulgences cannot be trivialized or considered as some sort of end-of-season sales bonus. The faithful felt the same things towards the end of the Jubilee of Mercy, when a Plenary indulgence was granted under such strange conditions that those earning the Indulgence hardly realized what was happening.
There is also a problem with the Sacrament of Penance and Eucharistic Communion which are necessary for an indulgence to take effect, which the Apostolic Penitentiary has postponed until some unspecified “as soon as possible.”
MJM: Does Your Excellency feel that the general dispensations for General Absolution instead of absolving individuals may apply in the current epidemic?
An imminent danger of death justifies certain solutions which the Church, in Her zeal for the eternal salvation of souls, has always generously allowed. Such is the case with General Absolution for soldiers about to go into battle, or for people on board a sinking ship. If an emergency affecting an intensive care ward does means that a Priest can only enter under extremely strict conditions, and he cannot hear the individual confessions of the dying, I think such a solution may be the best.
However, if a precedent is set whereby General Absolution is extended to all cases, even when penitents are not in danger of immediate death, we must be extremely careful to ensure that what the Church allows in extreme cases does not become the norm.
Let me remind people that watching Mass on the internet or on television does not absolve the precept of going to Sunday Mass. It can be a good way to sanctify the Lord’s Day when it is absolutely impossible to go to church; but we must always remember that living the Sacraments cannot be replaced by virtualizing the Sacraments. At a more banal level, we cannot feed our bodies by looking at a photograph of a loaf of bread.
MJM: What message would Your Excellency like to give those in charge of defending and guiding Christ’s flock?
The pope, the Hierarchy, and all Bishops, Priests and Religious must immediately and absolutely convert. This is something the laity are calling for, as they suffer because they have no firm and faithful guides. We cannot allow the flock which Our Divine Lord has entrusted to our care be scattered by faithless mercenaries. We must convert and go completely over to being on God’s side. We cannot reach any compromises whatsoever with the world.
Bishops must regain consciousness of their own Apostolic Authority, which is personal, which cannot be delegated to intermediate subjects such as Episcopal Conferences or Synods, which have distorted the exercise of the apostolic ministry, causing serious damage to the divine constitution of the Church.
The time has come to put an end to synodal paths. To an absurd sense of inferiority and flattering when dealing with the world. To that hypocritical use of the word dialoguing instead of fearlessly preaching the Gospel. We must stop teaching false doctrines and stop being afraid of preaching about purity and holiness. And stop being silent in front of the arrogance of evil. Stop covering up terrible scandals. Stop lying, tricking, and taking revenge.
Catholic life must be a battle right to the end, not a happy-go-lucky walk towards the abyss. All of us, having received Holy Orders. will be asked by Our Lord to give account of the souls we have saved, and those we have lost by not reprimanding and rescuing them. Let us go back to the One true Faith. To living a life of holiness. To the only Cult pleasing to God.
Conversion and repentance, as Our Blessed Lady, Mother of the Church, asks of us. Let us all ask Her, Tabernacle of the Most High, to give Priests and Bishops the heroic impetus they need to save the Church and to bring about the victory of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart.
+ Carol Maria Viganò First Sunday of Passiontide 2020
I say this because when Our Lord instituted the papacy, he did so on St. Peter’s explicit expression of faith in His divinity.
“And Jesus came into the quarters of Cesarea Philippi: and He asked his disciples, saying: Whom do men say that the Son of Man is?
But they said: Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I AM?
Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answering said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father Who is in heaven.
And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16: 13-18
In other words, the founding of the papacy, and by extension the office of the papacy itself, is directly linked to the expression and belief in Christ’s divinity.
Therefore, when a man claiming to be the pope expressly denies Christ’s divinity, is there any more proof that can be made that he is not and never has been the pope?
Perhaps Our Lord was using Scalfari to again pose the question, “who do you say that I AM?” And perhaps this is the proof most fence sitters needed?
Omnium Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
J
An excellent insertion here are the footnotes in the Douay-Rheims:
“Thou art Peter”: As St. Peter, by divine revelation, here made a solemn profession of his faith of the divinity of Christ; so in recompense of this faith and profession, our Lord here declares to him the dignity to which He is pleased to raise him: viz., that he to whom He had already given the name of Peter, signifying a rock, St. John 1. 42, should be a rock indeed, of invincible strength, for the support of the building of the church; in which building he should be, next to Christ Himself, the chief foundation stone, in quality of chief pastor, ruler, and governor; and should have accordingly all fullness of ecclesiastical power, signified by the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
“Upon this rock”: The words of Christ to Peter, spoken in the vulgar language of the Jews which Our Lord made use of, were the same as if He had said in English, Thou art a Rock, and upon this rock I will build My Church. So that, by the plain course of the words, Peter is here declared to be the rock, upon which the Church was to be built: Christ Himself being both the principal foundation and founder of the same. Where also note, that Christ, by building His house, that is, His Church, upon a rock, has thereby secured it against all storms and floods, like the wise builder, St. Matt. 7. 24, 25.
Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam Meam.
From: Most Rev. Leonard P. Blair, Archbishop of Hartford Chairman, USCCB Committee on Divine Worship
Date: March 27, 2020 Re: Administration of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Anointing
As Bishops struggle to field the many questions that are arising from priests and the faithful about the availability and administration of the Sacraments, some issues have arisen that have come to the attention of the Committee on Divine Worship.
Two of those questions were referred to the Nuncio for possible referral to the Holy See. Our Nuncio, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, spoke with Archbishop Arthur Roche, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, and has requested that the following information be shared with all the Bishops:
With regard to Penance, it is clear that the Sacrament is not to be celebrated via cell phone. In addition, in the present circumstances cell phones should not be used even for the amplification of voices between a confessor and penitent who are in visual range of each other. Current threats against the seal of confession also raise questions about information on cell phones.
With regard to the Anointing of the Sick, it is not possible for the anointing with oil to be delegated to someone else, such as a nurse or a doctor.
I might add that when it is not possible to administer the Sacrament, then what the Apostolic Penitentiary said about the Sacrament of Penance might be applied analogously to the Sacrament of the Sick: “Where the individual faithful find themselves in the painful impossibility of receiving sacramental absolution, it should be remembered that perfect contrition, coming from the love of God, beloved above all things, expressed by a sincere request for forgiveness (that which the penitent is at present able to express) and accompanied by votum confessionis, that is, by the firm resolution to have recourse, as soon as possible, to sacramental confession, obtains forgiveness of sins, even mortal ones (cf. CCC, no. 1452).”
Larry Clayman of Freedom Watch has flied in U.S. Federal Court, Norther District of Texas, a class action lawsuit against China for $20,000,000,000,000 dollars, that, is 20 Trillion, or 20 million millions. The sum is so great it is roughly equal to the entire gross domestic product of China.
Larry Clayman is the famous attorney, formerly of Judicial Watch, who was the first in U.S. Judicial history to obtain a court ruling of fact that a sitting U.S. President (Bill Clinton) had committed a crime.
The basis of the lawsuit is that China violated the 1929 treaty against the development of bio-weapons, a treaty to which China legally pledged itself in 1984, and by doing so is legally responsible for the deaths of thousands and the economic damage of billions of individuals. The lawsuit describes in 24 pages, the legal complaint thus:
1. This is a complaint for damages and equitable relief arising out of the creation and release, accidental or otherwise, of a variation of coronavirus known as COVID-19 by the People’s Republic of China and its agencies and officials as a biological weapon in violation of China’s agreements under international treaties,1 and recklessly or otherwise allowing its release from the Wuhan Institute of Virology into the city of Wuhan, China, in Hubei Province, by among other acts failing to prevent the Institute’s personnel from becoming infected with the bioweapon and carrying it into the surrounding community and proliferation into the United States.
2. Since biological weapons have been outlawed since at least 1925, including by China’s membership in treaties, these illegal weapons constitute and are in effect terrorist-related weapons of mass destruction of population centers. 3. This is a civil action on behalf of the lead Plaintiffs and other members of the class comprised of sub-classes identified herein of those directly injured by the spread of COVID-19.
For those not familiar with U.S. Law, this lawsuit is a civil case seeking damages. It seeks to be accepted by the Court as as class-action suit, whereby anyone who has suffered damage or harm from the Coronavirus can join in and participate in the action and share in the final judgement against China. The website of Freedom Watch contains the legal filings and an online form for those to sign up. Both corporations, individuals and their heirs or executors can join in the action. You do not have to be a U.S. Citizen to join in this action.
Freedom Watch describes itself thus:
Freedom Watch is the only political interest group that speaks through actions, rather than just words. We are dedicated to not only preserving freedom, but redefining its meaning, from protecting our rights to privacy, free speech, civil liberties, and freedom from foreign oil and crooked business, labor and government officials, to protecting our national sovereignty against the incompetent, terrorist state-controlled United Nations, and reestablishing the rule of law in what has become a very corrupt American legal system, where justice is only as good as your lawyer and judge—most of whom are compromised ethically and otherwise.
__________
CREDITS: The Featured Image is a screenshot of the Freedom Watch website, and is used here in accord with fair use standards for editorial commentary.
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Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on BRAVO, FREEDOM WATCH !!! FREEDOM WATCH HAS JUST FILED A CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT IN A TEXAS FEDERAL COURT AGAINST RED CHINA SEEKING $20 TRILLION IN DAMAGES CAUSED BY A BOTCHED EXPERIMENT IN THE RED CHINA BIO-WEAPONS LAB IN WUHAN, CHINA WHICH UNLEASHED THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC ON THE WORLD.
Democrats and resistance media writ large have been demanding that President Trump invoke the Defense Production Act to force companies to make equipment for the fight against the coronavirus. Until today, most companies voluntarily adjusted their manufacturing systems and networks to assist; so forced compliance was not needed.
However, General Motors now states an inability to meet their prior commitments for the manufacture of ventilators:
Now it really gets interesting… The CEO of GM is Mary Barra, considered a hero amid the political circles of democrats; and considered a potential pick for vice-president on a Democrat ticket. Despite her generally weak leadership, democrats adore her resistance bona-fides.
The axiom: “be careful what you wish for” applies big time, because President Trump has just triggered the Defense Production Act to force General Motors to comply with their initial promise. By playing games, again; CEO Mary Barra put herself in the crosshairs of the Trump administration.
WHITE HOUSE – Statement from the President Regarding the Defense Production Act:
Today, I signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to use any and all authority available under the Defense Production Act to require General Motors to accept, perform, and prioritize Federal contracts for ventilators.
Our negotiations with GM regarding its ability to supply ventilators have been productive, but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course. GM was wasting time. Today’s action will help ensure the quick production of ventilators that will save American lives. (LINK)
Now… watch how quickly those who were demanding President Trump invoke the DPA, including the resistance media, reverse position 180 degrees, and start calling President Trump a dictator simply because it is one of their own resistance allies in the spotlight.
Democrats and resistance media writ large have been demanding that President Trump invoke the Defense Production Act to force companies to make equipment for the fight against the coronavirus. Until today, most companies voluntarily adjusted their manufacturing systems and networks to assist; so forced compliance was not needed.
However, General Motors now states an inability to meet their prior commitments for the manufacture of ventilators:
Now it really gets interesting… The CEO of GM is Mary Barra, considered a hero amid the political circles of democrats; and considered a potential pick for vice-president on a Democrat ticket. Despite her generally weak leadership, democrats adore her resistance bona-fides.
The axiom: “be careful what you wish for” applies big time, because President Trump has just triggered the Defense Production Act to force General Motors to comply with their initial promise. By playing games, again; CEO Mary Barra put herself in the crosshairs of the Trump administration.
WHITE HOUSE – Statement from the President Regarding the Defense Production Act:
Today, I signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to use any and all authority available under the Defense Production Act to require General Motors to accept, perform, and prioritize Federal contracts for ventilators.
Our negotiations with GM regarding its ability to supply ventilators have been productive, but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course. GM was wasting time. Today’s action will help ensure the quick production of ventilators that will save American lives. (LINK)
Now… watch how quickly those who were demanding President Trump invoke the DPA, including the resistance media, reverse position 180 degrees, and start calling President Trump a dictator simply because it is one of their own resistance allies in the spotlight.
11 Responses to President Trump Triggers Defense Production Act, Requiring GM to Make Ventilators – Watch, Democrats Will Now Reverse Position…
Somebody’s Gramma says:March 27, 2020 at 4:34 pmI LOVE THIS PRESIDENT!!!! Where’s the hysterically laughing emoji when you need it? Yes, it will be fun now to watch the #Resistance eat all their words from, say, yesterday. LOLLiked by 4 peopleReply
delighteddeplorable says:March 27, 2020 at 4:37 pmI flat out love this man. He takes charge and does whatever it takes to solve the problem, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. Very refreshing and guaranteed to yield positive results. 👍Liked by 2 peopleReply
MDicemansays:March 27, 2020 at 4:39 pmAnd President Trump will justify this move by stating that this is payback for the 2008 Auto Bailout loan that GM never repaid.LikeReply
vikingmomsays:March 27, 2020 at 4:42 pmAnd the president in 2008 who didn’t force the issue and demand that GM pay back their loan? What was that guy’s name? He did such “amazing” things for our economy…I wonder why no one is asking for his input now?LikeReply
sunnydaze says:March 27, 2020 at 4:41 pmGov. Cuomo was one the people yammering on about Trump not doing this , a few days ago.Cuomo, you got your wish!LikeReply
Somebody’s Gramma says:March 27, 2020 at 4:34 pmI LOVE THIS PRESIDENT!!!! Where’s the hysterically laughing emoji when you need it? Yes, it will be fun now to watch the #Resistance eat all their words from, say, yesterday. LOLLiked by 4 peopleReply
delighteddeplorable says:March 27, 2020 at 4:37 pmI flat out love this man. He takes charge and does whatever it takes to solve the problem, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. Very refreshing and guaranteed to yield positive results. 👍Liked by 2 peopleReply
MDicemansays:March 27, 2020 at 4:39 pmAnd President Trump will justify this move by stating that this is payback for the 2008 Auto Bailout loan that GM never repaid.LikeReply
vikingmomsays:March 27, 2020 at 4:42 pmAnd the president in 2008 who didn’t force the issue and demand that GM pay back their loan? What was that guy’s name? He did such “amazing” things for our economy…I wonder why no one is asking for his input now?LikeReply
sunnydaze says:March 27, 2020 at 4:41 pmGov. Cuomo was one the people yammering on about Trump not doing this , a few days ago.Cuomo, you got your wish!LikeReply
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on BRAVO, PRESIDENT Donald Trump !!! GM CEO MARY BARRA, RUMORED TO HAVE ASPIRATIONS FOR THE SPOT OF VICE-PRESIDENT ON THE Joe Biden TICKET IN THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, HAS JUST HAD HER BACK-TRACKING ON HER OFFER TO PRODUCE VENTILATORS FOR THE PANDEMIC CALLED OUT BY PRESIDENT TRUMP. ONE PLAYS POLITICAL GAMES WITH PRESIDENT Donald Trump AT GREAT RISK TO ONE’S POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS
The title of this editorial is deliberately sarcastic. Just look at the Featured Image above* which shows a completely empty Saint Peter’s Square. Something never before seen in the history of the the square, that is, in something like 1600 years.
What you are seeing is called the Church of Darkness. A Church which shuts down all the Sacraments, forbids the Catholic Faithful from attending, invents excuses for the necessity of the public acts of Catholic Religion and holds a prayer service in an empty piazza for the sake of journalists who will report it to the world.
You really cannot get more upside down and inside out of a Church than that!
Hopefully, you still have eyes to see the reality. If that is not the Church of Christ, then since Bergoglio is its visible head, he must not be the Vicar of Christ.
A lot of Catholics have been telling you that for 7 years. Maybe now you can see it.
Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich saw this Church of Darkness 200 years ago. And in a mystical vision, Our Lady promised us that She would deliver the world from it, if we but showed Her that we wanted to be delivered from it. This small sacrifice She asked of us is a simple prayer, which I call the Perpetual Supplica to Our Lady, you can read about it and follow along, through this link. But each night at midnight, Rome time, you can join me for it at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, virtually, through YouTube, here.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel and click the Bell symbol next to the subscription button to get an email for each video I publish, as soon as they go public.
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on The photo shown immediately below is a screen shot of the news report by Il Fatto Quotidiano, one of the leading Italian national newspapers, for their report entitled, Coronavirus, Papa Francesco prega in una San Pietro deserta e invoca la fine della pandemia: “Fitte tenebre addensate nelle nostre vite”, which in English, would run something like: Coronavirus: Pope Francis prays (he is not actually in the photo) before a deserted Saint Peter’s Square and calls for the end of the pandemic, saying: “Dense darkness has filled our streets”. It was published just 4 hours ago.
FROM THE ARCHIVESFrom the Archives: Laughter as Medicine A blast — and a laugh — from the past with founding editor R. Emmett Tyrrell.
byPAUL KENGORMarch 27, 2020, 12:02 AM Former Vice President Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale at a fundraising rally, February 15, 1984 (mark reinstein/Shutterstock.com) 🔊 Listen to this article
FROM THE ARCHIVESFrom the Archives: Laughter as Medicine A blast — and a laugh — from the past with founding editor R. Emmett Tyrrell.
byPAUL KENGORMarch 27, 2020, 12:02 AM Former Vice President Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale at a fundraising rally, February 15, 1984 (mark reinstein/Shutterstock.com) 🔊 Listen to this article
FROM THE ARCHIVES From the Archives: Laughter as Medicine A blast — and a laugh — from the past with founding editor R. Emmett Tyrrell. byPAUL KENGOR
March 27, 2020, 12:02 AM
Former Vice President Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale at a fundraising rally, February 15, 1984 (mark reinstein/Shutterstock.com) 🔊 Listen to this article
L’Islam mis à nu par les siens: Anthologie d’auteurs arabophones post 2001
By Edited by Maurice Saliba. Preface by Henri Boulad, S.J.
Publisher: Riposte Laïque
Pages: 350
Price: €19.50
Review Author: Anne Barbeau GardinerAnne Barbeau Gardiner, a Contributing Editor of the NOR, is Professor Emerita of English at John Jay College of the City University of New York. She has published on Dryden, Milton, and Swift, as well as on Catholics of the 17th century.
According to Fr. Henri Boulad, an Egyptian Jesuit who has authored 30 books, L’Islam mis à nu par les siens(translated Islam Laid Bare by Its Own) is unique. The first anthology of essays by former Muslims ever to be published, it was translated from Arabic with permission and contains searing criticisms of the religion in which these ex-Muslims were raised. Surprisingly, a number of the authors were members of the Muslim Brotherhood or were graduates of, and even teachers at, Al-Azhar University in Egypt. Fr. Boulad finds it “scandalous” that Catholic clergy have avoided a similar quest for truth over the past 60 years on the pretext that they are respecting the faith of Muslims in their interreligious dialogue. “This is not the way to love them,” he says.
Maurice Saliba explains that since 9/11 there has been an explosion of websites in the Arabic language that discuss how the Qur’an is incompatible with Western laws and constitutions. A majority of the essays in this book can be found online at ahewar.org, a name that means “civilized dialogue.” This site surpasses all other Arab media in its outreach and has an “immense archive.” Online criticism of Islam is a new phenomenon, a revolutionary movement that eludes the control of the imams, Islam’s religious leaders. Among these sites are two Christian ones: Al-Hayat.tv and Al-Fady.tv.
Saliba opens the book with a survey of the predecessors of the new critics. More than a thousand years ago, Al-Rawandi, Al-Warraq, and the Mutazilites, among others, criticized Islam in the name of reason, but such criticism was suppressed in the 11th century. Then, in the 20th century, a number of Muslims tried to reform Islam, among them Ali Abderraziq, an Egyptian; Al-Qasimi, a Saudi Arabian; and Al-Wardi, an Iraqi. All three called for the separation of religion and politics in Muslim countries. Two others who were teaching at Al-Azhar University were expelled for criticizing Islam: Abu Zayd, for urging that the Qur’an be interpreted from a humanist perspective, and Subhy Mansour, for rejecting sharia law. Two more would-be reformers, men devoted to the natural rights and dignity of man, were put to death in recent years after being condemned by Al-Azhar: Mahmoud Taha, a Sudanese, in 1985, and Faraq Fouda, an Egyptian, in 1992. Egyptian thinker Al-Qimni called Al-Azhar the source of terrorism in the world. Two other reformers remain in prison: Raef Badawi, a Saudi Arabian who called for freedom of speech and women’s rights, and Abdallah Nasr, an Egyptian and a graduate of Al-Azhar who said that cutting off hands for stealing is wrong.
Islam Laid Bare by Its Own offers 46 essays criticizing Islam. Saliba tells us that their authors have not been manipulated by anti-Islamic forces; they speak from their own lived experience. Several of them explain how “totalitarian” and “barbaric” this religion is. Abdelnour and Ahmed Daoud say it reduces a person to a slave obliged to obey without reflection whatever the Qur’an commands, such as killing and mutilating non-Muslims, denying the dignity of women, and believing things incompatible with science and human aspirations. Amil Imani speaks of an “Islamo-fascism” that enslaves the spirit, and Abdel-Samad, formerly of the Muslim Brotherhood, speaks of a “fascist ideology” that inspires Islam’s “obsessional dream of conquering the world.” Likewise, Ahmad Buhjat sees a “fascistic logic” that persecutes liberty of thought, and Ahmad Adnan sees a stripping away of human and intellectual development so that Muslims become the “living dead.” Psychiatrist Wafa Sultan, author of A God Who Hates, says the Qur’an is worse than Hitler’s Mein Kampf in that its ideology merges politics with religion. She adds that, once believed, it erects mental barriers between the self and reality. Historian Diana Ahmad notes that Islam conquered peoples and lands by the sword and made their conquests “sacred” by saying that the loss of culture and traditions was a benefit for the conquered. Salah Youssef says he read and reread the Sira, the official biography of Muhammad, and was stupefied to see the extent to which violence and terror were used to prove him a prophet.
A second theme in this book is the lack of historical development in Islamic nations. Al-Qahtani warns that the “totalitarian ideology” of Islam condemns Muslims to live in a state of underdevelopment, barbarism, and civilizational suicide. Nidal Naissa sees poverty, despotism, ignorance, and the violation of human dignity in their lands and asks, “Why do Islamic nations despise beauty, poetry, music, art and joy?” Salem Alyami laments that history attributes no invention to them. Likewise, Jihad Alawneh observes that the Muslim world has never produced an object useful for humanity, not even a match or a vacuum cleaner, and that petrodollars are now being spent in Asiatic and Western brothels, while in Muslim countries intellectuals are persecuted, as are those who dare to speak out about human rights. Tarek Heggi complains that Islamic culture discredits modernity and all other cultures and immobilizes intellectual and spiritual liberty. Sabah Ibrahim says it is not true, as the head of Al-Azhar University proclaims, that Muslims transmitted civilization and culture to the West, for in fact Muslims never knew progress or civilization and have excelled only in terrorism, genocide, massacre, rape, and the destruction of ancient monuments, including their own antiquities.
Still another theme in these essays is the key role of Al-Azhar University in worldwide terrorism. One hopes that Pope Francis, who has kowtowed to Ahmed el-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, may come to realize this before long. Saleh Hammaya says that when Al-Azhar condemned ISIS for burning a Jordanian pilot in a cage, it was not condemning the savagery. If one reads closely what it said, Al-Azhar condemned the execution as against sharia, which allows executions only by crucifixion, stoning, or flagellation, and not by burning. In short, Al-Azhar only condemned the procedure as not “halal.”
Sayyed Al-Qimni calls Al-Azhar both a “living fossil” and a “terrorist organization.” In the eyes of Al-Azhar, he is a “miscreant” because he rejects fornication with girls of age nine and rejects the right to beat his wife. According to Ali Oueiss, Al-Azhar proclaims that Muslims have transmitted scientific knowledge to the world, when Islam has never favored progress or encouraged individual initiative. Westerners don’t call for the destruction of other nations in the name of their religion, but imams trained at Al-Azhar do. Subhy Mansour, who studied and taught at Al-Azhar, says, “The root of terrorism resides exclusively in texts taught in Al-Azhar,” for that is where terrorism is nurtured and developed. Omar Abdel Rahman, the mentor behind 9/11, graduated from Al-Azhar, as did Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The essays in Islam Laid Bare by Its Own also address how Islam dishonors women, as when the Qur’ancompares a wife to a field at man’s service (sura 2:223). Egyptian surgeon Al-Naggar wrote a book on this topic, Islam: Intolerance and Misogyny. Abdelghani Salama notes that a Muslim is not liable for his wife’s hospital bills when he cannot enjoy her sexually. Schools of Islamic law, after all, define marriage as a “contract for the right of fornication.” Hicham Mohammad remarks that the Qur’an, the hadiths, and the commentaries all deprive women of their human dignity. Afifa Louaybi gives us a long list of what she rejects in Islam, including having to be veiled and immured at home to avoid tempting men, being compared to a donkey, having three co-wives and six visits a month from her husband, being beaten and repudiated at will by him, not having her hospital bills or burial paid for, and having to return the dowry her husband paid even after 60 years of marriage. She also rejects the Islamic teaching that women are the majority of those in Hell.
Islam Laid Bare by Its Own is a real eye-opener and needs to be translated into English. There are many more matters discussed in the essays, including the magical Paradise for the sake of which suicide-bombers commit their atrocities. Jihad Alawni and El din Mohssein speak of this Paradise as a supreme brothel (lupanar suprème) full of sexual adventures with little boys and specially made young female virgins, sex-slaves whose hymens are restored after every copulation.
One hopes that these ex-Muslims who rightly defend human rights against a totalitarian ideology realize that if Islam is wrong, atheism is not the answer. Today, under the aegis of the Established Church of Darwinism, we see human rights trampled with impunity from the womb to the verge of death. The only ground for human rights is the belief that man is created in the image of God.
+ Carol Maria Viganò 
Somebody’s Gramma says:
woohoowee says:
Tl Howard says:
delighteddeplorable says:
Matthew LeBlanc says:
sunnydaze says:
ABYSSUS ABYSSUM INVOCAT / DEEP CALLS TO DEEP 
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