Monday, April 5, 2010

The Clerical Sewer Gets Deeper And Wider

Cardinal Schonborn seems to be repeatedly alluding to something about the "Vatican" and it's policies for covering up high profile sexual abusers.

In the interview with Fr. Tom Doyle that precedes this post, there is this quote:
"And there's a lot of serious, serious corruption that needs to be taken care of so the Church can really be what it's supposed to be."

I, as well as many others, have pounded on the theme that until the authority and accountability structure in the Church is radically revised, we can have no confidence that anything will change when it comes to abuse of the laity. The following article from the London Times gives a great example of how serious the corruption in the Vatican is, and how powerless even Pope Benedict was and is, to combat it's influence. This kind of corruption can only exist inside a silent all powerful clique which is precisely why certain Cardinals are coming to the defense of that power structure.



John Paul ‘ignored abuse of 2,000 boys’
Bojan Pancevski in Vienna and John Follain in Rome - UK Times - 4/4/10

When John Paul II died five years ago the crowd that packed St Peter’s Square for his funeral clamoured “Santo subito (Saint now)!” in a spontaneous tribute to the charisma of the Polish pontiff.
As the faithful marked the anniversary of John Paul’s death on Good Friday, however, he was being drawn into the scandal over child abuse in the Catholic church that has confronted his successor, Benedict XVI, with the worst crisis of his reign.

Allegations that the late pontiff blocked an inquiry into a paedophile cardinal, promoted senior church figures despite accusations that they had molested boys and covered up innumerable cases of abuse during his 26-year papacy have cast a cloud over his path to sainthood.

The most serious claims related to Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, an Austrian friend of John Paul’s who abused an estimated 2,000 boys over decades but never faced any sanction from Rome. (This is a totally mind numbing figure and indicative of just how perverted this clerical culture of silence really is.)

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Groer’s successor, criticised the handling of that scandal and other abuse cases last week after holding a special service in St Stephen’s cathedral, Vienna, entitled “Admitting our guilt”.

Schönborn condemned the “sinful structures” within the church and the patterns of “silencing” victims and “looking away”. (I think there is a cabal with in the Vatican that silences reformers and forces them to 'look away'. I think that is the point that Schonborn is really trying to make.)

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — who became Pope Benedict — had tried to investigate the abuses as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, according to Schönborn. But his efforts had been blocked by “the Vatican”, an apparent reference to John Paul.(Maybe 'the Vatican' refers to much more than just JPII.)

Asked by The Sunday Times whether John Paul’s role in the cover-up of abuse should be investigated, Schönborn said: “I have known Pope Benedict personally during 37 years of amiable acquaintance and I can say with certainty that ... he made entirely clear efforts not to cover things up but to tackle and investigate them. This was not always met with approval in the Vatican.” (This is really an interesting quote because he is asked specifically about JPII, and chooses to restate Benedict's inability to effect change because of 'the Vatican'.)

The Groer affair became public in 1995 when former pupils of an elite Catholic school accused him of sexual abuse.

After an outcry, Groer was replaced and made the prior of a convent. He was never punished and issued only a vague apology in 1998 before retreating to a nunnery where he lived until his death in 2003. Some of his victims were offered “hush money” from the church.

Michael Tfirst, 54, one of Groer’s victims, claims to have reported the abuse to highranking church officials from the 1970s onwards. He says the church paid him £3,300 in 2004 under a contract that obliged him to keep quiet.

“There is no question that Ratzinger knew all the details of reports on abuse within the church, as there is no doubt that John Paul, his superior, took part in a massive and systematic cover-up,” Tfirst said.

John Paul also faced criticism last week from Poland for protecting Archbishop Juliusz Paetz, who was accused of abusing trainee priests. Letters detailing the charges were sent to John Paul’s office and to Ratzinger in 2000 but were ignored. Paetz resigned in 2002 when the allegations became public. (Nothing is ever done until the 'anti Catholic' media forces something to get done. I'm going to start referring to the media as the 'pro Jesus' media.)

Stanislaw Obirek, a Polish theologian and a former Jesuit priest, said: “I believe John Paul is the key person responsible for the cover-up of abuse cases because most of it occurred during his papacy. How can someone who is to blame for this be beatified?”

In America critics pointed out that although Benedict has borne the brunt of criticism over ignoring the scandal of Father Lawrence Murphy, accused of molesting 200 deaf boys at a special school in Wisconsin, Ratzinger had acted on the authority of John Paul. (True, but he should have acted on the authority of his personal conscience.)

Another beneficiary of John Paul’s discreet approach was Marcial Maciel Degollado, a Mexican priest known as Father Maciel, who founded a conservative religious order. He was accused by former members of abuse in 1998. John Paul blessed Maciel in the Vatican in late 2004, at a time when Ratzinger was investigating him. A year after Ratzinger became pope, the Vatican ordered Maciel to lead “a reserved life of prayer and penance”, effectively removing him from power.

John Paul was also accused of ignoring controversy over John Magee, a former private secretary to three popes including the Polish pontiff, who named him Bishop of Cloyne in 1987. Late last month Magee was forced to resign after an independent report found that his diocese in Ireland had put children at risk. (Magee would do his soul and the Church a great service if he came out and spoke the truth of what he really knows. I imagine the hope in some quarters is the he takes the Marcinkus route and retires in silence through to the grave.)

In the Vatican the spiralling allegations have prompted a siege-like mentality. Father Federico Lombardi, Benedict’s spokesman, declined to comment on John Paul’s handling of abuse cases. “We’re busy with Easter celebrations, let’s focus on the homilies,” he said.

The Polish cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, John Paul’s private secretary for four decades, rejected as “unfair and misleading” any attempt to distinguish between the approaches of the two popes to abuse cases. “Benedict is strongly committed to clearing things up, like a father,” Dziwisz told La Repubblica, the Italian newspaper.

In Europe there are signs of the faithful turning their backs on the church in large numbers. In Austria alone more than 20,000 Catholics left the church in March.

In America there was a furious response by Jewish groups to a Good Friday sermon by Father Raniero Cantalamessa, Benedict’s personal preacher, in which he compared the wave of attacks on the church to anti-Semitism.

Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, of the American Jewish Committee, protested: “So far I haven’t seen Saint Peter burn. The Vatican is trying to turn the persecutors into victims.”

John Paul was expected to be beatified in October but the process may be delayed. A French nun who appeared to have been miraculously cured of Parkinson’s disease through his intercession has reportedly been found to be suffering from a different illness.

Giancarlo Zizola, a leading expert on the Vatican, said the church officials who had gathered documents and questioned witnesses about John Paul’s suitability for sainthood had examined “negative” aspects of his papacy, including his handling of abuse cases.

“There’s no chance of Benedict delaying the beatification because of the abuse scandal,” Zizola said. “On the contrary, I expect he’ll accelerate it.” (Should Benedict cave into this, it will only add more accelerant to the bonfire.)

Allegations
Critics say John Paul II:

- Failed to encourage bishops to report accusations of paedophilia by priests to the police.
- Ignored accusations against senior members of the clergy, at times promoting them to higher office.
- Allowed many priests accused of paedophilia to be transferred to a new diocese without anyone being warned of their record. (Across international lines to avoid prosecution)
- Decreed that “pontifical secrecy” must apply to cases of sexual abuse in church trials.


*********************************************




I wrote in a response to a comment the other day that as one went up the food chain, the perversion would get more distilled. I also wrote that I thought Cardinal Schonborg was hinting for the media to use the Groer case as a starting point to further revelations. I'm glad to see at least one 'pro Jesus' media outlet is starting to take up that challenge.

Pope Benedict is up to his ears in organized clerical sewage, and no amount of Papal pep rallies orchestrated by the conservative Vatican cabal of Cardinals is going to sweeten the stench.

32 comments:

  1. "Organized Clerical Sewage" - now that would make a great new blog title!

    What a term! How apt!

    I repeat (in a different way) what I said in a comment to your earlier blog: Benedict may be trapped in the sewer himself but he fails to SAY that! He fails to POINT to the sewer, he fails to CRY OUT that the sewer is drowning the faithful! And thus he fails in his duty: To SERVE the WORD! To further the Kingdom.

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  2. Who make up this "Vatican?" What are their names? Who is really in charge if the Pope's hands are tied and disabled from speaking the truth and getting rid of the filth?

    They are definitely not followers of Christ. Colleen, from your earlier post you ask "who is holding a gun at the Pope's head?"

    In the pictures I've seen of Benedict in the last few days he looks as forlorn and distraught as Pope JPII did when supposedly he just heard about the sex scandals in the Church. He's got the same look about him.

    The rumor is that there will be only one more Pope.
    Have you heard this Colleen?

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  3. Yes butterfly I have read the prophecies about one more pope. The problem with prophecy is you don't really know just how a given world is being used.

    I think we might have one more "Emperor' pope who actually does call a Vatican III and then something entirely different, maybe a strictly spiritual head whose authority is curtailed, or a council kind of papal authority that is not centered in specifically in one man.

    One must keep in mind this prophecy refers to the papacy, not the Catholic Church itself. The Church is the People of God, and Jesus will not abandon His people. He may however, assist the Holy Spirit in revamping our notion of Papal authority.

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  4. I have interpreted the prophesy just as you have Colleen, that it refers to the end of the Papacy as we've known it for too many years, that the Catholic Church as the People of God will never be abandoned by Jesus or His true followers. Everything is pointing in that direction, to the prophesy.

    I know many who do not understand this prophesy.

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  5. Let's use Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer as an example.

    - Did the clerical power structure in the institutional Roman Catholic Church take an otherwise well adjusted man and make him a pedophile?

    - Did the clerical power structure in the institutional Roman Catholic Church accept an ill adjusted man with pedophilic (sic) tendencies and:

    * exacerbate an existing, overt problem?

    * exacerbate a latent problem?

    * somehow enable a transition from a latent problem to an actualized, overt problem?

    My layperson's understanding of sexual abuse is that it's a "family" disease. Not in the sense of a genetic predisposition, to be sure, but a continuing pattern of behavior, across generations, in a family system. If that's the case, it's not enough to blame the institutional Church. Another question that is not being asked or answered is "Where do these pedophiles come from, and what happened in their family of origin?"

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  6. Mark, I think your family analysis needs to be extended to the clerical family. The generation of which Groer was very often part of the seminary system from junior high on.

    Richard Sipe has an article dealing with the kinds of 'grooming' which goes on in all levels of seminary training. While most of the time this is benign, it isn't always.

    http://www.richardsipe.com/Comments/2008-04-21-McCarrick_Syndrome.html

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  7. I agree with your analysis, Colleen.

    Mark, it's well known, for example, that therapists who themselves have had sexual relations with professors or supervisors are far more likely to do so with patients.

    I can tell you, Mark, that seminarians have told me of being "hit on" by their priest-professors as well as fellow seminarians.

    So Colleen is correct. In a climate of secrecy and covert sex, there is ample "family endorsement" of violating celibacy.

    Here's another thing. In the climate in which many of the current hierarchy were raised, acting on sexual impulses was often taught to be as sinful as having sexual fantasies. In a case like that, where fantasies are sinful in themselves, then there is little reason not to just go ahead and act them out as well.

    It's the "climate" around someone - whether in a home where abuse is going on or in an institution, whether religious or not.

    I have twice experienced working in an institutional setting where 2 people who worked there were having an affair with each other. In both cases, the affair was "secret" and yet a climate of sexualized speech arose! As if there was subliminal knowledge of the affairs which leaked into the very language being used by others around them!

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  8. TheraP you bring up a crucial component of this scandal, and that's the very real negative energy which has facillitated it's spread and transmission.

    Your description of how the energy of a so called 'secret' affair will effect the people around them is well noted.

    If you can not make real changes with in a given environment, you can not change the energy which effects people on a pre conscious level. This mess in Catholicism has to be cleaned up and rooted out and the most certainly means the upper management levels. This filth is now and always has rolled down hill.

    I call it 'organized clerical sewage' for a reason.

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  9. My wife and I both come from big baby-boom generation traditional Catholic families. If you include the first cousins, some who are as close as siblings, and our spouses a family gathering would number about 100 people.

    We saw most of the family at Easter. At least two thirds said they are leaving the RC church or have done so already because of this scandal. Those who intend to stay, mostly because they say they're too old to change, don't intend to give any more money.

    Some of the family have worked for the church. We've all entertained priests, nuns, and other religious in our homes. We all attended Catholic schools and universities. Most of us are in positions of leadership in our chosen fields. Most of us are somewhat liberal, but we have conservatives among the clan too.

    We can't stand the shame, the hypocrisy, the toleration of evil. Even my 85 year old mother, a conservative by nature and habit, can't understand why her Sisters of St. Joseph's friends should be excluded from the complete participation in the Church. She's furious! (Don't mess with an Irish Catholic mother.)

    We didn't talk about much else. It was a kind of "last Easter" for my family I'm sorry to report.

    p2p

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  10. Not to burst anyone's balloon.....but while the Prophecy of St. Malachy is very historically accurate & seemingly genuine, there is a problem:

    It was tampered with. Older printed sources make it VERY clear that "Petrus Romanus" (Peter the Roman) was a probable later addition/forgery. Other sources (which shall not be named) indicate that the addition was made in the late 19th century.

    This added/forged 'prophecy' has all the legitimacy of the alleged prophecies of the Great King & Holy Pope. Also 'appearing' in the Victorian era, as out of whole cloth. In tandem with the much vaunted "Lost Book of Nostradamus".

    Somebody seems to have all the bases covered......to prop something up.

    In the same manner that the same folks have & are tampering with the words of Mary at Garabandal - a very legitimate series of messages from God, delivered by Mary.

    Mary delivered in 1961 her own 'prophecy of the popes". It is very plain:

    "After this one (John XXIII) there will be three more popes. And then there will be no more".

    Mary was neither gilding the lily nor speaking in metaphor; this is literal. As what she said at Garabandal is coherent with Scripture & with the messages of LaSalette, Fatima & Akita, there is no escaping what is being pointed at here.

    If this prophecy angers or scandalized anyone, take it up with God, not me. But deal with the reality which is before you now.

    God will never abandon those whose faith & trust is in Him. The Ekklesia - the spiritual family of those who believe in Jesus & the Gospel - will not be abandoned.

    However this may not apply to the Administrators of Religion, as they have long since abandoned Him.

    Anon Y. Mouse

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  11. Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Father Federico Lombardi, Bishop John Magee, Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, and Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Groer’s successor, are all Opus Dei men. While Ratzinger is not an official member, he is of one mind with them, and is 'their man'.

    It is very easy to play 'pin the blame of the dead man'. Even easier when most of humanity has been conditioned by TV to have forget the news of yesterday. And the facts of history.

    JPII was afflicted with Parkinson's Disease since c. 1988, preceded by & further complicated by other long standing health problems. By the early 90s it became increasingly obvious that he not only had serious physical issues, but that he was NOT in charge of his papacy, much less the Vatican Administration. A man who is increasingly seen in public to be stumbling, falling down, shaking, drooling & increasingly having difficulty in reading his lines.....er......speaking (get the hint?) is obviously NOT in charge.

    Thus it becomes obvious that JPII was stage managed, increasingly, from the 1981 assassination attempt onward. By the year 2000 the poor man's speech was almost completely incoherent. Despite the well timed & spontaneous cheers at incomprehensible syllables, no matter what the language.....

    There is a line in the old Rod Stewart song: "..her ad-libbed lines were well rehearsed"...

    Now let us turn to the well planned & 'spontaneous' Santo Subito banners, cheers & demonstrations at the funeral for JPII. I personally know someone who was present on that day in St. Peter's Square. It has been made very clear to me that these things 'spontaneously happened....on cue'. The folks with the banners & cheers were trucked in from Poland & elsewhere in Europe by Opus Dei & their ancillaries.

    So now on one hand we see blame cast on a now dead, very sickly old man who could not dress himself, much less had any true cognizance of what was going on. Nor was he in control for half of his papacy.

    Making a 'saint' of JPII is only as important to them as its potential fiscal & public relations utility.

    And on the other hand, we have an Opus Dei Cardinal claiming that JPIIs second in command (Ratzinger) had his hands tied by the invalid of a boss whom he & the others in the 'inner circle' used as a literal puppet. As well as hinting that blame rests with 'the Vatican', of which Schoenborn is a part as a Prince of the Church.

    Colleen - you are very correct in your suggestion that Schoeborn is doing this intentionally. Not merely to shift blame, but to uncover more ugly things. This has a very diabolical purpose: not to clean house, nor for any genuine sweeping reform & purification of the Church.

    Rather, to destroy the faith of millions. As most Catholics see "the Church" (the Vatican organization) as Divine. As representing God. As under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As being the virtual object of veneration & loyalty (instead of God).

    Thus the 'house' of multitudes is, as Jesus said, 'built upon sand'. And Opus Dei is now sweeping it away.

    It is not for nothing that the then Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Wlodimir Ledóchowski in 1940, after much investigation, sent a report to the Vatican in which he labelled Opus Dei as 'an danger to the faith', & referred to it as 'Ecclesiastical Freemasonry'. He described it as having a "secretive character" and saw "signs in it of a covert inclination to dominate the world with a form of Christian Masonry."

    Fr. Ledochowski died on December 13, 1942.

    It is not for nothing that his obituary was published in the New York Times on December 10, 1942.

    Four days earlier......

    Anon Y. Mouse

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  12. THere used to be four more comments on this thread and I don't have a clue where they are. My apologies to those whose comments were apparently etherized.

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  13. Help me understand the influence and purpose of Opus Dei. One of my good friends was a chaplain who ran a retreat center until Opus Dei marginalized it. He claims all the World Youth Days are Opus Dei events.

    Thoughts? Anon Y Mouse?

    p2p

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  14. I have heard from other sources that Santa Subito demonstration was all staged. As were the massive demonstrations in Spain against the Zapatero government. Opus Dei, the Legion, and Neo Cats are all seemingly about the same thing, which, seems to me literally 'taking over the world for their somewhat fascist version of Jesus.

    This is the exact same agenda that the New Apostolic Reformation types are engaged in. The sort of Evangelical pyramid scheme with which Sarah Palin is heavily connected. Which is based out of Colorado Springs which is like just down the road from AB Chaput's headquarters. Nothing better for both these groups than bashing gays, and marching for unborn babies, (never the born ones).

    I certainly see Schonborn as being up to something, because he is not letting this notion of unnamed Vatican people and their connection with Groer drop.

    The other thing I've noticed is that all of a sudden Weakland is being laid out there as totally responsible for the Murphy fiasco in Milwaukee when the truth is he wasn't even bishop when Murphy was transferred out of the diocese.

    I'm sure Schonborn 'other guys' will all turn out to be progressives.

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  15. Clerica Whispers reports that Cardinal Mahony's replacement for the L.A. archdiocese is a member of Opus Dei.

    Never mind that he's Latino.

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  16. p2p

    Yes - WYDs are the brainchild of Opus Dei, having started coincidentally when OD was given its Personal Prelature status by JPII (who was likely clueless as to the big picture). These served the goals of the Opus by elevating the status of the pope to that of a mega-rock star. Complete with JPII coloring books for the kids.

    The denizens of the Opus & its evil twin the Legion of Christ are behind the publicity & manifestations of vast quantities of 'youths'. As one does not see these 'youths' at mass on Sunday, one might otherwise wonder from whence they came...O.o

    If you want to know the 'company song' version of the purpose of Opus Dei, read the article on Wikipedia. Or read their website - wearing garlic & a crucifix:)

    A more realistic view may be had by reading: www.odan.org/

    That site goes into great detail as to what they own, their true attitude, & the experiences of former members. You may find it quite...interesting. And they only scratch the surface.

    Also the book by Michael J. Walsh, "Opus Dei: A Look Inside the Powerful & Secretive Society Within the Catholic Church".

    And...."Beyond the Threshhold: A Life in Opus Dei" by Maria Carmen de Tapia.....As the former head of the Women's Section of the Opus, she knew Escriva...and sheds much light on the truth.

    It has been set up as a (literal) Parallel Church, which operates (to quote them) "on the principle of insertion into the local church". In plain English, this is the mode of MI-5 or the CIA. Infiltration; mole from within.

    They operate on the principle of 'engulf & devour'. All must be leavened by the spirit of the Obra - a word which they claim means their 'work'. But which holds a much deeper meaning as I have hinted to Colleen. They want to make the Church & the world their oyster.

    They personify the Leaven of the Pharisees, of which Christ warned in the Gospels.

    Note also that their reputed 89K official membership only reflects the tip of the iceberg. This is not counting the vast number of clergy & laity who are Associate or Cooperator status members. Who do not need to be Catholic (or even believe in God).

    A clue to what they are about is in their name. But as even the worst Latin student can tell you...."Opus Dei" does not correctly translate as 'the work of God'. It means something quite different, which I mentioned previously.

    If desired, I will explain.

    Anon Y. Mouse

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  17. Colleen -

    You are close on the trail of grasping the connectivity between the seemingly disconnected elements mentioned.

    Let's use Chaput as an example. Is he a liberal or a conservative? Neither?
    A true player of the Dialectic.....engaged in a Strategy of Tension will be one, then the other, then neither.

    Remember the Joe Pesce character in the film JFK? "It's crazy....everybody's flipping sides, back & forth...black is white; white is black...anti-Castro then pro-Castro..". What that character said has great prescience now. Think about it.

    Chaput has been pegged as somewhere between moderate & somewhat liberal, YET is very close to the Legion of Christ. Which he is in charge of investigating. At the same time he is very close to Opus Dei. So what IS he?

    He is what he needs to be - what his superiors need him to be - now. It is that simple.

    Archbishop John Myers of Newark, NJ is well known as a member of Opus Dei. Yet he made his diocesan seminary into one of the Neo-Cats (Redemptoris Mater). BUT the Legion of Christ has a seminary in Salamanca, Spain.....Opus Dei country....which is where the Neo Cats originated.

    So...which tail is wagging which dog? O.o

    "This is the exact same agenda that the New Apostolic Reformation types are engaged in. The sort of Evangelical pyramid scheme with which Sarah Palin is heavily connected"....as is the charming Fr. Frank Pavone. Who is the evil spawn of Opus Dei, as well as having very tight connections with the nexus you cite.....via the Heritage Foundation & Focus on the Family, etc. ad nauseum.

    Call it what you will - use the descriptive jargon of your choice, but all of these elements intersect. Given enough time & a big enough blackboard one could draw one hell of a flow chart!

    But all of these persons and entities (and their legion of secular counterparts & literal cooperators) all meet up in the Villa Trevere.....the Roman HQ of Opus Dei. (even if some lines are unclear)

    Please tell Neo...THAT is where his 'matrix' is located!

    Not that I want to enable Schoenborn's furtive finger pointing.....but if his mythic bogeyman exists, we know its address:)

    Anon Y. Mouse

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  18. Colleen,

    Yes, the Zapatero demonstrations were staged. Via cell messages. From leftists. If the Opus also found that to their liking and participated, well that is fascinating.

    I can assure you that leftists in Spain, however, are EXTREMELY suspicious of the Opus - and have been for decades. Mr. TheraP was "solicited" by them in the '60's - as he was by the Fascists and the Communists. He never joined any of them. But he views the Opus as very much like the Communists - using "cells" and so on - at least going back to his student days.

    The fact that the Opus controls at least a third of the Supreme Court of the US is, to me, of great concern. There is way too much meddling in world affairs and conscription of targeted individuals who are viewed as future "leaders" (= followers of the lordly, not the Lord).

    I'm glad to be among the Orthodox. I honestly think their way of priests electing bishops - preferably one who is saintly (and only their bishops must be celibate) - points the way forward.

    We need to reduce the status of the bishop of rome - to just a bishop. And include all bishops with an apostolic succession in councils.

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  19. Anon Y Mouse,

    I'm worse than the world's worst Latin student because it has been more than 40 years since I took latin, when I was the second worst student.

    Opus: deed, piece of work

    Deus: God or God's

    Dei: ? Second declension masculine noun maybe it is nominative plural (Gods),

    or maybe vocative singular or plural (God, piece of work),

    or genitive singular (God's deed or God's piece of work).

    The last is probably the intended meaning.

    That's all I've got.

    p2p

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  20. I'd like to repost a link to a blog of mine from a few months back, one to which I would make some changes now, but which pretty much seems almost prescient to the kind of analysis we're getting at in this thread (and others), particularly the link to Leo Strauss, which I posted at the end of the thread. But there are many analogies in that long blog which are apt:

    http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/t/h/therap/2009/11/what-a-mess.php

    We have got to see the insidious nature of an "elite" that parades around in fancy dress (Emperor's new clothes analogy!) and the research by Milgram and Zimbardo (what happens when you put someone in a power position over another) and the kind of plotting that can happen with "elites" who believe they are better than others and are ready to do ANYTHING, to lie, to steal, to kill - but under religious cover! - in order to maintain power. (It's all there in those principles I distilled from Leo Strauss!).

    If necessary I have to do a new blog, incorporating all of that. But please.... someone else do it for me! Or just spread the word!

    P.S. The image of the Cockroach from Kafka now appears to me as how the Pope is being seen. How the pope perhaps feels... I see the cockroach as the "fallen pope".

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  21. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  22. Your blog has been picked up and touted by the Mad Priest! Kudos!

    http://revjph.blogspot.com/2010/04/around-blogs.html

    He has quite a following. (I think I may have tipped him off...)

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  23. TheraP I am thrilled to be cited by Mad Priest. I read that blog a lot and have a good time doing so.

    Your blog on Strauss is a good addition to this discussion. When it comes to Opus Dei, there is no distinction between religion and politics--at least at the higher levels. Religions serve politics and politics serves personal agendas.

    This group and it's ancillaries absolutely have to be weeded out of Catholicism. Not so much for the first world, although much damage has been wreaked on our children, but for the sake of the third world.

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  24. To p2p & Colleen -

    Christ made it very clear that those who would be of his spiritual family....the Ekklesia....the Kingdom of God....were to be in the world, but NOT part of it. And they were most certainly not to run the world, much less civil govt.!

    Opus Dei, as many have pointed out here, does the opposite of what Christ taught. Merging religion & politics, and positing a divine mandate for it.

    Now, bearing in mind that I do NOT pretend to be a Linguistics expert by a long shot (!)......

    The problem with 'Opus Dei' is that we have two nouns. No verb. Nothing indicating possession nor a participle functioning as an 'operator'. True, in Church Latin such participles can be implied, but we are left with an odd phrase at best.

    Opus Dei presents its name as if it means: 'the work of God'. On the very prideful implication that they (and ONLY they) are 'doing the work of God'.

    But that meaning & any related assumptions are mere window dressing 'for the simple', as Medieval clerics referred to the general populace. The clue lie in the word 'opus'

    Its meaning includes: "a body of work (in art or music)....a project....a construction....a construct....." The propagation of it as a 'job' or singular act is what OD wants 'the simple' to believe.

    Another clue is their internal use & consistent reference to "The Work"; in Espanol "La Obra". Throughout Escriva's writings & the several OD websites, are such references. The Obra is to be foremost in their minds, that they labor for it in all the members do.

    Yet like any secretive, hierachial entity, the worker bees have no clue what 'The Work' is.

    La Obra = plan....working (spiritual/metaphysical/occult)....project (construction)....work(s) of art. The word itself has very specific occult connotations in Spanish.

    Some Opus literature even refers to 'The great work' or 'La Grand Obra' as what Opus Dei does.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Work

    Collen - your dream made reference to 'Spanish Facism....very old'. My response to you was to look at the influence of Alchemy & (literal) Occult study in Medieval Spanish monasteries.

    According to Opus Dei (and Escriva):

    "Love, which should be orderly, starts by performing one's duties well and is first directed towards the Pope. And it overflows when one generously gives the best to people, bringing them closer to their Father God, source of peace and joy"

    Note that Opus Dei constanly refers to JoseMaria Escriva as "The Father".....and Christ made it very clear that one's first duty is to love God & that we have one Father, who is in Heaven (which is NOT Escriva).

    ...or as a none too subtle hint perhaps I should spin the 45 of "Mr. Crowley" by Ozzy Osbourne?

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  25. I am progressing on the earlier monastic history. I have to admit I got fascinated with concept of brazen heads. The function sounds very similar to what certain Native shamans use crystal skulls for, although they don't have quite the same take on crystal skulls as the New Agers do.

    I was actually able to hold two crystal skulls held by an American plains tribe, which they have held for ever. It was a most interesting experience. I had to keep in mind that they see the information contained in these skulls as equivalent to information kept in computer chips. Transmission of the information in the crystal matrix is telepathic and is like mentally processing video tape. I was a really vivid experience, and one I didn't expect. Pretty wild.

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  26. Re Anonymous' comments about the meaning of Opus, Doyle (and his two coauthors) write about "secret codes" as a means of keeping abuse under wraps. But if one extends that idea... then we wind up where Anonymous is pointing us.

    I'm referencing above a book called: Sex, priests, and secret codes: the Catholic Church's 2000-year paper trail

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  27. TheraP -

    In my (and others) experience with priests, I may well have accidentally overheard some of the 'codes'. Thus your post & the book you referenced are of great interest.

    Common phrases: "...there were some problems there.....he had a problem....." are indicative of the obvious. The 'problem' they are referencing is not Bourbon!

    Sadly, "Father is sick" with a knowing look, often indicates that he has AIDS. "He has cancer" is also still used as a cover.

    "Oh...he left the priesthood" is not intended to elicit any further questions. The hearer is supposed to implicitly know 'why'.

    But I am sure the whole story of 'codes' to hide the abuse details go much deeper then this.


    Colleen - in re the 'Brazen Head', the descriptions of it vary. While I cannot now provide a source for this, my understanding (as per what Aquinas had) was was not a human head. But rather some type of mechanical one, for lack of better words.

    If it is what I think it it, it differs greatly from what the Indian shaman had; and in its purpose. My best understanding it that it functioned as an oracle. An animated mechanical thing is not the same as a skull which would have a 'human record' in it. The brazen head would not be animated by a human aura, spirit, etc. It would be via...something else.

    If you build a literal Frankenstein monster, how can it have life? The 'anima' - soul or spirit or human consciousness - is instilled into a human by God. Without it, it is not 'alive' - even if you mechanically induce the body systems & processes.

    Thus the 'Frankenstein monster' would be 'animated' by Satan. Literally possessed, this is what would give it 'consciousness'.

    The related Wiki articles have been sanitized to diminish or hide any trace of occult influence in either Albertus Magnus or Aquinas. Yet Theosophists (and some Thelemists) revere them.

    As they are the essence of what the spirit & rationale for Canon Law & 'Clericalism' is based upon, one begins to wonder.....

    Anon Y. Mouse

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  28. The meaning of Opus Dei = OD + D =

    Organized DoDo.

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  29. Thank you Anon Y Mouse,

    So the "work" is occult, the inspiration, satanic...

    And all the little drones, the worker bees, labor on never knowing whom they serve.

    p2p

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  30. Preciseyly anon. The worker bees are conditioned to not even question those whom they serve, which is precisely why the Legion added the their distinct vow of obedience to Maciel and their superiors which mandated reporting any negative comments about Legion leadership. Other wise known as the 'vow of spying'.

    To fully understand what is being uncovered with in the Vatican and as is so well represented by Maciel and the Legion, one needs to think Mafia or the most cultic forms of Masonry, not Christ or Catholicism.

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  31. Colleen-

    One problem many Catholics have in comprehending this lies in a correct understanding of even conventional Freemasonry.

    Every man who joins it is neither intrinsicly evil or an occultist. Most join simply out of greed for economic & social advantage/connectivity. The hierarchic system keeps most brothers from ever rising above the 3rd degree (Master Mason). The worker bees obey what their higher degreed superiors say.

    The Knight of Columbus are, factually, a mimicry of regular Masonry. From the conception, mode of operation, & rituals on down. Yet it has no literal organizational connection to regular Freemasonry.

    And before anybody throws rocks at me, I am speaking of observable fact, not my opinion. The point is that the KOC embodies the basic spirit of Masonry, without literal membership. But it resembles the Blue Lodge..."for the simple".

    One only need look to A. Carl Anderson, the Supreme Knight to understand what 'the top' is connected to.

    It is in the same vein that we can look at either Opus Dei, the LC, or the Vatican itself - and discern the 'spirit' of Mafia.....the spirit of Masonry.

    The fact that the infamous P2 Lodge had no official affiliation with the Grand Lodge of Italy (or England) is irrelevant. The spirit, mode & attitude (and deeds) of P2 are genuinely Masonic.

    Fr. Lechodowski, the then Superior General of the Jesuits (after an in depth investigation of Opus Dei in Spain) declared it to be 'Ecclesiastical Freemasonry"...for very good reason.

    And Escriva himself is linked with regular Masonry in Spain in the 1930s.

    Anon Y. Mouse

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  32. And wasn't it in like 1983 that JPII lifted the ban on Catholics becoming Masons? About the same time of the Vatican Bank Scandal and the personal prelature for Opus Dei?

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