'Religion of peace' launching 'ferocious' attacks

Sarkozy: Mideast Christians Victims of 'Cleansing'
© unknown Pot calls the kettle black French President makes damning comments following church attacks in Egypt, Iraq. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday that Christian Minorities in the Middle East are Victims of "religious cleansing", following deadly attacks on churches in the region. "We cannot accept and thereby facilitate what looks more and more like a particularly wicked programme of cleansing in the Middle East, religious cleansing," he said in an annual New Year's add...

The Islamist War Against Christianity
Against the meaning of his entire history as a prince of the church and also against various dicta issued by him later as the Vicar of Christ, Pope Benedict has proclaimed that he will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the conclave convened by Pope John Paul II in the Umbrian town of Assisi. That gathering assembled eminences from the "world religions" to pray together for peace. Cardinal Ratzinger, as the present pope was then called, did not attend, and his absence was rightly seen ...

Devils are hot; as in topical!
Giotto, Exorcism at Arezzo (1297-99), Upper Church, San Francesco, Assisi No, not hot as in tropical! Okay, bad wordplay, but Tim Muldoon’s started it, here with his look at our current interest in all things devilish: “. . . it’s hard to avoid the fact that there’s suddenly a fascination with all things demonic. Consider this Discovery Channel series in production, cooperating with the Vatican (though the article does not specify who or what office of the Holy See). Then ther...

Stockholm bomber was trained in Iraq, says official
Interesting article in that the Iraqi's claim there was a second Suicide bomber(an Egyptian national) who recieved similar training with Taymour Abdulwahab(the failed Swedish bomber). Reuters(Reuters) - Iraq informed the United States about a plot to carry out bombings in Sweden two months before an attack in Stockholm by a man trained in Iraq, an Iraqi security official told al Arabiya television on Friday. Major General Dhai Kanani, director of Iraq's anti-terrorism unit, said the man who bl...

A Christian-Free Egypt is not Beyond Imagination
[ By bataween , crossposted from Point of No Return.] The massacre of 21 Copts at a New Year's Eve mass has been called 'a watershed moment'. The Atlantic columnist Jeffrey Goldberg blogs: "I've been struck over the past couple of days by the lackadaisical coverage of what seems to be the most important story coming out of the Middle East right now -- The Salafist war on Christians in the Middle East is intensifying fairly rapidly, with profound consequences not only for Christians in the land...

View sex abuse cases in the proper context
It's no secret that the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese has been plagued by a wave of child sex abuse claims and Lawsuits in recent years. In the past, Archbishop Emeritus Rembert Weakland reportedly shredded reports of Sexual Abuse. In 2010, Milwaukee was at the center of a decades-old Scandal many tried to pin on Pope Benedict XVI. And according to Archbishop Jerome Listecki, the archdiocese has paid more than $29 million in costs associated with sexual abuse cases over the past 20 years. Gri...

God Responsible for Big Bang and Universe Creation, Pope Says
Jan. 6, 2011: Pope Benedict XVI, framed by a Christmas tree, delivers his blessing from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square following an Epiphany Mass, at the Vatican. Benedict XVI is stunned by the wave of violence and intolerance toward Christians around the world, Italy's top churchman said at Epiphany services. Christians should reject the idea that the universe was created by accident according to Pope Benedict, as he said Thursday that God’s mind was the driving force b...

Marking Epiphany, Pope Laments Recent Violence
(CBS/AP) Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI is stunned by the wave of violence and intolerance toward Christians around the world, Italy's top churchman said Thursday at Epiphany services. "Together with the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, we are stunned in the face of religious intolerance and so much violence, and we are asking ourselves, in sorrow: why?" said Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of Italy's bishops conference in an Epiphany homily in Genoa. Bagnasco, in his role at the influential It...

God was behind Big Bang, universe no accident: Pope
By Philip Pullella Vatican City | Thu Jan 6, 2011 8:43am EST Vatican City (Reuters) - God's mind was behind complex scientific theories such as the Big Bang, and Christians should reject the idea that the universe came into being by accident, Pope Benedict said on Thursday. "The universe is not the result of chance, as some would want to make us believe," Benedict said on the day Christians mark the Epiphany, the day The Bible says the three kings reached the site where Jesus was born by foll...

Cardinal: pope stunned by anti-Christian violence
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI is stunned by the wave of violence and intolerance toward Christians around the world, Italy's top churchman said Thursday at Epiphany services. "Together with the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, we are stunned in the face of religious intolerance and so much violence, and we are asking ourselves, in sorrow: why?" said Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of Italy's bishops conference in an Epiphany homily in Genoa. Bagnasco, in his role at the influential Italia...

This Week in God
THIS WEEK IN GOD.... The God Machine took a little break over the winter holidays, but it's back. First up is the unsatisfying resolution to a lengthy investigation into some sketchy Televangelists. A senator's high-profile investigation of spending by televangelists wrapped up after more than three years Thursday with no penalties for the pastors who refused to cooperate and no definitive findings of wrongdoing. The report released by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley raises questions about the perso...

Pope Denies Appeal Of Boston Parish Closings
G. Jeffrey MacDonald Religion News Service (RNS) After a lengthy appeals process, the Vatican has ruled that nine Boston-area Catholic parishes should be closed despite six-year Vigils and other forms of Protest from parishioners. In a letter dated Dec. 15, the Vatican's Secretariat of State said Pope Benedict XVI had "decided not to accept" an appeal from the Council of Parishes, which represents parishioners fighting to keep their churches open. The decision brings new pressure to end a dra...

God was behind Big Bang, universe no accident: Pope
Vatican City (Reuters) - God's mind was behind complex scientific theories such as the Big Bang, and Christians should reject the idea that the universe came into being by accident, Pope Benedict said on Thursday. "The universe is not the result of chance, as some would want to make us believe," Benedict said on the day Christians mark the Epiphany, the day The Bible says the three kings reached the site where Jesus was born by following a star. "Contemplating it (the universe) we are invited t...

POPE: God was behind Big Bang, universe no accident...
VATICAN CITY, Jan 6 (Reuters) - God's mind was behind complex scientific theories such as the Big Bang, and Christians should reject the idea that the universe came into being by accident, Pope Benedict said on Thursday, Dec. 6. "The universe is not the result of chance, as some would want to make us believe," Benedict said on the day Christians mark the Epiphany, the day The Bible says the three kings reached the site where Jesus was born by following a star. "Contemplating it (t...

US: Vatican Relations Strong Despite Cable Leak
ROME — Washington's relationship with the Holy See is too strong to be undermined by Wikileaks revelations, the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican said in an AP interview Friday. Among thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables being leaked by the secret-spilling site are comments on aggressive Vatican Diplomacy to head off law suits in the sex abuse Scandals and claims that some Vatican officials harbor anti-Semitic sentiments. Miguel H. Diaz said there are always "ups and downs" in any relationsh...

Pakistani Islamic supremacist group planning jihad-martyrdom suicide attack to murder Christian woman accused of blasphemy
Why we see so few genuine Islamic reformers: "it is clear that anyone that opposes the Blasphemy law is at risk." "Extremist group announces Suicide Attack to kill Asia Bibi," by Jibran Khan for Asia News, January 7 (thanks to C. Cantoni): Islamabad (AsiaNews) - An extremist Islamist group calling itself 'Moaviya' might be planning a Suicide Attack against Sheikhupura Prison in order to kill Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, this according to a report by Pakistani ...

Iraqi Official: Swedish Suicide Bomber Trained in Mosul by al-Qaeda
Taimour Abdulwahab, who killed only himself as his Suicide vest detonated prematurely on the streets of Stockholm on Dec. 11, 2010, “trained in Mosul for three months,” according to General Dhai Kanani, the chief of Iraq’s Counterterrorism unit. A Car Bomb assembled by Abdulwahab was also found near the site of his death. Abdulwahab “entered Iraq from Turkey,” Kanani told Al Arabiya, at about the same time as an Egyptian who is thought to have trained...

Sombre Christmas for Egypt's Copts after blast
Coptic Christians marked a sombre Christmas on Friday, after a deadly New Year's Day church bombing in Egypt sparked riots that injured dozens of policemen and Protesters. Egypt has been under tight security since the attack in the northern city of Alexandria killed 21 people, and the measures were stepped up for Christmas Eve services held for Copts on Thursday. Dozens of police were deployed around the Saints Church in Alexandria which was targeted in Saturday's attack. "We celebrate Christmas...

Lepcis Magna
A reader suggested that I stop by Lepcis Magna (aka Leptis Magna, aka Neapolis) while visiting North Africa. Not a bad idea, but I have seen tons of Roman ruins from England to Pompeii to North Africa, and they're all about the same: an arena, a forum, a bath, a few monuments and lots of columns, etc. The ones in Carthage were cool. I prefer seeing Greek things, and it seems like it would be a shame to go through life without seeing ancient Egyptian things in situ. Where I want to poke aroun...

Clinton seeks stronger ties with Arab allies
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s trip to the Persian Gulf is intended to strengthen ties with Arab allies, rally support for fresh penalties against Iran, and promote Democracy and security across the Middle East. Clinton was to depart Washington late Saturday for the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar. Leaders in those countries are concerned about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and growing influence in the region. Clinton also will be looking for more...

US 'knew where Eichmann was hiding for years'
DOCUMENTS released this week from a Munich archive show that the intelligence services in both America and Germany knew where Adolf Eichmann was hiding almost a decade before he was kidnapped and brought to trial. Critics believe the decision not to arrest the man acknowledged as the supreme logistical mastermind of the Nazi Holocaust of six million Jews was taken to protect both German officials and pro-Nazi clergy in the Vatican who had helped him to escape. ADVERTISEMENT The German national...

Fears of the faithful
British Coptic Christians are celebrating their Christmas, but "with sadness and distress" in their hearts because of the widening attack on Christians in the Middle East. At the Christmas Eve service at St George's Coptic Cathedral in Hertfordshire on 6 January, members of the congregation said they'd spoken to relatives and friends in Alexandria, Egypt, where a bomb killed 21 worshippers at a Coptic church on New Year's Eve. Dr Zak Michael said Copts, who make up abo...

Defense Cuts and Political Assumptions
Arguments over defense-spending requirements are ultimately disputes over the political conditions that will obtain in future Military conflicts. Secretary Gates’s new proposal to cut the defense Budget is a fresh example of this axiom. The concept is easy to illustrate: if, for example, you don’t think we need more F-22 Raptors, your assumption is almost certainly that we will not, in the foreseeable future, have to fight a war in which there is a serious threat to our fighter-bombe...

Defense cuts and political assumptions
Arguments over defense-spending requirements are ultimately disputes over the political conditions that will obtain in future Military conflicts. Secretary Gates’s new proposal to cut the defense Budget is a fresh example of this axiom. The concept is easy to illustrate: if, for example, you don’t think we need more F-22 Raptors, your assumption is almost certainly that we will not, in the foreseeable future, have to fight a war in which there is a serious threat to our fighter-bombers. Th...

Grim truth: Abuse was the cause
The Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese is in Bankruptcy court because, said Archbishop Jerome Listecki in a message to be played at churches Sunday, "priest-perpetrators sexually abused minors." Listecki spent the past week saying that repeatedly, in speeches, to reporters, all over the archdiocese's website. It is an admission of a grim truth many bishops for years were loath to speak, though they seem over that now, with repeated apologies from The Pope, from other bishops and from Lis...