Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Former pope Benedict makes rare appearance with successor Francis

Former pope Benedict (R) is greeted by Pope Francis during a ceremony to mark his 65th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood at the Vatican June 28, 2016. Osservatore Romano/Handout via Reuters

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Former pope Benedict made one of his rare public appearances on Tuesday to be feted by his successor Pope Francis, two days after Francis denied reports that Benedict was still exercising influence in the Vatican.

Benedict, an 89-year-old German, stood without a cane for part of a ceremony in a Vatican hall to mark the 65th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.

But Benedict, in his first public comments in the presence of his successor, did appear to have difficulty pronouncing a few words as he thanked Francis and a small group of cardinals in Italian.
In 2013 Benedict, citing health reasons, became the first pope to resign in some 600 years, ending a papacy of nearly eight years marked by a scandal centered around leaked documents that alleged corruption and mismanagement in the Vatican.

He has since been living in relative isolation in a convent in the Vatican gardens and has made only a handful of brief public appearances, usually at major Church ceremonies together with Francis such as the investiture of new cardinals.

On Sunday, speaking to reporters aboard his plane while returning from a visit to Armenia, Francis was asked about reports that Benedict was a sort of parallel pope, still exercising influence.

"There is only one pope," Francis said. He praised Benedict for "protecting me, having my back, with his prayers".

Francis, who has compared Benedict's presence in the Vatican to having a "wise old grandfather" at home, said he had heard that when some Church officials had gone to Benedict to complain that Francis was too liberal, Benedict "sent them packing".

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Sunday, June 26, 2016

University Of North Carolina: CHRISTMAS VACATION Is A ‘Microagression’ Now

From Eric Owens at The Daily Caller:
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill issued a guide this week which instructs students that Christmas vacations and telling a woman “I love your shoes!” are “microagressions.”

The taxpayer-funded guide — entitled “Career corner: Understanding microaggressions” — also identifies golf outings and the words “boyfriend” and “girlfriend” as microagressions.

The UNC Chapel Hill guide, published on Thursday, covers a wide range of menacing microaggressions — which are everyday words that radical leftists have decided to be angry or frustrated about.

Christmas vacations are a microagression, the public university pontificates, because “academic calendars and encouraged vacations” which “are organized around major religious observances” centralize “the Christian faith” and diminish “non-Christian spiritual rituals and observances.”

Interestingly, the long break between semesters at UNC Chapel Hill for the 2016-2017 academic year will last from December 17 to January 10 — thus covering Christmas as well as the New Year’s Day of the Gregorian calendar. The Gregorian calendar is named for Pope Gregory XIII. The Roman Catholic Church introduced the calendar in 1582.

The microagression of liking shoes occurs when someone says “I love your shoes!” “to a woman in leadership during a Q & A after a speech.” So it’s a very specific microagression. The problem, the University of North Carolina document declares, is that the shoe admirer values appearances “more than” “intellectual contributions...” (continued)

Ann Barnhardt: Pope Benedict XVI is still the Roman Pontiff

"I clearly do NOT believe the See of Peter is vacant.  I believe that Pope Benedict XVI Ratzinger is still the Roman Pontiff, and will be until he either dies, or VALIDLY resigns..."

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Prayers for the Graves Family

From St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Elkhorn, NE:
Dear St. Patrick's Community,

It is with a heavy heart that we inform you of a tragic loss in one of our parish families.  As many of you have heard from national and local media outlets, there was a child deemed missing at one of the Walt Disney World Resorts in Orlando, Florida. The family of Matt and Melissa Graves have lost their two year old son, Lane. The Graves are members of St. Patrick's Parish, and their daughter, Ella, attends our school.  Please honor their privacy at this time and keep them in your prayers.

Christ's Peace,


St. Patrick's Parish and School Administration
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Monday, June 13, 2016

The Sun: We urge our readers to beLEAVE in Britain and vote to quit the EU on June 23

From The Sun:

WE are about to make the biggest ­political decision of our lives. The Sun urges everyone to vote LEAVE.

We must set ourselves free from dictatorial Brussels.

Throughout our 43-year membership of the European Union it has proved increasingly greedy, wasteful, bullying and breathtakingly incompetent in a crisis.

Next Thursday, at the ballot box, we can correct this huge and ­historic mistake.

It is our last chance. Because, be in no doubt, our future looks far bleaker if we stay in.

Outside the EU we can become richer, safer and free at long last to forge our own destiny — as America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many other great democracies already do. And as we were the first to do centuries ago.

If we stay, Britain will be engulfed in a few short years by this relentlessly expanding ­German dominated federal state.

For all David Cameron’s witless assurances, our powers and values WILL be further eroded.

Staying in will be worse for immigration, worse for jobs, worse for wages and worse for our way of life.

Greece is bankrupt.

Italy is in danger of going the same way, with even more disastrous consequences.

In Spain, 45 per cent of those under 25 are out of work.

And numerous even poorer and worse-governed countries are now joining the EU... (continued)



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Thursday, June 9, 2016

Mel Gibson Planning 'Passion of the Christ' Sequel

Courtesy of Photofest

By Paul Bond

'Braveheart' screenwriter Randall Wallace says he is writing a follow-up to the biblical blockbuster that will focus on the resurrection of Jesus.

(The Hollywood Reporter) Mel Gibson and writer Randall Wallace are working on a sequel to The Passion of the Christ that will tell the story of the resurrection of Jesus, Wallace tells The Hollywood Reporter.

Wallace, nominated for an Academy Award for scripting Gibson's 1995 best picture Oscar winner Braveheart, on Thursday (reluctantly) confirmed rumors that he has begun to write a script for a story about the resurrection, telling THR that the project is becoming too difficult to keep under wraps.

Wallace, who most recently directed and co-wrote the 2014 faith-based drama Heaven Is for Real, says he and Gibson began to get serious about a sequel to The Passion, the most successful independent film of all time, while making Hacksaw Ridge, which Gibson directed and Wallace co-wrote. Hacksaw Ridge opens in November and centers on World War II Army medic Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. br>
Wallace was a religion major at Duke University and says the resurrection was a specialty of his. "I always wanted to tell this story," he says. "The Passion is the beginning and there's a lot more story to tell."

A rep for Gibson declined to comment on the filmmaker-actor's involvement in a Passion sequel.

The Passion, Gibson's story of the persecution and crucifixion of Jesus, was released in 2004 by the independent Newmarket Films and earned a whopping $612 million worldwide on a $30 million production budget. Since then, many in Hollywood have presumed a sequel would someday be made, but Gibson has moved on to other projects.

Rumors swirled anew last month when Gibson was a surprise guest at Liberty University's graduation ceremony to do an advance screening of Hacksaw Ridge and was asked about a Passion follow-up. He expressed interest in making a sequel but was not specific about his involvement. Wallace says demand in the Christian community influenced his and Gibson's willingness to do another film.

"The evangelical community considers The Passion the biggest movie ever out of Hollywood, and they kept telling us that they think a sequel will be even bigger," Wallace says.

No studio or financial backing has been lined up for the project, which is still in the early script stage. But Wallace indicates there are several financiers interested in investing. "It's too early to talk money," he adds. "This is such a huge and sacred subject."

In February, Sony released Risen, which tells the story of the resurrection, though Gibson wasn't involved. The movie made $46 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.

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