Month: March 2013
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Chad Gadya in the Middle East
Chad Gadya like you've never heard it before! -
Chag Sameach!
Chag Sameach!
Evening of Monday, March 25 through evening of Tuesday, April 2There are many great resources available for Pesach. Here are a few:
http://www.ehow.com/how_12295_celebrate-passover.html
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Passover.shtmlAnd remember our fun retelling:
http://allfaith.com/Religions/Noahide/media/pesach.htmlשמע ישראל ה 'הוא האלוהים שלנו הוא אחד Shema Yisrael Adonai Elohaynu Adonai Echad
"Hear Israel, Adonai is our God, Adonai is One"
An Audio Pesach/Passover Tale By the members of Temple and Yeshiva Beth HaShem © 04.11.11 Let's discuss this on my Blog!
We created this audio podcast in celebration of Pesach/Passover. We hope you will enjoy and share it.
The traditional story of Pesach/Passover re-told by your friends at Temple and Yeshiva Beth HaShem. This audio retelling blends the timeless story with modern relevance in a way we sincerely hope you will enjoy.
Script written by Yochanan Levine/John of AllFaith
Audio and technical work done by Joe
Directed by Joe
Cast in order of first appearance:
Joe: Narrator -- Pharaoh -- voice of the Angel of Death
Hakham Leah Levine: Joy -- Pharaoh's Magician
Ahuva Levine: Rachel -- Butch the Guard
Yochanan Levine: Aharon -- Egyptian Taskmaster -- Egyptian Dude -- The Voice of HaShem
Rebbe Larry Levine: Moshe -- Egyptian soldier -- himselfVisit us today at YeshivaBethHaShem.org or stop by Temple Beth HaShem in For Bragg, Ca.
The Jewish Way
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John of AllFaithHave a blessing holiday!
With blessings of Shalom
~ Shlomo Yochanan ben Avraham
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http://yeshivabethhashem.ning.comMay Adonai lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen
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Jewish Plot Uncovered!
Jewish Plot Uncovered!
If today’s media told the Passover story. -
On Recent Papal-Jewish Relations
Time will tell about Pope Francis. In this piece JTA takes a look back at recent Papal-Jewish relations.
My thought is that thus far this new pope looks pretty good (despite the Malachy Prophecies). Of course, the biblical prophecies are clear that the False Prophet (as well as the Rex Mundi he will serve) will be very likeable in order to gain mass acceptance, so that does not necessarily mean anything. I remain convinced that the prophecies are coming to pass, whether through this pope or another. Keep your seat belts fastened friends, it will be a bumpy ride in any case!
The pope’s Jewish baggage
By Joe Winkler · March 14, 2013
When the world learned that Jorge Mario Bergoglio had been named the new pope, Jews familiar with the man now known as Pope Francis rushed to talk about his warm dealings with the Jewish community in his native Argentina. As the JTA Archive documents, the Jewish-papal relationship has been filled with ups and downs over the years.
In 1923, the Chicago Tribune reported that Pope Pius XI blamed Russian Jews for the persecution of Russian Catholics, but the Vatican denied to JTA that it harbored anti-Jewish sentiments. A decade and a half later, in 1939, Jews praised that pope upon his death as an outspoken fighter against racist Nazi policies.
The next pope, Pius XII, has been criticized by historians and Jews for turning a blind eye to Jewish suffering during the Holocaust. However, during his reign, JTA reported on a number of positive papal-Jewish encounters, including a 1942 report that Pius XII intervened with the French Vichy government over mass arrests of Jews; received praise from the chief rabbi of Rome for saving Jews during the war; and even said in 1944 that he would recognize a Jewish state in Palestine (he never did).
One of the most important developments in Catholic-Jewish relations came in 1959, when Pope John XXIII removed offensive references to Jews from Good Friday prayers, the first pope ever to do something of this kind. In 1962, JTA reported on how the pope was inspiring churches all over the world to fight anti-Semitism and foster positive relationships with the Jewish people.
Pope John Paul II pushed the reconciliation agenda of his predecessor wider and deeper. In 1979, he became the first pope to visit Auschwitz, where he prayed for the souls of the millions of Jews murdered during the Holocaust. In 1993, the Vatican established diplomatic ties with Israel for the first time, and in 2000, John Paul II became the first pope to visit Israel.
Pope Benedict XVI, whose recent resignation spurred the new elections, had a more ambivalent relationship with Jews. In early 2009, he sparked Jewish ire by revoking the excommunication of four bishops, one of whom had denied the scope of the Holocaust. He also upset Jews by reviving a pre-Vatican II Good Friday Latin prayer calling for the conversion of Jews and moving the Holocaust-era Pope Pius XII one step closer to sainthood. But Benedict also visited Auschwitz, vowed while on a visit to Israel to fight anti-Semitism and visited a synagogue in New York.
How Francis will fare in comparison to his predecessors remains to be seen; so far, Jewish observers have been optimistic.
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That was fast... Pope Francis...
I gotta note that unless the wording is deliberate, the emphasis of this piece is odd given Malchy prophecies and what many belief about this Jesuit pope ....
Its way too early to say anything of course, but when one considers the False Prophet prophecies and then this pope, whom "Saint" Malchy believes is will be the end of a Papacy (see below), things look very interesting!
Emphasis mine
Meet the new pope...
Same as the old pope?
Maybe... Maybe not!
Symbolically:
Sun: Sol Invictus: Sun god worshiped by Constantine
IHS: See my: http://allfaith.com/Religions/Noahide/ihs.html
Star: Destiny
Grapes: Bloodeline
Personal Coat of Arms of Pope Francis
Sol Invictus would love it
His favorite painting is The White Crucifixion, painted by Marc Chagall in 1938, which shows Jesus being crucified on the cross, wearing a prayer shawl as a symbol that he is Jewish.
Less than 24 hours after his highly unexpected election as pope, there are high hopes that Francis will bring radical changes to the Catholic Church, which has had its standing battered by scandal and controversy in recent years.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, the humble 76-year-old son of a railway worker, was up bright and early on his first day as pontiff, visiting a church in Rome for private prayers.
The changes he is expected to bring to the Catholic Church are not likely to affect doctrine. Francis is a doctrinal conservative like his predecessors Benedict XVI and John Paul II. Where he may make his mark is in his personal commitment to issues of inequality, including poverty and globalization, as well as in tapping his outsider status at the Vatican to promote reform.
[JOA: Buzz words one would think better avoided!
Anyway...]
His modest manner – as archbishop of Buenos Aires he traveled by bus and eschewed the episcopal palace in favor of a small apartment – also raises the prospect of a radical culture clash with the pomp and circumstance of the Vatican, which is matched only by the British royal family for its love of costume, ceremony, and tradition.
There is an expectation that the first non-European pope for nearly 1,300 years and the first pontiff from the Americas could clear up the intrigue-ridden Curia, the powerful governing body of the Holy See.
"Revolution at St. Peter's" said a headline in La Repubblica, with the Italian daily greeting Bergoglio’s election as the expression of a "geographic and cultural upheaval" for the Vatican.
A POPE FOR REFORM?
The election of Francis is being interpreted as a victory for reform-minded cardinals – prominent among them Americans such as Timothy Dolan of New York and Sean O’Malley of Boston – who were dismayed by the allegations of corruption and feuding in the Curia that emerged from the Vatileaks scandal last year, when Benedict’s butler was caught stealing and leaking confidential documents.
It was a defeat for Odilo Scherer, the archbishop of Sao Paolo in Brazil, who was the favored candidate of a bloc of cardinals, many of them Italian and working inside the Curia, who were highly resistant to reform, Vatican watchers said.
The fact that Francis is a Jesuit also may herald sweeping changes to the Holy See. The Jesuits have a reputation for rigorous and independent thought and for taking seriously their vows of poverty.
His decision to adopt the name Francis, recalling the asceticism of St. Francis of Assisi, was interpreted as hugely significant and another clue as to the direction in which he may try to steer the church.
Chris Bain, the chief executive of Cafod, a Catholic aid agency, was in St. Peter’s Square when white smoke puffed from the chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel and, an hour later, when the new pope made his first public appearance by stepping out onto the balcony of the imposing basilica.
“The choice of the name Francis implies simplicity. He could of course be named after two great Francises: St. Francis of Assisi was about protecting the natural world, he was at one with nature. And St. Francis Xavier who was a great missionary. Both could be models for a new papacy, that is very telling,” he says.
He comes from a working-class background – before emigrating to Italy, his father was a railway worker from Portacomaro, near the town of Asti in the northwestern region of Piedmont.
While Benedict was renowned for his love of soft red leather loafers, which were hand made for him by cobblers in Rome, and ermine-lined vestments, Francis is likely to bring a very different approach to the trappings of office.
[Do they know anything about this man if this is the best they come up with? He like red loafers?]
“He takes his vows of poverty very seriously. He refused to live in the bishop’s palace in Buenos Aires and instead moved into a small apartment where he cooks his own meals. He got rid of the chauffeur-driven limousine and took the bus to work,” says the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Vatican expert at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University in Washington.
When he was made a cardinal by John Paul II in 2001, his congregation collected money so they could accompany him on his trip to Rome. But he asked them all to stay at home in Argentina, to give the collection to the poor, and to let him travel to the Vatican on his own, noted Corriere della Sera, one of Italy’s leading newspapers, this morning.
“It will be a challenge to live this sort of simple lifestyle in the Apostolic Palace," says Fr. Reese. "I doubt this is the sort of pope who likes silk and furs. This may be very threatening to the papal court, especially those who like to dress up."
AN ENORMOUS CHALLENGE
His reform-minded backers will expect him to do what his predecessor, Benedict, failed to do – tackle the dysfunction in the Curia, an issue that loomed large in the conclave, the secretive process by which Francis was elected by his 114 fellow cardinals in the Sistine Chapel.
He also faces the enormous challenge of rebuilding the church’s credibility on the issue of pedophile priests. Sex-abuse scandals have rocked the church worldwide in the last decade, beginning in the United States in 2002.
“The crisis was caused by secrecy, by cardinals promising not to reveal anything that would dishonor the church,” says Anne Barrett Doyle, the co-director of Bishop Accountability, a US-based watchdog that has tracked the scandal of predatory priests. “The most powerful thing a new pope could do would be to fire bishops who enabled child sex abuse to be committed by priests. If he chose 15 to 20 bishops, that would strike terror into many church officials.”
On doctrinal matters, however, conservatives have nothing to fear from the Jesuit pope. “He’s in total continuity with Benedict and John Paul II on theology and church teaching. We are not going to see women being ordained or approval for gay marriage,” says Reese.
“He’s very progressive on social justice issues and rights for the poor. He fought the Argentinian government on cutting benefits for poor people. He’s very concerned about the impact of globalization on workers in the developing world. This is not a candidate from Wall Street.”
Jon O’Brien, president of Catholics for Choice, said in a statement: “We welcome Pope Francis and look forward to hearing about his priorities in the coming days. We do not expect very many changes, but sincerely hope that the culture will change to better reflect the needs of the church and of Catholics.
“We recall with fondness Pope John XXIII, who confronted the troubles of his day by convening the Second Vatican Council ‘to open the windows of the church to let in some fresh air.’ Pope Francis needs to go even farther and throw open the Vatican’s doors to shed some light on a bureaucracy that has allowed the management of the Vatican Bank and the sexual abuse crisis to get completely out of hand.”
A POPE WHO TANGOS?
The debate on what sort of pope Francis will be, and what he has in mind for the church, is only just beginning. Meanwhile, intriguing tidbits are emerging about the man himself. It turns out that he is a fan of tango, for instance.
"I love tango and I used to dance when I was young," he told the authors of an authorized biography, The Jesuit, published in Spanish in 2010.
Aside from speaking French, Italian, English, German, and his native Spanish, he has a smattering of Piedmontese dialect from his family’s ancestral land, we are told.
His favorite painting is The White Crucifixion, painted by Marc Chagall in 1938, which shows Jesus being crucified on the cross, wearing a prayer shawl as a symbol that he is Jewish.
He even had a girlfriend in his youth. “She was part of a group of friends with whom I used to go dancing,” he told the authors of the biography. “But then I discovered my religious vocation.”
Welcome to Thus Say the Prophets!
Matthew 24
Under creationBy John of AllFaith copyright 11.11.12 Note: This page is under construction. The following table is from Hereand will be updated soon.
167 Celestine II (1143-1144) 1 Ex castro Tyberis
(from a castle on the Tiber)
Hist.: Celestin II was born in Citta di Castello, Toscany, on the shores of the Tiber168 Lucius II (1144-1145) 2 Inimicus expulsus 169 Eugene III (1145-1153) 3 Ex magnitudine montis
(Of the greatness of the mount)
Hist.: Born in the castle of Grammont (latin: mons magnus), his family name was Montemagno170 Anastasius IV (1153-1154) 4 Abbas Suburranus 171 Adrian IV (1154-1159) 5 De rure albo
(field of Albe)
Hist.: Born in the town of Saint-AlbanAntipope Victor IV (1159-1164) 6 Ex tetro carcere Antipope Paschal III (1164-1168) 7 Via trans-Tyberina Antipope Calistus III (1168-1178) 8 De Pannonia Tusciæ 172 Alexander III (1159-1181) 9 Ex ansere custode 173 Lucius III (1181-1185) 10 Lux in ostio 174 Urban III (1185-1187) 11 Sus in cribo 175 Gregory VIII (1187) 12 Ensis Laurentii 176 Clement III (1187-1191) 13 De schola exiet 177 Celestine III (1191-1198) 14 De rure bovensi 178 Innocent III (1198-1216) 15 Comes signatus
(signed Count)
Hist.: descendant of the noble Signy, later called Segni family179 Honorius III (1216-1227) 16 Canonicus de latere 180 Gregory IX (1227-1241) 17 Avis Ostiensis
(Bird of Ostia)
Hist.: before his election he was Cardinal of Ostia181 Celestine IV (1241) 18 Leo Sabinus 182 Innocent IV (1243-1254) 19 Comes Laurentius 183 Alexander IV (1254-1261) 20 Signum Ostiense 184 Urban IV (1261-1264) 21 Hierusalem Campaniæ
(Jerusalem of Champagne)
Hist.: native of Troyes, Champagne, later patriarch of Jerusalem185 Clement IV (1265-1268) 22 Draca depressus 186 Gregory X (1271-1276) 23 Anguinus vir 187 Innocent V (1276) 24 Concionatur Gallus 188 Adrian V (1276) 25 Bonus Comes 189 John XXI (1276-1277) 26 Piscator Tuscus 190 Nicholas III (1277-1280) 27 Rosa composita 191 Martin IV (1281-1285) 28 Ex teloneo liliacei Martini 192 Honorius IV (1285-1287) 29 Ex rosa leonina 193 Nicholas IV (1288-1292) 30 Picus inter escas 194 Nicholas IV (1288-1292) 31 Ex eremo celsus
(elevated from a hermit)
Hist.: prior to his election he was a hermit in the monastery of Pouilles195 Boniface VIII (1294-1303) 32 Ex undarum benedictione 196 Benedict XI (1303-1304) 33 Concionator patereus 197 Clement V (1305-1314) 34 De fessis Aquitanicis
(ribbon of Aquitaine)
Hist.: was archbishop of Bordeaux in Aquitaine198 John XXII (1316-1334) 35 De sutore osseo
(of the cobbler of Osseo)
Hist.: Family name Ossa, son of a shoe-makerAntipope Nicholas V (1328-1330) 36 Corvus schismaticus
(the schismatic crow)
Note the reference to the schism, the only antipope at this period199 Benedict XII (1334-1342) 37 Frigidus Abbas
(cold friar)
Hist.: he was a priest in the monastery of Frontfroid (coldfront)200 Clement VI (1342-1352) 38 De rosa Attrebatensi 201 Innocent VI (1352-1362) 39 De montibus Pammachii 202 Urban V (1362-1370) 40 Gallus Vice-comes 203 Gregory XI (1370-1378) 41 Novus de Virgine forti
(novel of the virgin fort)
Hist.: count of Beaufort, later Cardinal of Ste-Marie La NeuveAntipope Clement VII (1378-1394) 42 De cruce Apostilica Antipope Benedict XIII (1394-1423) 43 Luna Cosmedina Antipope Clement VIII (1423-1429) 44 Schisma Barcinonicum 204 Urban VI (1378-1389) 45 De Inferno pregnani(From the hell of Pregnani)
Hist.: He was a town called Inferno in the region of Pregnani.205 Boniface IX (1389-1404) 46 Cubus de mixtione 206 Innocent VII (1404-1406) 47 De meliore sydere 207 Gregory XII (1406-1415) 48 Nauta de ponte nigro Antipope Alexander V (1409-1410) 49 Flagellum Solis Antipope John XXIII (1410-1415) 50 Cervus Sirenæ 208 Martin V (1417-1431) 51 Corona veli aurei 209 Eugene IV (1431-1447) 52 Lupa cælestina Antipope Felix V (1439-1449) 53 Amator crucis 210 Nicholas V (1447-1455) 54 De modicitate lunæ 211 Callistus III (1455-1458) 55 Bos pascens
(grazing ox)
Hist.: Alphonse Borgia's arms sported a golden grazing ox212 Pius II (1458-1464) 56 De capra et Albergo 213 Paul II (1464-1471) 57 De cervo et Leone 214 Sixtus IV (1471-1484) 58 Piscator Minorita 215 Innocent VIII (1484-1492) 59 Præcursor Siciliæ 216 Alexander VI (1492-1503) 60 Bos Albanus in portu 217 Pius III (1503) 61 De parvo homine 218 Julius II (1503-1513) 62 Fructus jovis juvabit 219 Leo X (1513-1521) 63 De craticula Politiana 220 Adrian VI (1522-1523) 64 Leo Florentius 221 Clement VII (1523-1534) 65 Flos pilæi ægri 222 Paul III (1534-1549) 66 Hiacynthus medicorum 223 Julius III (1550-1555) 67 De corona Montana 224 Marcellus II (1555) 68 Frumentum floccidum 225 Paul IV (1555-1559) 69 De fide Petri 226 Pius IV (1559-1565) 70 Æsculapii pharmacum 227 St. Pius V (1566-1572) 71 Angelus nemorosus 228 Gregory XIII (1572-1585) 72 Medium corpus pilarum 229 Sixtus V (1585-1590) 73 Axis in medietate signi 230 Urban VII (1590) 74 De rore cæli 231 Gregory XIV (1590-1591) 75 De antiquitate Urbis 232 Innocent IX (1591) 76 Pia civitas in bello 233 Clement VIII (1592-1605) 77 Crux Romulea 234 Leo XI (1605) 78 Undosus Vir 235 Paul V (1605-1621) 79 Gens perversa 236 Gregory XV (1621-1623) 80 In tribulatione pacis 237 Urban VIII (1623-1644) 81 Lilium et rosa 238 Innocent X (1644-1655) 82 Jucunditas crucis 239 Alexander VII (1655-1667) 83 Montium custos 240 Clement IX (1667-1669) 84 Sydus Olorum
(constellation of swans)
Hist.: upon his election, he was apparently the occupant of the Chamber of Swans in the Vatican.241 Clement X (1670-1676) 85 De flumine magno 242 Innocent XI (1676-1689) 86 Bellua insatiabilis 243 Alexander VIII (1689-1691) 87 Pœnitentia gloriosa 244 Innocent XII (1691-1700) 88 Rastrum in porta 245 Clement XI (1700-1721) 89 Flores circumdati 246 Innocent XIII (1721-1724) 90 De bona Religione 247 Benedict XIII (1724-1730) 91 Miles in bello 248 Clement XII (1730-1740) 92 Columna excelsa 249 Benedict XIV (1740-1758) 93 Animal rurale 250 Clement XIII (1758-1769) 94 Rosa Umbriæ 251 Clement XIV (1769-1774) 95 Ursus velox 252 Pius VI (1775-1799) 96 Peregrinus Apostolicus 253 Pius VII (1800-1823) 97 Aquila rapax 254 Leo XII (1823-1829) 98 Canis et coluber 255 Pius VIII (1829-1830) 99 Vir religiosus 256 Gregory XVI (1831-1846) 100 De balneis hetruriæ
(bath of Etruria)
Hist.: prior to his election he was member of an order founded by Saint Romuald, at Balneo, in Etruria, present day Toscany.257 Pius IX (1846-1878) 101 Crux de cruce
(Cross of Crosses)
Hist.:Pius XI was the last Pope to reign over the Papal States (the middle third of what is today Italy). He ended up being a prisoner of the Vatican, never venturing outside Vatican City. A much heavier burden than his predecessors.258 Leo XIII (1878-1903) 102 Lumen in cælo<BR.>(Light in the Heavens)
Hist.: Leo XIII wrote encyclicals on Catholic social teaching that were still being digested 100 years later. He added considerably to theology.259 St. Pius X (1903-1914) 103 Ignis ardens
(ardent fire)
Hist.: The Pope had great personal piety and achieved a number of important reforms in the devotional and liturgical life of priests and laypeople.260 Benedict XV (1914-1922) 104 Religio depopulata
(Religion laid waste)
Hist.: This Pope reigned during the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia which store the establishment of Communism.261 Pius XI (1922-1939) 105 Fides intrepida
(Intrepid faith)
Hist.: This Pope stood up to Fascist and Communist forces lining up against him in the lead up to World War II.262 Pius XII (1939-1958) 106 Pastor angelicus
(Angelic Shepherd)
Hist.: This Pope was very mystical, and is believed to have received visions. People would kneel when they received telephone calls from him. His encyclicals add enormously to the understanding of Catholic beliefs (even if they are now overlooked because of focus on the Second Vatican Council, which occurred so soon after his reign).263 John XXIII (1958-1963) 107 Pastor et Nauta
(pastor and marine)
Hist.: prior to his election he was patriarch of Venice, a marine city, home of the gondolas264 Paul VI (1963-1978) 108 Flos florum
(flower of flowers)
Hist.: his arms displayed three lilies.265 John Paul I (1978) 109 De medietate Lunæ
(of the half of the moon)
Hist.: Albino Luciani, born in Canale d'Agardo, diocese of Belluno, (beautiful moon) Elected pope on August 26, his reign lasted about a month, from half a moon to the next half...266 John Paul II (1978-2005) 110 De labore Solis
(of the eclipse of the sun, or from the labour of the sun)
Hist.: Karol Wojtyla was born on May 18, 1920 during a solar eclipse. He also comes from behind the former Iron Curtain (the East, where the Sun rises). He might also be seen to be the fruit of the intercession of the Woman Clothed with the Sun labouring in Revelation 12 (because of his devotion to the Virgin Mary). His Funeral occurred on 8 April, 2005 when there was a solar eclipse visible in the Americas.267 Benedict XVI (2005-) 111 Gloria olivæ
The Benedictine order traditionally said this Pope would come from their order, since a branch of the Benedictine order is called the Olivetans. St Benedict is said to have prophesied that before the end of the world, a member of his order would be Pope and would triumphantly lead the Church in its fight against evil. While the Holy Father chose the name "Benedict", this does not seem enough to fulfil the prophecy. Nor is it clear how Benedict XVI (a Bavarian) is "Glory of the Olives". Since he is said to have remarked in the Conclave after saying he would take the name Benedict that it was partly to honour Benedict XV, a pope of peace and reconciliation, perhaps Benedict XVI will be a peacemaker in the Church or in the World, and thus carry the olive branch.In persecutione extrema S.R.E. sedebit Petrus Romanus, qui pascet oves in multis tribulationibus: quibus transactis civitas septicollis diruetur, & Judex tremêdus judicabit populum suum. Finis.
(In extreme persecution, the seat of the Holy Roman Church will be occupied by Peter the Roman, who will feed the sheep through many tribulations, at the term of which the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the formidable Judge will judge his people. The End.)I'm not saying nothing........ Join thinking out loud!
Your thoughts?
Thus Say The Prophets Thus Say the Prophets Home Page The Revelation Our Free Online Yeshiva Jewish Studies Noahide Studies My YouTube Channel Main Blog Contact John of AllFaith -
The Princes of the Church Begin as Malachy Waits
Its getting interesting now...
According to the prophecies of Malachy (http://allfaith.com/prophecy/Malachy.html) The pope these Princes of the Church are about to elect will be the False Prophet of the Book of the Revelation of Navi Y'shua...
We'll soon see.
In any event whoever is elected will lead the Vatican into what will arguably be the critical phase of its existence.
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Roman Catholic cardinals gather under the gaze of Michelangelo's "Last Judgment" on Tuesday to elect a new pope to tackle the daunting problems facing the 1.2-billion-member Church.
The secret conclave, steeped in ritual and prayer, could carry on for several days, with no clear favorite in sight to take over the reins from Pope Benedict, who abdicated last month saying he was not strong enough to confront the Church's woes.
In a process dating back to medieval times, 115 "Princes of the Church" from 48 countries will shut themselves in the Vatican's frescoed Sistine Chapel on Tuesday afternoon after a public Mass in St. Peter's Basilica in the morning.
They will emerge from their seclusion only when they have chosen the 266th pontiff in the 2,000-year-history of the Church, which is beset by sex abuse scandals, bureaucratic infighting, financial difficulties and the rise of secularism.
"We are ready to enter the conclave and it will be longer than the last one," South African Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier told reporters on Monday, referring to the 2005 election of Benedict, that was wrapped up in 24 hours after four ballots.
"It will last a few days. Maybe four or five," he predicted.
The average length of the last nine conclaves was just over three days and none went on for more than five days.
Vatican-insiders say Italy's Angelo Scola and Brazil's Odilo Scherer have emerged as the men to beat. The former would bring the papacy back to Italy for the first time in 35 years, while the latter would be the first non-European pope in 1,300 years.
However, a host of other candidates from numerous nations also have been mentioned, including U.S. cardinals Timothy Dolan and Sean O'Malley, Canada's Marc Ouellet and Argentina's Leonardo Sandri.
CONSERVATISM AHEAD
All the red-hatted prelates closed in the Sistine Chapel were appointed by either Benedict or his revered predecessor John Paul, and the next pontiff will almost certainly pursue their fierce defense of traditional moral teachings.
But Benedict and John Paul were criticized for failing to reform the Vatican bureaucracy, battered by allegations of intrigue and incompetence, and some churchmen believe the next pope must be a manager or put a good management team in place.
Vatican insiders say Scola, who has managed two big Italian dioceses, might be best placed to understand the Byzantine politics of the Vatican administration - of which he is not a part - and therefore be able to introduce swift reform.
The Curia faction is said by the same insiders to back Scherer who worked in the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops for seven years before later leading Brazil's Sao Paolo diocese - the largest diocese in the biggest Catholic country.
With only 24 percent of Catholics living in Europe, pressure is growing within the Church to see a pontiff from elsewhere in the world who would bring a different perspective.
Latin American cardinals might worry more about poverty and the rise of evangelical churches than questions of materialism and sexual abuse that predominate in the West, while the growth of Islam is a major concern for the church in Africa and Asia.
The cardinals are expected to hold their first vote late on Tuesday afternoon - almost certain to be inconclusive - before retiring to the Vatican hotel for the night.
They hold four ballots a day thereafter until one man has won a two-thirds majority - or 77 votes. Black smoke from a makeshift chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel will show no-one was elected while white smoke and the pealing of St. Peter's bells will announce the arrival of a new pontiff.
As in medieval times, the cardinals will be banned from communicating with the outside world. The Vatican has also taken high-tech measures to ensure secrecy in the 21st century, including jamming devices to prevent eavesdropping.
(Editing by Michael Roddy)
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Al Qu'ran: "No compulsion in religion" Sure...
I don't know why so many people are worried about the rapid growth of Islam. After all, Islam is "the religion of peace" and al Qu'ran assures us that in Islam there is "no compulsion in matters of religion"....
Right?
Oy! Some things never change. Don't belief the hype!
Islam is only a religion of peace for those who submit ("islam") 100% to the Muslim authorities. ANY individuality or interpretation leads to serious trouble.
Islam demands "no compulsion in matters of religion" ONLY for those who submit ("islam") 100% to the Muslim authorities. ANY individuality or interpretation leads to serious trouble. Non-Muslims and liberal Muslims beware!
Just another story from just another Muslim country...
Blog question: Does the following make you want to become Muslim?
Emphasis mine
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Hundreds of people in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore ransacked a Christian neighborhood Saturday and torched dozens of homes after hearing reports that a Christian man had committed blasphemy against Islam's prophet, said a police officer.
Blasphemy is a serious crime in Pakistan that can carry the death penalty but sometimes outraged residents exact their own retribution for perceived insults of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Pakistan is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim and people of other faiths, including the nation's small Christian community, are often viewed with suspicion.
The incident started Friday when a young Muslim man accused a Christian man of committing blasphemy by making offensive comments about the prophet, according to Multan Khan, a senior police officer in Lahore.
A large crowd from a nearby mosque went to the Christian man's home on Friday night, and Khan said police took him into custody to try to pacify the crowd. Fearing for their safety, hundreds of Christian families fled the area overnight.
Khan said the mob returned on Saturday and began ransacking Christian homes and setting them ablaze. He said no one in the Christian community was hurt, but several policemen were injured when they were hit with stones as they tried to keep the crowd from storming the area.
But Akram Gill, a local bishop in the Lahore Christian community said the incident had more to do with personal enmity between two men — one Christian and one Muslim — than blasphemy. He said the men got into a brawl after drinking late one night, and in the morning the Muslim man made up the blasphemy story as payback.
He said the Christian community handed over to police the accused man, [THIS was blasphemy!] identified by police and Gill as Sawan Masih, when police came to the neighborhood to investigate. Then the Christians all locked up their houses and went to relatives in other areas. He said the mob Saturday morning was armed with hammers and steel rods and broke into houses, ransacked two churches and burned Bibles and crosses. [But blaspheming their religion is a such a horrid offense]!
"Poor people were living here. They have lost all of their belongings," he said. "Where can they go now?"
The scene was chaotic. An Associated Press photographer said roughly 50 homes and a small church were set on fire. One man was seen carrying a dog and some puppies from a burning house. Refrigerators, washing and sewing machines, cooking pots, beds and other household goods were ripped from homes, smashed and torched in the streets.
One Christian couple from the neighborhood said they went to their Muslim neighbors' house on Friday night after people came looking for the Christian man accused of blasphemy. Ishaq Masih said the Muslim neighbors sheltered the couple for the night and then gave them money to leave the area in the morning.
Such accusations of blasphemy in Pakistan can prompt huge crowds to take the law into their own hands. Once an accusation is made it's extremely difficult to get it reversed, partly because law enforcement officials do not want to be seen as being soft on blasphemers.
Speaking out against the blasphemy laws can put people in danger. Two prominent politicians were assassinated in 2011 for urging reform of the law. The killer of one of the politicians was hailed as a hero, and lawyers at his legal appearances showered him with rose petals.
According to Human Rights Watch, there are at least 16 people on death row for blasphemy and another 20 are serving life sentences.
Last year there was a rare reversal of a blasphemy case. A teenage Christian girl with suspected mental disabilities was accused of burning pages of the Quran. But she was later released after a huge domestic and international outcry about her treatment. A local cleric where she lived was arrested and accused of planting the pages in her bag to incriminate her, a rare example of the accuser facing legal consequences. However, he was later freed on bail.
While Muslims are frequently accused of blasphemy, members of Pakistan's small Christian community are especially vulnerable to the accusations, said the head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Zora Yusuf. Only in Christian cases will violent mobs punish the entire community for the perceived crime of one Christian.
She said often these blasphemy cases are personal grudges or disputes masquerading as religious fervor.
"Most of the time there are other motives involved," she said, such as scaring off Christian residents to grab their property.
Also on Saturday, four people were killed and 25 were wounded when a bomb exploded inside a mosque of the Sunni Barelvi sect in the northwestern city of Peshawar. The bomb was planted in a bookshelf inside the mosque and was detonated by remote control when noon prayers started, said senior police officer Imtiaz Khan.
Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has been the site of several terrorist attacks in recent months. The city is surrounded by lawless tribal regions where al-Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban have hideouts.
The Pakistani military has carried out several operations in the area, but intermittent terrorist attacks continue.
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Egypt's Locust Plague Now Threatens Israel
And now a Plague of Locusts...
Just in time for Passover Egypt's Locust Plague Threatens Israel
SOURCE: NPR
A swarm of locusts that began in Egypt and has crossed the border into Israel is inviting comparison to one of the Biblical plagues of Exodus.
The New York Times says the swarms are "like a vivid enactment of the eighth plague visited upon the obdurate Pharaoh. Others with a more modern sensibility said it felt more like Hitchcock."
"Locust clouds were darkening skies on Wednesday, three weeks before the Jewish Passover holiday that recalls 10 Biblical plagues, one of them locusts, that struck Egypt during the exodus of Israelite slaves," The Guardian said.
According to Egypt's Al-Ahram, at least 20 swarms of locusts, each comprising up to 80 million insects, have invaded Egypt over the past three months, and there are more believed to be waiting in the wings, so to speak, along the country's southern border with Sudan.
"One swarm of locusts can gobble up 100,000 tons of crops, an amount sufficient to feed 500,000 people for a whole year," Nader Noureddin, an agricultural expert, tells Al-Ahram.
The Guardian quoted officials as saying, "the insects covered nearly 2,000 acres (800 hectares) of desert overnight [Tuesday]."
Israel was put on "locust alert" on Monday, with the Ministry of Agriculture setting up a hotline to report swarms. By Tuesday "grasshoppers the size of small birds were reported on balconies and in gardens in central and northern Israel. But the largest concentration, an ominous black cloud of millions, settled for the night near the tiny rural village of Kmehin in Israel's southern Negev desert, not far from the border with Egypt," The Times reports.
In case you've ever wondered, green grasshoppers and brown locusts are not the same, but are close cousins, says LiveScience:
"But while grasshoppers hop like mad and can be abundant and pesky, locusts can fly. More significant, locusts have the unusual ability to be total loners or to enter what scientists euphemistically call 'a gregarious state' — this is the flying and swarming stage, the stuff of Biblical proportions."
An Audio Pesach/Passover Tale By the members of Temple and Yeshiva Beth HaShem © 04.11.11 Let's discuss this on my Blog!
We created this audio podcast in celebration of Pesach/Passover. We hope you will enjoy and share it.
The traditional story of Pesach/Passover re-told by your friends at Temple and Yeshiva Beth HaShem. This audio retelling blends the timeless story with modern relevance in a way we sincerely hope you will enjoy.
Script written by Yochanan Levine/John of AllFaith
Audio and technical work done by Joe
Directed by Joe
Cast in order of first appearance:
Joe: Narrator -- Pharaoh -- voice of the Angel of Death
Hakham Leah Levine: Joy -- Pharaoh's Magician
Ahuva Levine: Rachel -- Butch the Guard
Yochanan Levine: Aharon -- Egyptian Taskmaster -- Egyptian Dude -- The Voice of HaShem
Rebbe Larry Levine: Moshe -- Egyptian soldier -- himselfVisit us today at YeshivaBethHaShem.org or stop by Temple Beth HaShem in For Bragg, Ca.
The Jewish Way
of Rebbe Y'shuaWay of Rebbe Y'shua Noahide Studies Jewish Studies Prophecy Studies Yeshiva Beth HaShem AllFaith.com My YouTube Channel Main Blog Contact
John of AllFaith -
חה"כ פייגלין בדי
Moshe Feiglin's plan to gain the release of US political prisoner Jonathon Pollard. Here's the YouTube and an English transcript:
Moshe Feiglin is a true hero and patriot of Israel. He is one of the people I most deeply admire. May HaShem pour all blessings upon him!
His speech:
Honorable Chairman, my friends, Knesset Members,
First, I would like to thank Knesset Member Braverman who openly told us that at least during a certain time period, Jonathan Pollard remained imprisoned because that was also the will of people here, in Israel.
This is a very important statement, which was said in an offhand way. But in my opinion, it is certainly possible that this problem still exists.
Jonathan Pollard is not a traitor. We have to look at Jonathan Pollard through Jewish, Israeli, Zionist eyes. Jonathan Pollard is an Israeli agent. He performed a service for us. It is unthinkable that we should look at Jonathan through American eyes.
Jonathan Pollard is a hero; he is a hero of Israel. He is a hero who risked his life for us. And who knows how many of us he literally saved.
I have no intention of signing the petition for Jonathan Pollard. It is just meaningless words. It is lip-service. I have no intention of being dragged once again into processes that have nothing behind them. Similarly, in my evaluation, this petition will fade away when US President Barack Obama arrives here if we, the MKs do not take tangible action - and I intend to propose just such an action. With it, our loyalty to the person who we sent to risk his life for us will be put to the test.
Our brother, Jonathan, who risked his life for us as our envoy, was not the only one who ran to the Israeli embassy for protection on that bitter day 28 years ago.
His direct handler, Colonel Aviem Selah, also ran to the embassy with him.The US forcefully demanded that both men – the Jew and the Israeli - be handed over to them.
We betrayed the Jew, and handed him over to his captors – the FBI agents waiting outside.
As far as the Israeli – we proved that when Israel wants something, it can certainly stand firm. Aviem Selah was not handed over – and a way was even found to bring him back to Israel.
On that day I understood that the State of Israel is not really the State of the Jews. Israel is the State of the Israelis. And from this denial of its identity and its foundations, my friends, Knesset Members, Israel is progressively losing the legitimacy for its very right to exist.
I have visited my brother, Jonathan, many times. When I saw him for the first time, I couldn't stop my tears. It was awkward: He was the inmate, who, despite the terrible torture that he had endured, and that in order to maintain his honor, I will not describe here at the podium – he remained peaceful and calm, while I, a free lark, was crying like a baby.
Since then, Jonathan's picture is on the front door of my house. One cannot enter the Feiglin Family home without remembering our brother, Jonathan.
The betrayal of Pollard continues until today. It is hard to believe, but the simple fact is that the prime minister then, the person who authorized the extradition and today serves as President of the State of Israel, until recently never officially requested Jonathan's release. We often hear that Israel is doing its utmost. We heard that and we will continue to hear it. We will sign petitions. But an official request was never presented – until Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu did so after 20 years.
But the resolve is still missing. Our body language - and I am referring to the body language of the regime – not of the Nation of Israel and not of the Knesset Members, but the body language of those responsible, still says to the Americans, "Keep Pollard to yourselves, we don't really want him here."
The type of spying that Pollard conducted is carried out by US agents in Israel as a matter of course and is public information. Israel has the ability to demand and receive our brother Jonathan, if it wants. If we want.
In another two weeks, the President of the US will arrive in Israel and he will want to speak from this podium. Welcome to Israel, US President Barack Obama – with my brother, Jonathan Pollard.
But if you continue to imprison my brother Jonathan, you will have to speak to my empty chair. And I hope that more Knesset chairs than just mine will be empty.
I call upon all the members of the Knesset to take similar action and to prove that a new generation has risen in Israel; a generation that is not willing to continue betraying Jonathan, under the guise of meaningless diplomatic chatter. A generation of solidarity with every Jew. A generation that gives true meaning to the concept 'the State of the Jews' - the Jewish State.
Thank you very much.
Update: Thursday evening, Moshe Feiglin wrote the following on his Facebook page:
Israel's press is reporting that Obama's major speech in Israel will take place in the Jerusalem Convention Hall and not in the Knesset. According to the Makor Rishon newspaper, Obama's team was concerned that his speech would be interrupted by rightist MKs, or that they would get up and exit the plenum at the start of the President's speech, as Moshe Feiglin had proposed. In response, Moshe Feiglin wrote:
Obama's decision not to come to the Knesset did not surprise me. As early as last week, very senior officials who are aware of my connection to Pollard attempted to find out how I planned to react. I thought it over for a while, because it is not my way to shout and make a scene. On the other hand, how could I sit quietly and honor the president of the nation that has imprisoned our brother Jonathan for 28 years? I decided upon the empty-chair method and I have no doubt that quite a few of the Knesset Members were going to join me.
Now that we have done our duty in the Knesset, the ball is in the public's court. Whoever feels Pollard's pain should make every effort to attain tickets for Obama's speech in Binyanei Ha'umah. If Obama comes without Pollard, rise in a dignified manner when he begins his speech and quietly exit the hall.
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The Korean War Is Officially Back On
Well isn't this just peachy....
The Korean War is Officially back On:
"North Korea has accused the United States of using military drills in South Korea as a launch pad for a nuclear war and has scrapped the armistice with Washington that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War."
Do you think this will lead to a shooting war?
Let's talk about it here!
From the Controlled North Korean Media:
SOURCE Statement of KPA Supreme Command Spokesman Lifts Morale of servicepersons and CiviliansPyongyang, March 6 (KCNA) -- The Korean Peninsula is now under a touch-and-go situation due to the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises, launched by the U.S. imperialists and their allied forces, including south Korea, UK and Australia, on March 1 to mount a preemptive nuclear attack on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
In this regard, a spokesman for the Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army on Tuesday issued a statement clarifying the three important measures to be taken by it.
According to it, the DPRK will take the second and third strong practical counteractions in succession to cope with the high-handed war acts of the U.S. and all other hostile forces. And the KPA Supreme Command will totally nullify the Korean Armistice Agreement and put a total stop to the operation of the KPA mission in Panmunjom.
Upon hearing the statement, the DPRK people have expressed full support to those measures, hardening their will to turn out in the anti-U.S. action.
Ju Myong Chol, a 53-year-old citizen living in Pyongyang, told KCNA:
"We can never pardon the U.S. and south Korean forces that launched nuclear war exercises for armed invasion of the DPRK despite its repeated warning and strong protest of the world peace-loving people.
If they dare infringe upon the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK, all its servicepersons and civilians will inflict shameful defeat and death on them with shower of fire."
Han Myong Gil, a 47-year-old officer of the KPA, said:
"Now the enemies are recklessly running amuck, not well aware who their rival is. But, tiger moth fond of playing with fire is bound to perish in the flames.
The DPRK has the strength of single-minded unity of all the people rallied around their leader, which is more powerful than nuke, and the invincible Paektusan army built up under the Songun (military-first) policy.
Its army and people love peace and do not want war, but will deal merciless strikes with all potentials to those provokers eagerly looking for a chance of aggression.
The final victory is in store for the army and people of the DPRK who are all out to protect the sovereignty of the nation and the supreme interests of the country."
From the Controlled US Media:
SEOUL/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea threatened the United States on Thursday with a preemptive nuclear strike, raising the level of rhetoric just before the U.N. Security Council approved new sanctions against the reclusive country.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said North Korea's threats would achieve nothing and would only further isolate the country.
China's U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong said Beijing wanted to see "full implementation" of the new U.N. Security Council resolution that tightens financial restrictions on Pyongyang and cracks down on its attempts to ship and receive banned cargo.
North Korea has accused the United States of using military drills in South Korea as a launch pad for a nuclear war and has scrapped the armistice with Washington that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War.
North Korea, which has one major ally, neighboring China, threatens the United States and its "puppet," South Korea, on an almost daily basis.
"Since the United States is about to ignite a nuclear war, we will be exercising our right to preemptive nuclear attack against the headquarters of the aggressor in order to protect our supreme interest," the North's foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.
North Korea conducted a third nuclear test on February 12, in defiance of U.N. resolutions, and declared it had achieved progress in securing a functioning atomic arsenal. It is widely believed that the North does not have the capacity for a nuclear strike against the United States mainland.
With tensions high on the Korean peninsula, the U.N. Security Council voted to expand its sanctions on North Korea. The new sanctions were agreed after three weeks of negotiations between the United States and China, which has a history of resisting tough measures against its ally.
The resolution specifies some luxury items North Korea's elite is not allowed to import, such as yachts, racing cars, luxury automobiles and certain types of jewelry. This is intended to close a loophole that had allowed countries to decide for themselves what constitutes a luxury good.
"These sanctions will bite and bite hard," said Rice.
[Note by JoA: Forbidding them to buy yachts, racing cars etc. will "bite and bite hard"?
It would be so nice to have a media that told us the truth!
This is clearly written as US government propaganda to imply the government of North Korea is crazy
I suspect there's a bit more to this!]
The export of luxury goods to North Korea has been prohibited since 2006, though diplomats and analysts said the enforcement of U.N. sanctions has been uneven.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, welcomed the council's move, saying in a statement that the resolution "sent an unequivocal message to (North Korea) that the international community will not tolerate its pursuit of nuclear weapons."
THREATS AND WAR GAMES
North Korea's threats were the latest in an escalation in a war of words by both sides across the armed Korean border this week.
The North's unnamed foreign ministry spokesman said it would be entitled to take military action as of March 11 when U.S.-South Korea military drills move into a full-scale phase as it had declared the truce invalid.
"North Korea will achieve nothing by continued threats and provocations. These will only further isolate the country and its people and undermine international efforts to promote peace and stability in northeast Asia," Rice told reporters.
President Barack Obama's administration said it had reassured South Korea and Japan "at the highest levels" of its commitment to deterrence, through the U.S. nuclear umbrella and missile defense, in the face of the new threats from North Korea.
Glyn Davies, the State Department's point man for North Korea policy, also said in testimony prepared for a Senate hearing that Washington will not accept North Korea as a nuclear state.
North Korea, which held a mass military rally in Pyongyang on Thursday in support of its recent threats, has protested against the U.N. censures of its rocket launches. It says they are part of a peaceful space program and that the criticism is an exercise of double standards by the United States.
The North's shrill rhetoric, however, rarely goes beyond just that. Its last armed aggression against the South in 2010 came unannounced, bombing a South Korean island killing two civilians. It was widely accused of sinking a South Korean navy ship earlier in the year, killing 46 sailors.
North Korea was conducting a series of military drills and getting ready for state-wide war practice of an unusual scale, South Korea's defense ministry said earlier.
South Korea and the United States, which are conducting annual military drills until the end of April, are watching the North's activities for signs they might turn from an exercise to an actual attack, a South Korean official said.
"It hasn't been frequent that the North conducted military exercises at the state level," said South Korea's defense ministry spokesman, Kim Min-seok. "The North is currently conducting various drills on land, at sea and aerially.
"We are watching the North's activities and stepping up readiness under the assumption that these drills can lead to provocation at any time."
Kim declined to confirm news reports that the North has imposed no-fly zones off its coasts in a possible move to fire missiles, but he said any flight ban limited to near the coast would not be for weapons with meaningful ranges.
A North Korean general said on Tuesday that Pyongyang was scrapping the armistice. But the two sides remain technically at war as the civil war did not end with a treaty.
South Korea's military said in a rare warning on Wednesday that it would strike back at the North and target its leadership if Pyongyang launched an attack.
(Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations and Paul Eckert in Washington.; Writing by Claudia Parsons; editing by Christopher Wilson)