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[Barf Alert] Vatican on Hagia Sophia: Don’t Blame Islam VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - A Vatican representative is insisting that Turkey's conversion of Hagia Sophia to a mosque should not be seen as "Islamic aggression" even as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan fired a shot across the Vatican's bow in an Islamic supremacist speech. "It is the product of the same logic to demand the Vatican be converted into a museum and insist that Hagia Sophia remain as a museum," Erdoğan declared on Turkish television Monday after Turkey's top court annulled President Kemal Atatürk's 1934 decision to turn Hagia Sophia into a museum as...

White privilege is often described through the lens of Peggy McIntosh’s groundbreaking essay “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” Originally published in 1988, the essay helps readers recognize white privilege by making its effects personal and tangible. For many, white privilege was an invisible force that white people needed to recognize. It was being able to walk into a store and find that the main displays of shampoo and panty hose were catered toward your hair type and skin tone. It was being able to turn on the television and see people of your race widely represented. It was being...

Bishop places principal on leave after students, parents protest ousting of gay ‘married’ teachers The Archdiocese of Seattle placed Mike Prato on leave and won't say whether he's being paid during this time. SEATTLE, Washington, February 28, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — After two Catholic high school teachers who entered same-sex “marriages” resigned, and students and parents protested, the bishop placed the school’s principal on leave until the end of the year. The Archdiocese of Seattle told LifeSiteNews and other media that the principal, Mike Prato, was put on leave “out of care and concern for him” but did not answer repeated...

Adolf Hitler loved American movies. Every night at about 9:00, after the Führer had tired out his listeners with his hours-long monologues, he would lead his dinner guests to his private screening room. The lights would go down, and Hitler would fall silent, probably for the first time that day. He laughed heartily at his favorites Laurel and Hardy and Mickey Mouse, and he adored Greta Garbo: Camille brought tears to the Führer’s eyes. Tarzan, on the other hand, he thought was silly. As it turns out, Hitler’s love for American movies was reciprocated by Hollywood. A forthcoming book by...

[Catholic Caucus] New Hong Kong bishop to be announced within weeks Fr Peter Choy Wai-man is expected to be appointed as the new bishop Priests in the Diocese of Hong Kong are expecting the announcement of their new bishop within the next two weeks.“We have been told to expect an announcement within the next ten days or so,” a senior priest in Hong Kong told CNA on February 15. The priest confirmed that Rev. Peter Choy Wai-man is the expected appointee.“I think by the end of the month we should see something official,” the priest added.The Hong Kong diocese...

Abp. Hebda Throws Priest Under the Bus Over Muslim Remarks Cleric warned Islam is the top threat to Christianity and to America MINNEAPOLIS (ChurchMilitant.com) - A priest of the archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is being forced by his archbishop to apologize for preaching on the dangers of Islam. At the behest of Abp. Bernard Hebda, Fr. Nick VanDenBroeke apologized Wednesday for his Jan. 5 homily in which he said, among other things, "Islam is the greatest threat in the world both to Christianity and to America." He went on record saying immigration of Muslims should be curtailed owing to the dangers inherent in their Islamic religion.Tweet Hebda...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Thursday that President Donald Trump has “tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox" with the targeted killing of Iran's top general in an airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport. The former vice president joined other Democratic White House hopefuls in criticizing Trump's order, saying it could leave the U.S. “on the brink of a major conflict across the Middle East." The Pentagon said the U.S. military killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, in Baghdad Friday at the direction of Trump. The attack is expected to draw...

On December 7, North Korea claimed to have conducted a “very important test” at its Sohae Satellite Launching Station that “will have an important impact on changing the strategic position of the DPRK.”[1] The North Koreans did not describe what was tested, but prior open-source imagery suggests it was a static (ground) test of a large liquid-propellant rocket engine.[2] It remains to be seen what rocket system the engine was associated with: a previously launched intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), intermediate-range ballistic missile, space launch vehicle, or a new system. In any case, the static test could be the precursor to...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Saturday that denuclearization is off the negotiating table with the United States and lengthy talks with Washington are not needed. Ambassador Kim Song’s comment appeared to go further than North Korea’s earlier warning that discussions related to its nuclear weapons program, the central focus of U.S. engagement with North Korea in the past two years, might have to be taken off the table given Washington’s refusal to offer concessions. Kim said in a statement that the “sustained and substantial dialogue” sought by the United States was a...

A majority of Germans are in favor of reducing Germany’s reliance on the United States militarily, according to a YouGov poll commissioned by the German news agency DPA. According to the poll, 55% of Germans believe that European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) should protect themselves from an attack without US help. In addition, a majority of poll participants believe the US should partially (23%) or completely (26%) withdraw its 30,000 troops stationed in Germany. Conversely, 54% said NATO should work more closely with Russia rather than relying on deterrence. Meanwhile, 37% are for lifting sanctions against...

Rudy Giuliani: The witness I relied upon if you paid any attention to what I did last week is someone named Victor Shokin. That’s the affidavit I put out plus two others… Those three all say that Joe Biden pressured the president to fire Shokin because Shokin had just come upon a laundered $3 million transaction to Hunter Biden. And he was told by the Serbian government that the United States government would not allow to give that information out. That’s the reason they say they were fired… That’s a lot stronger proof than any silly whistleblower nonsense about something...

Italy: Nursery school calls off its Christmas play for fear of offending Muslims Non-Catholics have lived in Italy for centuries. What is different now? Now there is in Italy a population of non-Catholics among whom are some radically intolerant people who believe that Christianity in all its forms is a twisting and hijacking of the true teachings of Jesus the prophet of Islam. And the principle is always and everywhere the same: in Muslim countries, one must conform one’s behavior to Muslim sensibilities. And in non-Muslim countries, one must conform one’s behavior to Muslim sensibilities.“Xmas play scrubbed for fear of...

Pope Eliminates Pork from Banquet out of Respect for Muslims ROME — Pope Francis invited 1,500 mostly poor people to lunch this weekend to celebrate the World Day for the Poor and requested that all pork be removed from the menu so as not to give offense to Muslim guests. This Sunday marked the third annual celebration of the World Day of the Poor, a Catholic commemoration established by Pope Francis in November 2016 to celebrate the end of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

WASHINGTON: Ousted National Security Advisor John Bolton said Kim Jong Un “will never give up” nuclear weapons voluntarily — an implicit warning to his former boss. Bolton was restating a consensus view of the Intelligence Community, one that runs counter to President Trump’s faith that the North Korean dynast can be wheedled and cajoled. Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies today, Bolton attracted a forest of TV cameras hoping for some fireworks. They probably thought they were getting something hot when Bolton made his comment about North Korea but, as Breaking D readers know, the Intelligence Community’s...

After Walmart and Kroger earlier this week urged customers not to openly carry firearms in their stores, drug store giants Walgreens and CVS, along with the Wegmans Food Markets announced Thursday that they were joining in making the same request, continuing a movement among major stores concerning gun violence. "We are joining other retailers in asking our customers to no longer openly carry firearms into our stores other than authorized law enforcement officials," Walgreens stated. "We join a growing chorus of businesses in requesting that our customers, other than authorized law enforcement personnel, do not bring firearms into our stores,"...

North Korea appears to be preparing to test a new ballistic missile submarine capable of launching nuclear missiles, significantly bolstering the regime’s ability to conduct long-distance attacks. Satellite photographs taken Monday of the Sinpo South Shipyard in North Korea show the new submarine with nearby cranes and support craft, suggesting the submarine may be in preparation for a launch test. Last month, North Korea claimed that Kim Jong Un had inspected a “newly built submarine” at the shipyard. The new photographs appear to confirm the claim, say Joseph Bermudez and Victor Cha of Beyond Parallel, a research project backed by...

Weeks after the collapse of the summit between Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, the North Korean leader finally broke his silence. In a speech heavily focused on foreign affairs delivered to the Supreme People’s Assembly – North Korea’s pro forma parliament – Kim made clear his position. He said that a third summit with Trump wasn’t off the table just yet, but getting there would require evidence that the U.S. position on sanctions relief more seriously. To this end, Kim also echoed a message he had originally delivered during his New Year’s Day address: that...

The crosses on graves in an Italian cemetery in Pieve di Cento have been covered with black cloth so as not to offend those who may come from another religion. The cemetery, which is located in Bologna in a town of around 7,000 people, has also installed motorised blackout curtains in a local chapel following renovations to hide Roman Catholic symbols during ceremonies involving other denominations, Il Giornale reports. Following the reports of the coverings of the symbols, many have expressed criticism including Forza Italia (Forward Italy) deputy Galeazzo Bignami who denounced the move saying those looking not to offend were disrespecting Christian values...

See Also: The Omar Affair is a turning point, by Thomas Lifson If Democrats thought that 'censoring' Ilhan Omar for her anti-Semitic statements was the way to get her to stop, they've got another thing coming. Actually, their repulsively watered down resolution, explicitly triggered by her claims that Jews hypnotize the world, Jewish money ("all about the Benjamins, baby") controls U.S. politics, and U.S. Jews have dual-loyalties to Israel, has only emboldened her to step up new lines of attack, this time slamming the sincerity of people who really are concerned about anti-Semitism, calling it "faux." Via Instapundit's Stephen Green:  ...

This article is written by Moris Polanco, originally published by Instituto Fe y Libertad and republished with permission.The elderly cardinal Zen Ze-kiun, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, said in his blog on February 5, 2018, “The brothers and sisters of mainland China are not afraid of being reduced to poverty, of being put into prison, of shedding their blood. Their greatest suffering is to see themselves betrayed by ‘family.’” He’s right.For a moment let’s put ourselves in the shoes of the bishops, priests, and laity who have been faithful to the Roman Catholic Church. Since the triumph of Marxism-Maoism in...