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  FDA to extend COVID emergency use authorizations for ‘as long as we need,’ commissioner says
Posted by: Stone - 02-15-2023, 06:57 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Secular] - No Replies

FDA to extend COVID emergency use authorizations for ‘as long as we need,’ commissioner says
The Emergency Use Authorizations are 'independent' of the COVID-19 emergency and do not expire, Dr. Robert Califf said.

[Image: Covid-hearing-scaled-810x500.jpg]

Dr. Robert Califf

Mon Feb 13, 2023
(LifeSiteNews) — The commissioner U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner recently testified that the agency’s Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) are “independent” of the COVID-19 emergency and do not expire.

During a congressional hearing discussing “the federal response to COVID-19″ within the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Dr. Robert Califf indicated that the federal agency will be transitioning EUAs related to COVID treatments and testing devices to standard procedure.

“Our EUAs are independent of the public health emergency, so we can keep them going as long as we need to,” Califf said. “We’ve been preparing the industry since day one to be ready for the transition. We’ll put a Federal Register Notice out about exactly how to make the transition as these products go to routine use and [are] no longer used on an emergency basis.”

The commissioner’s statement came in response to New Jersey Democrat Rep. Frank Pallone’s question about the “planning for the next phase of the federal response of this pandemic.”


In an opening statement, Califf said that the FDA has “issued EUAs or provided traditional marketing authorizations to over 2,800 medical devices for COVID-19, which is 15 times more EUAs than all other previous emergencies combined.”

Califf’s written testimony provided further details, stating that the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) “prioritized at-home tests since the beginning of the pandemic.”

According to Califf, the CDRH approved 30 over-the-counter at-home COVID tests made available to the public.

“Since January 2020, FDA has engaged with over 1,000 developers and authorized over 433 tests. CDRH continues to issue EUAs as appropriate for other types of devices and has taken various actions to help facilitate the availability of critical devices and supplies for health care providers and patients.”

Out of 510,000 devices that were reviewed by the agency, 1,900 are approved and “can be used for COVID-19 and certain similar diseases, including future pandemics.” The organization also released 28 “guidance documents” in an effort to expand availability of the devices.

“As we look to transition from the COVID-19 PHE [public health emergency] to normal operations, FDA has worked on guidances for transitioning devices that fall within enforcement policies issued during the COVID-19 PHE or that received EUAs to help facilitate a clear and predictable path to market for interested developers.”

Although the experimental vaccines were released to the public under emergency authorization, Califf maintained in his testimony that “vaccination is the best thing Americans can do right now to protect themselves and their families from the risk of becoming seriously ill or dying” from the virus. He added that the “proven effectiveness” of the shots has been “undercut by a constant flow of misinformation,” leading to many citizens choosing to avoid the shots.

Despite Califf’s confidence in the EUA vaccines, evidence has shown that the experimental shots can cause significant harm and may be more dangerous than contracting the COVID virus itself. Last month, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson demanded answers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director as to why the agency said it found no “unexpected safety signals” for the vaccines. Johnson’s letter came after The Epoch Times published a report showing various adverse effects of the shots, including myocarditis, pericarditis, and cardiac arrest.

The data shows that the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) found “770 different types of adverse events” among adults over age 18. Additionally, 96 safety signals were found among vaccinated children between the ages of 12 and 17 and 66 safety signals were identified for 5- to 11-year-olds.

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  New Research Finds ‘Little to No’ Evidence Masks Effectively Lessened Covid Spread
Posted by: Stone - 02-15-2023, 06:54 AM - Forum: Health - No Replies

'Old' Research, i.e. pre-Covid, has shown the same thing. 



New Research Finds ‘Little to No’ Evidence Masks Effectively Lessened Covid Spread

[Image: AA17tPR7.img?w=768&h=448&m=6]

CDC director Rochelle Walensky testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on the coronavirus in Washington, D.C., January 11, 2022.


MSN | February 14, 2023

Anew scientific review of 78 randomized trials studying the effectiveness of physical interventions in lessening the spread of respiratory viruses found “little to no” evidence that large-scale masking efforts were effective at preventing the wide spread of Covid-19.

The meta-analysis, published by Cochrane Library and led by 12 researchers, found that the difference between wearing a regular surgical mask or not wearing a mask at all “may make little to no difference in how many people caught a flu-like illness/COVID-like illness.” It also “probably makes little or no difference in how many people have flu/COVID confirmed by a laboratory test.”

The research, which draws upon data derived from hundreds of thousands of participants, casts fresh doubts on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s flip-flopping recommendations about masking as an essential tactic for combatting Covid-19. In March 2020, at the outset of the global pandemic, the CDC said that masks were non-essential in slowing the spread of the coronavirus. A month later, CDC director Robert Redfield informed the Senate that masks were one of “the most important” and “powerful” health tools Americans had at their disposal.

But according to the Cochrane Library analysis, even the much-touted, top-of-the-line N95 respirator mask provided little to no extra protection for healthcare workers when compared to medical or surgical masks. “Compared with wearing medical or surgical masks, wearing N95/P2 respirators probably makes little to no difference in how many people have confirmed flu (5 studies; 8407 people); and may make little to no difference in how many people catch a flu‐like illness (5 studies; 8407 people), or respiratory illness (3 studies; 7799 people). Unwanted effects were not well‐reported; discomfort was mentioned,” the analysis found.

Some supporters of masking efforts, however, believe that critics of masking are making too much of the conclusions of the Cochrane Library review, particularly by overlooking the individual benefits of wearing masks, as opposed to the community-wide benefits.

“We have fairly decent evidence that masks can protect the wearer,” Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Brown University, told The Atlantic. “Where I think it sort of falls apart is relating that to the population level.”

In early February, New York state removed its masking requirements in hospitals handing the power back to individual healthcare providers.

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  Klaus Schwab: "Who masters those technologies - in some way - will be the master of the world."
Posted by: Stone - 02-15-2023, 06:21 AM - Forum: Great Reset - No Replies

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  Pope Francis: On Relations with Judaism
Posted by: Stone - 02-14-2023, 02:10 PM - Forum: Pope Francis - No Replies

I have often commented that while many are (rightfully) scandalized by the errors of Pope Francis, a seemingly blind eye is turned to similar statements from the other post-Conciliar popes. It is a strange situation that to some groups, only Pope Francis is found to be scandalous. It is almost as if Paul VI, JPII, and Benedict XVI were not riddled with errors also, which almost always came directly from the documents of Vatican II.


A recent example that was brought to my attention:

Evangelii Gaudium:

Quote:Relations with Judaism

247. We hold the Jewish people in special regard because their covenant with God has never been revoked, for “the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable” (Rom 11:29). The Church, which shares with Jews an important part of the sacred Scriptures, looks upon the people of the covenant and their faith as one of the sacred roots of her own Christian identity (cf. Rom 11:16-18). As Christians, we cannot consider Judaism as a foreign religion; nor do we include the Jews among those called to turn from idols and to serve the true God (cf. 1 Thes 1:9). With them, we believe in the one God who acts in history, and with them we accept his revealed word.

Some are very scandalized at these comments. So much so that they are convinced Francis must be a heretic for repeating them. But please note the word, repeat. These errors did not originate with him. That it is not to say that this is isn't an error. But to have the whole picture we must understand that similar comments are found in several Vatican II documents. The Vatican II document Nostra Aetate in particular states this error. 

From the SiSiNoNo article, The Errors of Vatican II:

Quote:[*]In Nostra Aetate §4, the propositions:
Quote:True, authorities of the Jews and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ (cf. Jn. 19:6); still, what happened in His passion cannot be blamed upon all the Jews then living, without distinction, nor upon the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as repudiated or cursed by God, as if such views followed from the holy Scriptures.
Necessary to note here is the attempt to limit the responsibility for Deicide to a small group of quasi private individuals, whereas the Sanhedrin, the supreme religious authority, represented all of Judaism. Therefore, in the rejection of the Messiah and Son of God, it had collective responsibility for the Jewish religion and the Jewish people, and this irrefutably is stated in Holy Scripture: "And from then on, Pilate was looking for a way to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying, 'If thou release this man, thou are no friend of Caesar; for everyone who makes himself king sets himself against Caesar'" (Jn. 19:12); and "And all of the people answered and said, 'His blood be on us and our children'" (Mt. 27:25).

Also striking is the statement that "the Jews should not be presented as repudiated or cursed by God, as if such views followed from the holy Scriptures." This lacks the necessary distinction between individuals and the Jewish religion. If the subject is individual Jews, the statement is true, and is exemplified by the great number of converts from Judaism in all eras. But if the subject is Judaism as a religion, the assertion is both erroneous and illogical: erroneous, because it contradicts the evangelical texts and the Church's constant faith from her origins. (cf. Mt. 21:43: "Therefore I say to you, that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and will be given to a people yielding its fruits.") And it is illogical, because if God did not reject the Jewish religion or the Jewish people in the religious sense (which in Jesus' time was one and the same thing), then the Old Testament has to be viewed as being still valid, and contiguous and concurrent with the New Testament. This, then, would sanction the unjustified awaiting of the Messiah, a hope still entertained by today's Jews! All of this is a totally lying representation of Judaism and its relationship to Christianity. [...]

[*]The inversion of Catholics' mission regarding the members of other religions. Rather than exhort the faithful to a renewed energy for converting the greatest number of unbelievers possible by wresting them out of the shadows they are in, in Nostra Aetate §2, the Council exhorts her sons:
Quote:Prudently and lovingly, through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions, and in witness of Christian faith and life, acknowledge, preserve, and promote the spiritual and moral goods found among these men, as well as the values in their society and culture.

In other words, it is saying that [the Church's sons] should conduct themselves in such a way that the Buddhists, Hindus, Moslems, and Jews, etc., remain Buddhists, Hindus, Moslems, and Jews, etc., and that [the Church's sons] should even "promote" the social and cultural values of their respective religions, all hostile to revealed truth. This exhortation expresses a general principle set forth by the Council to the "Church" which was to be born of its reforms and which defines itself as "the Conciliar Church" (cf. Cardinal Benelli), a principle which tells "the people of God"-priests and laity-the attitude that they are to take concerning the "separated brethren" and all non-Christians. This and other pastoral exhortations (for example in Lumen Gentium §17'; Gaudium et Spes §28; Unitatis Redintegratio §4) constitute overt treason against the order given by the Risen Christ Jesus to the Apostles: "Go then, teach all nations" (Mt. 28:19), an order which, mutatis mutandis, is valid for all believers, insofar as they are able, because every believer, as miles Christi, must bear witness to the faith according to the works of corporal and spiritual mercy.

How can anyone be surprised that the application of this deadly exhortation has resulted in hundreds of thousands of Catholics having already become Buddhists or Moslems, whereas the conversions of Buddhists or Moslems to Catholicism are practically nonexistent? How can anyone deny that this exhortation is one of the factual proofs that the post-conciliar crisis has its roots in the false doctrines which suffused the Council's texts?

It is only too true that Pope Francis is heavily laden with error. But to use his errors as a pretext for sedevacantism (in any of its many forms) erstwhile selectively ignoring the very same errors in Vatican II and the other post-Conciliar popes is pure hypocrisy.

In a Vatican News 2018 'correction' regarding Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's comments was eager to clarify the following:
Quote:Judaism and Christianity, said Benedict, are “two ways of interpreting the Scriptures.” ...

Benedict also addressed – among other theological issues – the delicate question of the “mission” to the Jews; that is, the question of whether the Church should proclaim the Good News of Christ to the Jews. Benedict wrote: “A mission to the Jews is not foreseen and not necessary.” At the same time, it is true that Christ gave His disciples a mission to all peoples and all cultures. For this reason, Benedict affirms, “the missionary mandate is universal – with one exception: a mission to the Jews was not foreseen and not necessary because they alone, among all peoples, knew the ‘unknown God’.”

For Israel, then, it was not a mission, but a dialogue about whether Jesus of Nazareth was “the Son of God, the Logos,” for whom, according to the promises made to His people, Israel, and the whole world without knowing it, was waiting. Taking up this dialogue anew, Benedict said, is “the duty given us at this time.”


The Church will one day judge these Conciliar popes and pass a judgement. Until that time, let us remain united in prayer, let us pray for Pope Francis who surely deserves our prayers and may God grant that he be turned from the (many!) errors of his ways.

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  EU parliament votes to ban new sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2035
Posted by: Stone - 02-14-2023, 08:17 AM - Forum: Global News - No Replies

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  Abp. Viganò: Pagan modernity is preparing a scourge ‘far more disastrous’ than the Flood
Posted by: Stone - 02-13-2023, 02:26 PM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò - Replies (1)

Abp. Viganò: Pagan modernity is preparing a scourge ‘far more disastrous’ than the Flood
'Sacred Scripture and the Fathers teach us that the Ark is a type of the Holy Church, thanks to which the elect can save themselves from mankind’s communal shipwreck.'

[Image: Calming-the-storm-Rembrant-810x500.jpg]

Feb 13, 2023
(LifeSiteNews) — Yesterday Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò presented a sombre Sunday homily (below) in which he reflected on the “abyss of evil … into which we see the contemporary world sinking” and counsels Christians to find refuge from the coming “scourge,” one “far more disastrous than the ancient Flood,” in the Ark of Salvation, the Catholic Church. He warns against counterfeit arks, and compares those who promote the plans of the New World Order to those who danced “inebriated and carefree” on the Titanic. He suggest that Pope Francis is remiss in his duties, saying “The man who ought to be calling us to board the True Ark has also gotten on board this horrid transatlantic liner, and we see him along with the wicked toasting the mighty of the earth, the enemies of God.” Nevertheless, he reminds Christians that the Helmsman who holds “firmly” the rudder of the Church, the true Ark of Salvation, is Jesus Christ, Our Lord.


VIRTUS IN INFIRMITATE PERFICITUR

Homily of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò for Sexagesima Sunday

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of men was on the earth and that every inner desire of their hearts was always nothing but evil Gen 6:5

On Sexagesima Sunday we are drawing near to the time of penance and fasting in preparation for Easter. Already for a week the Alleluia has been silent in the liturgy, replaced in the Mass by the Tract. And on this Sunday that is quasi-penitential the Church – with the Readings of Matins – accompanies us in the consideration of sin which leads God to destroy the rebellious human race with the Flood, saving only the family of Noah.

Sacred Scripture speaks of the wickedness of men: every inner desire of their hearts was always nothing but evil. It is hard to believe that humanity could have committed in the past the evil that we see it do today: in no ancient culture was the abyss of evil ever so deep as the one into which we see the contemporary world sinking. Massacres, violence, wars, perversions, thefts, robberies, slaughters, profanations, sacrileges committed not only by individual people but imposed through law by the heads of nations, exalted by the media, encouraged by teachers and magistrates, tolerated and even approved by priests. We ask ourselves if modern man does not merit punishments even worse than the flood, for the wickedness that inspires his every action against God, against his fellow human beings, against Creation; and in contemplating the apparent triumph of the mysterium iniquitatis, in seeing how widespread and deeply rooted evil is in our corrupt and apostate world, we ask ourselves how long the Divine Majesty can tolerate the abomination of men. We almost find it difficult to believe in the Lord’s promise: I will no longer curse the ground because of man, because every intention of the human heart is inclined to evil from youth; nor will I again strike every living being as I have done (Gen 8:21).

What leaves us disoriented is not so much the silence in which we are abandoned to ourselves and our tribulations, so much as the fact that the impunity of present crimes and sins may be itself a punishment that is even more tremendous and severe than that which the Eternal Father could send us. Paganized modernity, plunged into barbarism, is preparing with its own hands a scourge that is far more disastrous than the ancient Flood, a much vaster destruction of the human race, in which it believes that it can sweep away from the face of earth not the wicked but rather the good: those who remain faithful to the Lord and to His holy law. And while the storm clouds by which they will be submerged gather, dark and threatening, our contemporaries deride those who are preparing their own spiritual Ark by seeking to save themselves and their loved ones; indeed, they do everything to prevent them from bringing it to completion.

Sacred Scripture and the Fathers teach us that the Ark is a type of the Holy Church, thanks to which the elect can save themselves from mankind’s communal shipwreck.

Hæc est arca – we sing in the Preface of the Dedication of a Church – quæ nos a mundi ereptos diluvio, in portum salutis inducit. “This is the ark which leads us, saved from the flood of the world, into the harbor of salvation.” But where can we find the Ark of Salvation? How can we tell her from her counterfeits, which are destined to sink under the weight of those who take a seat on them? From her imitations, used to save the wicked, while the helmsman prevents the good from climbing aboard and and even drives away his own children, identifying them as illegal immigrants unworthy of being rescued from the waters?

This distressing thought is not out of place when we consider who is sitting today on the Throne of Peter. The Ark of the Church seems to want to welcome anyone, with the exception of those who are actually entitled to be rescued. Indeed, it seems that it is useless, because there will not be any flood to escape from. Or worse: the huge flood causes not by God’s wrath but by the tide of men’s iniquities is actually considered to be a moment of regeneration, an opportunity to reduce the global population according to the delusional plans of the Great Reset. Just as on the Titanic, the crew and passengers were dancing, inebriated and carefree, while the ship proceeded full speed ahead against the iceberg that would sink it, an arrogant monument to the pride of those who believe that they are exempt from divine justice. The man who ought to be calling us to board the True Ark has also gotten on board this horrid transatlantic liner, and we see him along with the wicked toasting the mighty of the earth, the enemies of God.

But if on the one hand these human considerations can throw us into despair and make us fear for our very survival, on the other hand we can recognize the True Ark of Salvation, because we see her ready on the mount of Calvary where she was built, and on the mystical Calvary of the altar where she waits for us each day.

It matters little that another ark is pointed out to us – even by people in whom we place our trust and who should not be deceiving us – or that there are those who consider it useless and for this reason make fun of us or treat us like we are crazy. It matters little that there are those who deny the impending flood, even as he himself is its impious architect in his foolish presumption of even being able to control atmospheric phenomena with his geo-engineering.

We know that the True Ark, the Only Ark, is the Holy Church. And by the words of Our Lord, the divine Helmsman who holds the rudder firmly, we believe that this Ark will pass through the flood unharmed, and in the end will finally find dry land on which to come to rest. For these reason, we are determined not to let ourselves be deceived, deluding ourselves that we can save ourselves outside this Ark or by building one for ourselves.

In the Epistle of today’s Mass, Saint Paul enumerates all of the trials that he had to face in sowing the Word of God, following the example of the parable of the Sower that is given to us in the Gospel. And He said to me: my grace is sufficient for you, because my power is best felt in weakness. (2 Cor 12:9). In recognizing our weakness, in the awareness of our infirmity and our nothingness God’s power becomes perceptible in an even stronger way the greater our humility and faith in Him. Sufficit tibi gratia mea: My grace is enough for you. Because it is through Grace that we are made worthy to find refuge in the Ark; and it is through Grace that we can remain there during the Flood; and it is through Grace that we will reach the Harbor of Heaven.

Let us not therefore lose the grace of God. Let us climb the mystical mountain on which the Ark awaits us; an Ark in which we also find nutriment for our souls: the Bread of Angels.

And so may it be.

12 February 2023

Dominica in Sexagesima

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  St. Alphonsus Liguori: Daily Meditations for Sexagesima Week
Posted by: Stone - 02-13-2023, 07:30 AM - Forum: Lent - Replies (6)

Monday after Sexagesima

Morning Meditation

THE WILL OF GOD TO SAVE ALL MEN.


I.

Our holy Redeemer has ransomed us from eternal death at the price of His own Blood, and He does not wish to see these souls of ours lost which have cost Him so much. When He sees souls that are constraining Him by their sins to sentence them to hell, He, as it were, weeps with compassion for them and says: And wherefore will ye die, O house of Israel? Return ye and live! (Ezech. xviii. 31). My children, why will you destroy and damn yourselves when I have died upon a Cross to save you? Return to Me as penitents, and I will restore to you the life you have lost.

The Apostle, St. Paul, teaches that God willeth the salvation of all: He will have all men to be saved. (1 Tim. ii. 4). And St. Peter writes: The Lord dealeth patiently for your sake, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance. (2 Peter. 9). For this end the Son of God came down from Heaven, and was made Man, and spent thirty-three years in labours and sufferings, and finally shed His Blood and laid down His life for our salvation. And shall we forfeit our salvation?

Thou, my Saviour, didst spend Thy whole life in securing my salvation, and in what have I spent so many years of my life? What fruit hast Thou hitherto reaped from me? I have deserved to be cut off and cast into hell. But Thou desirest not the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live. (Ezech. xxxiii. 11). Yes, O God, I leave all and turn myself to Thee. I love Thee, and because I love Thee I am sorry for having offended Thee. Accept of me, and suffer me not to forsake Thee any more.

How much did not the Saints do to secure their eternal salvation! How many nobles and kings have forsaken their kingdoms and estates, and shut themselves up in cloisters! How many young persons have forsaken their country and friends, to dwell in caves and deserts! And how many Martyrs have laid down their lives under the most cruel tortures! And why? -- to save their souls. And what have we done?

Woe to me, who, although I know that death is near at hand, yet think not of it! No, my God, I will no longer live at a distance from Thee. Why do I delay? Is it that death may overtake me in the miserable state in which I now am? No, my God, do Thou assist me to prepare for death.


II.

O God, how many graces has my Saviour bestowed on me to enable me to save my soul! He has caused me to be born in the bosom of the true Church; He has many times pardoned me my transgressions; He has favoured me with many lights in sermons, in prayers, in meditations, in Communions, and spiritual exercises; and often has He called me to His love. In a word, how many means of salvation has He granted me which He has not granted others!

And yet, O God, when shall I detach myself from the world and give myself entirely to Thee? Behold me, O Jesus, I will no longer resist. Thou hast obliged me to love Thee. I desire to be wholly Thine: do Thou accept of me, and disdain not the love of a sinner who has hitherto so much despised Thee. I love Thee, my God, my Love, and my All. Have pity on me, O Mary, for thou art my hope.



Spiritual Reading

THE POWER OF THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST TO ENKINDLE DIVINE LOVE IN EVERY HEART.

Father Balthassar Alvarez, a great servant of God, used to say that we must not think we have made any progress in the way of God until we have come to keep Jesus crucified ever in our heart. And St. Francis de Sales said that "the love which is not the offspring of the Passion is feeble." Yes; because we cannot have a more powerful motive for loving God than the Passion of Jesus Christ, by which we know that the Eternal Father, to manifest His exceeding love for us, was pleased to send His only-begotten Son upon earth to die for us sinners. Hence the Apostle says that God, through the excess of love wherewith He loved us, willed that the death of His Son should convey life to us: For his exceeding charity wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ. (Ephes. ii. 5). And this was precisely the expression used by Moses and Elias on Mount Tabor, in speaking of the Passion of Jesus Christ. They did not know how to give it any other appellation than an excess of love: And they spoke of his excess, which he should consummate in Jerusalem. (Luke ix. 31).

When our Saviour came into the world, the shepherds heard the angels singing, Glory to God in the highest. (Luke ii. 14). But the humiliation of the Son of God in becoming Man, through His love for man, might have seemed rather to obscure than to manifest His Divine glory: but no; there was no means by which the glory of God could have been better manifested to the world than by Jesus Christ dying for the salvation of mankind, since the Passion of Jesus Christ has made us know the perfection of the Divine attributes. It has made us know how great is the Mercy of God, in that a God was willing to die to save sinners; and to die, moreover, by a death so painful and ignominious. St. John Chrysostom says, that the Passion of Jesus Christ was not an ordinary suffering, nor His death a simple death like that of other men.

It has made us know the Divine Wisdom. Had our Redeemer been merely God, He could not have made satisfaction for man; for God could not make satisfaction to Himself in place of man; nor could God make satisfaction by means of suffering, for He is impassible. On the other hand, had He been merely man, man could not have made satisfaction for the grievous injury done by him to the Divine Majesty. What, then, did God do? He sent His own very Son, true God with the Father, to take human flesh, that so as man He might by His death pay the debt due to the Divine Justice, and as God might make full satisfaction.

The Passion, moreover, made us know how great is the Divine Justice. St. John Chrysostom says, that God reveals to us the greatness of His Justice, not so much by hell in which He punishes sinners, as by the sight of Jesus on the Cross; since in hell creatures are punished for sins of their own, but on the Cross we behold a God cruelly treated in order to make satisfaction for the sins of men. What obligation had Jesus Christ to die for us? He was offered because it was his own will. (Is. liii. 7). He might have justly abandoned man to his perdition; but His love for us would not let Him see us lost: wherefore He chose to give Himself up to so painful a death in order to obtain for us salvation: He hath loved us and delivered himself up for us. (Ephes. v. 11). From all eternity He had loved man: I have loved thee, with an everlasting love. (Jer. xxxi. 3). But then, seeing that His justice obliged Him to condemn man, and to keep him at a distance, separated eternally from Himself, His mercy urged Him to find a way by which He might be able to save him. But how? By making satisfaction Himself to the Divine Justice by His own death. And consequently He willed that there should be affixed to the Cross whereon He died the sentence of condemnation to eternal death which man had merited, in order that it might remain there, cancelled in His Blood. Blotting out the writing of the decree that was against us, which was contrary to us. He hath taken the same out of the way, fastening it to the cross. (Colos. ii. 14). And thus, through the merits of His own Blood, He pardons all our sins: Forgiving you all offences. (Colos. ii. 13). And at the same time He spoiled the devils of the rights they had acquired over us, carrying along with Him in triumph as well our enemies as ourselves, who were their prey. And despoiling the principalities and powers, he hath exposed them confidently in open show, triumphing over them in himself. (Colos. ii. 15). On which Theophylact comments: "As a conqueror in triumph, carrying with Him the booty and the enemy."


Evening Meditation

FRUITS OF MEDITATION ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST.

I.

The Lover of souls, our most loving Redeemer, declared that He had no other motive in coming down upon earth to become man, than to enkindle in the hearts of men the fire of His holy love: I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I but that it be kindled. (Luke xii. 49). And, oh, what beautiful flames of love has He not enkindled in so many souls, especially by the pains that He chose to suffer in His death, in order to prove to us the immeasurable love which He still bears to us! Oh, how many souls, happy in the Wounds of Jesus, as in burning furnaces of love, have been so inflamed with His love, that they have not refused to consecrate to Him their goods, their lives, and their whole selves, surmounting with great courage all the difficulties which they had to encounter in the observance of the Divine law, for the love of that Lord Who, being God, chose to suffer so much for the love of them! This was just the counsel that the Apostle gave us, in order that we might not fail, but make great advances in the way of salvation: Think diligently upon him, who endureth such opposition from sinners against himself, that you be not wearied, fainting in your minds. (Heb. xii. 3).

Wherefore St. Augustine, all inflamed with love at the sight of Jesus nailed on the Cross, prayed thus sweetly: Imprint, O Lord, Thy Wounds in my heart, that I may read therein suffering and love: suffering, that I may endure for Thee all suffering; love, that I may despise for Thee all love. Write, he said, my most loving Saviour, write on my heart Thy Wounds, in order that I may always therein behold Thy sufferings and Thy love. Yes, in order that having before my eyes the great sufferings that Thou, my God, didst endure for me, I may bear in silence all the sufferings it may fall to my lot to endure; and at the sight of the love which Thou didst exhibit for me on the Cross, I may never love or be able to love any other than Thee.


II.

O Saviour of the world, O Love of souls, O Lord most lovely of all beings, Thou by Thy Passion didst come to win to Thyself our hearts, by showing us the immense love Thou didst bear us in accomplishing a Redemption which has brought to us a sea of benedictions, and which cost Thee a sea of pains and ignominies. It was principally for this end that Thou didst institute the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, in order that we might have a perpetual memorial of Thy Passion: "That we might have for ever a perpetual memorial of so great a benefit," says St. Thomas, "He gives His body to be the food of the faithful" which St. Paul had already said: As often as you shall eat this bread, you shall show the death of the Lord. (1 Cor. xi. 26). Oh, how many holy souls hast Thou persuaded by these prodigies of love, consumed by the flames of Thy love, to renounce all earthly goods, in order to dedicate themselves entirely to loving Thee alone, O most amiable Saviour! O my Jesus, I pray Thee make me always remember Thy Passion; and grant that I also, a miserable sinner, overcome at last by so many loving devices, may return to love Thee, and to show Thee, by my poor love, some mark of gratitude for the excessive love which Thou, my God and my Saviour, hast borne to me. Remember, my Jesus, that I am one of those sheep of Thine, to save which Thou didst come down on the earth, and didst sacrifice Thy Divine life. I know that, after having redeemed me by Thy death, Thou hast not ceased to love me, and that Thou dost still bear to me the same love which Thou hadst for me when Thou didst die for my sake. Oh, permit me not any longer to lead a life of ingratitude towards Thee, my God, Who dost so much deserve to be loved, and hast done so much to be loved by me.

And thou, O most holy Virgin Mary, who didst take so great a part in the Passion of thy Son, obtain for me, I beseech thee, through the merits of thy sorrows, the grace to experience a taste of that compassion which thou didst so sensibly feel at the death of Jesus; and obtain for me also a spark of that love which wrought all the martyrdom of thy afflicted heart. Amen.

"Let my mind, O Lord Jesus Christ, I beseech Thee, be absorbed in the fiery and honeyed sweetness of Thy love, that I may die for love of the love of Thee, Who wert pleased to die for love of the love of me."
(Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi).

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  Health concerns mounting as animals become sick after train derailment
Posted by: Stone - 02-12-2023, 09:28 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

Health concerns mounting as animals become sick after train derailment

WKBN.com | Feb 9, 2023



EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (WKBN) — Health concerns are growing in East Palestine as reports rise of animals getting sick and some even dying. The train derailment is causing struggles not just for the animals, but their owners as well.

Taylor Holzer and his family run Parker Dairy, just outside the original evacuation zone. Holzer is registered with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources as a foxkeeper.

A couple of his foxes broke their legs trying to run after the initial derailment. One of his foxes even died.

“Out of nowhere, he just started coughing really hard, just shut down, and he had liquid diarrhea and just went very fast,” says Holzer.

He says all of his foxes have been sick and acting differently since the weekend. Some have abnormally puffy faces and are not eating properly. Many are dealing with stomach issues and are acting lethargic.

“This is not a fox acts. He is very weak, limp. His eyes are very watery and weepy,” says Holzer.

Some of the foxes are pacing rapidly in their pen, which is another sign that they are not well.

Holzer says the train derailment is causing all of these issues.

“Smoke and chemicals from the train, that’s the only thing that can cause it, because it doesn’t just happen out of nowhere,” Holzer says. “The chemicals that we’re being told are safe in the air, that’s definitely not safe for the animals … or people.”

He hopes justice is served for the animals and people of East Palestine.

People’s cats are getting sick and dying, and people’s other birds that they have in their house that they weren’t being able to evacuate either. It’s just it’s not safe for them,” says Holzer.

Those with animals that have died need to get a necropsy, which determines the cause of death for their animal. For more information, reach out to your vet.

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  CDC adds Covid-19 shots to list of routine vaccines for kids and adults
Posted by: Stone - 02-10-2023, 10:21 AM - Forum: Health - No Replies

CDC adds Covid-19 shots to list of routine vaccines for kids and adults


CNN - adapted | February 9, 2023

Covid-19 shots are included in new schedules of routinely recommended vaccines released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday. The immunization schedules summarize current vaccine recommendations for children, adolescents and adults, but do not set vaccine requirements for schools or workplaces.

Key changes to the schedules, published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on Thursday, include the addition of Covid-19 primary vaccine series and recommendations on booster dose vaccination; updated guidance on influenza and pneumococcal vaccines; and new vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) and for hepatitis B.

The schedule also recommends additional doses of MMR vaccine during a mumps outbreak and administering inactivated poliovirus vaccine in adults who are at an increased risk for exposure to the virus.

The proposed changes were recommended by the CDC’s vaccine advisers, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices or ACIP, and signed off on by the CDC, which worked with physicians, nurses and pharmacists on the recommendation.

The biggest change, the report’s authors told CNN, is incorporating Covid-19 vaccines into both schedules.

“This means COVID-19 vaccine is now presented as any other routinely recommended vaccine and is no longer presented in a special “call out” box as in previous years. This, in a sense, helps ‘normalize’ this vaccine and sends a powerful message to both healthcare providers and the general public that everyone ages 6 months and older should stay up to date with recommended COVID-19 vaccines (including a booster, when eligible), just as they would with any other routinely recommended vaccine,” Dr. Neil Murthy and Dr. A. Patricia Wodi said in a statement.

However, including Covid-19 vaccines on the routine schedule does not mean vaccination will be required by schools. School-entry vaccination requirements are determined by state or local jurisdictions, and not by CDC.

The new recommendations also add the use of PCV15, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine used to treat bacterial infection recently approved for use in children. Either PCV13 or the higher valent PCV15 may now be used based on the specific pediatric population.

A nurse demonstrates how a measles vaccine is administered at the Orange County Health Department on May 6, 2019 in Orlando, Florida. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of measles cases in the United States as of May 6, 2019 has climbed to 764 in 23 states, with 60 new cases reported in the past week, breaking recent records.

The authors of the report include information on what to do in an outbreak of mumps. This comes amid the end of the measles outbreak in Columbus, Ohio, where all children infected were not fully vaccinated. The recommendations stated that an additional booster of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is warranted in the case of a mumps outbreak.

“The vaccine for measles does not need a booster,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, as he says the initial vaccine provides strong protection for life. “Mumps vaccine, however, does wane in its protection. And so if there’s a mumps outbreak, then we would use MMR.”

Similarly, the new recommendations provide clear guidance on the use of an additional poliovirus vaccine if new cases emerge, such as in New York City last year.

“There were lots of questions about whether an additional dose of polio vaccine was appropriate, and this just opens the door for the use of another dose of inactivated virus, that is injectable polio vaccine, in those circumstances where, for example, a local health department in concert with the CDC might recommend that,” said Schaffner, who is a member of CDC’s vaccine advisory committee.

Public health experts emphasize the importance of annual vaccinations as coverage among children has declined in recent years. In the 2021-2022 school year, vaccination coverage for kindergarteners fell to 93% for required vaccines – dropping below the overall target of 95% that was set as an objective by the US Department of Health and Human Services in the Healthy People project.

This dip in vaccination coverage has been attributed to health care disruptions related to the Covid-19 pandemic, experts say, and health care providers are working hard to get back to and surpass pre-pandemic levels.

“Why is that a matter of concern? Because it opens up opportunities for these viruses and other germs to be reintroduced into the United States, and to cause outbreaks of disease. The recently concluded measles outbreak in Ohio is an example, the introduction of the poliovirus into New York is an example, and we need to keep our guard up,” said Schaffner.

Health care professionals urge families to make sure children are up to date with their vaccines.

“Vaccines are essential for the health of our whole society, including children and adolescents,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases and a vaccine adviser to the CDC. “We all have a responsibility to ensure everyone can access vaccinations, both for their individual health as well as to prevent the spread of illnesses. These schedules provide a roadmap parents and pediatricians can follow to help children get the vaccines they need so their immune systems will be ready to recognize and resist diseases.”

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  Archbishop Lefebvre Never Celebrated the New Mass
Posted by: Stone - 02-10-2023, 08:58 AM - Forum: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre - No Replies

Archbishop Lefebvre Never Celebrated the New Mass

[Image: cr_34.jpg?itok=4uBXsvV8]


JANUARY 30, 2023
SOURCE: DISTRICT OF THE USA [slightly adapted, emphasis mine]

Sometimes one hears the claim being made that Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, founder of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), celebrated the New Mass for a time before devoting himself exclusively to the traditional Mass. The purpose of this article is to show that this claim is false.


The Society’s Liturgical Disposition

As recounted in Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais’s authoritative Marcel Lefebvre: The Biography (Angelus Press 2004), “Since Archbishop Lefebvre was opposed to the New Mass, he would not have it in the seminary” (p. 416). When the first crop of seminarians who would form the foundation of the Society arrived in Fribourg, Switzerland in 1969, it was decided quickly that the Old Mass, that is the traditional Latin Mass (TLM), would be celebrated by the nascent priestly fraternity rather than the New Mass of Pope Paul VI. After the New Mass was introduced into the Diocese of Fribourg on the eve of Advent 1969, the Archbishop continued to celebrate the TLM, though some of the seminarians assisted at the New Mass in Latin at a nearby Bernardine monastery on Sundays when the Archbishop was called away on other matters.

The Archbishop’s decision to allow his seminarians to assist at the Novus Ordo Missae was nothing more than an expression of his prudence. Not wanting to cause scandal to the faithful by appearing to disobey the local bishop, Archbishop Lefebvre took a cautious approach at first, informing an inquiring priest that the Roman Canon should be retained while the words of consecration are said in a low voice. As time went on, the Archbishop’s concerns over the New Mass grew as he observed its disastrous fruits, consulted with episcopal colleagues, and reflected more on its doctrinal distortions.

While much could be written on the liturgical praxis of the SSPX and other traditionalist Catholics during the years following the New Mass’s introduction, many priests simply relied upon the missals, breviaries, and other liturgical texts that were available to them. In 1965, for instance, several alterations were made to the 1962 Missale Romanum, such as the abbreviation of Psalm 42 during the so-called “Prayers at the Foot of the Altar”; the use of the vernacular for the epistle and gospel readings; and the suppression of the Last Gospel. The Archbishop accepted these slight modifications to the traditional Mass at first before finally settling on the 1962 books promulgated by Pope John XXIII as the SSPX’s normative liturgy in 1974.


False Accusations

At no point did the Archbishop himself ever say the New Mass. It appears that the calumny saying that he did has its origins in an unsubstantiated letter written by Fr. Guérard des Lauriers, OP, on April 12, 1979. Fr. des Lauriers was a French theologian and professor who had formerly taught at the SSPX’s seminary in Écône, Switzerland until his embrace of sedevacantism in 1977. Not only did the Archbishop deny this charge, but it was refuted in detail by Jean Madiran in the May 1980 issue of the journal he founded, Itinéraires. Madiran called Lauriers out for his outrageous language against the Archbishop, namely, accusing him of being a traitor and another Pontius Pilate. However, he noted the claim that the Archbishop celebrated the New Mass from April, 1969, to December, 1971, as being the worst accusation of all. Madiran pointed out to Fr. Lauriers that the New Mass was not even permitted before November 1969, and that it was absurd to think that the Archbishop was such an enthusiast for the New Mass that he would have started celebrating it before everyone else.

In the end, when the Archbishop wrote to Fr. Lauriers to deny the charge, the latter wrote back to say that he was happy this was the case, but that the Archbishop had made certain gestures while celebrating the traditional Mass that made him think he was celebrating the New Mass. It was clear at this point that Fr. Lauriers’s original letter was a case of bad polemics.



Consequences of the Archbishop’s Decision

The Archbishop’s decision that he and his priests would not celebrate the New Mass had immense consequences for the Church. It is clear, in hindsight, that the Roman authorities would have been happy for the traditional Mass to disappear completely from the life of the Church, despite the fact that its origin is too ancient to be pinpointed precisely and that it had been the cultural bedrock of Western civilization for over a millennium. If the Archbishop had not refused the New Mass and formed generations of priests in the old Mass, we may ask whether the TLM would even be available in 2023.

Furthermore, it was surely the Archbishop’s perseverance in the formation of traditional priests for the SSPX from 1970-88 that caused the Roman authorities to decide to make some place, even if just a little one, for the “Mass of All Time” in the life of the Church. This was the primary reason why the 1962 Missal, the “Mass of Écône,” received specific Roman approval in the indults issued by Pope John Paul II in 1984 and 1988. It was the reason why Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI after him, allowed for the canonical erection of the so-called Ecclesia Dei communities, which were established celebrating the TLM exclusively.

It is clear that the Conciliar churchmen would have been quite content for the TLM to vanish and that they had no will to grant concessions for it. Only pressure applied from the outside made them change their minds. This pressure came primarily from one source: the Archbishop’s fidelity to the old Mass ... .


The Archbishop’s Liturgical Legacy

Traditional Catholics the world over continue to feed on the spiritual harvest planted by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre over 50 years ago. Whether or not they assist at Masses offered by the priests of the SSPX, these faithful are able to receive the sacraments according to the 1962 texts because of the Archbishop’s choice to remain faithful to the never-abrogated Mass of All Time, before the disastrous intrusion of the Novus Ordo Missae into the Roman Catholic Church’s liturgical life. Had the Archbishop capitulated as his calumniators contend, there is no telling what state the traditional liturgy would be in today.

May this history of the brave Archbishop’s refusal of the novel liturgy of the New Mass, which has been so damaging to the eternal salvation of souls in the past 54 years, be a source of encouragement to all those who are tempted to sacrifice the interests of the Catholic Faith in difficult circumstances.

sspx.org - 01/30/2023

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  FLASHBACK: Pope Francis lashed out at protesters fed up with COVID lockdowns, restrictions
Posted by: ThyWillBeDone - 02-10-2023, 06:20 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Spiritual] - No Replies

FLASHBACK: Pope Francis lashed out at protesters fed up with COVID lockdowns, restrictions
https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/flash...urce=daily-
usa-2023-02-10&utm_medium=email

It couldn’t be that Pope Francis was as mean and nasty as Tony Fauci bashing people and just making fun of them, right? Well, actually, yes.
Did you know that Pope Francis went after those who were complaining about forced vaccination, forced masking, and everything else?
In a November 2020 rant where he lets down his guard and allows his leftist colors to show more than in the past, the Pope said of anti-lockdown protesters: “You’ll never find such people protesting the death of George Floyd, or joining a demonstration because there are shantytowns where children lack water or education, or because there are whole families who have lost their income.”
His comments came in a teaser for the Pope’s book-length interview with leftist Vatican journalist Austen Ivereigh.
We know where Pope Francis is coming from. He’s coming from a very strange place. Did you know that right at the pandemic, when everything was being shut down and of course they shut down the Masses, they actually did something else?
They did a redo of Mass for pandemics. The reading, though, was very weird. The redo was all about removing any reference to God’s wrath. So, it used to be that in the old way we did the Mass for pandemics, we prayed for health and safety, and so on. But we also recognized that man’s sin is what has caused all the evil in the world, and so there was “Lord, turn away the wrath from us.” But not anymore.
null

But we can’t hate Pope Francis. We still have to pray for him, and pray for his conversion.
For much more, tune in to today’s look-back episode of The John-Henry Westen Show.

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  FBI To Retract Catholic 'White Supremacist' Memo, Launch Internal Investigation
Posted by: Stone - 02-10-2023, 06:08 AM - Forum: General Commentary - Replies (1)

FBI To Retract Catholic 'White Supremacist' Memo, Launch Internal Investigation

[Image: roman%20catholics.PNG?itok=0RZW_7cw]

Father Alessandro da Luz elevates the chalice as he celebrates a traditional Latin Mass on Aug. 11, 2020, at Our Holy Redeemer Church in Freeport, N.Y. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)


ZH [emphasis mine] | FEB 09, 2023

The FBI has vowed to launch an internal investigation to look into a now-retracted, leaked document which advised the agency to infiltrate groups of Roman Catholics which were 'at risk of committing acts of extremist violence,' the Daily Caller reports.

According to the document, Catholics "characterized by the rejection of the Second Vatican Council" are prone to embracing "anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ and white supremacist ideology."

The Second Vatican Council, which concluded in 1965, supplanted the 16th-century Latin mass with the vernacular Novus Ordo form - which some groups have rejected while attempting to preserve the old Latin liturgy while continuing communion with Rome.

The FBI document cites the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), including the group's list of "Radical Traditional Catholicism Hate Groups."

Quote:The document showed that the FBI’s field office in Richmond was considering infiltrating groups of traditionalist Roman Catholics who prefer the Latin mass, a whistleblower revealed Wednesday.

Former FBI agent and whistleblower Kyle Seraphin published the alleged document, which he wrote is “dated January 23, 2023” and originated with an “intelligence analyst within the Richmond Field Office.” Seraphin, who describes himself as a “confirmed Catholic” in his bio, did not say how he obtained the document. -Daily Caller

According to the agency, the document, which originated from the Richmond field office, "does not meet the exacting standards of the FBI" (lol), and the Bureau will probe how it came to be, reads the report.

"Upon learning of the document, FBI Headquarters quickly began taking action to remove the document from FBI systems and conduct a review of the basis for the document," the FBI told the Caller. "The FBI is committed to sound analytic tradecraft and to investigating and preventing acts of violence and other crimes while upholding the constitutional rights of all Americans and will never conduct investigative activities or open an investigation based solely on First Amendment protected activity."

According to the FBI report, the agency assessed with "high confidence" that threats from so-called 'radical traditional Catholics' (RTCs) can be dealt with via "source development," among other strategies.

Quote:The document expresses the FBI’s concern that racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) will use traditionalist Catholic social media groups and parishes as “facilitation platforms to promote violence.” It also connects RTCs to an “increase in hostility toward abortion-rights advocates on social media in the run-up to and aftermath of” the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.

Among the Catholic or Catholic-adjacent groups mentioned in the document are the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), the right-wing Catholic news outlet Church Militant and “groypers,” the nickname for followers of traditionalist Catholic political commentator and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. -Daily Caller

According to the memo, there is a "growing collaboration" between Church Militant and Fuentes' America First group, which shows evidence of increasing ties between traditional Catholics and extremist groups.

"The FBI report is based on ‘reporting’ by far-left extremists group and media outlets which clearly demonstrate zero understanding of Catholic theology. Those voluminous errors then found their way into this FBI report where flat out false conclusions are drawn," Church Militant told the Caller, adding that they have "zero connection" to Fuentes.

"Church Militant (and all faithful Catholics) in no way hates women, blacks, jews, immigrants or anyone else we may be accused of hating. To disagree with social or political points of view does not signify ‘hate’. It signifies disagreement."

"Likewise, to bolster its fear-mongering, the FBI report goes on to try and draw an imaginary link between Catholics and ‘white supremacy’ yet never defines what that ubiquitous term actually means," the statement continues. "Church Militant does not believe that ‘whites are superior’ or non-white races are somehow inferior. We are faithful catholics and Catholic teaching abhors such a notion. CM has zero connection to any person or outfit who espouses these anti-Catholic ideologies and condemns such beliefs. The FBI report falsely suggests that all of this is bound up in potential violence aimed at abortion supporters. For the record, Church Militant in no way shape or form supports physical violence against those with whom we disagree on moral/political issues of the day."

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  Public broadcasters of Canada, Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium aim to build a "fact-based digital
Posted by: Stone - 02-09-2023, 10:29 AM - Forum: Global News - No Replies

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  WHO's Tedros says we "must prepare" for a potential H5N1 human bird flu pandemic.
Posted by: Stone - 02-09-2023, 10:27 AM - Forum: Health - No Replies

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  The FBI Doubles Down on Christians and White Supremacy in 2023 - UncoverDC
Posted by: ThyWillBeDone - 02-08-2023, 07:03 PM - Forum: Great Reset - No Replies

www.uncoverdc.com
https://www.uncoverdc.com/2023/02/08/the...y-in-2023/

The FBI Doubles Down on Christians and White Supremacy in 2023 - UncoverDC
Kyle Seraphin
9 - 11 minutes


The FBI’s Richmond Division would like to protect Virginians from the threat of “white supremacy,” which it believes has found a home within Catholics who prefer the Latin Mass. An intelligence analyst within the Richmond Field Office of the FBI released in a new finished intelligence product dated January 23, 2023, on Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists (RMVE) and their interests in “Radical-Traditionalist Catholics” or RTCs. The document assesses with “high confidence” the FBI can mitigate the threat of Radical-Traditionalist Catholics by recruiting sources within the Catholic Church.

The acronym, new to many in the Domestic Counterterrorism field, comes with a footnote by the writer explaining RTCs are “typically characterized by the rejection of the Second Vatican Council.” The writer makes an unsubstantiated leap that a preference for the Catholic Mass in Latin instead of the vernacular and a number of more traditional views on other world religions can amount to an “adherence to anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ and white supremacist ideology.” This writer draws the important distinction between “traditional Catholics,” who simply prefer the Traditional Latin Mass and pre-Vatican II teachings, and RTCs, who espouse “more extremist ideological beliefs and violent rhetoric.”

A discerning reader may wonder why the writer believes such divisions exist and if there is evidence of the extremist and violent rhetoric within the Catholic church. The analyst’s note doesn’t provide specifics. When the FBI generates an intelligence product, it is important to note the analyzed sources. Typically, strict source vetting removes partisanship and bias, so a product is both consistent with federal law and can add value to the FBI’s overall mission. Of note, this document was reviewed and approved for release by the FBI Richmond Chief Division Counsel, who is the office’s top lawyer.
The attached appendices refer to a number of articles and the out-of-FBI-policy Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) at the end of the document. For example, Appendix D is a direct copy of the SPLC list of “Radical Traditional Catholicism Hate Groups,” including the web address accessed. The SPLC appears to be a source for the intelligence analyst’s beliefs that RTCs exist and that they are anti-Semitic. The SPLC description for this “hate group” states RTCs “may make up the largest single group of serious anti-semites in America.” Often in the intelligence world, this type of statement without any established evidence is often followed by the acronym “NFI” or “No Further Information” to indicate it is an unsubstantiated opinion. Additionally, SPLC states RTCs “embrace extremely conservative social ideals with respect to women.” Nothing reported by the SPLC indicates the number of adherents to this alleged ideology nor any instances of violence. This lack of evidence and blatant partisan blindness is one of many reasons the FBI has distanced itself from the SPLC as a source in the past 10 years.The intelligence product includes endnote citations from two other sources: the far-Left online magazine Salon and the equally left-leaning The Atlantic.


The Salon articles cited are typical of partisan click-bait writing: “Traditional Catholics and White Nationalist Groypers Forge a new Far-Right Youth Movement” and “White Nationalists Get Religion: On the Far-Right Fringe, Catholics and Racists Forge a movement.” These articles were released a day apart as a series but include substantially the same information. The articles offer only circumstantial suggestions of affiliations between inflammatory figures like Milo Yiannopoulos and Nick Fuentes and a man pictured standing on the steps of a Catholic church in New York after the Dobbs decision. The Salon writer makes the wild leap that using a photo of someone at a church indicates the pictured individual or his beliefs are relevant within a religious institution with 70 million adherents in the United States alone and over 2000 years of tradition and history.

The writer determines that the “threat picture” involving RMVE, again in this case, referring to white supremacists, will increase, but that the “RTC Community is likely to remain relatively stable or show modest growth” over the next one to two years. The basis for this assessment is not annotated and appears to be speculative. The speculative increase in RMVE interactions with RTC leads the writer to suggest mitigation strategies, including recruiting Confidential Human Sources (“source development”), tripwire, and liaison contacts. Tripwires and liaisons are overt contacts with trusted members of a community or an industry. They can advise law enforcement about potentially illegal activity. Due to the fact that “white supremacy” is itself a First Amendment-protected belief, to say nothing of proponents of the most established Christian denomination in the world, the Bureau tries to cover documents like these with a caveat excusing their intrusion into the sacrosanct grounds of free exercise of religion and free association. In another typical intrusion into First Amendment concerns, the document implies a strategy of monitoring social media for RTC ideology in online posts.
The impetus of the writer can be assessed by the fixation on abortion and the repeated use of the phrase “abortion rights.” Documents like these can be used to drive the FBI’s priorities in specific regions and boost the visibility of non-existent threats. There is a reason the writer refers to the document as a “first of its kind” Domain Perspective: it is generally out of bounds. However, intelligence products like this help focus on alleged “hostility towards the abortion-rights advocates,” which the FBI has used to justify significant enforcement actions tied to the FACE Act (18 USC 248). Americans will remember a flood of conservative news outlets covering arrests of numerous pro-life protesters at the end of 2022, which are coming back into focus after the January 30, 2023 acquittal of defendant Mark Houck. While over 100 instances of attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers occurred in 2022, the SPLC reported an unsubstantiated 200 “bombings or arson attacks” on abortion clinics in the past 20 years.


This tremendous statistical mismatch usually would have led federal law enforcement to focus on the highest threat, but the increasingly Leftist bend of FBI enforcement actions appears to have ignored this trend. It also appears the writer is simply assuming RMVEs share common cause with Conservatives, including practicing Catholics, on issues about abortion, immigration, affirmative action, and LGBTQ protections. This editorial bias should give the reader of this document a medium to high confidence the intelligence analyst is the product of left-leaning higher education and leftist values.
The piece concludes with the incredible leap that RMVEs or white supremacists pose a threat to use “RTC social media sites” (no examples) or “places of worship as facilitation platforms to promote violence.” This intelligence product is indicative of a permissive tolerance within the FBI for Left-leaning ideological actors who use academic-sounding rhetoric to cover a dearth of personal experience. The weaponization of the FBI against conservative Americans can be seen in the way documents like this are published and distributed. Poorly sourced and highly speculative intelligence products lead to opening badly articulated predicate investigations into Americans in violation of their God-given, First Amendment-protected civil liberties.


While most Americans are familiar with criminal investigations, which explore the allegation or information that a crime has been committed, many are not familiar with intelligence investigations. In contrast to the linear nature of a criminal case, counterintelligence and counterterrorism cases follow a circular path that can continue indefinitely without any articulated goal. Indeed, information is the goal of these types of cases. Many counterterrorism cases never articulate or uncover a single criminal act. Yet, they continue in order to develop more understanding of the “threat landscape” or “threat pictures,” as quoted in this document. Intelligence investigations often beget more investigations. The relevance of this product should not be lost on the reader.
Products like this can be used to support the opening of information-only cases, and there is no reason to expect Radical-Traditionalist Catholics are the end point of this train track – they will be the beginning. Opening the door to associating white supremacists with traditional religious practices based on common Christian positions on abortion and the LGBTQ political agendas is a dangerous step. Such investigations can easily lead to the same analysis of Radical Traditional Baptists, Radical Traditional Lutherans, and Radical Traditional Evangelicals. The FBI is forbidden from opening cases or publishing products based solely on First Amendment-protected activities. By tolerating the publishing of intelligence products as shoddy as this, they are crossing a line many Americans will find themselves on the wrong side of for the first time in history. This is what a politicalized FBI looks like; it should not be tolerated if Americans expect to enjoy the protections of our Bill of Rights.

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