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Pope Francis News 2015: Vatican Makes Balloons New Symbol of Peace After Last Year's Dove Attack
Latin Post ^ | 25/01/2015 | Roberto Ontiveros

Posted on 01/28/2015 11:21:28 AM PST by Gamecock

On Sunday in St. Peter's Square, balloons were released as a gesture of peace instead of the traditional symbol of flying doves.

This comes one year after an attack by a seagull and a crow on the symbolic birds ignited protests by animal protection groups.

Ever since Pope John Paul II started the tradition of releasing doves on the last Sunday of January every year, children have been at a window of the papal studio overlooking the square with the pope, setting free a pair of doves for world peace, according to the Associated Press.

In 2014, the act of goodwill turned ugly when the birds were attacked mid-flight.

After the children, alongside Pope Francis, tossed a pair of doves from the window, a seagull swept down, then a crow got into the action, and the doves were attacked.

Animal rights advocates demanded the church put an end to the dove releases.

They appealed directly to Pope Francis himself, who is the first pope ever to take the name of Saint Francis of Assisi, a holy man known for his adoration of birds and other wild creatures.

When children in the square let go of their balloons pope Francis said, according to the Associated Press, "Here's the balloons that mean, 'peace.'"

Many gulls make their nests atop the colonnade of St. Peter's Square, not far from the Tiber River, and there they look for garbage. For an animal advocacy group, this meant putting the dove's lives at risk by freeing them.

After the seagull and crow incident, there were all kinds of Tweets and Facebook posts using words such as "demonic," "omen" and "apocalypse" to describe what the attack on the doves meant.

So, why did the seagull and crow attack the doves?

The National Geographic put it simply by saying the doves were attacked because they were "bred to be unnaturally white."


TOPICS: Current Events
KEYWORDS: balloons; birds; pope
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To: Gamecock

A good lesson here. Symbolism is meaningless. If you want peace, you have to kill the aggressors. Don’t bother throwing birds or balloons into the air - kill evil people before they kill us. Do something that will make a difference.


21 posted on 01/28/2015 11:40:45 AM PST by JudyinCanada
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To: Gamecock

22 posted on 01/28/2015 11:40:47 AM PST by seawolf101
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To: JudyinCanada

I hoped he’d take this as a message (about his silly “peace with Islam” fantasy) but he’s too full of himself to listen to anybody, including the Holy Spirit.


23 posted on 01/28/2015 11:42:33 AM PST by livius
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To: Gamecock

A message from God, I’d say. Switching the dove to a balloon won’t change things.


24 posted on 01/28/2015 11:42:51 AM PST by dragonblustar
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To: semaj

Because none of this had anything to do with perhaps God sending a message.

First off, Jesus said he wasn’t here to sow peace.

The attack on the dove was from a sea predator and a land predator.

The attack on the dove was from a white bird and a black bird.

The attack was coordinated. If you’ve ever had any experience feeding birds, the ‘pecking order’ is seagulls, then crows, then the smaller birds, ending with the chickadees and such. They seemed to work in concert.

He’s the Pope, right? Something like that happens to him and there’s no significance to it?

I guess hot CO2 (hot air) going up, with strings attached, and in a colorful package is as symbolic as you can be.

The hot air becomes as lofty as it can before it pops - the pressure of it ultimately overcoming its physical limitations (reality). In the winter, they sink, littering the ground, getting stuck in trees, coming to rest on the thorns.

The only symbol the Chruch needs is Christ on a crucifix. I can’t think of a more fitting symbol in a year with so much Christian martyrdom.


25 posted on 01/28/2015 11:44:50 AM PST by RinaseaofDs
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To: Mr. K

http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/news/archives/april99/stories/040199_01.shtml


26 posted on 01/28/2015 11:45:17 AM PST by fishtank (The denial of original sin is the root of liberalism.)
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To: Gamecock

Deut 14

11 “All clean birds you may eat. 12 But these you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, 13 the red kite, the falcon, and the kite after their kinds; 14 every raven after its kind; 15 the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after their kinds; 16 the little owl, the screech owl, the white owl, 17 the jackdaw, the carrion vulture, the fisher owl, 18 the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe and the bat.


27 posted on 01/28/2015 11:47:21 AM PST by fishtank (The denial of original sin is the root of liberalism.)
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To: Gamecock
Animal rights advocates demanded the church put an end to the dove releases. They appealed directly to Pope Francis himself, who is the first pope ever to take the name of Saint Francis of Assisi, a holy man known for his adoration of birds and other wild creatures. When children in the square let go of their balloons pope Francis said, according to the Associated Press, "Here's the balloons that mean, 'peace.'"

Coming soon - balloon animals from the Pope.


28 posted on 01/28/2015 11:48:00 AM PST by Alex Murphy ("the defacto Leader of the FR Calvinist Protestant Brigades")
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To: Gamecock

Balloons are environmentally malign in that they are indigestible by animals and persist in the environment. Sea life, turtles especially, are harmed and can perish when they ingest balloons.


29 posted on 01/28/2015 11:48:03 AM PST by Rockingham
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To: RinaseaofDs

Excellent post!

Very good analysis.


30 posted on 01/28/2015 11:48:33 AM PST by fishtank (The denial of original sin is the root of liberalism.)
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To: chris37
 photo peace-thru-sfp.jpg
31 posted on 01/28/2015 11:50:00 AM PST by mikrofon (+ Catholic BUMP +)
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To: Gamecock

Let’s just be glad he didn’t substitute the Dove Drop with the Turkey Drop.


32 posted on 01/28/2015 11:57:31 AM PST by lee martell
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To: RinaseaofDs

Could an eagle or hawk be trained to defend the doves?


33 posted on 01/28/2015 11:58:46 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: Gamecock
Nein . Nein
34 posted on 01/28/2015 11:58:49 AM PST by mikrofon (+ Catholic BUMP +)
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To: WayneS

You are right. Balloons are dangerous for birds, they ingest the pieces, they get tangled with the strings etc. On top, these doves are raised in captivity, they get released in ceremonies, they have no sense of behavior in the wild and they are easy prey to other birds. Cruelty, IMNSHO


35 posted on 01/28/2015 12:22:17 PM PST by etabeta
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To: Gamecock
Yep I heard that Noah had the same problem and had to revert to stones

Yep Frankie is the gift that keeps on giving

36 posted on 01/28/2015 12:31:19 PM PST by RnMomof7 (Ga 4:16)
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To: dfwgator

Ah, that Fabio moment. I remember it well!

I rode in that same “Apollo’s Chariot” seat at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg just a few days after that nose-to-goose contact incident.


37 posted on 01/28/2015 12:34:42 PM PST by ScottinVA (Communism, liberalism and Islam: Kindred ideologies dedicated to America's destruction.)
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To: Gamecock

I thought we weren’t “supposed” to release balloons because seagulls choke on them?


38 posted on 01/28/2015 12:35:09 PM PST by PghBaldy (12/14 - 930am -rampage begins... 12/15 - 1030am - Obama's advance team scouts photo-op locations.)
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To: Gamecock

http://youtu.be/S4kuslKHQNE


39 posted on 01/28/2015 12:37:46 PM PST by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment, a Matter of Fact, Not A Matter of Opinion)
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To: Rockingham

Maybe the “peace” gesture should be little kids blowing bubbles. No harm to birds, and a little soap on the pavement is not a bad thing.


40 posted on 01/28/2015 12:52:27 PM PST by married21 ( As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.)
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