October/November 1999

CAN PROTESTANTS TRUST "PHONY TONY"?

Mr Blair's political opponents in the United Kingdom have often called him "Phony" meaning insincere or fake. Yet it has become popular in some Ulster Protestant circles today to talk about trusting the Prime Minister. They tell us of his great respect for our Protestant heritage and some even think he will allow an Orange Parade down Garvaghy Road.

This despite the fact that Mr. Blair is married to a Roman Catholic, sends his children to a Roman Catholic school and frequently attends Mass while still claiming to be an Anglican.

The picture and press cutting reproduced above should cause Ulster Protestants to think again.

Britain once had a Stuart Monarch - Charles II who professed to be an Anglican to keep his Crown but was received into the Roman Catholic church on his death bed.

"PUT NOT YOUR TRUST IN PRINCES NOR IN THE SON OF MAN IN WHOM THERE IS NO HELP ......... HAPPY IS HE THAT HATH THE GOD OF JACOB FOR HIS HELP WHOSE HOPE IS IN THE LORD HIS GOD"  - PSALM 146: 3-5

Tuscany's clergy await the summons to say mass for Tony Blair and his family, who start their Italian holiday this weekend. Last year, the Prime Minister met privately with the Archbishop of Siena, Monsignor Gaetano Bonicelli. Afterwards Monsignor Boniceill confided that Mr Blair - supposedly an Anglican - told him he "felt very close" to the Roman Catholic Church. He noticed that the PM was "so familiar with the liturgy he hardly needed his prayer book".

PETROL BOMB ATTACK ON ORANGE HALL

A SECTARIAN arson attack on an orange hall outside Newry yesterday has sparked angry reaction from local unionists.

The Ramton Memorial hall in Donaghmore suffered smoke damage after a window was smashed and petrol poured inside in the early hours of the morning.

The perpetrators also daubed an exterior wall with the letters RIRA, It is the second time the hall has been targeted in a sectarian attack - five years ago it was virtually gutted in a malicious fire.

Yesterdays incident is the third in the series of attacks on Orange Halls in the Newry and Moume area since July.

Local Ulster Unionist assembly member Danny Kennedy visited the scene yesterday and said he was outraged at what he described as "a blatantly sectarian attack".

"This is an absolutely outrageous attack on an isolated rural community and it seems to be part of an on-going and escalating campaign against Protestant church halls in the area," he said.

RASHARKIN PROTESTANTS AFRAID TO SHOW THEIR FACES

So states the "Newsletter" reporting on the sectarian persecution of Protestants in the North Antrim village.

Protestant homes have been attacked by stone throwing mobs of Roman Catholic thugs. Protestant churches, businesses and the Orange hall have all been targeted.

Again this is naked sectarian Roman Catholic Terror.

In all these incidents we await to hear the voice of Rome's priests who are usually in the forefront to condemn Sectarianism.

VATICAN SEX-CLAIMS PRELATE "SLAPPED"

AN ELDERLY Italian prelate standing trial in a religious court over a book about the Vatican was "slapped about" by a senior cleric angered by his claims of sex, corruption and Satanism, a newspaper said.

The attack on Mgr. Luigi Marinelli, 73, was reported in La Repubblica as the case began behind closed doors at the Sacred Roman Rota.

The Paper, which is informed on Church matters, reported that one Italian Monsignor with a key Vatican post began "slapping" Mgr. Marinelli "before astonished Vatican police" upon bumping into him.

The police, the newspaper said, "were in a quandary over how to separate.the two surly men in cassocks". The book, 'Gone With the Wind, in the Vatican' claims to 'expose careerism, sex, spying, freemasonry and even, Satanism. It describes black masses with "hooded" participants naked from the waist down'.

It has sold more than 100,000, copies since its publication in Italy in February.

The Vatican says it is trying, Mgr. Marinelli "not to gag free thought, but to protect those smeared by calumny". He risks being stripped of his priestly prerogatives if found guilty, and has been told to see that the book is removed from sale and to stop translations.

The book, which names many of those it accuses, also again questions whether the death of Pope John Paul I was natural and discloses the backstabbing that went on in the fight for one of the Vatican's highest posts.

It talks of cartels of power in the Vatican and of one monsignor regularly locking himself in his Vatican office at night with handsome young men "to do urgent work", and of a prelate 'being caught' at the Swiss border with suitcases stuffed with dollars.

One "elderly priest" showered so many presents on influential people in Rome that he became known as "Father Christmas" until one of his beneficiaries had made him a bishop, at the age of 72.

He then "squandered millions" and various items of diocesan property mortgaged by him including the bishop's palace and cathedral, were sold.

"When he died, it was discovered that he had passed them to his natural son, who had never stopped blackmailing him, " the book says.

NEWS IN BRIEF

BEST BEFORE DATE FOR COMMUNION WAFERS

Nuns in Italy who make wafers for Roman Catholic communion services have been ordered by the Italian government to stamp a food hygiene sell-by-date on every wafer. The Catholic faithful are taught that the wafers become the literal body of Christ, once consecrated by the priest.

VATICAN INDULGES IN A SPOT OF SHOPPING

The Vatican is believed to be planning a chain of several hundred shops to sell articles inspired by exhibits in its museums. According to a report in the London Times the shops will trade under the brand name 'Vatican Treasure Collection' and sell goods ranging from china and stationery to floor tiles and bed linen. The first store is set to open in New York within the year, with between 400 and 700 stores envisaged worldwide.

VATICAN INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

According to Time magazine, the total income to the Vatican for 1998 was $204.7m. Expenditure for the period was $203.2m leaving a surplus of $1.5m.

THE POPE'S VISITORS

Rome,Italy - Pope John Paul II welcomes Israel's Deputy Minister and Minister of Tourism, Moshe Katsav to the Vatican. The Deputy Prime Minister briefed the pontiff on Israel's plans to accommodate the millions of Christians expected to come to Israel to cele- brate the Millennium, and the Pope expressed his wish soon "to walk where Jesus walked, in Galilee, and in Jerusalem, the Holy City." Also pictured are (left) Shabbtai Shay, incoming Director-General of Israel's Ministry of Tourism, and (centre) David Litvak, the min- istry's outgoing Director-General.

US NUNS FOR HIRE IN 'PRAY FOR PAY' DEAL

"FEEL your relationship with the Almighty needs a little  help? Worried that your busy schedule isn't leaving enough   time for prayer? A religious order based in New Jersey may  have the answer: hire your own nun. Under the scheme run  by the Salesian Sisters, an annual donation ensures that a  nun will pray for you every day. A minimum donation of  $100 is suggested, but most of the 2500 people who have signed up so far give considerably more...

POLISH PRIESTS CHARGED WITH ILLEGALLY IMPORTING LUXURY CARS

Warsaw (ENI) - More than a dozen Roman Catholic priests could face gaol sentences of up to five years each after being charged with illegally importing and selling Western luxury cars.

ARRESTS SHAKE JESUIT SCHOOL

George Earle, former leader of the Jesuits in Britain, was arrested last month by police investigating allegations of abuse at Stonyhurst College, a Catholic school near Clitheroe, Lancashire during the 1960's and 1970's. Earle was headmaster of the £13,000-a-year school from the mid-1960's until 1971.

Two other priests have also been arrested in what is described as the biggest investigation of a Catholic institution in Britain. There has been a total of nine arrests and one irnprisonment in connection with the investigation, called 'Operation Whiting'.

Earle, known internationally as Father Jock Earle, was appointed the provincial, or leader of the Society of Jesus in Britain in 1981. It is understood that some parents had complained about his activities at the school before that appointment.

News of the arrests emerged in a letter from John Hartley, chairman of governors, to former pupils last week.

Earle and the two other arrested priests have been released on police bail and are due to reappear in court on August 25.

The revelations will plunge Catholic public schools into a fresh crisis. Falling rolls have already closed two schools, at Belmont Abbey, Herefordshire and Douai in Hampshire. Two others, Downside and Ampleforth, are engaged in a public relations offensive to try to maintain numbers.

Stonyhurst, which has 400 pupils, is the only Jesuit public school in Britain and one of the few in which priests still have an active teaching role. Former pupils include Lord Devlin, the former law lord.

CATHOLICS AND JEWS AGREE TO FORGE ALLIANCE

A BREAKTHROUGH in Jewish-Catholic relations has been achieved after private negotiations between British rabbis and the Vatican.

The two faiths came to an agreement in Rome last week to end 2,000 years of antagonism between them and forge an amicable partnership.

The agreement was significant because it demonstrates that both faiths are willing to accept each other's legitimacy and work together, rather than against each other.

Until now, dialogue between the faiths has been thwarted by the old Catholic teaching: that the Jewish Covenant between God and Abraham was superseded by the coming of Jesus Christ.

During the talks, Vatican representatives assured the rabbis that the Church believed that Christianity was the fulfilment of the Jewish Covenant, but not its replacement.

Sir Sigmund Sternberg, president of the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain, and seven British rabbis from the World Union of Progressive Judaism spent two days in talks with the Vatican before meeting the Pope.

The negotiations were led by Cardinal Edward Cassidy and Msgr. Dr Remi Hoeckman of the Vatican's Commission on Religious Relations with Jews.

Cardinal. Cassidy agreed that the two faiths should establish a partnership based on their "shared ethical values" and together should be a "light unto the nations".

The cardinal drew on the words of the Pope who declared during a visit to Australia in 1986 that the Catholic faith is rooted in the "eternal truth of the Hebrew Scriptures and in the irrevocable Covenant made with Abraham". The Second Vatican Council document of 1964, Lumen Gentium (Light of the Nations), draws on the words of St Paul, saying that Jews are "most dear to God for God does not repent of the gifts He makes nor of the calls He issues".

The cardinal, an Australian who is a senior figure in the Vatican, agreed to be the main speaker at a Millennium conference on "The Theology of Partnership" at the Sternberg Centre for Judaism in north London.

The rabbis had an audience with Pope John Paul inside the Vatican where they presented him with Jewish prayer books and thanked him for his work in Jewish-Christian relations.

Rabbi Tony Bayfield, who as chief executive of the Reform Synagogues in Britain was part of the delegation, said the talks indicated a "new era" in Jewish Catholic relations.

"We agreed to make the third Christian Millennium one in which inter-faith relationships will be more constructive and respectful than the past two Millenniums," he said.

"In our talks we acknowledged that Judaism and Catholicism have their own theological space and legitimacy. From this point we can work together in harmony for the good of humanity."

Rabbi Bayfield said the cardinal has responded with "warmth and enthusiasm" to the call for partnership in the next Millennium.

Other rabbis in the delegation were Sidney Brichto, of the Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues; David

Goldberg, of St John's Wood Synagogue; Johnathan Romain, of Maidenhead Synagogue; Sybil Sheridan, of the Thames  Valley liberal community; Jaqueline Tabick, of the North-West Surrey Synagogue; and Mark Winer, of the West  London Synagogue.

THE JOINT DECLARATION ON THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION

While apostasy is predicted in Scripture, it still comes as a shock to see it face-to-face.

The apostasy in the October 31, 1999, Roman Catholic Church and The Lutheran World Federation "The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification" is being called "a milestone in Christian history" "the end of reformation" and other similar statements of acceptance. The Bible believer is to remember such was foretold and he is to continue to contend for Biblical faith. The Lord Jesus Christ through the Apostle Paul commands His disciples to "stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel". They are likewise commanded to "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them". The analysis given on the link above is simply obedience to that Biblical word.

VATICAN'S HUSH-HUSH PLAN IF THE POPE DIED

THE Vatican hatched an amazing secret plan in case the frail Pope died during his trip to North America, it has emerged.   His body was to be flown immediately back to Rome from where the world would be told he passed away in his sleep.  And John Paul II knew nothing about it!

The brave Pontiff made his week-long visit to Mexico and St  Louis amid fears by his doctors and Vatican staff that he   might die along the way.

An insider, claimed: "Strict orders were given by Vatican officials to everyone around the Pope during his tour that if he  should collapse or, God forbid, die, then his body should be quietly boarded on to the plane and taken back to the  Vatican. And then they would announce that the Pope died peacefully in his sleep, at home."

The 78-year-old Pope's staff are said to want him to die inside the Vatican walls rather than in some foreign land - even though he comes from Poland.

But he wants to 'go' surrounded by hordes of devoted Catholics rather than in his Vatican apartment.

Parkinson's disease has left him hardly able to stand on his own and he is wheeled around on a makeshift dolly cart when out of public view.

"What no one knows is that the Pope needs to be assisted in nearly every move he makes," said the insider.

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