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  Now That Francis Has Created Congar’s “Different Church,” Can We Stop Calling it Catholic?
Posted by: Stone - 09-09-2023, 06:57 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism - No Replies

NB: Archbishop Lefebvre has called the Conciliar Church a schismatic Church since the 1970's, this is not a new understanding of what is happening. It is only in light of the extreme applications of Vatican II under Pope Francis that this schism is more apparent!

Just a few examples of Archbishop Lefebvre making it clear that the Conciliar Church is schismatic:

  • "This Council represents, in our view and in the view of the Roman authorities, a new Church which they call the Conciliar Church." (Le Figaro, August 4, 1976)

  • "It is not we who are in schism but the Conciliar Church." (Homily preached at Lille, August 29, 1976)

  • “What could be clearer? We must henceforth obey and be faithful to the Conciliar Church, no longer to the Catholic Church. Right there is our whole problem: we are suspended a divinis by the Conciliar Church, the Conciliar Church, to which we have no wish to belong! That Conciliar Church is a schismatic church because it breaks with the Catholic Church that has always been. It has its new dogmas, its new priesthood, its new institutions, its new worship… The Church that affirms such errors is at once schismatic and heretical. This Conciliar Church is, therefore, not Catholic. To whatever extent Pope, Bishops, priests, or the faithful adhere to this new church, they separate themselves from the Catholic Church.” (Archbishop Lefebvre, Reflections on his suspension a divinis, July 29, 1976)



✠ ✠ ✠



Now That Francis Has Created Congar’s “Different Church,” Can We Stop Calling it Catholic?

[Image: d195acc9e9413758bf38723ff4f3e0a0_L.jpg]


Robert Morrison | Remnant Columnist | September 4, 2023


“Like the child who takes a perverse pleasure in destroying, it seems that Congar had no greater joy in life than that of witnessing the dilapidation of the treasure of the Church and the destruction of the unity of the Mystical Body of Christ.” (Fr. Dominique Bourmaud, One Hundred Years of Modernism)

When Francis reconvenes the Synod on Synodality in Rome on October 4, 2023, the world will see how much progress he has made in completing the plans for “a different church” he announced almost two years ago:

Quote:“Dear brothers and sisters, may this Synod be a true season of the Spirit!  For we need the Spirit, the ever new breath of God, who sets us free from every form of self-absorption, revives what is moribund, loosens shackles and spreads joy. The Holy Spirit guides us where God wants us to be, not to where our own ideas and personal tastes would lead us. Father Congar, of blessed memory, once said: ‘There is no need to create another Church, but to create a different Church’ (True and False Reform in the Church). That is the challenge. For a ‘different Church,’ a Church open to the newness that God wants to suggest, let us with greater fervour and frequency invoke the Holy Spirit and humbly listen to him, journeying together as he, the source of communion and mission, desires: with docility and courage.” (Francis, October 9, 2021, Address to Open the Synod)

Many faithful Catholics have managed to ignore the Synod on Synodality thus far, but those who now want a primer on the Synod need look no further than these words from Francis about Congar’s inspiration. Fr. Matthias Gaudron’s description of Yves Congar in his The Catechism of the Crisis in the Church provides enough detail on the man to alert us to the likelihood of wickedness involved with any project following his lead:

Quote:“Subject to strict surveillance after 1947 (he would later say: ‘From the beginning of 1947 until the end of 1956, I experienced nothing but an uninterrupted series of denunciations, warnings, restrictive or discriminatory measures, and mistrustful interventions’), he cleaved to the same ideas (in his intimate diary, he relates that twice while at Rome he went to urinate against the door of the Holy Office as a sign of revolt!). Nevertheless, Yves Congar was summoned as an expert to Vatican II by John XXIII and greatly influenced the Council. John Paul II named him cardinal in October 1994.” (p. 36)

As filthy as it was for Congar (“of blessed memory”) to urinate on the door of the Holy Office, he actually treated the Catholic Faith with even less respect, which is why he had been “subject to strict surveillance” by the Church during the pontificate of Pius XII. Here, for instance, is how he praised one of the Church’s greatest enemies:

Quote:“Luther is one of the greatest religious geniuses of all history. In this regard I put him on the same level as St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, or Pascal. In a certain way, he is even greater. He entirely rethought Christianity . . . I studied Luther a lot. Scarcely a month goes by without my revisiting his writings.” (The Catechism of the Crisis in the Church, p. 36)

Unfortunately, Congar’s studies of Luther allowed him to learn the all-important lesson of keeping the “reforms” within the bounds necessary to avoid being censured — Congar thus learned how to push the limits of heterodoxy. That is the critical insight of the book Francis cited as inspiration for his push to “create a different church.”

As we can see from the Synod’s first two years, Francis and those leading the Synod have already created a different church, one that no longer resembles the Catholic Church:

Church Identification. The Synod’s Instrumentum Laboris for the October 2023 meeting has 114 references to the “Synodal Church” and 26 references to the “Catholic Church,” most of which are simply to identify the “Eastern Catholic Church.” By giving the “different church” a new name, Francis has made it much simpler for us to discern that the Synodal Church definitely is not the Catholic Church.

Membership. In his 1943 encyclical, Mystici Corporis, Pius XII clearly explained the membership of the Catholic Church:

Quote:“Actually only those are to be included as members of the Church who have been baptized and profess the true faith, and who have not been so unfortunate as to separate themselves from the unity of the Body, or been excluded by legitimate authority for grave faults committed.” (Mystici Corporis, §22)

Conversely, the Synodal Church has a much more amorphous membership, which appears to include all baptized people:

Quote:“[A] synodal Church is founded on the recognition of a common dignity deriving from Baptism, which makes all who receive it sons and daughters of God, members of the family of God, and therefore brothers and sisters in Christ, inhabited by the one Spirit and sent to fulfil a common mission.” (Instrumentum Laboris)

Throughout its documents, the Synod frequently suggests that its membership is synonymous with the People of God:

“Indeed, both synodality and ecumenism are rooted in the baptismal dignity of the entire People of God.” (Instrumentum Laboris)

As Fr. Dominique Bourmaud described in his One Hundred Years of Modernism, it was Congar who helped introduce this concept of the “People of God” in the Vatican II documents:

Quote:“To Congar, friend of Rahner, do we owe the schema of Lumen Gentium, which, with its famous ‘subsistit,’ claims that the separate Churches belong to the Church of Christ — pure heresy. Small wonder if equivocacy of terminology was rampant at the Council. Where the traditional magisterium dealt with the nature of the Church, Congar spoke instead of the mystery of the Church; where Pius XII consecrated the notion of member of the Mystical Body of Christ, Congar inserted Tyrrell’s vague notion of ‘communion of the People of God.’ Why? Because one is or is not a member of a body, but one can be more or less in communion.”

Thus, the Synodal Church does not explicitly reject Catholics, but it includes those who Pius XII (like his predecessors) always excluded from membership in the Catholic Church.

Missionary Spirit. The actual Catholic Church understands its relationship to the world in terms of the mission Our Lord gave it. Leo XIII described this mission in his 1885 encyclical on the Christian Constitution of States, Immortale Dei:

Quote:“For the only-begotten Son of God established on earth a society which is called the Church, and to it He handed over the exalted and divine office which He had received from His Father, to be continued through the ages to come. ‘As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you.’ ‘Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.’ Consequently, as Jesus Christ came into the world that men ‘might have life and have it more abundantly,’ so also has the Church for its aim and end the eternal salvation of souls, and hence it is so constituted as to open wide its arms to all mankind, unhampered by any limit of either time or place. ‘Preach ye the Gospel to every creature.’”

The world will hate us for trying to convert souls, but that will remain the Church’s mission until the consummation of the world.

As quoted by Fr. Bourmaud in One Hundred Years of Modernism, Congar rejected the Church’s mission, apparently because it opposed his heretical views:

Quote:“Today nobody can claim that any need to save souls from hell is what accounts for the missions. God saves them without their knowing the Gospel. Otherwise we should all leave for China.” (Fr. Bourmaud cited the following for this quote from Congar: Jean Puyo, Jean Puyo Interroge le Père Congar: Une Vie pour la Vérité (Paris: Centurion, 1975))

Crucially, it appears that Congar could not have expressed this heretical rationale for abandoning proselytism in his True and False Reform of the Church without compromising his unholy undertaking of reforming the Church, so he crafted the thoroughly disingenuous position that trying to convert souls is bad because Catholics may begin to place too much weight on seeing the fruits of their labors:

Quote:“Some time ago I published a study on proselytism and evangelization in which I made a contrast between two attitudes that we can adopt. Using these two terms, we can see how we pursue the success of the institution of which we are ministers (proselytism) rather than seeking the spiritual good of others and their grounding and progress in Christ (evangelization). Looking at our real motives and the spirit of our actions, we perceive sometimes that we have allowed ourselves to be overtaken by enthusiasm and by a preoccupation with what is easy and immediate. So ultimately what we’re looking for, it seems, is converts to our group, numbers in our organizations, growing influence, and the support of influential people.”

So, according to Congar, we should not try to convert souls to the Church because we might be motivated by seeing large numbers of converts. He makes it seem as though Our Lord did not understand human nature when He gave the Church its mission! Congar surely knew how to work wonders with his malicious sophistry, much to the detriment of the Mystical Body of Christ.

Although Francis routinely condemns proselytism, the Instrumentum Laboris does not directly condemn proselytism but instead follows Congar in speaking of the Synodal Church’s missionary spirit in terms of evangelization:

Quote:“As a synodal Church, we are called to discern together the steps we should take to fulfill the mission of evangelization, emphasizing the right of all to participate in the life and mission of the Church and drawing forth the irreplaceable contribution of all the Baptized.”

Obviously there is no reason for the Synodal Church to convert souls to the Catholic Church. Tragically, it will be naive Catholics who are convinced to leave the Catholic Church to follow the Synodal Church.

Movement and Fluidity. The first sentence of Instrumentum Laboris describes the spirit of movement that animates the Synod: “The People of God have been on the move since Pope Francis convened the whole Church in Synod in October 2021.” Similarly, the Synod’s Document for the Continental Stage (DCS) spoke of the movement as a journey:

Quote:“The DCS will be understandable and useful only if it is read with the eyes of the disciple, who recognizes it as a testimony to the path of conversion toward a synodal Church.”

Essentially this “path of conversion” boils down to Catholics transmogrifying into anti-Catholics (like Francis, Cupich, McElroy, Martin, Hollerich, Grech, etc.) without having any suspicion that they have lost the Catholic Faith.

Congar spoke of this same process as one of “becoming”:

Quote:“‘Becoming’ means opening the mind to new dimensions of reality; failing or refusing to do that constitutes a new kind of moral category—a historical fault—a sin against the truth that reality has this dimension of becoming. Further, this is a collective failure, a historical-social failure of responsibility.”

This is one of those statements from Congar that is so ludicrously anti-Catholic that we can truly understand Fr. Bourmaud’s observation that Congar was “like the child who takes a perverse pleasure in destroying.” And yet he was one of the most influential experts at the Council, a Cardinal, and now the inspiration behind Francis’s Synodal Church.

Catholicism, on the other hand, does not involve any evolution of the Faith. Indeed, St. Pius X condemned the following proposition in his 1907 Encyclical Condemning the Errors of the Modernists, Lamentabili Sane:

Quote:“The organic constitution of the Church is not immutable. Like human society, Christian society is subject to a perpetual evolution.”

We see the immutable aspect of the Faith so clearly when we notice that the pre-Vatican II popes could always cite the popes and saints of the Church’s entire history to support their positions. Conversely, today’s “authorities” rarely cite anything other than Vatican II and John Paul II.

Content and Source of Beliefs. Naturally, the distinction between the Catholic Church’s immutable Faith and the Synodal Church’s “becoming” will lead to vastly different beliefs. Congar spelled out the need for those differences in his True and False Reform in the Church:

Quote:“In antiquity, the world was stable and the ideal was to continue a tradition. The church was required to be faithful to itself and it hardly felt any need to pursue new human initiatives. By contrast, we have entered a world of perpetual change, marked by an evolution of events that the world interprets as progress. We have acquired a sense of history that is something other than, and more than, simply knowledge of past events; there is a feeling of progress in the world, of development in human affairs. No longer is the church the framework for the whole of social life; no longer does the church carry the world within itself like a pregnant mother. From now on the world stands before the church as an adult reality, ready to call the church to account. It no longer suffices for the church to verify its fidelity to its own tradition. The church now must face up to questions and criticisms with respect to its relationship to the world, to social values, to progress, and to social developments.”

So we who hold the Catholic Faith remain in the period of “antiquity” described by Congar, which is likely why Francis routinely denounces Traditional Catholics as backwards. Conversely, the “enlightened” followers of Congar are in-sync with the modern world.

Interestingly, Congar spoke of the “synodal principle” as the means by which a church could “respond to the living consensus of the whole body,” which ultimately translates into following the “predilections of the modern world”:

Quote:“This link between church reform and the synodal principle makes sense. It clearly expresses something fundamental. It is a question of linking together an initiative from the base to the action of the authorities, linking support from the bottom to the leadership of the organization. An assembly, whatever form it may take—chapter, synod, council, congress, palavers—is a place of dialogue where a common will can form and be asserted, and where authorities can respond to the living consensus of the whole body.”

Whereas the Catholic Church safeguards the beliefs Our Lord entrusted to it, the Synodal Church discovers its beliefs from the “living consensus of the whole body.” In 2023, that “living consensus of the whole body” prompts the Synodal Church to ask the most enlightened of all questions in its Instrumentum Laboris, such as:

“In the light of the Post- Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, what concrete steps are needed to welcome those who feel excluded from the Church because of their status or sexuality (for example, remarried divorcees, people in polygamous marriages, LGBTQ+ people, etc.)?”

As faithful Catholics, we can respond to this question with some of our own:
  • Does anyone other than Satan and anti-Catholics benefit from pretending that the Catholic Church and the Synodal Church are the same?
  • Given the fact that the Synodal Church is not the Catholic Church, can Catholics belong to both?
  • Can Francis preside over both the Synodal Church and the Catholic Church?
  • Can our good shepherds, with good conscience, fail to unequivocally denounce the Synodal Church?
It seems that the answers to each of these questions must be a resounding “no!” We still have good shepherds in the Church who know this. May God grant them the grace to see what is clear and have the courage to act upon it!

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!

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  China advances EMP weapons, military analysts’ report reveals
Posted by: Stone - 09-07-2023, 10:23 AM - Forum: Global News - No Replies

China advances EMP weapons, military analysts’ report reveals

[Image: russian_hackers_power_grid_26108_c0-458-...7095b02bb2]


Washington Times [slightly adapted] | September 6, 2023

Chinese military researchers have made significant advances in developing and testing strategic electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, weapons that can disable electronics on U.S. warplanes and even entire military bases, according to a report by three open-source intelligence analysts.

Electronic controls for U.S. critical infrastructure, including the electric grid, could also be vulnerable to Chinese EMP arms, resulting in catastrophic losses, according to a new report on the threat.

China‘s rapid advancements in the field of EMP weaponry have emerged as a significant concern for the strategic landscape of global security, particularly concerning the vulnerabilities of U.S. military and civilian operations,” the report states.

The report, “There’s Darkness in the Distance: The Rising Threat of China‘s EMP Weapons to U.S. Defenses and Critical Infrastructure,” was published Wednesday by military and intelligence analysts L.J. Eads, Ryan Clarke and Xiaoxu Sean Lin. The three researchers specialize in studying Chinese military and arms programs as part of a program called the Chinese Communist Party BioThreats Initiative.

An electromagnetic pulse is radiating energy first discovered during nuclear detonations. The pulses can destroy or damage electronic systems over wide areas.

According to the report, a 2020 military report states that China has a device called a high-powered magnetic pulse compressor that generates strong EMP pulses that can damage sensitive electronics.

The device poses “a considerable threat to intelligent military equipment,” the report said. A photo of the device was published in the report.

A weaponized EMP machine like the compressor could disable electronic equipment, neutralize defense systems and cripple communications. China could also employ EMP attacks against Taiwan in the first stage of a military assault against the island, the report said.

A second Chinese military research report, also from 2020, reveals that Beijing destroyed micro inertial sensors that are used in advanced weapons and civilian systems that employ micro-electromechanical systems, or MEMS — tiny microchips that help power a large number of smart devices. The study showed that a pulse of 780 volts and a pulse amplitude of 4.23 amperes was able to burn the sensor microchip components.

“This threshold indicates the sensor’s vulnerability to electromagnetic pulses in warfare scenarios,” the report said.

The EMP weapon could destroy multiple systems on the Pentagon’s F-35 and F-22 jets, as well as the coming B-21 strategic bomber. All those rely on MEMS technology, including navigation systems, weapons systems and flight safety systems.

The radar systems on the warplanes could also be attacked by Chinese EMP weaponry, the report said.

The report also revealed China‘s development of a mobile, suitcase-sized directed energy weapon. The microwave active denial system was developed by the Chinese firm CETC International Co. Ltd. CETC was among the companies sanctioned by the Biden administration for its support of the Chinese military’s balloon surveillance program.

China could use its balloon fleet in the future to conduct strategic EMP attacks against the United States, “severely compromising the nation’s critical infrastructures and defense readiness,” the report warned. The electronic denial system can be deployed to disrupt military systems by jamming or disabling critical communications used in coordinating with allies, and also take down electronic surveillance and security systems at military bases prior to commando operations.

For civilian targeting, the electronic denial system can be used to disable vital infrastructure networks, “including power grids, transportation hubs, and communication networks,” the report said.

The electronic denial system could also be used as part of what the report calls China’s “neurostrike” weaponry — brain warfare attacks on people and entire populations. The authors of the paper stated in an earlier study that China‘s military is a global leader in developing brain warfare technology.

A review of China’s patent applications globally shows Beijing has filed large numbers of patent applications for high-power pulsed power sources, and high-power microwave source technologies.

International airfields, both military and civilian, are critical transportation nodes and are vulnerable to EMP attacks. Small weapons like China’s microwave active denial system thus pose a significant potential threat.

“An EMP attack targeting an airfield could create cascading effects that extend far beyond the immediate vicinity,” the report said.

Among the targets of EMP weapons are air traffic control systems, instrument landing and navigation systems and communications systems.

Critical infrastructure vulnerabilities also make EMP attacks on electric grids and communications networks attractive targets in a conflict. Power plants, substations and high-voltage lines could be hit with EMP and cause widespread blackouts. Electronic systems that control the electric grid are also vulnerable to EMP, which could cause overloads and produce equipment failures.

Cell towers, data centers and satellites can also be attacked electronically, causing massive disruptions.

Transportation networks are vulnerable as well. An EMP strike could disrupt rail traffic, airline communications and road traffic controls. EMP attacks also could cause financial damage, through attacks on the stock market or ATM machines.

“The potential devastation of an EMP attack on U.S. critical infrastructure is profound,” the report said. “The intertwined nature of these systems means that the failure of one could cascade to others.”

China is also developing EMP countermeasures, an indication that the military thinks the use of electromagnetic weapons will be an element of future warfare.

The report urges the military and the U.S. government to rapidly develop strategies and countermeasures to meet the Chinese EMP threat.

“In essence, while the EMP threat looms large, a combination of advanced materials science, innovative circuitry, and exhaustive intelligence efforts can fortify the U.S.’s defenses, ensuring continued operational capability even in the face of EMP adversity,” the report stated.

Robert McCreight, a former special operations officer and former State Department treaty negotiator, said the report reveals continuing challenges along the electromagnetic spectrum.

“This is a threat that the U.S. government urgently needs to address,” he told Inside the Ring.


New U.S. Army center to study ground forces in Asia

The Army recently announced plans for a new China Landpower Studies Center at the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. The center is unusual in that most research and planning for conflict with China has focused solely on nonterritorial war-fighting domains, mainly Navy and Air Force forces.

The new Army center will be similar to other niche military study centers at institutions such as the National Defense University, Air University and the Naval War College.

The new Army center will study the People’s Liberation Army and ground forces that form the core of the military’s efforts to build joint war-fighting power. The center will also study Chinese national policy and strategy and help Army leaders to better understand what is now viewed as America’s main adversary.

A land war with China was not a subject for U.S. military study in the past, and the new center is expected to further complicate Chinese military calculations regarding a future invasion of Taiwan.

The PLA must now factor in that any military assault on the island democracy will not be limited to naval and air counterattacks by U.S. forces. Now, the Army could play a major role in flowing ground forces to the island.

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  Archbishop defends giving Holy Communion to Muslim leader, citing Pope Francis and Vatican II
Posted by: Stone - 09-07-2023, 08:52 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism - Replies (1)

Archbishop defends giving Holy Communion to Muslim leader, citing Pope Francis and Vatican II
The event, despite Archbishop Steinmetz’s defense, is in violation of Catholic teaching on a fundamental level.

[Image: steinmetz-810x500.jpg]

Abp. Steinmetz giving Holy Communion to Sheik Mahairi
Screenshot

Sep 6, 2023
LONDRINA, Brazil (LifeSiteNews) — Citing Pope Francis’ writings restricting the traditional liturgy, a Brazilian archbishop gave Holy Communion to a Muslim cleric at a funeral for a recently deceased cardinal.

The news of a Muslim cleric receiving Holy Communion at the hands of a Catholic archbishop has sparked outrage.

On August 28, Archbishop Geremias Steinmetz of the Archdiocese of Londrina in Brazil gave Holy Communion to Sheik Ahmad Saleh Mahairi. The Mass was the funeral ceremony of recently deceased Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo, which Sheik Mahairi was attending due to having known Cardinal Angelo for many decades.

In live-streamed footage from the Mass, Steinmetz can be seen handing Holy Communion to Sheik Mahairi in the hand. The action causes several priests and altar servers in the Communion line to stare at the Sheik, who passes out of camera shot holding the Host in his hand.

With the incident causing controversy in local media outlets, Steinmetz issued a statement in which he defended handing Holy Communion to the Muslim leader.

The archbishop noted that representatives of “different religious denominations” were in attendance, including Sheik Mahairi of the King Faiçal Mosque.

Describing Mahairi as friend of Cardinal Angelo’s since the 1980s, Steinmetz wrote:

Quote:Sheiki is a man known in various spheres of society and maintains a respectful relationship with the Catholic Church. He was also a friend of another archbishop of Londrina, the late Don Albano Cavallin, with whom he had a close relationship. As a friend he participated in the Eucharistic celebration and, entering the communion line, received the body of Christ.

Steinmetz sought to excuse the action somewhat by stating how the images only showed the Muslim receiving Holy Communion, but not actually “consuming it.”

Following the “repercussions of these images,” Steinmetz stated he tasked the archdiocesan Vicar General to “talk to Sheiki to clarify the situation.”

The Sheik reportedly told the Vicar General that told the vicar general that he did not intend to “disrespect the Catholic Church,” revealing that he did in fact consume the host when he sat down in his pew. He added that the deceased cardinal had explained “that the Eucharist is the body of Jesus, considered a prophet for Islam.”


Nostra Aetate cited in defense

Seemingly unperturbed by the event, Steinmetz cited the Vatican II document Nostra Aetate – which has drawn criticism due to its permissive tolerance towards non-Catholic creeds – stating that the “Church also looks with esteem on Muslims.”

“They worship the One God, living and subsistent, merciful and omnipotent,” he continued in his quotation, but also acknowledged that Muslims do not recognize Christ as God.

In the words of Islam’s religious text itself, it can be noted that there is an outright rejection of many fundamental elements of Catholicism. Firstly, the Koran rejects the notion of God as Trinity; secondly, it rejects that God has a son, saying it is beneath Him to have one. Thirdly, Jesus is viewed simply as a messenger of God, thus it claims that Mary could not be the Mother of God.

With this in mind, Bishop Athanasius Schneider in his book-length interview Christus Vincit, stated “Islam in itself is not faith.”

The bishop continued by explaining that faith is only found in Christianity and “is applicable only to belief in the Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit … When someone does not believe in the Holy Trinity, he has no faith but simply natural religion.”

Likewise, Cardinal Raymond Burke stated in an August 2016 interview, that “I don’t believe it’s true that we’re all worshipping the same God, because the God of Islam is a governor.”


Pope Francis’ liturgical upheaval cited

Along with quoting Nostra Aetate, Steinmetz also drew from Pope Francis’ 2022 document on the liturgy, Desiderio Desideravi. “No one had earned a place at the Last Supper. Rather, they were invited, attracted, by the burning desire of Jesus himself to eat that Passover with them, whose lamb is himself,” said Steinmetz, paraphrasing sections 4 and 5 of the document.

He further cited section 6, which when read in natural continuity from sections 4 and 5, appears to suggest that one’s reception of Communion is allowed simply due to having listened to God’s word. Furthermore, the papal text argues that even the simple presence at Mass – regardless of adhering to the Catholic faith or not – is an expression of listening to God’s word, and consequently a justification for receiving Communion.

“What is certain is that all our communions in the Body and Blood of Christ were desired by him at the Last Supper,” wrote Francis.

“The Eucharistic celebration,” wrote Steinmetz, “teaches us the noble exercise of charity, nourishes meekness, leads us to fraternity and respect for all.”


Catholic teaching on reception of Communion

Notwithstanding such arguments drawing from Vatican II and Pope Francis, Catholic teaching is very clear on who is to be permitted to Holy Communion. Catholic moral teaching clearly outlines that the reception of Holy Communion is only for Catholics who have reached the age of reason and who have the proper disposition.
[...]

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  Bp. Strickland defends Catholic teaching condemning female ‘deacons’ in new pastoral letter
Posted by: Stone - 09-06-2023, 08:13 AM - Forum: In Defense of Tradition - No Replies

Bp. Strickland defends Catholic teaching condemning female ‘deacons’ in new pastoral letter
'As God did not call men to be mothers, God did not call women to be fathers, and to be sacramentally ordained as a minister for Christ in His Church, Our Lord calls for men to be spiritual fathers and bridegrooms to His bride, The Church. This role can only be filled by one properly ordered to this role.'

[Image: Screenshot-2023-01-20-114833-e1674215340552-810x500.jpg]

Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas
YouTube/Screenshot

Sep 5, 2023
(LifeSiteNews) – Bishop Jospeh Strickland of Tyler, Texas, has issued a pastoral letter today, September 5, 2023. Below is the full text.


My Dear Sons and Daughters in Christ:

I write to you today to discuss more fully the first basic truth that I spoke of in my first pastoral letter: “Christ established One Church—the Catholic Church—and, therefore, only the Catholic Church provides the fullness of Christ’s truth and the authentic path to His salvation for all of us.”

To begin, I must state clearly and emphatically this fundamental truth—Jesus Christ is the only path to everlasting life; no other path to salvation can be found! As Our Lord Himself tells us: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (Jn 14:6). In order that we might participate in that promise of everlasting life, Our Lord in His great mercy established the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. As we read in the Gospel of Matthew, Christ said: “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matt 16:18-19). The foundation and divine head of the Church is Jesus Christ; however, this passage makes it clear that Jesus is promising to establish a visible Church upon the earth with a visible head, Peter, to whom He will entrust a unique mission and a specific authority.

The Catholic Church IS the body of Christ, and He is inseparable from His body. The Church’s understanding of Christ’s words in Matthew has deepened throughout the ages, but in accordance with Sacred Tradition handed down from Christ to the Apostles (cf. 2 Thess 2:15), and then preserved and protected by the Church Fathers and saints and martyrs until today, it has always been understood and proclaimed that the Catholic Church is the single, divinely-instituted Church that Christ established for the salvation of souls. All that the Church is, as the mystical body of Christ, flows from the truth that it was, and is, divinely constituted by Christ, and her basic elements—which include the sacred Deposit of Faith—cannot be altered by men because it does not belong to men; the Church belongs to Christ!

St. Cyril of Jerusalem stated in A.D. 350: “The Church is called catholic then because it extends over all the world, from one end of the earth to the other; and because it teaches universally and completely the doctrines that ought to come to men’s knowledge, concerning things both visible and invisible, heavenly and earthly; and because it brings into subjection to godliness the whole race of mankind, governors and governed, learned and unlearned; and because it universally treats and heals the whole class of sins that are committed by soul or body, and possesses in itself every form of virtue that is named, both in deeds and words, and in every spiritual gift.”

Christ therefore established His Church for all people, for all time, for the salvation of all. There is no salvation apart from Christ and His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church; this is an infallible teaching of the Church. However, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and His Church.” As Catholics, we are lovingly and joyfully bound to the Church and to the seven sacraments instituted by Christ. These are essential for our salvation. Some may ask, however: “What about those outside the Church? What about those who have never heard of Christ? Can they be saved?” For those who are not united to Christ through His Church and through the grace of the sacraments, we simply pray for them and entrust them to God. Although we must never be presumptuous of God’s grace, we recognize that God is sovereign, and if in His mercy He would choose to operate in ways beyond our knowledge or understanding, He has full authority to operate however He chooses because He is not bound by anything other than His own perfect nature.

We ourselves must cling tightly to the Church and the sacraments as He gave them to us, but we must also pray always for souls outside the Church, that God offers His grace to those souls in ways unknown and unseen to us. However, I want to emphasize this point—if God would choose to offer grace beyond the normal sacramental means, we recognize that this grace would always still flow to every soul from Christ and through His Church in a mystical way. Therefore, anyone receiving and accepting God’s grace would never be saved through any other path or church or religion; there is One Savior, One Redeemer, for all mankind, and He established One Church for the salvation of souls.

God desires the salvation of all, but He does not force salvation upon any of us; it requires our cooperation and free assent to His grace. He calls each one of us to participate in His plan of salvation not only for ourselves, but for the world; this is the Great Commission: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Matt 28:19-20).

We live in an age of great interconnectedness where people across the globe can share and learn with each other as never before in human history. This is a great blessing in many respects as it opens the possibility of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ in ways not before possible. True ecumenism, however, is an open invitation to all people to experience and embrace the fullness of Christ and the Christian life which can be found only in the Catholic Church. This path, although difficult at times, is the only sure path to true everlasting love, grace, and life with God. It is false charity to tell people that regardless of what path they are on, it is God’s Will that they stay where they are because this does not call on people to embrace the one true path instituted by God for the salvation of souls. Therefore, the Church has a sacred obligation, borne of love, to evangelize all people.

Another topic that I want to discuss because it will reportedly be a topic of discussion at the upcoming Synod on Synodality is the divinely-instituted structure of the Church as it applies to ordination of women. As Sacred Scripture tells us, Christ ordained only men as apostles. Sacred Tradition and the Ordinary Magisterium of the Church have affirmed throughout the ages that the Church has no authority whatsoever to ordain women to the priesthood. This cannot be changed because Christ instituted a male priesthood in order to image Himself as the bridegroom with the Church as His bride. As St. John Paul II solemnly stated in his apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis: “I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.”

It is imperative to state, though, that Christ would never want a “lesser” role for women than He wants for men. Women have made and continue to make indispensable contributions in the history and life of the Church. From the greatest and most perfect of God’s creation in all of history, Our Blessed Mother, the Queen of Heaven and Earth; to some of the greatest saints and Doctors of the Church; to our holy and faithful women in religious orders and convents; to the countless women who have and continue to impart the faith to their families and communities; Christ instituted His Church in a way that calls for women to have “more” of a role in Him than could ever be found in the world. However, as God did not call men to be mothers, God did not call women to be fathers, and to be sacramentally ordained as a minister for Christ in His Church, Our Lord calls for men to be spiritual fathers and bridegrooms to His bride, The Church. This role can only be filled by one properly ordered to this role.

For those who would inquire about the potential for female deacons in the Catholic Church, I would offer this: Scripture tells us that from the earliest days of the Church, women served as faithful servants (Greek: diakonos) of the members of the Church. (cf. Rom 16:1). Historians and scholars tell us that women served in many important roles of service in the early Church, including acts of charity for the poor, caring for the sick, preparing other women for baptism, etc. However, we see in the Acts of the Apostles that there is another type of servant (diakonos) called specifically by the apostles and set apart from other servants in the Church; the apostles laid hands on these particular servants, and these servants then received a sacramental ordination to fulfill their unique role. Scripture tells us that the apostles said, “Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, who we appoint to this task.” (Acts 6:3). And then, “They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them.” (Acts 6:6). Although many (both men and women) have faithfully served the Church as servants/diakonos throughout history, the sacramental ordination to the diaconate—as one of the three degrees of the sacrament of Holy Orders (deacon, priest, bishop)—has always been reserved for baptized males alone. All three degrees act as instruments of Christ in persona Christi Capitis, (in the person of Christ as the Head), but with distinct functions for each office. Because sacramentally ordained deacons share in the apostolic ministry with priests and bishops, the Church has decreed that they must also be men, as were the apostles Jesus chose.

The Canons of the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) state in reference to women who have been granted a certain status of service: “We refer to deaconesses who have been granted this status, for they do not receive any imposition of hands, so that they are in all respects to be numbered among the laity.” (Canon No. 19).

In conclusion, I want to state that although the Church is holy because of her Founder and her divine origin, she is also made up of sinful members who are called constantly to repentance and conversion. However, there is a Church Triumphant in heaven that exists perfectly in her fullness in Christ in heaven where the heavenly marriage feast is eternally celebrated with God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who are eternally worshipped and adored. The choirs of angels, the Immaculate Virgin Mary, and all the saints eternally cry “Holy, Holy, Holy” before the throne of God.

It is important that we, as the Church Militant on earth, carry this truth and hope in our hearts as we strive to align ourselves and every aspect of the Church on this earth with her heavenly reality. Because of sin, both personal and communal, the Church Militant on earth falls short of the Church Triumphant in heaven, but it is our mission to strive always for holiness and by the grace of God to persevere until the end so that we might also join with the Church Triumphant. Part of this striving on earth consists in engaging in the spiritual battle that is taking place around us daily as many attempt to chip away or destroy altogether the Deposit of Faith.

My dear sons and daughters, be assured that angels surround us in this battle, and saints—especially Our Holy and Blessed Mother—offer their heavenly assistance as we seek the eternal prize Our Lord has won for us.

Remaining your humble father and servant,

Most Reverend Joseph E. Strickland
Bishop of Tyler, Texas

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  British Court Rules That Competent & Conscious Patient Can Be Denied Life-Sustaining Treatment
Posted by: Stone - 09-05-2023, 05:40 AM - Forum: General Commentary - Replies (1)

British Court Rules That Competent & Conscious Patient Can Be Denied Life-Sustaining Treatment Against Her Will


ZH |  SEP 04, 2023
Authored by Jonathan Turley

In my torts class, I often compare the different approaches and doctrines in the United States and the United Kingdom.

One of the most pronounced is the position and authority of physicians on issues like consent and malpractice. This week produced a particularly striking example.

British doctors are seeking to take a 19-year-old critically ill female patient off the intensive care despite her objections and those of her parents.

Unlike most such cases, the woman known only as “ST” is conscious and communicative.

Yet, the doctors argue that she is not being realistic about her chances of survival from a rare disorder.

Now a British court has agreed and ordered that she can be placed on end-of-life care against her will.

ST is suffering from a rare genetic mitochondrial disease that is progressively degenerative. The case has similarities to that of Charlie Gard, an infant who was removed from life support at the insistence of doctors despite objections from the parents. The Gard family was seeking to take Charlie to the United States for experimental treatment.

ST has been in the ICU for the past year, requiring a ventilator and a feeding tube. She also requires regular dialysis due to chronic kidney damage from her disease.

She wants to be allowed to travel to Canada for an experimental treatment but the doctors oppose the plan and say that she is not accepting the realities of her terminal illness.

They say that she is “actively dying” without any hope of resuming life outside of intensive care.

Her deeply religious family have spent their entire life savings on her care and has complained that a “transparency order” requested by the hospital barred their ability to give details on the case to help raise public funds.

What is so remarkable about this case is that it is not an infant or a comatose patient.

The court found that ST “is able to communicate reasonably well with her doctors with assistance from her mother and, on occasion, speech therapists.”

Moreover, two psychiatrists testified that she is mentally competent to make decisions about her own care.

Quote:Despite all the difficulties which currently confront her, ST is able to communicate reasonably well with her doctors with assistance from her mother and, on occasion, speech therapists. Over the course of the last week she has engaged in two separate capacity assessments. I heard evidence from two consultant psychiatrists whose conclusions in relation to her capacity in both domains are set out in full written reports. . . .

She has been described by those who know and love her as “a fighter”. That is how she sees herself. At the heart of the issues in this case is what ST and her family perceive to be a ray of hope in the form of an experimental nucleoside treatment outside the United Kingdom which might offer her hope of an improved quality of life, albeit a life which is likely to end prematurely in terms of a normal life expectancy. She has told her doctors that she wants to do everything she can to extend her life. She said to Dr C, one of the psychiatrists who visited her last week, “This is my wish. I want to die trying to live. We have to try everything”. [Court’s emphasis] Whilst she recognises that she may not benefit from further treatment, she is resistant to any attempt to move to a regime of palliative care because she wants to stay alive long enough to be able to travel to Canada or North America where there is at least the prospect that she may be accepted as part of a clinical trial. . . .

ST is well aware that she has been offered a very poor prognosis by her doctors. She acknowledges that they have told her that she will die but she does not believe them. She points to her recovery from previous life-threatening episodes whilst she has been a patient at the intensive care unit. She believes she has the resilience and the strength to stay alive for long enough to undergo treatment abroad and she wishes the court to acknowledge her right to make that decision for herself.

Nevertheless, the judge found that she is mentally incapable of making decisions for herself because “she does not believe the information she has been given by her doctors.”

The court appears to reject her ability to make this decision because she is making the wrong decision:

Quote:In my judgment . . . ST is unable to make a decision for herself in relation to her future medical treatment, including the proposed move to palliative care, because she does not believe the information she has been given by her doctors. Absent that belief, she cannot use or weigh that information as part of the process of making the decision. This is a very different position from the act of making an unwise, but otherwise capacitous, decision. An unwise decision involves the juxtaposition of both an objective overview of the wisdom of a decision to act one way or another and the subjective reasons informing that person’s decision to elect to take a particular course. However unwise, the decision must nevertheless involve that essential understanding of the information and the use, weighing and balancing of the information in order to reach a decision. In ST’s case, an essential element of the process of decision-making is missing because she is unable to use or weigh information which has been shown to be both reliable and true.

Accordingly, the court ruled that decisions about ST’s further care should be determined by the Court of Protection based on an assessment of her best interests. Her “best interest,” according to the doctors, is to die.

Thus, the courts have declared that ST cannot choose to continue life-extending treatment and can be forced into palliative care against her will.

The logic of the decision is chilling.

The court is told that ST has cognitive and communicative abilities to make such decisions. However, because the court disagrees with her desire to continue to fight to live, she is treated as effectively incompetent.

It seems like the judicial version of Henry Ford’s promise that customers could pick any color car so long as it is black.

Here is the opinion: In the Matter of ST

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  Pope Francis repeats the errors of V-II and Assisi Meetings on Equality of Religions
Posted by: Stone - 09-05-2023, 05:21 AM - Forum: Pope Francis - Replies (2)

Pope Francis urges Buddhists, Muslims, and Shamans to promote their religions during event in Mongolia
Speaking to Buddhist, Shinto, Shaman, Jewish, Muslim, and assorted Christian religious leaders, Pope Francis praised the assembled religions for being the continuation of 'ancient schools of wisdom.'

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Pope Francis greets Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh, September 2023.
Vatican News

Sep 4, 2023
ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (LifeSiteNews) – Speaking as part of an ecumenical gathering during his trip to Mongolia, Pope Francis quoted from Buddhist texts while arguing that “every religious institution” has “the right to freely express what it is and what it believes.”

He urged gathered non-Catholic religious leaders to promote their own religions, saying:

Quote:May it be so for us, as committed followers of our respective spiritual masters and faithful stewards of their teachings, ever ready to offer the beauty of those teachings to those whom we daily encounter as friends and companions on our journey. May it be so, for in a pluralistic society committed to democratic values, such as Mongolia is, every religious institution, duly recognized by civil authority, has the duty, and above all the right, to freely express what it is and what it believes, in a way respectful of the conscience of others and in view of the greater good of all.


Papal encounter with Mongolian religions

The Pope’s comments came as part of his address Sunday morning, delivered to Buddhist, Shinto, Shaman, Jewish, Muslim, and assorted Christian religious leaders. The ecumenical gathering took place during the Pontiff’s short trip to Mongolia, a nation with a strong Buddhist majority and fewer than 1,500 Catholics.

Seated in the capital’s Hun theatre, the Pope joined twelve other leaders in the event, during which speeches were shared promoting religious dialogue and co-existence.

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Pope Francis introduced himself as “a brother in faith to those who believe in Christ, and as a brother to all of you in the name of our shared religious quest and our membership in the one human family.”

He outlined his perception of the assembled religious leaders’ creeds, saying that “the social significance of our religious traditions can be gauged by the extent to which we are capable of living in harmony with other pilgrims on this earth and can foster that harmony in the places where we live.”

Francis quoted from the Buddhist collection of sayings from Buddha, The Dhammapada, along with the Dutch writer and Catholic critic Soren Kierkegaard and Ghandi.

Ecumenical and Interreligious Meeting in the “Hun Theatre”


Pope Francis in the ecumenical meeting. Credit: Vatican News
“The religions are called to offer the world this harmony,” said Francis, adding that at the ecumenical event, the assembled leaders “are meeting together as the humble heirs of ancient schools of wisdom.”

Quote:In our encounter with one another, we want to share the great treasure we have received, for the sake of enriching a humanity so often led astray on its journey by the myopic pursuit of profit and material comfort.

He issued a call for “all” to “explore and appreciate” the “great patrimony of wisdom” found in the “various religions” of Asia. Among ten aspects of Mongolian culture which he praised as part of the “great patrimony,” Francis included “a healthy relationship to tradition, despite the temptations of consumerism,” which echoed his praise and approval at the numerous traditional costumes on display to honor his visit.

The pontiff also decried the mixing “of religious beliefs and violence, of holiness and oppression, of religious traditions and sectarianism.”

Consequently, Francis expressed a call for the plurality of religions to work in society, stating that this was both a “duty” and a “right.”

Quote:May it be so, for in a pluralistic society committed to democratic values, such as Mongolia is, every religious institution, duly recognized by civil authority, has the duty, and above all the right, to freely express what it is and what it believes, in a way respectful of the conscience of others and in view of the greater good of all.

While he did not cite the primacy of the Catholic Church or its teachings, Francis stated “that the Catholic Church desires to follow this path, firmly convinced of the importance of ecumenical, inter-religious and cultural dialogue.”

The Church, he added, “offers the treasure she has received to every person and culture, in a spirit of openness and in respectful consideration of what the other religious traditions have to offer.”

Pope Francis made several condemnations of “proselytism” during his various speeches on the papal trip, but while speaking to the assembled religious leaders, he argued that “dialogue, in fact, is not antithetical to proclamation: it does not gloss over differences, but helps us to understand them, to preserve them in their distinctiveness and to discuss them openly for the sake of mutual enrichment.”

He expressed a desire that the “prayers we raise to heaven and the fraternity we experience here on earth spread seeds of hope.”


Catholic Tradition on promotion of other religions

While Pope Francis advocated the “right” of other creeds to “freely express” what each believes, his predecessors in the papal throne have condemned such arguments.

Pope Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors condemns as erroneous and heretical the notion that “every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true.”

In his 1888 encyclical Libertas, Pope Leo XIII wrote about the Catholic Church’s relationship with other religions, stating that the Catholic Church tolerates:

Quote:certain modern liberties, not because she prefers them in themselves but because she judges it expedient to permit them, she would in happier times exercise her own liberty; and, by persuasion, exhortation, and entreaty would endeavor, as she is bound, to fulfill the duty assigned to her by God of providing for the eternal salvation of mankind.

Pope Leo XIII clearly noted, however, that “one thing, however, remains always true — that the liberty which is claimed for all to do all things is not, as We have often said, of itself desirable, inasmuch as it is contrary to reason that error and truth should have equal rights.”

Leo repeated this when he wrote in his 1896 encyclical Satis cognitum that everyone should become a child of God by taking “Christ Jesus as their Brother, and at the same time the Church as their mother.”


This was similarly taught by Pope Pius XI in his 1928 encyclical Mortalium animos. Explaining why Catholics were prohibited from participating in non-Catholic “assemblies,” Pius XI wrote:

Quote:The union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it, for in the past they have unhappily left it. To the one true Church of Christ, we say, which is visible to all, and which is to remain, according to the will of its Author, exactly the same as He instituted it.

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  A Great Miracle of Our Lady of Czestochowa
Posted by: Stone - 09-04-2023, 04:36 AM - Forum: Our Lady - No Replies

A Great Miracle of Our Lady of Czestochowa
Adapted from Saints Who Raised the Dead
by Father Albert J. Hebert, TAN, 1986, NO. 24


TIA | September 2, 2023

Our Lady of Czestochowa is one of the largest Marian shrines in Poland and the greatest treasure of the city of Jasna Gora. Tradition tells us that St. Luke the Evangelist painted the Icon on the back of the tabletop used by the Holy Family in Nazareth. Many miracles have been worked through the ages by the Virgin of Czestochowa and what follows is one of the greatest and most marvelous.


In 1540, in Lublin, Poland, a butcher named Marcin Lanio went to town to buy some things. His wife Malgorzata stayed home to bake some bread and look after their two little boys, Poitrus, age 4, and Kazimierz, age 2.

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Making bread for the family in the large outdoor oven

As it happened Malgorzata ran short of yeast, and so she went to borrow some from her neighbor, leaving her two boys home alone.

Poitrus, the older of the two, who had often watched the butchers slaughter the livestock in the year, decided to imitate them in play. Without realizing the consequences of such an action, Poitrus took a sharp knife and slashed the throat of his brother, sleeping peacefully in a nearby crib.

Seeing the flow of blood, he realized that something bad had happened. Fearing punishment from his mother, the boy hid in the large baker’s oven left open by his mother.

Soon the mother returned to the quiet house. Suspecting nothing, she started a log fire in the prepared oven and went on with her baking.

Suddenly her blood froze in her veins as she heard the agonizing screams of her son Poitrus coming from the oven. She rushed to pull him out, but the boy was already dead, suffocated in the smoke-filled chamber. Only then did she notice her dead little Kazio in the blood-stained crib.

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The miraculous image of Our Lady of Jasna Gora

All this was too much for the poor woman, and she went crazy, striking her head on the wall, pulling out her hair and tearing her clothes to shreds.

When her husband Marcin returned home, he saw the terrible scene. Seeing his demented wife he believed she had killed her sons. In uncontrolled fury he took an axe and crushed her skull with a single blow.

When he realized what he had done, a dreadful fear and remorse seized him. His mind, however, became enlightened by a sudden heavenly impulse. Instead of despairing and taking his own life, he placed his entire faith and confidence in the Madonna of Czestochowa, to whom he had a great devotion. He begged her not to forsake him in his critical moment.

By now many of his neighbors had assembled at the scene of the tragedy. Dumbfounded they watched. Marcin Lanio, without a word, load the three corpses into a wagon, make the Sign of the Cross, and turn the horses in the direction of the Shrine of Czestochowa.

In silence Marcin journeyed through the narrow roads, followed by a great number of skeptical people, whose number increased as he drew nearer to the Shrine. Marcin paid no heed to them, because his mind and heart were focused on the Blessed Mother of God.

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Blessed Stanislaw Oporowski, known for his devotion to Our Lady & miracles

When Marcin finally arrived at the Shrine, some of the bystanders helped to carry the dead bodies into the church. He himself did not enter, lacking both the strength and the courage. Instead he lay prostrate before the main door, kissing the feet of the people who entered and begging them to pray to Our Lady for his family before the throne of the Miraculous Madonna.

Inside, Blessed Stanislaw Oporowski, a devout priest, was conducting the Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. The portrait of the Black Madonna, high above the main altar, glowed with heavenly splendor. In tears Blessed Stanislaw and all the people prayed and begged the intercession of Our Lady for the poor butcher and his family.

As the Magnificat was entoned, a supernatural air penetrated the chapel. At the words, "Because He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His Name," a dumbfounded shock came over the congregation. The three lifeless corpses came to life and slowly rose from their places.

For a moment there was a great and profound silence. Then all joined spontaneously in a thanksgiving hymn to the Madonna. Soon the fame of this miracle became known worldwide, and the Emperor himself ordered that a copy of this miraculous portrait be made and placed in the Cathedral in Vienna.

Now then, let no Protestant or heretic refuse this truth of this miracle, for if they do, they will have to face God and Our Lady on this matter, and I would not like to be in their shoes.

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  EPA move to allow new pesticide use on food crops worries health advocates
Posted by: Stone - 09-04-2023, 04:28 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

EPA move to allow new pesticide use on food crops worries health advocates

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The New Lede | May 8, 2023

Federal regulators are poised to allow US farmers to start applying a pesticide currently restricted to non-food uses on fields producing an array of food crops in a move that scientists and advocates say could threaten human and ecological health.

Last week, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed decision to allow the first-ever uses of chlormequat chloride on wheat, barley, oats and a hybrid of rye and wheat known as triticale. The agency said the move is aimed at helping farmers limit the bending and breaking of small grains, a condition called lodging, which can impair harvesting and reduce yields. The pesticide acts as a plant growth regulator, controlling plant size by blocking hormones that stimulate growth prior to bloom.

Chlormequat is not currently approved for use on food or animal feed in the United States, though it has been allowed for use on ornamental crops grown in nurseries and greenhouses since 1962.

Farm groups welcomed the EPA action; the pesticide is already used by farmers in other countries on small grain products that are imported to the US. But critics say laboratory research has linked the chemical to problems with reproduction and development, and the EPA should not be putting people and animals at greater risk of exposure.

The crops included in the proposed decision can make up a significant portion of a child’s diet, a fact that makes the EPA’s proposal potentially dangerous for children, according to Phil Landrigan, a professor of public health and epidemiologist at Boston College.

“There appears to be evidence for developmental and reproductive toxicity,” Landrigan said of chlormequat research. “Some little kids will spend a year of their life eating mostly a Cheerio diet. That’s what kids do. And in the end, the children who happen to be eating that atypical diet are the ones who are really heavily exposed.”

The EPA has “a legal duty to protect infants and children against the toxic effects of pesticides,” Landrigan said. “And they appear not to have taken that responsibility seriously.”


An “astronomical” increase

The EPA’s proposed action would greatly increase the amount of chlormequat used in the US, as well as the amount of chlormequat residue in food, according to the Center for Food Safety (CFS), a public health advocacy group. In a comment to the EPA about the proposed action, CFS said the rule would lead to an “astronomical rise in domestic use of [chlormequat],” estimating that use of the pesticide would increase 28,000-fold.

In its comments, CFS warned that approving new uses and higher tolerances could encourage growers to apply chlormequat at higher doses and across a longer period of the growing season than is necessary, which would further increase the ecological and human health impacts of the pesticide.

The maximum residue levels (MRLs) of the pesticide currently allowed on imported wheat, barley, and oat are 3 parts per million (ppm), 2 ppm, and 10 ppm, respectively. The EPA issued those rules in response to a request from Taminco US LLC, a subsidiary of Eastman Chemical Company that manufactures pesticides containing chlormequat.

The EPA’s newest proposed decision comes after a 2021 petition from Taminco asking the EPA to establish a new residue tolerance of 8 ppm for barley. Last month, Taminco updated the request to establish new tolerances for oats at 40 ppm, wheat and triticale grain at 5 parts per million.

A January investigation by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) research and advocacy group, found chlormequat residues at levels higher than the EWG health guideline of .03 parts per million in 11 of 14 oat-based food products in the US, despite the fact that the chemical is currently only allowed for use on imported grain. According to EWG, its health guidelines are much lower than EPA’s MRLs due to the danger chlormequat poses to children’s health, the variation of sensitivity between people, and uncertainty of the data on chlormequat’s health effects.

Taminco did not respond to a request for comment about the proposed decision.


Animal studies raise concerns

Humans can be exposed to chlormequat in various ways, including using the chemical, ingesting foods with chlormequat residues or by drinking groundwater contaminated with the pesticide. While there are no studies of the chemical’s effects on human health directly, studies have shown that chlormequat is toxic to mammals.

Notably, in one peer-reviewed study, offspring of rats exposed to the chemical had problems with growth and development. The chemical has also been shown to negatively impact bone development in rats and fertility in mice. A 1989 Danish study found that swine fed with chlormequat-treated wheat showed reproductive health problems at doses lower than what is currently considered safe for humans.

The chemical is “pretty clearly an endocrine disruptor,” said Bill Freese, CFS science director.

The EPA’s human health risk assessment for the proposed changes found decreases in body weight and neurotoxic effects in studies using rats, mice, and dogs. However, since neurotoxic effects were mostly found to be associated with high doses of chlormequat, the agency waived two additional studies: one to determine the effects of the chemical on fetal and infant nervous system development, and another to determine the toxicity of the chemical to animals’ immune systems.

Waiving those two studies was an improper action by the EPA, according to Freese.

“The point of doing the developmental neurotoxic is precisely that the effects can occur at much lower exposure levels,” he said. “You need to do this kind of study.”

The EPA did not respond to a request for comment. The agency has stated in regulatory filings, however, that it has determined that the proposed decision poses no “risks of concern” to human health.


Ecological concerns

In the announcement, the EPA said they have not identified any “risks of concern” to ecological health from the proposed decision, though in its assessment of ecological risks it did find the chemical to be slightly toxic to birds and moderately toxic to mammals.

Critics say the wild bees and other invertebrates may be harmed by the use of chlormequat and the agency’s risk assessment illegally fails to evaluate risks to threatened and endangered species.

The EPA’s pesticide approval process has been criticized previously by environmental advocates for failing to evaluate risks to threatened and endangered species. Last year, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the agency to address harms to threatened and endangered species from four pesticides after a lawsuit from CFS and other advocates.

“For decades the EPA has practiced a reckless spray-first-look-later approach to addressing the threats of pesticides to imperiled species,” Jonathan Evans, senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.

The EPA also did not respond to a request for comment about the threats of chlormequat to threatened and endangered species.

Despite the concerns, farmers are eager for the new uses of the pesticide. The National Association of Wheat Growers and National Barley Growers Association sent public comments to the EPA expressing support for expedited action to approve new uses of chlormequat-containing pesticide products.

The grower groups said farmers have a small window of time each season in which to apply certain products such as chlormequat, so urgent action is needed if farmers are to reap the advantages this growing season.

In contrast, in its written comments to the EPA, CFS said the risks are not worth the gain:

“The putative benefit of applying chlormequat to grains is far outweighed by the risks and costs to human health and the environment,” the group wrote.

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  Pope St. Pius X's prophecy on the One World Church of Apostasy by John Vennari
Posted by: Stone - 09-03-2023, 05:53 AM - Forum: Resources Online - No Replies

Pope St. Pius X's prophecy on the One World Church of Apostasy by John Vennari


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  St. Alphonsus Liguori: Daily Meditations for Fourteenth Week after Pentecost
Posted by: Stone - 09-03-2023, 05:44 AM - Forum: Pentecost - Replies (7)

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Morning Meditation

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ALL ENDS AND SOON ENDS


The grass of the field which is to-day, and to-morrow is cast into the oven (Matt. vi. 30). Behold, the goods of the earth are like the grass of the field, which to-day is blooming and beautiful, but by the evening withers, and its flowers fade, and the next day it is cast into the fire! All flesh is grass and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field.


I.

Behold, the goods of the earth are like the grass of the field, which to-day is blooming and beautiful, but by the evening it withers and its flowers fade, and the next day it is cast into the fire. This is what God commanded the Prophet Isaias to preach: Cry. And I said: What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field (Is. xl. 6). Hence St. James compares the rich ones of this world to the flower of the grass: at the end of their journey through life they rot, and all their riches and grandeurs with them. The flower of the grass shall he pass away. For the sun rose with a burning heat, and parched the grass, and the flower thereof fell off, and the beauty of the shape thereof perished: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways (James i. 10, 11). They fade away and are cast into the fire, like the rich glutton, who made a splendid appearance in this life but afterwards was buried in hell.

Let us, then, dearly beloved Christian, attend to the salvation of our souls, and to the acquisition of riches for eternity, which never ends; for everything in this world ends, and ends very soon.

When some great one of this world is in the full enjoyment of the riches and honours he has acquired, death shall come, and he shall be told: Take order with thy house; for thou shalt die, and not live (Is. xxxviii. 1). Oh, what doleful tidings! The unhappy man must then say: Farewell, O world! Farewell, O my villa! Farewell, O my beautiful gardens! Farewell, relatives and friends! Farewell sports and balls! Farewell, festivities and banquets! Farewell, honours! All is over for me! There is no remedy: whether he will or not he must leave all. For when he shall die, he shall take nothing away; nor shall his glory descend with him (Ps. xlviii. 18). St. Bernard says that death produces a horrible separation of the soul from the body, and from all the things of this earth. Opus mortis, horrendum divortium. To the great of this world, whom worldlings regard as the most fortunate of mortals, the bare mention of death is so full of bitterness that they are unwilling even to hear it mentioned; for their entire concern is to find peace in their earthly goods. O death! says Ecclesiasticus, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that hath peace in his possessions (Ecclus. xli. 1).

O my Jesus I give Thee thanks for having waited for me and for not having called me out of this world in my sins. During the remainder of my life I will weep over my iniquities. I will love Thee with all my strength. I know I must die, and by Thy grace I will prepare to die a happy death.


II.

If the bare mention of death is full of bitterness, how much greater bitterness shall death itself cause when it actually comes. Miserable the man who is attached to the goods of this world! Every separation produces pain. Hence, when the soul shall be separated by the stroke of death from the goods on which it had fixed all its affections, the pain must be excruciating. It was this that made king Agag exclaim, when the news of approaching death was announced to him: Doth bitter death separate in this manner? (1 Kings xv. 32). The great misfortune of worldlings is that when they are on the point of being summoned to Judgment, instead of endeavouring to adjust the account of their souls, they direct all their attention to earthly things. But, says St. John Chrysostom, the punishment which awaits the sinner on account of having forgotten God during life is that at the hour of death he forgets himself.

But how great soever a man's attachment to the things of this world may be, he must take leave of them at death. Naked he has entered into this world, and naked he shall depart from it. Naked, says Job, I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither (Job i. 21.). In a word, they who have spent their whole life sacrificing sleep, health, and their very soul in accumulating riches and possessions, shall take nothing with them at the hour of death. Their eyes shall then be opened, and of all they had so dearly acquired, they shall find nothing in their hands. Hence, on that night of confusion, they shall be overwhelmed in a tempest of pains and sadness. The rich man, when he shall sleep, shall take away nothing with him. He shall open his eyes and find nothing; ... a tempest shall oppress him in the night (Job xxvii. 19-20).

St. Antoninus relates that Saladin, king of the Saracens, gave orders at the hour of death that the winding-sheet in which he was to be buried should be carried before him to the grave, and that a person should cry out: "Of all his possessions, only this shall Saladin bring with him." The Saint also relates that a certain philosopher, speaking of Alexander the Great after his death, said: "Behold the man that made the earth tremble!" The earth, as the Scripture says, was quiet before him. He is now under the earth. Behold the man whom the dominion of the whole world could not satisfy: now six feet of earth is sufficient for him. An ancient writer says that having gone to see the tomb of Caesar, he exclaimed: "Princes feared thee; cities worshipped thee; all trembled before thee; whither has thy magnificence gone?" Listen to what David says: I have seen the wicked highly exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Libanus. And I passed by, and lo! he was not (Ps. xxxvi. 35-36). Oh, how many such spectacles are seen every day in the world! A sinner who had been born in lowliness and poverty afterwards acquires wealth and honours, so as to excite the envy of all. When he dies, men say: He made a fortune in the world; but now he is dead, and with death all is over for him!


Spiritual Reading

DANGERS TO SALVATION

A boat on the waves of the sea represents man in this world. As a vessel on the sea is exposed to a thousand dangers -- to pirates, to quicksands, to hidden rocks, and to tempests, so man in this life is encompassed with perils arising from the temptations of hell -- from the occasions of sin, from the scandals or bad counsels of men, from human respect, and, above all, from the bad passions of corrupt nature, represented by the winds that agitate the sea and expose the vessel to great danger of being lost.

St. Leo says our life is full of dangers, of snares, and of enemies. The first enemy of the salvation of every Christian is his own corruption. But every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, being drawn away and allured (James i. 14).

Along with the corrupt inclinations within us that drag us to evil, we have many enemies from without that fight against us. We have the devils, with whom the contest is very difficult, because they are stronger than we are. Hence, because we have to contend with powerful enemies, St. Paul exhorts us to arm ourselves with the Divine aid: Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places (Ephes. vi. 11-12). The devil, according to St. Peter, is a lion continually going about roaring with rage and hunger for our souls. Your adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion goeth about seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. v. 8). St. Cyprian says that Satan is continually lying in wait for us in order to make us his slaves.

Even the men with whom we must converse endanger our salvation. They persecute or betray us, or they deceive us by their flattery and wicked counsels. St. Augustine says that among the faithful there are in every profession insincere and deceitful men. Now if a fortress were full of rebels within, and encompassed by enemies without, who would not regard it as lost? Such is the condition of each of us as long as we live in this world. Who shall be able to deliver us from so many powerful enemies? Only God: Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it (Ps. cxxvi. 1).

What, then, is the means by which we can save our souls in the midst of so many dangers? It is to imitate the holy disciples -- to have recourse to our Divine Master, and to say to Him: Lord, save us; we perish -- Domine, salva nos; perimus. Save us, O Lord; if Thou dost not, we are lost. When the tempest is violent, the pilot never takes his eyes from the light which guides him to the port. In like manner we should keep our eyes always turned to God Who alone can deliver us from the many dangers to which we are exposed. It was thus David acted when he found himself assailed by the dangers of sin. I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me (Ps. cxx. 1). To teach us to recommend ourselves continually to Him who alone can save us by His grace, the Lord has ordained that, as long as we remain on this earth we shall have to live in the midst of a continual tempest and be surrounded by enemies. The temptations of the devil, the persecutions of men, the adversity which we suffer in this world, are not evils; they are, on the contrary, advantages, if we know how to use them as God wishes, Who sends or permits them for our welfare. They detach our affections from this earth, and inspire a disgust for this world, by making us feel bitterness and thorns even in its honours, its riches, its delights, and amusements. The Lord permits all these apparent evils, that we may take away our affections from fading goods, in which we meet with so many dangers of perdition, and that we may seek to unite ourselves with Him Who alone can make us happy.

The error and mistake is that when we find ourselves harassed by infirmities, poverty, persecutions, and all such tribulations, instead of having recourse to the Lord, we turn to creatures and place our confidence in their assistance, and thus draw upon ourselves the maledictions of God, Who says: Cursed be the man who trusteth in man (Jer. xvii. 5). The Lord does not forbid us in our afflictions and dangers to have recourse to human means; but He curses those who place their whole trust in them. He wishes us to have recourse to Himself before all others and to place our only hope in Him, so that we may also centre in Him all our love.

As long as we live on this earth, we must, according to St. Paul, work out our salvation with fear and trembling in the midst of the dangers by which we are beset. Whilst a certain vessel was in the open sea a great tempest arose which made the captain tremble. In the hold of the vessel there was an animal eating with as much tranquillity as if the sea were perfectly calm. The captain being asked why he was so much afraid, replied: "If I had a soul like the soul of that brute, I too would be tranquil and without fear; but because I have a rational and an immortal soul, I am afraid of death, after which I must appear before the Judgment-seat of God; and therefore I tremble through fear." Let us tremble. The salvation of our immortal souls is at stake. They who do not tremble, are, as St. Paul says, in great danger of being lost; because they who fear not, seldom recommend themselves to God, and labour but little to adopt the means of salvation. Let us beware, for we are, says St. Cyprian, still in the front of the fight, and combating for eternal salvation.


Evening Meditation

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST

I.

The Divine Priest, Jesus Christ, Who was both Priest and Victim, by the sacrifice of His life for the salvation of men completed the Sacrifice of the Cross and accomplished the work of the world's Redemption. By His death Jesus Christ stripped our death of its terrors. Until then it was but the punishment of rebels; but by grace and the merits of our Saviour it becomes a sacrifice so dear to God that when we unite it to the death of Jesus, it makes us worthy to enjoy the same glory that God enjoys, and to hear Him one day say to us, as we hope: Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord! (Matt. xxv.21).

Thus death, which was an object of pain and dread, was changed by the death of Jesus into a passage from a state of peril and danger of hell, into one of security and of eternal blessedness, and from the miseries of this life to the boundless delights of Paradise.

Therefore the Saints have ever regarded death with joy and desire, and no longer with fear. St. Augustine says that they who love the Crucified One "live with patience and die with joy." And common experience shows that they who in life have been most troubled with persecutions, temptations, scruples, or other painful events are in death most comforted by Jesus Crucified, conquering with great peace of mind all the terrors and pains of death. And if it has sometimes happened that some of the Saints, as we read in their Lives, died in great fear of death, the Lord God permitted this in order to increase their merits; because the more painful the sacrifice, the more acceptable it was to God, and the more profitable to them for eternity.

Oh, how much more bitter was death of old, before the time of the death of Jesus Christ! The Saviour was not yet come, and men sighed for His coming: they waited for His promise, but they knew not when it would be fulfilled. The devil had great power upon earth; Heaven was closed to men. But after the death of the Redeemer, hell was conquered. Divine grace was given to souls, God was reconciled to men, and the Kingdom of Heaven was opened to all those who die innocent, or have expiated their sins by repentance. And if some who die in grace do not immediately enter Heaven, this only results from the faults of which they are not yet cleansed; and death merely bursts their bonds, in order that they may be free to unite themselves perfectly to God, from Whom they are far away in this land of exile.


II.

Let us, then, take heed, O Christian souls, while we are in this exile, not to look at death as a misfortune, but as the end of our pilgrimage, which is full of difficulties and dangers, and as the beginning of our eternal happiness, which we hope one day to attain through the merits of Jesus Christ. And with this thought of Heaven, let us detach ourselves as much as possible from earthly things, which may cause us to lose Heaven and give us over to eternal pains. Let us offer ourselves to God declaring that we wish to die when it pleases Him, and to accept death in the manner and at the time which He has appointed; ever praying Him that, through the merits of Jesus Christ, He will cause us to depart from this life in His grace.

O my Jesus and my Saviour, Who, to obtain for me a happy death, hast chosen for Thyself a death so painful and desolate. I abandon myself into the arms of Thy mercy. For many years past I have deserved to be in hell, for the sins I have committed against Thee, and to be separated from Thee forever. But Thou, instead of punishing me as I deserved, hast called me to repentance, and I hope that now Thou hast pardoned me; but if Thou hast not already pardoned me through my fault, pardon me now that in sorrow I ask for mercy at Thy feet. O my Jesus, I could die of grief when I think of the injuries I have offered Thee! "O Blood of the Innocent, wash away the sins of the penitent!" pardon me, and give me grace to love Thee with all my strength till death; and when I shall reach the end of my life, make me to die burning with love for Thee, that I may continue to love Thee forever. Jesus, henceforth I unite my death to Thy holy death, through which I hope to be saved. In thee, O Lord, have I hoped; let me never be confounded (Ps. xxx. 2).

O thou great Mother of God, next to Jesus thou art my hope. "In thee, O Lady, have I hoped; I shall not be confounded forever."

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  Conflicting Evidence Of mRNA Technology Raises Serious Concerns
Posted by: Stone - 09-02-2023, 06:48 AM - Forum: Health - No Replies

Conflicting Evidence Of mRNA Technology Raises Serious Concerns About Rush For Use In New Vaccine Development

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(wacomka/Shutterstock)]


ZH [slightly adapted] | SEP 01, 2023
Authored by Megan Redshaw via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The U.S. government and pharmaceutical companies are investing a substantial amount to develop new mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases and cancer, fueling a lucrative mRNA platform valued at $136.2 billion.

A newly established White House program announced on Aug. 23 that it is granting a total of $25 million over three years to Emory University, Yale School of Medicine, and the University of Georgia to develop personalized therapeutic vaccines against cancers and emerging infections, similar to how COVID-19 mRNA vaccines target SARS-CoV-2. They aim to use mRNA—an essential element in COVID-19 vaccines developed to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections—to program a unique class of immune cells called dendritic cells to initiate a desired immunological response.

Pharmaceutical companies such as Moderna, BioNTech, and CureVac are conducting clinical trials using mRNA-based vaccines with advanced melanoma, ovarian, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers. The National Institutes of Health is partnering with BioNTech to develop a personalized vaccine for pancreatic cancers. In addition to COVID-19 and cancer, other mRNA-based vaccines in development target influenza, genital herpes, respiratory viruses, and shingles.

Although mRNA platforms are appealing because they reduce costs and shorten the vaccine development timeline, evidence and experience suggest the mRNA technology used for novel COVID-19 vaccines is associated with various harms and neither prevents COVID-19 nor its transmission.


Evidence Challenging Vaccine ‘Safe and Effective’ Narrative

The unprecedented rates of adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination overshadow the benefits, according to researchers from Australia who say the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, whether from the virus or created from genetic code in mRNA and adenovectorDNA vaccines, is toxic and causes a wide array of diseases.

In their recently published paper published in Biomedicines titled, “‘Spikeopathy’: COVID-19 Spike Protein Is Pathogenic, from Both Virus and Vaccine mRNA,” the researchers explored peer-reviewed data countering the “safe and effective” narrative attached to new technologies used to develop mRNA and adenovectorDNA vaccines at “warp speed” to end the pandemic.

Spike protein pathogenicity, termed “spikeopathy,” describes the ability of the spike protein to cause disease, and the researchers say it can affect many organ systems.

Researchers noted the following key problem areas:
  • Spike protein toxicity (spikeopathy) from both the virus and when produced by gene codes in people vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines.
  • Inflammatory properties in specific lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) used to transport mRNA.
  • Long-lasting action caused by N1-methyl pseudouridine in the synthetic mRNA—also referred to as modRNA.
  • Widespread distribution of mRNA and DNA codes via the LNP and viral vector carrier matrices, respectively.
  • Human cells produce a foreign protein that can cause autoimmunity.
Now that vaccines utilizing mRNA technology have been available and widely distributed for several years, data show these vaccines produce foreign antigens in human tissues and increase the risk of autoimmune, neurological, cardiovascular, inflammatory disorders, and cancers, especially when the vaccine ingredients do not remain localized at the injection site. An antigen is any substance that stimulates an immune response. If the immune system encounters an antigen that is not found on the body’s own cells, it will launch an attack against that antigen.

Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data show the design of the mRNA and adenovectorDNA COVID-19 vaccines allow uncontrolled biodistribution, durability, and persistent bioavailability of the spike protein inside the body after vaccination. Pharmacokinetics is the study of how the body interacts with administered substances for the entire duration of exposure. Pharmacodynamics assesses the drug’s effect on the body more closely.

This may explain the unprecedented number of adverse events that appear to be associated with the spike protein produced by the gene-based technologies employed by Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson, as well as the viral vector DNA technology used by other countries, researchers said.


mRNA Vaccines Are Gene Therapy and May Cause Harm

Gene-based COVID-19 vaccines are therapeutic products that actually fit within the FDA’s definition of gene therapy because they cause the cells of the vaccinated person to produce antigens for transmembrane expression that invokes an immune response. By design, these novel vaccine platforms risk tissue damage secondary to autoimmune responses raised against cells expressing foreign spike antigens, researchers said.

The FDA was aware of the pathogenicity of spike proteins before releasing COVID-19 vaccines to the public. In an October 2022 meeting with its vaccine advisors, the FDA presented a highly accurate list of potential adverse events associated with COVID-19 vaccines, including neurological, cardiovascular, and autoimmune “possible adverse events.”

React19, an organization that provides financial, emotional, and physical support to those experiencing long-term injuries from COVID-19 vaccines, provided a list of over 3,400 published papers and case reports of injuries affecting more than 20 organ systems. More than 432 peer-reviewed papers relate to papers and case reports of myocarditis, cardiomyopathy, myocardial infarction, hypertension, aortic dissection, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), tachycardia, and conduction disturbance—a problem with the electrical system that controls the heart’s rate and rhythm.

The most common group of adverse events reported following COVID-19 vaccination to both pharmacovigilance databases and Pfizer involve neurological disorders. According to the paper, neurological symptoms and cognitive decline with accelerated neurodegenerative disease are features of acute COVID-19 vaccine injuries and, to some extent, long COVID syndrome. Research suggests (pdf) LNPs transporting the mRNA to make spike proteins can cross the blood-brain barrier and cause neurotoxic effects.


Lipid Nanoparticles Are Toxic and Pro-Inflammatory

It’s not just the spike protein that can cause disease. LNPs that serve as the delivery method are also toxic and pro-inflammatory.

Research from 2018 showed even small amounts of nanoparticles taken up by the lungs can lead to cytotoxic effects. Ingested nanoparticles have been shown to affect lymph nodes, the liver, and the spleen, while when injected as a drug carrier, they can pass any barrier and translocate to the brain, ovaries, and testes, mainly after phagocytosis by macrophages, which help distribute them across the body. The effects on the reproductive system suggest lipid nanoparticles can be cytotoxic and damage DNA.

According to the authors, two components in the mRNA lipid nanoparticle complexes, ALC-0315 and ALC-0159, are concerning, as they have never been used in a medicinal product and are not registered in either the European Pharmacopoeia or in the European C&L Inventory database. A question posed to the European Parliament in December 2021 pointed out that the manufacturer of the nanoparticles specifies the nanoparticles are for research only and not for human use. The European Commission responded that the excipient in Pfizer’s Comirnaty vaccine “has been demonstrated to be appropriate … in compliance with the relevant EMA scientific guidelines and standards.”

Still, this could explain the root cause of numerous post-vaccination adverse events, researchers said.

Read more here...

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  Minnesota art center holds 'demon summoning session' for families
Posted by: Stone - 09-02-2023, 06:34 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

Minnesota art center holds 'demon summoning session' for families
"We’re just not very good at getting to know" demons, according to the activity description.

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Minnesota art center holds 'demon summoning session' for families


Post Millennial [slightly adapted] | Aug 17, 2023


The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis held a demon-related pagan ritual, called "Lilit the Empathic Demon" earlier this month that was geared toward families. 

Walker Art Center is guided "by the belief that art has the power to bring joy and solace and the ability to unite people through dialogue and shared experiences." Kids get in free to the center between the ages of zero and 18. 

An event description of the demon-themed activity said that the performance of Lilit the Empathic Demon was a "collective and playful demon summoning session" that will end with "a somatic movement meditation, designed to help you befriend your shadows."

Prior to the performance, another demon-themed activity gave instructions on "how to trap a demon." The description adds that demons will often "have a bad reputation.” One reason demons have a bad reputation is that "we’re just not very good at getting to know them,” according to the description. 

The activities were part of the Walker "Plant Teachers" day. This also included a performance from Catharus, which is music that "explores relationships to land, other-than-human beings, memory, and identity."

Featured artist, Tamar Ettun, has previously made an exhibit called How to Trap a Demon. One piece of the exhibit from Ettun instructs the observer to text "summon" to a phone number that is written on the wall that will communicate with Lilit. 

Ettun's exhibit description says that it revives the ancient traditions from "Sumerian, Akkadian, and Judaic mythology" that showed the demon, Lilit, appearing on "incantation bowls, a healing technology used to protect against demons."

The exhibit also "parts with the historical gender binarism" and "builds on "the artist’s research into the insidious side of empathy, empathy fatigue, trauma-healing modalities, and astrology as storytelling."

An article posted to Walker's website also explains how Ettun came in contact with Lilit "when she was at a residency, spending her days and nights in a haunted firehouse-turned-museum making knots and having just found out she was pregnant.”

The Walker Art Center is supported by millions of dollars in taxpayer funds.

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  Latin Mass Church Burns Down
Posted by: Stone - 09-02-2023, 06:25 AM - Forum: Anti-Catholic Violence - No Replies

Latin Mass Church Burns Down

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gloria.tv | September 1, 2023

A huge fire tore through St Joseph's Church in Salem, Oregon, on Thursday night. The parish said that the sanctuary was “pretty much a loss.” The parish was founded in 1853, and the current church was built in 1953.

St. Joseph is one of eight parishes in Portland Archdiocese that offer the Latin Mass.

The fire was caused by arson, according to the police. Detectives arrested Billy James Sweeten, age 48.

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Photo The Synodal Process ——Is A—— Pandora’s Box 100 Questions & Answers José Antonio Ureta and Julio Lore
Posted by: ThyWillBeDone - 08-30-2023, 05:38 PM - Forum: The Architects of Vatican II - No Replies

https://www.complicitclergy.com/wp-conte...as_box.pdf
   
The Synodal
Process
——Is A——
Pandora’s Box
100 Questions & Answers
José Antonio Ureta
and
Julio Loredo de Izcue
With a Foreword by Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke.

I - The Synod of Bishops

1. What Is the Synod of Bishops?
The Synod of Bishops is a permanent body of the Catholic Church,
external to the Roman Curia, which represents the episcopate. It was
created by Pope Paul VI on September 15, 1965, with the motu proprio
Apostolica sollicitudo.
The Synod is convened by the pope, who sets the topic. It can meet in
three forms: Ordinary General Assembly for matters concerning the good
of the universal Church, Extraordinary General Assembly for urgent
issues, and Special Assembly for matters regarding one or more regions. It
has a merely consultative character but can exercise a decision-making
function when the pope grants it.
So far, there have been fifteen Ordinary General Assemblies of the Synod
of Bishops. This year, 2023, will see the sixteenth.

2. Are a Synod’s Conclusions Binding?
No. In the past, a Synod of Bishops’ Final Document had no magisterial
value since its role was to give suggestions to the supreme pontiff. The
pope collected the Synod’s ideas and published a post-synodal apostolic
exhortation, which proposed the conclusions of the Synod to the whole
Church, sometimes with significant modifications. This papal document
constituted magisterium. After the reforms introduced by Pope Francis in
2015, the Final Document becomes directly part of the ordinary
magisterium if expressly approved by the Roman pontiff. And if the pope
previously grants the Synod decision-making power, its Final Document
becomes part of the ordinary magisterium once ratified and promulgated
by the pope.

3. Can a Pope or Synod of Bishops Change the Catholic
Church’s Doctrine or Structures?
No. Neither the pope, the Synod of Bishops, nor any other ecclesiastical
or secular body has the authority to change the doctrine or structures of the
Church, set and entrusted in deposit by her divine Founder. The First
Vatican Council teaches:

13. For the doctrine of the faith which God has revealed is put forward • not as some philosophical discovery capable of being perfected by human intelligence, • but as a divine deposit committed to the spouse of Christ to be faithfully protected and infallibly promulgated. 14. Hence, too, that meaning of the sacred dogmas is ever to be maintained, which has once been declared by Holy Mother Church, and there must never be any abandonment of this sense under the pretext or in the name of a more profound understanding.1 The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith states: “Like all faithful, the Roman pontiff is under the Word of God, the Catholic faith … . He does not decide according to his own will but gives voice to the will of the Lord, who speaks to man in the Scripture lived and interpreted by Tradition; in other words, the Primate’s episkopè has the limits set by divine law and the Church’s inviolable divine constitution contained in Revelation.” 2 

4. What Changes Did Pope Francis Introduce at the Synod of Bishops? In 2015, Pope Francis announced profound changes to the Synod of Bishops on the fiftieth anniversary of its institution. Expressing his desire that the entire People of God be consulted in the preparation of the synodal assemblies, the pope proposed a plan to create a new “Synodal Church” based on this premise: Given their supernatural sense of faith (sensus fidei), the entire People of God cannot err (it is infallible in credendo) and has a “flair” to find the ways the Lord opens to His Church. The Synodal Church would be one of reciprocal listening between the faithful people, the episcopal college, and the bishop of Rome to know what the Holy Spirit “saith to the churches” (Apoc. 2:7). To this end, all ecclesial bodies—in parishes, dioceses, and the Roman Curia— should remain connected to the base and always start “from people and their daily problems.” 3 Getting to work, Pope Francis altered the Synod of Bishops with the apostolic constitution Episcopalis communio (Sept. 15, 2018) to involve the faithful. The Synod is now divided into three stages: the preparatory phase of consultation with the People of God; the celebratory phase, that is,
the bishops’ meeting in assembly; and the implementation phase, in which
the Assembly’s conclusions, approved by the pope, are to be accepted by
the whole Church.

5. How Does Pope Francis Justify This Radical Change in the
Synod of Bishops?
According to Pope Francis, bishops are both teachers and disciples. They
are teachers when they proclaim “the word of truth in the name of Christ,
head and shepherd.” But they are also disciples, when “knowing that the
Spirit has been bestowed upon every baptized person, he listens to the
voice of Christ speaking through the entire People of God.”
4 The Synod
thus becomes an instrument for giving voice to the whole People of God
through the bishops.

6. What Is the Coming Synod’s Topic and Program?
On April 24, 2021, in an audience with Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-
general of the Synod of Bishops, Pope Francis approved the theme and
program of the Synod of Bishops’ Sixteenth Ordinary General Assembly.
Thus began the local/national consultation phase with the People of God,
which ended in 2022. The continental phase then began, culminating in
February-March 2023 with the Continental Assemblies, which presented to
the Vatican their conclusions, called a Continental Synthesis. From there,
the Synod moves on to the universal phase, for which two general
assemblies are convened in Rome: the first in October 2023 and the second
in October 2024. A spiritual retreat for all participants will precede the
2023 assembly.
The theme chosen is: “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation,
and Mission.” According to the pope, it is a matter of “Journeying together
—laity, pastors, the bishop of Rome.”
1 The greatest difficulty to overcome
“is the clericalism that detaches priests and bishops from people” because
“there is a certain resistance to moving beyond the image of a Church
rigidly divided into leaders and followers, those who teach and those who
are taught; we forget that God likes to overturn things: as Mary said, ‘he
has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly’
(Luke 1:52). Journeying together tends to be more horizontal than
vertical.”
2
The next Synod, therefore, will not discuss a specific pastoral theme, as
is usually the case in these assemblies, but the very structure of the Church.
For this reason, it is also known as the Synod on Synodality.

7. Is This Synod Aimed at Reaching Specific Conclusions or
Opening a Process?
Unlike other general Synods, this Synod on Synodality is not held to
discuss doctrinal or pastoral questions and reach specific conclusions but to
open a way, to undertake a process to reform the Church. Its Preparatory
Document proposes to launch “a participative and inclusive ecclesial
process.”3 Rather than a Synod, we should speak of a synodal journey. In the Preparatory Document for the Synod, which we analyze below, the
term process is used no less than twenty-three times, along with synonyms
such as path, itinerary, route, and so forth.
This fluid approach must be seen in the broader perspective of the current
pontificate, which privileges becoming and not being, change and not
stability, search and not a certainty: “We need to initiate processes and not
just occupy spaces.”
4
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, relator general of the Synod, stated,
“Sitting and talking only make a synod when the talking is about the
journey. Otherwise, it becomes a war of concepts.”

8. Why Did Pope Francis Decide to Hold Two Assemblies?
According to the initial plan, the Synodal Assembly would occur in
Rome in October 2023. However, at the end of the Angelus on Sunday,
October 16, 2022, Pope Francis announced that the Assembly would hold
two sessions, one year apart.
6
The reason given was that “the theme of the synodal Church, because of
its breadth and importance, might be the subject of prolonged discernment
not only by the members of the Synodal Assembly but by the whole
Church.”
7 A new phase of listening to the People of God on what the
delegates discussed in Rome will follow the first Assembly.

9. What Would Happen if a Significant Number of the Faithful
Disagreed With and Rejected the Decisions of the Synod or the
Pope?
There seems to be an internal contradiction in the apostolic constitution
Episcopalis communio, in which Pope Francis altered the Synod of
Bishops. Number 5 declares that every bishop is a disciple “when,
knowing that the Spirit has been bestowed upon every baptized person, he
listens to the voice of Christ speaking through the entire People of God,
making it ‘infallible in credendo.’” This idea is reinforced in number 7,
which insists that “the synodal process not only has its point of departure
but also its point of arrival in the People of God.” It would seem, then, that
the implementation of synodal decisions depends on their good reception
by the faithful, as the Synod Secretariat’s website suggests: “The
conclusions of the Synod, once approved by the Roman Pontiff, are
accepted by the local churches.”

However, section IV of Episcopalis communio, which deals precisely
with the Synod’s implementation phase, provides that diocesan bishops
“see to the reception and implementation of the conclusions of the Synod
Assembly, once they have been accepted by the Roman pontiff” (Art. 19 §
1) and that episcopal conferences “coordinate the implementation of the
aforementioned conclusions in their territory” (Art. 19 § 2).
It says nothing about what would happen if a disagreement arose
between the People of God and the pastors regarding concrete applications
of synodal orientations. If the pastors’ will prevailed, the whole listening
process would appear vain, and the rhetoric of synodality could appear
largely insincere. If the will of the People of God prevailed, the Church
would have been transformed into a de facto democracy.

10. What Is “Synodality”? According to the International Theological Commission, the noun synodality was coined recently and constituted “novel language” not appearing in the Second Vatican Council documents or the Code of Canon Law. In the context of a new model of the Church, according to the Commission, “synodality is the specific modus vivendi et operandi of the Church, the People of God, which reveals and gives substance to her being as communion when all her members journey together, gather in assembly and take an active part in her evangelizing mission.”1 According to Pope Francis, “Synodality is an expression of the Church’s nature, her form, style and mission.”2 And thus, synodality is “a constitutive element of the Church.”3 

11. What Does Synodality Seek? Synod promoters claim that it would be proper for synodality to increase the participation and co-responsibility of all the faithful in the life of the Church. As the Vademecum for the Synod on Synodality prepared by the Synod Secretariat states, “The path of synodality seeks to make pastoral decisions that reflect the will of God as closely as possible, grounding them in the living voice of the People of God… . In articulating the voice of the People of God expressing the reality of the faith on the basis of lived experience.”4 “Synodality calls upon pastors to listen attentively to the flock entrusted to their care.

28. What Does the Working Document for the Continental
Stage Say About Women’s Ordination?
For Synod promoters, women would be among the “excluded
minorities.” The Working Document for the Continental Stage says that a
new culture must be established in the Church, with new practices,
structures, and habits (see no. 60) for full and equal participation of women
in the governing structures of ecclesiastical bodies (see no. 64). It affirms
that many women feel sad that their contributions and charisms are not
always appreciated (see no. 61). Finally, it says that many demand the
female diaconate and the possibility to preach. Some propose the
ordination of women to the priesthood (see no. 64).
Pope Francis himself took a significant step. In April, for the first time in
history, he granted women the power to vote in the Synod. The Roman
pontiff determined that up to 25% of Synod participants would be
laypeople, men and women, all with equal voting rights with the bishops. 30.

31. What Is Behind the “Inclusion” Proposal?
Gavin Ashenden—former Anglican bishop and chaplain to Queen
Elizabeth II, a convert to Catholicism, and now vice-director of the well-
known Catholic Herald daily—denounced the Synod’s Working Document
for the Continental Stage as a Trojan horse. It seeks to manipulate people’s
minds by playing with “talismanic words”36 such as diversity, inclusion,
and equality. He writes: “The trick is very simple. It sets out to use a word
that looks very attractive at first sight but contains a hidden twist, so that it
ends up meaning something different, perhaps even the opposite.”
With great insight, Ashenden continues:
The document is called Enlarge the space of your tent (from
Isaiah 54:2). The controlling idea it sets out to implement is that
of “radical inclusion.” The tent is presented as a place of radical
inclusion from which no one is excluded, and this idea serves as
a hermeneutical key to interpreting the whole document.
The words trick is easily explained. The association
with being excluded is being unloved. Since God is love,
he obviously doesn’t want anyone to experience being
unloved and therefore excluded; ergo God, who is Love,
must be in favor of radical inclusion. Consequently, the
language of hell and judgment in the New Testament must
be some form of aberrational hyperbole which must not be
taken seriously, because the idea of God as inclusive love
takes precedence. And since these two concepts are
mutually contradictory, one of them has to go. Inclusion
stays, judgment and hell go. Which is another way of
saying, “Jesus goes, and Marx stays.”
This is then applied to overturn all the Church’s
dogmatic and ethical teaching.
Women are no longer to be excluded from ordination,
LGBT relationships are to be recognized as marriage; and
then the real extension of the progressive ambition breaks
the surface as there is the suggestion that polygamists are
reached out to and drawn “within the tent of the Church.”
It would be a serious mistake not to realize that the
progressive liberal mindset wants to change the ethics of
the faith. So it replaces the categories of “holiness and
sin” with “inclusion and alienation.” The roots of this
usage of the term alienation are of course found in Marx. 37.

33. Will This “Radical Inclusion” Change Church Structures
and Doctrines?
Yes. According to Synod promoters, the path towards greater inclusion
“begins with listening and requires a broader and deeper conversion of
attitudes and structures.”39 “This conversion”—the Working Document
continues—“translates into an equally continuous reform of the Church, its
structures and style.”40 One of the synodal process’ main goals is “to
renew our mentalities and our ecclesial structures,”41 which “will naturally
call for a renewal of structures at various levels of the Church.”42
The well-known American canonist and religious analyst Fr. Gerald E.
Murray rightly observes that the “inclusion” of these “marginalized
minorities” would have the immediate consequence of
discarding teachings that contradict the beliefs and desires of:
- those living in adulterous second “marriages,”
- men who have two or three or more wives,
- homosexuals and bisexuals,
- people who believe they are not the sex they were born as.
- women who want to be ordained deacons and priests, - lay people who want the authority given by God to bishops and priests. . . . [And he concludes,] there is plainly an open revolution going on in the Church today, an attempt to convince us that an embrace of heresy and immorality is not sinful, but rather a response to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking through people who feel marginalized by a Church that has, up to now, been unfaithful to its mission.43 

34. Is “Inclusion” Implementing Liberation Theology’s “Church of the Poor”? Yes. For decades, the so-called liberation theologians had begun to broaden the Marxist concept of the “poor”—that is, the materially dispossessed—to include any category that supposedly feels “oppressed,” such as women, indigenous peoples, blacks, homosexuals, and so forth. In light of the synodal journey, the Synthesis of the Continental Stage of the Synod for Latin America and the Caribbean, strongly influenced by liberation theology, again proposes the old idea of the “Church of the poor” or “people’s Church.” Speaking of a “Church that is ‘a refuge for the wounded and the broken’” (one would say the “oppressed”), the Latin American Document affirms: It is important that in the synodal process, we dare to bring up and discern great themes that are often forgotten or pushed aside and to meet the other and all those who are part of the human family and are often marginalized, even in our Church. Several appeals remind us that, in the spirit of Jesus, we must “include the poor, LGTBIQ+ communities, couples in a second union, priests who want to return to the Church in their new situation, women who have abortions out of fear, prisoners, the sick” (Southern Cone). It is about “walking together in a synodal Church that listens to all kinds of exiles, so that they feel at home,” a Church that is “a refuge for the wounded and the broken.”44 F - The Working Document for the Continental Stage

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  Norway to spend $6 million a year stock-piling grain, citing pandemic, war and climate change
Posted by: Stone - 08-29-2023, 06:12 AM - Forum: Global News - No Replies

Norway to spend $6 million a year stock-piling grain, citing pandemic, war and climate change

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FILE - Farmers harvest a grain field near Wernigerode, Germany, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Norway will spend 63 million kroner ($6 million) per year until the end of the decade stocking up on grain as the COVID-19 pandemic, a war in Europe and climate change have made it necessary, the government said Friday, Aug. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)


August 25, 2023
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway will spend 63 million kroner ($6 million) per year until the end of the decade stocking up on grain as the COVID-19 pandemic, a war in Europe and climate change have made it necessary, the government said Friday.

Starting next year, Norway will start storing 15,000 tons of grain and do so yearly until 2028 or 2029, according to Norway’s minister for agriculture and food, Geir Pollestad, who said the aim is to always have a three-month worth of consumption in storage.

Toward the end of the decade, 82,500 tons of grain should be in stock. Pollestad didn’t elaborate on the type of grain to be stored.

Pollestad told the Norwegian news agency NTB that they must take into consideration “the unthinkable” happening. “In a situation with extreme prices on the world market, it will still be possible to buy grain, but if we have done our job, we will not be so dependent on the highest bidder at auction. We can help keep prices down.”

The Norwegian Parliament will have to approve the plan before moving forward.

The storage location of these potential grain stockpiles has not been decided. Norway had stored grain in the 1950s but closed down these storages in 2003 after the Scandinavian country decided it was no longer necessary.

Norway houses the Global Seed Vault in its Svalbard archipelago, some 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) from the North Pole.

Since 2008, gene banks and organizations around the world have deposited nearly 1 million samples of seeds at the vault to back up their own collections in case of man-made or natural calamities.

The Norwegian government funded the construction cost while an international nonprofit organization pay for operational costs.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has affected the global trade of grain with both countries being major suppliers of corn wheat, barley and vegetable oil.

In July, Russia halted a wartime agreement with Ukraine allowing grain to move to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger threatens millions of people already struggling with high local food prices.

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