Vatican City, Jun 29, 2010
(Catholic News Agency/EWTN News)
During his address for today's feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the Holy Father asserted that the “greatest danger” to the Church is not external persecution, but the “negative attitudes” of the world that can pollute and “infect the Christian community” from within.
The Pope made his remarks on Tuesday morning at Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, where he concelebrated with 38 metropolitan archbishops whom he bestowed the pallium upon after delivering his homily.
The pallium is a white stole made of wool from lambs blessed and presented to the Pope each year on the feast of St. Agnes. It is reserved for use by the Pope and all metropolitan archbishops and expresses communion with the Bishop of Rome.
In his homily, Pope Benedict first reflected on the theme of freedom for the Church, emphasizing that Sts. Peter and Paul demonstrate that “God is close to his faithful servants and frees them from all evil, and frees the Church from negative powers.”
Speaking on Christ's promise in the Gospel that the “powers of hell shall not prevail” on the Church, the Pontiff explained that this not only “includes the historical experience of persecution suffered by Peter and Paul and other witnesses of the Gospel,” but “it goes further, wanting to protect especially against threats of a spiritual order.”
“Indeed, if we think of the two millennia of Church history, we can see that - as the Lord Jesus had announced, Christians have never been lacking in trials, which in some periods and places have assumed the character of real persecution.
“These, however, despite the suffering they cause, are not the greatest danger for the Church,” the Pope said.
“In fact,” he noted, “it suffers greatest damage from what pollutes the Christian faith and life of its members and its communities, eroding the integrity of the Mystical Body, weakening its ability to prophesy and witness, tarnishing the beauty of its face.”
Reflecting on the Scripture readings, the Pope explained that the “Second Letter to Timothy – of which we heard an excerpt – speaks about the dangers of the 'last days,' identifying them with negative attitudes that belong to the world and can infect the Christian community: selfishness, vanity, pride, love of money, etc.”
“There is therefore a guarantee of freedom promised by God to the Church, it is freedom from the material bonds that seek to prevent or coerce mission, both through spiritual and moral evils, which may affect its authenticity and credibility.”
“The theme of the freedom of the Church, guaranteed by Christ to Peter, also has a specific relevance to the rite of the imposition of the pallium,” the Holy Father explained, “which we renew today for thirty-eight metropolitan archbishops, to whom I address my most cordial greeting, extending with it affection to all who have wanted to accompany them on this pilgrimage.”
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Vatican says Belgium raids 'worse than Communist era'
From http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/10425090.stm
The Vatican has stepped up its criticism of raids by Belgian police investigating alleged child sex abuse, calling the detention of priests "serious and unbelievable".
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, said "there are no precedents, not even under the old communist regimes".
He claimed the priests were held for nine hours without eating or drinking.
Several buildings of the Belgium Church were searched on Thursday.
Bishops holding a meeting there were barred from leaving the premises for several hours.
"It was sequestration, a serious and unbelievable act," said Cardinal Bertone.
'Astonishment'
Police in Leuven seized nearly 500 files and a computer from the offices of a Church commission investigating allegations of sex abuse.
They also searched the Church's headquarters, the Brussels archdiocese in Mechelen, north of the Belgian capital.
Prosecutors have said the raids were over alleged "abuse of minors committed by a certain number of Church figures".
On Friday, the Vatican voiced "astonishment" at how the raids have been carried out, saying police had drilled holes in two archbishops' tombs.
The Vatican said the raids had led to the "violation of confidentiality of precisely those victims for whom the raids were carried out".
The Vatican has summoned the Belgian ambassador to the Holy See to voice their anger at the incident.
The Catholic Church in Belgium has apologised for its silence on abuse cases in the past.
The Vatican has stepped up its criticism of raids by Belgian police investigating alleged child sex abuse, calling the detention of priests "serious and unbelievable".
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, said "there are no precedents, not even under the old communist regimes".
He claimed the priests were held for nine hours without eating or drinking.
Several buildings of the Belgium Church were searched on Thursday.
Bishops holding a meeting there were barred from leaving the premises for several hours.
"It was sequestration, a serious and unbelievable act," said Cardinal Bertone.
'Astonishment'
Police in Leuven seized nearly 500 files and a computer from the offices of a Church commission investigating allegations of sex abuse.
They also searched the Church's headquarters, the Brussels archdiocese in Mechelen, north of the Belgian capital.
Prosecutors have said the raids were over alleged "abuse of minors committed by a certain number of Church figures".
On Friday, the Vatican voiced "astonishment" at how the raids have been carried out, saying police had drilled holes in two archbishops' tombs.
The Vatican said the raids had led to the "violation of confidentiality of precisely those victims for whom the raids were carried out".
The Vatican has summoned the Belgian ambassador to the Holy See to voice their anger at the incident.
The Catholic Church in Belgium has apologised for its silence on abuse cases in the past.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Lasers uncover first icons of Sts. Peter and Paul
From http://news.yahoo.com
By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jun 22,
ROME
Twenty-first century laser technology has opened a window into the early days of the Catholic Church, guiding researchers through the dank, musty catacombs beneath Rome to a startling find: the first known icons of the apostles Peter and Paul.
Vatican officials unveiled the paintings Tuesday, discovered along with the earliest known images of the apostles John and Andrew in an underground burial chamber beneath an office building on a busy street in a working-class Rome neighborhood.
The images, which date from the second half of the 4th century, were uncovered using a new laser technique that allows restorers to burn off centuries of thick white calcium carbonate deposits without damaging the brilliant dark colors of the paintings underneath.
The technique could revolutionize the way restoration work is carried out in the miles (kilometers) of catacombs that burrow under the Eternal City where early Christians buried their dead.
The icons were discovered on the ceiling of a tomb of an aristocratic Roman woman at the Santa Tecla catacomb, near where the remains of the apostle Paul are said to be buried.
Rome has dozens of such burial chambers and they are a major tourist attraction, giving visitors a peek into the traditions of the early church when Christians were often persecuted for their beliefs. Early Christians dug the catacombs outside Rome's walls as underground cemeteries, since burial was forbidden inside the city walls and pagan Romans were usually cremated.
The art that decorated Rome's catacombs was often simplistic and symbolic in nature. The Santa Tecla catacombs, however, represent some of the earliest evidence of devotion to the apostles in early Christianity, Vatican officials said.
"The Christian catacombs, while giving us value with a religious and cultural patrimony, represent an eloquent and significant testimony of Christianity at its origin," said Monsignor Giovanni Carru, the No. 2 in the Vatican's Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archaeology, which maintains the catacombs.
Last June, the Vatican announced the discovery of the icon of Paul at Santa Tecla, timing the news to coincide with the end of the Vatican's year of St. Paul. Pope Benedict XVI also said tests on bone fragments long attributed to Paul "seemed to confirm" that they did indeed belong to the Roman Catholic saint.
On Tuesday, Vatican archaeologists announced the image of Paul was not found in isolation, but was part of a square ceiling painting that also included icons of three other apostles — Peter, John and Andrew — surrounding an image of Christ as the Good Shepherd.
"They are the first icons. These are absolutely the first representations of the apostles," said Fabrizio Bisconti, the superintendent of archaeology for the catacombs.
Bisconti spoke from inside the intimate burial chamber, its walls and ceilings covered with paintings of scenes from the Old Testament, including Daniel in the lion's den and Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac. Once inside, visitors see the loculi, or burial chambers, on three sides.
But the gem is on the ceiling, where the four apostles are painted inside gold-rimmed circles against a red-ochre backdrop. The ceiling is also decorated with geometric designs, and the cornices feature images of naked youths.
Chief restorer Barbara Mazzei noted there were earlier known images of Peter and Paul, but these were depicted in narratives. The images in the catacomb — with their faces in isolation, encircled with gold and affixed to the four corners of the ceiling painting — are devotional in nature and as such represent the first known icons.
"The fact of isolating them in a corner tells us it's a form of devotion," she said. "In this case, saints Peter and Paul, and John and Andrew are the most antique testimonies we have." In addition, the images of Andrew and John show much younger faces than are normally depicted in the Byzantine-inspired imagery most often associated with the apostles, she said.
The Vatican's Sacred Archaeology office oversaw the two-year $73,650 (euro60,000) project, which for the first time used lasers to restore frescoes in catacombs, where the damp air makes the procedure particularly difficult.
In this case, the small burial chamber at the end of the catacomb was encased in up to two inches (five centimeters) of calcium carbonate. Restoration using previous techniques would have meant scraping away the buildup by hand, leaving a filmy layer on top so as not to damage the painting underneath.
Using the laser technique, restorers were able to sear off all the deposits by setting the laser to burn only on the white of the calcium carbonate; the laser's heat stopped when it reached a different color. Researchers then easily chipped off the seared material, revealing the brilliant ochre, black, green and yellow underneath, Mazzei said.
Similar technology has been used on statues, particularly metallic ones damaged by years of outdoor pollution, she said. However, the Santa Tecla restoration marked the first time lasers had been adapted for use in the dank interiors of catacombs.
Many of Rome's catacombs are open regularly to the public. However, the Santa Tecla catacombs will be open only on request to limited groups to preserve the paintings, she said.
By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jun 22,
ROME
Twenty-first century laser technology has opened a window into the early days of the Catholic Church, guiding researchers through the dank, musty catacombs beneath Rome to a startling find: the first known icons of the apostles Peter and Paul.
Vatican officials unveiled the paintings Tuesday, discovered along with the earliest known images of the apostles John and Andrew in an underground burial chamber beneath an office building on a busy street in a working-class Rome neighborhood.
The images, which date from the second half of the 4th century, were uncovered using a new laser technique that allows restorers to burn off centuries of thick white calcium carbonate deposits without damaging the brilliant dark colors of the paintings underneath.
The technique could revolutionize the way restoration work is carried out in the miles (kilometers) of catacombs that burrow under the Eternal City where early Christians buried their dead.
The icons were discovered on the ceiling of a tomb of an aristocratic Roman woman at the Santa Tecla catacomb, near where the remains of the apostle Paul are said to be buried.
Rome has dozens of such burial chambers and they are a major tourist attraction, giving visitors a peek into the traditions of the early church when Christians were often persecuted for their beliefs. Early Christians dug the catacombs outside Rome's walls as underground cemeteries, since burial was forbidden inside the city walls and pagan Romans were usually cremated.
The art that decorated Rome's catacombs was often simplistic and symbolic in nature. The Santa Tecla catacombs, however, represent some of the earliest evidence of devotion to the apostles in early Christianity, Vatican officials said.
"The Christian catacombs, while giving us value with a religious and cultural patrimony, represent an eloquent and significant testimony of Christianity at its origin," said Monsignor Giovanni Carru, the No. 2 in the Vatican's Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archaeology, which maintains the catacombs.
Last June, the Vatican announced the discovery of the icon of Paul at Santa Tecla, timing the news to coincide with the end of the Vatican's year of St. Paul. Pope Benedict XVI also said tests on bone fragments long attributed to Paul "seemed to confirm" that they did indeed belong to the Roman Catholic saint.
On Tuesday, Vatican archaeologists announced the image of Paul was not found in isolation, but was part of a square ceiling painting that also included icons of three other apostles — Peter, John and Andrew — surrounding an image of Christ as the Good Shepherd.
"They are the first icons. These are absolutely the first representations of the apostles," said Fabrizio Bisconti, the superintendent of archaeology for the catacombs.
Bisconti spoke from inside the intimate burial chamber, its walls and ceilings covered with paintings of scenes from the Old Testament, including Daniel in the lion's den and Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac. Once inside, visitors see the loculi, or burial chambers, on three sides.
But the gem is on the ceiling, where the four apostles are painted inside gold-rimmed circles against a red-ochre backdrop. The ceiling is also decorated with geometric designs, and the cornices feature images of naked youths.
Chief restorer Barbara Mazzei noted there were earlier known images of Peter and Paul, but these were depicted in narratives. The images in the catacomb — with their faces in isolation, encircled with gold and affixed to the four corners of the ceiling painting — are devotional in nature and as such represent the first known icons.
"The fact of isolating them in a corner tells us it's a form of devotion," she said. "In this case, saints Peter and Paul, and John and Andrew are the most antique testimonies we have." In addition, the images of Andrew and John show much younger faces than are normally depicted in the Byzantine-inspired imagery most often associated with the apostles, she said.
The Vatican's Sacred Archaeology office oversaw the two-year $73,650 (euro60,000) project, which for the first time used lasers to restore frescoes in catacombs, where the damp air makes the procedure particularly difficult.
In this case, the small burial chamber at the end of the catacomb was encased in up to two inches (five centimeters) of calcium carbonate. Restoration using previous techniques would have meant scraping away the buildup by hand, leaving a filmy layer on top so as not to damage the painting underneath.
Using the laser technique, restorers were able to sear off all the deposits by setting the laser to burn only on the white of the calcium carbonate; the laser's heat stopped when it reached a different color. Researchers then easily chipped off the seared material, revealing the brilliant ochre, black, green and yellow underneath, Mazzei said.
Similar technology has been used on statues, particularly metallic ones damaged by years of outdoor pollution, she said. However, the Santa Tecla restoration marked the first time lasers had been adapted for use in the dank interiors of catacombs.
Many of Rome's catacombs are open regularly to the public. However, the Santa Tecla catacombs will be open only on request to limited groups to preserve the paintings, she said.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Cardinal Pell is the victim of a smear campaign designed to stop him reforming the world's bishops
From http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100043709/cardinal-pell-is-the-victim-of-a-smear-campaign-designed-to-stop-him-reforming-the-worlds-bishops/
By Damian Thompson
June 16th, 2010
I write this with some urgency. For the last week, Catholic sources have been insisting that Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, will not take up his appointment as Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. Two reasons are given – one connected to his health, the other to utterly false sex abuse allegations he faced years ago.
I now have good reason to believe that Cardinal Pell – a man of towering presence and intellect, utterly faithful to Pope Benedict’s vision for renewing the Church – is the victim of a smear campaign endorsed by certain bishops, especially Italian ones, who are desperate to stop Pell cleaning up what are in effect the “rotten boroughs” of their dioceses. We must pray that the Holy Father ignores the campaign.
Reason number one: Pell is “in poor health”. True, he has a pacemaker. Otherwise, he’s is reasonably good shape – certainly well enough to take up his position. He’s healthier than many of his elderly critics, sitting in their dioceses doing absolutely nothing that might disturb their sleepy lifestyle.
Reason number two: Cardinal Pell is tainted by sex abuse allegations. This is garbage. The Age newspaper in Australia carries this very revealing report:
Cardinal George Pell, whose promotion to a top Vatican job was expected this month, has been dropped from consideration because of former abuse allegations against him, according to informed sources in Rome.
Cardinal Pell stood down as Archbishop of Sydney in 2002 after he was accused of abusing a teenager at a church camp in the 1960s, but an independent investigation by a retired non-Catholic judge cleared him.
Vatican watchers now say important officials have worked to undermine Cardinal Pell as the next head of the Congregation of Bishops, partly from concerns over negative publicity about the abuse allegations and partly for internal political reasons, including the desire for an Italian to take the job.
But these officials aren’t really concerned about “negative publicity” over allegations that turned out to be lies: they are exploiting those lies to protect themselves. My question: why should this campaign of black propaganda succeed? Not since the election of Benedict XVI has an appointment so horrified the smug, lazy, liberal establishment in the Vatican and the dioceses. That’s because Cardinal Pell has detailed knowledge of the situation not only in Italy, where many bishops do about as much to earn their positions as British MPs did before the Reform Act of 1832, but also in Latin America and Asia.
Cardinal Pell’s message to the bishops woud be: “Sorry, gentlemen, but this is not a job for life. You must exhibit evangelical dynamism and obedience to the Holy Father – and, if you don’t, then there are holy priests ready to take your place.” Hence this foul campaign.
By Damian Thompson
June 16th, 2010
I write this with some urgency. For the last week, Catholic sources have been insisting that Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, will not take up his appointment as Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. Two reasons are given – one connected to his health, the other to utterly false sex abuse allegations he faced years ago.
I now have good reason to believe that Cardinal Pell – a man of towering presence and intellect, utterly faithful to Pope Benedict’s vision for renewing the Church – is the victim of a smear campaign endorsed by certain bishops, especially Italian ones, who are desperate to stop Pell cleaning up what are in effect the “rotten boroughs” of their dioceses. We must pray that the Holy Father ignores the campaign.
Reason number one: Pell is “in poor health”. True, he has a pacemaker. Otherwise, he’s is reasonably good shape – certainly well enough to take up his position. He’s healthier than many of his elderly critics, sitting in their dioceses doing absolutely nothing that might disturb their sleepy lifestyle.
Reason number two: Cardinal Pell is tainted by sex abuse allegations. This is garbage. The Age newspaper in Australia carries this very revealing report:
Cardinal George Pell, whose promotion to a top Vatican job was expected this month, has been dropped from consideration because of former abuse allegations against him, according to informed sources in Rome.
Cardinal Pell stood down as Archbishop of Sydney in 2002 after he was accused of abusing a teenager at a church camp in the 1960s, but an independent investigation by a retired non-Catholic judge cleared him.
Vatican watchers now say important officials have worked to undermine Cardinal Pell as the next head of the Congregation of Bishops, partly from concerns over negative publicity about the abuse allegations and partly for internal political reasons, including the desire for an Italian to take the job.
But these officials aren’t really concerned about “negative publicity” over allegations that turned out to be lies: they are exploiting those lies to protect themselves. My question: why should this campaign of black propaganda succeed? Not since the election of Benedict XVI has an appointment so horrified the smug, lazy, liberal establishment in the Vatican and the dioceses. That’s because Cardinal Pell has detailed knowledge of the situation not only in Italy, where many bishops do about as much to earn their positions as British MPs did before the Reform Act of 1832, but also in Latin America and Asia.
Cardinal Pell’s message to the bishops woud be: “Sorry, gentlemen, but this is not a job for life. You must exhibit evangelical dynamism and obedience to the Holy Father – and, if you don’t, then there are holy priests ready to take your place.” Hence this foul campaign.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Bilderberg 2010: What we have learned
From http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2010/jun/14/charlie-skelton-bilderberg-2010
Weary and bramble-scratched, elated by the press coverage, and sick of riot vans and lukewarm Spanish omelette baguettes, we return from Bilderberg 2010 with the following thoughts uppermost in our tired mind:
• 'Global cooling' is on the cards
Check out the agenda for Bilderberg 2010: "Financial reform, security, cyber technology, energy, Pakistan, Afghanistan, world food problem, global cooling, social networking, medical science, EU-US relations." That list is a window into your future. Don't think for one minute that it isn't. And don't ignore it, because it isn't ignoring you.
I love how "social networking" must fry the Bilderbergian mind. On the one hand, as Zuckerberg of Facebook says, privacy is no longer a social norm so it's okay to milk the networking sites for information, social trends and dissident thinking; however, you can't stop the people from arranging a meet-up to discuss internet censorship or the rights and wrongs of "global cooling". Speaking of which, Bill Gates (Bilderberg 2010) is funding "cloud whitening" technology; trials start soon. Global dimming isn't just something that happens every time Big Brother starts. On the basis of this agenda, I think we can expect a lot of statements about cutting-edge cloud-technology trials in the next 12 months. If it works in Dubai, it can work in Britain too...
• You can't keep a good story down
If I had to pick the point when Bilderberg finally broke through into mainstream news, it would be when the BBC News Blog published a round-up of Bilderberg reports. Twelve months ago, this would have been barely conceivable. This year, Kissinger must be spitting chips.
• People love their 'leaders'
I know this sounds peculiar, or at least it does to me, but this year's Bilderbloggings have quite commonly been met with outrage at the idea that we should submit Bilderberg to greater scrutiny. You hear people talk about the delegates at Bilderberg as their "leaders", and you see the delegates mythologised as the greatest and the best – whose benign Olympian machinations should progress untroubled by the interference of public and press. "Leaders" like the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, and the chairman of Kissinger Associates Inc.
I'm baffled to the point of punching tree trunks to witness the determination of some folk to throw themselves in front of these heads of corporations and presidents of banks and to wave their arms protectively, yelping: "Leave them alone! Let them strategise for the good of the world in peace! How could they possibly have a frank discussion with our politicians if we were privy to it? Stop this unseemly prying!" I mean, seriously. The day that Marcus Agius, chairman of Barclays, strategises for my good is the day he repays me the hundreds of pounds of bank charges he's been levying on me since my schooldays. The day that Peter Voser, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, sits around a table with the express concern of making the world a better, more beautiful place for all of us, is the day that my arse grows teeth and eats my hat.
Do this: Look at the list of participants and ask yourself one simple question: what's their bottom line?
• I'm on a list
One afternoon, towards the end of the conference, my wife and I chanced upon some of the Bilderberg organisers out on a two-limo trip to the seafront. We recognised them from our stay at the hotel before the conference began. We went up and asked them if they could confirm the names of British delegates attending this year's meeting. In horror, they jackknifed from the promenade, back into their limos, one of them cackling weirdly and holding her handbag to her face. Another snatched a camera from the footwell, and started snapping my face as I snapped hers. You can see me give the thumbs-up in the photo. So, if I wasn't before, I'm now on Bilderberg's least wanted list. What a bore.
Maybe they'll write me nice letter, asking me to cease and desist. Or maybe ... maybe it's best I state now, for the record: I'm not a communist, a fascist, a racist or a petty thief. I didn't steal that laptop, I didn't photograph those children, I don't mutilate horses. I didn't sleep with that prostitute. I don't believe in UFOs. I don't have sketchbooks filled with drawings of the Houses of Parliament on fire. I don't hate progress. I am not possessed of vile feelings towards the Dutch, the Spanish, the Jews, the Mormons, the Welsh, or anyone on earth except Peruvian folk musicians. I'm not into S&M. I've never paid anyone to hose me with custard, or tread on my testicles in six-inch heels. I don't spend Friday nights in a gimp suit. I'm not an adult baby. I *did* make a porn film once, but it wasn't a very good one. Too much plot.
I'm not manically depressed, delusional, bitter towards the world, a brooding failure, a collector of SS regalia, obsessed with one particular local weather reporter, or suicidal. I didn't raise my voice. The steps of the police station weren't slippy. I don't want to kill bankers or string up politicians. I don't want to overthrow the government. I wouldn't mind if there were fewer talent shows on TV, but it's nothing that's likely to spill over into bloodshed. I'm not wearing a bra. I haven't had sex with a turkey.
• People aren't angry enough
There were 130 people up the hill, chugging sangria and strategising. And down at the foot of the hill, on the other side of the riot vans, about 130 people with flags and cameras. My God, that's depressing. In a world that, by any estimation, is a hard, gruelling, unfair place to billions of humans, in which assets are being grabbed, wealth is being relentlessly centralised (the Bilderbank, Goldman Sachs, has just notched up its best ever quarter, in which George Osborne so kindly lets us choose our own "austerity measures" – in such a distressingly cocked-up world, 130 of us made it all the way to the Spanish seaside to say: "Maybe what you're strategising up there isn't working out for the best."
Perhaps there would have been more, but people have got other things on their mind: they're behind on their mortgage payments, saving up for a wedding, saving up for a divorce, saving up for a holiday that doesn't involve being detained by policemen, disenchanted by CamCleggian sameness, hotly engaged in local politics, knackered, sick, drunk, or Spelbound (in the Britain's Got Talent sense of the word). They're furious enough that Robert Green let that goal in, never mind anything else. Where's the headspace to be concerned about Bilderberg?
Bertrand Russell saw it coming. He saw a world in which "any serious criticism of the powers that be will become psychologically impossible". I'm surprised you've even got time in your day to have scrolled this far down.
• One person can make a difference
Last year, I wrote about my visit to Vouliagmeni to see what Bilderberg was all about. It wasn't a happy trip. But in my final piece I asked people to come along in 2010 and help sprinkle the "slug" of Bilderberg with the "salt" of publicity. About 10 or so people took me up on this. Of these 10, one was "Quierosaber", the brave fellow who crawled into the hills before sunrise, with leaves wrapped around his head, and took photos of the delegates (see our Spot the Delegate quiz, and our Bilderberg 2010 Power Gallery). In one of his photos appeared Gordon Campbell, the premier of British Columbia. The Canadian press started asking questions, and discovered that he'd paid for his plane ticket to Bilderberg using public money.
Sure, Campbell was on the quietly published list of attendees, but the difference between a list of names and a photo is incalculable. So there we have it: accountability, transparency, and none of it possible without people like Quierosaber packing a knapsack at 4am, wrapping laurel leaves round a borrowed camera and hiding under brambles.
• There's an awful lot of unelected 'advising' in the world
One of the participants snapped by Quierosaber is the glacial senior fellow of the Hudson Institute, Marie-Josée Kravis, (wife of Henry Kravis, head of private equity megafirm KKR). The tax-exempt Hudson Institute is a US "thinktank" which has a clearly stated aim: "We seek to guide global leaders in government and business." It's funded by good and wise people like Monsanto, DuPont, Pfizer, McDonald's, General Atomics, IBM, Proctor & Gamble, and Conrad Black (Bilderberg attendee and currently guest of Florida correctional institution).
The Hudson Institute was set up by the Rand Corporation (which had previously been set up by the Douglas Aircraft Company to advise the US military). In a nutshell, that's who Marie-Josée Kravis works for, and that's who George Osborne spent Bilderberg 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 listening to. In the words of Aretha Franklin: who's zoomin' who? And who the hell asked these foundations for their guidance in the first place? Stop issuing reports! Stop thinktanking! Stop presenting "well-timed recommendations to leaders in government". Mind your own unelected business for a change. And pay some tax while you're about it.
• There's still no answer to the big question
I'd like to quote the prime minister, David Cameron (Bilderberg, 2008): "Greater transparency is at the heart of our shared commitment to enable the public to hold politicians and public bodies to account … It's your money, your government, you should know what's going on. So we're going to rip off that cloak of secrecy and extend transparency as far and as wide as possible."
In the spirit of secret cloaks being ripped away, it seems reasonable to ask: does the secretive "private meeting" of Bilderberg, which takes "one-third" of its participants "from government and politics", have any effect at all on our domestic and international policies? Does this fantastically media-shy group that has our brand new lord chancellor, Kenneth Clarke QC MP, on its inner steering committee, does this four-day conference, with its agenda and its lanyards and its side-meeting seminar rooms, does it serve to influence the way our country is run? Or is that a bit like asking: Does Amy Winehouse like a drink?
Explicitly top of Bilderberg's agenda this year is "financial reform". Present at this year's conference: Paul Volcker, chairman of Obama's economic recovery advisory board. Just after Bilderberg, Obama warns of massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters. Also present was Portugal's finance minster, Fernando Teixeira dos Santos. Portugal has just voted through an emergency package of tax hikes and public spending cuts. Was any of this discussed in the financial reform sessions? If not, what was discussed?
If Bilderberg doesn't influence public policy, then why is it four days long, and why does it spend €10m protecting the sanctity of its discussions? Why hold it at all? What a waste of busy people's time! And if it does influence public policy, then by what twisted logic is public money being spent keeping it secret? And why, in this publicly protected secrecy, should Klaus Kleinfeld (disgraced former CEO of Siemens AG) and Dieter Zetsche (the chairman of Mercedes-Benz), and James A Johnson (board member of Goldman Sachs, member of the trilateral commission, member of the Council on Foreign Relations), have the ear of our politicians?
Cameron wants us to have the answers to these questions. As he says: "It's your money, your government, you should know what's going on." So we ask: How much British public money has been used to police Bilderberg? Who's putting the request in to MI5? Who's paying for the watermelons? Does the Bilderberg Group have an accounts book? Could we see it? Could someone ask Ken Clarke for a copy? Isn't it about time the Daily Telegraph got involved? Are taxpayers paying for the riot vans? Or are corporations hiring police forces as private armies to stand guard over a private meeting?
These questions are exactly as stupid and exactly as important as asking whether Sir Peter Viggers bought his own duck house. These are questions about political process that deserve simple and straightforward answers, not the scorn of idiots for asking them.
• It takes longer to get from Sitges to Santander than you might think
I missed the ferry home. And not even by a whisker. I was a good 100km out in my estimate. There was shouting and recrimination on a rain-sodden Basque motorway. I can't believe I didn't do what the VP of Fiat did and come by private jet.
• There are only 358 shopping days till Bilderberg 2011
Maybe you think there's nothing to worry about here. Maybe you think Bilderberg isn't a public-private travesty of secrecy and lies. Maybe you see nothing odd in Tony Blair (Bilderberg 1993) lying to parliament about going. Maybe you think this is how "important stuff" gets done, how geopolitics should be conducted. Maybe you think it's okay that a representative of the Hudson Institute, which campaigns against organic food and is funded by Monsanto, should be locked in a conference centre for four days discussing the "world food problem" with Joaquín Almunia, the EU commissioner for competition.
Maybe you look at the world and think it'll all be okay tomorrow because, for you at least, it's sort of okay today. Maybe you see "social networking" and "cyber technology" on Bilderberg's agenda and you aren't concerned. Maybe you don't think Peter Mandelson's rushed-through digital economy bill had anything to do with his attendance at Bilderberg 2009.
Maybe you don't see an irony in the individual getting screwed and screwed again by the same corporations and bailed-out banks who are so forthcoming with their advice for our politicians. Maybe you don't feel like you're getting shafted. Or maybe you've just got numb. There are plenty of other things to worry about in the world. Serious things, like health and poverty and terrorism. And anyway, the people up the hill in Bilderberg will sort it out for us. They're clever people. They're experts. They just spent four days talking about "medical science" and the "world food problem". They're on it. We can relax.
Or maybe you think it would a good thing to keep the Bilderball rolling. The massively increased coverage of this year's Bilderberg didn't just "happen". People made it happen. People emailed photos to press agencies, rang up friends who worked for newspapers, gave interviews to camera crews, and a local lawyer whose wife was giving birth to twins gave pro bono advice over the phone. So here's an idea: maybe you were given a telephoto lens three Christmases ago and you've never had cause to use it. Maybe you're not sure we should start bombing Iran just yet. Maybe you're a fan of "greater transparency", and fancy taking Cameron up on his pledge "to enable the public to hold politicians and public bodies to account". Maybe you'd like to meet some of the sharp, savvy, committed, interested people I've met this last week. Maybe you'd like to be one of them.
Borrow a tent, set up a YouTube channel, start saving now for the flight. Email us on bilderberg2011@yahoo.co.uk. Let's add a zero to the end of 130. And let's put an end to the lunatic, inappropriate, expensive and undemocratic secrecy of Bilderberg.
Weary and bramble-scratched, elated by the press coverage, and sick of riot vans and lukewarm Spanish omelette baguettes, we return from Bilderberg 2010 with the following thoughts uppermost in our tired mind:
• 'Global cooling' is on the cards
Check out the agenda for Bilderberg 2010: "Financial reform, security, cyber technology, energy, Pakistan, Afghanistan, world food problem, global cooling, social networking, medical science, EU-US relations." That list is a window into your future. Don't think for one minute that it isn't. And don't ignore it, because it isn't ignoring you.
I love how "social networking" must fry the Bilderbergian mind. On the one hand, as Zuckerberg of Facebook says, privacy is no longer a social norm so it's okay to milk the networking sites for information, social trends and dissident thinking; however, you can't stop the people from arranging a meet-up to discuss internet censorship or the rights and wrongs of "global cooling". Speaking of which, Bill Gates (Bilderberg 2010) is funding "cloud whitening" technology; trials start soon. Global dimming isn't just something that happens every time Big Brother starts. On the basis of this agenda, I think we can expect a lot of statements about cutting-edge cloud-technology trials in the next 12 months. If it works in Dubai, it can work in Britain too...
• You can't keep a good story down
If I had to pick the point when Bilderberg finally broke through into mainstream news, it would be when the BBC News Blog published a round-up of Bilderberg reports. Twelve months ago, this would have been barely conceivable. This year, Kissinger must be spitting chips.
• People love their 'leaders'
I know this sounds peculiar, or at least it does to me, but this year's Bilderbloggings have quite commonly been met with outrage at the idea that we should submit Bilderberg to greater scrutiny. You hear people talk about the delegates at Bilderberg as their "leaders", and you see the delegates mythologised as the greatest and the best – whose benign Olympian machinations should progress untroubled by the interference of public and press. "Leaders" like the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, and the chairman of Kissinger Associates Inc.
I'm baffled to the point of punching tree trunks to witness the determination of some folk to throw themselves in front of these heads of corporations and presidents of banks and to wave their arms protectively, yelping: "Leave them alone! Let them strategise for the good of the world in peace! How could they possibly have a frank discussion with our politicians if we were privy to it? Stop this unseemly prying!" I mean, seriously. The day that Marcus Agius, chairman of Barclays, strategises for my good is the day he repays me the hundreds of pounds of bank charges he's been levying on me since my schooldays. The day that Peter Voser, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, sits around a table with the express concern of making the world a better, more beautiful place for all of us, is the day that my arse grows teeth and eats my hat.
Do this: Look at the list of participants and ask yourself one simple question: what's their bottom line?
• I'm on a list
One afternoon, towards the end of the conference, my wife and I chanced upon some of the Bilderberg organisers out on a two-limo trip to the seafront. We recognised them from our stay at the hotel before the conference began. We went up and asked them if they could confirm the names of British delegates attending this year's meeting. In horror, they jackknifed from the promenade, back into their limos, one of them cackling weirdly and holding her handbag to her face. Another snatched a camera from the footwell, and started snapping my face as I snapped hers. You can see me give the thumbs-up in the photo. So, if I wasn't before, I'm now on Bilderberg's least wanted list. What a bore.
Maybe they'll write me nice letter, asking me to cease and desist. Or maybe ... maybe it's best I state now, for the record: I'm not a communist, a fascist, a racist or a petty thief. I didn't steal that laptop, I didn't photograph those children, I don't mutilate horses. I didn't sleep with that prostitute. I don't believe in UFOs. I don't have sketchbooks filled with drawings of the Houses of Parliament on fire. I don't hate progress. I am not possessed of vile feelings towards the Dutch, the Spanish, the Jews, the Mormons, the Welsh, or anyone on earth except Peruvian folk musicians. I'm not into S&M. I've never paid anyone to hose me with custard, or tread on my testicles in six-inch heels. I don't spend Friday nights in a gimp suit. I'm not an adult baby. I *did* make a porn film once, but it wasn't a very good one. Too much plot.
I'm not manically depressed, delusional, bitter towards the world, a brooding failure, a collector of SS regalia, obsessed with one particular local weather reporter, or suicidal. I didn't raise my voice. The steps of the police station weren't slippy. I don't want to kill bankers or string up politicians. I don't want to overthrow the government. I wouldn't mind if there were fewer talent shows on TV, but it's nothing that's likely to spill over into bloodshed. I'm not wearing a bra. I haven't had sex with a turkey.
• People aren't angry enough
There were 130 people up the hill, chugging sangria and strategising. And down at the foot of the hill, on the other side of the riot vans, about 130 people with flags and cameras. My God, that's depressing. In a world that, by any estimation, is a hard, gruelling, unfair place to billions of humans, in which assets are being grabbed, wealth is being relentlessly centralised (the Bilderbank, Goldman Sachs, has just notched up its best ever quarter, in which George Osborne so kindly lets us choose our own "austerity measures" – in such a distressingly cocked-up world, 130 of us made it all the way to the Spanish seaside to say: "Maybe what you're strategising up there isn't working out for the best."
Perhaps there would have been more, but people have got other things on their mind: they're behind on their mortgage payments, saving up for a wedding, saving up for a divorce, saving up for a holiday that doesn't involve being detained by policemen, disenchanted by CamCleggian sameness, hotly engaged in local politics, knackered, sick, drunk, or Spelbound (in the Britain's Got Talent sense of the word). They're furious enough that Robert Green let that goal in, never mind anything else. Where's the headspace to be concerned about Bilderberg?
Bertrand Russell saw it coming. He saw a world in which "any serious criticism of the powers that be will become psychologically impossible". I'm surprised you've even got time in your day to have scrolled this far down.
• One person can make a difference
Last year, I wrote about my visit to Vouliagmeni to see what Bilderberg was all about. It wasn't a happy trip. But in my final piece I asked people to come along in 2010 and help sprinkle the "slug" of Bilderberg with the "salt" of publicity. About 10 or so people took me up on this. Of these 10, one was "Quierosaber", the brave fellow who crawled into the hills before sunrise, with leaves wrapped around his head, and took photos of the delegates (see our Spot the Delegate quiz, and our Bilderberg 2010 Power Gallery). In one of his photos appeared Gordon Campbell, the premier of British Columbia. The Canadian press started asking questions, and discovered that he'd paid for his plane ticket to Bilderberg using public money.
Sure, Campbell was on the quietly published list of attendees, but the difference between a list of names and a photo is incalculable. So there we have it: accountability, transparency, and none of it possible without people like Quierosaber packing a knapsack at 4am, wrapping laurel leaves round a borrowed camera and hiding under brambles.
• There's an awful lot of unelected 'advising' in the world
One of the participants snapped by Quierosaber is the glacial senior fellow of the Hudson Institute, Marie-Josée Kravis, (wife of Henry Kravis, head of private equity megafirm KKR). The tax-exempt Hudson Institute is a US "thinktank" which has a clearly stated aim: "We seek to guide global leaders in government and business." It's funded by good and wise people like Monsanto, DuPont, Pfizer, McDonald's, General Atomics, IBM, Proctor & Gamble, and Conrad Black (Bilderberg attendee and currently guest of Florida correctional institution).
The Hudson Institute was set up by the Rand Corporation (which had previously been set up by the Douglas Aircraft Company to advise the US military). In a nutshell, that's who Marie-Josée Kravis works for, and that's who George Osborne spent Bilderberg 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 listening to. In the words of Aretha Franklin: who's zoomin' who? And who the hell asked these foundations for their guidance in the first place? Stop issuing reports! Stop thinktanking! Stop presenting "well-timed recommendations to leaders in government". Mind your own unelected business for a change. And pay some tax while you're about it.
• There's still no answer to the big question
I'd like to quote the prime minister, David Cameron (Bilderberg, 2008): "Greater transparency is at the heart of our shared commitment to enable the public to hold politicians and public bodies to account … It's your money, your government, you should know what's going on. So we're going to rip off that cloak of secrecy and extend transparency as far and as wide as possible."
In the spirit of secret cloaks being ripped away, it seems reasonable to ask: does the secretive "private meeting" of Bilderberg, which takes "one-third" of its participants "from government and politics", have any effect at all on our domestic and international policies? Does this fantastically media-shy group that has our brand new lord chancellor, Kenneth Clarke QC MP, on its inner steering committee, does this four-day conference, with its agenda and its lanyards and its side-meeting seminar rooms, does it serve to influence the way our country is run? Or is that a bit like asking: Does Amy Winehouse like a drink?
Explicitly top of Bilderberg's agenda this year is "financial reform". Present at this year's conference: Paul Volcker, chairman of Obama's economic recovery advisory board. Just after Bilderberg, Obama warns of massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters. Also present was Portugal's finance minster, Fernando Teixeira dos Santos. Portugal has just voted through an emergency package of tax hikes and public spending cuts. Was any of this discussed in the financial reform sessions? If not, what was discussed?
If Bilderberg doesn't influence public policy, then why is it four days long, and why does it spend €10m protecting the sanctity of its discussions? Why hold it at all? What a waste of busy people's time! And if it does influence public policy, then by what twisted logic is public money being spent keeping it secret? And why, in this publicly protected secrecy, should Klaus Kleinfeld (disgraced former CEO of Siemens AG) and Dieter Zetsche (the chairman of Mercedes-Benz), and James A Johnson (board member of Goldman Sachs, member of the trilateral commission, member of the Council on Foreign Relations), have the ear of our politicians?
Cameron wants us to have the answers to these questions. As he says: "It's your money, your government, you should know what's going on." So we ask: How much British public money has been used to police Bilderberg? Who's putting the request in to MI5? Who's paying for the watermelons? Does the Bilderberg Group have an accounts book? Could we see it? Could someone ask Ken Clarke for a copy? Isn't it about time the Daily Telegraph got involved? Are taxpayers paying for the riot vans? Or are corporations hiring police forces as private armies to stand guard over a private meeting?
These questions are exactly as stupid and exactly as important as asking whether Sir Peter Viggers bought his own duck house. These are questions about political process that deserve simple and straightforward answers, not the scorn of idiots for asking them.
• It takes longer to get from Sitges to Santander than you might think
I missed the ferry home. And not even by a whisker. I was a good 100km out in my estimate. There was shouting and recrimination on a rain-sodden Basque motorway. I can't believe I didn't do what the VP of Fiat did and come by private jet.
• There are only 358 shopping days till Bilderberg 2011
Maybe you think there's nothing to worry about here. Maybe you think Bilderberg isn't a public-private travesty of secrecy and lies. Maybe you see nothing odd in Tony Blair (Bilderberg 1993) lying to parliament about going. Maybe you think this is how "important stuff" gets done, how geopolitics should be conducted. Maybe you think it's okay that a representative of the Hudson Institute, which campaigns against organic food and is funded by Monsanto, should be locked in a conference centre for four days discussing the "world food problem" with Joaquín Almunia, the EU commissioner for competition.
Maybe you look at the world and think it'll all be okay tomorrow because, for you at least, it's sort of okay today. Maybe you see "social networking" and "cyber technology" on Bilderberg's agenda and you aren't concerned. Maybe you don't think Peter Mandelson's rushed-through digital economy bill had anything to do with his attendance at Bilderberg 2009.
Maybe you don't see an irony in the individual getting screwed and screwed again by the same corporations and bailed-out banks who are so forthcoming with their advice for our politicians. Maybe you don't feel like you're getting shafted. Or maybe you've just got numb. There are plenty of other things to worry about in the world. Serious things, like health and poverty and terrorism. And anyway, the people up the hill in Bilderberg will sort it out for us. They're clever people. They're experts. They just spent four days talking about "medical science" and the "world food problem". They're on it. We can relax.
Or maybe you think it would a good thing to keep the Bilderball rolling. The massively increased coverage of this year's Bilderberg didn't just "happen". People made it happen. People emailed photos to press agencies, rang up friends who worked for newspapers, gave interviews to camera crews, and a local lawyer whose wife was giving birth to twins gave pro bono advice over the phone. So here's an idea: maybe you were given a telephoto lens three Christmases ago and you've never had cause to use it. Maybe you're not sure we should start bombing Iran just yet. Maybe you're a fan of "greater transparency", and fancy taking Cameron up on his pledge "to enable the public to hold politicians and public bodies to account". Maybe you'd like to meet some of the sharp, savvy, committed, interested people I've met this last week. Maybe you'd like to be one of them.
Borrow a tent, set up a YouTube channel, start saving now for the flight. Email us on bilderberg2011@yahoo.co.uk. Let's add a zero to the end of 130. And let's put an end to the lunatic, inappropriate, expensive and undemocratic secrecy of Bilderberg.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Pope Warns World's Priests Against "Heresy"
By Hilary White
VATICAN CITY, June 11, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com)
Sin, satanic influence and the toleration of heresy lie at the root of the priestly sexual abuse scandals, Pope Benedict XVI said today. Precisely because it is an institution erected by God to make himself sacramentally "present to all men and women," the devil is interested in destroying the priesthood, he said.
Referring to the line in Psalm 22 ("Your rod and your staff - they comfort me"), Benedict became explicit about the need for the "rod" of discipline to correct errors in the Church.
"The Church too must use the shepherd's rod," he said, "the rod with which he protects the faith against those who falsify it, against currents which lead the flock astray."
"Today we can see that it has nothing to do with love when conduct unworthy of the priestly life is tolerated. Nor does it have to do with love if heresy is allowed to spread and the faith twisted and chipped away, as if it were something that we ourselves had invented."
Pope Benedict spoke today to 15,000 priests at the closing Mass of the Vatican's Year for Priests at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
The priesthood, Pope Benedict said, is not "pleasing to the 'enemy,'" (the devil).
"He would have rather preferred to see it disappear, so that God would ultimately be driven out of the world. And so it happened that, in this very year of joy for the sacrament of the priesthood, the sins of priests came to light - particularly the abuse of the little ones, in which the priesthood, whose task is to manifest God's concern for our good, turns into its very opposite."
With evident personal sadness, the pope again extended his apology to the victims of sexual abuse, saying, "We too insistently beg forgiveness from God and from the persons involved."
This was followed by a promise to "do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again" by more scrutiny and better formation of those who apply for the priesthood.
Statistics on the abuse scandals have found that the abuse cases are overwhelmingly homosexual in nature and occurred between the 1960s and 1980s, at time in which psychological and theological trends were against excluding men with homosexual inclinations from the priesthood.
Benedict, as Cardinal Ratzinger, was clear with a 2005 document issued from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the office that had oversight on the abuse scandals around the world, that men with such inclinations should not be admitted to seminaries.
Benedict also made more subtle references to the movement from the Church's extreme left wing to open the priesthood to women and to married men. Among the opening lines of his homily, Pope Benedict laid out the nature of the priesthood, saying it is not a matter of mere functionality but a sacramental reality derived from Christ himself.
"The priest is not a mere office-holder," he said, "like those which every society needs in order to carry out certain functions."
Video clip from Rome Reports
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ_588cHu50
VATICAN CITY, June 11, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com)
Sin, satanic influence and the toleration of heresy lie at the root of the priestly sexual abuse scandals, Pope Benedict XVI said today. Precisely because it is an institution erected by God to make himself sacramentally "present to all men and women," the devil is interested in destroying the priesthood, he said.
Referring to the line in Psalm 22 ("Your rod and your staff - they comfort me"), Benedict became explicit about the need for the "rod" of discipline to correct errors in the Church.
"The Church too must use the shepherd's rod," he said, "the rod with which he protects the faith against those who falsify it, against currents which lead the flock astray."
"Today we can see that it has nothing to do with love when conduct unworthy of the priestly life is tolerated. Nor does it have to do with love if heresy is allowed to spread and the faith twisted and chipped away, as if it were something that we ourselves had invented."
Pope Benedict spoke today to 15,000 priests at the closing Mass of the Vatican's Year for Priests at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
The priesthood, Pope Benedict said, is not "pleasing to the 'enemy,'" (the devil).
"He would have rather preferred to see it disappear, so that God would ultimately be driven out of the world. And so it happened that, in this very year of joy for the sacrament of the priesthood, the sins of priests came to light - particularly the abuse of the little ones, in which the priesthood, whose task is to manifest God's concern for our good, turns into its very opposite."
With evident personal sadness, the pope again extended his apology to the victims of sexual abuse, saying, "We too insistently beg forgiveness from God and from the persons involved."
This was followed by a promise to "do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again" by more scrutiny and better formation of those who apply for the priesthood.
Statistics on the abuse scandals have found that the abuse cases are overwhelmingly homosexual in nature and occurred between the 1960s and 1980s, at time in which psychological and theological trends were against excluding men with homosexual inclinations from the priesthood.
Benedict, as Cardinal Ratzinger, was clear with a 2005 document issued from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the office that had oversight on the abuse scandals around the world, that men with such inclinations should not be admitted to seminaries.
Benedict also made more subtle references to the movement from the Church's extreme left wing to open the priesthood to women and to married men. Among the opening lines of his homily, Pope Benedict laid out the nature of the priesthood, saying it is not a matter of mere functionality but a sacramental reality derived from Christ himself.
"The priest is not a mere office-holder," he said, "like those which every society needs in order to carry out certain functions."
Video clip from Rome Reports
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ_588cHu50
Friday, June 11, 2010
Cause of death of Italian saint uncovered
From http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/10286267.stm
Researchers have used X-ray techniques to uncover the cause of death of a 700-year-old Italian saint.
Santa Rosa - who died when she was 18 or 19 years old - was most likely killed by a blood clot in the heart, say the Italian research team.
It is said the 13th Century saint had miraculous powers that allowed her to raise someone from the dead and to survive the flames of a burning pyre.
Her mummified remains are conserved in a monastery near Rome.
The research team had been asked in 1995 to carry out some preservation work on the body, which was showing signs of damage.
As part of the restoration work, they were able to take X-rays using a mobile device.
Historical records suggested she may have died of tuberculosis, the researchers said, but they found no evidence she had the infection.
What they did find was that she had Cantrell's syndrome - a rare condition causing defects in the heart and surrounding tissues.
Now an X-ray of the heart has shown a dark area suggestive of a probably fatal blockage, according to a report published in The Lancet.
Study leader Professor Ruggero D'Anastasio said: "Santa Rosa is one of the most important saints in the Roman Catholic Church and is revered by thousands of people.
"In the future we hope to analyse the heart with more modern technologies."
Researchers have used X-ray techniques to uncover the cause of death of a 700-year-old Italian saint.
Santa Rosa - who died when she was 18 or 19 years old - was most likely killed by a blood clot in the heart, say the Italian research team.
It is said the 13th Century saint had miraculous powers that allowed her to raise someone from the dead and to survive the flames of a burning pyre.
Her mummified remains are conserved in a monastery near Rome.
The research team had been asked in 1995 to carry out some preservation work on the body, which was showing signs of damage.
As part of the restoration work, they were able to take X-rays using a mobile device.
Historical records suggested she may have died of tuberculosis, the researchers said, but they found no evidence she had the infection.
What they did find was that she had Cantrell's syndrome - a rare condition causing defects in the heart and surrounding tissues.
Now an X-ray of the heart has shown a dark area suggestive of a probably fatal blockage, according to a report published in The Lancet.
Study leader Professor Ruggero D'Anastasio said: "Santa Rosa is one of the most important saints in the Roman Catholic Church and is revered by thousands of people.
"In the future we hope to analyse the heart with more modern technologies."
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Bishop Padovese canceled Cyprus trip to avoid assassination of Pope
Rome, Italy, Jun 8, 2010 (Catholic News Agency/EWTN News).
An Italian Vatican expert is saying that Bishop Luigi Padovese, Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia and President of the Turkish Bishops’ Conference, canceled his trip to Cyprus because he feared that his driver –who later confessed to killing the bishop- might attempt an attack on Pope Benedict XVI during his stay on the island.
Analyst Fr. Fillippo di Giacomo, who writes for publications such as L’Unitá and La Stampa, revealed that “hours before Padovese was killed, the Turkish Government called him to say that his driver, who they themselves had put in his service four years before, had gotten out of hand. That is to say, he had embraced the fundamentalist cause.”
Speaking to the Spanish daily El Pais, Fr. di Giacomo added that “knowing this, Padovese canceled the tickets he had reserved to Cyprus for himself and Altun (his driver). He preferred to stay home rather than to make the trip because he feared that his driver would take advantage of his proximity to the Pope and make an attempt on his life.”
According to El Pais, “the death of the Capuchin Franciscan bishop, known as an intellectual open to Islam, and who adored Turkey, occurred at a dramatic moment in the Middle East, right after Israel killed nine people (eight Turks and an American) in their assault on the humanitarian flotilla in international waters that attempted to pass through the Israeli blockade of Gaza.”
Another less-covered topic, which is nevertheless of concern to the Vatican, was the expulsion of 28 Christians from Morocco, El Pais added. The Spanish daily argued that the Moroccan government took advantage of the international chaos to deport the missionaries who worked with the poor because they “perturbed the mentality of the good Muslim.”
In his interview with the Spanish daily, Fr. di Giacomo asserted that the expulsion was a consequence of the “fatwa promulgated by 7,300 Moroccan Muslim doctors who recently declared that Christian charity ought to be considered religious terrorism.”
During the celebration of Bishop Padovese’s funeral Mass, the Turkish TV station NTV announced that the 26 year-old driver, Murat Altun, had confessed to killing the bishop. He died after being stabbed 25 times, eight of them in his heart, and was almost completely decapitated by Altun, who said he murdered Bishop Padovese because he had received a “divine inspiration.” NTV added that Altun shouted “Allahu Akbar” a number of times after the murder, despite having presented himself as a Catholic.
An Italian Vatican expert is saying that Bishop Luigi Padovese, Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia and President of the Turkish Bishops’ Conference, canceled his trip to Cyprus because he feared that his driver –who later confessed to killing the bishop- might attempt an attack on Pope Benedict XVI during his stay on the island.
Analyst Fr. Fillippo di Giacomo, who writes for publications such as L’Unitá and La Stampa, revealed that “hours before Padovese was killed, the Turkish Government called him to say that his driver, who they themselves had put in his service four years before, had gotten out of hand. That is to say, he had embraced the fundamentalist cause.”
Speaking to the Spanish daily El Pais, Fr. di Giacomo added that “knowing this, Padovese canceled the tickets he had reserved to Cyprus for himself and Altun (his driver). He preferred to stay home rather than to make the trip because he feared that his driver would take advantage of his proximity to the Pope and make an attempt on his life.”
According to El Pais, “the death of the Capuchin Franciscan bishop, known as an intellectual open to Islam, and who adored Turkey, occurred at a dramatic moment in the Middle East, right after Israel killed nine people (eight Turks and an American) in their assault on the humanitarian flotilla in international waters that attempted to pass through the Israeli blockade of Gaza.”
Another less-covered topic, which is nevertheless of concern to the Vatican, was the expulsion of 28 Christians from Morocco, El Pais added. The Spanish daily argued that the Moroccan government took advantage of the international chaos to deport the missionaries who worked with the poor because they “perturbed the mentality of the good Muslim.”
In his interview with the Spanish daily, Fr. di Giacomo asserted that the expulsion was a consequence of the “fatwa promulgated by 7,300 Moroccan Muslim doctors who recently declared that Christian charity ought to be considered religious terrorism.”
During the celebration of Bishop Padovese’s funeral Mass, the Turkish TV station NTV announced that the 26 year-old driver, Murat Altun, had confessed to killing the bishop. He died after being stabbed 25 times, eight of them in his heart, and was almost completely decapitated by Altun, who said he murdered Bishop Padovese because he had received a “divine inspiration.” NTV added that Altun shouted “Allahu Akbar” a number of times after the murder, despite having presented himself as a Catholic.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Inadvertent abortions may have occured in Irish hospitals due to scan errors
From www.rte.ie/news
9 June 2010
A mother has said she was told by her gynaecologist at Galway University College Hospital that her unborn baby was dead when it was not.
Martha O'Neill-Brennan from Athenry in Co Galway was told that her unborn baby was dead however, she decided to follow her 'gut instinct' and got a second opinion, which established that her baby was not dead.
Her experience is similar to that of Melissa Redmond from Donabate in Dublin who was wrongly told by Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda that the baby she was carrying was dead.
Throughout yesterday a number of women who attended Lourdes Hospital and had been told their baby was dead contacted the Health Service Executive.
As a result, a special helpline has been established in Drogheda, which opened at 9am. The number is 1800-200529.
There is also a general HSE information line: 1850-241 850.
Alternatively, people can contact their local obstetric service.
It has emerged that a number of women have now claimed that they have had similar experiences in other hospitals around the country.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Dr Barry White of the HSE said the introduction of a second mandatory scan would be advisable.
In a statement yesterday, the HSE said on rare occasions a scan will suggest that the pregnancy is lost but subsequent scans show a foetal heartbeat.
It said repeat scanning is undertaken when appropriate.
Fine Gael Health Spokesperson Dr James Reilly TD has called on the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) to carry out a review antenatal services.
Dr Reilly added: 'It is very clear that best practice and common sense would dictate that in cases of such gravity, where the life of an unborn infant may be terminated inadvertently, that a second examination should always take place without the patient having to request it.'
9 June 2010
A mother has said she was told by her gynaecologist at Galway University College Hospital that her unborn baby was dead when it was not.
Martha O'Neill-Brennan from Athenry in Co Galway was told that her unborn baby was dead however, she decided to follow her 'gut instinct' and got a second opinion, which established that her baby was not dead.
Her experience is similar to that of Melissa Redmond from Donabate in Dublin who was wrongly told by Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda that the baby she was carrying was dead.
Throughout yesterday a number of women who attended Lourdes Hospital and had been told their baby was dead contacted the Health Service Executive.
As a result, a special helpline has been established in Drogheda, which opened at 9am. The number is 1800-200529.
There is also a general HSE information line: 1850-241 850.
Alternatively, people can contact their local obstetric service.
It has emerged that a number of women have now claimed that they have had similar experiences in other hospitals around the country.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Dr Barry White of the HSE said the introduction of a second mandatory scan would be advisable.
In a statement yesterday, the HSE said on rare occasions a scan will suggest that the pregnancy is lost but subsequent scans show a foetal heartbeat.
It said repeat scanning is undertaken when appropriate.
Fine Gael Health Spokesperson Dr James Reilly TD has called on the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) to carry out a review antenatal services.
Dr Reilly added: 'It is very clear that best practice and common sense would dictate that in cases of such gravity, where the life of an unborn infant may be terminated inadvertently, that a second examination should always take place without the patient having to request it.'
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
The pandemic that never was: Drug firms 'encouraged world health body to exaggerate swine flu threat'
From http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1284133/The-pandemic-Drug-firms-encouraged-world-health-body-exaggerate-swine-flu-threat.html?printingPage=true
By Fiona Macrae
4th June 2010
Widespread warnings were issued about the swine flu 'pandemic'
Declaring a swine flu pandemic was a 'monumental error', driven by profit-hungry drug companies spreading fear, an influential report has concluded.
It led to huge amounts of taxpayers' money being wasted in stockpiling vaccines, it added.
Paul Flynn, the Labour MP charged with investigating the handling of the swine flu outbreak for the Council of Europe, described it as 'a pandemic that never really was'.
The report accuses the World Health Organisation of grave shortcomings in the transparency of the process that led to its warning last year.
The MP said that the world relied on the WHO, but after 'crying wolf', its reputation was in jeopardy.
The report questions whether the pandemic was driven by drug companies seeking a profit. Mr Flynn said predictions of a 'plague' that would wipe out up to 7.5million people proved to be 'an exaggeration', with fewer than 20,000 deaths worldwide.
Britain braced itself for up to 65,000 deaths and signed vaccine contracts worth £540million.
The actual number of deaths was fewer than 500 and the country is now desperately trying to unpick the contracts and unload millions of unused jabs.
The focus on swine flu also led to other health services suffering and widespread public fear.
Pharmaceutical companies, however, profited to the tune of £4.6billion from the sale of vaccines alone.
Mr Flynn said: 'There is not much doubt that this was an exaggeration on stilts. They vastly over-stated the danger on bad science and the national governments were in a position where they had to take action.
'In Britain, we have spent at least £1billion on preparations, to the detriment of other parts of the health system. This is a monumental failure on the WHO's part.'
The Council of Europe inquiry heard allegations that the WHO had downgraded its definition for declaring a pandemic last spring - just weeks before announcing there was a worldwide outbreak.
Critics said the decision to remove any need to consider the deadliness of the disease was driven by drug companies desperate to recoup the billions of pounds they had invested in developing pandemic vaccines after the bird flu scares.
But the WHO said its basic definition of a pandemic never changed.
Mr Flynn said: 'It doesn't make any sense as to why they should have changed the definition a month before declaring an outbreak.
'In this case, it might not just be a conspiracy theory, it might be a very profitable conspiracy.'
A Daily Mail investigation earlier this year revealed more than half of the swine flu taskforce advising the Government on its strategy had ties to drug companies.
Eleven of the 20 members of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies had done work for the pharmaceutical industry or are linked to it through their universities.
Concerns about drug companies' influence are also highlighted by a separate investigation by the British Medical Journal and the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
It found that key scientists behind the WHO's advice on stockpiling pandemic flu pills such as Tamiflu had financial ties with the drug companies that stood to profit. The WHO last night firmly rejected all the criticism.
Spokesman Gregory Hartl said: 'There is no question of this being a fake pandemic. If fits the criteria for a pandemic, which is a new virus to which human beings have little or no immunity and which has spread around the world.
'It spread from zero to 74 countries in the space of 9 weeks - that's a pandemic.'
He said that not all ties to drug companies were necessarily conflicts of interest.
By Fiona Macrae
4th June 2010
Widespread warnings were issued about the swine flu 'pandemic'
Declaring a swine flu pandemic was a 'monumental error', driven by profit-hungry drug companies spreading fear, an influential report has concluded.
It led to huge amounts of taxpayers' money being wasted in stockpiling vaccines, it added.
Paul Flynn, the Labour MP charged with investigating the handling of the swine flu outbreak for the Council of Europe, described it as 'a pandemic that never really was'.
The report accuses the World Health Organisation of grave shortcomings in the transparency of the process that led to its warning last year.
The MP said that the world relied on the WHO, but after 'crying wolf', its reputation was in jeopardy.
The report questions whether the pandemic was driven by drug companies seeking a profit. Mr Flynn said predictions of a 'plague' that would wipe out up to 7.5million people proved to be 'an exaggeration', with fewer than 20,000 deaths worldwide.
Britain braced itself for up to 65,000 deaths and signed vaccine contracts worth £540million.
The actual number of deaths was fewer than 500 and the country is now desperately trying to unpick the contracts and unload millions of unused jabs.
The focus on swine flu also led to other health services suffering and widespread public fear.
Pharmaceutical companies, however, profited to the tune of £4.6billion from the sale of vaccines alone.
Mr Flynn said: 'There is not much doubt that this was an exaggeration on stilts. They vastly over-stated the danger on bad science and the national governments were in a position where they had to take action.
'In Britain, we have spent at least £1billion on preparations, to the detriment of other parts of the health system. This is a monumental failure on the WHO's part.'
The Council of Europe inquiry heard allegations that the WHO had downgraded its definition for declaring a pandemic last spring - just weeks before announcing there was a worldwide outbreak.
Critics said the decision to remove any need to consider the deadliness of the disease was driven by drug companies desperate to recoup the billions of pounds they had invested in developing pandemic vaccines after the bird flu scares.
But the WHO said its basic definition of a pandemic never changed.
Mr Flynn said: 'It doesn't make any sense as to why they should have changed the definition a month before declaring an outbreak.
'In this case, it might not just be a conspiracy theory, it might be a very profitable conspiracy.'
A Daily Mail investigation earlier this year revealed more than half of the swine flu taskforce advising the Government on its strategy had ties to drug companies.
Eleven of the 20 members of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies had done work for the pharmaceutical industry or are linked to it through their universities.
Concerns about drug companies' influence are also highlighted by a separate investigation by the British Medical Journal and the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
It found that key scientists behind the WHO's advice on stockpiling pandemic flu pills such as Tamiflu had financial ties with the drug companies that stood to profit. The WHO last night firmly rejected all the criticism.
Spokesman Gregory Hartl said: 'There is no question of this being a fake pandemic. If fits the criteria for a pandemic, which is a new virus to which human beings have little or no immunity and which has spread around the world.
'It spread from zero to 74 countries in the space of 9 weeks - that's a pandemic.'
He said that not all ties to drug companies were necessarily conflicts of interest.
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