WINTER 1997/1998
PROTESTANT COMMUNION FOR A ROMAN CATHOLIC IS LIKE COMMITTING ADULTERY!!
Shortly after being elected as President of the Irish Republic, Mary McAleese, a Northern Nationalist and devout Roman Catholic, decided to enhance her image as a cross-community bridge builder, by taking Holy Communion in Christ Church Cathedral (Church of Ireland ) in Dublin. She and every ecumenist in Ireland were soon to get their answer loud and clear.
Following a meeting of the Irish Roman Catholic Hierarchy at Maynooth, the Irish Bishops sent a clear message to the President that it must not happen again, and they restated that it was not possible for Roman Catholics to take communion in a Protestant Church.
Desmond Connell, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, stated that if those who professed the Catholic faith adopted the same course President McAleese had,
"what they are in fact doing in partaking of the Eucharist in a Protestant Church is a sham."
Paragraph 400 of the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church states "ecclesiastical communities derived from the Reformation and separated from the Catholic Church have not preserved the proper reality of the Eucharistic Mystery in its fullness."
However, it was left to the notorious Monsignor Denis Faul to state the following:
"A person cannot give full love and loyalty to two wives at the same time…..The Catholic Church is the Bride of Christ…..passing commitments to churches are no more acceptable than passing affairs with men or women. A Catholic person taking Communion in another church is like a married person committing adultery."
SO IRELAND IS STILL A PRIEST STATE AND WE ALL KNOW WHERE WE STAND.
RICHMOND ARCHDIOCESE HOLDS FIRST MASS FOR GAYS AND LESBIANS By Dominic Perella Associated Press Writer RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - More than 200 gay and lesbian Roman Catholics came to the Sacred Heart Cathedral on Saturday for the Richmond Diocese's first Mass for gays and lesbians. Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, who 21 years ago helped organise the Catholic Church's first local commission to study the needs of homosexuals, celebrated the Mass titled "A Liturgy in Celebration of Gay and Lesbian Catholics." "You know you belong here," Sullivan said during his homily. "It's about time somebody said that to you…….This is your spiritual home." The congregation gave him a minute-long standing ovation at the end of the service. The congregation included men and women ranging in age from their teens to late middle age. Some wiped away tears and hugged companions during Sullivan's words and at the end of the Mass. In the last two decades with almost every other denomination struggling over gay ordination or efforts to ease condemnatory church doctrine, the Roman Catholic Church has stood firm, teaching that homosexual activity is morally wrong. But in recent years the church has said that while homosexual sex is immoral because it occurs outside marriage, homosexual orientation is not freely chosen and therefore not sinful. About 30 church districts, or dioceses, now have gay and lesbian outreach groups. The Richmond group was the first, and is among the nation's leaders in homosexual ministry. "The mission is not just to welcome gays and lesbians, but actually to accept their gifts,……what they have to offer as gays and lesbians," said Carl L. Archacki, chairman of the diocese's sexual minority commission. Archacki said the commission plans to make the gay and lesbian Mass an annual event. ANOTHER CRYING VIRGIN In the middle of the ancient Sicilian seaport of Syracuse is a recently built 250-foot tall church shaped like a tear. Pope John Paul II used it to outline his theology of cosmic crying. The inverted conical structure houses the latest Marian shrine inaugurated by the Pope. Generally tears are thought to signify expressions of joy or pain, but here when tears are shed by Marian images and declared miraculous by the church, they take on cosmic significance, showing concern for events past and forewarning of dangers to come. The Pope offered this view when he dedicated the Shrine of Our Lady of Tears, the home of a small framed image of Mary, which witnesses say shed tears between 29 August and 1 September 1953. Several cotton swabs containing the tears are also held in the Shrine. The Pope hinted that the shedding of tears by Marian images may compensate for the fact that the Gospels do not record Mary crying. He said that the tears of Syracuse were shed after the Second World War and should be understood as a reaction to the tragedies of war and the problems emerging from it. |
CATHOLIC NOW HELPS TO DIRECT PK Mike Timmis, a Roman Catholic, is now serving on the Promise Keepers Board of directors. He was scheduled to speak at the 1997 Catholic Men's Conference at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, a staunch Roman Catholic institution which holds annual conferences defending the RC doctrine of Mary as the sinless Queen of Heaven. The conference brochure also announces the "Mary , Mercy and the Eucharist Conference" and a photo has a Catholic priest holding a rosary, a set of beads used to count ritualistic prayers to Mary. JURY AWARDS $750,000 IN PRIEST SEXUAL MISCONDUCT CASE RNS - A federal jury in New Haven, Conn., has found that the Roman Catholic diocese of Bridgeport breached its special trust with a church member when it failed to investigate charges of sexual abuse by one of its priests. The jury awarded $750,000 to Frank Martinelli, 50, who said that while he was a teenager he was sexually molested by the Rev. Laurence Brett, who did not attend the seven-day trial and was dropped as a defendant in the case when neither side could reach him. "Justice has been delivered," Martinelli said after the jury decision. Officials of the diocese said they were disappointed at the jury's ruling but expressed hope the judge would set the award aside at a future hearing, the Associated Press reported Wednesday (August 27). During the trial Martinelli alleged the diocese knew of similar complaints of abuse by Brett as early as 1962 but either did not investigate them or covered them up. He said the diocese should have warned potential victims - including himself - while they were still minors so victims could have received counselling and therapy. But the diocese said it did not learn of the abuse until shortly before Martinelli filed suit in 1993. It did not attempt to dispute the sexual allegations made against Brett but said it could not be held liable for his actions. "The diocese has condemned those actions on the part of Father Brett," a diocesan spokesman said. "Condemning that kind of action implicitly apologises to anyone hurt by it." JESUIT PRIEST CALLS FOR "GAY MINISTRY" A Jesuit priest has called on Irish Churches to establish special ministries for gay and lesbian men and women. Speaking in Derry yesterday, Father Donal Godfrey said most churches in England already had formal ministries for the gay community. Fr. Godfrey was speaking at a one-day conference organised to increase awareness, knowledge and understanding of the lesbian, gay and bisexual communities in the north west. He said specialist ministries would help foster the friendship expected through the gospel. Churches needed to deal with the ignorance and anxiety surrounding gay rights, he said. Organised by Foyle Friend, an information and befriending service for gay men and women in Derry, yesterday's conference attracted representatives from a wide range of organisations. |
PERVERT PRIEST IS JAILED FOR SEX ASSAULTS
The Catholic Church in Ireland is facing a spate of claims for damages following the conviction of a 56-year old priest who preyed on youngsters over a period of 30 years. The victims of paedophile Fr. Matthew Greaney will join at least two dozen others who were sexually assaulted by other priests, including the late Brendan Smyth, in seeking monetary compensation from the church. Greaney today was beginning a seven-year jail sentence imposed at the Circuit Court at Ballina after he pleaded guilty to 13 sample charges of indecently assaulting eight girls in counties Mayo, Galway and Tipperary between 1979 and 1990. A total of 30 girls were abused by him before he was suspended from his post as a curate two years ago. Described as being a man with a "magnetic personality" who was always surrounded by children, he admitted to having had paedophile tendencies for 30 years. In a statement to gardai, he said: "I can't offer any excuse for my behaviour. I found it impossible to stop myself. I'd give anything to be without these sexual urges." Many of his victims suffered psychologically and had great difficulty forming relationships afterwards. Passing sentence Judge Harvey Kenny told the priest he had destroyed the lives of 30 girls by his dastardly conduct. He said that he had violated the trust and confidence of his parishioners.
By VICTOR L. SIMPSON - ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (AP) - During his four-day visit to the world's largest Roman Catholic Country, Pope John Paul II used the city of Rio De Janeiro largely as a pulpit to pronounce his pro-family message to the world. Although he wasted no time criticising the country's social inequalities upon his arrival, he rarely returned to this theme during the rest of his visit that ended Sunday. He arrived back in Rome early Monday.
From his speech to 2,500 clergymen Friday to the open-air Mass on Sunday, John Paul repeatedly spoke out against pre-marital sex, birth control and abortion, calling it "the shame of humanity." The universality of the Pope's message had a special resonance in the world's largest Catholic country, where Brazilians are questioning church doctrine more than ever. Only 3 percent of those baptised Catholic regard themselves as "practising", according to a survey in Brazil's largest news weekly. Another survey showed more than half of Rio's residents approve of pre-marital sex, birth control, abortion in cases of rape and even marriage for priests. It also comes at a time when large numbers of Brazilians are leaving the Catholic church for evangelical Protestant sects. In 1970, 91.7 percent of Brazilians considered themselves Catholic. By 1991, the last year census figures are available, the number had dropped to 83.3 percent. Meantime, the number of Protestants has more than tripled from just less than five million in 1970 to fifteen million today.
The scant crowd - estimated at 70,000 - that gathered to witness the Pope's ride through the centre of the city and the complaints of slow sales by vendors of Pope-related paraphernalia served to point up diminished interest. But a turnaround became apparent Saturday at the Festival of Witness for 110,000 people at Maracana stadium, the world's largest, then on Sunday when the Pope held an open-air Mass at the bayside Flamengo Park. Globo TV estimated the crowd at more than one million while police put it at twice that. "Don't let a hedonistic mentality, ambition and selfishness enter your homes," the Pope told the crowd, where many were dressed more for the beach than for Sunday prayer. Many could only catch a glimpse of John Paul's green robes, as they stood far from the altar behind troops and police in a massive security deployment. It was at least as large as the turnout this year in Paris and Krakow, Poland. The temperature hit 82 degrees (27.8 Celsius) and the fierce sun took its toll. Firemen sprayed the crowd with water and some 700 people were treated for dehydration, according to press reports.
Throughout the trip, the frail 77-year old Pontiff showed remarkable vigour, often insisting on walking unaided and twirling his cane for the crowd. The Vatican said he intends to keep on travelling, with his next pilgrimage - to Cuba - scheduled for January 1998. Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said three or four foreign trips in addition to Cuba are possible in 1998, but there is nothing definite.
CATHOLIC CHURCH DENIES "DIRTY WAR" ABUSES
Argentina's Roman Catholic Church continues to be at the centre of a volatile national debate in the wake of hearings on human rights abuses that occurred during the 1976 - 1983 "dirty war" when more than 4,000 people were killed and some 9,000 were kidnapped and/or tortured in a government crackdown on leftists. An Argentine human rights group has renewed charges that Roman Catholic priests co-operated with government officials in the murder of political prisoners during the country's so-called "dirty war". The group, Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, rejected official church condemnation of the murders, saying that ecclesiastical officials knew what was happening and sympathised with the military's conservative goals.
SOLVENT VATICAN CAREFUL OF CASH
The Vatican is predicting a fifth straight year in the black in 1998 - but only just. Contributions from local dioceses are critical to the turnaround of Vatican finances in the past few years. And the cardinal who has overseen them, gently chided tight-fisted dioceses. "Some have not begun to contribute," said Cardinal Edmund Szoka, a former Detroit archbishop, "and others could increase their contributions." Cardinal Szoka, who is handing over the Vatican finance job this year, refused to identify the laggards. But he cited churches in Germany, the United States and Italy as among the most generous. Since 1992, when the cash-strapped Vatican invoked a canon law requiring the dioceses to chip in, contributions have tripled to about £12 million a year. The Vatican showed its first budget surplus in 1993 after years of deficit spending. The projected 1998 surplus presented on Monday is small - £350,060 - and cardinal Szoka urged "constant vigilance over expenses."
"HOST WAFERS TURN TO FLESH AND BLOOD"
Naju is a Roman Catholic shrine in Korea, which has been the scene of unusual supernatural (some would say demonic) activity since 1986 when the so-called "Our Lady" of Naju shed tears of blood. Activity centres on Julia Kim, a visionary, who displays the stigmata or wounds of Christ in her body. However, the real height of wickedness is her claim that the transubstantiated Host wafers actually change into flesh and blood in her mouth. Read her own account below:-
19th October 1996
10th ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST TEARS OF BLOOD OF OUR LADY IN NAJU
JULIA: "The priests and other pilgrims gathered in the parish church for the evening Mass presided over by Fr. Francis Su from Malaysia. I received Holy Communion under both species and started to meditate. Suddenly I became aware of a strong smell of blood and the Host started to grow in my mouth. The people around me saw the Host become Flesh and Blood. My husband, next to me, asked me to remain calm but the others insisted for me to open my mouth so that they could witness the miracle. I fell into ecstacy and saw the world plunge into darkness. Then I saw the Blessed Virgin Mary descending into that light, surrounded with the sun and wearing a blue mantle with a crown of twelve stars. She was holding out her arms towards the priests in charge of those souls. Our Blessed Mother was crying sadly at them. A moment later she started to talk with anxiety and love."
On the 31st October 1995 the Holy Father, after Mass in his private chapel, witnessed the miracle of the Host wafer changing into flesh and blood in Julia's mouth.
THE BIBLE SAYS THE ROMAN ANTICHRIST WILL GIVE FALSE SIGNS AND PERFORM COUNTERFEIT MIRACLES -
II THESSALONIANS 2: 9
REVELATION 13: 13-14
PRIEST SUES R.C. CHURCH FOR FALSE IMPRISONMENT
HARTFORD, CONN. - A Connecticut priest has filed a multi-million-dollar lawsuit in Federal District Court here against Holy Apostles Seminary and College, members of the administration and faculty, area law enforcement officers, and the Yale Psychiatric Institute, charging the defendants with violating his civil and constitutional rights. Fr. George Realmuto, a former professor at Holy Apostles, alleges in the five-count suit, filed September 29th, that he was falsely arrested and then imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital, based on an unwarranted complaint by Sr. Joyce Ridick, a psychology teacher at the college. The lawsuit alleges that Sr. Ridick, along with Fathers Douglas Mosey and Raymond Hallowell, with Roger Depue, a novice at the seminary, "combined and conspired to use the means of an emergency psychiatric commitment" to remove Fr. Realmuto from the school "because of his outspoken criticism of sexual misconduct on the campus by priests and seminarians."
Fr. Realmuto, who holds three doctorates - in moral theology, psychology and canon law - is a former jet pilot and Air Force chaplain, as well as a former homicide detective for the Brooklyn N.Y. district attorney's office. He had been teaching psychology and canon law at Holy Apostles until his replacement by Sr. Ridick in May, 1995.
WASHINGTON TO BE SITE FOR US $51m.CENTRE TO FOCUS ON POPE'S TEACHINGS
NEW YORK (ENI) - A museum and study centre designed to focus international attention on papal teachings and the impact of Roman Catholicism world-wide is to be constructed in the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C.
ROMAN CATHOLICS TARGET JWs IN BELFAST
Police patrols are being stepped up in the Poleglass area of West Belfast where a Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah's Witnesses sect has been targeted by Roman Catholic thugs and vandals, who have also subjected the small congregation to verbal abuse, threats and obscenities.
