Fauci, Abortion and Dogs

Anthony Fauci, the American medical figure, has become a symbol of the chaos of the past 19 months, for better or for worse, depending on one’s perspective.

Some Catholics have been vehemently opposed to his presence in the public sphere, regarding him as indicative of some megalomaniacal imperative to enslave the world. Some of those vague accusations are too broad to make any constructive sense, though new claims against research allegedly funded by him in China speaks volumes about the character of the man.

According to reports which have been gathering momentum since August of this year, Fauci funded completely depraved experiments which involved slowly torturing beagles to death, locking their heads inside boxes where flesh eating insects could eat them alive, with their vocal chords removed to stop them from barking. Yes, seriously.

This completely dystopian approach to ‘medicine’, comes as no surprise, Fauci supported President Joe Biden’s reversal of the Mexico City Policy, by which a new era of Abortion Imperialism was instituted by funding the deaths of unborn babies in other countries. He said:

“President Biden will be revoking the ‘Mexico City policy’ in the coming days as part of his broader commitment to protect women’s health and advance gender equality at home and around the world’’

The US abortion empire is of an even far more myopic origin than the animal torture experiments carried out on beagles.

A series of 13 undercover videos released in 2015 showed American abortion salespeople Planned Parenthood selling the body parts of unborn children for vast sums of money, while at lunch with journalists pretending to be unborn baby organ traffickers.

There was also the story of mass murderer abortionist Kermit Gosnell, who cut babies spines to let them die slowly and who killed several mothers.

Even getting away from abortion, there are the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of abandoned embryos left in US laboratories after being left unused in IVF.

It is very easy for us to balk at the Chinese dog markets, their cruelty to other animals at so called ‘wet markets’, and their one child policy which led to millions of forced abortions, yet the USA and even the UK have similarly nightmarish results with no formal declaration of mandatory enforcement. In the UK for example, babies are incinerated to heat hospitals and 1 in 4 pregnancies end in abortion, something that pro abortion China could scarcely compete with at its worst.

Animals are helpless, but they are less helpless than unborn children. A society which allows the likes of Fauci a pass on supporting the barbaric extermination of millions of unborn children should not be shocked when equally horrific treatment towards animals follows after.

There are countless Hollywood films about Nazi experimentation, even some indirect ones such as bizarre horror film The Human Centipede. Yet there are none about the horrors of modern American science, be it abortion or torture of animals.

Those Jesuits who have educated and championed him should do the right thing and publicly renounce association with this dystopian debasement of so called medicine.

Restored 1896 Footage May Reveal New Details Of Pope Leo XIII, Earliest-Born Person On Film

By Timothy Nerozzi

A restoration project on YouTube has rendered a short piece of film depicting Pope Leo XIII into never-before seen quality.

David Martin, owner of the “no.bw” channel on YouTube, shared his restoration of the public domain film on Oct. 18. The colorized and refurbished video is made up of three segments: Pope Leo XIII on a red throne in the Vatican gardens, the pontiff arriving in a horse-drawn carriage and Leo XIII taking a seat — flanked by two regally dressed men whose identities had been forgotten over the course of more than a century, until now.

Leo XIII appears visibly confused but also joyful and curious, looking into the lens and then consulting with his attendants as he poses for the camera. He repeatedly motions apostolic blessings with his hand to the audience, patiently standing up, sitting down and walking to his next destinations.

Martin took the time to set the scene to Johann Sebastian Bach's “Jesu, der du meine Seele,” giving the silent film a more powerful ambience and conveying the magnitude of the moment.

“I chose this particular film because of the historical fact of being the earliest-born person ever filmed,” Martin told ReligionUnplugged.com. “This video of Pope Leo XIII was indeed a bit more challenging, since the original footage was more deteriorated than usual and this implied further processing.”

Just as complicated as the process of restoration is the process of verifying the original film’s production: Who are these men posing with the pontiff? Who is behind the camera? How did this photoshoot — the first of it’s kind — come to be?

“Perhaps it would be a good subject for a journalistic investigation,” Martin said, “assuming that there is still someone interested in this matter.”

Cross-referencing contemporary publications, fact-checking production credits and searching through the personal testimonies of those involved, the information begins to come together.

Crucially, however, it was the restored film’s color that held key pieces of evidence that may now confirm a contested recreation of events.

Piecing together the facts, the untold timeline of this photo shoot and the people behind — and in front of — the camera offers a very human and sympathetic story of technology and tradition awkwardly joining hands to create something once thought impossible.

The photographer in his own words

Asked about the project, Martin said that the original raw footage was filmed in 1896 by Vittorio Calcina, who was an operator for Lumiere Brothers and the first Italian film director.

Indeed, it is not uncommon for websites to list Calcina as a director. However, any primary sources including him as a director or cinematographer of the photo shoot prove elusive.

In reality, the film appears to have been captured by William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson, which can be verified via contemporary accounts and reports published in multiple countries around the world. Dickson was a right-hand man to Thomas Edison and one the fathers of primitive cinema.

Dickson made a name for himself traveling the world with his film camera — which he referred to as a “Biograph” — and documenting the lives of royalty, military commanders and world leaders. His technology was so novel and his artistic vision so forward thinking that he would become the first person to capture on film many of the world’s most important leaders — including, if we are to take his word, the Roman pontiff.

However, even the Vatican’s own website makes the claim that a Calcina film came first, putting Dickson’s films after his.

“On February 26, 1896, a worker named Vittorio Calcina, on behalf of the Lumière brothers, had obtained permission to cross the thresholds of the Apostolic Palace with his instruments to film Pope Leo XIII while giving his blessing,” the Pontifical Council for Culture states. “A short time later, an Edison collaborator was able to film the same elderly Pontiff as he strolled through the Vatican gardens, for the benefit of the American faithful eager to see the Pope ‘in person.’”

But this claim, that Calcina was the photographer responsible for the famous film of the pope giving his Apostolic blessing and that Dickson’s involvement came later, does not hold up well.

The following passage was written by Dickson for Royal Magazine in 1901. In it, the filmmaker recounted his time at the Vatican and his interactions with the pontiff. He also offered a unique glimpse into the enthusiasm and surprise of Leo XIII upon seeing the history-making result:

Some time ago, an exhibition of Biograph pictures was given before President McKinley and some specially invited guests at Washington. Among the latter were the Apostolic Delegate, Mons. Martinelli, Cardinal Gibbons, and others. It occurred to these gentlemen that if the Biograph could obtain some pictures illustrative of the daily life of the Holy Father, it would be an excellent thing for the Roman Catholics of America, thousands upon thousands of whom would never otherwise be enabled to receive the Pope's benediction.

I found the Pope a most lovable man, and owe much to his kindness. He took a great interest in the pictures, and on one occasion, having received some prints from London, I showed them to him. He was delighted, and exclaimed 'Wonderful! wonderful! See me blessing!' — referring to the one representing him giving the Apostolic blessing — and turning to Mons della Volpa, he added, 'How splendid you look!' All the time he held my hand, which he pressed affectionately.

To my application for the last picture, the Pope demurred. "What, another!' said he. I pressed my request, explaining that it would bring joy to the hearts of many of my countrymen if he would graciously condescend. And he did.

After I had taken the first picture I was asked to give a guarantee I would not photograph any of the Royal family in Rome. I offered my earnest assurance that I would carry our their wishes and this materially assisted me in the remainder of my task. A visit to the Vatican gives one a vivid idea of Papal state, with the Swiss, Noble, and Palatine guards. In taking the views I had to don a black robe. None of the views may be shown in a place of secular amusement, nor without the authority of the Church. (Emphasis added.)

A monsignor tags along

The “Mons. della Volpa” referenced in Dickson’s account refers to Francesco Salesio Della Volpe, who — with distinct spectacles and a receding hairline — appears attending to the pope at every moment throughout Martin’s fragment of Dickson’s recordings.

Until now, della Volpe has gone uncredited in his appearance alongside the pontiff.

At the time of the recording, he was serving as prefect of the Apostolic Chamber. Not too many years later, Leo XIII would make della Volpe into a cardinal.

Dickson more intimately related the story of the iconic Vatican Garden photo shoot in a November 1898 issue of Harper’s Weekly, in which he once mentioned della Volpe by name. When discussing della Volpe, Dickson noted a key detail that, until now, would have been impossible for the average investigator to cross-reference — the color of the costumes on film:

At the close of the interview, I said, 'Holy Father, will you not complete the sum of my indebtedness by giving me one more sitting in the garden by the Summer Villa?' He laughed and shook his head. 'Have you not enough?' "No,' I answered; but give me tomorrow morning, and I will promise to be content.' His Holiness was silent a minute, and then said: 'Well then, I agree, but not tomorrow morning. Tomorrow afternoon at six o' clock.'

Next day, punctually at the hour agreed, the superb carriage was seen winding its way along the avenue. The guards fell into position, and Monsignor della Volpa and Count Pecci -- the one glorious in robes of scarlet and purple, the other stately in blue and gold -- advanced to meet his Holiness. Roar, roar, roar went the great machine, all fell on their knees, and the Pontiff walked to the stone bench beside the gate. After a brief interval, during which he conversed easily with his immediate attendants, his Holiness rose to complete the programme agreed upon, and began to cross the intervening space to the throne; but here an unavoidable contretemps occurred. My assistant had been so hurried he had not had time to replace another film, so I was forced to beg his Holiness to return to the bench while this was being done. -- a request with which he cheerfully complied. I then threaded the machine in breathless haste, pivoting it in the direction of the throne after which I invited his Holiness to pass into the picture, which he did, scattering smiles and benedictions, and interchanging remarks with his nephew and the maggiordomo, and finally taking his seat right royally upon the crimson throne. Before leaving, the Pontiff gave me a special blessing, and laughingly demanded if I were at last satisfied. (Emphasis added.)

Photos of Pope Leo XIII as they appear in Harper's Weekly (Nov. 26, 1898)

Cross referencing Dickson’s recollection of the event, his intimate knowledge of the behind-the-scenes production and his testimony down to the color of costume present, it becomes clear that this was indeed the pontiff’s first sit-down.

Della Volpe would continue serving Leo XIII until the pontiff’s death in 1903. He would go on to be the chamberlain to slip the Ring of the Fisherman onto Leo XIII’s successor, Pope Pius X.

The same year, della Volpe would be appointed as prefect of the Roman Curia. He would hold a variety of high-level titles for the rest of his life, including prefect of the Vatican Secret Archive, prefect of the Congregation of the Index and chamberlain of the Apostolic Chamber.

Pope Leo XIII with Monsignor della Volpa and Count Pecci — “the one glorious in robes of scarlet and purple, the other stately in blue and gold”

A family portrait

If, then, della Volpe was the mysterious clergyman sashed in purple, the same testimony from Dickson reveals another key identity — the regal-like figure in blue and gold.

To the right of the pope in the garden, we can then identify Count Giovanni Battista Pecci — the nephew of the pope and the man who is perhaps most responsible for turning Dickson’s proposition into a reality.

Dickson wrote:

“I was four months in Rome before I succeeded in obtaining the Pope's consent. During that period I carried on constant negotiations with Count Sodarmi, the chief officer of the Papal Court. But I owe my eventual success to the friendly offices of Count Pecci, the Pope's nephew, and an officer in the Pope's household."

Timothy Nerozzi is a writer and editor from northeastern Pennsylvania. He covers religious issues with a focus on the Roman Catholic Church and Japanese society and culture.

This article first appeared in Religion Unplugged : Restored 1896 Footage May Reveal New Details Of Pope Leo XIII, Earliest-Born Person On Film (religionunplugged.com)

This footage of Pope Leo XIII was recorded in 1896.

Leo XIII was born in 1810, making him the furthest person in history to have been captured on film. pic.twitter.com/VC4ADDYZPT

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) October 21, 2021

UK Politician Claims Jesus was Euthanised

Post Christian United Kingdom is the type of place where security guards allow terror attacks to occur for fear or racism and where members of parliament are denied the Last Rites by police, yet it still manages to find new ways to emphasise its clown world status.

In a lengthy debate on the topic of Assisted Dying in the House of Lords, there were many speakers, most of whom were against the proposal that will likely empower elder abusers and will greatly disadvantage palliative care provision.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was amongst those opposing the shocking proposals, which had been introduced by Baroness Meacher.

Archbishop @JustinWelby speaking in the House of Lords today, on why he cannot support the Assisted Dying Bill. pic.twitter.com/Qe3erPiVkw

— Church of England in Parliament (@churchstate) October 22, 2021

With the majority of speakers pointing out that this was a poorly composed and ill intentioned piece of legislation, one figure in the House of Lords, Lord Vinson made the deranged claim that Our Lord Jesus Christ was euthanised by a Roman soldier.

The crazed remark has to be heard to be believed.

Was Jesus’ death an assisted suicide?

In a House of Lord’s debate on assisted suicide, Lord Vinson claimed that “Christ was put out of his agony by a kindly Roman centurion.” pic.twitter.com/k4ZJjQow0w

— Christian Concern (@CConcern) October 22, 2021

Polish Man Arrested For Cutting Down Cross

Poland has been under repeated assault from Globalist forces over the course of the past year.

They have tried everything, pushing abortion, storming churches and even trying to force the idea of Poland being responsible for the Holocaust, in order to try to damage Poland’s prolife policies.

Although Polish people have held off well, the situation is intensifying.

Just this week, a 31 year old man has been arrested for cutting down a cross on a Polish street.

Policjanci z Zielonej Góry w wyniku intensywnych działań operacyjnych ustalili i zatrzymali 31-letniego mężczyznę,który może odpowiadać za zniszczenie krzyża na Os.Zastalowskim.Trwają czynności procesowe z jego udziałem.@PolsatNewsPL @tvn24 @tvp_info @radiozachod @gazetalubuska pic.twitter.com/I56Sw4KjeT

— Marcin Maludy 🇵🇱 💯 (@Marcin_Maludy) October 19, 2021

The shocking video of the attack shows the depths of depravity which are no commonplace in Polish society. It is going to be a very difficult decade ahead for those who wish to save it from becoming the living hell that much of Europe has become.

Those who have uploaded the video have promised to cut more, presumably out of loyalty to their Globalist authority figures abroad.

Policjanci z Zielonej Góry w wyniku intensywnych działań operacyjnych ustalili i zatrzymali 31-letniego mężczyznę,który może odpowiadać za zniszczenie krzyża na Os.Zastalowskim.Trwają czynności procesowe z jego udziałem.@PolsatNewsPL @tvn24 @tvp_info @radiozachod @gazetalubuska pic.twitter.com/I56Sw4KjeT

— Marcin Maludy 🇵🇱 💯 (@Marcin_Maludy) October 19, 2021

Sinn Fein Honour Queen Visit With Anti Catholic Proposal

London born Sinn Fein Senator Paul Gavan has introduced a bill designed to suppress Catholics in Ireland from praying near areas where babies are being destroyed in abortion.

Having given up their decades long opposition to Westminster rule in Northern Ireland in order to support abortion, Sinn Fein recently voted to try to ban Catholics from praying near abortuaries, in staunch defence of London’s abortion law. The collusion with Britain was bad enough, but now they are aiming to repeat the same trick in the twenty six counties also.

Paul Gavan, born and raised in London, is one of a significant cohort of Sinn Fein members who have stubbornly refused to provide meaningful opposition to the government, instead choosing to implement their agendas for them. One such agenda is the so called ‘safe access zone’, a draconian and unprecedented anti free speech zone designed to address the non existent problem of women not being able to access places to have their unborn baby aborted because of people praying nearby.

Gavan is acting on behalf of an astroturf group called ‘Together for Safety’, which is made up of a number of politicians and remnants of the government’s 2018 campaign to remove the rights of unborn babies not to be killed.

As evidence of Sinn Fein’s never ending lack of consistency, Gavan actually condemned the treatment of Julian Assange in the same sitting…on account of his lack of (get this) freedom of speech.

Mr. Assange is, in effect, a political prisoner. His continued incarceration and threatened extradition to the US, therefore, is not just a threat to him personally but to all journalists, editors and publishers and the cause of investigative journalism, press freedom and freedom of speech generally. It is ironic that western countries, which claim to be defenders of freedom, are acting in this way.

This was Paul Gavan’s bizarre rant inside the Oireachtas:

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business, that is, that No. 19 be taken before No. 1. I wish to introduce the Safe Access to Termination of Pregnancy Services Bill 2021. While Sinn Féin is proud to be supporting this Bill, all credit for this Bill belongs to Together for Safety, a national campaign group for safe access zones that I have had the privilege to work with for the past number of years. This is very much a cross-party initiative. I acknowledge the strong support of the Labour Party, which will be seconding this proposal this morning, and the Civil Engagement Group, which has been consistently to the fore in engaging this issue. I also acknowledge the support of Senator O'Reilly from the Green Party, Senator McGreehan from Fianna Fáil and the father of the House, Senator David Norris, all of whom have co-signed this Bill. I also want to acknowledge the contribution of Senators O'Loughlin and Fitzpatrick who joined us behind the Together for Safety banner at lunchtime today.

Every week, there are gatherings of anti-choice protestors outside maternity hospitals. The previous Government promised safe access zone legislation to ensure these protests would not take place outside these hospitals. There are people monitoring, marching, praying and watching women and pregnant people going in and out of maternity hospitals. Every day there are protestors outside the maternity hospital in my home city of Limerick. I hope the Leader will agree with me that people have fundamental rights to privacy and dignity, especially so when they are visiting a hospital. I ask Members to think about the impact of these protestors on people as they access healthcare throughout the State. I ask them to listen to just two quotes from people who have encountered these protestors. I am grateful to my colleagues in Together for Safety for supplying these quotes. The first quote reads:

She asked me if I had an appointment across the road. I presumed she was making small talk as she also had one so I said yes I did. She told me she and her friends were praying that no babies were murdered in the hospital that day.

The second quote reads:

They were sprinkling holy water and saying prayers outside our hospital setting while there is women having miscarriages, or having stillbirths each week or carrying their babies out in white coffins.

These protests, which are happening outside many hospitals throughout the State, are attempting to intimidate and cause upset. They are invading the privacy and bodily autonomy of women and pregnant people at a profoundly vulnerable and sensitive time. People should not have to access healthcare like this. We have been promised legislation for more than three years. It was supposed to be passed in 2019 by then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris. It was not. What was particularly worrying was a reply I received from Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, to the effect that there was no need for such legislation. I received that reply in May, and a similar reply was given to the Irish Examiner in August. Thanks to Together for Safety, we have a Bill in the Seanad. I appeal to Members from all parties to get behind this Bill and ensure a swift passage through this Chamber. Women and pregnant people have been left waiting for far too long. My party colleague, Senator Ó Donnghaile, along with the leaders of the Labour Party and the Civil Engagement Group in this House will be writing to the Leader asking for an early cross-party slot for Private Members' time so that we can progress this Bill which is in line with a commitment given in the programme for Government. I ask all Members on a cross-party basis to support this legislation and get this done. Women should not have to continue to access healthcare in this fashion.

Firstly, neither Gavan nor Together for Safety provided evidence for their claims.

Secondly, he also mentioned ‘women and pregnant people’.

Paul Gavan, SF, introduces a bill to suppress the right to protest of anti-abortion activists. pic.twitter.com/St291w2cKn

— JRD (@JRD0000) October 19, 2021

It is incredibly fitting that Sinn Fein have unveiled this daft piece of legislation on the eve of a visit by Queen Elizabeth II, who they know recognise as their head of state in return for the abortions of Northern Irish babies. They are an entity with no moral compass, no connection to past incarnations of Sinn Fein and with no meaningful contribution to make towards the future of Ireland, since they intend to do what even Cromwell didn’t do, and slaughter it in the womb.

This legislation is aimed primarily at Catholics, who make up the majority of those who pray for an end to abortions. Any Catholic who still votes for Sinn Fein needs to have their head examined.

3,000 Native Irish Catholics Buried in Mass Grave

On the eve of a visit by Queen Elizabeth to Ireland, a mass grave of 3,000 native Irish Catholics who died during the so called ‘Famine’ of the 1840s has been unearthed in Waterford.

Irish government media arm, RTE, reported the news with caution stating, ‘Over 3,000 famine victims could be buried in Waterford field’.

Started by the Historic Graves Project, the researchers used Lidar survey and drone cameras to map out 300 individual graves.

They told RTE:

"We were looking for two types of grave in particular; long graves and individual graves. Long graves, where we've seen them elsewhere, are related to famine overwhelmingly; large amounts of people dying and being buried in mass burials and then the small singles as well.

"What really surprised is that the Lidar showed the small single graves are highly detectable using the publicly-available data set."

"There’s a good, rich biodiversity here, but it’s masking the graves. Our purpose was to maintain the integrity of the place, the biodiversity value, but then find where the graves are. We were hoping to find where the graves are and I think to a large degree we’ve managed that."

They also said:

it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that up to 3,000 people are buried in the "long" famine graves, as existing graveyards in the area became overwhelmed by the number of deaths during that tragedy, particularly in 1847 (Black ’47), 1848 and 1849.

"It’s hard to actually get across to people the scale of the disaster… We know that between 1845 and 1855 3,000 people died in the workhouse system in Dungarvan alone, that’s not counting any deaths outside of the workhouse’’

The shocking discovery comes ahead of the Queen’s visit to Northern Ireland to mark 100 years since the partition of Ireland.

The Great Hunger, as it was called, lasted for the best part of a decade and led to Ireland seeing mass starvation with millions dying and emigrating, despite high levels of food being exported during this period.

In Cecile Woodham Smith’s The Great Hunger, the depravation is recalled by an eyewitness:

‘to our utter astonishment, even horror, we found it exhibiting…a state of misery and wretchedness not to be borne or countenanced by any civilized community’.

On her 2011 tour of Ireland, Queen Elizabeth refused to apologise for the genocide that occurred during the ‘Famine’ years or for the persecutions under the penal laws.

Perhaps, in light of this shocking discovery, she can do the right thing and apologise on this occasion.

Liam Neeson Film To Discuss Church Conspiracy Theory

Ballymena native Liam Neeson, pictured below with Harvey Weinstein, has said that he will make a film on the Tuam Baby conspiracy theory.

Proponents of this theory claim, without evidence, that 800 babies were systematically murdered then flung into septic tanks in a Mother and Baby Home in Tuam. The motive? None provided, unless you count ‘being Catholic’ or ‘being a nun’, which would only make sense to the most irrational of anti Catholic minds.

Those proponents have repeatedly refused to carry out excavations in order to prove this story. Many of them were also aghast recently when the official report into Mother and Baby Homes made no mention of such an occurrence and in fact, made reference to a handyman being paid out of the nuns own pockets in order to build coffins for those children who died. Author Brian Nugent has also found evidence of advertisements from the County Council (who were actually responsible for the home, not the church) which were seeking donations of coffins.

As was common in early Twentieth Century Ireland, the infant mortality rate was significantly higher than in the rest of Western Europe. In 1917, for example, 9 in every 100 births resulted in the child dying before the age of 1.

One of these tales of the deaths of children at a young age was recalled in the writings of James Joyce, who evoked his 3 year old brother’s death from typhoid and the shock and sorrow that it brought to their family, no less sorrowful because of its commonality.

George Joyce was reported to have said as his last words, ‘I am very young to die.’ When he was buried at Glasnevin, he was buried alongside the many other infants who had not made it past that stage of life due to the fierce poverty that the people of Ireland lived in, only a generation away from the Famine.

The infant mortality rate in these Mother and Baby Homes would always be higher than outside them, these were the poorest people in a poor society. To put it into perspective, over 5,000 children died before they reached their first birthday in 1916. In 2014, that number was 240. Imagine if such a facility as a Mother and Baby Home existed today, would you expect the rates of deaths in that home to be higher or less than those outside if we were to use that 240 number? Higher of course, for a variety of reasons.

It wasn’t just babies of course, if you were a 25 year old in Ireland in 1911, the life expectancy was only 41 years old. That meant, by the time you are 25, most of your life had already been lived.

Where do we fit Neeson and the Tuam Conspiracy Theory into this?

At the beginning of the last decade, stories began to emerge which bizarrely equated children who were without birth certs in Tuam Mother and Baby Home with haphazard claims of bones having been found in various locations underneath the ground in subsequent decades, discounting works by county councils in the meantime which repeatedly dislodged and moved soil in the vicinity.

Although the initial claims of mass murders and babies being dumped in septic tanks were greeted with skepticism, by the time that they had been repeatedly resurrected in order to help pass referendums on marriage and abortion in 2015 and 2018 respectively, most of the public had come to accept them as fact, despite not being able to point to any evidence. As recently as this year, an image of a nun defecating and wiping her backside with a dead baby was repeatedly spread around social media in Ireland, with the caption, ‘Holy Sh*t’, before stating as fact that the nuns had indeed murdered and buried 800 children in Tuam.

In 2014, Irish Times journalist Rosita Boland published an explosive article which has been largely forgotten by those who propound the Tuam conspiracy.

In that article, entitled The Trouble with the Septic Tank Story, Boland wrote of her meeting with amateur historian Catherine Corless:

‘I never used that word ‘dumped’,” Catherine Corless, a local historian in Co Galway, tells The Irish Times. “I never said to anyone that 800 bodies were dumped in a septic tank. That did not come from me at any point. They are not my words.”

The article continues:

The deaths of these 796 children are not in doubt. Their numbers are a stark reflection of a period in Ireland when infant mortality in general was very much higher than today, particularly in institutions, where infection spread rapidly. At times during those 36 years the Tuam home housed more than 200 children and 100 mothers, plus those who worked there, according to records Corless has found.

What has upset, confused and dismayed her in recent days is the speculative nature of much of the reporting around the story, particularly about what happened to the children after they died. “I never used that word ‘dumped’,” she says again, with distress. “I just wanted those children to be remembered and for their names to go up on a plaque. That was why I did this project, and now it has taken [on] a life of its own.”

The article rightly points out:

In 1840 a workhouse was built on a site off what is now Dublin Road. When the workhouse closed, the building was taken over, and from 1925 until 1961 it was used as the mother-and-baby home.

As author Eugene Jordan pointed out in a recent interview with Catholic Arena, what is happening here is that people like Neeson are beginning Irish history in 1922, thus rewriting Britain’s complicity in the Free State’s poverty out of history. The Mother and Baby Home has been characterised as a Catholic idea, despite the first Mother and Baby Home being Protestant run and the workhouse system of the British in the 1800s being more widespread and of a far more cruel nature.

Neeson has courted several controversies in the past number of years.

After playing the voice of Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia in 2012, he stated that he was considering converting to Islam, and also bizarrely claimed that Aslan (written by committed Christian CS Lewis), ‘Aslan symbolises a Christ-like figure but he also symbolises for me Mohammed, Buddha and all the great spiritual leaders and prophets over the centuries’.

In 2018, speaking to the Irish government’s media arm RTE, he called the Me Too movement “a bit of a witch hunt.”

In 2019, he courted racial controversy by stating:

"I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I'd be approached by somebody - I'm ashamed to say that - and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some [uses air quotes with fingers] 'black bastard' would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him."

At some point, the church is going to have to stare down these allegations instead of running away from them. The official report itself,

A refutation of these absurd claims is not paramount to defending Mother and Baby Homes or the treatment of women in Twentieth Century Ireland.

Queen Elizabeth visits Ireland this week, an island that she still owns a significant part of, and unlike Pope Francis in 2018, there will be no figures like Liam Neeson lining up to criticise her for the acts attributed to her predecessors. Perhaps the hierarchy would do well to reflect as to why the head of the Anglican Church, after centuries of colonialism, famine and persecution towards Irish Catholics, gets more respect here than they do.

Tuam mother and baby home: the trouble with the septic tank story (irishtimes.com)

Ireland's Mother and Baby Homes: The REAL Story — Catholic Arena

Tuam mother and baby home: the trouble with the septic tank story (catholicarena.com)

Young Perspective on Irish Synod

Irish group Family Solidarity recently held a webinar discussing the topic of the upcoming Synod, with Irish Catholic journalist Jason Osborne presenting his perspective as a young male.

You can watch the video of the event by clicking the link below:

The Synodal Church of the 21st century: a young, married man's prespective (odysee.com)

Police Deny Last Rites to Amess after Terror Attack

The horrific death of Catholic MP David Amess at the hands of a suspected Somali Islamist is shocking enough, but the further shocking detail of police denying him the Last Rites adds a further level of tragedy to the whole affair.

The Daily Mail are reporting that British police refused to allow David Amess to receive the Last Rites as he was dying from a suspected terror attack. pic.twitter.com/TSRFYJkPGE

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) October 15, 2021

The priest in question, Father Jeff Woolnough, has confirmed this horrible event on social media today and was very diplomatic towards the police, despite his obvious disappointment at not being able to get to devout Catholic Amess before he passed.

I prayed the rosary outside the Methodist church after being refused entry- I’m so very sorry that I was not allowed to minister to Sir David at the end- the police had their instructions which I have to respect and abide by.

— Jeff Woolnough (@JeffWoolnough) October 16, 2021

So you would argue paramedics should have been held back from contaminating the scene? They were allowed in to try and save his body - the priest should have be let in under same circumstances for the saving of the soul.

— Ed Tomlinson (@fathereddy) October 16, 2021

Many exasperated Catholics on social media struggled to talk sense into ardent British secularists who seemed determined to find reasons to deny the Last Rites to a Catholic. A number of people suggested that it was a crime scene and hence every clue mattered, however, where a terrorist runs amok with a knife, apprehending them is rarely down to a loose hair on the ground spotted with a microscope. One person even suggested that the police were right to be wary of potential imposter priests arriving to cause more harm. Any good police officer would be well aware of who were the faith leaders in the area, not these evidently.

I’m sure that the next time you’re faced with a suspected terrorist attack, a grievously injured man and, I imagine, a horrific scene before you, you’ll let the priest who might not be a priest in. 🙄 Rather than assume the worst, maybe assume the police were doing their best.

— Deborah Allen (@Deb_Allen) October 16, 2021

In this instance, anger is not the right emotion. Instead, pity.

When British police raided a Polish church in London earlier this year at Easter, they stormed the altar and demanded that the service be put to an immediate end.

This insensitivity belongs to a police force that regularly boasts of its apparent unlimited woke credentials. When the raid happened against the Polish community earlier in the year, the commissioner did the right thing ans met with church leaders to patch things up and to promise that it would not be repeated. It was a very encouraging and professional move on behalf of the police.

One can only hope that such a move takes place again now, but it will only paper over the wider cracks of British society.

Amess died in a church, murdered by a Somali Muslim, with ignorant police refusing to allow him the most basic of his rights as a Catholic. Given his nature, he would of course forgive the police, but he would likely have been horrified by their refusal to allow him to receive the Last Rites.

In 2017, Kyle Lawler spotted terrorist Salman Abedi inside the Manchester Arena. Despite thinking that Abedi was suspicious, Lawler did not approach Abedi, leading to the deaths of 22 people, mostly children. Many others were horrifically injured.

The political correctness of British society is not well though out, it is not altruistic and it is completely selective based upon fears of which groups it fears backlash from.

‘Bye Baby!’ British MP's Shocking Pro Abortion Protest

British MP Tommy Sheppard has caused disgust after uploading an image of a protest that he attended, with a sign reading ‘Bye baby!’ in a disgusting taunt against helpless unborn children.

Sheppard's unhinged protest claimed to be against those ‘intimidating women who are seeking help' however it is unclear how his protest's repulsive bragging about killing babies can be considered anything other than intimidating in itself, especially when the repulsive ‘Bye Baby!’ poster was displayed without due regard for those who may have miscarried.

The sick event undermines efforts by faux nationalist parties, such as Shephard's own SNP and Mary Lou McDonald's Sinn Fein, to ban Catholics from praying near places where babies are brought for destruction. The fake nationalists in the SNP and Sinn Fein have both claimed that their bans are motivated by good taste and by their inclination towards preventing apparent indecency from becoming the norm in abortion discourse, yet ‘Bye Baby!’ is an obvious indictment of the vacuous nature of those apparent claims.

💥HAPPENING NOW💥
Delighted to come and join these woman at a local sexual health clinic and support their protest against the "vigil" by a couple of anti-abortionists attempting to intimidate woman who are seeking help. pic.twitter.com/FqSjPkK5bI

— Tommy Sheppard MP (@TommySheppard) October 12, 2021

It is quite clear that Sheppard and his gaggle of young female colleagues aware that it is indeed a baby in an abortion and that there is no compassion in his decision to support their destruction.

1 in 4 pregnancies in the UK ends in abortion of the child now, a completely abhorrent and dysfunctional depravity which is a stain on their entire society.

Prolifers would do well to remember the casual vulgarity of an elected member of parliament the next time they feel inclined to fall for the trap of condemning one another for apparent ‘insensitive’ demonstrations against abortion.

Perhaps ‘Hello baby!’ could form a sign at a future prolife event.

The Queenship of Mary by Reginald Garrigou Lagrange OP

In the language of the Church, both in the Liturgy and in her universal preaching, Mary is not only Mother and Mediatrix but Queen of all men and even of the angels and the whole universe.

In what sense is she a queen?

In a true or in a merely metaphorical sense?

It should be recalled first that God alone has universal kingship over all things through His Essence: He governs all things and leads them to their end.

Jesus and Mary share in this Divine Kingship. Even as man, Jesus shares in it for three reasons: because of His Divine Personality, because of His fulness of grace which overflows on men and angels, and because of His victory over sin, Satan and death. He is King of all men and of all creatures including the angels, who are “His angels.” Thus He says (Mark 13:26): “And then they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds, with great power and glory. And then shall He send his angels . . . For Jesus is Son of God by nature, whereas the angels are but God’s servants and adopted sons. Jesus has said too of Himself: “All power is given to me in Heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18), and we read in the Apocalypse that He is “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” (Apoc. 19:16).

HER QUEENSHIP IN GENERAL

Can it be said of Mary, since her Assumption especially, and her crowning in Heaven, that she shares in God’s universal Kingship in the sense that she is Queen of all creatures in subordination to Christ?

She could certainly be called a queen in the wide sense of the term by reason of her spiritual qualities and her fulness of grace, of glory and of charity which raise her above all other creatures. It is quite customary to use the words king and queen to designate persons of such eminence. Her motherhood of Christ the King would also entitle her to be called a queen—still in a wide sense of the term at least.

But would it not appear that she is a queen in the literal sense of the term by the fact of having received royal authority and power? Has she not, in dependence on Jesus and through Him, not only a primacy of honor in regard to the angels and saints, but a real power to command both angels and men? This is, in fact, what emerges from an examination of Tradition as expressed in the preaching of the universal Church, the Fathers, the statements of different Popes, the Liturgy. There are theological arguments besides in favor of the affirmative answer.

The Fathers of both East and West referred frequently to Mary under such titles as Domina, Regina, Regina nostrae salutis. It is sufficient to mention a few among many: in the East SS. Ephrem, Germanus of Constantinople, Andrew of Crete, John Damascene; in the West St. Peter Crysologus, the Venerable Bede, St. Anselm, St. Peter Damien, St. Bernard. The same titles occur also in the works of the theologians: in St. Albert the Great, St. Bonaventure, St. Thomas, Gerson, St. Bernadine of Siena, Denis the Carthusian, St. Peter Canisius, Suarez, St. Grignon de Montfort, St. Alphonsus. Different Sovereign Pontiffs have often used the same expressions.

The Roman and Oriental liturgies proclaim Mary Queen of the heavens, Queen of angels, Queen of the world, Queen of all the saints. Among the mysteries of the Rosary commonly recited in the Church since the 13th century the last of all is that of the crowning of Our Lady in Heaven—a scene represented in one of Fra Angelico’s most beautiful frescoes.

The arguments adduced by theologians to prove that Mary has universal Queenship in the proper, non-metaphorical sense of the term, are conclusive. They may all be reduced to the following three.

Jesus Christ is King of the universe, even as man, in virtue of His Divine Personality. But Mary as Mother of God made man belongs to the hypostatic order and shares in the dignity of her Son, for His Person is the term of her divine motherhood. Hence she shares connaturally, as Mother of God, in His universal Kingship. Our Blessed Lord owes it to Himself to recognise His Mother’s title in gratitude.

A second argument is that Jesus is King of the universe by His fulness of grace and by the victory which He won over Satan and sin by His humility and His obedience unto death, “For which cause God hath exalted Him. . . .” But Mary was associated with His victory over Satan, sin, and death by her union with Him in His humiliations and sufferings. She is therefore really associated with Him in His Kingship.

The same conclusion may be arrived at by considering the close relationship in which Mary stands to God the Father, of whom she is the first adoptive daughter and the highest in grace, and God the Holy Ghost through whose operation the word took flesh in her womb.

It has been objected that the mother of a king, the queen-mother, is not by that simple fact queen in the strict sense of the term: she has nothing of royal power. Neither then has Mary. We have answered this objection already. There is no parity between the two cases. A queen-mother is simply the mother of a child who later became king. But Mary is the mother of Him who from the instant of His conception is King of the universe by His hypostatic union and His fulness of grace. Besides, Mary was associated closely with the victory by which He obtained universal kingship as a right of conquest, even though He possessed it already as Son of God. Mary is therefore associated with His Kingship in a true, even if in a subordinate, manner.

Many consequences follow from this truth. As universal King, Jesus has power to establish and promulgate the New Law, to propose revealed doctrine, to judge the living and the dead, to give souls sanctifying grace and all the virtues. Mary shares in this universal kingship especially by dispensing in an interior and hidden manner the graces which she merited in dependence on Jesus. She participates in it exteriorly also by the fact that she gave on earth the example of all the virtues, that she helped to enlighten the Apostles, and that she continues to enlighten us when, for example, she manifests herself exteriorly in sanctuaries such as those of Lourdes, La Salette, and Fatima. Theologians note that she does not seem to share in any special way in the royal judicial power of inflicting punishment for sin, for Tradition calls her not the Mother of justice but the Mother of mercy, a title which is hers in virtue of her mediation of all graces. Jesus seems to have kept to Himself the reign of justice as is becoming Him who is the “judge of the living and the dead.”

Mary has a radical right to universal queenship by the fact of her divine motherhood, but the divine plan was that she should merit it also by her union with her suffering Son, and that she should not exercise it fully before being crowned queen of all creation in Heaven. Her royalty is spiritual and supernatural rather than temporal and natural, though it extends in a secondary way to temporal affairs considered in their relation to salvation and sanctification.

We have seen how Mary exercises her queenship on earth. She exercises it in Heaven also. The essential glory of the blessed depends on Jesus’ merits and hers. She contributes to their accidental glory—as well as to that of the angels—by the light she communicates to them, and by the joy they have in her presence and in the realization of what she does for souls. To both the angels and the saints she manifests Christ’s plan for the extension of His Kingdom.

Mary’s queenship extends to purgatory, for she prompts the faithful on earth to pray for the souls detained there and to have Masses offered for them. She herself offers their prayers to God, thereby increasing their value. She applies the fruits of the merits of Jesus and of herself to the Holy Souls in Jesus’ name.

Her queenship extends to the demons too who are obliged to recognise her power, for she can make their temptation cease, can save souls from their snares, and can repulse their attacks. “The demons suffer more,” says St. Grignon de Montfort, “from being conquered by the humility of Mary than by the Omnipotence of God.” Her reign of mercy extends to Hell itself, as we have seen, in the sense that the lost souls are punished less than they deserve, and that on certain days—including possibly the Assumption—their sufferings become less fearful.

Thus Mary’s queenship is truly universal. There is no region to which it does not extend in some way.

SPECIAL ASPECTS OF MARY’S QUEENSHIP

Mary’s universal queenship comes home to us in a more concrete form if we consider its different aspects as presented in the Litany of Loreto: Queen of angels, of patriarchs, of prophets, of martyrs, of confessors, of virgins, of all the saints, of peace.

QUEEN OF ANGELS

Mary is Queen of the angels since her mission is higher than theirs. They are but servants, whereas she is the Mother of God. She is as much above them as the word “mother” surpasses the word “servant.” She alone with the Father can say to Jesus: “Thou art my Son, I have begotten thee.”

She is higher than the angels also by her fulness of grace and glory, which surpasses that of all the angels united. She is purer than they, for she has received purity for others as well as for herself. She was more perfect than they and more prompt in her obedience to God’s commandments and in following His counsels. By her co-operation in the redemption she merited de congruo for the angels themselves the accidental graces by which they help us to save our souls and the joy which they experience in doing so.

As Justin of Miechow well remarks, if the angels have served Our Lord, how much more did not Mary serve Him, she who conceived and bore Him, who cared for Him, who carried Him into Egypt to escape Herod’s anger?

She surpasses the angels in this also, that they have each care of one soul or one community, but she is the guardian of all men and of earth in particular. She is, more than they, the messenger of God who brought us not a created word but the Uncreated Word.

Archangels are appointed to protect this or that city: Mary protects all cities and all churches in them. Principalities are the custodians of provinces: Mary has the whole Church under her protection. Powers repel demons: Mary has crushed the serpent’s head; she is terrible to the demons by the depth of her humility and the ardour of her charity. Virtues perform miracles as God’s instruments: but the greatest miracle was to conceive the Incarnate Word for our salvation. Dominations command the lower angels: Mary commands all the heavenly choirs. The Thrones are those angels in whom God dwells in a specially intimate way: Mary, who gave birth to Jesus, is the Seat of Wisdom, and the Blessed Trinity reside in her more familiarly than in the highest angel—that is to say, in a way proportionate to her consummated grace.

She surpasses even the Cherubim and Seraphim. The Cherubim shine with the splendor of their knowledge: but Mary has penetrated deeper than they into the divine mysteries since she has the light of glory in a degree far above theirs. She has carried in her womb Him in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. She lived with Him for thirty years on earth, and in Heaven she is nearest of all to Him.

The Seraphim burn with the flame of love: but more ardent still is the living flame of Mary’s charity. She loves God more than all creatures together, for she loves Him not only as Creator and Father but as her Infant and her treasured Son.

She is therefore the Queen of angels. They serve her faithfully, surround her with veneration, marvel at her tender solicitude for each one of us and for the whole Church. Her charity, her zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of souls are the objects of their intense admiration.

Such is the substance of Justin of Miechow’s treatise on Mary, Queen of Angels.

QUEEN OF PATRIARCHS

The superiority of Mary to Adam in the state of innocence is clear from all that has been said thus far. She was higher in grace than he, and had as well the principal effects of original justice: subordination of the sensibility to the higher faculties, and subordination of these latter to God. Mary’s charity was greater from the first instant of her conception than that of Adam in the state of innocence, and she had in addition the special grace of freedom from all sin however slight, even though she was conceived in passible and mortal flesh.

Her intimacy with God was much closer than that of Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or Joseph. Abraham’s most heroic act was that of preparing himself to immolate his son Isaac, the son of the promise. It was far more for Mary to offer Jesus who was dearer to her than her own life: nor did an angel come to arrest Jesus’ immolation as one did in the case of Isaac. Her title of Mother of God, her charity and the heroicity of all her virtues make Mary shine as a star without compare among the patriarchs.

QUEEN OF PROPHETS

Prophecy in the strict sense of the term is the gift of knowing with certainty and predicting the future under divine inspiration. It was given to many in Old Testament times. In the New Testament St. John and St. Paul were both prophets and apostles. Sacred Scripture tells us of certain holy women also who received the gift of prophecy: Mary the sister of Moses, Deborah, Anne, mother of Samuel, Elisabeth, mother of John the Baptist.

Mary is Queen of prophets. She foretold the future in the Magnificat when she sang: “Behold from henceforth all nations shall call me blessed.” Of her the prophets spoke when they announced the mystery of the Incarnation. She bore in her womb Him of Whom the prophets spoke, and she heard from His own lips the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

She had the gift of prophecy in the highest degree after Our Blessed Lord, and at the same time she had perfect understanding of the fulness of the revelation which He communicated to the world.

QUEEN OF APOSTLES

In what sense is Mary Queen of the twelve Apostles? Her dignity as Mother of God surpasses theirs. The apostolate is a form of ministry. But according to the phrase of St. Albert which we have quoted already, Mary is not simply God’s minister since as Mother of the Saviour she is still more closely associated with Him. After the Ascension the Apostles had need of direction, of counsel, and no one was better equipped than Mary to give it to them. She consoled them in their grief at the departure of Our Lord when they felt lonely and helpless in face of the task of the evangelisation of the pagan world. Jesus had left them His mother to help them. She was for them, it has been said, a second paraclete, a visible paraclete, a mediatrix; she was their guiding star in the midst of the tempest of persecution that raged about them. She was truly a mother to them. None of them ever left her side without having been enlightened and consoled, without having been strengthened. By her example in suffering calumnies, by her experience of the things of God she sustained them in times of trial and persecution.

There was no one who could talk as she did of the virginal conception of Christ, of His birth, His infancy, His hidden life, of what took place in His soul on the cross. This is what prompted St. Ambrose to say: “It is not strange that St. John should have spoken better of the mystery of the Incarnation than the others did; he lived at the source of heavenly secrets.”

He lived in Mary’s company what he speaks of in the fourth gospel.

QUEEN OF MARTYRS

The title of Queen of Martyrs has been applied to Mary by SS. Ephrem, Jerome, Ildephonsus, Anselm and Bernard. The implied allusion is to her martyrdom of heart of which Simeon spoke: “Thy own soul a sword shall pierce.”

Mary’s grief was proportionate to her love for her Son. She suffered when He was called a seducer, a violator of the Law, one possessed by a devil; she suffered inexpressibly when Barabbas was preferred to Him, when He was nailed to the cross, when He was tortured by the crown of thorns, when He was parched with thirst; she shared in all the anguish of His priestly and victim soul. She felt as it were all the blows Jesus received in His scourging and crucifixion, for her love made her one with Him. As Bossuet exclaims: “One cross was enough to make martyrs of Him and her.” They offered but one sacrifice, and since she, for her part, loved Jesus more than herself, she suffered more than if she herself had been the victim. All this she endured so as to confess her faith in the mystery of the redemptive Incarnation, and in her the faith of the Church was strong at that moment, stronger and more ardent than in all the other martyrs.

We should remember that Mary’s sufferings had the same cause as her Son’s—the accumulated sins of men and their ingratitude which made the sufferings to be partly of no avail. We must remember too that she suffered from the time of the conception of the Saviour, still more after Simeon’s prophecy, still more as she saw the opposition to Jesus mounting, and most of all at the foot of the cross. But even then, even when her soul was inundated with grief, her zeal for the glory of God and for the salvation of souls caused her a holy joy at the sight of her Son consummating His redemptive work by the most perfect of holocausts.

Lastly, she has helped the martyrs in their torments. She is Our Lady of a happy death because of her care for the dying who call on her. Much more does she help those who die to profess their faith in the Redeemer.

QUEEN OF CONFESSORS MARY AND PRIESTS

She is Queen of all who confess their faith in Jesus for she herself confessed the same faith more than any other creature.

But we shall speak principally in this section of what she is to the priests of Our Blessed Lord. To represent Jesus truly, the priest who brings Him down on the altar and offers Him sacramentally in Holy Mass should unite himself more and more to His sentiments, to the oblation which is always living in the Heart of Jesus “always living to make intercession for us.” In addition, he should, through the different sacraments, distribute the grace which is the fruit of the merits of Jesus and Mary.

Because of the work to which they are called, Mary is specially zealous for the sanctification of priests. She sees that they share in the priesthood of her Son and she watches over their souls that the grace of their ordination may bear fruit in them, that they become living images of the Saviour. She protects them against the dangers which surround them and lifts them up if they happen to stumble. She loves them as sons of predilection, just as she loved St. John who was committed to her on Calvary. She attracts their heart to herself to raise it up and to lead them to greater intimacy with Jesus, so that one day they may be able to say in all truth: “I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me.”

Mary helps priests in a special way at the altar so that they may become more fully conscious of their union with the Principal Offerer. She is spiritually present at that sacramental oblation which perpetuates the substance of the sacrifice of the Cross, and she distributes to the priest the actual graces he needs to minister with recollection and in a spirit of self-donation. In that way she helps the priest to share in Jesus’ victimhood as well as in His priesthood. All this means to form priests to the image of the Heart of Jesus.

With Jesus she arouses priestly vocations and cultivates them. She knows that where there are no priests there is no Baptism, no Confession, no Mass, no Christian Marriage, no Extreme Unction, no Christian life: without the priest the world returns to paganism.

Our Lord who has willed to have need of Mary in the work of salvation has willed also to have need of priests, and Mary forms them in holiness. We can see her action clearly in some of the saints who were priests—St. John the Evangelist, St. Bernard, St. Dominic, the Apostle of the Rosary, St. Bernardine of Siena, St. Grignon de Montfort, St. Alphonsus.

QUEEN OF VIRGINS MARY AND CONSECRATED SOULS

Mary is Queen of Virgins since she had the virtue of virginity in the most eminent degree and preserved it in the conception, birth, and after the birth of the Saviour. She teaches souls the value of virginity. It is a true virtue, a spiritual force, something more than a mere good inclination of the sensibility. She teaches them that virginity consecrated to God is higher than simple chastity since it promises integrity of the body and purity of the heart for the whole of life—a consideration which led St. Thomas to say that virginity stands in much the same relation to chastity as munificence does to simple liberality, since it is a perfect gift of self, and sign of a perfect generosity.

Mary safeguards virgins from danger, she supports them in their difficulties and leads them, if they are faithful, to great intimacy with her Son.

What is her role in regard to consecrated souls? The Church calls such souls “spouses of Christ.” It follows that Our Lady is their perfect model. Following her example they should live a life of prayer and of reparation in union with Our Blessed Lord. They should become also consolers of the afflicted, remembering that the consolation which they afford in a supernatural spirit to the suffering members of Christ is afforded to Himself and makes amends for the ingratitude, coldness, and even hatred of so many. Thus, these souls are called to reproduce the virtues of Mary and to continue in some measure her work for Our Blessed Lord and for souls.

If consecrated souls but know and follow Mary’s guidance they find through her a wonderful compensation for the privations their lives impose on them, and which, though all accepted in advance, are felt most keenly only as they come one by one, day after day. Through Mary they can aspire to a certain spiritual motherhood, which is an image of her own, in regard to all—the poor, the afflicted, sinners—who are in need of spiritual care. Our Blessed Lord alluded to that spiritual motherhood when He said: “I was hungry, and you gave me eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in: naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison and you came to me.” (Matt. 25:35–36).

Spiritual motherhood in the life of contemplation and reparation may be practised also by the apostolate of prayer and suffering which makes fruitful the exterior apostolate for the conversion of sinners and the extension of the reign of Christ. A hidden, interior apostolate can be one of great sufferings; but Our Lady will show how to bear them and she will afford some glimpse of their effects in souls.

Another work of Mary’s is to help Christian mothers to bring up their children to a life of faith, confidence in God, and love. She helps them also to win back their erring children, as St. Monica did St. Augustine.

Thus, we see the universality of Mary’s Queenship. She is Queen of all the saints by virtue of her unique mission in God’s providential plan, and her fulness of grace and glory. She is Queen of all the saints, the unknown as well as the known, the uncanonised as well as the canonised, the Queen of all those who strive after holiness on earth, whose trials and joys are so well known to her, and the crown of whose merits she foresees even now.

Brigid's Day Will Be 12th of July for Southern Secularists

The humiliation of the pope’s lackluster 2018 visit seems to have done little to wake many Catholics up to the reality of their demoted positions as pariahs within the new Ireland.

The evidence for this continued slumber can be found in the fact that many, even some bishops, are now cheering on a coordinated campaign to establish an anti Catholic public holiday, similar to the 12th of July events in Northern Ireland. ‘Brigid’s Day’ looks poised to become the demonic parody of ‘Saint Brigid’s Day’.

For the past two years, feminists have been bankrolled by the government and various NGOs into sending materials into schools, showcasing television shows on government television station RTE and even having their propaganda images projected onto government buildings. The end goal of this campaign has been to deChristianise Ireland by insinuating then repeating that there are no Catholic saints, merely Catholic retellings of pagan deities (despite the obvious historical reality of Saint Brigid’s existence).

By sending out information packs and organising competitions with students over the past couple of years, these campaigners have laid the groundwork for a public holiday where more than a select few children will be told that ‘Brigid’ (not a saint) was a lesbian, performed abortions and engaged in witchcraft.

The reason that they have had to do so is that they recognise that Saint Brigid is a stumbling block to their claims that the church is inherently anti woman. Brigid lived in the so called ‘Dark Ages’ and yet was allowed to become the Abbess of what was then the seat of ecclesiastical authority in Ireland, with power over both male and female religious.

There is a merit in honouring Ireland’s pre Christian history, but this proposal is not about honouring it. It is about manipulating it by means of using it as a weapon against the Catholic faith.

Everyone is well aware of the 12th of July’s anti Catholic antecedents, becoming a tradition of marches for the Orange Order in celebration of not just King William’s victory at the Battle of the Boyne, but coming to encompass resentment against the Catholic faith itself.

The establishment of a ‘Brigid’s Day’, conflating a holy and pious saint with some image of hippy witch of the kind found smoking weed in a tent at the foot of the Hill of Tara is an effort to codify anti Catholicism in the public sphere.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin infamously said after one referendum defeat ‘The church got a massive wake up call today’.

With prominent Catholics endorsing an anti Catholic public holiday, it is clear that that was not a big enough wake up call.

Sinn Fein Votes to BAN Catholics From Praying Publicly

Anti Catholic political party Sinn Fein, who picketed a Dublin church earlier this year in a 12th of July style rally, have dramatically voted to BAN public prayer near abortuaries in Northern Ireland.

The party have been working extremely hard to implement Westminster’s abortion edict in the six counties, tirelessly doing the bidding of their wage masters in the House of Lords. Sinn Fein actually abandoned their previous policy of resisting British rule in the North and embraced it for the first time in order to support the aborting of Irish babies, by accepting this ruling they have now accepted that London has full authority to impose its power in the North.

Sinn Fein are often portrayed in international media outlets as ‘populist’ or even as ‘nationalist’. While those epithets once had some credence, that has not been the case for at least a decade, with their ‘Catholic’ ‘nationalist’ counterparts the SDLP also joining them this week in voting to ban Catholics from praying publicly against abortion.

The so called ‘exclusion zones’ are in response to successful outreaches from prolife groups to support those who are availing of abortion because of desperation, with many prolife groups in the North offering material and emotional support to those being coerced into destroying their baby by partners, family or friends.

Prolife groups have suffered severe intimidation and aggression from Westminster’s supporters, who have attacked them both physically and verbally. Ironically, these ‘exclusion zones’ are now being brought in on false charges of intimidation by Catholics and prolife groups, intimidation which never actually happened.

In a strongly worded Facebook post, Belfast priest Fr. Paddy McCafferty wrote:

Faithful Catholics please take careful note.

Today, every single “nationalist” and “republican” MLA in Stormont voted to prevent and criminalise peaceful and prayerful protests outside abortion mills in Northern Ireland.

Every single one of them - including those who, lyingly and deceptively, have described themselves as ‘Pro Life’ to get our votes - the likes of Nichola Mallon, Daniel McCrossan, Pat Catney and some others.

They have alleged that there is “intimidation” and they have slandered the protesters as “extremists”. They have not produced one shred of evidence to support these claims.

There is no “intimidation”. There is prayer and the attempt to save unborn lives. There is the presentation of an alternative to abortion - in other words REAL CHOICE!

There is the truth that abortion is murder and an appeal not to kill a child.

There is also the troubling of the consciences of those who advocate the slaughter and that is the REAL REASON why they want the prayerful witnesses stopped!

If wanting to prevent infanticide means that Sinn Fein, the SDLP and their cohorts will label you an “extremist”, then so be it.

I have no hesitation whatsoever in appealing to faithful Catholics not to vote for any member of Sinn Fein or the SDLP. Do not vote for them ever again. I say that as a priest and I make no apology for it.

They have nailed their colours firmly to the evil mast of abortion. It is time for us to reject them at the ballot box.

There is currently a similar effort underway in the South to do the same by banning Catholics from praying in public against abortion.

After the success of Catholics in getting an abortion mill shut down in London in recent months, it is easy to see why those who wish to kill in the womb are so determined to quash such prayers.

Webinar: 'What Should We Expect from the Synod?'

On Thursday 14th October 2021, Family Solidarity will be hosting a Webinar discussing ‘What Should We Expect from the Synod?’ at 7.30pm Irish time.

The speaker will be Jason Osborne from The Irish Catholic.

You can tune in by requesting the link from familysolidarityireland@gmail.com

For more information, visit: Webinar: What should we expect from the Synod? - Family Solidarity

Nasty Rhetoric Has No Place at Irish Synod

In recent months, we have heard of how Traditionalists who have faithfully and lovingly crafted a renewal of devotion to the Latin Mass deserved to be punished with the Motu Proprio Traditionis custodes on account of a number of individuals online who have been perceived as disparaging towards the hierarchy.

This collective accountability does not seem to apply to the more liberal wing of the church however, even as a group of priests linked to the Irish government compared their own church (not just the leadership) to a terrorist group known for beating women, keeping them as sex slaves and for stoning them to death.

The Association of Catholic Priests, which has maintained its strong middle to upper class links to the ruling Fine Gael party even through a decade of cruel austerity against ordinary people, has long been a gauche extension of the establishment. Its relationship to the establishment is best understood as similar to the hierarchical clerical class pre French Revolution, they claim to speak for the people, but they are not of the people.

Now, on the same week that Pope Francis opened the Synod in Rome, one of their members has compared the church to the Taliban, the same group known for keeping young girls as sex slaves, executing its enemies and for persecuting Christians.

Father Roy Donovan told the Irish media:

“The Church is Taliban-like because women are not involved in leadership or governance or decision-making. To all purposes they are excluded from public forums in the Church.”

The head of the Irish Synod is a woman, Nicola Brady. Four of the last six Doctors of the Church have been women. The most watched Catholic media outlet in the world, EWTN, was founded by a woman. Take any nation in Europe, France, Germany, Ireland…figures such as St. Joan of Arc, St. Bernadette, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Hildegard of Bingen, St. Brigid, Edel Quinn have never been excluded and in fact are exalted in name, word and deed above most, if not all, Catholic men in the histories of those nations. In any parish in Ireland, women form the parish councils, read at Mass and run the majority of lay groups. In short, Father Donovan was playing to the gallery of the Irish media.

This tired routine towards the secular society is merely the perspective of a material world rather than a spiritual one, to them the church is an office rather than a Mystical Body, Christ’s talk to make oneself a servant of all and to humble one’s self is an affront to worldly ambitions of rank and power. This standard is not equally applied to other institutions. Does it matter that there have been no female leaders of Fine Gael? No female hosts of the Late Late Show? No female heads of the Freemasons? Of course not, because there is the implicit acquiescence to those temporal powers which do not seem the soft touch that the church does.

This rhetoric quickly turns into (mostly older) priests performing the role of court jester to the adoring forces of anti Catholicism, a legacy of West Briton self loathing that perpetuates itself in the Anglified legacy media outlets. Unlike jesters however, most of the rhetoric is more often venomous, bitter and regretful rather than humorous.

Take for example, the de facto head of the liberal wing of the Irish church, former Irish President Mary McAleese.

McAleese, who welcomed Queen Elizabeth with open arms during a visit in 2011 and who also once proudly received Communion in a Protestant church, has been a source of constant negativity in her public pronouncements about the church (she rarely speaks on faith as such, rather just on the organisational institution). She recently criticised Pope Francis for being a ‘very disorganised pope’. Her criticisms have gone further than that, even claiming that Francis is a ‘populist’. She has also said:

I really feel that we have to persuade the current leadership [in the church] that they must cede power in order to survive.

This is the crux of the issue, McAleese and the ACP are the ones in power in the church in Ireland in terms of public debate. Despite being vastly out of touch with ordinary people and heavily connected to authority structures that have been at war with ordinary people since the bank bailout, they still maintain the façade that they are speaking on behalf of the underdog, indeed they sincerely believe that they themselves are underdogs.

Such a delusional pessimism laced with ad hominem attacks that compare the church to the Taliban must not be allowed to be included in the Synodal process in Ireland. Most Irish Catholics are polite, kind and open minded. This rigid attachment to the stale religious environment of the 1970s and 1980s and the elitist political environment of the 2010s is something that cannot be allowed to hinder the enthusiasm with which many faithful Catholics wish to engage in the process of the next couple of years. If the apparent aggression of Trads warranted a Motu Proprio, then surely, at the very least, this type of rhetoric must warrant exclusion from the more formal aspects of the Synod.

Imagine how young people feel seeing such negativity dominating headlines surrounding the upcoming Synod, the despair and lack of charity on show is not only setting a bad example but intimidating many from being willing to raise their voices, even though they will inherit the church left behind by this Synod and those rooted in the malaise of the 1970s and 1980s.

Catholics of good will must unite in the upcoming Synod, be they of a more traditional slant or of a more progressive one, what should not be tolerated by the bishops or by those involved in the committee process is comparing one another to terror groups or criticising Pope Francis as both the ACP and McAleese have done.

If the Synodal Committee tolerates this behaviour, in a top down dictatorial fashion from these privileged establishment figures, then the process will be undermined beyond repair. It will be similar to the so called Citizen’s Assembly of the ACP’s friends in Fine Gael, a hand picked faux discussion where those with the most power pursue a preconceived consensus. This is not what Synodality is.

You can listen to Father Roy Donovan’s shocking interview with Irish government media arm RTE here:

The absolute state of progressive Catholic priests in Ireland.

Fr. Roy Donovan, of Limerick, comparing the Catholic Church to the Taliban, including a worryingly woke definition of "violence". pic.twitter.com/mmPIALpKvA

— JRD (@JRD0000) October 11, 2021

Pope Francis Begins Synod

In Rome today, Pope Francis began the process that will lead to the meeting of the Universal Synod there in 2023.

Quoting Fr. Yves Congar OP, the pope said:

We must not make another church, we must make a different church.

He stated that three problems which can arise are formalism, intellectualism and immobility.

Whatever your ideological slants, only the more fanatical factions of Modernism could suggest that the past half century has not been marked by such features as those, with church architecture, liturgical norms and artwork often taken the form of indecipherable gobbledygook designed to allow aloof theologians to impose their will despite alienating millions of laity in the process.

The three words that Francis identified as the key to the Synodal path were Communion, Participation, Mission.

With that in mind, those of a more traditional mind should not shirk the process which beings today, Diocesan Synodal Consultations will begin in earnest beginning this week and we must take at face value the idea that everyone’s voice will be heard. If we do not even attempt to speak up, we cannot complain when the results do not go our way.

The Modernist Clericalism which flexed its muscles in the 1960s and 1970s in demolishing churches and similar efforts of iconoclasm is not as well poised to repeat the trick in 2021 unless they are allowed to do so in conjunction with proxies in various ‘Catholic Spring’ type astro-turf lobby groups. Many of these have already gotten underway with their own Synodal Conferences but in many cases, their suggestions (particularly in Germany) have not been well received by the public, with Cardinal Walter Kasper even joining the chorus of those criticising the extreme nature of some proposals.

In a video this week, Fr. Brendan Kilcoyne has said ‘We should be looking at the parish system and asking ourselves if this is the most serviceable system for the modern church in the Western World?’ He makes good points that traditionalists should consider with regards to how much of this problem they have an answer for, with the various Latin Mass communities offering examples of groupings of people that are not generically confined to geography. The video is very much a worthwhile watch and expresses the sense of purpose and cautious optimism that we should meet this with.

Look up your local Diocesan Websites, find out where and when your Synodal events will begin to take place and if there are none at present, speak to someone you trust or a group that you support about staging one.

We are not going to promise it will turn out exactly as we might hope, but we can guarantee that sitting on the sidelines is not an option.

Pope Francis’s opening address:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Thank you for being here at the opening of the Synod. You have come from many roads and Churches, each carrying questions and hopes in your hearts, and I am sure that the Spirit will guide us and give us the grace to go forward together, to listen to each other and to initiate discernment in our time, becoming in solidarity with the labors and desires of humanity. I reiterate that the Synod is not a parliament, that the Synod is not an investigation of opinions; the Synod is an ecclesial moment, and the protagonist of the Synod is the Holy Spirit. If there is no Spirit, there will be no Synod.

Let us live this Synod in the spirit of the prayer that Jesus addressed heartily to the Father for his own: "That they may all be one"(Jn 17:21). To this we are called: to unity, to communion, to the fraternity that is born from feeling embraced by the one love of God. All of us, without distinction, and we Pastors in particular, as St Cyprian wrote: "We must firmly maintain and claim this unity, especially we Bishops who preside over the Church, to give proof that even the episcopate itself is one and undivided"(De Ecclesiae Catholicae Unitate,5). In the one People of God, therefore, let us walk together, to experience a Church that receives and lives the gift of unity and opens herself to the voice of the Spirit.

The key words of the Synod are three: communion, participation, mission. Communion and mission are theological expressions that designate the mystery of the Church and of which it is good to remember. The Second Vatican Council clarified that communion expresses the very nature of the Church and, at the same time, affirmed that the Church has received "the mission of proclaiming and establishing in all peoples the kingdom of Christ and of God, and of this kingdom constitutes on earth the seed and the beginning"(Lumen Gentium, 5). Two words through which the Church contemplates and imitates the life of the Most Holy Trinity, the mystery of communion ad intra and the source of mission ad extra. After a time of doctrinal, theological and pastoral reflections that characterized the reception of Vatican II, St. Paul VI wanted to condense precisely in these two words – communion and mission – "the main lines, enunciated by the Council". Commemorating his openness, he affirmed that the general lines had been "communion, that is, cohesion and interior fullness, in grace, in truth, in collaboration [...] and mission, that is, apostolic commitment to the contemporary world"(Angelus,11 October 1970), which is not proselytism.

Closing the Synod of 1985, twenty years after the conclusion of the conciliar assembly, Saint John Paul II also wanted to reaffirm that the nature of the Church is koinonia:from it flows the mission of being a sign of the intimate union of the human family with God. And he added: "It is supremely fitting that ordinary and, if necessary, even extraordinary Synods be celebrated in the Church" which, in order to bear fruit, must be well prepared: "that is, it is necessary that in the local Churches work be done on their preparation with the participation of all"(Address at the conclusion of the Second Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops,7 December 1985). So here is the third word, participation. Communion and mission risk remaining somewhat abstract terms if we do not cultivate an ecclesial practice that expresses the concreteness of synodality in every step of the journey and of work, promoting the real involvement of each and every one. I would like to say that celebrating a Synod is always beautiful and important, but it is truly fruitful if it becomes a living expression of being Church, of an action characterized by true participation.

And this is not for the sake of style, but of faith. Participation is a requirement of baptismal faith. As the Apostle Paul says, "we have all been baptized by one Spirit into one body"(1 Cor 12:13). The starting point, in the ecclesial body, is this and no other: Baptism. From it, our source of life, derives the equal dignity of the children of God, even in the difference of ministries and charisms. For this reason, everyone is called to participate in the life of the Church and in her mission. If there is no real participation of the whole People of God, the discourses on communion risk remaining pious intentions. On this aspect we have made progress, but there is still a certain difficulty and we are forced to record the discomfort and suffering of many pastoral workers, of the participatory bodies of dioceses and parishes, of women who are often still on the margins. To participate everyone: it is an indispensable ecclesial commitment! All baptized, this is the identity card: Baptism.

The Synod, precisely while it offers us a great opportunity for a pastoral conversion in a missionary and also ecumenical key, is not exempt from some risks. I will mention three. The first is that of formalism. You can reduce a Synod to an extraordinary event, but a façade, just as if you were looking at a beautiful façade of a church without ever set foot in it. Instead, the Synod is a path of effective spiritual discernment, which we do not undertake to give a beautiful image of ourselves, but to better collaborate in God's work in history. Therefore, if we speak of a synodal Church we cannot be satisfied with the form, but we also need substance, tools and structures that favor dialogue and interaction in the People of God, especially between priests and laity. Why do I emphasize this? Because sometimes there is some elitism in the priestly order that makes it detach from the laity; and the priest eventually becomes the "master of the shack" and not the pastor of a whole Church that is moving forward. This requires transforming certain top-down, distorted and partial visions of the Church, the priestly ministry, the role of the laity, ecclesial responsibilities, government roles, and so on.

A second risk is that of intellectualism – abstraction, reality goes there and we with our reflections go elsewhere – to make the Synod a kind of study group, with cultured but abstract interventions on the problems of the Church and on the evils of the world; a sort of "talking to us", where we proceed in a superficial and worldly way, ending up falling back into the usual sterile ideological and party classifications and detaching ourselves from the reality of the holy People of God, from the concrete life of the communities scattered around the world.

Finally, there may be the temptation ofimmobility:since "it has always been done this way" (Ap. Evangelii Gaudium,33) – this word is a poison in the life of the Church, "it has always been done this way" – it is better not to change. Those who move in this horizon, even without realizing it, fall into the error of not taking seriously the time we inhabit. The risk is that in the end old solutions will be adopted for new problems: a patch of raw cloth, which in the end creates a worse tear (cf. Mt 9:16). For this reason it is important that the Synod be truly such, a process in progress; involve, in different phases and from below, the local Churches, in a passionate and incarnate work, which imprints a style of communion and participation marked by the mission.

Let us therefore live this occasion of encounter, listening and reflection as a time of grace,brothers and sisters, a time of grace that, in the joy of the Gospel, allows us to seize at least three opportunities. The first is to set out not occasionally but structurally towards a synodal Church:an open place, where everyone feels at home and can participate. The Synod then offers us the opportunity to become the Church of listening:to take a break from our rhythms, to stop our pastoral anxieties to stop and listen. Listen to the Spirit in adoration and prayer. How much we miss the prayer of adoration today! Many have lost not only the habit, but also the notion of what it means to worship. Listen to our brothers and sisters on the hopes and crises of faith in the different areas of the world, on the urgent needs for the renewal of pastoral life, on the signs that come from local realities. Finally, we have the opportunity to become a Church of closeness. Let us always return to God's style: God's style is closeness, compassion and tenderness. God has always worked like this. If we do not come to this Church of closeness with attitudes of compassion and tenderness, we will not be the Church of the Lord. And this not only in words, but with presence, so that greater bonds of friendship with society and the world may be established: a Church that does not separate itself from life, but takes charge of the fragility and poverty of our time, healing wounds and healing broken hearts with the balm of God. Let us not forget God's style that must help us: closeness, compassion and tenderness.

Dear brothers and sisters, may this Synod once inhabited by the Spirit! Because we need the Spirit, the ever new breath of God, who frees us from all closure, revives what is dead, loosens the chains, spreads joy. The Holy Spirit is the One who guides us where God wants and not where our personal ideas and tastes would take us. Father Congar, of holy memory, recalled: "We must not makeanother Church,we must make a different Church"(Vera e falsa riforma nella Chiesa,Milan 1994, 193). And that's the challenge. For a "different Church", open to the newness that God wants to suggest to her, let us invoke the Spirit with greater strength and frequency and humbly listen to him, walking together, as he, creator of communion and mission, desires, that is, with docility and courage.

Come, Holy Spirit. You who arouse new languages and put words of life on your lips, preserve us from becoming a museum Church, beautiful but mute, with so much past and little future. Come among us, because in the synodal experience we do not allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by disenchantment, we do not water down prophecy, we do not end up reducing everything to sterile discussions. Come, Holy Spirit of love, open our hearts to listening. Come, Spirit of holiness, renew the holy faithful People of God. Come, Creator Spirit, make the face of the earth new. Amen.

A Scottish Tale of Assisted Suicide

Many Scots believe that Liam McArthur, member of the Scottish Parliament for the Orkney Islands, just introduced a bill to legalise assisted dying/suicide. This is because the media promoted that misleading notion even before McArthur presented the recent 39-page consultation document with 4 pages of “outline” clauses.

Apparently a consultation document [CD] is required by the Scottish Parliament / Pàrlamaid na h-Alba as the first step towards a ‘Member’s Bill.’ I do not know if a draft bill would normally be appended at this stage, but McArthur’s CD is proposing the concept of an assisted suicide bill.

That acknowledged, the approval process will move quickly, so anyone wanting to oppose assisted suicide [AS] has to get stuck-in now to prevent this movement from succeeding — especially since the British Medical Association just voted for “neutrality” on the issue of assisted suicide. The first step is to complete the online survey before mid-December. Please also communicate with your MSP [member of the Scottish parliament] and if possible, show opposition publicly too. (Letter to the Editor, etc.)

Scots may search for their Member of the Scottish Parliament at: https://www.parliament.scot/msps/current-and-previous-msps

The survey link is:

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/AssistedDyingProposal/

Scots opposed to assisted suicide should be heartened by the success the Irish had against the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020.

Why reject Assisted Suicide?

If there is one practical argument against assisted suicide, it is the dramatic increase in regular non-assisted suicide which has occurred in the Netherlands and those US states which legalised AS.

There has been over 30% increase in ‘regular’ suicide in the Netherlands since they legalized Voluntary Euthanasia in 2001. The US states which legalised AS also have a significant increase in non-assisted suicide, in comparison to the States which did not.

By 2023 it will legal for Canadian doctors and Nurse Practitioners to euthanise people suffering from mental illnesses alone. (This IS the slippery slope.) Please, listen to ‘Lia’ Garifalia Milousis as she tells her poignant story.

“I’m the future version of myself who survived to tell you this.”

Misled Media

The media clearly believes that McArthur was presenting a draft A.S. bill. McArthur can claim that they should have read the CD properly, but that might be disingenuous seeing the June newspaper reports.

The CD states that there is no draft bill at least twice. (One line on page 6: “At this stage, therefore, there is no Bill, only a draft proposal for the legislation” and on page 19: “It is important to emphasise that the information below is only an outline of what is being proposed and consulted on, it is not a Bill.”) A cynic might wonder whether the disclaimers were meant to stay un-found, considering they were so deep in the 39 pages of text.

Politico article (June 21, 2021) By Andrew McDonald:

“Lawmakers in Scotland have embarked on a third attempt to legalize a form of assisted dying, with hopes high for a political breakthrough.”

“The bill — submitted Monday — is backed by a cross-party group of Scottish Parliament members (MSPs).”

BBC (5 July 2021):

“His bill aims to introduce the right to an assisted death for terminally ill, mentally competent adults.”

BBC headline (20 June 2021)

“Assisted dying bill to be lodged at Scottish Parliament.”

The Herald Scotland on 5 July 2021

“…after the new Bill was lodged by Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur last month.”

Misleading Consultation

Allowing for the disclaimers in the CD, McArthur has done little to corrected the widely-held misinterpretation that there is a draft AS bill. That silence leads me to suspect that he is running to particular game-plan — he may be trying to present the bill as a ‘done-deal,’ which later would allow him free rein to write pretty much whatever bill he wants.

Even the subtitles in McArthur’s video link project a certain message: “…who now have access to safe and legal assisted dying.”

During the video, McArthur promotes the myth which has been voiced by most every suicide advocate around the world: that A.S. is needed to avoid the dying from having a “prolonged and painful death.” Palliative Care does not ‘prolong life’ and it has been shown repeatedly (e.g. Oregon) that physical pain — or fear of pain — is an infrequent reason for people to request AS (and the vast majority not receiving proper palliation.)

Misleading safeguards

McArthur claims the Bill will have “vitally important safeguards…” but the CD indicates that he will mirror legislation in jurisdictions where safeguards have failed…spectacularly.

• Canada:

Canada legalized AS & Voluntary Euthanasia [VE] in 2016 for people with “a grievous and irremediable medical condition (including an illness, disease or disability)” when their “natural death has become reasonably foreseeable.” In just 5 years, the condition: “reasonably foreseeable death” has been removed.

The Supreme Court of Canada stipulated in the 2015 Carter decision: “…assistance in dying in other situations, such as for “minors or persons with psychiatric disorders or minor medical conditions” would not fall within the parameters suggested in its reasons...” yet by 2023 it will be legal to euthanize people suffering from mental illnesses alone.

• Oregon:

“N. Gregory Hamilton, M.D., Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, demonstrated how Oregon’s flimsy safeguards do not protect people with psychiatric and other mental health disabilities.”

“Linda Fleming, the first to use the WA state law, was divorced, had had financial problems, had been unable to work due to a disability, and was forced to declare bankruptcy. Yet the Director of Compassion & Choices of Washington said that her situation presented "none of the red flags" that might have given his group pause in supporting her request for death.” Clearly, financial duress.

• The Netherlands:

“A doctor is under criminal investigation over a potential breach of Dutch euthanasia laws after slipping a sleeping drug into a woman’s coffee before asking family members to hold her down to allow the insertion of a drip through which a fatal dose could be administered…Should a prosecution be launched, it would be the first since Dutch laws on euthanasia were relaxed in 2002 to allow a doctor to euthanise a patient if it could be shown they were in unbearable suffering and making an informed choice to die.”

The outcome: “A doctor accused of failing to verify consent before performing euthanasia on a dementia patient has been cleared of any wrongdoing by a Dutch court.”

• Belgium:

“In Belgium, the rate of involuntary and non-voluntary euthanasia deaths …is 3 times higher than it is in the Netherlands. …A recent study found that in the Flemish part of Belgium, 66 of 208 cases of “euthanasia” (32%) occurred in the absence of request or consent.”

Misleading Conscientious Objection

McArthur’s statements in the ‘Conscience’ section [3.3] initially sound reasonable, till read carefully.

“It is recognised, however, that if the Bill becomes law it would be the patient’s legal right to request assistance, and a referral to another consenting doctor should be made if the initial doctor declined to assist the patient because of their personal beliefs.”

If this is put into legislation, every doctor will have to make a specific referral for A.S. on demand.

The real twist comes from the General Medical Council:

“Guidance from the General Medical Council on personal beliefs and medical practice states that doctors may practise medicine in accordance with their beliefs, provided that they act in accordance with relevant legislation and:

• do not treat patients unfairly.

• do not deny patients access to appropriate medical treatment or services.

• do not cause patient’s distress.

A doctor refusing to aid with the provision of A.S. — or failing to make a referral — might “cause patient distress” and be accused of “treating patients unfairly” by “denying access” to a legal service.

Doctors will be coerced into compliance.

Misleading poll

“…recent polling showed that over half the population in Scotland would consider travelling abroad for an assisted death if they had a terminal illness, or one which caused them incurable suffering.”

The question begs the answer: any rational person with “incurable suffering” would naturally “consider travelling abroad for an assisted death.” That is absolutely human. What HSS does not mention is that this scenario is moot for most receiving adequate palliation. Universal palliative-care would help many more people than assisted suicide.

Such a question and response is no surprise when one considers that the poll was commissioned by the Humanist Society Scotland (2017) and performed by the polling firm, Survation, on their registered panel of 1,016 Scottish adults.

Survation proudly states: “Our record with traditionally difficult to win campaigns sets Survation apart from the crowd and we count numerous policy successes as part of our research work…We understand how the industry works and use this to develop research that guarantees press coverage.”

Misleading links

McArthur mentions the HSS / Survation poll above in his consultation document. Curiously the appended web-link in the CD https://www.humanism.scot/wpcontent/uploads/2017/09/Assisted-Dying-Poll-Data.pdf brings you to an error message from the Humanist Society Scotland website: “Epic 404 - Article Not Found.”

In contacting HSS and receiving a rapid response from Mr. Fraser Sutherland who advised that the correct link is:

https://www.humanism.scot/what-we-do/news/half-scots-travel-abroad-assisted-death-money/

That page links to the more relevant 3-page summary of the poll at:

https://www.humanism.scot/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Assisted-Dying-Poll-Data.pdf

One wonders how many other links in the CD have similar problems.

Data collection

The on-line survey data will be collected by the Non-Government Bills Unit [NGBU] of the Scottish parliament. That is likely to be a neutral process but the NGBU do not receive e-mail or hard-copy / Royal Mail responses. Those are directed to McArthur, which provides a conflict of interest.

McArthur has the discretion to eliminate certain responses:

Even if the data is fully collated, McArthur has the discretion as to whether he releases the report or not (note “may” below.)

Misleading comments

There is inadequate space to counter each misleading comment made by McArthur.

Below are two showing how this is indeed an issue “of transparency, accountability, safety and justice.”

• Trust in doctors

“First, assisted dying is associated with greater trust amongst patients and medical professionals. In countries where assisted dying is legal, trust in doctors is high. For example, research has shown that the country where doctors are most trusted is the Netherlands.”

Trust? Some elderly people go to hospital in the Netherlands with a card saying they are NOT to be euthanised without consent: unlikely “the most trusted.”

Then, a quick Google-search shows the following table at Statista.com indicating levels of trust of doctors in European countries. The Netherlands is high, but definitely not first.

• Lack of Complaints

Disability Rights Oregon has said that they have never “received a complaint that a person with disabilities was coerced or being coerced to make use of the Act”

Dead people can’t complain…

Please read the case of Roger Foley in Ontario, Canada who wants to live but administrative staff attempted to coerce him into taking Medical Assistance in Dying (AS/VE.)

Alba gu bràth

Again, please call your Member of Parliament / Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. Search at:

https://www.parliament.scot/msps/current-and-previous-msps

Also, the survey on assisted suicide must be completed by mid-December:

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/AssistedDyingProposal/

Good Luck, Scotland!

Dr. Kevin Hay MRCPI MRCGP (inactive) FCFP

Kevin was born in the UK, graduated from University College, Dublin and now works as a family physician in rural Alberta, Canada. You can follow him on Twitter @kevinhay77

Lepanto by G.K. Chesterton

WHITE FOUNTS falling in the Courts of the sun,
And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run;
There is laughter like the fountains in that face of all men feared,
It stirs the forest darkness, the darkness of his beard;
It curls the blood-red crescent, the crescent of his lips;
For the inmost sea of all the earth is shaken with his ships.
They have dared the white republics up the capes of Italy,
They have dashed the Adriatic round the Lion of the Sea,
And the Pope has cast his arms abroad for agony and loss,
And called the kings of Christendom for swords about the Cross.
The cold queen of England is looking in the glass;
The shadow of the Valois is yawning at the Mass;
From evening isles fantastical rings faint the Spanish gun,
And the Lord upon the Golden Horn is laughing in the sun.

Dim drums throbbing, in the hills half heard,
Where only on a nameless throne a crownless prince has stirred,
Where, risen from a doubtful seat and half attainted stall,
The last knight of Europe takes weapons from the wall,
The last and lingering troubadour to whom the bird has sung,
That once went singing southward when all the world was young.
In that enormous silence, tiny and unafraid,
Comes up along a winding road the noise of the Crusade.
Strong gongs groaning as the guns boom far,
Don John of Austria is going to the war,
Stiff flags straining in the night-blasts cold
In the gloom black-purple, in the glint old-gold,
Torchlight crimson on the copper kettle-drums,
Then the tuckets, then the trumpets, then the cannon, and he comes.
Don John laughing in the brave beard curled,
Spurning of his stirrups like the thrones of all the world,
Holding his head up for a flag of all the free.
Love-light of Spain—hurrah!
Death-light of Africa!
Don John of Austria
Is riding to the sea.

Mahound is in his paradise above the evening star,
(Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
He moves a mighty turban on the timeless houri's knees,
His turban that is woven of the sunsets and the seas.
He shakes the peacock gardens as he rises from his ease,
And he strides among the tree-tops and is taller than the trees;
And his voice through all the garden is a thunder sent to bring
Black Azrael and Ariel and Ammon on the wing.
Giants and the Genii,
Multiplex of wing and eye,
Whose strong obedience broke the sky
When Solomon was king.

They rush in red and purple from the red clouds of the morn,
From the temples where the yellow gods shut up their eyes in scorn;
They rise in green robes roaring from the green hells of the sea
Where fallen skies and evil hues and eyeless creatures be,
On them the sea-valves cluster and the grey sea-forests curl,
Splashed with a splendid sickness, the sickness of the pearl;
They swell in sapphire smoke out of the blue cracks of the ground,—
They gather and they wonder and give worship to Mahound.
And he saith, "Break up the mountains where the hermit-folk can hide,
And sift the red and silver sands lest bone of saint abide,
And chase the Giaours flying night and day, not giving rest,
For that which was our trouble comes again out of the west.
We have set the seal of Solomon on all things under sun,
Of knowledge and of sorrow and endurance of things done.
But a noise is in the mountains, in the mountains, and I know
The voice that shook our palaces—four hundred years ago:
It is he that saith not 'Kismet'; it is he that knows not Fate;
It is Richard, it is Raymond, it is Godfrey at the gate!
It is he whose loss is laughter when he counts the wager worth,
Put down your feet upon him, that our peace be on the earth."
For he heard drums groaning and he heard guns jar,
(Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
Sudden and still—hurrah!
Bolt from Iberia!
Don John of Austria
Is gone by Alcalar.

St. Michaels on his Mountain in the sea-roads of the north
(Don John of Austria is girt and going forth.)
Where the grey seas glitter and the sharp tides shift
And the sea-folk labour and the red sails lift.
He shakes his lance of iron and he claps his wings of stone;
The noise is gone through Normandy; the noise is gone alone;
The North is full of tangled things and texts and aching eyes,
And dead is all the innocence of anger and surprise,
And Christian killeth Christian in a narrow dusty room,
And Christian dreadeth Christ that hath a newer face of doom,
And Christian hateth Mary that God kissed in Galilee,—
But Don John of Austria is riding to the sea.
Don John calling through the blast and the eclipse
Crying with the trumpet, with the trumpet of his lips,
Trumpet that sayeth ha!
Domino gloria!
Don John of Austria
Is shouting to the ships.

King Philip's in his closet with the Fleece about his neck
(Don John of Austria is armed upon the deck.)
The walls are hung with velvet that is black and soft as sin,
And little dwarfs creep out of it and little dwarfs creep in.
He holds a crystal phial that has colours like the moon,
He touches, and it tingles, and he trembles very soon,
And his face is as a fungus of a leprous white and grey
Like plants in the high houses that are shuttered from the day,
And death is in the phial and the end of noble work,
But Don John of Austria has fired upon the Turk.
Don John's hunting, and his hounds have bayed—
Booms away past Italy the rumour of his raid.
Gun upon gun, ha! ha!
Gun upon gun, hurrah!
Don John of Austria
Has loosed the cannonade.

The Pope was in his chapel before day or battle broke,
(Don John of Austria is hidden in the smoke.)
The hidden room in man's house where God sits all the year,
The secret window whence the world looks small and very dear.
He sees as in a mirror on the monstrous twilight sea
The crescent of his cruel ships whose name is mystery;
They fling great shadows foe-wards, making Cross and Castle dark,
They veil the plumèd lions on the galleys of St. Mark;
And above the ships are palaces of brown, black-bearded chiefs,
And below the ships are prisons, where with multitudinous griefs,
Christian captives sick and sunless, all a labouring race repines
Like a race in sunken cities, like a nation in the mines.
They are lost like slaves that sweat, and in the skies of morning hung
The stair-ways of the tallest gods when tyranny was young.
They are countless, voiceless, hopeless as those fallen or fleeing on
Before the high Kings' horses in the granite of Babylon.
And many a one grows witless in his quiet room in hell
Where a yellow face looks inward through the lattice of his cell,
And he finds his God forgotten, and he seeks no more a sign—
(But Don John of Austria has burst the battle-line!)
Don John pounding from the slaughter-painted poop,
Purpling all the ocean like a bloody pirate's sloop,
Scarlet running over on the silvers and the golds,
Breaking of the hatches up and bursting of the holds,
Thronging of the thousands up that labour under sea
White for bliss and blind for sun and stunned for liberty.

Vivat Hispania!
Domino Gloria!
Don John of Austria
Has set his people free!

Cervantes on his galley sets the sword back in the sheath
(Don John of Austria rides homeward with a wreath.)
And he sees across a weary land a straggling road in Spain,
Up which a lean and foolish knight for ever rides in vain,
And he smiles, but not as Sultans smile, and settles back the blade....
(But Don John of Austria rides home from the Crusade.)

~G.K. Chesterton

Irish Men’s Rosary Rally Takes Place in Derry City

In recent months, Poland has been home to some of the most stunning Catholic images of public displays of faith.

The monthly men’s Rosary Rallies in cities such as Warsaw have attracted vast numbers of men and have given the Catholic world an image worthy of emulation, with men taking to the streets and kneeling in prayer.

Now, an impressive number of Irish men have taken part in the first such venture on these shores, with dozens of men praying publicly in Derry this past Saturday.

The men can be seen with Rosary beads in hand from the images of the event, with a statue of Our Lady of Fatima front and center. An interesting thing to note from the video is how striking it seems compared to their surrounding locality of shops and commercial outlets. Passers by are intrigued and taken in by the men’s devotion, something which has become an oft too forgotten part of Irish society in the 21st Century.

It is hoped that these events will become a regular occurrence and on the face of these images, it is hard not to see why. With so much of the Catholic faith now regulated to the private sphere and men in a small minority in most churches from one weekend to the next, to see an event like this is exactly the kind of impetus that is need to inspire as has been done so successfully in Poland and in other places.

Please pray for the continued success of the organisers and those who attended.

Irish Men's Catholic Rosary Rally in Derry City
💪🇮🇪✝️ pic.twitter.com/j6BC7nz3mp

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) October 3, 2021

Polish Embassy Reacts Angrily to Irish Government's Slur

Under anti family parties Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Green Party, Ireland has pursued an aggressive foreign policy which has sought to damage the efforts of Poland and Hungary to implement ways of helping couples to take care of their children.

Lower taxes, limits on Sunday trading and financial supports for families have all contributed to increases in birth rates and higher standards of living in Eastern Europe. In Ireland, the inverse has been tried with the government dramatically reducing birth rates through austerity, the legalisation of abortion and encouraging young people to emigrate.

As part of the West’s new Cold War, Ireland has been at the forefront of attacks against these countries. Politicians such as Fiona O’Loughlin, who was emphatically rejected by voters before being made a Senator against the wishes of the public, have repeatedly attacked Poland with baseless accusations of discrimination. MEP Maria Walsh recently stormed Budapest to help to undermine the government in an astro turfed parade sponsored by banks that was mostly attended by activists from around Europe rather than by locals.

The tactic of trying to undermine Poland and Hungary has now switched to a new front, accusing the Poles of running the same concentration camps that millions of them died in during World War II.

First, there was the move from Israel to demand billions from Poland in restitution for Germany’s seizure of Jewish owned property from the late 1930s through World War II. This was exploited by Western media outlets who sought to portray the Catholic Polish government as being ‘far right’ and extremist when they are nothing of the sort. A remarkable charge was levelled at the Polish people which asserted that the concentration camps in which millions of Poles died were actually Polish and not German.

Now, the Irish government have joined in on the anti Polish bigotry.

Their propaganda arm, RTE, has now also used the term ‘Polish Concentration Camps’. RTE are funded by a mandatory tax which Irish people must pay or face imprisonment. Many of the higher ups at the station are heavily connected to the government and the ruling parties, through family and other connections.

In a report broadcast on the 30th September, concerning a Nazi prison secretary facing charges, RTE News repeatedly used the term ‘Polish Concentration Camps’. In a strong response to the slur, Polish Ambassador to Ireland Anna Sochanska claimed said that:

This repeated mistake is causing huge distress in the Polish community in Ireland.

In reaction to the false information on @rtenews yesterday 30.09 where Stutthof Nazi German concentration camp in occupied Poland was wrongly called “Polish concentration camp”, Ambassador of Poland to Ireland @sochanska issued this letter requesting correction. pic.twitter.com/8TFcSxGdTH

— Polish Embassy IRL (@PLinIreland) October 1, 2021

It is highly unlikely that such a ‘mistake’ is accidental from RTE. Their close connections to the government and their recent successes at assisting support for austerity programs, abortion and other state initiatives has made them into maestros of propaganda linked to domestic and foreign policy. They have been adept at isolating Catholics and encouraging disparaging treatment towards them, earlier this year they even broadcast a ‘sketch’ which claimed that Catholics worship a rapist god. The deliberately offensive and painfully unfunny segment caused uproar leading to an eventual apology, but it revealed the incredible disdain with which the broadcaster holds people of faith.

These types of attacks test the waters for more overt aggression towards Poland and dehumanisation of its people to precipitate further efforts to impose isolation. Poland and Hungary should hold firm, there is no reason for them to listen to a country like Ireland which is facing electricity blackouts in order to facilitate American data centers and freefalling birth rates.