The Pope will die within a year: Vatican 'assassination fears' revealed
10 Feb 2012 By Nick Squires, Rome
The Pope will die within the next 12 months, a senior Vatican figure has reportedly claimed amid fears of an assassination plot.
The sensational prediction was allegedly made by Cardinal Paolo Romeo, the archbishop of Palermo in Sicily, on a recent visit to China.
Cardinal Romeo reportedly made the startling prediction of the Pope's death during a trip to China in November 2011.
He seemed so sure of the fact that the people he spoke with, including Italian businessmen and Chinese representatives of the Catholic Church, were convinced that he was talking about an assassination attempt.
They were so alarmed by his remarks that they reported them back to the Vatican.
The extraordinary comments were written up in a top-secret report, dated Dec 30, 2011, and delivered to the Pope by a senior cardinal, Dario Castrillon Hoyos, a Colombian, in January.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/w...assassination-fears-revealed.html
Huckabee: We are all Catholics now
NOT ME!!!
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) said President Obama has united the GOP over his proposed rule requiring religious groups to pay for contraceptives in healthcare poliices.
Huckabee facetiously thanked Obama for stirring the issue. "You have done more than any person in the entire GOP field, any candidate, has done to bring this party to unity and energize this party as a result of your attack on religious liberty," he said Friday morning.
"Thanks to President Obama, we are all Catholics now," he said to cheers at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Perhaps this whole Obama vs. Catholic Church debate was nothing but Hegelian Dialectic to bring mainstream churchgoers under the roof of Rome, especially with 2 Catholic candidates in the mix? Oh, thanks for showing your true colors, Huckabee! http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-b...37-huckabee-plays-culture-warrior
Monsignors mutiny revealed by Vatican leaks
Feb 2012 Call it Conspiracy City. Call it Scandal City. Call it Leak City. These days the holy city has been in the news for anything but holy reasons.
"It is a total mess," said one high-ranking Vatican official who spoke, like all others, on the condition of anonymity.
The Machiavellian maneuvering and machinations that have come to light in the Vatican recently are worthy of a novel about a sinister power struggle at a medieval court.
Senior church officials interviewed this month said almost daily embarrassments that have put the Vatican on the defensive could force Pope Benedict to act to clean up the image of its administration - at a time when the church faces a deeper crisis of authority and relevance in the wider world.
Some of those sources said the outcome of a power struggle inside the Holy See may even have a longer-term effect, on the choice of the man to succeed Benedict when he dies.
http://news.yahoo.com/monsignors-...aled-vatican-leaks-140524856.html
Vatican told to pay taxes as Italy tackles budget crisis
End of controversial property tax breaks leaves the Pope facing €600m-a-year bill
After several years of scandal in which the Catholic Church has faced allegations of financial impropriety, paedophile priests and rumours of plots to kill the Pope, the Vatican is now facing a new €600m-a-year tax bill as Rome seeks to head off European Commission censure over controversial property tax breaks enjoyed by the Church.
As the EC heads closer to officially condemning the fiscal perks enjoyed by the Catholic Church and introduced by the Berlusconi administration, Prime Minister Mario Monti has written to the Competition Commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, saying that the Vatican will resume property tax, or Ici, payments.
Mr Almunia said in 2010 that the exemption amounted to state aid that might breach EU competition law. A parliamentary proposal by the Italian Radicals party last August to repeal the exemption, with a successful petition on Facebook, upped the pressure. A spokesman for Mr Almunia appeared to give the thumbs-up yesterday: "It is a proposal that constitutes a significant progress on the issue and I hope will be implemented," he said.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news...ackles-budget-crisis-6988938.html
Twisted Ritual At Grammy Awards Sees (Peter The) Roman Possessed By Powerful Demons
Feb 2012 Is there an insider ‘nudge, nudge, wink, wink’ about Minaj’s red carpet walk last night, escorted by ‘The Pope’? Given the news two days ago that someone inside the Vatican predicts that the Pope will die within a year, perhaps the ‘failed exorcism’ and the triumph of Satan at the end of the performance telegraph that a major shift is on its way. The song featured in the video is from Minaj’s newest album, and it centered around her alter-ego, Roman Zolanski (an obvious tribute to the director of Rosemary’s Baby and husband to Charles Manson victim Sharon Tate: Roman Polanski). The short film that opens the act shows a concerned white woman who asks a white Catholic priest to go upstairs and help her son Roman. The priest enters the bedroom to find ‘Roman’ (Minaj behaving crazily, wearing a cheap blond wig and a dress, singing ‘I feel pretty’). When confronted by the priest, Roman scrambles up the wall and hisses from the ceiling and whispers ‘You don’t belong here.” The priest asks the ‘demon’ his name. It screams ‘Roman!’ This sets up the remainder of the performance, live onstage. The set features a backdrop of massive, stained glass windows and Roman columns. Minaj is tied to a sacrificial altar in the center, high above the dancers.
http://sharonkgilbert.com/?p=1752
22 Cardinals Joined The College That Will Elect Petrus Romanus
February 17, 2012 Preparations for the ceremony were clouded by leaks of internal documents alleging financial mismanagement in Vatican affairs, and reports in the Italian media of political jockeying among church officials who, sensing an increasingly weak and aging pontiff, are already preparing for a conclave. Benedict was wheeled into St. Peter's Basilica aboard the moving platform he has been using for several months to spare him the long walk down the center aisle. Benedict, who turns 85 in April, has been slowing down recently. Even Saturday's consistory was greatly trimmed back to a slimmer version of the service used in 1969: only one of the cardinals actually read his oath of loyalty aloud, while the others read it silently to themselves simultaneously rather than one after another. A reading was cut out, as was a responsorial psalm. And at the end of his remarks, Benedict said: "And pray for me, that I may continually offer to the people of God the witness of sound doctrine and guide the holy church with a firm and humble hand." All of which has led to even more speculation that a conclave is very much on the minds of cardinals new and old.
http://news.yahoo.com/22-cardinal...ct-popes-successor-092632288.html
Is Petrus Romanus Among The New Cardinals?
Pope Benedict XVI created 22 cardinals, in the fourth consistory of his papacy, bringing the total number of cardinals to 214 of whom 125 are under 80 years old and electors, meaning that they can elect the next pope. In 1970, Pope Paul VI set 120 as the number of electors for a pope and it can certainly be reduced by the next conclave, which is the gathering when a new pope is elected. The College of Cardinals was formalized in 1059 by Pope Nicholas 11, who designated cardinals as the electors of the new pope. And today the next pope will be chosen from one of the 125 since only a cardinal can be made a pope.
http://impact.nj.com/jjournal-new..._the_next_pope_among_the_new.html
Power Struggle Between Vatican, Pope's Secretary
Analysts said there is a power struggle going on between factions inside the Vatican and that the pope's deputy Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, is in the middle of it. "There is a great discontent within in the Roman Curia," said Marco Politi. "The out-products of this discontent are back-stabbing, intrigues, anonymous letters about plots, but the main thing is that Cardinal Bertone, who is the Secretary of State, was never accepted by the Curia because he was an outsider." Cardinal Delegate Timothy Dolan said: "I see the successor of Peter, the chief pastor of the church longing to tend to pastoral, spiritual issues. And I am sure if there is anybody frustrated about reports of internal infighting, it is he. And if I, as a new member of the College of Cardinals, can help him keep the church universal and the government of the church... riveted on the issues of the gospel, I would be honored to and I would take that as one of my duties."
http://www.wbaltv.com/news/30486107/detail.html
Pressure On U.S. Bishops To Reassert Pre-Vatican II Authoritarianism, Petrus Romanus Needed
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is a powerful institution, at least on paper. But a recent debate over contraception coverage has exposed a deep divide between the 271 active bishops and the rank-and-file U.S. Catholics who are supposed to follow their moral authority. It also has raised questions about why some prominent Catholic intuitions ignore the bishops’ teachings – and whether the bishops will be able to reassert their authority. The gulf has left some politicians, ever eager to court the Catholic vote, struggling to figure out who now speaks for the Church. Some ordinary Catholics in the pews are wondering the same.
http://www.cathnewsusa.com/2012/0...ight-for-authority-over-u-s-flock
Suddenly, The Vatican Is Full Of Moles And Spies
Confidential documents of the Secretariat of State have been leaked to the press with the objective of damaging Cardinal Bertone, but they ended up having the opposite effect. It was a particularly peaceful Sunday in the Apostolic Palace. Swiss Guards in civilian clothes escorted the guests with their usual tranquillity, in glaring contrast to the nervous anxiety with which the mass media have been following step by step the indiscretions that have leaked from the Vatican. The recent publications of confidential Vatican documents appear to be aimed at giving the impression that there is a conspiracy against a severely ill Pope, but how much awareness of it there is within the papal household in relation to these rumours?
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it...lo/romeo-vigano-ior-bertone-12589
Pope sets Oct. 12 "to make US saints"
19 Feb 2012 VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI has set Oct. 12 as the date to make two U.S. saints: Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk Indian who spent most of her life in what is now upstate New York, and Mother Marianne Cope, who began religious life in the same area but moved to Hawaii to care for leprosy patients.
Benedict had already approved miracles attributed to the two, the final step toward sainthood. At the end of a ceremony Saturday to make 22 new cardinals — including New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan — Benedict announced the date for canonization of the two women and five others.
Dolan marveled that his first official act as a cardinal was to formally OK the New York-area saints. He quipped: "As grateful as I am for being a cardinal, I really want to be a saint."
http://news.yahoo.com/pope-sets-oct-12-us-saints-141436407.html
Names of new cardinals elevated by Pope Benedict
Feb 18, 2012 VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Saturday elevated 22 prelates to the rank of cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church at a solemn ceremony in St Peter's Basilica. Here are their names.
Under 80 years old and eligible to enter a conclave to elect the next pope:
1. Archbishop Fernando Filoni, Italian, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.
2. Archbishop Manuel Monteiro de Castro, Portuguese, head of Vatican office that deals with the sacrament of penance.
3. Archbishop Santos Abril y Castello, Spanish, archpriest of the Rome basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
4. Archbishop Antonio Maria Veglio, Italian, head of the Vatican's Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants.
5. Archbishop Giuseppe Bertello, Italian, governor of Vatican City.
6. Archbishop Francesco Coccopalmerio, Italian, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts.
7. Archbishop Joao Braz de Aviz, Brazilian, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Consecrated Life.
8. Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, American, Grandmaster of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
9. Archbishop Domenico Calcango, Italian, President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See.
10. Archbishop Giuseppe Versaldi, Italian, president of the Vatican's Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See.
11. His Beatitude George Alencherry, Indian, major archbishop of the Siro-Malabar rite in India.
12. Archbishop Thomas Christopher Collins, Canadian, archbishop of Toronto.
13. Archbishop Dominik Duka, Czech, archbishop of Prague
14. Archbishop Willem Jacobus Eijk, Dutch, archbishop of Utrecht, Netherlands.
15. Archbishop Giuseppe Betori, Italian, archbishop of Florence.
16. Archbishop Timothy Michael Dolan, American, archbishop of New York.
17. Archbishop Rainer Maria Woelki, German, archbishop of Berlin.
18. Archbishop John Tong Hon, Chinese, archbishop of Hong Kong.
-------
Over 80 and therefore not eligible to enter a conclave:
1. His Beatitude Lucian Muresan, Romanian, major archbishop of Fagaras and Alba Iulia in Romania.
2. Father Julien Ries, Belgian, professor emeritus of religious history at the Catholic University of Louvain.
3. Father Prosper Grech, Maltese, professor emeritus of various Italian universities.
4. Father Karl Becker, German, of the Gregorian University in Rome.
http://news.yahoo.com/names-cardi...ated-pope-benedict-112230667.html
Pat Buchanan Oddly Thinks Israel is a Bigger Threat Than Iran
Feb 2012 COMMENTARY | Pat Buchanan, the columnist, author, and until recently MSNBC's token right-winger, garnered a lot of sympathy when he was fired from his job at the left-leaning news network apparently because of a book he wrote.
Too bad, as reported in the Daily Caller, Buchanan had to ruin things by articulating how obnoxious his views really are. In essence, he suggested that Israel with its 300 estimated nuclear weapons was a bigger threat to the United States than is Iran with its nuclear program on Russian television.
Buchanan went on about how his favorite Jewish conspiracy, which he called the "neocons," is itching for war with Iran, for no good reason according to him.
Mind, by Buchanan's logic, Great Britain and France are really big threats, owing to the fact that they have nuclear arsenals as well.
http://news.yahoo.com/pat-buchana...bigger-threat-iran-231200902.html
Buchanan is a Knights of Malta member.
Hey Pat - Read Revelation chapters 17 and 18, and you may just change your mind!
One Day After Tom Horn Tells Steve Quayle On Omega Man Radio That The Vatican Is Being Ruled By Omerta Code Of Silence
The mole claims to be one of more than 20 people within the Holy See who have leaked sensitive documents to the Italian media in the last few weeks, in an affair that has been compared to the WikiLeaks scandal and dubbed "Vati-leaks". The unidentified man, who said he had worked in the Vatican for more than 20 years, made the claims in an interview to be aired on Italian television on Wednesday night. His face was hidden and his voice digitally distorted when he appeared on the TV channel, La7. According to extracts of the interview, the whistle-blower said the Vatican was engulfed in intrigue, secrecy and a climate of intimidation. "Maybe there is a kind of omerta to prevent the truth from surfacing. Not because of a power struggle but maybe because of fear," he added.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/w...ilence-whistle-blower-claims.html
Bertone Leaves "Poisonous" Atmosphere In Vatican To Visit Hospitalized Children
Today, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone took a breather from the poisonous atmosphere of the Vatican, to visit the paediatric ward at Potenza hospital in Southern Italy (Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù). The cardinal appeared moved as he spoke to the hospitalised children and responded to some questions put to him by journalists, regarding the state of health care in Italy and the recent controversies over the situation in the Vatican. Speaking to doctors from the hospital, the cardinal said: “Besides your professionalism you also have good hearts.” Bertone then emphasised the importance “of relations between health care workers: serenity and cohesion – he concluded – aid healing.”
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it...rticolo/bertone-vigano-ior-12950/
Is The World And Church Ready For An American Pope?
In just a decade, Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York City, has risen from a local bishop to becoming a prince of the Catholic Church. He returned from Rome after receiving his cardinal's red hat and ring, like a rock star; a bevy of cameras and lights in tow. Worldwide buzz around the newly minted Cardinal Dolan is that with his popularity, political savvy, and passion for the church, the question is being raised as to whether he could be the first American pope. And it's more than just wishful thinking "There is something qualitatively different about the speculation surrounding Cardinal Dolan in New York right now..."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/24/american-pope/?test=latestnews
Vatican Insider Sending Secret Acknowledgment Concerning Masonic Connection To Next Conclave? Publishes Article Repeatedly Referring To 33%
"Agnosco stilum Curiae...", a play on words meaning ‘I recognize the style of the Roman Church’ but also ‘I recognize the dagger of the Roman Church.’ Well, this time it seems rather more like an axe than a dagger and not even a well concealed one... It would therefore be feasible to say that for each of them there was a 33% chance of being responsible for leaking said document to the press. An epistle in which every word was steeped in rancour and bitterness, all because of a desired nomination to cardinalship that didn’t happen and perhaps now never will... There is however a 33% chance that it was actually the Nuncio himself, who, livid about the promotion he did not receive, was directly or indirectly responsible for the infamous leak. That 33% chance is enough to lead us to believe that maybe Benedict XVI did the right thing by not.
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it...n/detail/articolo/vigano-us-12069
The Pope and his bishops have the last word on faith
A document by the International Theological Commission emphasises that it is the College of Cardinals that gives the authentic interpretation of the Word of God, not theologians
They have different but complementary tasks, must constantly work together and are vital to one another. But when it comes to establishing the “authentic interpretation of the Word of God passed down by the Scriptures and the Tradition,” it is bishops under the guidance of the Pope who have the last word, not theologians.
The principle is certainly not new. But today it was clearly reaffirmed in a 35 page document published, in English, by the International Theological Commission and approved by the Vatican Congregation for the Faith. The document’s name is Theology Today: Perspectives, Principles and Criteria.
Theology - the text reads - “is founded on the fundamental act of listening in faith to the revealed Word of God, Christ himself.” It is “scientific reflection on the divine revelation which the Church accepts by faith as universal saving truth.”
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it.../teologia-theology-teologia-13314
Cardinal says pope wants "revival of faith" in Cuba
March 14 2012 HAVANA (Reuters) - Pope Benedict wants to help revive religious faith in Cuba when he visits the communist island later this month, the leader of Cuba's Catholic Church said in a nationally televised address.
In a country that for years was officially atheist, Cardinal Jaime Ortega said the 84-year-old pontiff saw the stirrings of religious fervor in the crowds of people who paid homage to the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre when the icon of Cuba's patron saint was paraded around the country last year.
"There was great interest in this pilgrimage because the pope is committed to reviving the faith in countries that were Christianized before who need a new evangelization," Ortega, who is the archbishop of Havana.
"There was something in this mission that was the revival of a sleeping faith, maybe a faith a little suppressed, but that was present in the heart of the people."
http://news.yahoo.com/cardinal-sa...revival-faith-cuba-144619629.html
Pope meeting with Fidel Castro is 'possibility': Vatican
3/16/12 Pope Benedict XVI is "available" to meet Fidel Castro during his trip to Cuba this month but will not hold talks with dissidents who occupied a Catholic church this week, the Vatican said Friday.
Benedict XVI will travel to Cuba from March 26-28, where he will see President Raul Castro, and while a meeting with his brother and former longtime leader Fidel has not been scheduled, the Vatican has not ruled it out.
"It's a possibility, it could happen. If Fidel Castro wants to meet the Holy Father, he will be available," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.
Rumours have been circulating for months over a possible encounter, and sources close to Fidel Castro, who is in failing health, have said the 85-year-old symbol of communist revolution wants to meet the pontiff.
http://news.yahoo.com/pope-meetin...RwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2UEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3
High-tech Sweden edges closer to becoming cashless society
March 2012 High-tech Sweden edges closer to becoming cashless society
STOCKHOLM - Sweden was the first European country to introduce bank notes in 1661. Now it's come farther than most on the path toward getting rid of them
"I can't see why we should be printing bank notes at all anymore," says Bjoern Ulvaeus, former member of 1970's pop group ABBA, and a vocal proponent for a world without cash.
The contours of such a society are starting to take shape in this high-tech nation, frustrating those who prefer coins and bills over digital money.
In most Swedish cities, public buses don't accept cash; tickets are prepaid or purchased with a cellphone text message. A small but growing number of businesses only take cards, and some bank offices — which make money on electronic transactions — have stopped handling cash altogether.
"There are towns where it isn't at all possible anymore to enter a bank and use cash," complains Curt Persson, chairman of Sweden's National Pensioners' Organization.
He says that's a problem for elderly people in rural areas who don't have credit cards or don't know how to use them to withdraw cash.
The decline of cash is noticeable even in houses of worship, like the Carl Gustaf Church in Karlshamn, southern Sweden, where Vicar Johan Tyrberg recently installed a card reader to make it easier for worshippers to make offerings.
http://news.yahoo.com/high-tech-s...g-cashless-society-121555778.html
Dutch Roman Catholic Church castrated at least 10 boys
At least 10 teenage boys or young men under the age of 21 were surgically castrated "to get rid of homosexuality" while in the care of the Dutch Roman Catholic Church in the 1950s.
Evidence of the castrations has emerged amid controversy that it was not included in the findings of an official investigation into sexual abuse within the church last year.
The NRC Handelsblad newspaper identified Henk Heithuis who was castrated in 1956, while a minor, after reporting priests to the police for abusing him in a Catholic boarding home.
Joep Dohmen, the investigative journalist who uncovered the Heithuis case, also found evidence of at least nine other castrations. "These cases are anonymous and can no longer be traced," he said. "There will be many more. But the question is whether those boys, now old men, will want to tell their story."
Mr Heithuis died in a car crash in 1958, two years after being castrated at the age of 20, while under the age of majority, which was then 21.
In 1956 he had accused Catholic clergy of sexually abusing him in his Church run care home.
Two clergymen were convicted of abuse but Mr Heithuis, a victim, was nonetheless transferred by police to a Catholic psychiatric hospital before being admitted to the St. Joseph Hospital in Veghel later that year.
There, court papers confirm, he was castrated "at his own request", despite no submission of his written consent. Sources told Mr Dohmen that the surgical removal of testicles was regarded as a treatment for homosexuality and also as a punishment for those who accused clergy of sexual abuse.
Cornelius Rogge, 79, a well-known Dutch sculptor whose family knew Mr Heithuis in the 1950s, reported the castration to an official inquiry into abuse within the Catholic Church. But his evidence was ignored
"We once asked Henk to drop his pants when the women were gone. He did that. He was maimed totally. It was a huge shock," he said.
Last December, an official investigation by Wim Deetman, a former Dutch minister, received 1,800 reports of sexual abuse by clergy or volunteers within Dutch Catholic dioceses in the period since 1945.
The Deetman inquiry received a report of the Heithuis case from Mr Rogge but it was not followed up because "there were few leads for further research".
Evidence emerged on Monday that government inspectors were aware that minors were being castrated while in Catholic-run psychiatric institutions.
Minutes of meetings held in the 1950s show that inspectors were present when castrations were discussed. The documents also reveal that the Catholic staff did not think parents needed to be involved.
There are also allegations that Vic Marijnen, a former Dutch Prime Minister, who died in 1975, was linked to the case.
In 1956, Mr Marijnen was the chairman of the Gelderland children's home where Mr Heithuis and other children were abused. He intervened to have prison sentences dropped against several priests convicted of abusing children.
Dutch MPs will today (TUES) call for a parliamentary investigation into the allegations.
"I am shocked that boys were being castrated in the 1950s," said Khadija Arib, a Labour MP. "I want an independent investigation. We must find out how many cases there were, who knew about it and why the government did not act."
Evidence emerged on Monday that government inspectors were aware that minors were being castrated while in Catholic-run psychiatric institutions.
Minutes of meetings held in the 1950s show that inspectors were present when castrations were discussed. The documents also reveal that the Catholic staff did not think parents needed to be involved.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/w...h-castrated-at-least-10-boys.html
Pope's Mexico trip clouded by Legion victim's book
March 21, 2012 MEXICO CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Mexico this week to a very public reminder of one of the Catholic Church's most egregious sex abuse scandals: A new book says internal Vatican documents show the Holy See knew decades ago of allegations that the Mexican founder of the disgraced Legion of Christ religious order was a drug addict and pedophile.
The documentation has been compiled in a book "La voluntad de no saber" ("The will to not know"), which is co-authored by Jose Barba, a former Legion priest who along with other priests in 1998 brought a church trial against the Legion's founder, the Rev. Marciel Maciel, for having sexually abused them while they were seminarians.
While details of the abuse were made public years ago, the new documents seem to solidify proof that the Vatican knew of the allegations long before taking action. Excerpts of the book were published by the Mexican magazine Proceso on Sunday.
"The importance of this book is that it documents the irrefutable evidence and proof that the Vatican has been lying about Maciel," said Bernardo Barranco, an expert from the Religious Studies Center of Mexico and author of the prologue of the new text.
http://news.yahoo.com/popes-mexic...egion-victims-book-103439460.html
Too bad the 7.9 quake didnt wait til popey-poo got there.
Maybe God will have the earth swallow him up.
Conspiracists claim that was a man caused HAARP quake. Its possible but I dunno.
Pope calls for 'open society' at Cuba mass
Pope Benedict XVI urged tens of thousands of Cubans gathered for an open-air mass to "build a renewed and open society," at the start of his visit to the Communist-ruled country.
The pontiff -- making the first papal visit to Cuba in 14 years -- is seeking to bolster close church-state ties here while also urging authorities in the Americas' only one-party Communist state to embrace change.
Benedict, who arrived on Monday after a visit to predominantly Roman Catholic Mexico, also hopes to encourage new and renewed faith in the mainly secular island nation.
"I appeal to you to reinvigorate your faith ... and armed with peace, forgiveness and understanding, that you may strive to build a renewed and open society, a better society, one more worthy of humanity," the pontiff said at the mass in Santiago on Monday, beneath soaring white metal church arches.
The 84-year-old Benedict was helped up to his seat and smiled as the crowd sang and chanted to welcome him.
http://news.yahoo.com/pope-calls-open-society-cuba-mass-053945865.html
666 IMPLANTS CHANGE YOUR DNA
L.A. Marzulli, Sid Roth
Bible codes, prophecy, UFOs, what are they?
Marzulli calls them inter-dimensional beings, I call them demons.
The RFID chip will corrupt your DNA, but you will be told it will perfect it.
I first heard about cattle and animal mutilation 40 years ago.
http://cj.myfreeforum.org/about2858.html
A Cashless Society May Be Closer Than Most People Would Ever Dare To Imagine
March 31, 2012 Most people think of a cashless society as something that is way off in the distant future. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case. The truth is that a cashless society is much closer than most people would ever dare to imagine. To a large degree, the transition to a cashless society is being done voluntarily. Today, only 7 percent of all transactions in the United States are done with cash, and most of those transactions involve very small amounts of money. Just think about it for a moment. Where do you still use cash these days? If you buy a burger or if you purchase something at a flea market you will still use cash, but for any mid-size or large transaction the vast majority of people out there will use another form of payment. Our financial system is dramatically changing, and cash is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. We live in a digital world, and national governments and big banks are both encouraging the move away from paper currency and coins. But what would a cashless society mean for our future? Are there any dangers to such a system?
Those are very important questions, but most of the time both sides of the issue are not presented in a balanced way in the mainstream media. Instead, most mainstream news articles tend to trash cash and talk about how wonderful digital currency is.
For example, a recent CBS News article declared that soon we may not need "that raggedy dollar bill" any longer and that the "greenback may soon be a goner"....
It's what the wallet was invented for, to carry cash. After all, there was a time when we needed cash everywhere we went, from filling stations to pay phones. Even the tooth fairy dealt only in cash.
But money isn't just physical anymore. It's not only the pennies in your piggy bank, or that raggedy dollar bill.
Money is also digital - it's zeros and ones stored in a computer, prompting some economists to predict the old-fashioned greenback may soon be a goner.
"There will be a time - I don't know when, I can't give you a date - when physical money is just going to cease to exist," said economist Robert Reich. http://theeconomiccollapseblog.co...people-would-ever-dare-to-imagine
Pope marks milestones amid signs of frailty, succession talk
Apr 2012 Pope Benedict marks two milestones this week and while his health appears stable, signs of frailty have again prompted speculation over whether he will be the first pontiff in seven centuries to resign.
...When he left for Mexico and Cuba, he used a cane at the airport for the first time in public, though sources say he has been using it in private for some time.
Last year, to conserve his strength, he began using a mobile platform instead of walking up the aisle of St Peter's Basilica.
The Vatican says it is to spare him fatigue and there is no concern about his overall health. His brother has said Benedict suffered two mild strokes before his election in 2005 and he reportedly suffers from high blood pressure and arthritis.
Where Benedict differs from his predecessors is that he is the only pope in living memory to discuss publicly the possibility of resignation, though others have done so privately.
In a book in 2010, Benedict said he would not hesitate to become the first pontiff to resign willingly in more than 700 years if he felt no longer able, "physically, psychologically and spiritually" to run the Catholic Church.
"Those of us who are over 75 are not allowed to run even a small diocese and cardinals over 80 are not allowed to elect a pope. I can understand why one day the pope might say 'even I can't do my job any more,'" said retired Archbishop Luigi Bettazzi of the north Italian city of Ivrea.
"I wish him a long life and lasting lucidity but I think that if the moment arrives when he sees that things are changing, I think he has the courage to resign," Bettazzi told Italian television.
The last pope to resign willingly was Celestine V in 1294 after reigning for only five months. Gregory XII reluctantly abdicated in 1415 to end a dispute with a rival claimant to the papacy.
Every papal birthday or anniversary sparks talk of succession but there is no clear front runner to succeed Benedict, who has now appointed more than half the cardinals who will choose a new pope from among their ranks. Most are Europeans.
http://www.reuters.com/article/20.../15/us-pope-idUSBRE83E06220120415
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he said to cheers at the Conservative Political Action Conference
