Biden’s National Park Service blocks Knights of Columbus’ Memorial Day Mass at Virginia cemetery

In this Jan. 14, 2004, file photo, Battlefield historian and tour guide Jimmy Blankenship is photographed near the crater at the Petersburg National Battlefield, in Petersburg, Va. Virginia’s Petersburg National Battlefield, a climactic site in the collapse of the Confederacy in the Civil War, has been cleared for a huge expansion under a new law that would authorize it to become the nation’s largest protected battlefield. (AP Photo/Lisa Billings, File)

Premium

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times - Thursday, May 16, 2024

The same Biden administration that has allowed a migrant encampment on National Park Service land is drawing the line at the Knights of Columbus.

For the second year in a row, the agency has rebuffed the Catholic fraternal organization’s request to hold a Memorial Day Mass at the Poplar Grove National Cemetery at the Petersburg National Battlefield in Petersburg, Virginia, interrupting a tradition that dates back more than 60 years.

Attorneys for the Knights of Columbus Council 694 urged agency officials in Petersburg to reconsider, requesting a response by Friday and warning of litigation unless the permit is granted.

You Might Also Like

“In 2023, for the first time in memory, NPS denied the Knights a permit to hold the service in the cemetery, citing a new policy which, you say, forbids a ‘religious service’ in the cemetery as a prohibited ‘demonstration,’” said the Monday letter from John Moran, attorney for the local council, and the First Liberty Institute.

The letter said that the Knights were offered a compromise: hold the Mass outside the cemetery in a “free speech” zone.

“You invoked the policy again this year as justification for denying the Knights a permit to hold this year’s service in the cemetery,” he said. “Instead, because the mass is religious, you insist that the Knights must hold their service, if at all, outside the cemetery walls in a designated ‘free speech’ zone. But to be clear, that is not an adequate substitute.”

Alexa Viets, Petersburg National Battlefield superintendent, said the request is under review.

“The National Park Service recognizes and respects the First Amendment rights of individuals and groups to express their views and assemble in designated park areas,” she told The Washington Times. “We are currently reviewing a permit request for the Knights of Columbus Memorial Day Service.”

The incident comes with the Biden administration under investigation by the House Natural Resources Committee for allowing a migrant encampment on the Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York, which is managed by the NPS as part of the Gateway National Recreation Area.

In their letter, attorneys for the Knights traced the denial to an August 2022 policy memorandum from NPS Director Charles Sams, a Biden appointee, emphasizing that “demonstrations,” which include “picketing, speechmaking, marching, holding a vigil or religious service,” are prohibited in national cemeteries.

The guidance said the definition of “demonstrations” depends on two criteria: whether the event “involves communication or expression of views or grievances,” and whether it’s likely to “attract a crowd or onlookers.”

What’s puzzling is that the policy on “demonstrations” and “special events” at national cemeteries isn’t new. The regulations were implemented in 1986 and updated in the federal code in 2014, raising questions about why the administration has decided to enforce the rules more strictly than in the past.

The memo even gives a Memorial Day exception, saying that “official commemorative events may occur” on certain holidays “because they commemorate military service or historical events that have some connection to military service.”

Also puzzling: Another Knights of Columbus council has been cleared to hold its annual Memorial Day Mass on May 27 at the Andersonville National Cemetery in Andersonville, Georgia, an event being promoted by the NPS on its website.

Roger Byron, First Liberty Institute senior counsel, said he hopes the rejection was a mix-up that can be easily resolved.

“We’re assuming this is an oversight or some kind of miscommunication, so we’ve sent a letter simply asking them to grant the permit, like you’ve done for the last 60 years, and like you’re doing at Andersonville,” Mr. Byron told The Times.

“Now, if they don’t grant the permit, then we’ll know that something far more insidious is occurring here, something that bears the unmistakable marks and the unmistakably foul odor of religious discrimination,” he said. “At that point, our response will be far more aggressive.”

He said the 2022 guidance permits historical reenactments at national cemeteries, meaning that a reenactment of the first Knights of Columbus Memorial Day Mass would qualify for a permit “but the service itself would be prohibited because it’s religious.”

“Now that’s a glaring, blatant violation of the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Reformation Act,” Mr. Byron said. “It’s absurdly so.”

The National Park Service manages 429 “units,” including 14 national cemeteries that lie within larger historical areas such as Petersburg National Battlefield.

• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/may/16/joe-bidens-national-park-service-blocks-knights-of/

Fourteenth Rule. Although there is much truth in the assertion that no one can save himself without being predestined and without having faith and grace; we must be very cautious in the manner of speaking and communicating with others about all these things.

The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YC_luOfFWl0Bm0BWkbANKZGC1kkmdHQf/view?usp=sharing

14We ought to act on the principle that everyone who lives under obedience should let himself be carried and directed by Divine Providence through the agency of the superior 15as if he were a lifeless body, which allows itself to be carried to any place and treated in any way; or an old man s staff, which serves at any place and for any purpose in which the one holding it in his hand wishes to employ it. 16For in this way the obedient man ought joyfully to employ himself in any task in which the superior desires to employ him in aid of the whole body of the religious order; 17and he ought to hold it certain that by so doing he conforms himself with the divine will more than by anything else he could do while following his own will and different judgment.[3]"

page 221

The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

Michael Joseph McGivney (August 12, 1852 – August 14, 1890) was an American Catholic priest based in New Haven, Connecticut. He founded the Knights of Columbus at a local parish to serve as a mutual aid and insurance organization, particularly for immigrants and their families. It developed through the 20th century as the world's largest Catholic fraternal organization.

The cause for his canonization started in the Archdiocese of Hartford in 1996; in March 2008, Pope Benedict XVI declared McGivney "Venerable" in recognition of his "heroic virtue".[1] On May 27, 2020, Pope Francis announced that McGivney had been approved for beatification, which officially occurred on October 31, 2020.[2]

Early life

He was born to Irish immigrant parents, Patrick and Mary (née Lynch) McGivney. He was the eldest of 13 children, six of whom died in infancy or childhood. His father worked as a molder in a Waterbury, Connecticut, brass mill. Michael attended the local Waterbury district school but left at 13 to work in one of the brass mills' spoon-making departments.[3]

Studies

In 1868, at the age of 16, he entered the Séminaire de Saint-Hyacinthe in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada. He continued his studies at Our Lady of Angels Seminary, near Niagara Falls, New York[3] (1871–1872) and at the Jesuits' St. Mary's College, in Montreal, Quebec. While in seminary, he and other seminarians formed a baseball team and McGivney was a "naturally talented ballplayer."[4] He had to leave the seminary, returning home to help finish raising his siblings after his father's death in June 1873.[5] McGivney later resumed his studies at St. Mary's Seminary, in Baltimore, Maryland; he was ordained a priest on December 22, 1877, by James Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore at the Cathedral of the National Shrine of the Assumption.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._McGivney

After HuffPost reported on the MyPillow price Saturday, Lindell went on the right-wing Christian TV show “FlashPoint” to defend himself.

“I want everyone to know: No, I am not a Nazi,” Lindell said on Monday’s episode of the program. “This was an attack over the weekend on MyPillow.”

Lindell said he’d “used a bunch of price points” including $14.88, “kind of like Walmart does when they have a sale on a sale.” He suggested that he didn’t know what the price could represent when his company chose it.

But after indicating that he now knew what “1488” symbolized, Lindell decided to promote the price again.

“Some media called me [and said] ‘Are you going to apologize and take it down?’ I said, ‘No, I’m going to double down!’” Lindell said. “The sales are on!”

Since Friday, Lindell and MyPillow have advertised the $14.88 price point several more times, including on Wednesday. In addition to X, graphics showing the price have appeared on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.

Lindell, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, has routinely promoted conspiracy theories falsely claiming that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump.

During his appearance on “FlashPoint,” Lindell said his business had come under “attack” because of his attempts to “fix our election platforms.” He suggested that this latest controversy was much of the same.

“It’s another attack on MyPillow because their CEO wants to go to paper ballots, hand-counted,” Lindell said.

“It’s just so crazy what they do to me and what they do to MyPillow,” he added.

A spokesperson for MyPillow did not return a request for comment. Lindell could not be reached for comment.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mypillow-guy-doubles-down-pillow-price-alleged-nazi-symbolism_n_66f42bcce4b0bcdae0fd1b9e

Scalia died in his sleep[1] at age 79. His body was discovered on the morning of February 13, 2016, in his room[6] at Cibolo Creek Ranch, near Shafter, Texas.[175] He had gone quail hunting the afternoon before, and then dined as the guest of John B. Poindexter, owner of the ranch.[176][177] After Poindexter discovered the body, he called the Presidio County sheriff's department to ask for the number of the U.S. Marshals Service to report a death. Poindexter was reluctant to say who had died to Sheriff Danny Dominguez. Dominguez had the Marshal's Service call the ranch owner, and both the marshals and the sheriff went to the ranch, where they were shown Scalia's body. Dominguez instructed his office to call local justice of the peace Juanita Bishop, but she was out of town.[178]

County Judge Cinderela Guevara pronounced Scalia dead of natural causes.[179] She did not see the body, which under Texas law is not required, nor did she order an autopsy.[6] Bishop, as well as David Beebe, another justice of the peace, later disagreed with the decision not to order an autopsy for Scalia. Guevara, who conferred by telephone with Scalia's physician, stated that she made the determination to pronounce Scalia dead from natural causes after being told by county sheriff Dominguez on the scene that "there were no signs of foul play" and that Scalia "was having health issues".[6][180] Scalia's physician, Rear Admiral Brian P. Monahan, told her Scalia had a history of heart trouble, including high blood pressure, and was recently deemed too weak to undergo surgery for a torn rotator cuff.[181][182] According to Sunset Funeral Home director Chris Lujan, Scalia's family also declined to have an autopsy performed after his body was transferred to his El Paso funeral home, prior to its return to Fairfax, Virginia.[183]

Kansas v. Carr (2016) was the last majority opinion written by Justice Scalia before his death in February 2016, though his last dissenting opinion was in FERC v. Electric Power Supply Association (2016).[184] Following his death, Scalia lay in repose in the Great Hall of the United States Supreme Court Building on February 19, 2016.[185] Scalia's son, Father Paul Scalia, celebrated a Catholic funeral Mass and delivered the homily on February 20, 2016, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.[186] The Obama administration was represented at the funeral by Vice President Joe Biden; President Barack Obama did not attend.[187] Scalia's remains were interred at a private ceremony at Fairfax Memorial Park in Fairfax, Virginia.[186]

Conspiracy theories

The circumstances surrounding Scalia's death prompted conspiracy theories alleging that he may have been murdered.[188] These conspiracy theories were stimulated by Guevara's decision not to conduct an autopsy and her pronouncement of Scalia's death by a phone call, as well as by Scalia's refusal of a United States Marshals Service security detail, uncertainty over the precise cause of Scalia's death, and Poindexter's initial assertion that he found Scalia in bed with a pillow over his head. Poindexter later clarified that the pillow was in between Scalia's head and the bed's headboard, not over his face.[189] The conspiracy theory was promoted by William Ritchie, a former head of criminal investigations for the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, and by Alex Jones, a far-right talk show host.[190][191][192] Donald Trump, then a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, referenced the homicide allegations on Michael Savage's radio show The Savage Nation, saying that "they say they found a pillow on his face, which is a pretty unusual place to find a pillow."[188] Eugene Scalia rejected the theories, saying that "our family just has no doubt that he was taken from us by natural causes."[193]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonin_Scalia

Alito, Breyer, Kagan, Scalia, and Thomas skip papal address to Congress

By Nick Gass

09/24/2015 10:15 AM EDT

Updated: 09/25/2015 12:37 PM EDT

Less than half of the Supreme Court attended Pope Francis’ historic address to Congress on Thursday morning, including three Catholic no-shows.

Cameras showed Chief Justice John Roberts joined by justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor. Roberts, Kennedy and Sotomayor are all Catholics, while Ginsburg is Jewish.

Notably absent were Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, all of whom are Catholic. Also absent were Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, who are Jewish.

A Supreme Court spokeswoman declined to comment on the justices’ schedules.

However, Alito and Breyer were out of town Thursday for previously scheduled engagements, according to press reports and news releases.

Alito was teaching and speaking at the University of Kentucky, while Breyer was in Northern California speaking and promoting his new book, “The Court and the World.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/pope-francis-supreme-court-214013

Antonin Gregory Scalia[n 1] (March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016)[n 2] was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectual anchor for the originalist and textualist position in the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative wing. For catalyzing an originalist and textualist movement in American law, he has been described as one of the most influential jurists of the twentieth century,[7] and one of the most important justices in the history of the Supreme Court.[8] Scalia was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018, and the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University was named in his honor.

Scalia was born in Trenton, New Jersey. A devout Catholic, he attended the Jesuit Xavier High School before receiving his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University. Scalia went on to graduate from Harvard Law School and spent six years at Jones Day before becoming a law professor at the University of Virginia. In the early 1970s, he served in the Nixon and Ford administrations, eventually becoming an Assistant Attorney General under President Gerald Ford. He spent most of the Carter years teaching at the University of Chicago, where he became one of the first faculty advisers of the fledgling Federalist Society. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed Scalia as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Four years later, Reagan appointed him to the Supreme Court, where Scalia became its first Italian-American justice following a unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate 98–0.[n 3]

Scalia espoused a conservative jurisprudence and ideology, advocating textualism in statutory interpretation and originalism in constitutional interpretation. He peppered his colleagues with "Ninograms" (memos named for his nickname, "Nino") intending to persuade them to his point of view. He was a strong defender of the powers of the executive branch and believed that the U.S. Constitution permitted the death penalty and did not guarantee the right to either abortion or same-sex marriage. Furthermore, Scalia viewed affirmative action and other policies that afforded special protected status to minority groups as unconstitutional. Such positions would earn him a reputation as one of the most conservative justices on the Court. He filed separate opinions in many cases, often castigating the Court's majority—sometimes scathingly so.

Scalia's most significant opinions include his lone dissent in Morrison v. Olson (arguing against the constitutionality of an Independent-Counsel law), and his majority opinions in Crawford v. Washington (defining a criminal defendant's confrontation right under the Sixth Amendment) and District of Columbia v. Heller (holding that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees an individual right to handgun ownership).

Early life and education

Scalia was born on March 11, 1936, in Trenton, New Jersey.[9] He was the only child of Salvatore Eugenio "Eugene" Scalia (1903–1986), an Italian immigrant from Sommatino, Sicily. Salvatore graduated from Rutgers University and was a graduate student at Columbia University and clerk at the time of his son's birth.[10] The elder Scalia would become a professor of Romance languages at Brooklyn College, where he was an adherent to the formalist New Criticism school of literary theory.[11] Scalia's mother, Catherine Louise (née Panaro; 1905–1985), was born in Trenton to Italian immigrant parents and worked as an elementary school teacher.[10][12]

In 1939, Scalia and his family moved to Elmhurst, Queens, where he attended P.S. 13 Clement C. Moore School.[13][14] After completing eighth grade,[15] he obtained an academic scholarship to Xavier High School, a Jesuit military school in Manhattan,[16] from which he graduated ranked first in his class in 1953.[17] Scalia achieved a 97.5 average at Xavier, earning decorations in Latin, Greek, and debate, among other subjects, in addition to being a distinguished member of its Glee club.[18] He later reflected that he spent much of his time on schoolwork and admitted, "I was never cool."[19]

While a youth, Scalia was also active as a Boy Scout and was part of the Scouts' national honor society, the Order of the Arrow.[20] Classmate and future New York State official William Stern remembered Scalia in his high school days: "This kid was a conservative when he was 17 years old. An archconservative Catholic. He could have been a member of the Curia. He was the top student in the class. He was brilliant, way above everybody else."[9][21]

In 1953, Scalia enrolled at Georgetown University, where he majored in history. He became a champion collegiate debater in Georgetown's Philodemic Society and a critically praised thespian.[22] He took his junior year abroad in Switzerland at the University of Fribourg.[9] Scalia graduated from Georgetown in 1957 as class valedictorian with a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude.[23] Scalia then went to Harvard Law School, where he was a notes editor for the Harvard Law Review.[24] He graduated in 1960 with a Bachelor of Laws, magna cum laude, among the top of the class.[23] Harvard awarded Scalia a Sheldon Fellowship, which allowed him to travel abroad in Europe during 1960 and 1961.[25]

Personal life

On September 10, 1960, Scalia married Maureen McCarthy at St. Pius X church in Yarmouth, Massachusetts.[164] The two had met on a blind date while he was at Harvard Law School. Maureen was an undergraduate student at Radcliffe College when they met; she subsequently obtained a degree in English from the school.[165]

The Scalias had five sons and four daughters.[166] Two of their sons, Eugene Scalia and John Scalia, became attorneys,[167] with Eugene later becoming Secretary of Labor in the Trump administration.[168][169] Paul Scalia became a Catholic priest, Matthew Scalia had a military career, and Christopher Scalia became a writer. All four Scalia daughters—Catherine, Ann, Margaret, and Mary—have families. According to Scalia, Maureen raised all nine children "with very little assistance from me".[167] The family resided in McLean, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C.[170]

Scalia enjoyed a warm friendship with fellow Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, considered a member of the court's liberal wing, with the two attending the opera together and appearing together onstage as supernumeraries in Washington National Opera's 1994 production of Ariadne auf Naxos.[123] Ginsburg was a colleague of Scalia on the D.C. Circuit, and the Scalias and Ginsburgs had dinner together every New Year's Eve.[171]

Scalia also enjoyed a friendship with fellow Justice Elena Kagan, also considered a member of the court's liberal wing. When Justice David Souter retired, Scalia told David Axelrod, an adviser to then-President Barack Obama, that he hoped that Obama would nominate Kagan to replace him. While Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor instead, a year later when Justice John Paul Stevens retired, Obama nominated Kagan.[172] An avid hunter, Scalia taught Justice Kagan how to hunt; the two hunted ducks, birds, deer and antelope together.[173][174]

Death and funeral

Conspiracy theories

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonin_Scalia

Adolfo Nicolás Pachón SJ (29 April 1936 – 20 May 2020) was a Spanish Jesuit priest of the Catholic Church. He was the 30th Superior General of the Society of Jesus from 2008 to 2016. Before being elected Superior General, he worked primarily in Japan; he taught at Sophia University in Tokyo for twenty years and then headed educational institutions in Manila from 1978 to 1984 and in Tokyo from 1991 to 1993. He led the Jesuits in Japan from 1993 to 1996 and, after four years of pastoral work in Tokyo, led the Jesuits in Asia from 2004 to 2008.

Though elected Superior General for life, Nicolás, like his predecessor Peter Hans Kolvenbach, resigned, as the Jesuit constitutions permit.[1]

Early life and education

Adolfo Nicolás was born in Villamuriel de Cerrato, Palencia, and entered the Society of Jesus, more commonly known as the Jesuits, in the novitiate of Aranjuez in 1953.[2] He studied at the University of Alcalá, where he earned his licentiate in philosophy. He traveled to Japan in 1960 to familiarize himself with Japanese language and culture.[3] He began his theological studies for the priesthood at Sophia University in Tokyo in 1964, and was ordained to the priesthood on 17 March 1967.[4]

Priestly ministry

From 1968 to 1971, he studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, from where he earned a doctorate in theology. Upon his return to Japan, Nicolás was made professor of systematic theology at his alma mater of Sophia University, teaching there for the next twenty years.[4]

He was Director of the East Asian Pastoral Institute at the Ateneo de Manila University, in Quezon City, Philippines, from 1978 to 1984,[5] and later served as rector of the theologate in Tokyo from 1991 to 1993, when he was appointed Provincial of the Jesuit Province of Japan. At the end of his six-year term as Provincial in 1999, he spent four years doing pastoral work among poor immigrants in Tokyo.[3]

In 2004 he was named President of the Jesuit Conference of Provincials for Eastern Asia and Oceania, with his office in the Philippines.[5][6] As Moderator, he was at the service of the Jesuits of several countries, including Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Micronesia, Myanmar, and East Timor.[7]

In addition to his native Spanish, Nicolás spoke Catalan, English, Italian, French, and Japanese.[8]

Superior General of the Society of Jesus

On the second ballot of the thirty-fifth General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, Nicolás was elected as the Order’s thirtieth Superior General on 19 January 2008,[9] succeeding the Dutch Fr. Peter Hans Kolvenbach who resigned. His election was immediately relayed to Pope Benedict XVI, who confirmed him in the post. Nicolás headed a congregation which then numbered 18,500 members.[10]

Many have marked the similarities between Nicolás and former Superior General Pedro Arrupe. Father Arrupe, like his eventual successor, was a Spanish missionary in Japan. Nicolás described Arrupe, whom he had earlier had as Provincial Superior, as a "great missionary, a national hero, a man on fire."[11]

General Curia restructuring

In March 2011, Nicolás forwarded a communiqué of revisions to the General Curia restructuring the secretariats, including the creation of new positions and a commission. This was in accord with a task given him by the previous General Congregation.[12]

Resignation

Nicolás, after consulting with Pope Francis, determined to resign after his 80th birthday, and initiated the process of calling a Jesuit General Congregation to elect his successor. Until the resignation of his predecessor, Peter Hans Kolvenbach, it was not the norm for a Jesuit Superior General to resign; like the great majority of the Popes up until Benedict XVI, they generally served until death. However, the Jesuit constitutions include provision for a resignation.[1]

Nicolás announced his intention to resign at age 80[13] and convoked the thirty-sixth General Congregation, which was convened in Rome on 2 October 2016 and appointed his successor, Arturo Sosa from Venezuela.[14][15]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolfo_Nicol%C3%A1s

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on questions of U.S. constitutional or federal law. It also has original jurisdiction over a narrow range of cases, specifically "all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party."[2] In 1803, the Court asserted itself the power of judicial review, the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the Constitution via the landmark case Marbury v Madison. It is also able to strike down presidential directives for violating either the Constitution or statutory law.[3]

Under Article Three of the United States Constitution, the composition and procedures of the Supreme Court were originally established by the 1st Congress through the Judiciary Act of 1789. As it has since 1869, the court consists of nine justices – the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices – who meet at the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. Justices have lifetime tenure, meaning they remain on the court until they die, retire, resign, or are impeached and removed from office.[3] When a vacancy occurs, the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoints a new justice. Each justice has a single vote in deciding the cases argued before the court. When in the majority, the chief justice decides who writes the opinion of the court; otherwise, the most senior justice in the majority assigns the task of writing the opinion.[4]

On average, the Supreme Court receives about 7,000 petitions for writs of certiorari each year, but only grants about 80.[5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States

FRANCISCANS: The Franciscans were founded in the 13th century by Saint Francis, who, in a vision, was charged by God to rebuild My Church, which as you see is falling into ruin. These words proved not only to be true, but also prophetic; the Church indeed was falling into ruin, and Saint Francis indeed saved it; for he sparked a wave of new fervor that swept across the world that lasted for generations (Just read any papal encyclical from this time period. They are all about regularizing the Franciscans).

Franciscans are typically characterized by their lives of simplicity, penance, poverty, and love for the poor. In a testament written by Saint Francis, the very first sentence contains the following; "The Lord granted me, Br. Francis, to begin to do penance in this way." It is thus fitting that the Franciscan order be regarded as the Order of Penitents. The Franciscan school tends to follow the thought of Franciscan saints, such as St. Bonaventure and Bl. John Duns SCOTUS, and was responsible for defending the Immaculate Conception in a time when it was still contested, even by St. Thomas Aquinas himself. For this reason, Franciscans and Dominicans have often shared a healthy (and not so healthy at times) competition with one another. Tragically, this has often resulted in a polarization of their two schools, Franciscans vs. Dominicans, where the former avoids Aquinas and the latter avoids Bonaventure and SCOTUS. Such exclusivity, unforutnately, causes much harm to the Church, and is not unique to these two orders alone; it is common for orders to read only saints within their own tradition and avoid others (And, by doing so, communities today are failing in their own formation. It is not unlike reading five chapters of the Bible for ones life, or contemplating a detail of a painting without ever seeing the whole painting. To be Catholic is to be universal, open to all the gifts of God to the Church. If the Church, for example, places such great importance on the theology of Aquinas, then it is lamentable that religious orders do not also do so in their theology programs).

Being a mendicant order, the Franciscans live solely off of the generosity of others, entrusting all to the hands of God. Like the Benedictines, the Franciscans also underwent a number of reforms throughout history, but were consolidated in 1897 into three main bodies; Friars Minor, the Conventuals, and the Capuchins. Some Franciscan communities may be more contemplative in nature, similar to that of monastics. Venerable Mary of Agreda, for instance, a 17th century cloistered Franciscan nun and mystic, received messages from Our Lady on how to live out her religious state;

Mystical City of God, Book VI, Chp V: "But I...find so few who console with me and try to console my Son in His sorrows....Consider then thy duty, my dearest, and raise thyself above all earthly things and above thyself; for I am calling thee and choose thee to imitate and follow me into the solitude in which I am left by man....Flee from the dangerous intercourse with creatures....I remind thee that there is no exercise more profitable and useful to the soul than to suffer....Therefore, my daughter, embrace the cross, and do not admit any consolation outside of it in this mortal life. By contemplating and feeling within thyself the sacred Passion thou wilt attain the summit of perfection and attain the love of a spouse."

Friars Minor: The Order of Friars Minor (O.F.M.) were the result of a large consolidation of various branches (Observants, Discalced, Recollects, Riformati, etc.) by Pope Leo XII in 1897. Today the Friars Minor compose the largest body of the Franciscan order, and are criticized as being the most lenient and divorced from the spirit of Saint Francis--an unfortunate exigency considering the OFM's prominent place in the history of the Franciscan order; with roots dating back to first years of the order through the aggregation of the Observants.

Friars Minor Conventual: Next to the Observants, the Conventual Franciscans were one of the first reforms of the Franciscan order. They desired to apply the Franciscan spirit to new applications (such as urban city apostolates, rather than remaining in rural areas). As such, the Conventuals were granted various dispensations to relax certain rules in order to carry out specific apostolates. The conventuals tended to take on a more academic spirit than, say, Capuchins for instance. Today, the Conventuals have also suffered from a spirit of laxity, as most communities. However, there have also been great fruits that originated from Conventual communities, such as St. Joseph of Cupertino, St. Bonaventure, and Saint Maximilian Kolbe, known for his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Friars Minor Capuchin. The Capuchin reform (O.F.M. Cap.) dates to about 1525, and not unlike the first Observants, they also desired a return to a stricter observance of the Franciscan rule--though, like most reforms, certain elements of its initial fervor declined with time. The Capuchins are more likely to be seen feeding the poor or street evangelizing, rather than writing a book on the liturgy or studying mystical theology. Today, the Capuchin Franciscans tend to be considerably more divorced from their origins. However, there also exists renewed efforts to restore the original spirit of the order. In 1968, Padre Pio--a Capuchin Franciscan and one of the greatest mystics in the Church--wrote a letter to Pope Paul VI in which he stated; "I pray to God that [the Capuchin order] may continue in its tradition of religious seriousness and austerity, evangelical poverty and faithful observance of the Rule and Constitution, certainly renewing itself in the vitality and in the inner spirit, according to the guides of the Second Vatican Council". We have yet to see if such a renewal, which is so desperately needed in all orders, will take root or not.

Author's note: Like many of the major religious orders, the Franciscans and Dominicans have suffered greatly in recent times. It is not uncommon today to see friars watching television, or going to the movies and eating ice cream on a Friday night. The spirit of sacrifice, a hallmark of religious life, has largely been obscured over years, as the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction to a kind of secularized love, absent of any austerities. However, like the Benedictines, the communities of lax traditions tend to be dying away, as new young communities take their place, devoted to a more authentic renewal that Vatican II called for.

https://www.religious-vocation.com/differences_religious_orders.html#.ZEc2f87MJD9

University of Scranton welcomes President Biden

The university has illuminated its Class of 2020 Gateway in red and blue lights.

Author: WNEP Web Staff

Published: 10:52 PM EDT October 19, 2021

Updated: 10:52 PM EDT October 19, 2021

SCRANTON, Pa. — In preparation for President Joe Biden's visit, a university lit up their lights in his honor.

The University of Scranton has illuminated its Class of 2020 Gateway in blue and red with the number 46 prominently displayed to welcome the 46th president."

University of Scranton welcomes President Biden | wnep.com

https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/university-of-scranton-welcomes-president-biden-gateway-lights/523-cdba68b1-822b-4747-94be-4cd7e4de9d67

"His son, Hunter Biden, 38, is a longtime federal lobbyist for the Jesuit university located in his father's hometown, Scranton PA. According to federal disclosures, Hunter Biden has been earning about $80,000 a year since 2006 to lobby for this university. Senator Biden himself has lectured at the Jesuit University of Scranton, and received an honorary degree from the same university, in 1976."

Codeword Barbelon by P.D. Stuart

FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Bold Plan to Reform the Supreme Court and Ensure No President Is Above the Law

Home

Briefing Room

Statements and Releases

From his first day in office—and every day since then—President Biden has taken action to strengthen American democracy and protect the rule of law.

In recent years, the Supreme Court has overturned long-established legal precedents protecting fundamental rights. This Court has gutted civil rights protections, taken away a woman’s right to choose, and now granted Presidents broad immunity from prosecution for crimes they commit in office.

At the same time, recent ethics scandals involving some Justices have caused the public to question the fairness and independence that are essential for the Court to faithfully carry out its mission to deliver justice for all Americans.

President Biden believes that no one—neither the President nor the Supreme Court—is above the law.

In the face of this crisis of confidence in America’s democratic institutions, President Biden is calling for three bold reforms to restore trust and accountability:

No Immunity for Crimes a Former President Committed in Office: President Biden shares the Founders’ belief that the President’s power is limited—not absolute—and must ultimately reside with the people. He is calling for a constitutional amendment that makes clear no President is above the law or immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office. This No One Is Above the Law Amendment will state that the Constitution does not confer any immunity from federal criminal indictment, trial, conviction, or sentencing by virtue of previously serving as President.

Term Limits for Supreme Court Justices: Congress approved term limits for the Presidency over 75 years ago, and President Biden believes they should do the same for the Supreme Court. The United States is the only major constitutional democracy that gives lifetime seats to its high court Justices. Term limits would help ensure that the Court’s membership changes with some regularity; make timing for Court nominations more predictable and less arbitrary; and reduce the chance that any single Presidency imposes undue influence for generations to come. President Biden supports a system in which the President would appoint a Justice every two years to spend eighteen years in active service on the Supreme Court.

Binding Code of Conduct for the Supreme Court: President Biden believes that Congress should pass binding, enforceable conduct and ethics rules that require Justices to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest. Supreme Court Justices should not be exempt from the enforceable code of conduct that applies to every other federal judge.

President Biden and Vice President Harris look forward to working with Congress and empowering the American people to prevent the abuse of Presidential power, restore faith in the Supreme Court, and strengthen the guardrails of democracy. President Biden thanks the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States for its insightful analysis of Supreme Court reform proposals. The Administration will continue its work to ensure that no one is above the law – and in America, the people rule.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/07/29/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-bold-plan-to-reform-the-supreme-court-and-ensure-no-president-is-above-the-law/

LVII

SEPTEMBER 11-NATIONAL SECURITY VS.

INDIVIDUAL FREEDOMS IN THE NEW

WORLD ORDER!

The right to be let alone is the most comprehensive of rid and the right most valued by civilized men

Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brande Olmstead. United States (1928), 2771 S. 38, 478

How does one take over control of the currency of a nation? By engineering crisis, wars and national calamities. And that is exactly what has been done

THE SECRET GOVERNMENT HAD LONG SOUGHT means, or rather an excuse, to bring in the first phase of the New World order-initiated" by Pope John Paul II- September 11, 2001 gave them that opportunity.

As the reader will recall, earlier, I referred to the official US government video in which the then U.S. Senator Gary Hart can be heard saying, just one day after 9/11, that President Bush had the

Pope Benedict's 2009 encyclical, Caritas in Veritate speaks about setting "ourselves new rules under new "a world Political authority" And you will recall also that in an earlier chapter I quoted the Jesuit Professor Malachi Martin saying, "John Paul started into the millenni and that it would be "dominated by an INTERNATIONAL BUREAUCRACY (vix, a world political authority? whuch controls and directs every citizen and every nation." Martin called

endgame... HE INITIATED IT

this "International Bureaucracy" the Pope's "Grand Design of God for the new world order." So we have it from a former advise to three popes that the Vatican, the Roman Catholic hierarchy is the power behind the new world order (See, Keys of This Blood, op. cit., pp. 13,15, 16, 41, 50

378

September 11-National Security Vs. Individual Freedoms... opportunity to "use this [September 111 disaster to carry out what his father (Bush Sr./ mentioned... and that is a New World Order."

September 11, 2001, was a major phase of the "millenium endgame" spoken of by Jesuit professor Malachi Martin. It created the ammosphere that was required for the unopposed introduction of

modern fascism.

Leading American academic, Patricia Williams has said that the laws passed after September 11 "mirror the worst excesses of some hctatorships." Andrew P. Napolitano a 59 year old former New Jersey Superior Court Judge had this to say about the U.S. law makers of the Patriot Act: "Congress recognizes no limits on its power. It doesn't care about the Constitution; it doesn't care about your inalienable rights."

Reader, this Catholic judge has admitted that the most glaring assault on American freedoms comes from a Jesuit-crafted law known as the ESA PATRIOT Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by George W. Bush on October 15, 2001, "while the rubble of 9/11 still smoldered," as someone commented. This deceptively named Patriot Act is being used against the very American citizens it was supposed to protect. Under this Dark Age monstrosity, FBI agents can serve self- written search warrants and then enter your home, your barn, search your car, etc, etc., without any prior court authorization!

Congress-with minimal floor debate in the Senate and no floor debate in the House-enacted this most Inquisitorial, popish kind of Low; and had the nerve, the 'audacity' if you please, to call it the PATRIOT Act! In 2004, this law produced two offsprings: the "Intelligence Authorization Act" and the "Intelligence Reform Act." both of which permit the execution of self-written search warrants. called a national security letter, is the ultimate constitutional farce. What Writes, Judge Napolitano, "A self-written search warrant, even one federal agents would not authorize themselves to seize whatever they wished?... Why would government agents bother going to a judge with probable cause seeking a search warrant if they can simply write their warrants on over 120,000 unsuspecting Americans since October ?... federal agents have written and executed self-written search the Bush administration and... Congress could have visited upon us." 2001. "The PATRIOT Act is the most unpatriotic of the things that Judge Napolitano added. But, interestingly, what Judge Napolitano does not seem to realise is that this is the very code under which the Roman House members were given just 30 minutes to read the 315 page bill.

379

CODEWORD BARBELÓN BK 2

Catholic Inquisition operated. He forgets, too, that the Patriot Act was drafted by a professor at the Jesuit Georgetown University (for whach see Book D. Judge Napolitano is a devout Roman Catholic who studied at the Jesuit Notre Dame University (Notre Dame is French for "Our Lady" referring to Mary). In a 2008 interview with Celebrate Lake Magazine, Judge Napolitano said " we should go to our Lady, the Blessed Mother. Not a Mass should be said without reference to her. Not a war should be waged, not a prayer should be uttered, no contact should be sought without her assistance." This, reader, n qualify as a candidate for quote of the decade! It certainly left me scratching my head. Isn't it just strange how Catholics can be intellige on almost every subject other than their religion? But more of this ser Not content with the Patriot Act. Mr. Bush enacted the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which effectively ended habeas corpus-d right to an attorney when charged, and to have a court review of one's detention and arrest. Without this latter right, all other rights are ellectively undermined, as anyone can now be detained indefinitely and no one needs to know about it-they would just go missing!

Still, Mr. Bush was not done. Before leaving office he passed NSPD 51, a directive signed by Bush on May 9, 2007, that, with the stroke of a pen allows any US. President to declare martial law-for such reasons as "to restore public order-effectively transforming the US, into dictatorship. Mr. Bush even had parts of the NSPD 51 directive classified so that members of Congress are denied the right to review Next came the "Protect America Act 2007" (PAA), allowing domes wiretapping and surveillance, while reducing FISA court over Under PAA, probable cause' of being a terrorist is no longer required. Another law, The Jolm Warner Defense Authorization Act, sed by Mr. Bush on October 17, 2007, allows the U.S. President to declec a public emergency and station troops anywhere in America-with de coment of the governor or local authorities-to "suppress publ disorder. Thus, by means of a raft of post 9/11 legist the Constitutional rights of Americans have been systematically disuaald

One la alter another, all in the name of national security

Another curious set of farts is what occurred soon after 9/11: the US government, it would appear, took no ellective steps to catch the alleged

3 The university's first academic curriculum was modeled after the Jesuit Ratio Studiorum ("The Official Plan for Jesuit Education"). Interview with Anita Crane, senior editor of Celebrate Life

www.cimagazine.org/backissues/2008 janfeb 16-18judgeandrewnapolitano.pdf

380

September 11th-National Security Vs. Individual Freedoms... astermind behind 9/11. This is demonstrated by what happened to Bin Ladens living in the US, a few days after the 9/11 attacks, when Learjet 35 twice flew in and out of Tampa International Airport (TIA) violation of the Federal no-fly restriction. Among the passengers on at aircraft were members of the Bin Laden family."

Authorities at TIA initially denied that the flights had taken place. can Heller of the St. Petersburg Times wrote on June 9, 2004, that the White House, aviation and law enforcement officials have insisted the d never took place and have denied published reports and despread Internet speculation about its purpose." "But now, at the

quest

of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, TIA officials ve confirmed that the flight did take place and have supplied details." Yet another lie foisted upon the American people by the officialdom. Did the FBI or CIA investigate the Bin Laden Family as part of the ackdown of financing or involvement in global terrorism before allowing them to leave the U.S.? No! At the time, the Bin Laden family lad extensive investments in the U.S., and it is not improbable that they could have secretly funnelled millions of dollars to Bin Laden's operatives inside and outside of America. Yet, every member of the Emily of the alleged master-minded behind the 9/11 plot was given aress to the America skies on a private jet, at a time when law-abiding American citizens were banned from flying! The alleged orchestrator of the attacks had his family treated as royalty, while the U.S. Government felt it necessary to caves drop on and interrogate its own citizens, despite the fact the government admits that the 9/11 attackers were all non- Americans and lived primarily outside of the U.S. Yet, the Bush gemment, in its unparalleled wisdom, saw it fit to create the "Homeland Security" Act and the Jesuit-crafted "Patriot Act."

The question is, why? Is this really a war on terror or something more sinister? Several decades ago, John Lord O'Brian, former United

Boeing 727 contracted by the Saudi embassy, departed the United On September 20, 2001, at 2:05 A.M., Ryan International Flight 441, a States from Boston, for Newfoundland. The screening of this flight was directed by an FBI agent in the Baltimore Field Office who was also a pilot: James C, interview (June 3, 2004). The flight manifest indicates other than the flight crew: 23 passengers and 3 security guards. that the flight departed the United States with 26 individuals on board them had the last name Bin Ladin: see, FBI record, "Final Draft of Most of the 23 passengers were relatives of Usama Bin Ladin: 12 of Response to October 2003 Vanity Fair Article (Bin Laden FamilyDepartures after 9/11/2001)," Sept. 24, 2003.

381

CODEWORD BARBELON Bk 2

States Attorney General for Western New York, warned of the dangers af forfeiting Constitutionally granted freedoms for the promise-teg necessarily the guarantee-of security: "It is an understatement to emphasize that one of the principal influences which threaten the very existence of democracy is the all-pervasive craving for security at any price." "Over and over again we have been warned against the insidious and sinister invasions of civil liberty by plausible excuses...."

A state or country in which citizens and visitors can be interrogaod, interned or detained without trial, without evidence or even explanation or have their private communications intercepted, purely on the basis of some government agent's suspicion is a slippery slope towards high-tech totalitarianism-and is a mere refinement of the techniques of the papal Inquisition of the middle ages. As the Supreme Court of Canada observed in R. v. Duarte (1990), such a police state is the kind of 'democracy in which liberty will eventually have no meaning.

Reader, unless the signs are all misleading, the United States will soon no longer have a constitutional legislative branch of government in any true sense of that term, other than vestigial: for each year brings its additional level of restrictive and invasive regulations in the name of Anti-Terrorism, but in the bargain chip away at our liberties.

And when the dust finally settles, I venture to say that we will find ourselves in a world in which privacy and liberty no longer have any meaning, a world where we are a little safer, perhaps, but far less free."

As Brian Lilley wrote. ".... It is only a matter of time before some would be terrorist, pledging loyalty to al Qaida tries to bring down a plane by smuggling explosives in a body cavity. At that point, a travellers will be asked to take off their shoes, surrender their water boules, step aside for the scan and then bend over for a probing search. At that point, perhaps, the public will realise they are surrendering their rights, their dignity and getting little in the way of protection in return.

7 John Lord O'Brian, National Security and Individual Freedom (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1955), p. 7.

8 Frank Murphy and Norris Harold, Mr. Justice Murphy and the Bill of Rights (New York: Oceana Publ., Inc., 1965), p. 43, citing John L. O'Brian from a speech given at Harvard April 27, 1955.

9 The thorough pat-down as an alternative to full-body scan is no less

invasive or humiliating.

10 Brian Lilley, Ottawa Bureau Chief for radio stations Newstalk 1010 Toronto and CJAD 800 Montreal": www.mercatornet.com/articles/

382

CODEWORD BARBELON Bk 2

5. U.S. development of space-based weapons;

6. "Advanced forms of biological warfare that can target specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool;"

7. U.S. willingness to use muclear weapons to accomplish its goal 8. Possible conflict with China.

Reader, that was in 2000, one year before 9/11! The proposal is available, in its entirety, on the PNAC Website. Read it for yoursell

Knowing full well that the decent American people would never support their outrageous goals unless they were thoroughly traumatised first, page 52 of the proposal (PNAC) states, "Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event-like a new Pearl Harbor. That's verbatim. Were these ideologs serious?

Michael Schwartz, Professor of Sociology at Stony Brook University. has confirmed in his book War Without End that in 1998 the out of power Republican Party formed a policy advocacy group called "The Project for a New American Century." Professor Schwartz reveals that the group's membership included Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld. Paul Wolfowitz and dozens of other key individuals who would later hold key positions in the administration of George W. Bush.

Only a year before Bush, Jr. was jobbed into office, this same group of Neo-Cons, lead by Rumsfeld and Cheney, issued a policy document "Entitled Rebuilding America's Defenses, advocating what is now known as the Rumsfeldian doctrine. The document stated that in order to justify another American military invasion of Iraq they would need "some catastrophic and catalyzing event." The document goes on to s that "public approval could not be obtained WITHOUT... A NEW PEARL HARBOR." That is to say, an outrageous attack on the US, soil.

There are those who say that since members of the Bush administration could make suck policy proposals in 1998, and further since the American government actually planned to stage fake terror attacks aunst its people in 1962, what's to keep them from staging fake

1 www.newamericancentury.org

2 The document was also cited by the BBC:

3 David Ray Griffin, The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions about news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/conspiracy files/6338551.stm the Bush Administration and 9/11 (Northampton, Mass.: Interlink Bks.

2004), pp. 95-96.

384

9/11: A New Pearl Harbor Or "outrageous conspiracy theories" Such attacks, lake or real. Indeed, some conspiracists say that the U.S. attacks in 2001 when they have even greater capability to orchestrate government had much more motivation to achieve this hidden agenda. Do these conspiracy theorists have documented proof, irrefutable proof, that the U.S. government is capable of conspiring a plot of the magnitude and evil of 9/11, against its own citizens? It would seem so. There is a document known as "Operation Northwoods," which although created long before 9/11, does show that the U.S. government had a plan to kill its own citizens for a "greater cause." This top secret document was presented to President John F. Kennedy on March 13, 1962 and was only declassified in 1997. But it took three years before the Baltimore Sun and ABC News ran stories on the document, in 2001. The document is available from dozens of reputable online sources such as the National Security Archive located at George Washington University, and is thoroughly analyzed by author James Bamford in his 2001 book Body of Secrets.

What are the contents of this document? The goal of Operation Northwoods was to get public support for an invasion of Cuba. The Joint Chiefs of Staff believed that Americans would only support a war against Cuba if it could be shown that Cuban "terrorists" had carried out a number of surprise attacks against the U.S. Isn't that how they got support for their "war on terror" and their second war against Iraq?

The 1962 Northwoods document recommended that the US. should stage fake terror attacks against American citizens. The document states: "Such a plan would enable a logical build-up of incidents to be combined with other seemingly unrelated events to camouflage the ultimate objective and create the necessary impression of Cuban rasmess and irresponsibility on a large scale." The specific recommendations made in the document included": 1. Stage mock attacks, sabotages and riots and blame it on Cuban 2. Sink an American ship at the Guantanamo Bay American military base or destroy American aircraft and blame it on Cubon

forces.

News, May 1, 2003. Archived at:

David Ruppert, "US Military Wanted to Provoke War with Cuba," ABC Washington University: www.gwu.edu/nsarchiv/news/20010430 pabcnews.go.com/sections/us/Daily News/jointchiefs 010501.html

ee, "Pentagon Proposed Pretext for Cuba Invasion." Archive at George http://operation-northwoods.wikiverse.org summary of the Operation Northwoods document is found at:

385

CODEWORD BARBELON BK 2

3. Harassment of civil air, attacks on surface shipping, and destruction of U.S. military drone aircraft by MIG-type planes would be useful as complementary actions.

4. Destroy A FAKE COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT supposedly full of "college students off on a holiday."

5. Stage a "terror campaign," including the "real or simulated" sinking of Cuban refugees.

What do you think reader, does that not sound like the U.S. Joint hiels were plotting a "conspiracy" involving the hijacking of an aircraft? If in 1962, the higher ups in the U.S. government were prepared to lan and stage fake terror attacks against its own citizens, what is to say hey did not stage "simulated" or even 'real' attacks on 9/112

But, I hear you say, "That was fouty years ago; you couldn't possibly be suggesting that this could happen today, or did happen on 9/11?" My response to you is, "Why not?"Why not reader? Answer that.

In 2002, U.S. Today reported a bizarre coincidence that occurred on the very day of the 9/11 terror attacks: that a US. intelligence agency was set to run "an exercise" on Sept 11 at 9AM, 2001, in which a commercial aircraft would crash into one of its buildings near Washington, DC. (USA Today/AP, 8/22/02). "It was just an incredible coincidence that this happened to involve an aircraft crashing into our facility," was the excuse given by U.S. intelligence agent Art Haubold. He added: "As soon as the real world events began, we canceled the exercise." Sure you did. The U.S. Today article quoted above was titled "FEDERAL AGENCY PLANNED PLANE-CRASHING-INTO-BUILDING DRILL... LAST SEPT. 11." Now, that's a fact that is stranger than fiction! In light of all of the above facts, let us review what really happened on 9/11; let us separate the 'real' from the fiction-the cold, hard. unpalatable truth from the "outrageous conspiracy theories. For as Disraeli once said. "Ignorance never settles a question.

7 usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-08-22-sept-11-plane-drill_x.htm

8 As an aside, here is what might be just another "outrageous conspiracy theory" for you. Is it probable that Islamic terrorists or Islamic nations may attack Rome and the Vatican? According to Former Jordanian Minister Sheikh Ali Al-Faqir "The prophecy of the conquest of Rome remains valid, Allah willing.... Rome too will be conquered. Our prayers, our fasting, and the charity we give will be to no avail, if we doubt [what the Prophet Muhammad (said]." May 2, 2008. "We proclaim that we will conquer Rome.": www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2410.htm; See also sermon aired on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV on March 5, 2010: www.memritv.org/clip/en/2410.htm.

386

"September 11-National Security vs Individual Freedoms In The New World Order!"

Codeword Barbelon book Two

by P.D. Stuart

AN ALL-TIME CHILI'S FAVORITE

We have been serving up our fall-off-the-bone ribs for decades. Get a full order of Baby Back Ribs slow-cooked and smoked in-house in your choice of three flavors: House BBQ, Texas Dry Rub, or Honey-Chipotle. Served with fries & white-cheddar mac & cheese.

https://www.chilis.com/ribs

[251] 5. 1While eating they should be careful to observe temperance, decorum, and propriety both interior and exterior in everything. 2A blessing should precede the meal, and it should be followed by a thanksgiving which all should recite with proper devotion and reverence. 3While the meal is being eaten, food should be given also to the soul, through the reading of a book[4] which is devotional rather than difficult so that all can understand it and draw profit from it, or through having someone preach during that time according to what the superiors may order, or through doing something similar for the glory of God our Lord [E].

The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complementary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

page 221

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

The Sedlec Ossuary (Czech: Kostnice v Sedlci; German: Sedletz-Beinhaus) is a Roman Catholic chapel, located beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints (Czech: Hřbitovní kostel Všech Svatých), part of the former Sedlec Abbey in Sedlec, a suburb of Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic. The ossuary is estimated to contain the skeletons of between 40,000 and 70,000 people, whose bones have, in many cases, been artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings for the chapel.[1] The ossuary is among the most visited tourist attractions of the Czech Republic, drawing over 200,000 visitors annually.[2]

Four bell-shaped mounds occupy the corners of the chapel. A chandelier of bones, which contains at least one of every bone in the human body, hangs from the center of the nave with garlands of skulls draping the vault. Other works include piers and monstrances flanking the altar, a coat of arms of the House of Schwarzenberg, and the signature of František Rint, also executed in bone, on the wall near the entrance.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedlec_Ossuary

"The secret thought of Hugues de Payens, in founding his Order, was not exactly to serve the ambition of the Patriarchs of Constantinople. There existed at that period in the East a Sect of Johannite Christians, who claimed to be the only true Initiates into the real mysteries of the religion of the Saviour. They pretended to know the real history of YESUS the ANOINTED, and, adopting in part the Jewish traditions and the tales of the Talmud, they held that the facts recounted in the Evangels are but allegories, the key of which Saint John gives, in saying that the

p. 817

world might be filled with the books that could be written upon the words and deeds of Jesus Christ; words which, they thought, would be only a ridiculous exaggeration, if he were not speaking of an allegory and a legend, that might be varied and prolonged to infinity.

"The Johannites ascribed to Saint John the foundation of their Secret Church, and the Grand Pontiffs of the Sect assumed the title of Christos, Anointed, or Consecrated, and claimed to have succeeded one another from Saint John by an uninterrupted succession of pontifical powers. He who, at the period of the foundation of the Order of the Temple, claimed these imaginary prerogatives, was named THEOCLET; he knew HUGUES DE PAYENS, he initiated him into the Mysteries and hopes of his pretended church, he seduced him by the notions of Sovereign Priesthood and Supreme royalty, and finally designated him as his successor.

"Thus the Order of Knights of the Temple was at its very origin devoted to the cause of opposition to the tiara of Rome and the crowns of Kings, and the Apostolate of Kabalistic Gnosticism was vested in its chiefs. For Saint John himself was the Father of the Gnostics, and the current translation of his polemic against the heretical of his Sect and the pagans who denied that Christ was the Word, is throughout a misrepresentation, or misunderstanding at least, of the whole Spirit of that Evangel.

"The tendencies and tenets of the Order were enveloped in profound mystery, and it externally professed the most perfect orthodoxy. The Chiefs alone knew the aim of the Order: the Subalterns followed them without distrust.

"To acquire influence and wealth, then to intrigue, and at need to fight, to establish the Johannite or Gnostic and Kabalistic dogma, were the object and means proposed to the initiated Brethren. The Papacy and the rival monarchies, they said to them, are sold and bought in these days, become corrupt, and to-morrow, perhaps, will destroy each other. All that will become the heritage of the Temple: the World will soon come to us for its Sovereigns and Pontiffs. We shall constitute the equilibrium of the Universe, and be rulers over the Masters of the World.

"The Templars, like all other Secret Orders and Associations, had two doctrines, one concealed and reserved for the Masters, which was Johannism; the other public, which was the Roman Catholic. Thus they deceived the adversaries whom they sought

XXX.

KNIGHT KADOSH.

Morals and Dogma

by Albert Pike

https://sacred-texts.com/mas/md/md31.htm

Thirteenth Rule. To be right in everything, we ought always to hold that the white which I see, is black, if the Hierarchical Church so decides it, believing that between Christ our Lord, the Bridegroom, and the Church, His Bride, there is the same Spirit which governs and directs us for the salvation of our souls. Because by the same Spirit and our Lord Who gave the ten Commandments, our holy Mother the Church is directed and governed."

The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YC_luOfFWl0Bm0BWkbANKZGC1kkmdHQf/view?usp=sharing

The large Latin inscription on the façade reads: Clemens XII Pont Max Anno V Christo Salvatori In Hon SS Ioan Bapt et Evang. This abbreviated inscription translates as: "The Supreme Pontiff Clement XII, in the fifth year [of his Pontificate, dedicated this building] to Christ the Savior, in honor of Saints John the Baptist and [John] the Evangelist".[5] The inscription indicates, with its full title (see below), that the archbasilica was originally dedicated to Christ the Savior and, centuries later, rededicated in honor of Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist. Christ the Savior remains its primary dedication, and its titular feast day is 6 August, the Transfiguration of Christ. As the cathedral of the pope as bishop of Rome, it ranks superior to all other churches of the Catholic Church, including Saint Peter's Basilica.

Name

The archbasilica's Latin name is Archibasilica Sanctissimi Salvatoris ac Sancti Ioannis Baptistae et Ioannis Evangelistae ad Lateranum,[6] which in English is the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist at the Lateran, and in Italian Arcibasilica [Papale] del Santissimo Salvatore e Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano.[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archbasilica_of_Saint_John_Lateran#Lateran_Palace

Himmler used the Jesuits as the model for the SS, since he found they had the core elements of absolute obedience and the cult of the organisation.[59][60] Hitler is said to have called Himmler "my Ignatius of Loyola".[59] As an order, the SS needed a coherent doctrine that would set it apart.[61] Himmler attempted to construct such an ideology, and deduced a "pseudo-Germanic tradition" from history.[61] Himmler dismissed the image of Christ as a Jew and rejected Christianity's basic doctrine and its institutions.[62] Starting in 1934, the SS hosted "solstice ceremonies" (Sonnenwendfeiern) to increase team spirit within their ranks.[63] In a 1936 memorandum, Himmler set forth a list of approved holidays based on pagan and political precedents meant to wean SS members from their reliance on Christian festivities.[64] In an attempt to replace Christianity and suffuse the SS with a new doctrine, SS-men were able to choose special Lebenslauffeste, substituting common Christian ceremonies such as baptisms, weddings and burials. Since the ceremonies were held in small private circles, it is unknown how many SS-members opted for these kind of celebrations.[65]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideology_of_the_SS

From modest beginnings the SS (Schutzstaffel; Protection Squadrons), became a virtual state within a state in Nazi Germany, staffed by men who perceived themselves as the “racial elite” of Nazi future.

In the Nazi state, the SS assumed leading responsibility for security, identification of ethnicity, settlement and population policy, and intelligence collection and analysis. The SS controlled the German police forces and the concentration camp system. The SS conceived and implemented plans designed to restructure the ethnic composition of eastern Europe and the occupied Soviet Union.

From 1939, the SS assumed responsibility for “solving” the so-called Jewish Question; after 1941, its leadership planned, coordinated and directed the so-called Final Solution of the Jewish Question. This “solution” was the annihilation of the European Jews, which we now refer to as the Holocaust

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/ss

2 §1. The character and charism of the Society of Jesus arise from the Spiritual Exercises which our holy father Ignatius and his companions went through. Led by this experience, they formed an apostolic group rooted in charity, in which, after they had taken the vows of chastity and poverty and had been raised to the priesthood, they offered themselves as a HOLOCAUST to God,[2] so that serving as soldiers of God beneath the banner of the cross and serving the Lord alone and the Church his spouse under the Roman Pontiff, the vicar of Christ on earth,[3] they would be sent into the entire world[4] for the defense and propagation of the faith and for the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine. [5]

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

[666] 6. 1On the side of the superior general, what will aid toward this union of hearts are the qualities of his person [G], to be treated in Part IX [723-25], with which he will perform his office, 2which is to be for all the members a head from which the influence required for the end sought by the Society ought to descend to them all. 3It is thus from the general as head that all authority of the provincials should flow, from the provincials that of the local superiors, and from the local superiors that of the individual members. 4And from this same head, or at least by his commission and approval, should likewise come the appointing of missions. And the same should apply to communicating the graces of the Society. 5For the more the subjects are dependent upon their superiors, the better will the love, obedience, and union among them be preserved."

The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complementary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

"Head:

1. See Illness, mental

2. The superior general, head of the Society [666]"

page 463

The CONstitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

"Revelation 13:18

New International Version

"18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.[a] That number is 666."

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2013%3A18&version=NIV

"BULL of Pope Boniface VIII promulgated November 18, 1302

For, according to the Blessed Dionysius, it is a law of the divinity that the lowest things reach the highest place by intermediaries. Then, according to the order of the universe, all things are not led back to order equally and immediately, but the lowest by the intermediary, and the inferior by the superior. Hence we must recognize the more clearly that spiritual power surpasses in dignity and in nobility any temporal power whatever, as spiritual things surpass the temporal. This we see very clearly also by the payment, benediction, and consecration of the tithes, but the acceptance of power itself and by the government even of things. For with truth as our witness, it belongs to spiritual power to establish the terrestrial power and to pass judgement if it has not been good. Thus is accomplished the prophecy of Jeremias concerning the Church and the ecclesiastical power: ‘Behold to-day I have placed you over nations, and over kingdoms‘ and the rest. Therefore, if the terrestrial power err, it will be judged by the spiritual power; but if a minor spiritual power err, it will be judged by a superior spiritual power; but if the highest power of all err, it can be judged only by God, and not by man, according to the testimony of the Apostle: ‘The spiritual man judgeth of all things and he himself is judged by no man‘ [1 Cor 2:15]. This authority, however, (though it has been given to man and is exercised by man), is not human but rather divine, granted to Peter by a divine word and reaffirmed to him (Peter) and his successors by the One Whom Peter confessed, the Lord saying to Peter himself, ‘Whatsoever you shall bind on earth, shall be bound also in Heaven‘ etc., [Mt 16:19]. Therefore whoever resists this power thus ordained by God, resists the ordinance of God [Rom 13:2], unless he invent like Manicheus two beginnings, which is false and judged by us heretical, since according to the testimony of Moses, it is not in the beginnings but in the beginning that God created heaven and earth [Gen 1:1]. Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff."

https://www.papalencyclicals.net/bon08/b8unam.htm

[529] C. 1The entire purport of this fourth vow of obedience to the pope was and is with regard to missions; 2and this is how the bulls should be understood where they speak of this obedience in all that the sovereign pontiff may command and wherever he may send one, and so on."

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

Historical Institute of the Society of Jesus: a Roman work of the entire Society, 304 §2

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

Skull And Bones

60-minutes

By Rebecca Leung

October 2, 2003 / 4:15 PM EDT / CBS

As opposite as George Bush and John Kerry may seem to be, they do share a common secret - one they've shared for decades, and one they will not share with the electorate.

The secret: details of their membership in Skull and Bones, the elite Yale University society whose members include some of the most powerful men of the 20th century.

Bonesmen, as they're called, are forbidden to reveal what goes on in their inner sanctum, the windowless building on the Yale campus that is called the Tomb.

When 60 Minutes first reported on Skull & Bones last October, conspiracy theorists, who see Skull and Bones behind just about everything that goes wrong, and even right, in the world, were relishing the unthinkable - the possibility of two Bonesman fighting it out for the presidency.

Over the years, Bones has included presidents, cabinet officers, spies, Supreme Court justices, captains of industry, and often their sons and lately their daughters, a social and political network like no other.

60 MINUTES

Skull And Bones

60-minutes

By Rebecca Leung

October 2, 2003 / 4:15 PM EDT / CBS

As opposite as George Bush and John Kerry may seem to be, they do share a common secret - one they've shared for decades, and one they will not share with the electorate.

The secret: details of their membership in Skull and Bones, the elite Yale University society whose members include some of the most powerful men of the 20th century.

Bonesmen, as they're called, are forbidden to reveal what goes on in their inner sanctum, the windowless building on the Yale campus that is called the Tomb.

And to a man and women, they'd responded to questions with utter silence until an enterprising Yale graduate, Alexandra Robbins, managed to penetrate the wall of silence in her book, "Secrets of the Tomb," reports CBS News Correspondent Morley Safer.

"I spoke with about 100 members of Skull and Bones and they were members who were tired of the secrecy, and that's why they were willing to talk to me," says Robbins. "But probably twice that number hung up on me, harassed me, or threatened me."

Secret or not, Skull and Bones is as essential to Yale as the Whiffenpoofs, the tables down at a pub called Mory's, and the Yale mascot - that ever-slobbering bulldog.

Skull and Bones, with all its ritual and macabre relics, was founded in 1832 as a new world version of secret student societies that were common in Germany at the time. Since then, it has chosen or "tapped" only 15 senior students a year who become patriarchs when they graduate -- lifetime members of the ultimate old boys' club.

"Skull and Bones is so tiny. That's what makes this staggering," says Robbins. "There are only 15 people a year, which means there are about 800 living members at any one time."

But a lot of Bonesmen have gone on to positions of great power, which Robbins says is the main purpose of this secret society: to get as many members as possible into positions of power.

"They do have many individuals in influential positions," says Robbins. "And that's why this is something that we need to know about."

President Bush has tapped five fellow Bonesmen to join his administration. Most recently, he selected William Donaldson, Skull and Bones 1953, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Like the President, he's taken the Bones oath of silence.

Ron Rosenbaum, author and columnist for the New York Observer, has become obsessed with cracking that code of secrecy.

"I think there is a deep and legitimate distrust in America for power and privilege that are cloaked in secrecy. It's not supposed to be the way we do things," says Rosenbaum. "We're supposed to do things out in the open in America. And so that any society or institution that hints that there is something hidden is, I think, a legitimate subject for investigation."

His investigation is a 30-year obsession dating back to his days as a Yale classmate of George W. Bush. Rosenbaum, a self-described undergraduate nerd, was certainly not a contender for Bones. But he was fascinated by its weirdness.

"It's this sepulchral, tomblike, windowless, granite, sandstone bulk that you can't miss. And I lived next to it," says Rosenbaum. "I had passed it all the time. And during the initiation rites, you could hear strange cries and whispers coming from the Skull and Bones tomb."

Despite a lifetime of attempts to get inside, the best Rosenbaum could do was hide out on the ledge of a nearby building a few years ago to videotape a nocturnal initiation ceremony in the Tomb's courtyard.

"A woman holds a knife and pretends to slash the throat of another person lying down before them, and there's screaming and yelling at the neophytes," he says.

Robbins says the cast of the initiation ritual is right out of Harry Potter meets Dracula: "There is a devil, a Don Quixote and a Pope who has one foot sheathed in a white monogrammed slipper resting on a stone skull. The initiates are led into the room one at a time. And once an initiate is inside, the Bonesmen shriek at him. Finally, the Bonesman is shoved to his knees in front of Don Quixote as the shrieking crowd falls silent. And Don Quixote lifts his sword and taps the Bonesman on his left shoulder and says, 'By order of our order, I dub thee knight of Euloga.'"

It's a lot of mumbo-jumbo, says Robbins, but it means a lot to the people who are in it.

"Prescott Bush, George W's grandfather, and a band of Bonesmen, robbed the grave of Geronimo, took the skull and some personal relics of the Apache chief and brought them back to the tomb," says Robbins. "There is still a glass case, Bonesmen tell me, within the tomb that displays a skull that they all refer to as Geronimo."

"The preoccupation with bones, mortality, with coffins, lying in coffins, standing around coffins, all this sort of thing I think is designed to give them the sense that, and it's very true, life is short," says Rosenbaum. "You can spend it, if you have a privileged background, enjoying yourself, contributing nothing, or you can spend it making a contribution."

And plenty of Bonesmen have made a contribution, from William Howard Taft, the 27th President; Henry Luce, the founder of Time Magazine; and W. Averell Harriman, the diplomat and confidant of U.S. presidents.

"What's important about the undergraduate years of Skull and Bones, as opposed to fraternities, is that it imbues them with a kind of mission for moral leadership," says Rosenbaum. "And it's something that they may ignore for 30 years of their life, as George W. Bush seemed to successfully ignore it for quite a long time. But he came back to it."

Mr. Bush, like his father and grandfather before him, has refused to talk openly about Skull and Bones. But as a Bonesman, he was required to reveal his innermost secrets to his fellow Bones initiates.

"They're supposed to recount their entire sexual histories in sort of a dim, a dimly-lit cozy room. The other 14 members are sitting on plush couches, and the lights are dimmed," says Robbins. "And there's a fire roaring. And the, this activity is supposed to last anywhere from between one to three hours."

What's the point of this?

"I believe the point of the year in the tomb is to forge such a strong bond between these 15 new members that after they graduate, for them to betray Skull and Bones would mean they'd have to betray their 14 closest friends," says Robbins.

One can't help but make certain comparisons with the mafia, for example. Secret society, bonding, stakes may be a little higher in one than the other. But everybody knows everything about everybody, which is a form of protection.

"I think Skull and Bones has had slightly more success than the mafia in the sense that the leaders of the five families are all doing 100 years in jail, and the leaders of the Skull and Bones families are doing four and eight years in the White House," says Rosenbaum.

Bones is not restricted to the Republican Party. Yet another Bonesman has his eye on the Oval Office: Senator John Kerry, Democrat, Skull & Bones 1966.

"It is fascinating isn't it? I mean, again, all the people say, 'Oh, these societies don't matter. The Eastern Establishment is in decline.' And you could not find two more quintessential Eastern establishment, privileged guys," says Rosenbaum. "I remember when I was a nerdy scholarship student in the reserve book room at, at the Yale Library, and John Kerry, who at that point styled himself 'John F. Kerry' would walk in."

"There was always a little buzz," adds Rosenbaum. "Because even then he was seen to be destined for higher things. He was head of the Yale Political Union, and a tap for Skull and Bones was seen as the natural sequel to that."

David Brooks, a conservative commentator who has published a book on the social dynamics of the upwardly mobile, says that while Skull & Bones may be elite and secret, it's anything but exciting.

"My view of secret societies is they're like the first class cabin in airplanes. They're really impressive until you get into them, and then once you're there they're a little dull. So you hear all these conspiracy theories about Skull and Bones," says Brooks.

"And to me, to be in one of these organizations, you have to have an incredibly high tolerance for tedium 'cause you're sittin' around talking, talking, and talking. You're not running the world, you're just gassing."

Gassing or not, the best-connected white man's club in America has moved reluctantly into the 21st Century.

"Skull and Bones narrowly endorsed admitting women," says Robbins. "The day before these women were supposed to be initiated, a group of Bonesmen, including William F. Buckley, obtained a court order to block the initiation claiming that letting women into the tomb would lead to date rape. Again more legal wrangling; finally it came down to another vote and women were admitted and initiated."

But Skull & Bones now has women, and it's become more multicultural.

"It has gays who got the SAT scores, it's got the gays who got the straight A's," says Brooks. "It's got the blacks who are the president of the right associations. It's different criteria. More multicultural, but it's still an elite, selective institution."

On balance, it may be bizarre, but on a certain perspective, does it provide something of value?

"You take these young strivers, you put them in this weird castle. They spill their guts with each other, fine. But they learn something beyond themselves. They learn a commitment to each other, they learn a commitment to the community," says Brooks. "And maybe they inherit some of those old ideals of public service that are missing in a lot of other parts of the country."

And is that relationship, in some cases, stronger than family or faith?

"Absolutely," says Robbins. "You know, they say, they say the motto at Yale is, 'For God, for country, and for Yale.' At Bones, I would think it's 'For Bones.'"

First published on October 2, 2003 / 4:15 PM EDT

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/skull-and-bones/

The shadowy world of Skull and Bones

Yales secretive Skull and Bones society has long generated conspiracy theories about its hidden power. Now, two Bonesmen are facing off for the U.S. presidency. Whats behind the groups mystique?

BY THE WEEK STAFF

LAST UPDATED JANUARY 8, 2015

What is Skull and Bones?

It’s the oldest and most impenetrable of Yale University’s several “secret societies,” a fraternal club ostensibly dedicated to forging young men (and now women) into leaders in all walks of American life. Only 15 students are selected for membership each year. For much of the society’s history, the chosen few were the elite of the elite—top athletes, campus newspaper editors, the leaders of student organizations, wealthy scions of high breeding. The 2,600 “Bones” alumni include President William Howard Taft, diplomat W. Averell Harriman, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, Time magazine founder Henry Luce, conservative patriarch William F. Buckley Jr., both Presidents Bush, and Sen. John Kerry. This elite roster, coupled with its persistent secrecy, has bred intense speculation about the group’s power to determine world events.

How did it get started?

The group was founded in 1832, by a Yale senior named William Russell. At the time, hush-hush fraternal organizations like the Masons were all the rage in the U.S. But the Masons’ popularity and power generated a backlash among people who resented their elitism; dark rumors arose about the group’s secret rituals. Anti-Masonic sentiment grew so strong, in fact, that Phi Beta Kappa, the national academic honor association, distanced itself by renouncing its own oath of secrecy. Offended that Phi Beta Kappa would succumb to such populist passions, Russell responded by forming an even more secret society with 14 other students. He called it the Eulogian Club, after the Greek goddess of eloquence. The Eulogians adopted as their symbol a foreboding death’s-head, and that skull and bones eventually became the society’s name.

Is there an initiation ceremony?

Yes, though for decades it was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, rumors circulated that initiates were stripped, beaten, and forced to lie in a coffin while relating their sexual history, thus baring their souls to their new comrades. But as Alexandra Robbins related in her 2002 book Secrets of the Tomb, the modern-day ceremony is far less dramatic—and far more sophomoric. Initiates are led to the group’s unmarked, Greco-Egyptian vault, in New Haven, where the clocks run five minutes fast. There, in rooms filled with shabby furniture, stuffed animals, and old engravings, they are met by members dressed as outlandish figures, like the devil and Don Quixote. At various points they are blindfolded, jostled violently, given a secret oath, and forced to drink “blood” (some say it’s Kool-Aid, others Gatorade) from a skull called a “Yorick.” Eventually, the neophytes kiss the toe of a member dressed as the pope and are dubbed “Knights of Eulogia.”

Why do they do this?

It’s all part of the bonding process. “It was an opportunity to build friendships with 14 people whom I otherwise wouldn’t have come across in college years,” one member told Robbins. The camaraderie is reinforced by weekly meetings and bizarre traditions. Bonesmen refer to nonmembers as “barbarians,” employ cryptic references to the club’s totemic number of 322, and deliberately leave the room if any barbarian mentions their society’s name. Bonesmen vow to take care of their brothers after Yale, as they move into positions of wealth and power. Some say a Bonesman, once initiated, is virtually guaranteed wealth and security for life.

Is that true?

Not exactly, but the Bones has served as one of the nation’s most effective old-boy networks. President George W. Bush stands as a case in point. He partly bankrolled his first oil company, as well as his run for Texas governor, with loans and donations from fellow Bonesmen. Five of them, including SEC head William Donaldson, now serve in his administration. It’s this tight web of influence that has fueled a host of conspiracy theories.

Such as?

It’s whispered, for instance, that Skull and Bones helped underwrite Hitler’s rise to power. In fact, Hitler’s financier once stashed $3 million in the Union Banking Corp., whose directors included Prescott Bush, father of the first President Bush and a Bonesman himself. Similarly, several Bonesmen in the FDR administration, including Secretary of War Henry Stimson, were key players in the Manhattan Project; from this, some have deduced that the dropping of the atomic bomb was a Bonesmen plot. The society has also been blamed for the Bay of Pigs fiasco and for plunging the U.S. into Vietnam—because Bonesmen like William and McGeorge Bundy held prominent foreign-policy posts during the Kennedy and Johnson years.

So does the society run the world?

Not quite. It’s true that Bonesmen have occupied top-tier positions at an impressive array of powerful institutions, like the CIA, the Council on Foreign Relations, Morgan Stanley, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Federal Reserve. But the same could be said of Yalies in general, or Harvard graduates, or other Ivy Leaguers. And in future years, Skull and Bones is likely to be far less influential than it has been in the past.

Why is that?

Like most campus organizations, it has become politically correct. Skull and Bones now actively seeks out women and minorities; white, Anglo-Saxon males have become a minority within the current membership. Bonesmen—and Boneswomen—now spend much of their time sharing “life histories” with the group, to better understand one another’s perspective. Members no longer consider themselves part of an elite cadre destined to run the world; they defensively joke about “the old white guys” who used to run the society. On the Yale campus, Bones members are now viewed with bemused scorn—not envy. “It almost seems,” wrote Franklin Foer in The New Republic in 2000, “that the current crop of Bonespersons maintain vows of secrecy because they are genuinely embarrassed by their affiliation.”

https://theweek.com/articles/528748/shadowy-world-skull-bones

World, the: 1. It is proper to our vocation: to go to diverse places and live in whatever part of the world and to be sent wherever the greater service of God and the help of souls can be hoped for [82, 92, 304, 308, 588, 603, 605, 626, 749]; to this purpose is directed the vow of special obedience to the supreme pontiff regarding missions, FI no. 3 [603, 605], 2 §1; consequently a complete availability, mobility, and universality are necessary, 110, 121 4°, 242 §3, 246 7°, 248, 259, 411; at the service of which is chastity, 144 §2; consequently our community is a community for dispersion, 255 §1, 312, 314 §2, 315, 317; thus also the need for communicating with different cultures of the world and for insertion into them, 99 §2, 106 §2, 110, 111, 246 2°; and for promoting that perfect and open cooperation among the members of the entire Society, of whatever province or region they may be, 396 §2. See also Cooperation, interprovincial and supraprovincial; Culture(s); Insertion 2. God is present in the world: exercising the ministry of healing and reconciliation, 246 4°; thus he is there to be sought and found, 223 §§3-4; the world, in great part afflicted with atheism and injustice and increasingly divided by diverse economic, social, and ethnic systems and by other sources of division and opposition, 59 §2, 223 §3, 246 4° 3. The world, as distinguished from religious life: is to be left behind, trampled underfoot, and renounced [30, 50, 53, 61, 66, 297]; it is to be despised because of the love for and imitation of Christ [101]; contempt for it assists in the union of minds and hearts [671]: customs which smack of the world are not to be introduced, 322.

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

https://web.archive.org/web/20200211182223/https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

247 §1. As far as the promotion of justice is concerned, we must become more aware, as the Church itself has done, of its more recent and new exigencies for our mission;[18] such are, among others, protection of the human rights of persons and peoples (individual, socioeconomic, civil and political, the right to peace, to progress, to cultural integrity); the disturbing consequences of the interdependence of peoples, causing grave damage to the quality of life and culture of poor peoples, especially of indigenous peoples;[19] safeguarding human life itself, from its beginning to its natural end, life that is severely threatened by the so-called culture of death ; the influence of the media in the service of justice, which requires coordinated action of Christians and other persons in different areas;[20] protection of the environment; the tragic marginalization of not a few nations, especially on the African continent at this time; the need of the peoples of Eastern Europe to find a sure way to a future in freedom, peace, and ecurity; the problem of the socially marginalized in every society; the very grave worldwide situation of refugees.[21] §2. The situation of women in the world today merits special attention.[22] Our contribution to overcoming unjust structures and experiencing our solidarity with women include the following: teaching the essential equality of women and men; supporting women in opposing situations of exploitation and violence; fostering an appropriate presence of women in our ministries and institutions and involving women in decision making in our ministries; promoting the education of women and elimination of all forms of discrimination in it; using appropriately inclusive language in speaking and writing.[23] §3. All these efforts must be concentrated on transforming the cultural values that sustain an unjust and oppressive social order.[24]

248 Father General, with the help of his council, has the task of stimulating the entire Society to serve the cause of the Gospel and its justice. But all our members, especially major superiors, should strenuously collaborate with him, even if this might shake up their settled habits or even disturb their peace of mind, when they are accustomed instead to work of a less universal scope.[25]

249 §1. Any realistic desire to engage in the promotion of justice in our mission will mean some kind of involvement in civic activity;[26] but this will make our preaching of the Gospel more meaningful and its accceptance easier.[27] [21] See GC 34, d. 3, nos. 5-16. [22] See John Paul II, Apos. letter Mulieris dignitatem, no. 10 (AAS [1988] , 1674ff.); Apos. exhortation Christifideles laici, no. 49 (AAS [1989] , 486ff.). [23] See GC 34, d. 14, nos. 12-13. [24] GC 34, d. 4, no. 28.3. [25] GC 32, d. 4, no. 69. [26] GC 32, d. 4, no. 80. [27] GC 32, d. 4, no. 46.

280 The Constitutions and Norms

§2. Communities and superiors should help each one of us to overcome the difficulties, fear, and apathy that block us from truly comprehending the cultural, social, economic, and political problems existing in our city, country, or region, as well as in the world at large. In this way let each identify and assume the responsibilities to society that are his, and let each in his own proper way participate in the efforts needed to promote genuine justice.[28]

§3. In each of our different apostolates, we must create communities of solidarity in seeking justice. Working together with our colleagues, we can and should engage in every ministry of the Society to promote justice in one or more of the following ways: directly serving and accompanying the poor, developing awareness of the demands of justice joined to the social responsibility to achieve it, and participating in social mobilization for the creation of a more just social order.[29]

250 All our members, but especially those who belong to the affluent world, should endeavor to work as much as is appropriate with those who form public opinion, as well as with international organizations, to promote justice more effectively among all peoples.[30] 251 Finally, in carrying out this mission of ours with exactitude, we should ever keep in mind that the means which unite the human instrument to God and so dispose it that it may be wielded dexterously by his divine hand are more effective than those which equip it in relation to men. [31]

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts

THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES SAINT LOUIS, 1996

https://web.archive.org/web/20200211182223/https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

Culture of death the congeries of aggressions that threaten human life from its beginning all the way to natural death, 247 §1

Custody: 1. Civil: visiting those held in prisons, FI no. 1 [650] 2. Of the senses: to be maintained diligently by all [250]; as a means of safeguarding chastity, 147 §4.

See also Senses

Customs: which can be introduced, and which cannot, into our life, 322

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts

THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES SAINT LOUIS, 1996

https://web.archive.org/web/20200211182223/https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

Marquette University Law School is the law school of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is one of two law schools in Wisconsin and the only private law school in the state. Founded in 1892 as the Milwaukee Law Class, MULS is housed in Eckstein Hall on Marquette University's campus in downtown Milwaukee.[3][4]

Overview

Marquette University is a Catholic institution operated by the Jesuit order. The law school's mission includes a commitment to the Jesuit idea of cura personalis ("care of the entire person"), a duty to promote diversity, and a goal of encouraging its "students to become agents for positive change in society."[5]

As of the 2016-17 academic year, the school has 575 enrolled students and 98 faculty members and administrators, including 30 full-time faculty members, 10 "deans, librarians, and others who teach," and 58 part-time faculty members.[1] For the fall 2016 entering J.D. class, there were 190 enrolled students (182 full-time and 8 part-time).[1]

Wisconsin, unique among American states, allows graduates of accredited law schools within the state to be admitted to the Wisconsin state bar without taking the state's bar examination if they complete certain requirements in their law school courses and achieve a certain level of performance in those courses, a practice known as the "diploma privilege."[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquette_University_Law_School

Miksang is a Tibetan word, meaning "good eye". It represents a form of contemplative photography based on the Dharma Art teachings of Chögyam Trungpa, in which the eye is synchronized with the introspective mind. The result of this particular perception of the world, combined with photography, produces a peculiar and open way of seeing the world. Miksang pictures tend to bring the observer back into the original contemplation state of the author of the picture. The pictures can bring one back to a purer perception of reality that is often neglected. Miksang requires no special setup; only a skilled visual capture, in the proper state of mind, of everyday reality.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miksang#:~:text=Miksang%20is%20a%20Tibetan%20word,synchronized%20with%20the%20introspective%20mind.

Legend holds that the Archangel Michael appeared atop the mausoleum, sheathing his sword as a sign of the end of the plague of 590, thus lending the castle its present name. A less charitable yet more apt elaboration of the legend, given the militant disposition of this archangel, was heard by the 15th-century traveler who saw an angel statue on the castle roof. He recounts that during a prolonged season of the plague, Pope Gregory I heard that the populace, even Christians, had begun revering a pagan idol at the church of Santa Agata in Suburra. A vision urged the pope to lead a procession to the church. Upon arriving, the idol miraculously fell apart with a clap of thunder. Returning to St Peter's by the Aelian Bridge, the pope had another vision of an angel atop the castle, wiping the blood from his sword on his mantle, and then sheathing it. While the pope interpreted this as a sign that God was appeased, this did not prevent Gregory from destroying more sites of pagan worship in Rome.[5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castel_Sant%27Angelo#:~:text=Legend%20holds%20that%20the%20Archangel,the%20castle%20its%20present%20name.

Since Fulcanelli informs us that the argotique of the green language is based on a cabalistic pattern of meaning, it should be obvious that this pattern is the Tree of Life of his fellow adepts. That it is not obvious is the result of misdirection, conscious or unconscious, on the part of Fulcanelli’s student, Eugène Canseliet. In the “Preface to the Second Edition” of Mystery of the Cathedrals, Canseliet, while displaying his knowledge of the importance of stellar imagery in his master’s work, ends with a major piece of misinformation. He states that the justification for the republication of the book lies in the fact “that this book has restored to light the phonetic cabala, whose principles and applications had been completely lost.” While this is somewhat true, Canseliet goes on to conclude that after his and Fulcanelli’s work, “this mother tongue need never be confused with the Jewish Kabbalah.”24 He continues by asserting that “the Jewish Kabbalah is full of transpositions, inversions, substitutions and calculations, as arbitrary as they are abstruse.” Again this is true for many explications of the kabbalistic mystery, but it does not address the issue of the universality of the Tree of Life itself. Canseliet further muddies the water by suggesting that cabala and Kabbalah are derived from different roots. Cabala, he declares, is derived from the Latin caballus, or “horse,” while Kabbalah is derived from the Hebrew word for tradition. On the surface, this is indeed correct, but Canseliet is skillfully avoiding the deeper meanings of both these words, which leads us ultimately to their common root—kaba, the stone. Fulcanelli never voiced such opinions in the body of the book. In Mystery of the Cathedrals, he obliquely refers to the cabala as the “language of the gods” and scorns the “would-be cabalists . . . whether they be Jewish or Christian,” and “the would-be experts, whose illusory combinations lead to nothing concrete.”25 He goes on to say: “Let us leave these doctors of the Kabbalah to their ignorance,” implying those who claimed to be authorities on the Hebrew Kabbalah. He says nothing against the Kabbalah itself but merely notes that it is misunderstood by almost everyone. By implication, Fulcanelli is also saying that he does understand it properly. As we saw in chapter 2, “Isis the Prophetess” points to a Tree of Life motif for its source of wisdom. The Hebrew spelling of Amnael’s name gives us a clue to its nature. Using Hebrew gematria, the letters in the name add up to 123, the number of the three-part name of God, AHH YHVH ELOHIM, associated with the top three sefirot on the Tree of Life, Kether, Chokmah, and Binah (see fig. 2.9). As noted already, if we break the name into Amn and ael, we get the numbers 91 and 32. These are both references to the Tree of Life, 32 being the total number of paths and sefirot and 91 being the number of the Hebrew word amen, AMN, and the word for “tree,” AYLN. Stirling, in his rediscovery of the ancient canon, concludes that the Tree of Life is the pattern that underlies the secret language of symbolism, which is the language expressed by the liberal arts that accompany Alchemy/Philosophy on the base of the middle pillar of the Porch of Judgment. Fulcanelli himself points to the Tree of Life as the key secret in his description of the dragon’s plinth, going so far as to paraphrase the Sefer Yetzirah. Therefore, why should we, on the basis of Canseliet’s prejudice, associate anything else with Fulcanelli’s kabbalistic image pattern? Fulcanelli also instructs us that language is a reflection of the universal Idea, a clear reference to the Word/World Tree. The kabbalistic origins of the art of light, Fulcanelli reminds us, are but a reflection of the divine light. Fulcanelli is not only making use of this kabbalistic Tree of Life pattern, but he is a master of its symbolic subtleties as well. As he unfolds his array of images and concepts, we see the guiding matrix of the ancient Word, the verbum dismissum or lost word of Western esotericism, revealed as the divine World/Word Tree."

The Mysteries of The Great Cross of Hendaye

Alchemy and The End of Time

Jay Weidner and Vincent Bridges

https://dn790009.ca.archive.org/0/items/the-mysteries-of-the-great-cros-jay-weidner/The%20Mysteries%20of%20the%20Great%20Cros%20-%20Jay%20Weidner.pdf

Kong (Chinese: 孔; Korean: 공) is a Chinese and Korean surname. It can also be written as Kong in Taiwan, Hung in Hong Kong, Khổng in Vietnam, and Gong in Korea. There are around 2.1 million people with this surname in China in 2002, representing 0.23% of the population.[1] In 2018, it was the 97th-most common surname in China.[citation needed] It is the 25th name in the Hundred Family Surnames poem.

Kong is most notable as the surname of Confucius and his descendants, whose family tree is the world's longest, covering over 2,500 years and more than 80 generations, in two million entries as of 2009.[2][3] The main line of descent traditionally held the title of Duke Yansheng, which was changed to the title of the first Sacrificial Official to Confucius in the 20th century. This title is currently held by Kong Tsui-chang.

Kong may also be the English transliteration of a rare Chinese surname 空, or a less common form of the Gong surnames such as 龔, 貢 and 弓.

Origin

The character for the Kong surname was derived from the Zi (子) family name. The founder of the Shang Dynasty, Tang of Shang whose family name was Zi, had the temple name of Taiyi (太乙). His descendants fused the character Zi (子) to Yi (乙), forming the character Kong (孔) which eventually became a surname.[4] It first appeared during the Zhou Dynasty as the courtesy name Kongfu (孔父) of a noble in the State of Song named Jia (嘉), said to be a descendant of the Tang of Shang. Kongfu Jia was murdered, and his son escaped to the State of Lu where he adopted Kong as the name of his clan.[4] His family settled in Qufu and Confucius was one of his descendants.

The Kong surname may also have originated from a number of other sources. Others had adopted Kong as their surname because it was part of their ancestors' name. For example, in the State of Zheng, two of Duke Mu of Zheng's (鄭穆公) sons (surname Ji) (姬), had Shikong (士孔) and Zikong (子孔) as their respective courtesy names, and their descendants took Kong as their surname.[5] Similarly, there was a noble in the State of Chen named Kongning (孔寧, originally of surname Gui (媯)), and another in the State of Qi named Konghui (孔虺, originally of surname Jiang (姜)); the descendants of both also adopted the surname Kong.

Some of the non-Han Chinese people used Kong as their surname, such as the Derung, Jingpo, Tibetan, and the Yugur people. Various Manchu clans also simplified their surnames to Kong.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kong_(surname)

King Kong is a 1976 American monster adventure film produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by John Guillermin. It is a modernized remake of the 1933 film about a giant ape that is captured and taken to New York City for exhibition. It stars Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, and Jessica Lange in her first film role, and features mechanical effects by Carlo Rambaldi and makeup effects by Rick Baker who also played the title character. It is the fifth entry in the King Kong franchise.

The idea to remake King Kong was conceived by Michael Eisner, who was then an ABC executive, in 1974. He separately proposed the idea to Universal Pictures CEO Sidney Sheinberg and Paramount Pictures CEO Barry Diller. Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis quickly acquired the film rights from RKO-General and subsequently hired television writer Lorenzo Semple Jr. to write the script. John Guillermin was hired as director and filming lasted from January to August 1976. Before the film's release, Universal Pictures sued De Laurentiis and RKO-General alleging breach of contract, and attempted to develop their own remake of King Kong. In response, De Laurentiis and RKO-General filed separate countersuits against Universal Pictures, all of which were withdrawn by January 1976.

The film was released on December 17, 1976, to mixed reviews from film critics while being a modest success at the box office. It won a noncompetitive Special Achievement Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, and it was also nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Sound. Of the three King Kong main films, it is the only one to feature the World Trade Center instead of the Empire State Building. A sequel titled King Kong Lives was released in 1986, with Guillermin directing once again.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_(1976_film)

Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio;[b] 17 December 1936) is the Pope and head of the Catholic Church, the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State. He is the first pope to be a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the first from the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century papacy of the Syrian Pope Gregory III.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Francis

FRENCH PRESIDENT BECOMES “FIRST AND ONLY HONORARY CANON OF THE ARCHBASILICA OF ST. JOHN LATERAN”

FLORENCE DUBOSC June 26, 2018 News

When Emmanuel Macron met the Pope in the Vatican earlier today, the two had plenty to talk about, starting with the current migration crisis which is casting deep divisions among European countries.

But this 57 minute tête-à-tête, the longest between Francis and a head of state, was also the occasion for the French president to take up his title as an honorary proto-canon of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, historically tied to the French monarchs.

This may come as a surprise for most people as France is known as a secular country with a strict separation between church and state, but this tradition actually dates back to 1604 when King Henry IV, having renounced Protestantism, donated the Benedictine Abbey in Clairac along with its income, to the pope’s basilica. At the time, and as a token of its gratitude, the Lateran cathedral, the pontiff’s church as the Bishop of Rome, decided to create the canonical title to be bestowed upon the leader of France and each December 13 to commemorate the birth of Henry IV’s birthday a mass is still being celebrated at the basilica for the “happiness and prosperity of France.”

If for centuries the Catholic Church has held a special place for the country, which has been dubbed “the church’s eldest daughter”, several of Macron’s predecessors have declined the title, including the Socialists François Mitterrand and François Hollande, a self-described atheist, to avoid associating themselves with religious imagery.

Upon his election, President Macron did not hesitate one second and immediately accepted the honour. Maybe because despite being raised in a non-religious family, he was baptized as a Roman Catholic at his own behest when he was 12 years old, and was educated at a Jesuit school, where his future wife, Brigitte, was a teacher!

https://riviera-buzz.com/features/news/item/french-president-honorary-canon-of-archbasilica-of-st-john-lateran.html

Emmanuel

masc. personal name, from Greek form of Hebrew 'Immanu'el, literally "God is with us," from 'immanu "with us," from 'im "with," + first person plural pronominal suffix, + El "God."

https://www.etymonline.com/word/Emmanuel

Immanuel or Emmanuel (Hebrew: עִמָּנוּאֵל, romanized: ʿĪmmānūʾēl, meaning, "God with us" or "God is with us"; also romanized: Imanu'el; and Emmanouël or Ἐμμανουήλ in Koine Greek of the New Testament) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the House of David.[1]

The Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 1:22–23) interprets this as a prophecy of the birth of the Messiah and the fulfillment of Scripture in the person of Jesus.[2] Immanuel "God (El) with us" is one of the "symbolic names" used by Isaiah, alongside Shearjashub, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, or Pele-joez-el-gibbor-abi-ad-sar-shalom. It has no particular meaning in Jewish messianism.[3]

In Christian theology by contrast, based on its use in Isaiah 7:14, the name has come to be read as a prophecy of the Christ, following Matthew 1:23, where Immanuel (Ἐμμανουὴλ) is translated as μεθ ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός (KJV: "God with us"), and also Luke 7:14–16 after the raising of the dead man in Nain, where it was rumoured throughout all Judaea that "God has visited his people" (KJV).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel

Macron

"short horizontal line placed over a vowel to indicate length," 1827, from Latinized form of Greek makron, neuter of makros "long" (from PIE root *mak- "long, thin").

macron | Etymology of macron by etymonline

Long is the pinyin romanization of a Chinese surname. It includes 龍 / 龙, which means "dragon" in Chinese, ranking number 80 on the list of common Chinese surnames in 2006, up from 108 in 1990. Another name transcribed as Long is 隆, which is very rare in contemporary China.

Long (surname) - Wikipedia

An ex officio member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term ex officio is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right of office'; its use dates back to the Roman Republic.

According to Robert's Rules of Order, the term denotes only how one becomes a member of a body.[1] Accordingly, the rights of an ex officio member are exactly the same as other members unless otherwise stated in regulations or bylaws.[2] It relates to the notion that the position refers to the position the ex officio holds, rather than the individual that holds the position. In some groups, ex officio members may frequently abstain from voting.

Opposite notions are dual mandate, when the same person happens to hold two offices or more, although these offices are not in themselves associated; and personal union, when two states share the same monarch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_officio_member

Henry IV (French: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch of France from the House of Bourbon, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. He pragmatically balanced the interests of the Catholic and Protestant parties in France as well as among the European states. He was assassinated in 1610 by a Catholic zealot, and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII.

Henry was baptised a Catholic but raised in the Protestant faith by his mother. He inherited the throne of Navarre in 1572 on his mother's death. As a Huguenot (Protestant), Henry was involved in the French Wars of Religion, barely escaping assassination in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. He later led Protestant forces against the French royal army. Henry inherited the throne of France in 1589 upon the death of Henry III. Henry IV initially kept the Protestant faith (the only French king to do so) and had to fight against the Catholic League, which refused to accept a Protestant monarch. After four years of military stalemate, Henry converted to Catholicism, reportedly saying, "Paris is well worth a mass." As a pragmatic politician he promulgated the Edict of Nantes (1598), which guaranteed religious liberties to Protestants, thereby effectively ending the French Wars of Religion.

An active ruler, Henry worked to regularise state finance, promote agriculture, eliminate corruption and encourage education. He began the first successful French colonization of the Americas. He promoted trade and industry, and prioritized the construction of roads, bridges, and canals to facilitate communication within France and strengthen the country's cohesion. These efforts stimulated economic growth and improved living standards.

While the Edict of Nantes brought religious peace to France, some hardline Catholics and Huguenots remained dissatisfied, leading to occasional outbreaks of violence and conspiracies. Henry IV also faced resistance from certain noble factions who opposed his centralization policies, leading to political instability.

His main foreign policy success was the Peace of Vervins in 1598, which made peace in the long-running conflict with Spain. He formed a strategic alliance with England through his marriage to the cousin of Queen Elizabeth I. He also forged alliances with Protestant states, such as the Dutch Republic and several German states, to counter the Catholic powers. His policies contributed to the stability and prominence of France in European affairs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_IV_of_France

"I do further promise and declare that I will, when opportunity presents, make and wage relentless war, secretly and openly, against all heretics, Protestants and Masons, as I am directed to do, to extirpate them from the face of the whole earth; and that I will spare neither age, sex nor condition, and that will hang, burn, waste, boil, flay, strangle, and bury alive these infamous heretics; rip up the stomachs and wombs of their women, and crush their infants’ heads against the walls in order to annihilate their execrable race. That when the same cannot be done openly I will secretly use the poisonous cup, the strangulation cord, the steel of the poniard, or the leaden bullet, regardless of the honour, rank, dignity or authority of the persons, whatever may be their condition in life, either public or private, as I at any time may be directed so to do by any agents of the Pope or Superior of the Brotherhood of the Holy Father of the Society of Jesus.

The Jesuit Oath

https://www.jamesjpn.net/religion/the-jesuit-oath/

"Nor must we forget to mention, similar, or rather worse instances, of Jesuit regicides, which occurred in France. In 1593, a Jesuit priest August Barriere attempted the life of King Henry IV. In 1594, another assassination attempt was made by Jean Chatel. The murder of King Henry IV was finally effected by the Jesuit lawyer Francois Ravaillac, on May, 14 1610, following the Edict of Nantes. This Edict gave freedom of worship to all Christians, and was vehemetely opposed by the Catholic Church. Paris writes: "On the 16th of May, 1610, on the eve of his campaign against Austria, he [Henry IV] was murdered by Ravaillac, in his own chamber." The entire plot was set up by the Jesuits: the duke of Epemon, who made the king read a letter while the assassin was laying in wait, was a notorious friend of the Jesuits. And Michelet has proved that they knew of this plot.

Ravaillac had given confession of his plans to the Jesuit Father d' Aubigny just before the assassination and, when the judges interrogated this Jesuit priest as to why he did not reveal his knowledge of the plot before hand, he merely replied that God had given him the gift to forget immediately what he heard in the confessional."

In fact, Ravaillac later confessed to having been inspired by the writings of [Jesuit] Fathers Mariana and Suarez. These two Jesuits sanctioned the murder of heretic "tyrants." Said the Jesuit doctor Filesac, Ravaillac's father confessor: "God be thanked... Ravaillac has died like a saint. I heard his confession;... and it is certain that he is in paradise.... the sacrament of confession, infallibly works out the salvation which conducts straightway to paradise, where he is now... Ravaillac will repose in the bosom of Abraham."

"Confessions And Trial Of Henry Garnet S.J.: Doctor Of The Five Ds" Codeword Barbelon book One by P.D. Stuart

https://www.facebook.com/billy.dunn.50767/posts/pfbid022xzD2gZAnhHt3dyMnxaYF8ToKBJVatNvk7Dds94WrLjw1RWWzV8NuJbpgZEEp7Til

The current rector is Cardinal Archpriest Angelo De Donatis, Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome.[4] The president of the French Republic, currently Emmanuel Macron, is ex officio the "First and Only Honorary Canon" of the archbasilica, a title that the heads of state of France have possessed since King Henry IV.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archbasilica_of_Saint_John_Lateran

With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

Revelation 17:2

"A famous Jesuit General Michael Angelo Tambourini once boasted, in 1720, to the Duke of Brissac: " See, My Grace [my Lord], from this room, I govern not only Paris, but China; not only China, but the whole world, without anyone knowing how it is managed."

"Andrew Steinmetz, History of the Jesuits, Vol. 1 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Lea and Blanchard Publ.,/New York: Richard Bentley, 1848), pp.107, 168-169; see also, Constitution of the Jesuits, edited by Paris Paulin (1843); Eugene Sue (Marie Joseph), The Wandering Jew, (London: Chapman and Hall, 1844/ New York; Harper & Brothers,, 1845), Bk I, Chap. XV, P. 183; see also, p. 618, and Bk. II, p. 21; Abrige de I'Hist. Eccles. de Racine, Chap. xii. P. 77." page 129 Chapter XII "Unhesitating Obedience: The General And The Holy Office" Codeword Barbelon book One by P.D. Stuart

"Steinmetz was fourteen years a Jesuit; see also, Constitutions of the Jesuits, ed. by P. Paulin (1843); Morale Pratique Des Jesuites: Histoire De La Persecution De deux Saints, Vol. I (Cologne, 1669), pp. 50 and 51." "Epilogue-For Such A Time As This"

Pope Francis Lord of the World by P.D. Stuart

The Roman numeral for 11 is XI:

Here are some rules for writing Roman numerals:

Add when smaller numerals follow larger numerals: For example, DI = D + I = 501.

Subtract when a smaller numeral precedes a larger numeral: For example, IX = X - I = 9.

Don't repeat the same letter more than three times in a row: V, L, and D can only appear once.

XI Jinping Exchanges Congratulatory Messages with French President Emmanuel Macron on the 60th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and France

2024-01-27 19:00

On January 27, 2024, President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory messages with French President Emmanuel Macron on the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Xi Jinping pointed out that 60 years ago, China and France broke the ice of the Cold War and bridged the divide between different blocs to establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level. This historical event has pushed the global landscape to evolve in the right direction of dialogue and cooperation, which still offers inspiration for today. Over the past 60 years, the two countries have adhered to making strategic choices independent of external influence and have always been committed to achieving common development through mutually beneficial cooperation, promoting mutual learning among civilizations through exchanges on an equal footing, and jointly addressing global challenges through multilateral coordination. Bilateral relations have created many firsts and yielded fruitful results, which have not only benefited the people of both countries but also played a vital role in maintaining global peace and stability, promoting a multipolar world, and advancing greater democracy in international relations.

Xi Jinping stressed that the world today has once again reached a critical crossroads. Facing the question of the times and of history on where the world should be headed, China and France, both as independent major countries and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, should stay true to the original aspiration of establishing diplomatic relations, shoulder their responsibility, undertake their mission, and jointly open up a path of peace, security, prosperity, and progress for human development. Attaching great importance to the development of bilateral relations, Xi Jinping said he stands ready to work with President Emmanuel Macron to take the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to uphold fundamental principles, break new ground, build on past achievements, open up a new future, and make China-France comprehensive strategic partnership more solid and dynamic, so as to make greater contributions to improving the well-being of the people of the two countries and the world.

Emmanuel Macron said in his congratulatory message that the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and China 60 years ago was a visionary and historic decision. In the face of unprecedented global challenges today, it is all the more important for France and China, as well as Europe and China, to work together in search of common solutions for global challenges. The year 2023 witnessed a comprehensive revitalization of France-China relations, and in 2024, cooperation between the two countries is expected to be further enhanced. Emmanuel Macron said he looks forward to working with President Xi Jinping to promote bilateral economic, trade, cultural, youth, and other exchanges and cooperation, strengthen communication and coordination on global issues, and continually deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between France and China so as to embrace the new 60 years of France-China relations with positive vitality.

https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/zxxx_662805/202401/t20240128_11234702

DIPLOMACY

Nave's Topical Bible

Results 1-23 of 23

INSTANCES OF » Of Abimelech (Genesis 21:22,23;26:26-31)

INSTANCES OF » The Gibeonites, in securing a treaty with the Israelites through deception (Joshua 9:3-16)

INSTANCES OF » Of Jephthah, with the king of Moab, unsuccessful (Judges 11:12-28)

INSTANCES OF » Of Abigail (1 Samuel 25:23-31)

INSTANCES OF » Of Hiram, to secure the good will of David (1 Samuel 5:11)

INSTANCES OF » Of Toi, to promote the friendship of David (1 Samuel 8:10)

INSTANCES OF » David, in sending Hushai Absalom's court (1 Samuel 15:32-37;16:15-19;17:1-14)

INSTANCES OF » The wise woman of Abel (1 Samuel 20:16-22)

INSTANCES OF » Absalom winning the people (1 Samuel 15:2-6)

INSTANCES OF » Solomon, in his alliance with Hiram (1 Kings 5:1-12;9:10-14,26,27;10:11)

INSTANCES OF » By intermarriage with other nations (1 Kings 1:1-5)

INSTANCES OF » Ambassadors from Ben-hadad to Ahab (1 Kings 20:31-34)

INSTANCES OF » Jehoash purchases peace from Hazael (1 Kings 12:18)

INSTANCES OF » Ahaz purchases assistance from the king of Assyria (1 Kings 16:7-9)

INSTANCES OF » Rab-shakeh, in trying to induce Jerusalem to capitulate by bombastic harangue (1 Kings 18:17-37;19:1-13; Isaiah 36:11-22)

INSTANCES OF » Sanballat, in prevent the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Nehemiah (Nehemiah 6)

INSTANCES OF » The people of Tyre and Sidon, in securing the favor of Herod (Agrippa I) (Acts 12:20-22)

INSTANCES OF » Paul, in arraying the Pharisees and Sadducees against each other at his trial (Acts 23:6-10)

INSTANCES OF » Paul, in circumcising Timothy (Acts 16:3)

INSTANCES OF » Paul, in performing certain temple services to placate Jewish believers (Acts 21:20-25; with Galatians 6:12)

INSTANCES OF » Corrupt practices in: The officers of Nebuchadnezzars court to secure the destruction of Daniel (Daniel 6:4-15)

General scriptures concerning (1 Corinthians 9:20-23)

See TACT

https://www.biblegateway.com/topical/Diplomacy/Nave

Joshua 9:3-16

1599 Geneva Bible

3 ¶ But the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho, and to Ai.

4 And therefore they wrought craftily: for they went, and feigned themselves ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and old bottles for wine, both rent and [a]bound up,

5 And old shoes and clouted upon their feet: also the raiment upon them was old, and all their provision of bread was dried, and molded.

6 So they came unto Joshua into the host to Gilgal, and said unto him, and unto the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make a league with us.

7 Then the men of Israel said unto the [b]Hivites, It may be that thou dwellest among us, how then can I make a league with thee?

8 And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. Then Joshua said unto them, Who are ye, and whence come ye?

9 And they answered him, From a very far country thy servants are come for [c]the Name of the Lord thy God: for we have heard his fame and all that he hath done in Egypt,

10 And all that he hath done to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which were at Ashtaroth.

11 Wherefore our Elders, and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take vittles [d]with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: now therefore make ye a league with us.

12 This our [e]bread we took it hot with us for victuals out of our houses, the day we departed to come unto you: but now behold, it is dried, and it is molded.

13 Also these bottles of wine which we filled, were new, and lo, they be rent, and these our garments and our shoes are old, by reason of the exceeding great journey.

14 ¶ And the [f]men accepted their tale concerning their victuals, and counseled not with the mouth of the Lord.

15 So Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, that he would suffer them to live: also the Princes of the Congregation swore unto them.

16 ¶ But at the end of three days, after they had made a league with them, they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they dwelt among them.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Joshua 9:4 Because they were all worn.

Joshua 9:7 For the Gibeonites and the Hivites were all one people.

Joshua 9:9 Even the idolaters for fear of death will pretend to honor the true God, and receive his religion.

Joshua 9:11 Hebrew, in your hand.

Joshua 9:12 The wicked lack no art, nor spare no lies to set forth their policy, when they will deceive the servants of God.

Joshua 9:14 Some think that the Israelites ate of their victuals, and so made a league with them.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua%209:3-16

What the Bible says about Diplomacy

(From Forerunner Commentary)

Matthew 17:25

Peter appears concerned that Jesus would not be esteemed a good Jew if He did not pay the tax. Not wanting to bring dishonor and danger on Him, he acknowledges Jesus' liability to pay the taxes as if He were a mere son of Israel. His reply implies that Jesus had paid the tax and would continue to do as every devout Jew should.

When Peter enters the house, Jesus immediately asks him about taxation: "From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?" This demonstration of Christ's knowing what Peter had discussed elsewhere proves to the disciple that His divine omniscience is not limited by distance.

Peter answers the question with the only possible answer, "From strangers," and Jesus replies, "Then the sons are free." He refers to Peter and Himself as both sons of the Father, the Sovereign of the Temple, and therefore, free from the tax. However, rather than cause offense, Jesus arranges for the money to be found in a most miraculous way.

Technically, Peter errs about the legality of taxing the Son of God, but Jesus uses the principle of not needlessly offending a brother (Luke 17:1-2) to positively express His divinity and spiritual power: He performs a miracle. Christ is so considerate that He would rather pay any amount, however unjust or objectionable, than endanger God's work by unnecessarily provoking negative comments that would hurt its credibility, saying, "lest we offend them" (Matthew 17:27). His example should inspire us for when we feel slighted or taken advantage of (Romans 14:21-22).

Martin G. Collins

The Miracles of Jesus Christ: The Coin in the Fish's Mouth

Matthew 18:15

What should we do when we think we see a problem? God is very clear on the procedure. Matthew 18:15 says we should go to our brother, alone, privately. Discuss the concern with him and him alone. These steps work to correct problems that sometimes occur—if they are followed. We know what to do, but we do not always practice what we know.

Our focus should always be on solving the problem, not just talking about it, condemning it, or gossiping about it. Get as few people involved in the matter as possible—in fact, no one else needs to know about it unless it escalates. Concentrate on the matter at hand and do not bring up bygones. Do not burn any bridges or threaten the other with ultimatums. Remember that you are trying to gain your brother, not lose him!

Staff

Confessions of a Finger-Pointer

Matthew 18:15

Matthew 18:15 instructs us to deal honestly with a brother over an offense, and not to tell it to others. This is also a great challenge. When irritated or offended, the first thing we want to do is to talk about it! We want to receive encouragement, comfort, understanding, or just get it off our chests. It is critical, though, for us to temper our honesty with the loving attributes of God's Spirit, and solve our differences with words that heal, encourage, and enable greater affection to grow. Honesty may at times require forgiveness and forbearance that neglect and lying might let slide by.

Staff

Are You Sharp-Tongued? (Part Two)

Matthew 18:16

Jesus quotes this principle of appropriate judgment from Deuteronomy 19:15.

How do we go about this? We find another church member, or two if necessary, and we ask them to become involved. They should be members who are not gossip-mongers and whose word is reliable. An unbiased person is best in many ways. However, on the other hand, it is wise to have a person who to some extent agrees about the offense. Perhaps he has been offended in a similar way by the same offender in the past.

This is where it can become tricky. Be very careful! Do not be hasty! It should not be our intention to start a war over this. Nor do we want to split the "protective island" of our congregation into two opposing camps. Neither do we want to be accused of gossip.

At the very beginning of the first step, we should have advised the offender that we were bringing this to him in accordance with Jesus' instructions in Matthew 18. If Step Number One does not work, then we should tell him again that, according to Jesus' command, we need to take it to Step Number Two, and that we wish to involve another person or persons. Be gentle! Be diplomatic!

Now, what if the offender refuses to resolve the problem even when we, the offended, are backed by our "two witnesses"? That is when we must involve "the church." (Matthew 18:17)

Staff

Islands and Offenses

Acts 17:22

If we read between the lines, Paul may be saying, "You people are better than I am in your devotion to spiritual things."

Instead of "religious," the King James Version uses the word "superstitious," which has undergone what linguists call "semantic drift." In Shakespeare's day and King James' time, this word did not have the negative association as it has now.

From the context of the account in Acts 17, it becomes quite clear that the apostle Paul was not, as some Protestant theologians like to characterize him, a feisty, wrangling, argumentative hothead. If that were the case, the philosophers of Athens, who vastly outnumbered him, could have made short work out of this smart aleck. Obviously, from their attention to his speech, they did not think of him this way.

David F. Maas

Godly Tact and Diplomacy

Acts 17:22

If we were to read between the lines, Paul might be saying, "You Athenians are to be commended for your devotion to spiritual things." The King James' rendering of "religious" as "superstitious" exposes the latter word as having undergone what linguists call semantic drift. In Shakespeare's day and King James' time, this word did not have the negative connotation as it does now.

From the context of this account, it is plain that the apostle Paul was not, as some theologians like to characterize him, a feisty, wrangling, argumentative hothead. The men of Athens, who vastly outnumbered Paul and loved a good philosophical debate, could have made short work out of any know-it-all smart aleck. The apostle Paul was thus lavish in his compliments.

Throughout his ministry, he frequently resorted to diplomatic language. At one point, he acknowledged a cultural debt both to the Greeks and to barbarians (Romans 1:14). In addition to complimenting strangers, Paul continually sought out similarities he shared between him and other groups. In a conflict in which both the Sadducees and the Pharisees were breathing fire down his neck, Paul masterfully ingratiated himself to the Pharisees, reminding them that he and they shared the same view on the resurrection (Acts 23:6-8). Paul, to the right people, let it be known that he was a Roman citizen (Acts 16:37-39; 22:25-29).

We also need to find common ground, not only with people in the other groups of the church of God, but with the world at large, emphasizing (like mountains) the things we agree upon and de-emphasizing (like molehills) the things we disagree upon.

In the process of finding common ground, we dare not compromise our core values or syncretize them with the world. We should instead practice more of what one late church of God minister counseled, "You don't have to tell all you know." Oftentimes, keeping our traps shut is the most diplomatic behavior of all (Ecclesiastes 3:7; Lamentations 3:28-29; Amos 5:13).

David F. Maas

How to Conduct Ourselves as Ambassadors for Christ

1 Corinthians 8:9-13

The apostle Paul was fully aware that others studied and imitated his example, so he was very careful about how he appeared to the members of the church. I Corinthians 8:9-13 contains a fine example of his circumspect living.

The overall subject of this passage is meat offered to idols. After sacrificing an animal in the temples, the pagan priests often sold the surplus meat to local merchants, who included it along with other meat at his stall in the marketplace. Some felt that meat was meat, and since there is only one true God, the meat offered to a man-made image was perfectly fine to eat. Others who were new in the faith or more sensitive to issues of spiritual contamination, believed that to eat such meat placed them in fellowship with—and they were thus defiled by—the false god, a demon, to which it had been offered.

Verse 10 shows that some Christians would even eat meat in the pagan temple! The new or sensitive Christian, seeing this—and perhaps having recently rejected that false religion—would suffer a weakening of his conscience or his faith. In an extreme case, he might even return to his paganism and be lost (verse 11)!

Paul, however, provides the correct example in verses 12-13. Notice the apostle's starting point: Such a sin against a brother in Christ is a sin against Christ Himself! It is that serious! However "legal" eating the meat might be under God's law, the more important point is that the effect of one's actions on a brother's character takes precedence. Paul's conclusion, then, is that he would never even give the appearance of sin if it would harm a brother in the faith.

Is this not the love of God in action? God's love manifests itself in thoughts, words, and deeds of care and concern for our brethren (I John 4:7-11, 21-5:1). It should be our motivation in walking circumspectly, setting a right example and never giving even a hint of evil in our way of life. If we do these things, to our amazement we will prove to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world!

John O. Reid

Abstaining From Evil

1 Corinthians 9:19-22

Does this mean that Paul would compromise with God's law under special circumstances? Absolutely not! Does he endorse "situation ethics"? Absolutely not! Does Paul embrace syncretism? Absolutely not!

Paul understands that we need to guard and protect jealously certain core beliefs such as God's laws and statutes, which we hold as non-negotiable. But we find a rather wide variety of marginal beliefs (such as choice of music, automobile, food, clothing, etc.) upon which we can compromise without sin.

The apostle Paul had a keen sense of what part of his belief structure was negotiable and what was not. He had the knack to make things that he and other people agreed upon to seem like mountains and those he and others disagreed upon seem like molehills.

In I Corinthians 6:12, He expresses the realization that just because something was lawful does not mean it is the thing to do—especially if it will offend someone. In Romans 14, Paul sets some guidelines on dealing with marginal issues. If becoming a vegetarian or a teetotaler for a day proves the price of peace and not offending, he considers it a small price to pay.

David F. Maas

Godly Tact and Diplomacy

2 Corinthians 12:11-13

The apostle Paul, despite his cautions to Timothy (see II Timothy 2:23; I Timothy 6:3-5), realized at one point that if he did not challenge the foolish challenges of his enemies (concerning his apostolic authority and methods), naïve members of the Corinthian congregation might believe them. His lengthy answer spans II Corinthians 11 and 12.

Obviously, Paul felt extremely uncomfortable about answering these allegations, as is evidenced by his self-effacing reference to himself as a fool, but he also realized that his silence would have tacitly endorsed the charges. Likewise, our Savior, when confronted about His identity and credentials, knew the timing was right to put the gainsaying Pharisees in their place (John 8:52-58).

As one minister said, "If you are going to preach a warning message, you had better be mindful of your exit strategies, or be prepared to die on that hill of battle." There certainly are times when diplomacy fails and silence is no longer appropriate. Our society is replete with foolish teachings, ideas, theories, and misconceptions—both secular and religious—and under the right circumstances, they should be confronted and shown to be false, lest they be accepted as factual.

As maturing Christians, we must learn to discern when it is proper to answer a fool according to his folly (in the manner his foolishness deserves), and when it is a bad idea to answer a fool according to his folly (lowering ourselves to his undignified level). The right exercise of God's Spirit in us, which Paul calls "the mind of Christ" (I Corinthians 2:16), provides the potential to have and use this ability.

David F. Maas

https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/topical.show/RTD/cgg/ID/1545/Diplomacy.htm

Romans 14

1599 Geneva Bible

14 1 He willeth that we so deal with the weak in faith, 2, 5 that through our fault they be not offended. 10 And on the other side he commandeth them not rashly to judge of the stronger: 19 That within the bounds of edification 20 and charity. 22 Christian liberty may conflict.

1 Him [a]that is weak in the faith, [b]receive unto you, but not for [c]controversies of disputations.

2 [d]One [e]believeth that he may eat of all things: and another, which is weak, eateth herbs.

3 [f]Let not him that eateth, despise him that eateth not: and let not him which eateth not, condemn him that eateth: for [g]God hath received him.

4 [h]Who art thou that condemnest another man’s servant? he standeth or falleth to his own master: yea, he shall be established: for God is able to make him stand.

5 [i]This man esteemeth one day above another day, and another man counteth every day alike: [j]let [k]every man be fully persuaded in his mind.

6 [l]He that [m]observeth the day, observeth it to the Lord: and he that observeth not the day, observeth it not to the [n]Lord. He that [o]eateth, eateth to the Lord: [p]for he giveth God thanks: and he that eateth [q]not, eateth not to the Lord, and giveth God thanks.

7 [r]For none of us liveth to [s]himself, neither doth any die to himself.

8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord: or whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lords.

9 For Christ therefore died and rose again, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and the quick.

10 [t]But why dost thou condemn thy brother? or why dost thou despise thy brother? for we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

11 For it is written, [u]I live, saith the Lord, and every knee shall bow to me, and all tongues shall [v]confess unto God.

12 So then everyone of us shall give accounts of himself to God.

13 [w]Let us not therefore judge one another anymore: but use your judgment rather in [x]this that no man put an occasion to fall, or a stumbling block before his brother.

14 [y]I know, and am persuaded through the [z]Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of [aa]itself: but unto him that judgeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

15 But if thy brother be grieved for the meat, now walkest thou not charitably: [ab]destroy not him with thy meat, for whom [ac]Christ died.

16 [ad]Cause not your commodity to be evil spoken of.

17 [ae]For the kingdom of God, is not meat nor drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the holy Ghost.

18 For whosoever in [af]these things serveth Christ, is acceptable unto God, and is approved of men.

19 [ag]Let us then follow those things which concern peace, and wherewith one may edify another.

20 Destroy not the work of God for meat’s sake: all things indeed are pure: but it is evil for the man which eateth with offense.

21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or made weak.

22 [ah]Hast thou [ai]faith? have it with thyself before God: blessed is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he [aj]alloweth.

23 For he that [ak]doubteth, is condemned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: and whatsoever is not of faith, is sin.

Footnotes

Romans 14:1 Now he showeth how we ought to behave ourselves toward our brethren in matters and things indifferent, offending in the use of them, not of malices or damnable superstition, but for lack of knowledge of the benefit of Christ. And thus he teacheth that they are to be instructed gently and patiently, and so that we apply ourselves to their ignorance in such matters according to the rule of charity.

Romans 14:1 Do not for a matter or thing that is indifferent, and such as you may do or not do, shun his company, but take him to you.

Romans 14:1 To make him by your doubtful and uncertain disputations go away more in doubt than he came, or start back with a troubled conscience.

Romans 14:2 He propoundeth for an example, the difference of meats, which some thought was necessarily to be observed as a thing prescribed by the Law (not knowing that it was taken away) whereas on the contrary side, such as had profited in the knowledge of the Gospel, knew well that this schoolmastership of the Law was abolished.

Romans 14:2 Knows by faith.

Romans 14:3 In such a matter, saith the Apostle, Let neither them which know their liberty, proudly despise their weaker brother, neither let the unlearned crabbedly or frowardly condemn that, that they understand not.

Romans 14:3 The first reason: Because that seeing both he that eateth and he that eateth not, is notwithstanding the member of Christ, neither he which eateth not, can justly be condemned, neither he which eateth be justly condemned: Now the first proposition is declared in the sixth verse following.

Romans 14:4 Another reason which hangeth upon the former: why the ruder and more unlearned ought not to be contemned of the more skillful, as men without hope of salvation: Because, saith the Apostle, he that is ignorant today, may be endued tomorrow with further knowledge, so that he also may stand sure: Therefore it belongeth to God, and not unto man, to pronounce the sentence of condemnation.

Romans 14:5 Another example of the difference of days according to the law.

Romans 14:5 He setteth against this contempt, and hasty or rash judgments, a continual desire to profit, that the strong may be certainly persuaded of their liberty, of what manner and sort it is, and how they ought to use it: and again the weak may daily profit, lest either they abuse the gift of God, or these please themselves in their infirmity.

Romans 14:5 That he may say in his conscience, that he knoweth and is persuaded by Jesus Christ, that nothing is unclean of itself, and this persuasion must be grounded upon the word of God.

Romans 14:6 A reason taken from the nature of indifferent things, which a man may with good conscience do and omit: for seeing that the difference of days and meats was appointed by God, how could they, which as yet understood not the abrogating of the Law, and yet otherwise acknowledged Christ as their Savior, with good conscience neglect that which they knew was commanded of God? And on the contrary side, they that knew the benefit of Christ in this behalf, did with good conscience neither observe days nor meats. Therefore saith the Apostle, verse 10, Let not the strong condemn the weak for these things, seeing that the weak brethren are brethren notwithstanding. Now if any man would draw this doctrine to these our times and ages, let them know that the Apostle speaketh of such things indifferent, as they which thought them not to be indifferent, had a ground in the Law, and were deceived by simple ignorance: and not of malice (for to such the Apostles yielded not, no not for a moment) nor superstition, but of a religious fear of God.

Romans 14:6 Observeth precisely.

Romans 14:6 God shall judge whether he do well or no: And therefore you should rather strive about this, how every one of you will be allowed of God, than to think upon other men’s doings.

Romans 14:6 He that maketh no difference of meats.

Romans 14:6 So the Apostle showeth that he speaketh of the faithful, both strong and weak. But what if we have to do with infidels? Then must we here take heed of two things, as also is declared in the Epistle to the Corinthians. The one is, that we count not their superstitions among things indifferent, as they did which sat down to meat in Idols’ Temples: the other is, that then also when the matter is indifferent (as to buy a thing offered to idols, in the butcher’s shambles, and to eat it at home in a private banquet) we wound not the conscience of our weak brother.

Romans 14:6 He that toucheth not meats which he taketh to be unclean by the Law.

Romans 14:7 We must not stick, saith he, in the meat itself, but in the use of the meat, so that he is justly to be reprehended that liveth so, that he casteth not his eyes upon God. For both our life and our death is dedicated to him, and for this cause Christ hath properly died, and not simply, that we might eat this meat or that.

Romans 14:7 Hath respect to himself only, which the Hebrews utter after this sort, Doeth well to his own soul.

Romans 14:10 The conclusion: we must leave to God his right: and therefore in matters, which according as the conscience if affected, are either good or evil, the strong must not despise their weak brethren, much less condemn them. But this consequent cannot be taken of equal force in the contrary, to wit, that the weak should not judge the strong, because the weak do not know, that they which do not observe a day, and eat, observe it not to the Lord, and eat to the Lord, as the strong men know, that the weak which observe a day and eat not, observe the day to the Lord, and eat not to the Lord.

Romans 14:11 This is a form of an oath, proper to God only, for he and none but he liveth, and hath his being of himself.

Romans 14:11 Shall acknowledge me from God.

Romans 14:13 After that he hath concluded what is not to be done, he showeth what is to be done: to wit, we must take heed that we do not utterly cast down with abusing our liberty, our brother who is not yet strong.

Romans 14:13 He rebuketh by this way, these malicious judgers of others, which occupy their heads about nothing, but to find fault with their brethren’s life, whereas they should rather bestow their wits upon this, that they do not with their disdainfulness either cast their brethren clean down, or give them some offense.

Romans 14:14 The preventing of an objection: It is true that the schoolmastership of the Law is taken away by the benefit of Christ, to such as know it, but yet notwithstanding we have to consider in the use of this liberty what is expedient, that we may have regard of our weak brother, seeing that our liberty is not lost thereby.

Romans 14:14 By the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, or by the Lord Jesus, who I am sure brake down the wall at his coming.

Romans 14:14 By nature.

Romans 14:15 It is the part of a cruel mind to make more account of meat, than of our brother’s salvation. Which thing they do, that presume to eat with offense of any brother, and so give him occasion to go back from the Gospel.

Romans 14:15 Another argument: We must follow Christ’s example: who was so far from destroying the weak with meat, that he gave his life for them.

Romans 14:16 Another argument: for that by this means the liberty of the Gospel is evil spoken of, as though it openeth the way to attempt any thing whatsoever, and boldeneth us to all things.

Romans 14:17 A general reason, and the ground of all the other arguments: The kingdom of heaven consisteth not in these outward things, but in the study of righteousness, and peace, and comfort of the holy Ghost.

Romans 14:18 He that liveth peaceably, and doeth righteously, through the holy Ghost.

Romans 14:19 A general conclusion: The use of this liberty, yea and our whole life, ought to be referred to the edifying of one another, insomuch that we esteem that thing unlawful by reason of the offense of our brother, which is of itself pure and lawful.

Romans 14:22 He giveth a double warning in these matters, one, which pertaineth to the strong, that he which hath obtained a sure knowledge of this liberty, keep that treasure to the end he may use it wisely and profitably as hath been said: the other which respecteth the weak, that they do nothing rashly by other men’s example with a wavering conscience, for that cannot be done without sin, whereof we are not persuaded by the word of God, that he liketh, and approveth it.

Romans 14:22 He showed before verse 14 what he meaneth by faith, to wit, for a man to be certain and out of doubt in matters and things indifferent.

Romans 14:22 Embraceth.

Romans 14:23 Reasoneth with himself.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2014&version=GNV

carolruth@worldasvillage.org

Search This Blog

Protestant Historical Institute of the Society of Jesus

Biden’s National Park Service blocks Knights of Columbus’ Memorial Day Mass at Virginia cemetery

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fox News Host Faults 'The Native Americans' for California Fires

Raoul and The Kings of Spain

Why Trump can’t build iPhones in the US