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Last Temptation of Castro: Get Religion [To be Received Back into Church During Papal Visit]
Cranmer ^ | 2/4/12

Posted on 02/05/2012 2:58:27 PM PST by marshmallow

Fidel Castro will be received back into the communion of the Roman Catholic Church during Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the island in March, the Italian press is reporting. If true, this is a remarkable story — and one that has yet to catch the attention of editors this side of the Atlantic.

On 1 Feb 2012, La Republicca — [Italy’s second largest circulation daily newspaper, La Republicca follows a center-left political line and is strongly anti-clerical; not anti-Catholic per se but a critic of the institutional church] — reported that as death approaches, the octogenarian communist has turned to God for solace.

ABC’s Global Note news blog is the only U.S. general interest publication I have found that has reported this story. It referenced the La Republicca story and said that Castro’s

daughter Alina is quoted as saying “During this last period, Fidel has come closer to religion: he has rediscovered Jesus at the end of his life. It doesn’t surprise me because dad was raised by Jesuits.” The article quotes an unidentified high prelate in the Vatican who is working on the Pope’s Cuba trip: “Fidel is at the end of his strength. Nearly at the end of his life. His exhortations in the party paper Granma, are increasingly less frequent. We know that in this last period he has come closer to religion and God.”

Some Italian websites have even speculated as to when Fidel will make his confession and credo — setting the date as 27 March 2012 at 17:30 when the two ottantacinquenni, Pope Benedict XVI and Castro, will meet at the Palacio de la Revolución when the pope makes his official visit to the head of state, Raul Castro.

During Pope John Paul II’s 1998 visit to Cuba, Castro attended mass, but did...........

(Excerpt) Read more at geoconger.wordpress.com ...


TOPICS: Catholic; Ministry/Outreach; Religion & Politics; Skeptics/Seekers
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To: caww

So I noticed.....


521 posted on 02/10/2012 5:48:22 AM PST by metmom (For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore & do not submit again to a yoke of slavery)
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To: CynicalBear; D-fendr
This one? >>Did your church disappear afterward?<<

Of course it didn't disappear...I belong to the same church...

522 posted on 02/10/2012 5:48:29 AM PST by Iscool (You mess with me, you mess with the WHOLE trailerpark...)
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To: narses
>>“I have consistently posted scripture showing that whatever day you choose is your business.”<<

>>>Modernism defined. Your own Church, whatever feels good. Very sad.<<<

No, it’s actually scripture. If one is in the word rather than under the oppression of a cult one would know that.

Romans 14: 5-6 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

I realize the cults like their laws and rules to keep the people subjected to them but anyone seriously contemplating their eternal future need to leave the teachings of man and give their heart to Jesus alone. When Christ sets you free you are free indeed.

523 posted on 02/10/2012 6:14:45 AM PST by CynicalBear
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To: D-fendr
We have this in history, the history of the Church.

I keep asking you for yours. The people, places, dates, etc. Do you have a piece of history of your church?

I think God was responsible for the preservation of your religious history...

Thanks to its (your religion) meticulous historical record, we Christians can see how your religion perverted the scriptures over time...We can see how those who chose to follow the scriptures and refused to bow down to your relgion and its leaders were persecuted and burned at the stake, had their limbs torn from their bodies while still alive, babies cut out of their mother's stomachs, while both were still alive...

We can see how your religion has added to and deleted from scripture in the face of the warnings from God not to do so...

God preserved the written history of your religion and God as well preserved the words that he gave to Creation...Apparently in the case of your religion, it was to show his sheep the difference...The corruption...

Not only did Marty Luther realize the corruption in his/your religion when investigating the scriptures, he was the major player in putting the scriptures into the hands of regular Catholics who could read the scriptures for themselves to see how your/their religion deceitfully handled the word of God...Thank God for Martin Luther...And thank God for your Church history...

524 posted on 02/10/2012 6:21:00 AM PST by Iscool (You mess with me, you mess with the WHOLE trailerpark...)
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To: Bellflower
That sounded like a lot of “wisdom of man” teaching. Did you re-read your post? Did you notice how many times it included the words “I think” rather then “scripture teaches”?

Throughout scripture we are told how God’s people have incorporated the practices of the pagans and been condemned by God. I choose to alert people to where the practices came from and what God says about them. If you want to live by what “you think” it’s your business.

>> I really think that we have much "bigger fish to fry" such as hoping and praying for those that may be lost in a system of works to find their way into The Kingdom of God by grace through faith in Jesus and His finished work of dying on the cross for us.<<

There is no doubt of that but how many times did God command to totally destroy a people who’s land the Israelites conquered to guard against any of their ways being adopted by the Israelites? How many times did God warn against incorporating pagan practices in their worship?

525 posted on 02/10/2012 6:31:01 AM PST by CynicalBear
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To: D-fendr
>> Or are you resting on the position that the Church in the NT disappeared after Acts? Or that history ceased? Please explain...<<

The Catholic Church and the Mormons love to gloat about their genealogy and history. They somehow hope that earthly ties give them credence. They praise and venerate their earthly “church fathers” and build grand edifices and monuments in honor of them. The focus on the fleshly history and attachments its telling.

Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

526 posted on 02/10/2012 6:51:42 AM PST by CynicalBear
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To: metmom
>>Catholics need to get a grip on what freedom in Christ is all about. And it isn't about lockstep conformity to the dictates of of their self-appointed leadership.<<

That cannot be said enough.

527 posted on 02/10/2012 6:53:43 AM PST by CynicalBear
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To: Iscool
>>Of course it didn't disappear...I belong to the same church...<<

Isn’t it interesting that so many don’t realize that there are members of that same church who meet with those who are not a member of that church every time they gather in their local congregation?

528 posted on 02/10/2012 6:58:06 AM PST by CynicalBear
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To: narses
“I know that it has become quite popular for purist to renounce Christmas and Easter but I do not nor do I think does our LORD.”

And why would you think that??? It's not something that your learned from scripture...Jesus never indicated that we should be the least bit concerned about the date of his birth...

But one should ask, how did it end up on Dec. 25??? Why not October 14th??? Was their a Christian influence that put the birthday in December??? Absolutely not...So what gives???

The OT warns about cutting down trees and decorating them...

Easter??? The pagan celebration of the false goddess, the queen of heaven??? Why not celebrate the passover instead...The passover is not Easter...

And who is right?

II Tim. 2:15

Then there are more questions (that the fakirs here refuse to answer), like:

Unitarian or Trinitarian?

What fakirs??? Most all of hold to the Trinitarian view...

Baptism as a Sacrament or just symbolism?

Water baptism is something that God does...It is not spiritual...It is something we chose to do...Getting wet doesn't make one spiritual...Turning to and following Jesus is what water baptism is all about...Water baptism is a public confession that one has made Jesus the Savior of one's soul...Or at least it's supposed to be...

It's a public confession that symbolizes that we have died with Christ...Been buried with Christ...And have risen with Christ...

You have not died, been buried and risen in your flesh...

It's spiritual...And water can't do it for you...It can only be done in your soul and spirit, your heart...And you can't do it...Only God can make it happen...There's not enough water in the Pacific Ocean to make you 'born again'...

Turning to and following Jesus while asking Jesus to become one's Saviour results in the Spiritual baptism...This baptism comes from God...This baptism has not one thing to do with water...

Communion as a symbol or the Body and Blood of Christ?

It's neither...It's a memmorial...

What day is “the Sabbath”?

Saturday of course...The bible tells us that...Don't you read the bible???

But then God tells us that any day we chose can be our sabbath...Do you know why??? It's because the Sabbath was not made for God...The Sabbath was made for man...

Women as authority figures in a congregation?

It's all in the bible...Women can be authorative with other women and children...

What Creeds or Confessions do we believe in?

I don't subject myself to any creeds or confessions...I can write my own creed based on the scriptures and it will be far better and more accurate than the ones your religion puts out...

Where is the Christian imperative to:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,. “
And how to reconcile that COMMAND with the obfuscations, disagreements and odd evasions here?

It's above your pay grade...You guys don't even get the milk of the world let alone trying to tackle some meat...

If you can't even connect the rest of the command to do 'all' that Jesus taught, you're in no position to even discuss the issue...

529 posted on 02/10/2012 6:58:47 AM PST by Iscool (You mess with me, you mess with the WHOLE trailerpark...)
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To: narses
So you do not believe that Christ set up a Church? To teach?

No, Jesus did not set up a Church, to teach...Jesus set up many churches...And Jesus knew there would be heresies...And Jesus allowed the heresies to exist, within the churches...To exist so that we could see their errors...Thus, the Catholic religion with it's single Church...

530 posted on 02/10/2012 7:04:51 AM PST by Iscool (You mess with me, you mess with the WHOLE trailerpark...)
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To: CynicalBear; metmom

——Catholics need to get a grip on what freedom in Christ is all about. And it isn’t about lockstep conformity to the dictates of of their self-appointed leadership.<< That cannot be said enough.——

What you are free to call “freedom in Christ” under Luther’s rubric of the private interpretation of Scripture, we would call disobedience to Christ.

“If he refuses to listen to the church, treat him as a pagan or tax collector.” —Jesus


531 posted on 02/10/2012 7:06:11 AM PST by St_Thomas_Aquinas
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To: narses; Bellflower
Odd - Holy Scripture disagrees.

Nope, it don't...

532 posted on 02/10/2012 7:07:04 AM PST by Iscool (You mess with me, you mess with the WHOLE trailerpark...)
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To: Rashputin
Just don't pretend to have historical fact rather than opinions on your side when you base claims on what has been totally debunked many times over.

Nope...Nothing's been debunked...Just disagreed with, by your religion...

533 posted on 02/10/2012 7:10:10 AM PST by Iscool (You mess with me, you mess with the WHOLE trailerpark...)
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To: St_Thomas_Aquinas; CynicalBear; Iscool
What you are free to call “freedom in Christ” under Luther’s rubric of the private interpretation of Scripture, we would call disobedience to Christ.

Don't conflate disobedience to the Roman church to disobedience to Christ. It's not the same thing.

“If he refuses to listen to the church, treat him as a pagan or tax collector.” —Jesus

And the Catholic church is good at that, just like Iscool pointed out in post 524.

And I see no Scriptural basis for that kind of treatment of *heretics* sanctioned by Jesus. What chapter and verse is it again that tells the church to burn heretics at the stake?

534 posted on 02/10/2012 7:22:24 AM PST by metmom (For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore & do not submit again to a yoke of slavery)
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To: St_Thomas_Aquinas; metmom
>> “If he refuses to listen to the church, treat him as a pagan or tax collector.” —Jesus<<

How interesting that you quote a passage from Romans 16 but neglect to address who Paul is writing to.

Romans 16:5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.

He was advising the local church “that is in their house”, not some centrally organized hierarchy. The RCC routinely uses those types of half truths and deceptive practices to retain control and superiority over those who fail to study the word for themselves.

535 posted on 02/10/2012 7:45:14 AM PST by CynicalBear
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To: CynicalBear; metmom; Iscool; St_Thomas_Aquinas
Three important questions to ask before diving into the Scripture pool:

1. WHO WROTE IT?

2. WHO WAS IT WRITTEN TO?

3. WHAT DOES IT SAY?

If the first two aren't answered FIRST, then the third one is almost guaranteed to confuse.

536 posted on 02/10/2012 8:05:23 AM PST by smvoice (Better Buck up, Buttercup. The wailing and gnashing are for an eternity..)
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To: smvoice; metmom; Iscool; St_Thomas_Aquinas
>>If the first two aren't answered FIRST, then the third one is almost guaranteed to confuse.<<

That is so true. I might just add that it’s “aren’t answered correctly”. The cults love to inject their slant on things in an attempt to wrest control of the people.

537 posted on 02/10/2012 8:14:26 AM PST by CynicalBear
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To: CynicalBear

ABSOLUTELY. As your post 535 perfectly proves. :)


538 posted on 02/10/2012 8:20:17 AM PST by smvoice (Better Buck up, Buttercup. The wailing and gnashing are for an eternity..)
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To: metmom

You gave NT examples. How about a piece of history of your church between then and yesterday?


539 posted on 02/10/2012 8:44:33 AM PST by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
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To: Iscool
Of course it didn't disappear...I belong to the same church....

If it didn't disappear, where is your church after the NT?

540 posted on 02/10/2012 8:46:08 AM PST by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
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