How the Homosexual Movement Infiltrates Catholic Colleges and Subverts the Truth

TFP Student Action urges students, parents, and concerned Americans to respond with prayer and peaceful protest.

To determine the scope of the moral crisis affecting Catholic institutions of higher learning, TFP Student Action volunteers examined the official web sites of 244 Catholic universities and colleges in America. The results are alarming.

After careful research, the TFP survey discovered that 101 (41%) of Catholic universities and colleges currently list pro-homosexual student clubs on their web sites. Among Jesuit-run universities, however, the number increases to 100%. Many of these clubs sponsor events that promote the homosexual movement’s most radical agenda, the redefinition of marriage and the social acceptance of unnatural vice, which is contrary to Catholic moral teaching.

See the List of Clubs Here

Here are some illustrative examples:

• Georgetown University, America’s oldest Catholic University, established an LGBTQ Resource Center. Its activities include National Coming Out Week, Gender Liberation Week, Pride Week and Lavender Graduation, among other anti-Catholic events.

• This fall semester, Seton Hall University, the oldest diocesan university in America, started a course called “The Politics of Gay Marriage.” The course uses pro-homosexual literature and is given by a homosexual activist professor.

• Earlier this year, the University of Notre Dame sponsored a “Stand Against Hate Week.” The week-long event sponsored pro-homosexual speakers and screened objectionable movies.

Sign Your Protest Now
“When Catholic students enroll at Catholic universities, their faith should be strengthened. But unfortunately, their faith is often weakened by the presence of pro-homosexual clubs and immoral events,” said TFP Student Action director John Ritchie. “Just like abortion, homosexual vice is part of the culture of death. It should be opposed, not promoted.”

“The homosexual movement is careful to advance slowly to avoid pushback. ‘Dialogue,’ ‘tolerance’ and ‘diversity’ are just tools to reach a final stage: sexual anarchy,” he said. “When you drop a frog into boiling water, it jumps right out. But when you put the same frog in lukewarm water and increase the temperature slowly, the frog cooks to death without reacting. So, we need to speak up in charity and truth before it’s too late.”

Compared to similar research conducted in 2009, this year’s study found that the number of pro-homosexual clubs slightly increased in 2010, from 96 to 101.

Urgent Appeal to Catholic Educators: Promote Purity

Even the University of Notre Dame hosts pro-homosexual events.

The dictatorship of relativism and its stifling political correctness have long infiltrated the halls of academia, including Catholic classrooms, where the homosexual movement works hard to warp the moral conscience of upcoming generations, and thus, move society away from God.

Therefore, it is vital to encourage Catholic educators and leaders, students and parents to boldly defend the truth and reject the homosexual agenda. We must peacefully call for the disbanding of pro-homosexual clubs on Catholic campuses. Purity is the answer-a solution that needs to be highlighted, repeated and proclaimed.

In fact, God’s grace is working in souls. More and more students are rejecting the lies of the sexual revolution and embracing the virtues of purity, modesty and abstinence. Millions of teenagers and college students are choosing to remain virgins until marriage.

In his address to Catholic educators at the Catholic University of America in April 2008, Pope Benedict XVI said:

Teachers and administrators, whether in universities or schools, have the duty and privilege to ensure that students receive instruction in Catholic doctrine and practice. This requires that public witness to the way of Christ, as found in the Gospel and upheld by the Church's Magisterium, shapes all aspects of an institution's life, both inside and outside the classroom. Divergence from this vision weakens Catholic identity and, far from advancing freedom, inevitably leads to confusion, whether moral, intellectual or spiritual.

To help stem the tide of this growing confusion, TFP Student Action is launching an online protest, urging the presidents and administrators of Catholic universities to restore the Catholic identity of their institutions.

TFP Student Action has no intention to defame or disparage anyone with this campaign. We do not harbor personal hatred against any individual. By intellectually opposing individuals or organizations promoting the homosexual agenda, our only intent is to defend marriage, the family, Catholic education, and the precious remnants of Christian civilization in society.

Finding Solutions: Pray and Act
There are three ways to join this effort:

1. Pray and sign the petition.
2. Spread the word to make this effort snowball.
3. Send the Prayer for Purity to every student you know.

Mission Accomplished, Thank God!

TFP standards proclaim the ideals of
Christian Civilization

TFP Student Action 2010 campaign highlights

Opposing the Lewd V-Monologues
January 2010 – TFP Student Action mobilized its members to protest against the vulgar V-Monologues play at DePaul University in Chicago, America’s largest Catholic university.

TFP Volunteer Assaulted: Video Clip Tells Story
January 2010 -- While rallying for traditional marriage at the New Jersey Statehouse on January 7, TFP member Elias Bartel, 21, was assaulted by a woman wearing a blue “equality” t-shirt.

March for Life & TFP Student Conference
January 2010 – College and high school students gathered at TFP headquarters for a conference before attending the 300,000-strong annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. with great enthusiasm.

Victory! Planned Parenthood as ‘Career Path’ Deleted

February 2010 – Catholic Rosemont College listed Planned Parenthood on its web site under “career paths and opportunities” for students. TFP Student Action protested successfully.

TFP at CPAC
February 2010 – With 10,000 participants, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is the largest annual conservative conference in America. TFP Student Action members promoted moral values at this conference with a booth and distributed 4,000 flyers against open homosexuality in the military.

Video: Winning the Abortion Debate
March 2010 -- TFP Student Action volunteers welcomed the challenge of campaigning against abortion at George Washington University. Their mission was simple: Defend innocent life. See the video here.

Abortion Scandal at Jesuit University
April 2010 -- Planned Parenthood and the National Organization for Women (NOW) were listed on the web site of the University of Detroit Mercy – a Catholic institution. TFP Student Action launched a successful protest.

Homosexual “Jesus” Play
March 2010 -- Right before Holy Week, Tarleton State University in Texas planned to stage the blasphemous play Corpus Christi. This adult-content play portrays Our Lord and the apostles as homosexuals. TFP Student Action protested successfully.

Demonstration for True Marriage

March 2010 -- TFP volunteers rallied for God’s marriage at the Pennsylvania Statehouse as members of the State Senate Judiciary Committee convened for an important vote on the Marriage Protection Amendment.

Victory: University Cancels "Corpus Christi" Blasphemy

March 2010 – After TFP Student Action launched its peaceful protest, Tarleton State University effectively pulled the plug on the offensive play.

Blasphemy at Gallaudet University Opposed
April 2010 -- Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. scheduled the blasphemous play Corpus Christi on its campus. TFP Student Action led a protest against it.

Protesting Pro-Homosexual Events at Notre Dame
April 2010 – TFP Student Action mobilized its members to protest a week-long pro-homosexual event at the University of Notre Dame, which featured a lecture titled "Homosexuality Under the Dome” and a "Day of Silence."

Jesuit University Deletes 2 Abortion Links
April 2010 – After weeks of peaceful protest, the Catholic University of Detroit Mercy removed two links to abortion provider Planned Parenthood that were listed on its web site. Over 11,500 petitions were collected.

Anti-Catholic Cartoon Targets the Pope
April 2010 -- Le Monde Magazine in France published a cartoon showing the “Pope” sodomizing a little boy. TFP Student Action issued a protest.

Comedy Central Mocks Our Lord
May 2010 -- TFP Student Action urged Comedy Central to cancel the production of a new cartoon series called JC that mocks Our Lord Jesus Christ. Thousands of TFP Student Action members participated in this effort.

Stalin Sculpture at D-Day Memorial Dishonors Heroes
June 2010 -- Should a bust of mass-murderer Joseph Stalin stand right beside American heroes at the National D-Day Memorial? Thousands of TFP Student Action members called for the statue’s removal.

Catholic College Links to 10 Abortion Advocacy Groups
June 2010 -- The Alverno College Research Center for Women and Girls (RCWG) listed ten abortion advocacy organizations on its web site. TFP Student Action called for their removal.

Professor FIRED for Being Catholic
July 2010 -- The University of Illinois fired a professor for articulating Catholic moral teaching. TFP Student Action generated thousands of protest emails.

Victory: Catholic Professor Reinstated
July 2010 -- The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana confirmed that it will once again allow Dr. Kenneth Howell to teach on Catholicism after recently firing him for explaining Catholic moral doctrine to his class. Victory!

Chivalry Inspires a New Generation at TFP Camp

July 2010 – TFP Student Action volunteers coordinated Call to Chivalry camps in both Louisiana and Pennsylvania. The ten-day adventures inspired boys to live the ideals of Catholic knighthood.

Prayer Vigil to End Abortion
August 2010 – At the largest Planned Parenthood abortion facility in America, TFP members defended innocent life and prayed for the end of abortion.

Caravan against Socialism in Texas
August 2010 – The American TFP and TFP-Louisiana kicked off a new caravan in Texas. Our tour visited major cities in the Lone Star State with the clear goal of alerting the public about the growing dangers of socialism in America.

Seton Hall University Betrays Catholic Identity
September 2010 -- Seton Hall University started a pro-homosexual course on “The Politics of Gay Marriage.” Thousands of TFP Student Action members called for its cancelation.

No to NYC Mega Mosque
September 2010 -- TFP Student Action volunteers joined a huge rally one block from Ground Zero in New York City against the “Victory Mosque” and remembered the victims of 9-11.

Victory! Planned Parenthood Link Gone
November 2010 -- Boston College Law School – a Catholic institution – has removed Planned Parenthood from its web site after a TFP Student Action protest generated 7,100 email and phone calls.

Rally for Troops at Fort Benning

November 2010 – For the fifth year in a row, TFP Student Action volunteers have made the trek from Pennsylvania to Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, to oppose the socialist SOA Watch protest there and support our troops.

Research Finds Homosexual Movement at 101 Catholic Colleges
December 2010 -- After careful research, the TFP survey discovered that 101 (41%) of Catholic universities and colleges currently list pro-homosexual student clubs on their web sites. Among Jesuit-run universities, however, the number increases to 100%.

Posted by Robert Ritchie at 10:17 AM

The Book, Plinio: A Simple Telling of a Great Story

Written by John Horvat II
About the lives of great men, there are always many who tell their stories. No doubt this will be true of the great Catholic intellectual Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira about whom much has already been written. Andrea F. Phillips’ Plinio: A Man for Our Times is a delightful addition to defining this man.

The book does not aspire to great scholarly analysis nor hold the pretention of being a definitive biography. Rather, it tells a simple story from the perspective of an admirer. This unpretentious work, writes Mrs. Phillips, “is intended to highlight aspects of Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira’s unique personality in a light style, presenting, as it were, a series of frescoes of his exceptional life.”

In an accessible and warmly captivating way, the author tells not only his story but a bit of the history and cultural atmosphere of Brazil and the Church of the time. The reader learns of his birth and his loving mother, Dona Lucilia Ribeiro dos Santos. There are plenty of short episodes from his early youth to show the roots from which developed the character of this great champion of the Catholic cause.

The reader follows the rise of Plinio as a student leader, congressman, Catholic leader, writer and orator. His life is told, often using his own words, not only from the point of view of his political achievements but also those elements that marked his spiritual life such as devotion to the Blessed Virgin, the Holy Eucharist and the Papacy.

Life has its vicissitudes. His biography would not be complete without sharing many trials and misfortunes that befell him as he fought against Nazism, Communism and the first seeds of progressivism inside the Church during the thirties and forties. All this was the foundation of the slow but sure building of the Tradition, Family, Property (TFP) network of autonomous sister organizations that later spread worldwide. It is easy to see why his spiritual and intellectual legacy continues to our days.

There will be other books written about Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. However, this book is almost like a personal introduction by the author who knew him. It is a short meeting with him and an invitation to delve deeper into his work. The book is marked by a rare quality in our egoistic world since it is written through the unique prism of admiration. With such qualities, the reader will not be disappointed.

You can order your copy of Plinio: A Man for Our Times today
from The American TFP’s online store:
http://store.tfp.org/products/Plinio.html#

Gathered 'round the Manger

Written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

Once again, Lord, Christmas approaches. Christianity hastens again to adore Thee in the manger at Bethlehem, where Thou can be seen by the light of the twinkling star or under the brighter and more splendorous light of the maternal and sweet gaze of Mary. Saint Joseph stands nearby, so captivated by Thee that he seems to take notice neither of the animals that surround Thee, nor of the angels who have opened the heavens and can be heard and seen, singing in the highest. In a short while, the Magi will arrive with their entourage, laden with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Through the centuries, others will also come to venerate Thy crib: from India, Ancient Nubia, Macedonia, Rome, Carthage, and Spain; Gauls, Franks, Germans, Angles, Saxons, and Normans. Both pilgrims and crusaders will come from the West to kiss the ground of the cave where Thou were born. Your manger will be venerated all over the earth. In the great Gothic or Romanesque cathedrals, multitudes will gather around Thee, offering Thee presents of gold, silver, incense, and above all the piety and sincerity of their hearts.

Then will come the period of the Western discoveries in which the benefits of Thy Redemption will reach new lands. Incas, Aztecs, natives of various tribes, blacks from African shores or further inland, bronze-skinned Indians, slender and pensive Chinese, short and agile Nipponese, all will gather around Thy crib and adore Thee. The star of Bethlehem now shines over the whole world. The angelic promise has been heard by all peoples, and all across the earth hearts of goodwill have found the inestimable treasure of Thy peace. Overcoming all obstacles, the gospel has finally spread to people all over the world. In the midst of contemporary desolation, this great gathering of people from all nations and races around Thee is our only consolation, indeed our only hope.

We are among them, kneeling before Thee. See us, Lord, and have pity on us. There is something we would like to say.

Who are we? We are those who will not kneel before the modern Baal. We carry Thy law engraved upon the bronze of our hearts and we do not allow the errors of our times to become engraven upon this bronze sanctified by Thy Redemption. We love the immaculate purity of orthodoxy above all else and reject any pact whatsoever with heresy, its wiles and infiltrations. We are merciful to the repentant sinner, and since—due to our unworthiness and infidelity—we count ourselves among that number, we implore Thy mercy. We spare no criticism either, of insolent and conceited impiety or of strutting vice that scorns virtue. We pity all men, particularly the blessed who suffer persecution for love of the Church, who are oppressed everywhere because they hunger and thirst for virtue, who are abandoned, ridiculed, betrayed, and disdained because they remain faithful to Thy commandments. Many are those whose suffering is not celebrated in contemporary literature: the Christian mother who will pray alone before Thy crib because her children no longer practice the Faith; the strong yet austere husband who is misunderstood or even loathed by his own due to his fidelity to Thy teachings; the faithful wife who bears the solitude of both heart and soul, because frivolous habits have led to adultery he who should be her support, her “other half”; the pious son or daughter who—while Christian homes are celebrating—sense how in their own home, family life has been stifled by egotism, hedonism, and secularism; the student who is shunned and mocked by his colleagues because of his fidelity to Thee; the professor who is eschewed by fellow staff because he will not condone their errors; the parish priest or bishop around whom a menacing wall of misunderstanding or indifference has been raised because he refuses to compromise the integrity of the doctrine entrusted to his care; the honest man made penniless for refusing to swindle.

All of these isolated people, scattered across the globe, ignorant of each other, now gather around Thee to offer Thee a gift and a prayer.

Their gift exceeds the sun and the stars, the oceans with all its riches, and the earth in all its splendor: they give themselves entirely and faithfully. By preferring complete orthodoxy over approval, purity over popularity among the impure, honesty over gold; by remaining faithful to Thy law even when this entails sacrificing career and fame, they attain perfection in their spiritual life by practicing love of God above all things, which is a sincere and lasting love. Such love differs greatly from love as it is understood nowadays, which predominantly consists of gushy and illogical feelings, senseless and blurry affections, obscure self-condescension and trite justifications to appease one’s conscience. Instead theirs is true love, enlightened by Faith, justified by reason, serious, chaste, upright and persevering—in a word, theirs is love of God.

They also offer a prayer. Before all else—because they love it above all else in this world—for Thy holy and immaculate Church: for both the pastors and the flock; foremost, for the pastor of the pastors of the flock, that is for Peter, whom today we call Benedict. May the Church, which now moans as a captive in the dungeons of this anti-Christian “civilization”, finally triumph over this era of sin and implant a new civilization for Thy greater glory. May the saints become ever holier, may the good be sanctified, may sinners become good, and may the impious convert. May the impenitent who have rejected grace and are jeopardizing souls be dispersed, humbled, and their efforts frustrated. May the souls in purgatory rise to heaven straight away.

They also pray for themselves: may their orthodoxy be ever purer, their purity ever more rigorous. May they be more faithful amidst adversity, stand ever taller amidst humiliations, be more energetic in their struggles. May they be more terrible to the impious, yet more compassionate towards those who are ashamed of their sins, seriously strive to overcome them and publicly acclaim virtue.

Finally, they pray for Thy Grace, without which no will can durably persevere in good, and no soul can be saved; may it be more abundant in proportion to the number of their miseries and infidelities.

The above article was originally published in O Legionário, December 22, 1946. It has been translated and adapted for publishing. Ed.

Pictures of the "Bloody Moon" on Monday Night

It was a marvelous sight for those who braved the cold in the early morning to see this once in a 400-year opportunity to see it on the day of the winter solstice. Click on the picture to see it close up.

The Catholic Church: The Soul of Christmas

by Luis Dufour



A marvelous slide show with commentaries.

In Time of Need, Turn to the Rosary

More than ever, Catholics need to turn to the Rosary and pray with all our might. This is because we are faced with situations in our private lives and in the Church that are very serious and confusing.

Let us take comfort in the fact that for centuries Catholics have turned to the Rosary to overcome problems big and small.

It has won battles, fought off heresies and wrought countless miracles. A multitude of saints and popes have endorsed it. Pope Pius IX declares, "Among all the devotions approved by the Church, none has been so favored by so many miracles as the Rosary devotion."

The Rosary’s efficacy proven in history

We need only to recall how Pope Pius V convoked the Christian world to pray the Rosary to ask God for victory in the crusade against the Ottoman Turks which culminated in a famous sea battle at Lepanto in 1571. And when the Turkish fleet were repulsed and vanquished, the elated pontiff established the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary on October 7 in thanksgiving to the Mother of God.

There is also the story of eight German Jesuits who lived just a kilometer away from ground zero when the A-bomb exploded in Hiroshima, Japan in August 1945. They attributed their miraculous survival to observing the message of Fatima by praying the Rosary daily.[1]

And how can one explain the sudden pullout of the Russians from Austria in 1948? A striking quandary to military experts and historians, but not to men of faith who know that 70,000 Austrians under the leadership of Father Petrus Pavlicek prayed daily rosaries to drive the militant forces of atheistic Marxism from their country.[2]

Never out of fashion

Nihil sub sole novum.( Ecclesiastes 1:10.) There is nothing new under the sun as the famous line goes. What more can be added to the glories of the Rosary?

This most revered of Catholic devotions never goes out of vogue. As one website reveals, personal testimonies show the power and relevance of the Rosary in our days. From something trivial as passing a driving test to escaping a horrendous vehicular accident unscathed, people keep having recourse to the Rosary.

Baghdad horror

More recently, a survivor’s gripping account gives yet again another convincing testimony of the power of the Rosary. A 25 year-old female student who lost her brother and her mother in the terrorists attack in the Chaldean Catholic Church in Baghdad on October 31, 2010 relates[3],

“Next to my brother, there was also a woman who was bleeding profusely. She asked the terrorist: ‘Kill me, please, do not let me suffer any more.’ He answered her: ‘No, suffer; that way you will experience hell on earth and after your death.’ And he repeated: ‘You are infidels, Allah ou akbar!’ And I, then, prayed the rosary, with my head bent down towards the floor. A terrorist came and asked me: ‘What are you praying? What do you venerate? Do you venerate Christ?’ And then, some grenades exploded and we truly had the impression that the church was going to collapse on us. I myself absolutely did not think that I would survive. I prayed as if I was about to die. It is Our Mother who saved us.”

Needed more than ever in our times

Amid that horrific bedlam and terrible carnage, the student courageously hung on to her rosary and prayed even as the Islamic terrorist accosted her. By the grace of God, she was spared from death.

That was chaos on a smaller scale. On a grander scale we find ourselves amid the turmoil and moral corruption of our times, mankind continues to flaunt the sins of abortion, homosexuality, pornography, drug abuse and many more grave offenses against God with wanton abandon.

Our Lady gave her maternal warnings at Fatima. And like a true mother, she also gave the solution. She asked for the daily recitation of the Rosary and requested the establishment of the devotion to Her Immaculate Heart as well as the Five First Saturday devotion. Sadly her maternal warnings remain largely unheeded.

Message of Hope

Our Lady also assured us that “In the end, my immaculate Heart will triumph.” But at a time when all seems lost humanly speaking, when events turn for the worst, we must not give in to the temptation that her promises are empty. We must confide in her and reject that temptation with all our hearts and minds.

We do have a powerful weapon in the Rosary. Let us cling to it and ask our heavenly Mother to intercede for us and intervene for the greater glory of God. Historical antecedents show how the Rosary gave victory to those who prayed it assiduously with faith. Let us expect no less during our tumultuous times. Let us pray the Rosary daily and look forward to a glorious Catholic Civilization in the Reign of Mary as St. Louis Grignion de Montfort prophesied.

"Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world." Pope Pius IX

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[1] Donal Anthony Foley, “The Priests Who Survived The Atomic Bomb,” http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/2010/08/05/the-priests-who-survived-the-atomic-bomb/

[2] Charles E. Schaffer, “Expelled By The Rosary,” http://www.americaneedsfatima.org/About-the-Rosaries/expelled-by-the-rosary.html

[3]Iraq: A survivor of the attack in Baghdad tells her story, DICI – Documentation Information Catholiques Internationales, http://www.dici.org/en/news/iraq-a-survivor-of-the-attack-in-baghdad-tells-her-story/

Phoenix Bishop Set to Revoke Catholic Status of Hospital

Bishop Thomas Olmsted

PHOENIX, December 15, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Catholic bishop of Phoenix has warned that a local hospital where doctors directly killed an unborn child late last year will lose its status as a Catholic institution unless it submits to a review to ensure it will comply with Catholic church teaching.

Bishop Thomas Olmsted issued the warning to Lloyd Dean, president of the San Francisco-based Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), in a November 22 letter obtained by The Arizona Republic. CHW is the parent company of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, where the abortion was performed. Read the whole story here

Christmas: Faith, Tenderness and Courage Permeate the Perfect Carols

by TFP member Luis Dufaur

Who Says Latin is Old Fashioned?

Google Launches Latin GoogleTranslater

Google has just added Latin to the number of languages available on Google Translate. Who says Latin is old fashioned?

Take a look for yourself:

http://translate.google.com/

Heavenly City: The Architectural Tradition of Catholic Chicago

Few Catholics realize just how rich is the history of the Catholic Church in the United States. Nevertheless, great churches still stand in every major city and serve as a testament. Perhaps nowhere in America can one find these stone testimonials more numerous or beautiful than the Windy City. These churches are the subject of a recent picture book titled: Heavenly City: The Architectural Tradition of Catholic Chicago. This visually striking and carefully researched book presents the rich detail of historic and cultural significance of some of Chicago’s most significant churches. Breath-taking, full-color photographs open the doors to more than 60 magnificent churches, stretching to every corner of the city – from St. Francis Xavier in Wilmette and St. Philip Neri on the South Shore to St. Giles in Oak Park and St. Peter in the Loop. The inspirational designs are by noted architects such as Burnham, McCarthy, Schlacks and Keely. It is a must for those interested in local history, architectural achievement, theological awareness or those who simply desire to glory in the visual beauty of Chicago’s historic churches. Author Denis R. McNamara, an architectural historian who specializes in American church architecture of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. He has written and lectured widely on the history and theology of ecclesiastical architecture, and served on the Art and Architecture Commission of the Archdiocese of Chicago. He is currently assistant director and faculty member at the Liturgical Institute of the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, and serves as a liturgical design consultant. Photographer James Morris specializes in architectural and cultural subjects from around the world, working with publishers, magazines and architects, including his recent work in the 2000 book Churches of London (Contemporary Books). His work is exhibited in both Europe and the United States and has been awarded prizes by, among others, Chicago’s Graham Foundation for advanced studies in the fine arts, and the United Kingdom’s Design and Art Directors Guild. The professional quality of the photographs and printing coupled with the awe-inspiring subject matter covered, make Heavenly City irresistible to those who appreciate beauty. However, paging through such a work should be more than a simple diversion. It should instill pride in America’s Catholic heritage, and inspire action to restore the Church to Her former glory…and well beyond. Format: Hardcover 9 1/2" x 13" 160 pages ISBN: 1-56854-503-7 Publisher: Liturgy Training Publications www.ltp.org

Brazilians People Overwhelming Reject the Abortion Agenda

by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

(LifeSiteNews.com) - The Brazilian people overwhelmingly reject the homosexualist and abortionist agenda of the nation’s ruling party, according to a new study conducted by the polling agency Vox Populi.

The poll revealed that 82% of Brazilians wish to maintain abortion as a crime, and 72% are against its depenalization. Religious differences only changed the latter result marginally, with 75% of Evangelicals, 73% of Catholics, and 69% of other religions opposing depenalization.

In addition, sixty percent of Brazilians are against the creation of homosexual “civil unions,” while only 35% are in favor.

The poll indicates that Brazilian Evangelicals are more successful communicating their churches’ condemnation of homosexual unions than Catholics. While only 19% of Evangelicals supported such unions, 37% of practicing Catholics supported them. For more, click here

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Three Reasons the Church’s Enemies Hate The Immaculate Conception

Written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

The following text is adapted from a lecture Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira gave on June 15, 1973. It has been translated and edited for publication without his revision. Note, in this text, he uses the words Revolution and Counter-Revolution as he defined them in his book Revolution and Counter-Revolution. In this sense, the Revolution is a centuries-old process, motivated by pride and sensuality, and therefore egalitarianism and liberalism, that dominates the modern world and seeks to destroy Christian civilization. Counter-Revolutionaries are those dedicated to defeating this process and defending the rights of God. –Ed. One of the truly Counter-Revolutionary acts of Pope Pius IX’s pontificate was the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception. There are three reasons the definition of this dogma was especially Counter-Revolutionary and therefore hateful to the enemies of the Church. First Reason: An Anti-Egalitarian Dogma This dogma teaches that Our Lady was immaculate at her conception, meaning that, at no moment, did she have even the slightest stain of Original Sin. Both she, and naturally Our Lord Jesus Christ, were exempt from that rigid law that subjugates all other descendants of Adam and Eve. Thus, Our Lady was not subject to the miseries of fallen man. She did not have bad influences, inclinations and tendencies. In her, everything moved harmonically towards truth, goodness and therefore God. In this sense, Our Lady is an example of perfect liberty, meaning that everything her reason, illuminated by Faith, determined as good, her will desired entirely. She had no interior obstacles to impede her practice of virtue. Being “full of grace” increased these effects. Thus, her will advanced with an unimaginable impetus towards everything that was true and good. Declaring that a mere human creature had this extraordinary privilege makes this dogma fundamentally anti-egalitarian, because it points out an enormous inequality in the work of God. It demonstrates the total superiority of Our Lady over all other beings. Thus, its proclamation made Revolutionary egalitarian spirits boil with hatred. Second Reason: The Unsullied Purity of Our Lady However, there is a more profound reason why the Revolution hates this dogma. The Revolution loves evil and is in harmony with those who are bad, and thus tries to find evil in everything. On the contrary, those who are irreproachable are a cause of intense hatred. Therefore, the idea that a being could be utterly spotless from the first moment of her existence is abhorrent to Revolutionaries. For example: Imagine a man who is consumed with impurity. When besieged by impure inclinations, he is ashamed of his consent to them. This leaves him depressed and utterly devastated. Imagine this man considering Our Lady, who, being the personification of transcendental purity, did not have even the least appetite for lust. He feels hatred and scorn because her virtue smashes his pride. Furthermore, by declaring Our Lady to be so free from pride, sensuality and the desire for anything Revolutionary, the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception affirmed that she was utterly Counter-Revolutionary. This only inflamed the Revolutionary hatred of the dogma all the more. Disputing the Doctrine: A Counter-Revolutionary Struggle Prof. Plinio Correa de Oliveira commented on the Immaculate Conception. For centuries, there were two opposing currents of thought about the Immaculate Conception in the Church. While it would be an exaggeration to suggest that everyone who fought against the doctrine was acting with Revolutionary intentions; it is a fact that all those who were acting with Revolutionary intentions fought against it. On the other hand, all those who favored its proclamation, at least on that point, expressed a Counter-Revolutionary attitude. Thus, in some way the fight between the Revolution and Counter-Revolution was present in the fight between these two theological currents. Third Reason: The Exercise of Papal Infallibility There is still another reason this dogma is hateful to Revolutionaries: it was the first dogma proclaimed through Papal Infallibility. At that time, the dogma of Papal Infallibility had not yet been defined and there was a current in the Church maintaining that the Pope was only infallible when presiding over a council. Nevertheless, Pius IX invoked Papal Infallibility when he defined the Immaculate Conception after merely consulting some theologians and bishops. For liberal theologians, this seemed like circular reasoning. If his infallibility had not been defined, how could he use it? On the contrary, by using his infallibility, he affirmed that he had it. This daring affirmation provoked an explosion of indignation among Revolutionaries, but enormous enthusiasm among Counter-Revolutionaries. In praise of the new dogma, children all over the world were baptized under the name: Conception, Concepcion or Concepta to consecrate them to the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady. Pius IX: Bringing the Fight to the Enemy It is not surprising that Pius IX so adamantly affirmed Papal Infallibility. Very different from those who succeeded him, he was ever ready to bring the fight to the enemy. He did this in Geneva, Switzerland, which then was the breeding ground of Calvinism, which is the most radical form of Protestantism. When Swiss laws changed to allow a Catholic cathedral in Geneva, Pius IX ordered that a statue of the Immaculate Conception be placed in the middle of the city, to proclaim this dogma in the place where Calvinists, Lutherans and other Protestants denied it more than anywhere else. This is an example of Pius IX’s leadership in the fight against the Revolution. It is therefore entirely proper that all Catholics entertain a special affection for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which is so detested by the enemies of the Church today.

Warren Buffet Says Tax the Rich, but Sterilize the Poor

by Population Research Institute

Warren Buffet, one of the world’s wealthiest men, is in the news for saying that he wants the rich to pay more in taxes. But according to the continuing research of the Population Research Institute (PRI), Buffet prefers to spend his money ensuring that the poor have as few children as possible.

Over the years, the Buffet Foundation has funded some of the most hard-edged, even fanatical, population control programs around:

- Back in 1994 Buffet provided $2 million to fund the clinical trials of RU-486. This human pesticide has resulted in the deaths of countless unborn children and several dozen women.

- Buffet also provided $2 million to the Family Health International (FHI) for quinicrine hydrochloride, a drug which is used to perform chemical sterilizations on women.

- Another favorite Buffet charity is an obscure entity called International Projects Assistance Services (IPAS), which is the principal manufacturer and distributor of the manual vacuum aspirators, or MVAs. These are used by the UN Population Fund, and other groups, to abort unborn babies up to 20 weeks gestation by hand. According to a Business Week report, the foundation’s “1999 contribution of $2.5 million is part of a five-year, $20 million commitment, which will enable IPAS to double its capacity”

A list of Buffet’s charitable contributions reads like a veritable rogue’s gallery of abortion promoters and providers. Such groups as the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, Pathfinder International, and Catholics for Choice figure prominently. And in a particularly nasty twist, his funding to Planned Parenthood is specifically earmarked to enable particular clinics around the country to perform abortions.

“People wonder why Buffet is spending his money this way,” says PRI president Steven Mosher. “Behind Buffet’s folksy persona and obvious business acumen, lies an obsession with ridding the globe of “excess” baby humans. His biographer, Roger Lowenstein, wrote that he has “a Malthusian dread that overpopulation (will) aggravate problems in all other areas—such as food, housing, even human survival.”

“I have met with Buffet in Ohama,” recalls Mosher. “I see Buffet lounging in his office in Omaha, sipping cherry Cokes and plotting billion-dollar investment strategies, while tens of thousands of poor women around the world are being scarred for life with quinicrine, or have their babies sucked out of their wombs by manual vacuum aspirators that he has helped provide.”

Says Mosher, “It is sad that this Midas-like character, so blessed with material goods, should take so misanthropic a view of the people with whom he shares the planet, and from whose existence he profits. Even if he doesn’t recognize the Indian as a fellow creature of God, surely he knows that they are tremendous consumers of Coke.”

'Christmas' play insults Our Lady's purity at Columbia University

Send your instant e-protest message against XMAS,
the blasphemous, impure play against Our Lady!

Please read the following with caution since this deeply offends our Catholic sense of propriety:

According to Columbia University's art blog, they are hosting a blasphemous play called XMAS in which the "Virgin Mary" asks for explicit sins of impurity.

This is a most egregious offense against the spotless purity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Please:

Send your instant e-protest message

According to one student:

"The show's shock-inducing brand of comedy might be a problem for the deeply religious. But for the rest battling pre-finals depression, this show might actually be the perfect replacement for Prozac."

It is outrageous that unspeakable insult to our Catholic faith is being played at an Ivy League University, one of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in America.

Take Action

• Send your instant e-protest message NOW to President of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger.

• Join our Rosary of Reparation on Monday, December 13 at 8PM EST. Our national rosary of reparation is scheduled for exactly the same time as the blasphemous XMAS play at Columbia University.

Thank you for defending Our Lady's spotless purity this Christmas.

And may Her Divine Son reward you with abundant graces and blessings.

The War on Christmas: Chrismas is Winning!

Atheism doesn’t sell. More retailers are abandoning Holidays for Christmas as consumer pressure has given positive results.

Check this out:
In 'The War on Christmas,' Christmas is winning
For increasing number of retailers this year, no more 'Happy holidays'

Click here for more

Protesting the Left at Ft. Benning

What did we find at Ft. Benning? Pro-Castro Franciscans, excommunicated priests and leftover leftists from the sixties...

A King and His Ancestor

"Prince Bertrand of Orleans Braganza to be Keynote Speaker at 2011 Marian Conference in St. Louis"

His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Bertrand of Orleans Braganza is scheduled to be the Keynote Speaker at the 2011 Marian Conference at the Millennium Hotel in St. Louis, MO on the weekend of January 14th - 16th. You will not want to miss the extraordinary opportunity to hear Prince Bertrand, the Great-Great Grandson (20 times removed) of the Patron of our City, King St. Louis IX. For more information or to register please go to this link;

http://http//marianconferences-catholicevents-midwest.com/saint-louis-marian-conference---january-2011.html

Prince Bertrand last spoke at the Conference in January of 2005 where he greeted our then Archbishop Raymond Burke.

TFP Protests Against the Protesters

The American TFP protests against the protesters at Fort Benning, Georgia, this weekend. This video shows the contrast between the protesters and the TFP. You can see TFP member John Ritchie give an interview at the 2:30 segment of the video

When Does a Soldier Become Expendable?

How much is the life of an American soldier worth? When does a soldier become expendable? Those are the questions we need to ask in the coming days.

A wounded soldier in Afghanistan will find himself airlifted half way around the world for treatment within hours. In this, we see the admirable care and great value given to American lives.

However, such solicitude on the battleground is not shown off the battlefield. It seems there are times where the American solider becomes expendable.

Of course, we are referring to the raging debate over the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy inside the military. Everything is centered on a December 1 report which the military will release analyzing the impact of the repeal on the Armed Forces.

The results of this “analysis” can be guessed. It seems almost senseless to go through the trouble to release it. Everything seems to indicate that it will discuss how to repeal, not if we should repeal, the ban on homosexuality in the military. It will conclude that inclusion of open homosexuals in the military will not have significant adverse effects. It will conclude that the soldier is expendable. He can be used for social experiments. He can be penalized for the religious values he holds. He can be deprived of the very freedom for which he fights.

A joint Color Guard posts the colors during a Veterans Day ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington, Virginia. DOD photo by Cherie Cullen.

The findings will be completely politically correct because a higher command than the Joint Chiefs of Staff has decreed that the American soldier is expendable.

Judges, liberal pundits and legislators are all clamoring for the repeal with an urgency that defies the imagination. A single judge assumes almost dictatorial powers. Advocates cannot even wait for the December 1 “study” to validate their opinions. They must have the repeal now even if it appears to be rammed down the throats of the American people…even if it means making the American solider expendable.

One might argue that it has not been proven that the entry of open homosexuals (which also includes bisexuals and the “transgendered”) into the military would make soldiers expendable. That is not the point right now. It is proven the advocates of repeal simply do not care to know one way or the other. They cannot even wait for a report to rubberstamp a decision that has already been made.

At the same time, there is no doubt that it will affect the military. That military profession that demands decisiveness in action must now open its doors to the ambiguous bisexual and “transgendered” soldier. There are reports that higher military authorities have already informed officers that they must accept the decision or be labeled bigots and face expulsion. Added to the stress of combat, our soldiers will soon be forced to take extreme care to avoid any act, gesture or comment that might be construed to be “discrimatory” toward the new privileged class of homosexuals who will enter the military ready to report any “bigotry.” Chaplains face major problems since they must deal with the sin of homosexual acts. The service generals have all expressed major reservations about the move and its effect on morale.

All of this to accommodate a tiny sliver of a minute minority that demands entry into the military. All of this treats honor, tradition, and distinctions between virtue and vice; truth and error; good and evil, so inherent to the military condition, as if they are irrelevant.

Even the more practical matter of the danger of introducing into the battlefield a major category of men who cannot donate blood because of the risks of disease does not move repeal advocates.

Soldiers of the 61st Calvary Regiment, U.S. Army patrol the Towr Gahr Pass, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Matson.

The mixture of bloods on the battlefield does endanger the lives of soldiers. That soldier, that is taken with so much care off the battleground in Afghanistan to our hospitals in Germany, now runs the danger of being infected by his own comrades in arms by judicial and legislative fiat.

No life is threatened by keeping the ban. As long as one soldier feels threatened by the climate created by repealing the ban, as long as one life might be at risk by tainted blood, as long as the soldier maintains a sense of honor, we should keep the ban.

Indeed we must ask: When does a soldier become expendable?

Without Priests, Catholic Military Personnel Seeking out Protestant Pastors

Military Archbishop Timothy Broglio says that the U.S. military is facing an alarming shortage of priests that is increasingly leading Catholic servicemen to seek help from Protestant pastors.

Calling it a “pastoral problem” that “affects all of us,” Archbishop Broglio appealed to bishops across the U.S. to consider sending more priests to help serve in the military.

Approximately one fourth of active duty personnel – 400,000 people – and their immediate families are Catholic, he said. At present, these Catholics “are served by only 275 priests in a territory that covers the globe,” the archbishop noted. “Those numbers will shrink in the coming years.”

To read the whole story, click here

The Wonders of Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus

Written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus (the Wonderworker) November 17 is the Feast of Saint Gregory According to Saint Basil, Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus (the Wonderworker) is comparable to Moses, the prophets and the apostles. Indeed, his works were many. He moved a huge boulder that was in his way preventing the building of a church. He dried out a pond that was a cause of discord between two brothers. In order to stop the River Lycus from its frequent and damaging floods, Gregory planted his staff at a safe point near the river bank. He then prayed that the river would never rise past the staff. The staff took root, grew into a large tree, and the river never flooded past it again. He drove out the demons from idols and people ... and a great many more miracles. On this feast of Saint Gregory the Wonderworker, Dom Guéranger writes: "Gregory was born in New Caesarea around 213. He was a disciple of Origen and became bishop of his hometown. For his doctrine and holiness, and also for the number and brilliance of the extraordinary miracles that he performed, he was called the 'Wonderworker.'" At the time of his death, he asked how many infidels were left in his diocese of New Caesarea and was told there were only seventeen. Giving thanks, he said: This is the same number of believers in the beginning of my episcopate. He wrote several works which, along with his miracles, illuminated the faithful of the Church of God. He also had the spirit of prophecy, and foretold the future. He died between 270 and 275. As we can see, he was a great saint. Let us examine a little the nature of his miracles so that we might understand something of his mission. It is interesting to see that among the great variety of saints, Providence endows most saints with the power to work miracles. However, only some specific saints work many miracles. There is a profound reason for this. The miracles wrought by the same person to a greater or lesser degree indicate the intensity of God’s extraordinary intervention. Because it is already unlikely for a person to work one miracle, but it is even more unlikely that he will work many. Of course, all miracles give more glory to God. Here is a man who seems to have been chosen to show that the great gift of miracles of the Old Testament as well as that of the early Church, are still maintained in the third century in which he lived. What is interesting about his miracles is that none of them can be “explained” by experts as miracles caused by suggestion or illusion. It is understandable that a madman might say that a cure at Lourdes is wrought by the power of suggestion. However, one cannot say the same thing about a huge boulder. No boulder moves through power of suggestion. No one can saw that a lake dried up of its own accord. Someone might say: No! He simply deceived the people who saw those things. However, illusions do not last a lifetime. A boulder that is here and suddenly moves over there cannot be the impression of the people who are watching. When the power of suggestion wears off, we must ask: Where is the boulder? Is it back in place? The lake was wet. When those who had the impression that it dried up lose that impression, will the lake be wet again. Yet that is not what happened. The lake was dry for good. The instant growth of a tree in the riverbed from the staff thrust into the water was not just an illusion. After the illusion was gone, the people should have seen the stick again but they continued to see the tree. They saw a tree growing to the point of changing the course of the river. These are categorical, undeniable miracles. The Church works miracles, and Providence has given Her the gift of miracles to show that the Church is divine. Was it only for this reason? No, it was not. The reasons why this saint asked for those miracles show that Providence has other purposes in making miracles. Take for example the huge boulder that was moved to make way for the building of a church. We see that this huge miracle was done for something that was not extremely important in itself. Usually when a place is not suited for building, we build somewhere else. A boulder hindering the construction of a church is not a hopelessly insurmountable problem. Providence gave Saint Gregory the grace to work this miracle which was not an urgent matter to show how God is truly a father to us and how maternal Providence can be. That is to say miracles do not happen only when we are in anguish, facing the greatest tragedies. God is our father and Our Lady is our mother. They give us huge graces with a magnificent liberality even when we are not in the highest affliction. These miracles show us how we need to ask even for things that are not very important. We must ask a lot, ask insistently. These requests will be granted. The proof is this huge miracle worked just to simplify matters so that the building of a church would be easier. As for the other miracle, two brothers were fighting over a pond, so he dried it up. It is a miracle, a kind of mischievous punishment on these brothers. It is as if he was saying: you are tearing each other apart over the possession of this pond. I will dry it up so it belongs to no one. It was basically a little family squabble. He could probably have solved the problem by giving the brothers a good scolding. It is a little domestic quarrel that was not a great tragedy. However, he wrought a miracle to solve the problem. The third miracle was to prevent the flooding of a river. Throughout history, rivers have flooded. Man would continue all the same, if the river continued to overflow. What is the great lesson of these miracles? It is that if God heeds the request of a saint for these trifles, we also can be heeded when we ask for much more important things. He who can do much, can also do less. In this case, it is a more extraordinary miracle when and because it is worked over a trifle than when worked for something more important. For the needs of our spiritual life, how many boulders need to be removed, how many ponds need to be dried, how many floods that overspill need to be remedied? How confidently we must therefore turn to Our Lady, asking her for these favors! Someone might object: "Dr. Plinio, I wish it were as you say, but the point is that I am not Saint Gregory the Miracle Worker. He is a saint, and he could obtain it." I say: He is in heaven and today is his feast day. Let us ask him today, he will make an even greater miracle. Let us ask him for this grace: That when asking for heavenly things we may act with this holy freedom, I would almost say with this holy candor of asking for great miracles for our small things. You cannot imagine how much one actually receives by acting in this way. This is the encouragement that the life of this saint should give us. There is an insistence in the story of his life that he cast out demons. He did this in two kinds of places: idols and people. The idea that idols have demons that must be expelled is hardly an ecumenical idea, for if all religions are good, there are no demons in any idol. However, I take this opportunity to say that the ancient Church Fathers said there were demons in idols, and many times there were. Thus we should be aware of the fact that it is very normal for demons to exist also in non-Catholic churches. When one passes in front of a non-Catholic church, a Protestant church, mosque or schismatic churches, we should remember this point. We should pray an ejaculation to our Guardian Angel. No one knows the danger that these dens of heresy pose. This practice is very good because it defends our soul against the devil, and instills a real sense of objectivity with regard to wrong churches and heresy. It is an attitude more necessary than ever. In the end, the victory of this saint is non-ecumenical. When he asks how many heretics are there in New Caesarea, they answer seventeen. He manifests his joy: “When I began my bishop’s tenure the faithful were seventeen.” The situation had been turned completely around. It was his nunc dimittis. His work was done, it was consecrated, and he died giving his diocese to God. The preceding text is taken from an informal lecture Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira gave on November 17, 1965. It has been translated and adapted for publication without his revision. –Ed.

The Rosary and Saint Dominic Defeat Heresy

The Rosary—as spiritual weapon against evil—has a very long and precious history. In twelfth and thirteenth century France, a group of heretics known as the Albigensians was destroying the minds of the Catholic laity with its erroneous ideas. The Albigensians’ teachings encouraged suicide, many times by self-induced starvation, because they believed that the body was an intrinsic evil and that the soul must be liberated from matter at all costs. However, as history often shows, Providence raises up great Saints in times of dire crises. This time it was no different. Saint Dominic, born of noble lineage, received the Rosary from Our Lady in the year 1214. Our Lady gave Saint Dominic the Rosary as a weapon to combat the awful Albigensian heresy.

The Rosary as we know it today took some time to develop. After Saint Dominic died in the year 1221, the Rosary was almost immediately forgotten. However, in 1464 Our Lord, Our Lady, and Saint Dominic appeared to Blessed Alan de la Roche, a Dominican friar, after which he preached the Rosary until his death in 1475. This tremendous apostolate by Blessed Alan de la Roche, through the direct intercession of Our Lady, made the Rosary a widespread devotion. The fifteen mysteries as we know them came about through the many confraternities founded after Blessed Alan de la Roche’s preaching, and were formalized with Pope Saint Pius V’s encyclical, Consueverunt. The Rosary and the Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a crucial conflict between the Christians and the Ottoman Turks, one of the greatest naval battles of all time. The Christian lands around Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean were constantly getting sacked by Muslim pirates, and Imperial warships were ravaging the land. At this point in time, Pope Saint Pius V saw it appropriate to raise a Crusade against these heathen Muslims. After raising a Crusade, he asked every non-combatant across the whole Christian world to pray the Rosary. Even after this call to arms, the Christian fleet at Lepanto was greatly outnumbered by the Ottoman Turks. The Crusaders got on their knees and began to pray the Rosary. Soon after, the Christians and the Muslims were immersed in a bloody battle. Thus it was that on October 7, 1571, the Christian fleet was blessed with a miraculous victory. Pope Saint Pius V immediately dedicated the victory to Our Lady, establishing October 7 as “The Feast of the Most Holy Rosary.” Holy Rosary Crusade of Reparation After World War II, Austria was divided between four countries: America, France, the United Kingdom, and Russia. At the time, Russia was still communist. The section of Austria controlled by the communists was the richest, and included the city of Vienna. The Viennese were subject to the all the atrocities and tyrannies of communism. However, in 1946, Fr. Petrus Pavlicek, after making a pilgrimage to Mariazell, the principle Marian shrine in Austria, was told by an interior voice: “Do as I say and there will be peace.” To obey this inspiration of Our Lady, Fr. Pevlicek founded the Holy Rosary Crusade of Reparation in 1947. This Crusade consisted of the Viennese faithful coming out of their homes in order to participate in a public Rosary procession in the streets of the city. The intentions of the Rosary were for the end of communism in their country and in the world. At first, the processions were miniscule, but in time they grew to staggering proportions. In 1955, after eight years spreading the word about the Crusade throughout Austria, the Rosary processions would reach sizes of half a million people, about 1/10 of the Austrian population. Finally, through the help of Our Lady, the Soviet forces pulled out of Austria in October of 1955, leaving the country for good. The Rosary and the Fatima Message Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, Our Lady appeared to three shepherd children, Jacinta, Lucia, and Francisco, at the Cova de Iria, near Fatima, Portugal. During six visits, Our Lady communicated to them a secret which had three parts. The first part was a vision of Hell. During this vision, Sister Lucia said numerous souls fell into Hell like “snowflakes.” In the second part, Our Lady states that WWI would end, but “if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pius XI. To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church.” As Our Lady predicted, World War II erupted and the errors of atheist Communism spread. Our Lady added that many will be martyred and nations will be annihilated, if people do not convert. Have people converted? The answer is no. Can Divine punishment be avoided? It depends on the world’s fidelity to Our Lady’s requests. Lucia asked Our Lady during the apparitions, “Who are you and what do you want?” Our Lady responded, “I am the Lady of the Rosary, and I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. People must not continue to offend the Lord, Who is already so deeply offended. They must say the Rosary.” Therefore, Our Lady gave us a solution: the recitation of the daily Rosary for the conversion of sinners. The Fatima message is a remedy for our culture immersed in sin. If it were not for Our Lady’s promise that “Finally, My Immaculate Heart will Triumph,” we would be much dismayed and disheartened. So let us heed her requests. Let us practice the First Saturday devotions. Let us pray the daily Rosary. By fulfilling these requests, we will be consoling the sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary and hasten the triumph of good over evil.

Remove Five Christian Holidays in Belgium?

A "Work Group for Interculturality" from the Belgian Government wants to remove Easter Monday, Pentecost Monday, the Ascension, Assumption and All Saints from the list of National Holidays -- Christimas will remain the only free Christian feast day.

Brussels [kath.net/KAP] - A drastic reduction of the holidays in Belgium has been proposed by a "Work Group for Interculturality" of the Belgian government. The current ten feast days will be reduced to five is the "'Work Group's" proposal, said the Belgian media on Tuesday.

Accordingly, heneforth there will only be New Year, the 1st of May, the National Holiday on the 21st of July, the Armistice of 11th of November, and Christmas, the 25th of December will be days off.

Eastermonday, Pentecostmonday [Whitmonday was also a holiday in Ireland till recently], Christ's Ascension, Assumption and All Saints Day will be removed from the calendar. The "Work Group" proposes, depending on confession, that an employee can take two additional workdays free.

New additions will be International Women's Day on 8. March, the 21st of March as the International Day Against Racism and the 21st of May as the World Day of Cultural Diversity.

Among other proposals of the "Work Group" was also to permit the wearing of religious symbols such as the Islamic head covering in school for higher forms [grades]. The teacher's preference, however, should determine whether it is allowed at all.

The Belgian Minister for equal opportunity, Joelle Milquet of the Liberal-Christians Democrats of Wallonia, annaounced, that she wants to reinforce the battle against discrimination. Cultural Diversity is anchored in the heritage of Belgium, she said according to reports from "Le Soir".

Why is Moral Stem Cell Research Ignored?

by Hilary White

DUBLIN, November 9, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Funding for ethical stem cell research is hampered by a shallow “cult of celebrity” in scientific research that is fed by media hype, says a leading researcher in adult stem cells.

Dr. Colin McGuckin, who was the first to synthesize living and functioning human liver tissue from adult stem cells, was speaking at a conference held by the leading Irish pro-life group Youth Defence. His topic was the medical and ethical advantages of research using “somatic” cells (those taken from the patient’s own body) and stem cells derived from stored umbilical cord blood.

“History shows that the last hundred years in medicine will be some of the most embarrassing in the history of human development because the cult of celebrity affected every part of humanity,” said McGuckin. “Being famous seems to be the only route forward for doing anything useful in life to most children.”

According to McGuckin this cult of celebrity, driven by hopes of miraculous cures and media recognition, has even taken over funding practices for scientific research – and this is especially true when it comes to stem cell research.

“When we were at university people told us that if you want to be a good scientist you have to come up with a novel thought and it will be peer-reviewed by all your peers, and you will try to do the right thing for humanity if you’re going to do medical research. It used to be that you’d be peer-reviewed and the best proposal for a fund would go forward and get the money.”

But that has changed in recent years, he said.

“The whole world has moved toward a celebrity culture. Now if you’re pitted for a Nobel Prize, you’re going to get any fund you can think of. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s rubbish work or not; no one is going to dare to reject it.”

Media-generated controversy gets attention, he continued, and this presents a huge problem for those doing non-controversial, but immensely beneficial work with adult or umbilical cord blood cells.

“People aren’t talking about cord blood because it’s not controversial,” he said. “Consequently, it does not make headlines and therefore researchers who want to use the cells from cord blood do not receive funding.”

“It’s a vicious circle. If cord blood were controversial people would be talking about it seriously at government level. But because people aren’t writing in and giving their ministers a hard time, no one [in government] is talking about it.”

Dr. McGuckin has been working in the field of stem cell biology since 1988 and has become one of the world’s most sought-after experts in stem cell biology, tissue engineering, transplantation sciences and cancer treatment.

Even so, he described his own funding since the global financial crisis as “terrible.” He is the director of the Cell Therapy Research Institute in Lyon, France, one of the world’s largest adult stem cell centres. He recently moved his research work to France from Britain, saying that U.K. universities and funding agencies continually prioritize embryonic stem cell research.

“After the financial crisis it was awful. It is the cult of celebrity, and even if you make liver cells, you’re only a celebrity for ten minutes then they’re giving [funding] to the next person.”

In reference to possible solutions to the problem, the doctor said: “People have to write in. They have to raise their voices. It’s no good saying ‘I don’t like embryonic stem cell research if you don’t have something alternative to offer. Negativity never wins anything.”

Dr. McGuckin predicts that groups, universities and individual researchers will push for embryonic stem cell research for at least another ten years. “But ten years from now we won’t be any further on in terms of clinical treatments.”

“People will still want embryonic stem cells as treatments. They won’t be cures, but they will be heralded as cures. In the meantime the only way we can fight back is to show that adult stem cells at the same time has gone from where it is now, 100,000 bone marrow treatments, 20,000 cord blood treatments, and in ten year’s time it will be a million.”

Dr. McGuckin said he was baffled as to why there is a push by the Irish government for embryonic stem cell research, which is being “dumped” by researchers around the world in favor of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.

Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute told LSN that in her view the Irish government’s movement towards embryo research, despite the fact that it is fast becoming obsolete, cannot simply be attributed to ignorance.

“When we look at the evidence presented in how Irish government ministers have voted in the EU and how they have appointed various groups to do research, it’s apparent that a certain ideology is driving government policy - and that ideology doesn’t favor protecting life from conception,” she said.

“The current Minister for Health, [Mary Harney,] for example, has given millions to abortion referral agencies, and has called for 11-year olds to be given the morning-after-pill. It would actually buck the trend if the Department of Health then wanted to protect the embryo.

“That’s why it’s so crucial for the pro-life majority to speak up and make the government listen and ensure human life is protected from the cradle to the grave,” she added.

URL: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/nov/10110905.html