'Rude' Kenny plays on phone as Pope talks

From http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/rude-kenny-plays-on-phone-as-pope-talks-3240322.html

AFTER annoying the Vatican by lacerating it in a Dail speech, which was followed by the decision to close down the embassy to the Holy See, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has again provoked the ire of the Catholic Church.
Rather than thumbing his rosary beads during his audience with Pope Benedict on Saturday, Mr Kenny chose to thumb the digits on his mobile phone instead.
Video footage from the Italian 'Corriere Della Sera' newspaper website shows Mr Kenny was apparently more interested in his phone than in whatever the Pope was saying.
The footage lasts about one minute 20 seconds, and in each of the three wide-angle shots in which he is featured, Mr Kenny is fiddling with his phone. At one stage, he is seemingly taking a photo of Pope Benedict.
Mr Kenny was part of a delegation from the Christian Democrat International (CDI) political grouping which had an audience with the Pope at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, near Lazio.
The Taoiseach was also caught unawares when the Pope finished his speech and prayers, and the rest of the room stood up to applaud, while Mr Kenny played on his phone.
He then stood up with the phone in his hand, without applauding.
The Taoiseach never exchanged pleasantries with the Pontiff, despite Mr Kenny joking he was going to ask for "intervention" for Mayo in the All-Ireland final.
Michael Kelly, deputy editor of the 'Irish Catholic', asked: "Was Enda Kenny trying to be rude or does he just not know how to behave correctly?
"It's about basic manners and unfortunately Mr Kenny was again found wanting."

- Fiach Kelly Political Correspondent

WOMAN WHO WAS SATANIST RINGS A SURPRISING ALARM AGAINST COMMON PRACTICE OF BURYING ST. JOSEPH STATUES

See http://www.spiritdaily.com/lipsky2.htm

Expert: “Jesus’s Wife” Fragment a Modern Forgery

See http://www.patheos.com/blogs/godandthemachine/2012/09/expert-jesuss-wife-fragment-likely-a-modern-forgery/

Local churches draw up plans for priestless Masses

From http://www.tyronetimes.co.uk/news/local/local-churches-draw-up-plans-for-priestless-masses-1-4252503

Published on Thursday 13 September 2012 17:03
RADICAL new plans for Tyrone parishes to hold Sunday services led by lay people have been drawn up by church leaders.

The previously unthinkable move has been announced to tackle the acute shortage of priests and their increasingly older age profile.
Dean Colum Currie of Dungannon parish said that according to the new guidelines where there is no possiblity of getting a priest, male and female lay people will be able to conduct a Sunday service with a liturgy of the word and the Eucharist, followed by distribution of Holy Communion.
Lay people including women, have already conducted Sunday services from the altar in churches in the South.
Last week, parishioners turned up as usual for Sunday evening Mass in Blessington, Wicklow. However, when no priest arrived, a religious sister who was present led a liturgy, preached a homily and distributed Holy Communion to those present.
However, Dean Currie added that the changes were not an immediate concern for local parishes as there was no ‘drastic shortage’ of priests.
“We are very fortunate in that we have experienced no dramatic shortfall”, he said.
“Indeed, we have two new priests now ministering in local parishes, and the first batch of deacons are due to be ordained next summer and will be available to help out throughout the diocese.
“However, this is an issue that we will have to address further down the road.”
He added that it was not an entirely new concept as lay people already assisted priests with giving out the Eucharist, and through pastoral councils.
“This is a change in how we operate, and an opportunity to involve more lay people. In most parishes, we now have pastoral councils, which bring a freshness and a new energy to parish life. They are mostly made up off very dedicated lay people who bring their own personal and professional skills to bear on pastoral issues.
“These changes allow people to express their baptismal calling, and to add to their role in the Church, which might not have been developed in the past.
“This is a good example of a golden opportunity emerging out of the current crisis.”
It is believed that a ‘discussion document’ will be circulated to senior church leaders in the coming weeks which will set out plans for what parishioners can do when there is no priest to say Mass.
Laypeople will be expected to take a lead role.
It will also be made clear that such services should only happen in exceptional circumstances where there is no possibility of getting a priest.

Pope celebrates open-air Mass on Beirut seafront

From http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19614521

Pope Benedict XVI has held an open-air Mass on the seafront in Beirut on the concluding day of his three-day visit to Lebanon.

Hundreds of thousands cheered and waved flags as the popemobile made its way through the crowds.
The visit has coincided with anti-US protests across the region over a film deemed insulting to Islam.
The Pope appealed for the crowd to "be peacemakers" and prayed for an end to violence in neighbouring Syria.
"May God grant to your country, to Syria and to the Middle East the gift of peaceful hearts, the silencing of weapons and the cessation of all violence," he said at the end of his Mass.
The Pope's three-day visit marks the first papal trip to Lebanon since John Paul II went there in 1997.
Enthusiastic crowds lined the roads and waved Lebanese and Vatican flags as the bullet-proof popemobile moved from one location to another, the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut reports.
Christians from around Lebanon and elsewhere in the region had travelled to the event, as well as some Muslims.
Threat of fundamentalism On Saturday the pontiff met Lebanese political leaders at the presidential palace near Beirut.
Later, he travelled to the town of Bkerke, seat of the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate, to address a gathering of thousands of young people.

  The Pope urged the young people in the crowd to work together for Lebanon's future

The Pope urged them to stay in Lebanon "and take your place in society and in the Church" and not to be tempted to emigrate in the face of unemployment and uncertainty, as many have in recent years.
In his speeches on Saturday, the Pope said that Lebanon, with its religiously mixed population, should be an "example" to the region.
"In Lebanon, Christianity and Islam have lived in the same space for centuries," he said at the presidential palace in Baabda near Beirut.
"It is not unusual to find, in the same family, both religions. If this is possible in one single family, why would it be impossible at the level of the society as a whole?" he asked.
Lebanon's politicians are bitterly divided over the conflict in neighbouring Syria, but the Pope met leaders from across the spectrum, including the Shia Muslim movement Hezbollah.
Earlier in his visit, the Pope condemned religious fundamentalism and called on all religious leaders in the Middle East "to do everything possible to uproot this threat".
Controversy over a film deemed to be offensive to the Prophet Mohammed has provoked protests throughout the region since the Pope's arrival in Lebanon.
One person was killed in Lebanon as protesters set fire to a KFC fast-food restaurant in the northern city of Tripoli, sparking clashes with security forces.
The Pope was being kept informed of protests against the film, a Vatican spokesman told the Reuters news agency.
The film, The Innocence of Muslims, believed to have been made by a Coptic Egyptian Christian in the US, has sparked violence across the Middle East and led to the death of the US ambassador to Libya.

This Is My Body--This Is My Blood: Eucharistic Miracles centuries apart but with identical blood type & dna

From http://www.catholicjournal.us/journal/tag/last-supper

The Gospels record for us the story of the Last Supper and those famous words spoken by Jesus, “This is My Body ---- This is My Blood.”  Those are very powerful words, for they provide us with the opportunity of experiencing the very real and tangible presence of Christ among us even today, 2,000 years after that Last Supper.  But I wonder if we truly appreciate the power and the love given to us in those words.
One day in late October in the year 700 A.D., a Basilian Monk was celebrating Mass in a church dedicated to Saints Legontian and Domitian in a town called Lanciano, which is located in southern Italy.  During the consecration of the Mass, the Monk was entertaining serious doubts that the wine and unleavened bread in front of him was actually the real and substantial presence of the Body and Blood of Christ.  After pronouncing the words of consecration, “This is My Body ----- This is My Blood”, the Monk was shocked to see the host in front of him change into, what appeared to be, a real piece of flesh, and the wine change into what looked like real blood.  Confused and frightened, the Monk called those in attendance up to the altar to see what had just happened.  Needless to say, all were amazed, many tears were reportedly shed, and the news of the event quickly spread throughout the town and eventually all of Italy.
After a few days, the wine which was now blood coagulated and split into five globules of different and irregular shapes and sizes.  There has been much speculation, questioning why the number five?  Why did it split into five pieces?  It is interesting to note that the number five corresponds to the number of wounds Christ suffered on the Cross, the nail wounds in each hand and in each foot and the wound in Christ’s side from the centurion’s lance.
This event, which has become known as the Miracle of Lanciano, is officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as a Eucharistic Miracle.  This host that became flesh and this wine that became blood can be viewed and venerated even today, for it is contained in a monstrance within that same Church.
Over the years, many tests and investigations have been conducted on these two Sacred Species.  The oldest documented test results still in existence are from a test conducted in 1574.[i]  In those documents an unexplainable phenomenon was discovered and reported. “The five pellets of coagulated blood are different sizes and shapes. But any combination weighs the same as the total. In other words, 1 weighs the same as 2, 2 weigh the same as 3, and 3 weigh the same as 5.”[ii]
The latest and most impressive investigation was conducted by the scientific community and it took place in 1970 and 1971.[iii]  The team conducted their studies over a 15 month period and their testing involved a total of 500 different examinations.  Their report was published in 1971.[iv]
The following is a summary of their report:

1)    The samples tested were absolutely free of any foreign agents normally used in the preservation of human flesh.

2)    The Flesh is real Flesh and the Blood is real Blood.

3)    The Flesh and Blood belong to the human species.

4)    The Flesh consists of the muscular tissue of the human heart.

5)    The Blood was type “AB” positive, characteristic of a man who was born and lived in the Middle East region.

6)    Even though the coagulated blood samples were of five different and irregular shapes and sizes, they all proved to be of exactly the same weight.

7)    In the Blood there were found proteins in the same normal proportions (percentage-wise) as are found in the sero-proteic make-up of the fresh normal blood.

8)    In the Blood there were also found these minerals: chlorides, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium and calcium.

9)    The preservation of the Flesh and of the Blood, which were left in their natural state for over twelve centuries and exposed to the action of atmospheric and biological agents, remains an extraordinary phenomenon.

I would like to emphasize one fact stated in that report.  When human blood is left unrefrigerated, the natural physical and chemical properties will break down rapidly through decay.  The blood from this Lanciano miracle is over 1,250 years old, yet it still contains all the proteins, chemicals and physical properties of freshly shed blood.  Yet these test results state that no preservatives of any kind could be found.
Many miracles, similar to the miracle of Lanciano, have been documented and officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as Eucharistic Miracles.  This next event that I would like to share with you is the latest reported Eucharistic Miracle.  And its similarities to the Lanciano Miracle are both shocking and inspiring.
On August 15, 1996 an elderly Eucharistic minister was distributing communion during Mass in a church named Santa Maria, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  He accidentally dropped a Host.  Not sure of what to do, he asked the priest for assistance.  The priest reverently picked up the Host and placed it in a small container of water that is traditionally kept next to the Tabernacle for such an event.  The priest placed the container in the Tabernacle where, over time, the Host would be expected to dissolve, at which time it could then be disposed of properly.
Six days later the priest examined the container, expecting to find that the Host dissolved.  He was confused, however, by what he found.  The Host had grown in size and it was covered with red spots or stains.  The priest left it in the Tabernacle, thinking that eventually it would dissolve.  It was just a matter of sufficient time.  But over a period of several more days, the Host changed in appearance to that of coagulated blood, till it eventually looked like a piece of flesh. [v]
A sample of the tissue was sent to a lab in Buenos Aires.  The lab reported finding red and white human blood cells and tissue from a human heart.  The lab further reported that the tissue sample appeared to still be alive, because the cells were moving or beating as they would in a live human heart.
Three years later, in 1999, Dr. Ricardo Castanon Gomez[vi] was contracted to perform some additional testing.  Dr. Gomez sent a sample of the tissue to a lab in New York City.  For the purposes of fair and unbiased testing, the lab was not told what the sample was or anything about its origin.  The lab reported that the sample received was living muscle tissue from a human heart.
Five years later, in 2004, Dr. Gomez contacted a Dr. Frederick Zugibe[vii] and asked him to evaluate a test sample, again without telling him anything about the sample or its origin.  Dr. Zugibe also reported that the sample was that of living muscle tissue from a human heart.  The doctor further reported that the muscle tissue appeared to be taken from a person whose heart had been severely traumatized or beaten.
The doctor was then informed of the fact that the sample was obtained in 1996.  To which, Dr. Gomez replied, “Then you have to explain one thing to me.  If this sample came from a person who was dead, then how could it be that as I was examining it, the cells of the sample were moving and beating?  If the heart comes from a person who dies in 1996, how can it still be alive?”  Needless to say, the doctor was shocked when he was told the whole story.
Then Doctor Ricardo Castanon Gomez arranged to have the lab reports from the Buenos Aires miracle compared to the lab reports from the Lanciano miracle, again without revealing the origin of the test samples.  The experts making the comparison concluded that the two lab reports must have originated from test samples obtained from the same person.  They further reported that both samples revealed an “AB” positive blood type.  They also said that the DNA report of two test samples were identical.  Therefore, the Lanciano sample and the Buenos Aires sample must have been taken from the same person.
There is one more very important and very interesting fact that I must report.  When the scientific findings of the blood samples taken from Lanciano and Buenos Aires are compared to those of the scientific team that analyzed the blood samples taken from the Shroud of Turin and from the Sudarium of Oviedo, they are proven to be 100% identical.  They are all an “AB” positive blood type.  They are all characteristic of a man who was born and lived in the Middle East region.
We will never be able to prove the Christian concept of Transubstantiation to an unbeliever.  But Saint Augustine responded forcefully, in the late 4th century, to pagans’ allegations that Christian beliefs were not only superstitious but also barbaric. He points out that science can and should be used to clarify and illuminate the Christian faith.
The examples that I have just cited should help confirm the faith of we, the faithful.  These examples should also serve to remind us of the fact that the Eucharistic presence that we see on the altar is much more than just a piece of unleavened bread and glass of wine.  That it is actually the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus.  But most importantly, may we always remember that these miracles that I just cited are not unique.  This miracle happens every single day, in every Church throughout the world, at the consecration of the Mass.  And with this understanding may we forever treat this Sacred Species with the reverence it deserves.

---

[i] February 17, 1574 by Bishop Antonio Gaspar Rodrigues
[ii] Book titled “This is My Body, This is My Blood Miracles of the Eucharist1 – Book 1” by Bob & Penny Lord.
[iii] At the initiative of Archbishop Pacifico Perantoni of Lanciano, and of the provincial minister of the Franciscan Conventuals of Abruzzo, and with authorization from Rome, the test was conducted by Doctor Oroardo Linoli, who is a professor of Anatomy and Pathological History and in Chemistry and Clinical Microscopy, and former head of the Laboratory of Pathological Anatomy at the hospital in Arezzo, Italy.  He was assisted by Doctor Ruggero Bartelli, a retired professor of human anatomy at the University of Siena.
[iv] Findings presented on March 4, 1971 and Published in Quaderni Sclavo di Diagnostica Clinica e di Laboratori.
[v] Summary of information gathered from Dr. Ricardo Castanon of Mexico City and Father Jeffrey Montz Parochial Vicar at Saint Francis of Assisi, New Orleans.
[vi] Ricardo Castañón Gómez is president of the Grupo Internacional Para la Paz (International Group for Peace). Based in Bolivia, Castañón Gómez’s home country, and also operating out of the other members’ 12 countries, the nonprofit group is a collection of self-financed research professionals who investigate mystical phenomena. They report their results, as scientific opinion, directly to the Vatican for consideration.  Ricardo Castañón Gómez is a clinical psychologist specializing in brain biochemistry, has participated in more than half a dozen studies of Eucharistic miracles over the past two decades.
[vii] Dr. Frederick Zugibe is a forensic pathologist.

Cardinal Dolan’s pro-life, pro-family prayer rocks the Democratic convention

See http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/video-cardinal-dolans-pro-life-pro-family-prayer-rocks-the-democratic-conve

Laudate Catholic App

An excellent app with many resources that Catholics need, including daily Mass readings, Stations of the Cross, interactive Rosary, large selection of Latin and English prayers, and guide to Confession. It also has links to the Liturgy of the Hours, the Catechism and two versions of the Bible including the Douay Rheims version. Some of these features require internet access, but it is still a very good app and best of all it's free.

Download Links:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aycka.apps.MassReadings&hl=en

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/laudate-1-free-catholic-app/id499428207?mt=8

Cardinal's plea on abortion debate

From http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/cardinals-plea-on-abortion-debate-16202879.html

Cardinal Sean Brady has appealed for calm and reasoned discussions on the issues of abortion and same-sex marriage.
The Primate of All Ireland said the Catholic Church believed a referendum on abortion was possibly the only solution on dealing with the controversy.
He said he wants people to listen to each other and accept the arguments being made in debates. But he warned the church will oppose any attempt to legislate abortion through a media campaign and by lobbying public representatives and providing resources to priests to preach on the topic.
"We would want to inform people of the ills of abortion," said Cardinal Brady.
A 14-member expert group on abortion is due to report back to Health Minister James Reilly on the implications of a 2010 European Court of Human Rights ruling on Irish abortion laws. It found the state had failed to implement existing rights to lawful abortion where a mother's life is at risk, and that the state violated the rights of a woman with cancer who said she was forced to travel abroad to obtain an abortion.
The Government has also been called on to legislate for abortion in special circumstances as dictated by the 20-year-old 'X case' Supreme Court ruling and allow abortion if the life of the mother or unborn child is under threat. But successive governments have failed to act.
Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte said he had no objection to the Cardinal stating the church's views on the sensitive and complex issues and making its position clear. But he said he was surprised at the Primate's reference on lobbying and canvassing politicians. "I think it would be a retrogressive step to go back to the days of the Catholic church dictating to elected public representatives how it should address an issue," he added.
On gay marriage, the Cardinal said marriage, between man and woman, is the most favoured situation in which children are reared. "We want to enhance that and have that accepted," he told RTE. "We feel that to call it gay marriage weakens the traditional notion of marriage, which is so important in society."
Elsewhere the pro-marriage, pro-religion think-tank The Iona Institute claimed Minister Rabbitte's remarks were an attempt to rob the Church of the democratic right to lobby. Spokesman Dr John Murray said the minister's comment was actually retrograde. "First of all, lobbying is not the same as dictating," he said.
"Secondly, why should business organisations, or farming organisations, or trades unions be allowed to lobby politicians but the Churches cannot do this? Seeking to deny the Churches, and their members, the same right as belongs to every other group in society is deeply undemocratic."

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/cardinals-plea-on-abortion-debate-16202879.html#ixzz24s6cYkL9

Unearthed audio: Obama calls newborn baby a ‘fetus outside of the womb’

August 24, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Did Obama vote in favor of infanticide? Pro-life activists have long made the argument that he did, and that a conspiracy of silence from the mainstream media is the only thing that has prevented Americans from knowing the full extent of Obama’s extreme views on the abortion issue.
Now, newly unearthed audio from 2002 shows Barack Obama, then a state senator in Illinois, discussing the bill that has elicited charges that he voted to allow “infanticide”: the Born Alive Infant Protection Act (BAIPA).
The bill was introduced after pro-life nurse Jill Stanek witnessed babies being born alive after failed abortions, then being brought to a room in the hospital where she worked and left to die. The legislation, which ultimately passed, mandated that doctors must provide care to babies born alive after failed abortions.
However, one of the most ardent opponents of the bill, who repeatedly voted against it, was now-President Barack Obama. In audio dug up this week by John McCormack of The Weekly Standard, then-Senator Obama is heard attempting to explain his opposition to the bill.
While his explanations are extremely convoluted and difficult to quote, the thrust of Obama’s argument is that he trusts that abortionists who make “an error” that results in a baby being born alive will take care of the baby.
Obama says that if you argue that an abortionist wouldn’t try “to exercise the sort of medical measures and practices that would be involved in saving that child” of his own accord, then “maybe this bill makes sense” (notice the “maybe”!). But he adds, “I, at least, have confidence that a doctor who is in that room is going to make sure that they’re looked after.”
Of course, the obvious response to Obama’s paper-thin objection is to point to the clear evidence that, in fact, abortionists were not providing such care. Babies were being killed - not quickly or mercifully, but by being left exposed, without food or water, to die. And, after all, what motivation would an abortionist, who was moments ago seeking to kill the baby, have to save the life of the same baby, especially when doing so would only expose the fact that he screwed up?
But in one turn of phrase that is extremely revealing Obama attempts to describe the purpose of the bill, and says that the “fetus, or child – however way you want to describe it – is now outside the womb.”
One of the great doctrines of the pro-abortion movement, of course, is that as long as the baby is in the mother’s womb, it is a “ fetus,” but then at the moment of birth, it magically transforms into a “baby.” Except, perhaps (as Obama’s indifference to terminology illustrates) if that baby was supposed to be dead, and was only born by “mistake” – in which case, it’s much more convenient to continue labeling it with the dehumanizing term “fetus.”
Whether or not you take Obama’s slip of the tongue as evidence of his support for infanticide, what is certain is that Obama, his campaign, and the media have deliberately hushed up his record on the Born Alive bill.
Since making his presidential run Obama has claimed that he “would have” voted for BAIPA if it had included a clause found in a federal version of the bill that stated the bill would have no effect on legal abortion. The only problem: Obama was presented with a state version that did have that clause, and he still voted against it. In fact, Obama presided as the chair at a committee meeting where the clause was inserted into the bill. Almost immediately after it was inserted, he voted to kill the bill.
Obama did this at a time when even NARAL - one of the most extreme pro-abortion organizations in the country - had withdrawn its opposition to the federal version of the bill.
Even if you argue that Obama didn’t explicitly support infanticide, the fact is that he was so concerned about protecting abortion that he would turn a blind eye to infanticide in an effort to make sure that doctors could kill unborn babies up until the last minute possible.
If that’s not extreme, what is?
Here is a transcript of Obama’s remarks on BAIPA:
OBAMA: I just want to be clear because I think this was the source of the objections of the Medical Society. As I understand it, this puts the burden on the attending physician who has determined, since they were performing this procedure, that, in fact, this is a nonviable fetus; that if that fetus, or child – however way you want to describe it – is now outside the mother’s womb and the doctor continues to think that its nonviable but there’s, lets say, movement or some indication that, in fact, they’re not just out limp and dead, they would then have to call a second physician to monitor and check off and make sure that this is not a live child that could be saved. Is that correct?
OBAMA: Let me just go to the bill, very quickly. Essentially, I think, as — as this emerged during debate and during committee, the only plausible rationale, to my mind, for this legislation would be if you had a suspicion that a doctor, the attending physician, who has made an assessment that this is a nonviable fetus and that, lets say for the purposes of the mother’s health, is being — that — that labor is being induced, that that physician (a) is going to make the wrong assessment and (b) if the physician discovered, after the labor had been induced, that, in fact, he made an error, or she made an error, and, in fact, that that physician, of his own accord or her own accord, would not try to exercise the sort of medical measures and practices that would be involved in saving that child. Now, if — if you think that there are possibilities that doctors would not do that, then maybe this bill makes sense, but I — I suspect and my impression is, is that the Medical Society suspects as well that doctors feel that they would be under that obligation, that they would already be making these determinations and that, essentially, adding a — an additional doctor who then has to be called in an emergency situation to come in and make these assessments is really designed simply to burden the original decision of the woman and the physician to induce labor and perform an abortion. Now, if that’s the case – and –and I know that some of us feel very strongly one way or another on that issue – that’s fine, but I think it’s important to understand that this issue ultimately is about abortion and not live births. Because if these children are being born alive, I, at least, have confidence that a doctor who is in that room is going to make sure that they’re looked after. Thank you, Mr. President.”