Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
The Vicar Emeritus of the Diocese of Rome has penned a personal article about his childhood and adolescence during the pontificate of Pius XII, who he said reached out to the Jews and laid the foundation for the Second Vatican Council.
"I can say that during my years as a youth (…) I never heard criticism of the Pope over this issue, only praise and gratitude," he said, adding that one of his most vivid memories is "of everything Pius XII did to save the greatest number of Jews possible, while nobody said anything about his 'silence.'"
Today in the Vatican, the Pope received the Letters of Credence of 8 new ambassadors to the Holy See.
He first addressed the diplomats as a group, then gave each of them a speech in written form concerning issues specific to his or her own country.
"A commitment to serving peace and the consolidation of fraternal relations among nations constitutes the core of your diplomatic mission.
"Today, in the midst of a worldwide social and economic crisis, people must regain an awareness of the need to struggle ... in order to establish true peace, with the aim of constructing a more just and prosperous world.
"Injustices, often so manifest, among or within nations, like all processes that contribute to dividing or marginalising peoples, represent attacks against peace and create a grave risk of conflict."
The current economic and social crisis could lead to a "catastrophe" if richer nations don't come to the aid of poorer ones, says Benedict XVI.
He also launched an appeal for "greater fraternity and solidarity, and real global generosity," and for "developed countries to rediscover a sense of proportion and sobriety in their economies and lifestyles."
With relativism and nihilism influencing culture, one of the Church's principal contributions should be bearing witness to trust in life and in the human person, his reason and his capacity to love, says Benedict XVI.
[WAR: "It is better to take refuge in YAHWEH than to trust in man" (because) "the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Psalm 118:8 / Jer 17:9)]
Avere rapporti con la prostituta!
The US is interested in keeping and developing its diplomatic relations with the Holy See for 3 principal reasons, according to former US ambassador Mary Ann Glendon.
Glendon said that relations with the Holy See have come to be "especially valuable to the United States," and offered her suggestions on "why it is likely to remain so in the future."
"The first reason is simply that the Holy See's sphere of concern, like that of the United States, is worldwide."
When Pope Benedict XVI told a crowd in St. Peter's Square in April that the Virgin Mary "silently followed her son Jesus to Calvary, taking part with great suffering in his sacrifice, thus cooperating in the mystery of redemption and becoming mother of all believers," most listeners probably heard nothing remarkable in the statement.
Yet for one group of devotees, Benedict's statement was a milestone—a sign that he had moved one step closer to granting their wish for a new dogma on Mary's contribution to human salvation.
At least 7 million Catholics from more than 170 countries, including hundreds of bishops and cardinals, have reportedly signed petitions urging the pope to proclaim Mary "the Spiritual Mother of All Humanity, the coredemptrix with Jesus the redeemer, mediatrix of all graces with Jesus the one mediator, and advocate with Jesus Christ on behalf of the human race."
The death of Benno Ohnesorg stirred a whole movement of left-wing protest and violence.
In the eyes of many young Germans the state had unmasked itself as evil.
Many joined what would become the 1968 student movement; some took up arms.
The relationship between the charismatic Barack Obama and Germany's no-nonsense Angela Merkel has been marked by tension since his visit to Berlin as a presidential candidate last year.
Differences over Obama's itinerary in Germany suggest his ties with Merkel remain awkward.
This week EU citizens go to the polls across all 27 member states between Thursday and Sunday to elect a new European Parliament.
Despite concerted efforts by European parties and some MEPs, themes remain resolutely national.
In the run-up to elections for the European Parliament in June, reporters at Spiegel Online in Germany, NRC Handelsblad in the Netherlands and Politiken in Denmark have joined forces to profile attitudes about the election and the EU in each of the 27 member states.
Several new interviews will be published each day between now and the end of May.
European officials concluded a conference Friday in San Marino designed to address global security initiatives through strengthening regional cooperation.
The conference, organized by Interpol, brought together more than 130 delegates to discuss ways to enhance European regional security and support the construction of comprehensive security strategy, Interpol reported.
Defence lawyers for Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic this week demanded the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia drop all charges against him because of an alleged immunity deal with US diplomat Richard Holbrooke.
Karadzic claims he was offered immunity from prosecution at the end of Bosnia-Herzegovina's 1992-1995 war in return for stepping down from his position as leader of the Serbian Democratic Party and disappearing from public life.
US and Russian warships have taken up positions in the Black Sea in a risky war of nerves on opposing sides of the Georgia conflict.
The Russian army is currently upgrading its equipment on a more massive scale than at any time in at least the past 30 years.
Germany's Foreign Minister has demanded that Israel put an end to all settlement building in the Palestinian territories, in a newspaper interview published today.
It is "not acceptable" to found new settlements or expand existing ones in East Jerusalem or the West Bank, he said.
Shortly after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told journalists that the Obama administration "wants to see a stop to settlements -- not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a confidante.
Referring to Clinton's call for a settlement freeze, Netanyahu groused, "What the hell do they want from me?" according to his associate, who added, "I gathered that he heard some bad vibes in his meetings with [US] congressional delegations this week."
Lebanese army sources said today that the country's military had been placed "on full alert," ahead of Israel's large-scale Home Front Command drill expected to begin on Sunday.
(And: HEZBOLLAH ON "HIGH ALERT")
Russia remains India's primary supplier of major land, sea and air war weapons systems.
And India continues to invest heavily in upgrading its conventional military forces, as does China.
Most strikingly, although diplomatic and even strategic relations remain stable and even good between Russia, India and China, all 3 nations are investing big in conventional land forces.
US satellite photos suggest that North Korea may be planning more long-range missile launches amid simmering tensions in the Korean peninsula.
The signs indicate that the North is preparing to transport a long-range missile at a site which Pyongyang used to fire long-range missiles last month, defense officials in Washington told AFP today.
Defense Secretary Gates warned North Korea on Saturday that the US would not accept it as a nuclear weapons state and would consider any transfer of nuclear material to other countries or terrorist groups a "grave threat" to the US and its allies.
The Kremlin, in its latest statement, has opposed the "language of sanctions" against North Korea over its nuclear tests.
"We need to show self-possession and patience and hold consultations on all the questions of concern to the parties dealing with this problem," Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
With attention focused on North Korea's brinkmanship on nuclear weapons and missiles, another potential crisis is brewing that is about ready to spill over into violence, with Vietnam apparently preparing to challenge China's ownership of a string of islands thought to be the link to billions of dollars worth of oil.
In asserting its rights to the Spratly Islands also claimed by China, Vietnam has ordered 6 Project 636 Kilo-class submarines from Russia and has gotten permission for the purchase, in addition to other military arms Vietnam has ordered.
Iran supplied US diplomats with the location of Taliban military units in Afghanistan after the initial bombing campaign in the fall of 2001 failed to rout them, according to former officials in the George W. Bush administration.
Three men were hanged in public soon after dawn today in the Iranian city of Zahedan, just 36 hours after a bomb killed 25 worshippers at a mosque.
The men were also accused of being involved in a bomb attack in the city in 2007 which killed 13 revolutionary guards.
The men were convicted of being "mohreb" (enemies of God) and accused of belonging to a terrorist group allegedly backed by the US, which strongly denied involvement.
Mark my words, Netanyahu has no intentions of making peace with the Palestinians.
He is simply waving a carrot before Obama to get what Israel wants: an attack on Iran.
It's as simple as that.
Great Britain is currently suffering through one of the most deplorable scandals in its long history of democracy.
Several House of Commons members have been helping themselves from government coffers.
Perhaps its time for a systemic shake-up.
Arguments that had been expected to be taking place before a federal appeals court right about now on whether US citizens have a right to know that their president is eligible for the office he holds have been delayed.
Philip Berg, the first lawyer to take the issue of Barack Obama's compliance with the US Constitution's requirements for president to court, says he's been told by officials with the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals that the oral arguments in his Berg vs. Obama case (#088-4340) have been put off.
Barack Obama's elusive long-form birth certificate that would establish his eligibility to serve as president as a "natural born citizen" is the hottest discussion topic at the Fox News Channel's website.
It may appear odd to describe a secretary of State as marginalized, but Obama has surrounded Hillary with his people and carved up her jurisdiction geographically.
With peers who are competitors and subordinates who can deal directly with the president, Hillary is reduced to announcing foreign aid packages for Pakistan while Holbrooke does the heavy lifting.
Staged photos lifted from porn websites purporting to be images of US troops raping female detainees at Abu Ghraib are again circulating at the height of the torture scandal, discrediting the very real and admitted accounts of rape described in Major General Antonio Taguba's military report into the Abu Ghraib prison.
An 85-year-old former civilian employee of the US Army was fined but avoided prison time on Friday after earlier pleading guilty to giving classified documents to Israel in the 1980s, in a case the sentencing judge said was "shrouded in mystery."
I would suggest we have labored under a Vichy-style occupation since 1865 when a virulent form of government supremacism extinguished states rights in the original Federal system and then the Progressivist virus metastasized under Theodore Roosevelt and the rest is history as the republican vision of a decentralized, localized and minimal government became as anachronistic as the notion of natural rights.
Too late...
The United States of America does not have anything that an anthropologist would recognize as a true society.
America consists of a mere cluster of people and groups with various and often opposing beliefs who often have little tolerance for the beliefs held by the others.
It has been said that Americans do not live together, they merely live side by side.
These individuals and groups openly seek to promote their own interests at the expense of the interests of all.
Oil and gasoline prices continued a recession-defying march higher today, doubling in the past 6 months, largely on optimism of a strengthening economy.
Benchmark crude for July delivery rose $1.23 to settle at $66.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Wholesale gasoline prices, which typically rise during this time of the year, are up a staggering 140% since Christmas Eve.
The US dollar fell to 5-month lows against a basket of currencies Friday.
The dollar index, a gauge of the US currency's performance against 6 major currencies, is now down more than 6% for the month, on track for its biggest monthly fall since 1985.
Politicians in Berlin, these days, are doing everything they can to save Germany's GM subsidiary Opel, but Washington is making it difficult.
German commentators wonder if it is US incompetence, or if the failures can be found closer to home.
German Chancellor Merkel said today Barack Obama helped achieve a breakthrough deal for General Motors unit Opel with a telephone call on Friday just before the final round of talks.
Chancellor Merkel has called the deal to save car manufacturer Opel a "test for trans-Atlantic relations."
Berlin and Washington seem to have passed it - but with Moscow seizing a lead role in the takeover.
In the extensive media coverage of the "rescue package" for GM's German subsidiary, Opel, the most important question has been largely ignored: Who, in fact, is being rescued?
Suddenly it seems as if everyone is talking about inflation. Stern opinion pieces warn that hyperinflation is just around the corner.
And markets may be heeding these warnings: Interest rates on long-term government bonds are up, with fear of future inflation one possible reason for the interest-rate spike.
Wall Street's mantra is that markets move randomly and reflect the collective wisdom of investors.
The truth is quite opposite.
The government's visible hand and insiders control markets and manipulate them up or down for profit - all of them, including stocks, bonds, commodities and currencies.
Americans have grown slightly more receptive to the idea of an activist government.
Will they go along with Barack Obama's aspirations?
It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.
[CFR Opinion Roundup][Newseum][Global Incident Map][Earthweek][Day-Night Map][Tonight's Sky][Moon phase]
Is the world more dangerous today than it was at the height of the Cold War?
Anyone who's still anyone in the field of nuclear arms control has weighed in with a resounding "yes."
North Korea's second nuclear test, followed by a renunciation of the 1953 armistice agreements and more missile firings, is the latest red flag on a dark nuclear horizon.
Nuclear terrorism, unthinkable during the Cold War, is now the most immediate fear of the experts.
[WAR: Scroll down and read some of his latest entries on the left-hand side.]
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Christianity's largest ecumenical movement expressed hope Thursday that churches were moving closer to a common Easter for the world's Christians, despite a historical debate nearly as old as the religion.
Catholic and Protestant congregations will celebrate their belief in Jesus' resurrection on the same day as Orthodox churches in 2010 and 2011 because of a coincidence in the Julian and Gregorian calendars.
But the World Council of Churches says consensus is emerging that these should not just be occasional occurrences.
At a recent meeting in Lviv, Ukraine, theologians representing nearly the breadth of Christianity agreed in principle on a strategy for all the faithful to continue observing their feast together.
"It's not a problem of principle, of dogma or of doctrine," said Juan Michel, spokesman for the council, whose 350 Protestant, Orthodox and other churches represent more than 560 million Christians.
"It's not a problem of principle, of dogma or of doctrine," said Juan Michel, spokesman for the council, whose 350 Protestant, Orthodox and other churches represent more than 560 million Christians.
It cooperates with the Roman Catholic Church, which is not a member.
Christianity's leading authorities first sought to establish a common date in 325 at the Council of Nicaea, determining it as the first Sunday after the full moon following the spring equinox.
The problem before the advent of modern astronomy was calculating the equinox.
Orthodox churches use March 21 in the Julian calendar, but since the 16th century the Western date has been derived in the Gregorian calendar.
The resulting difference can be up to 5 weeks apart.
The council said theologians from the Vatican and various Orthodox and Protestant churches endorsed a compromise on May 15 that Easter should be held for all Christians using an equinox based on accurate astronomical data.
"There are of course some fundamentalist Orthodox who say 'The Julian calendar is our tradition and it was used in Jesus' lifetime so we cannot change,'" Heller said, adding that some Eastern theologians might fear more breaks in their church as a result of a date change.
"And, of course, it's an issue because the astronomical data is closer to the Gregorian calendar, which was introduced by a pope."
[WAR: Yes, "it's not a problem of principle, of dogma or of doctrine" -- it's all about power and authority!
And because the Roman Catholic Church is the Big Babylonian Whore on the block, she exercises her power/authority over the nations and international commerce (buying and selling) via the Gregorian Calendar.
So she is not going to give up her supposed power/authority to determine time.]
WAR: I've updated The Calendar WAR blog to bring everyone up to speed on my fight against the mandatory (de facto not de jure) use of the Gregorian Calendar. The latest entries in time order are:
WAR for military: YAHOO! WARriors
WAR fund: PayPal (payable to thedailywarrior@gmail.com)
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