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Incompatible With Christian Religion, Says Historian MADRID, Spain, JAN. 30, 2005 (Zenit.org).- To understand what is happening in Europe, the phenomenon of Masonry must be taken into account, says Protestant historian César Vidal. The director of the program "La Linterna" of the Spanish bishops' COPE radio network, Vidal has just written a book, "Los Masones: La Historia de la Sociedad Secreta Más Poderosa" (The Freemasons: History of the Most Powerful Secret Society), published by Planeta. Among other things, the book addresses the Masonic influence in the most important events of recent Spanish history, especially since the election last March of...

What is it about a conspiracy that makes them believable to some otherwise intelligent people? From time to time I receive e-mails, which purport to tell me, nay prove, all manner of wild conspiracies. That President Bush is a Satan worshipper in league with the ‘real’ Prince of Darkness (who I thought was Robert Novak or Darth Vader). Apparently together they are going place the entire planet under a United Nations government with U. N. Secretary General Kofi Annan replacing Vice President Cheney as the puppet master who controls the Bush marionette. This conspiracy “theory” is currently en vogue.

Ukrainian MP Taras Chornovil has suggested that the country’s parliament, the Supreme Rada, introduce criminal responsibility for Freemasonry, the MigNews web-site reported on Tuesday. Taras Chornovil is the son of the late nationalist leader Vyacheslav Chornovil, and his appointment as an adviser to presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovich on West-Ukrainian affairs earlier this year provoked much criticism in nationalist circles. He will head Yanukovich’s campaign headquarters in the repeat of the controversial second round of Ukrainian presidential elections. He has submitted to the Rada a bill entitled “On amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine”, according to which, membership of Freemason...

The last crusade of the Templars By Ruth Gledhill The knights want a Papal apology nearly 700 years after they were disbanded and hounded into exile THE VATICAN is giving “serious consideration” to apologising for the persecution that led to the suppression of the Knights Templar. The suppression, which began on Friday , October 13, 1307, gave Friday the Thirteenth its superstitious legacy.A Templar Order in Britain that claims to be descended from the original Knights Templar has asked that the Pope should make the apology. The Templars, based in Hertford, are hoping for an apology by 2007, the 700th...

I believe National Treasure implies that Freemasons are a POSITVE influence on our country. Anybody that knows the TRUTH about Freemasonry rather than the propaganda they wrap themselves in will NOT be takin in by the positive portrayal in this movie. Please America, wake up, don't buy into the guys who brought "Seperation of Church/State" to America, model ISLAM as the highest truth (the Shriners), label the Holy Bible as "Furinture" in a lodge, and outlaw the name of "Jesus" in any lodge. I know I will get flamed by 10,000 Masons and Mason supporters on this, but if you...

As long as I am confessing less than elevated interests today, I might as well admit that I really enjoyed the new film National Treasure. This is probably the first Jerry Bruckheimer-produced movie I have ever praised, unless you count Team America, which is a parody of his extravagent explosion-filled action movies, acted by puppets. Sure, it is a highly-implausible adventure film, but it has a number of redeeming values. It is first-rate storytelling, with nary a dull moment, and a mostly coherent narrative line. It is basically a treasure hunt, comparable in many ways to Raiders of the Lost...

Rowan Williams apologises to Freemasons By Chris Hastings and Elizabeth Day (Filed: 20/04/2003) The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has been forced to apologise to Britain's 330,000 Freemasons after he said that their beliefs were incompatible with Christianity and that he had rejected them from senior posts in his diocese. Dr Williams has written to Robert Morrow, the Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of England, in an attempt to defuse the row prompted by comments he made last year. In his letter, the Archbishop apologises for the "distress" he caused and discloses that his own father was...

This movie looks very interesting...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Causes of Unrest: The Spiritual Roots of Rebellion by Matthew M. Anger In the early part of the 20th century an author named Nesta Webster penned a provocative work called The Cause of World Unrest. In it she posited, as she did in other books (including her much reprinted study of the French Revolution) that all human events were shaped by a small but malevolent conspiracy. Interestingly, Catholic historian and apologist Hilaire Belloc expressed impatience with such conspiracy-fixations in a letter to an American friend in 1924: The Cause of World Unrest is a book written by a woman called...

Just what is the Bernardin Legacy? Ask that simple question to any Catholic and the answers you receive will vary from one extreme to the other. One either loved him or despised him. But regardless of your personal opinion of the man there is one point, I believe, we can all agree on: He was a powerful and influential individual, both politically and spiritually. James Hitchcock wrote in an article published shortly after the Cardinal’s death that: “He [Bernardin] consistently used his influence to promote liberal causes, even attacks on Church teachings and traditions.” Hitchcock went on to say: “...he...

Masonic Lodge Is Suspended After ShootingBy PATRICK HEALYPublished: March 15, 2004 A week after a man was shot dead inside a Masonic lodge on Long Island, leaders of the state's Masonic organization made the rare move yesterday of suspending the lodge while a panel of lawyers investigates the culture and ritual that led to the shooting....William James, a new arrival to the lodge, South Side 493 Masons of Patchogue, was killed Monday as he was being initiated into a social club connected to the Masons but not officially part of the organization. A 76-year-old member of the social club, the...

MASONIC SERVICE BUREAU Of LOS ANGELES 3807 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1120 Los Angeles, California 90010-3188, (213) 387-1371 FAX (213) 387-1373 DAVID R. PATTERSON, P.M. Executive Secretary September 11, 2000 Cardinal Roger Mahony Archdiocese of Los Angeles 3424 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90010 Your Excellency: This office provides information to those who request same as well as providing for the needs of our members or their widows. We have, on occasion, been asked questions regarding whether a practicing Catholic may join a Masonic lodge. I usually answer that I believe that they may (relying on the enclosed newspaper report from...

Freemasons and the Anglican Church [ACNS source: Anglican Media Sydney and the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn] Sydney Anglicans have sent a clear message to Freemasons across the state: your beliefs are "contrary to biblical Christianity." The strongly worded statement is part of a motion passed by Synod that describes the belief system as 'fundamentally and irreconcilably incompatible' with the Christian faith. The motion calls on Christians who belong to a Masonic Lodge to resign their membership, as a demonstration of their commitment to Jesus Christ. The Revd Bill Winthrop, rector of Lithgow Anglican Church, introduced the motion, cautioning...

THEY are thick brown ledgers that wouldn’t look out of place in a Harry Potter film. The huge tomes - each containing around 500 yellowing pages crammed with densely-packed, handwritten information - are so heavy some staff are banned from attempting to lift them. The huge works are the membership registers of the 600 Freemason’s lodges of Scotland, the "secret" order reputed to wield legendary influence in the corridors of power. And last week, in a historic and unprecedented move, six volumes were thrown open to Scotland on Sunday as part of Freemasonry’s attempts to dispel its secretive image and...

GULFPORT, Miss. - (KRT) - The father of the White House press secretary claims in his upcoming book, "Blood, Money & Power: How L.B.J. Killed J.F.K.," that former President Lyndon B. Johnson was behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Barr McClellan, father of White House press secretary Scott McClellan and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Mark McClellan, is preparing for a Sept. 30 release of a 480-page book by Hannover House that offers photographs, copies of letters, insider interviews and details of fingerprints as proof that Edward A. Clark, the powerful head of Johnson's private and business legal...

A 2,300-mile trip on an airplane is a one-day foray, in a car it's a long trip that will take a few days, but on horseback, it is an epic journey that can last months. It is with the locomotive means of the epic journeyer that Bob Gacke of Port La Vaca, Texas, has chosen to undertake a 2,300-mile odyssey across the American interior to bring attention to, and raise money for, Shriner Hospitals. "I've been a Shriner for 25 years and I just have a real passion for the care of these kids in these hospitals," Gacke said Tuesday...

FEARING he would commit "a grave sin" in the eyes of the Catholic Church, Gov. Pataki has canceled his plan to join the Masons, The Post has learned. Pataki's induction into Freemasonry - the world's oldest and largest secret society, with members like George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt and Gerald Ford - had been trumpeted as "historic" and was expected to occur at a formal and secret June ceremony at the historic Grand Lodge in Manhattan.

The nation’s oldest and most fabled secret society, the Freemasons, is going public after more than two centuries, and some of its more traditionalist members are shaking in their sheepskins. Faced with a dwindling membership, the society — whose past members include 28 of the 40 signers of the Constitution — decided to relax admission standards. “It’s an insult to the people who are in it,” Jerry Czin, a Mason for 30 years, said. “I don’t believe in going down to a lower denominator.” “You want to set standards,” Mr. Czin said. “I don’t even like the fact that every...

This isn’t the first time in our history that we’ve had the possibility of dangerous weapons in the hands of a leader we didn’t trust, and this won’t be the first time we’ve responded to this possible threat with a military assault. In 1992, the U.S. federal government conducted a military siege at Ruby Ridge, ultimately killing Randy Weaver's dog, son and wife. Mr. Weaver was suspected of being a cult leader, hording weapons and ammunition for anti-government purposes. The government was never able to prove their allegations, but ends-justify-the-means justice was the explanation for the loss of life. Did...

Leslie H. Gelb..developing

Friday, 25 October, 2002, 17:18 GMT 18:18 UK Vatican's banker 'was murdered'Calvi's body was found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge A top financier found hanging from a bridge in London 20 years ago was murdered, forensic experts appointed by judges in Rome to investigate the death have reportedly said. According to media reports, the panel said Roberto Calvi, who was nicknamed God's Banker because of his close ties to the Vatican, could not have killed himself as originally suggested. They said his neck showed no evidence of the injuries usually associated with death by hanging and his hands had never touched...

The word just over a week ago that the Church has initiated research into the possible canonization of Pope John Paul I rekindled a nagging question: is there anything to the claims that this pontiff -- known as the "Smiling Pope" -- was the victim of murder? When we looked back at it recently, we were surprised by some of the specific circumstances. The facts are these: born Albino Luciani, John Paul I served as Pope for just 33 days in 1978. He died on the night of September 28 or the early morning of September 29, 1978, of a...

thr 064 UK-Freemasons /WRD/ Masons threaten legal action to keep anonymity London, June 11, IRNA - Freemasons in Britain are threatening legal action to prevent the government from forcing its members in the police and other parts of the country's criminal justice system from identifying themselves. The United Grand Lodge, the London headquarters of the secret brotherhood, has taken legal advice that any plans to make disclosure compulsory would be discriminatory under Britain's recent Human Rights Act, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. "We believe we are being singled out in a way that implies there is something wrong in being...