Posted on 06/11/2002 1:21:39 PM PDT by Timesink
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I'm sitting here, having a little trouble getting started. We have reported on this scandal several times so far. For the most part, the stories are fairly similar, the anguish of the victims, and their anger, and the response by the Church. But it is sort of like profiling each tree, one at a time, and not looking at the forest, to use an old metaphor. Just how widespread is this problem? If it were just one person here, and maybe another there, it might be easier to understand. But there has always been a feeling that this is a systemic problem, that underlying the individual stories that have come into the public eye, and those that have not, is some sort of widespread problem.
Some say the issue is celibacy. Others that the priesthood attracts those disposed towards children. Still others argue that the issue is homosexuality in the priesthood. And there are many other explanations. And they may all be partly true, and party false. But tonight we will address just how widespread this problem is. This week, the bishops are meeting in Dallas to debate a proposed policy to deal with priests who are accused of, or proven to be guilty of molestation. Many of the victims say the policy doesn't go far enough, that it is too lenient. But with the bishops and others beginning to arrive in Dallas today, our friends at the Dallas Morning News came to us with the results of an investigation they conducted. Their story will be in the paper tomorrow, and on their Web site tonight. They tried to track down every credible allegation. And the numbers they found are staggering.
Roughly two-thirds of the bishops have either been accused themselves, actually a relatively small number, or more commonly, are accused of covering up the actions of one of their priests. We'll be reporting on the details of what the Morning News found tonight, but clearly the numbers indicate that the problem is more than just the crimes of isolated individuals. So we'll have a report from ABC News correspondent Bill Blakemore from Dallas on the Morning News investigation, and a preview of what will happen later in the week. Ted will interview the bishop who headed the committee that wrote the proposed policy. But I think tonight's broadcast will make it clear that this is much more than a couple of isolated cases being given too much publicity. Something has gone terribly wrong.
Tuesday, June 11, 2002
Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff
Nightline Offices
Washington, D.C.
God Bless.
There is always hope and always forgiveness. And isn't the saying something like this:
"With prayer, all things are possible."?
When you shall see a night illuminated by an unknown light, know that it is the great sign that God gives you that He is going to punish the world for its crimes by means of war, of hunger, and of persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father.
"To prevent this I come to ask the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart AND the Communion of reparation on the Five First Saturdays. If they listen to my request, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not, she will scatter her errors through the world provoking wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated.
"In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and it will be converted and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world.
"In Portugal the dogma of the faith will always be kept..."
(the traditional account apparently stopped there and what followed became "the Third Secret"), etc., etc.
God Bless.
Adoremus in gloria Christi.
- Pope John Paul II, May 13, 2000 homily at Fatima, Portugal.
“It’s [Third secret] in the Gospel and in the Apocalypse, read them!”
- Sister Lucy
"The Most Holy Virgin has made me understand that we are in the last times of the world."
- Sister Lucy to Fr. Augustine Fuentes, December 26, 1957
“It is an apocalyptic hour for the world. These are frightening winds from hell which are blowing, and the elect themselves are allowing themselves to be carried away.”
- Cardinal Cerejeira, Patriarch of Lisbon, Portugal, April 24, 1959
From Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Vatican
Text of The Third Secret of Fatima
COMPLETE TRANSLATION OF ORIGINAL TEXT:
VATICAN CITY, JUN 26, 2000 (VIS) - Given below is the complete translation of the original Portuguese text of the third part of the secret of Fatima, revealed to the three shepherd children at Cova da Iria-Fatima on July 13, 1917, and committed to paper by Sr. Lucia on January 3, 1944:
"I write in obedience to you, my God, who command me to do so through his Excellency the Bishop of Leiria and through your Most Holy Mother and mine.
"After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: 'Penance, Penance, Penance!'. And we saw in an immense light that is God: 'something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it' a Bishop dressed in White 'we had the impression that it was the Holy Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God."
.../THIRD SECRET/... VIS 000626 (380)
PRESENTATION OF TEXT OF THIRD SECRET OF FATIMA
VATICAN CITY, JUN 26, 2000 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press Office, the document "The Message Of Fatima" was presented. It has been prepared by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and carries the signatures of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., respectively prefect and secretary of the congregation.
The document, which is over 40 pages long, has been published in English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Polish. It is made up of an introduction by Archbishop Bertone; the first and second parts of the "secret" of Fatima in Sr. Lucia's original text dated August 31, 1941 and addressed to the bishop of Leiria-Fatima, and a translation; the photostatic reproduction of the original manuscript of the third part of the "secret" and a translation; John Paul II's letter to Sr. Lucia dated April 19, 2000, and a translation; a summary of Sr. Lucia's conversation with Archbishop Bertone and Bishop Serafim de Sousa Ferreira e Silva of Leiria-Fatima which took place on April 27, 2000, in the Carmel Monastery of St. Teresa of Coimbra, Portugal; the words of Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano at the end of the beatification of Jacinta and Francisco on May 13, 2000; a theological commentary by Cardinal Ratzinger.
In his introduction, Archbishop Bertone affirms that "Fatima is undoubtedly the most prophetic of modern apparitions. ... In 1917 no one could have imagined all this: the three 'pastorinhos' of Fatima see, listen and remember, and Lucia, the surviving witness, commits it all to paper when ordered to do so by the Bishop of Leiria and with Our Lady's permission."
He continues: "The third part of the "secret" was written ... on January 3, 1944. There is only one manuscript, which is here reproduced photostatically. The sealed envelope was initially in the custody of the Bishop of Leiria. To ensure better protection for the 'secret' the envelope was placed in the secret archives of the Holy Office on April 4, 1957. The Bishop of Leiria informed Sr. Lucia of this."
The secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith indicates that "according to the records of the Archives, the Commissary of the Holy Office, Fr. Pierre Paul Philippe O.P., with the agreement of Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, brought the envelope containing the third part of the 'secret of Fatima' to Pope John XXIII on August 17, 1959. 'After some hesitation,' His Holiness said: 'We shall wait. I shall pray. I shall let you know what I decide.' In fact Pope John XXIII decided to return the sealed envelope to the Holy Office and not to reveal the third part of the 'secret.' Paul VI read the contents with the Substitute, Archbishop Angelo Dell'Acqua, on March 27, 1965 and returned the envelope to the Archives of the Holy Office, deciding not to publish the text. John Paul II, for his part, asked for the envelope containing the third part of the 'secret' following the assassination attempt on May 13, 1981," and this was given to Archbishop Eduardo Martinez Somalo, Substitute of the Secretariat of State, on July 18 of the same year. On August 11 it was returned to the Archives of the Holy Office.
"As is well known," added Archbishop Bertone, "Pope John Paul II immediately thought of consecrating the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and he himself composed a prayer for what he called an 'Act of Entrustment' which was to be celebrated in the Basilica of St. Mary Major on June 7 1981." "In order to respond more fully to the requests of 'Our Lady,' the Holy Father desired to make more explicit during the Holy Year of the Redemption the Act of Entrustment of June 7, 1981, which had been repeated in Fatima on May 13, 1982."
"Sr. Lucia," continued the archbishop, "personally confirmed that this solemn and universal act of consecration corresponded to what Our Lady wished. Hence any further discussion or request is without basis." Sr. Lucia had already hinted at the interpretation of the third part of the 'secret' in a letter to the Holy Father dated May 12, 1982. That letter is also published in the document.
Finally, Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone indicates that "the decision of His Holiness Pope John Paul II to make public the third part of the 'secret' of Fatima brings to an end a period of history marked by tragic human lust for power and evil, yet pervaded by the merciful love of God and the watchful care of the Mother of Jesus and of the Church." .../MESSAGE FATIMA/BERTONE VIS 000626 (740)
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The vulnerability of any organization is, that as soon as you get a certain threshold percentage of the organization being members of a clique, whether that clique is communist professors or homosexual priests, the clique takes over. The members of the clique look out for each other, scout out opportunities for more clique people to get into the organization, and work to sabotage people in the organization who might be hostile to the clique
The organization finally is either totally dominated by the clique (like most universities today), or must engage in a purge in self-defense, to locate and expel all members of the destructive clique
They will be covering the Bishops Conference on their website as well:
This is clearly a chosen lifestyle and against Church teaching. Therefore it is a question of FIDELITY!(and chastity of course)
This may be an apparent truth; but remember, those adolescent boys who were raped in the '90s are still in shock and still young. Either still teenagers or young adults. They won't come forward for a while.
This problem of ephebophilia has been going on for centuries. Not only in the priesthood, but where ever men are. Think about the bugle-boys and drummer-boys and the cabin-boys of old. These crusty old ba*tards who had them around weren't always generous and kind masters teaching their apprentices the skills of their trade. They were sodomizing and abusing these poor kids. The Greeks and Romans had their boys, and its been happening ever since. It's evil in one of its worst forms!
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