On the 7th of March Pope Francis, an 84 year old man, arrived in Iraq, one of the most dangerous spots on earth. A country where religious wars have brought death to millions, where to step outside your door might mean your family may never see you again, where amid fantastic wealth, tens of thousands live on the breadline. This frail old man was then driven in an open truck through the streets of a city where armed fanatics and their watchdogs still lurk.
His purpose ? To bring reconciliation between Christians and Muslims, to persuade Iraqis that ‘fraternity was better than fratricide’, to remind us that Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world. Thousands were murdered by Isil during the Caliphate, a favourite method of theirs was to bomb or machine gun Christians while at Mass.
The Pope’s visit was followed the next day by Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Instead of an open truck and the possibility of a bullet in the head, the two lolled before their interviewer on the lawn of a billion dollar Californian mansion. Oprah Winfrey, was paid $9 million for the show, with adverts on it costing $30,000 for 30 seconds. Meghan and Harry will no doubt in time be invited to dip their buckets into the river of cash the interview generates.
Meghan and Harry’s complaint was they weren’t famous enough. The Royal Family had it in their power to make them even more famous, but it was denied them. In a rerun of Cinderella and the Ugly Sisters, sweet little Meghan was forced to sit in the cold ashes of her ambition by evil white male courtiers of the Queen, the latter who, despite all that happened, she still loves dearly. This drove her to thoughts of suicide and eventual flight to America.
Unlike the Pope’s visit, which went almost unnoticed among the politically correct, a giant salvo of praise went up all over the politically correct world, for Meghan’s ‘courage’.
Is that what you call it?
Apparently some Catholic “priests” are prepared to bless same sex ‘marriages’, so missing the point of marriage, the Pope and Catholicism entirely.
Who and where are the priests who are prepared to bless same sex ‘marriages’?
Please tell.
PJR Under Urban the 2nd the streets of Jerusalem ran ankle deep in blood during the 1st Crusade children babies pregnant women were slaughtered And PJR would have liked to be there joining in? For some reason the Moslems took exception to these thugs and psychos. The best you can deduce from PJR ‘s prattle is he has the mind of a toddler with a wooden sword. Mother will be calling you for bedddiebyes soon PJR
Hello Bert!
1. All wars are bloody, including just wars, but “ankle deep in blood” is rhetorical rubbish.
2. Neither Raymond of Toulouse, nor Godfrey of Bouillon, nor Baldwin of Boulogne slaughtered children or pregnant women or anybody else. More rhetorical rubbish.
(The horrors of the Fourth Crusade are a different matter, of course.)
3. One might describe G K Chesterton as having “the mind of a toddler with a wooden sword”. In fact, he might well have so described himself. It’s an honourable kind of mind to have, because it’s the mind of an emulator of heroes. I cheerfully embrace your hostile description of me!
PJR> Actually the Great Turk has not done so well as you assert. The European powers carved up Arabia in the late 19th and early 20th century, and placed a powerful garrison (Israel) in its heart, a garrison with 40 nuclear warheads and delivery systems which if threatened it would not hesitate to use. As for the Pope, he might talk the talk but he also walked the walk through the streets of Mosul and Baghdad , which like most armchair Tories, is something PJR might quail at.
Dear Bert,
Do either you or our sainted editor seriously believe that the Pope was in any danger during his recent publicity tour?
If the Pope were a real Pope, like Urban II, he might inspire me to risk death in the streets of Mosul or Baghdad with a cross in one hand and a sword in the other, but he isn’t a real Pope, and he offers no inspiration to Christian soldiers.
By the way, please note that the state of Israel isn’t in the heart of Arabia.
Please also note that Mahometanism has succeeded beyond the worst fears of the sermon writers of 1563, since not only have the borders of Italy and Germany been breached, but also complete conquest of the rest of Europe (including the UK) is only a matter of time. Like Enoch Powell’s more recent predictions, the Elizabethan predictions fell short of the true horror.
Very well said, Bert & Co.
>The European powers carved up Arabia in the late 19th and early 20th century, and placed a powerful garrison (Israel) in its heart, a garrison with 40 nuclear warheads and delivery systems which if threatened it would not hesitate to use.
I am an Israeli, and quite happy we will probably use nukes against the likes of Iran if we’re threatened with annihilation. You don’t want that? Don’t threaten us. Easy, isn’t it?
Those are the laws of the game in the savage part of the world known as the Middle East – but then again, it’s mostly Muslim, so brutal savagery is to be expected. That’s what Muslims specialize in, you know.
“Above thirty years past the great Turk has overrun, conquered, and brought into his dominion and subjection twenty Christian kingdoms, turning away the people from the faith of Christ, poisoning them with the devilish religion of wicked Mahomet, and either destroying their churches utterly, or filthily abusing them with [his] wicked and detestable errors. And now this great Turk, this bitter and sharp scourge of God’s vengeance, is even at hand in this part of Christendom, in Europe, at the borders of Italy, at the borders of Germany, greedily gaping to devour us, to overrun our country, to destroy our churches also….” (The Second Book of Homilies, 1563)
The ultra-Protestant authors of the Church of England’s two Books of Homilies made much capital of the crimes of the papacy, but even they surely never imagined that one day we’d see a Cultural-Marxist Pope standing united in friendship with some of the devilish successors of the devilish “great Turk” among the ruins of Christian churches, stained with the blood of Christian martyrs. They expected even the Pope to be an enemy of such obviously monstrous evil.
Compared with this devilish crime of Pope Francis (who was, of course, in no danger whatsoever during his publicity stunt), the silly antics and transparent lies of Mr and Mrs Spencer-Hewitt seem insignificant to me.
Both Cruasaders and Muslims were responsible for cruelties in warfare. Most wars see cruel actions on all sides. Look at the Islamic invasion of India for a fresh view.
Grand Ayatollah Sistani is also noteworthy for staying independent from the ruling mullah’s in Iran even though he is himself an Iranian. While they have been contantly adding fuel to the fire of religious divide, he has tried to be a force for stability in Iraq.
Yes, I pray that the efforts of the Holy Father in his visit to Iraq will save Christian lives and will promote greater personal safety and conditions for human flourishing in Islamic precincts, and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, I ask The Church to consider how it can use its resources to assist all people everywhere, but certainly starting with those inclined to living a Christian life, to secure reliable and productive contact with God.
Yes, this would require innovations. And among many such new processes, it would require new elements in the career system for ambitious priests. I believe that many ambitious priests would embrace such moves. And reforming priests could valuably consult certain monks in their search for reliable ways to walk with God.
I do not share the confidence of some people in the present Pope’s attitude towards other religions, especially Islam, and the forthcoming wave of non-Europeans into Europe, regarding which the Dalai Lama, whose own national homeland is being devastated by foreign occupation, has spoken real truth to actual power. If I were still a Christian I would pray instead for Cardinal Burke.
Burke is a tough hombre for sure, and good. But it is clear the dominant political force within the Sacred College of Cardinals does not favour the ilk of Burke. My view is that Good Priests, at all levels in the career system, would help folk, starting with Christians, by ensuring there are effective methods, freely available, for Ordinary People to establish and continue a reliable two-way relationship with God.
We have learned this: Belief in ideas, including those scripturally well-founded, does not ensure individual human well-being, nor maintain a peaceful, flourishing society. I think reliable communication with God -God as Universal On-Going Creative Pure Intelligence- is a necessary condition for making Life-on-Earth tolerable, if not always pleasurable in the ways most people demand their Life-on-Earth to be pleasurable.
I’ve got nothing against Megabucks Markle, nor against Mr Markle, formerly Harry Hewitt. Have not watched their Coming Out Party with Oprah. I wish them all the best and obscurity – or at least one of.
As for Pope Francis, my hope for him is the peace that surpasses all understanding.
Simple Ginger and Dimpled Whinger meet Operettah, three millionaires helping inadvertently or not to bring down the Monarchy of the United Kingdom. This week’s “Spectator” and the by no means historically pro-royals “Daily Mail”, also “Spiked Online”, have penetrating articles well worth reading (WE 13 March).
As someone said, before a previous Pope brought in the ecumaniac 2nd Vatican Council, RC theologians were planning to extend the trajectory of the Blessed Virgin Mary Immaculately Conceived Mother of God to Assumption as Queen of Heaven and Mediatrix of All Graces. Now the PC atheists are developing the Blessed Nuisance Meghan Immaculately Costumed Miner of Gold to Ascension as Queen of Hollywood and Media-trickster of All Races.
David Ashton. Really nasty. I liked it.
What has Ginger got to do with it, Blondie? Or is it Darkie?
Ginger is the man in the millionaire trio dissing the UK royalty