Irish Anti Catholic Parties Lose Support in New Poll

This past week, two relics of the International Monetary Fund’s Irish based puppet government of 2011 disgraced themselves by trying to scapegoat religion for their failings.

One, a former Catholic school principal Aodhan O’Riordain made headlines around the world with an Ian Paisley like torrent of abuse that climaxed with a skin curling rallying cry of ‘LET’S GET THEM OUT!’

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin not trying to control his anti-Catholic rage at the Labour Party conference today, calling for the church to be removed from all public institutions. pic.twitter.com/5xuD2j1sRD

— JRD (@JRD0000) November 13, 2021

O’Riordain’s party had infamously brutalised Irish families with the IMF’s crushing austerity measures during the early 2010s, causing many women and children to become homeless.

Meanwhile, another relic of that government who did not have the decency to depart from politics afterwards, Roisin Shortall, became the laughing stock of Europe in the past fortnight when her efforts to remove God from the Presidential Oath were thrown out of the ECHR. Shortall’s party, the Social Democrats, have very little to offer the people of Ireland other than to badger Catholics and to blame them for problems that Shortall’s government created in 2011. In recent years, they have suggested government regulation of the Sacrament of Confession and of sexual education, but only in Catholic schools.

In a new poll published today by Red C, the Social Democrats have fallen 1% from 6% to 5% support. Labour have fallen from 5% to 4%. While these may seem like small numbers, micro parties such as these can lose some of the very limited numbers of seats based upon such differences.

What these polls show is that the public see through the efforts of Alan Kelly and Roisin Shortall to rewrite recent Irish history. They also show that ordinary Irish people are aware of the extensive damage to the education system by the IMF’s puppet government and do not trust its legacy politicians who are still trying to use the church as a scapegoat for their own mistakes.

Modernist Plot to Wreck Notre Dame Revealed

When Notre Dame was mysteriously set on fire in 2019, few Catholics could have imagined a scenario worse than seeing the historic cathedral in flames.

Yet it appears as though France’s Modernists have had other ideas, with their plans to wreck Notre Dame proving more horrifying than losing the church itself.

In a shocking exclusive from The Telegraph, it has been revealed that Modernists will perform vicious iconoclastic wreckovation on the historic church, as has been done to deter millions from the faith in the West over the past half century. The destruction of the church’s Catholic heritage will include:

• Removing Confessionals

• Sound and Light Effects

• Ugly Modern Art

• ‘Emotional Spaces’

• Scrapping of Traditional Altar and Statues

🔴Exclusive: Paris' fire-ravaged Notre-Dame cathedral risks resembling a "politically correct Disneyland" under controversial plans for its renovation seen by the @TelegraphWorld

Here's what they have planned⬇️https://t.co/SmSKeX2Qrh pic.twitter.com/ygh8gKPy1g

— Telegraph World News (@TelegraphWorld) November 26, 2021

In boasting of these plans, Paris Archbishop Michael Aupetit stated:

bring the Cathedral into the 21st Century while preserving its own identity in the spirit of the Christian Tradition.

Media reports this week have suggested that Aupetit is under investigation after reports of a ‘relationship’ with a woman emerged, which he readily admits were ‘suggesting the existence between us of an intimate relationship and sexual relations’.

Blessing the oaks which will be used to reconstruct Notre Dame in Paris. pic.twitter.com/dui6OIZ6Tp

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) March 13, 2021

The first photos from inside Notre Dame Cathedral after the fire have emerged

The photographs include President Macron visiting the chapel#notredame #france pic.twitter.com/2xz5I88uTP

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) April 15, 2019

Father Fournier

The Fire Department Chaplain

Is the man who saved the Blessed Sacrament and Crown of Thorns from the fire

God bless him! #notredame #france pic.twitter.com/zwSq2seI3Q

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) April 15, 2019

He has today submitted his resignation to Pope Francis after admitting to having had an ‘ambiguous’ relationship with the woman in 2012. No wonder he wanted to get rid of confessionals!

The man who he entrusted to to carry out the plans, Father Gilles Drouin, must now do the right thing and step aside from the project also. Father Drouin said of the wreckovation plans:

let's take the opportunity to reread the space. With a clear principle: we want a place that is liturgical and open to all.

French Traditionalism has been organised, vocal and effective in recent years. It must raise its voice to stop this architectural terrorism from mocking the memories of the generations who worked on Notre Dame for centuries. A renovation aimed at renewing faith rather than taking it as an abstract pretext for architectural experimentation could work wonders for the faith in France and for wider French society.

It is quite remarkable architect Maurice Culot has seen the plans and has had the good sense to call them ‘Disney entering Notre Dame….very childish and trivial given the grandeur of the place’.

If only the clerics who have given the go ahead for such clerical monstrosities over the past half century could see things through Monsieur Culot’s eyes.

Priest, Catholic Children Injured in Christmas Parade Massacre

A Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin turned to tragedy last night as a crazed murderer ploughed through a crowd, killing 5 and injuring dozens and dozens more.

Left wing media created a bizarre conspiracy theory in the wake of the attack, in which it was falsely claimed that the suspect (who has a conviction for pimping children) was merely fleeing the scene of a crime and happened to drive through dozens of people.

The Catholic Community of Waukesha wrote on their Facebook page:

Thank you all for your prayers and offers of help. We have confirmed that several parishioners have been injured and are hospitalized.

Despite this horrific event, we will call on the Holy Spirit and come together as a community with Fr. Matthew and Fr. Chuck leading the Rosary tonight (8:30pm) on Facebook. Please join us to pray for those who were injured.

A prayer service is being planned for tomorrow night. We will continue to update you as we know more.

Monica Cardenas

Director of Stewardship and Communication

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee released a statement which said:

Our prayers are with the people who have been injured and killed during the tragic incident in Waukesha. Among the injured are one of our Catholic priests, as well as multiple parishioners and Waukesha Catholic school children.

Despite what many left wing outlets claimed, the attack was not accidental but completely intentional. He also stated that it was a ‘rumour’ that police were in pursuit of him.

Waukesha Police Chief: “I want to dispel some rumors. There was no pursuit that led up to this incident. This is not a terrorist event.”

I beg to differ. 🤷🏼‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/f5WO2fzAEl

— 𝓑𝓾𝓫𝓫𝓵𝓮 ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ (@BubbleCovfefe) November 22, 2021

A prayer vigil will take place for the victims later this evening on the parish’s Youtube page.

Catholic Community of Waukesha - YouTube

Serenity Now

Dr. Kevin Hay

Serenity in a tumultuous world — what a dream!

We juggle the demands of work and family in this hectic life, ever more pressured by the constant connectedness. We stress out over minor issues, like getting that perfect holiday ‘selfie’ in that perfect exotic location: Smile! The world is now entering a third year of contagion from COVID19 as we struggle with the backlog of other problems — for me that includes colleagues who want to be the Bringers of Death, instead of providing comfort to the body and soul of their patients. Often, we leave our deepest issues as an after-thought: those personal failings — our “brokenness.”

Humans often seek respite in the wrong places. Laziness; anger; avoidance; withdrawal; gluttony; prognostication, etc. Some get trapped in the very destructive elements of “Sex, Drugs and Rock’n Roll” while seeking a false promise of escape. So, where do we find serenity? There are many ‘retreats’ which can relieve the hassles of daily life briefly. Some get pampered in a health spa, while others focus on healthy eating or returning to nature. There are ‘detox’ retreats ranging from “Colon Cleanse Retreats” (yowzer!) to those which help people with serious alcohol & drug issues. Meditation retreats give a sense of inner peace and self-awareness, but I would suggest that most of these are only respites from the fray: we need a proper antidote to the toxic mixture in our modern life!

My choice has been for a silent retreat at Mount St. Francis [MSF] Retreat Centre at Cochrane, Alberta, in view of the Canadian Rockies. The Centre has been run by Franciscan Friars since 1949 and they bring a welcoming, inclusive, tolerant attitude to their retreats. Director Susan Campbell, notes that a silent retreat ‘helps us to hear that inner voice’ which is often drowned-out in the cacophony of daily living. The Franciscans believe our ‘brokenness’ can only be healed through spiritual healing: a.k.a. finding or ‘meeting’ God.

Most retreats at MSF are for weekends, but some go up to 6-7 days. MSF provides several types of retreat, the commonest being silent weekends which can be for men alone, women alone, or mixed. “Serenity” retreats are for those challenged by addiction. Then there are youth & Anglican retreats and the Centre is sometimes used by other groups (Buddhists come for meditation retreats) or individuals who come for non-structured retreats: all are welcome!

On the silent weekends, Retreatants must be quiet after dinner/supper Friday to lunch on Sunday. The Friars or the Retreat Director give talks on the ‘theme’ of the retreat (such as Forgiveness or “wHoliness.”) For those who wish, there is individual spiritual counselling, prayers in the peace-filled chapel, Mass, Communion, Reconciliation and access to their extensive library. The sacraments are provided ‘in-house’ because some of the Friars are also Priests. (Who knew?!) Accommodations are basic but very comfortable and clean. Each room has a bed, sink and a small reading table, with a Bible. The meals are good, solid food and for those of us with insomnia there are snacks, fruit and hot beverages available 24/7. One of the things which has brought me back to MSF is the stunning view of the Rockies and the 500 acres of pristine woodland. MSF recommends a donation to cover their expenses but will gladly retreat anyone for whatever they can afford, or for free if they cannot.

The area surrounding Mt. Saint Francis Retreat Centre

The November Men’s retreat was hampered by the COVID restrictions so was much smaller than normal — even better for us retreatants. I had some meals with a retired Anglican doctor and a Lutheran minister who was taking a solo retreat to write his memoirs: pity there was not more time to chat. (One noted his satisfaction with the individualized menu accommodating his lactose & gluten-free diet.) The retreat house has no Wi-Fi, no TV and retreatants are gently encouraged to turn off their mobiles/cell phones.

 So who should consider going on a retreat?  Everyone!

More-so, if you perceive something is missing in your life, or if you know it is time to listen to that inner voice, or if you struggle with some significant problem — though perhaps it is just the right time to to reconnect with God.

People should also consider what they need from a retreat. Many Catholics are hurt and angry with the Church and have not been to Mass in a long, long time. If lapsed, you might want the option of attending the sacraments. Similarly, if you suspect that you need individual counselling or Reconciliation, choose a retreat where these are available. Most will be surprised how fast the time flies when silent, but perhaps start with a short retreat, just in case! You can always come back.

So, what of the Serenity? Definitely the retreat has given me a glimpse of Peace. Hopefully that leads me to being a wee bit kinder, or tad more Christian, especially when others are in need.

Pax.

Follow Dr. Kevin Hay on Twitter

Irish Anti God Proposal REJECTED By ECHR

In December 2010, the Irish people were subjected to a ruthless bailout agreement for ‘their’ banks after a deal was struck by their government with the International Monetary Fund.

Once the agreement was made, the Irish people had to begin to have their lives viciously inflicted with cutbacks in order to service their international banking masters.

The government of Fianna Fail and the Green Party fell not long after, with an election taking place subsequently in 2011.

One of those made a minister in the government formed from that election was Roisin Shortall. Shortall never spoke out against the wickedness of these laws. Instead, she served as Minister for Primary Care, as the health service deteriorated extensively due to cutbacks.

As their deference to the IMF and overall treason began to take its toll, the government, led by British Royal Family associate Enda Kenny, turned the public’s ire on the church instead. They shut the Vatican Embassy, concocted a ludicrous conspiracy theory about babies in septic tanks and blamed the church for a woman dying of sepsis in their poorly run health service.

The tendency to attack the church in lieu of fixing problems that the government of 2011 created has continued, not just from members of Fine Gael, but from Stephen Donnelly and Roisin Shortall’s party the Social Democrats. The Social Democrats are the most bland political party in Ireland, offering essentially a Fine Gael lite, but with added anti Catholicism, including one TD who threatened to murder one of her own unborn children for each moment devoted to the 2013 conclave on television.

Rather than focusing on the homeless crisis created by her government in 2011, or on the high levels of emigration that Ireland still has as a result of said government or even on any of the other social ills currently taking place, Shortall’s party decided this week to attack God instead.

The pro austerity politician, like her fellow pro austerity Aodhan O’Riordain of Labour last week, has clearly realised that attacking the Catholic faith is a much quicker way of gaining headlines than actually doing anything to improve the lot of those in need.

With this in mind, her ridiculous ‘political party’ wasted the money and time of the European Court of Human Rights this week with an absurd case whining about having to swear and oath to God in the Presidency. A co signatory of the case was David Norris, who once referred to Pope Benedict XVI as a ‘Nazi’ and who saw his 2011 Presidency campaign go down in flames.

What is really sad here is that the time and money spent on this ridiculous and childish case could have been better used in helping the many homeless created by Shortall’s government in 2011.

Perhaps they can show humility for their actions by volunteering at their local Catholic run homeless shelter or soup kitchen this weekend?

You can read the ECHR’s rejection of this laughable case below.

Article 34

Victim

No evidence of a real risk of having to take an oath with a religious element in the absence of realistic prospects to become President or a member of the Council of State: inadmissible

Facts – The seven applicants are politicians and three of them are members of the lower and upper houses of the Irish legislature.

Pursuant to the Constitution, persons taking up office as President or as members of the Council of State, a body advising the President, must take an oath with religious element, “In the presence of Almighty God... May God direct and sustain me”, before they can take up office.

The applicants believe that, due to their political prominence, they have a realistic prospect of either being appointed to the Council, or of being elected to the Presidency, but claim that the religious elements of the declarations required by the Constitution would either prevent them from taking up these offices or require them to make a religious declaration against their conscience.

Law – Article 34:

1. The declaration for Council of State appointees

Under the Constitution, the President has “absolute discretion” to appoint seven members of the Council of State. The question of whether any of the applicants were directly affected  by the requirement for such members to make the declaration required by the Constitution would only arise if and when one of the applicants could show that his or her appointment had been a realistic possibility. However, none of the applicants had so far been invited to serve on the Council of State, and none had claimed that such an appointment had been under consideration. While the first, second and fourth applicants had suggested that their current or future experience had qualified them for service on the Council, or might qualify them in the future,   this could only be a matter of speculation, given the purely discretionary nature of appointments to this body. The third applicant had made no submissions as to the Council and the fifth had not addressed the likelihood of such an invitation. It followed that none of the applicants had produced reasonable and convincing evidence of the likelihood that a violation affecting any of them personally would occur; mere conjecture was insufficient to establish their victim status.

Accordingly, none of the applicants could claim to be “victims" of the alleged violation.

2. The Presidential declaration

Any Irish citizen who had reached thirty-five years of age might take active steps to seek the Presidency, but a candidate must be nominated by twenty members of the Houses of the Parliament or four local authorities to satisfy the requirements of the Constitution in order to run for office, and then submit to a popular vote.

 In certain cases, the class of persons at real risk of being directly affected by an impugned measure might indeed be very broad when, for example, applicants had complained about their ineligibility to stand for election on account of their Roma and Jewish origin and could claim to be victims of the alleged violations due to their “active participation in public life” (Sejdić and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina [GC]).The applicants in the present case had complained about a requirement applicable only upon election to the highest office in the Irish State and the class of persons who could claim to be “victims” of such a violation necessarily had to be much narrower.. Therefore, in order for the present applicants to be “victims” within the meaning of Article 34 they would have had to provide the Court with reasonable and convincing evidence that they had a real intention of seeking the office of President and that they had some realistic prospects in that regard. None of the applicants, however, had sought to establish that they had a realistic prospect of successfully seeking that office with reference to their own particular political circumstances and the constitutional requirements to be nominated.

For the Court, the applicants were seeking to have their victim status accepted, not in the context of a clear, immediate and compelling factual matrix which would allow them to adduce reasonable and convincing evidence that they were at a real risk of being adversely affected by the impugned measure, but rather as a hypothetical outcome, without addressing the very many challenges they would potentially have to overcome to secure that office. Thus, the dilemma of conscience described by the applicants was neither immediate nor imminent. Their situation  therefore had to be distinguished from those of the applicants who faced the dilemma either of complying with the impugned legal provision, or refusing to do so, on account, respectively, of their religious belief or sense of professional ethics, and in so doing exposed themselves to sanction (S.A.S. v. France [GC] or Michaud v. France).

In the absence of reasonable and convincing evidence that the applicants were at real risk of being directly affected by the impugned requirement of the Constitution, the complaints of all five applicants could be rejected pursuant to Article 34.

Conclusion: inadmissible (victim).

The Dublin Martyrs

Outside of St. Mary's Pro Cathedral in Dublin, there is a statue of two individuals underneath a cross.

If you do not know already, Protestants have two beautiful Cathedrals in Dublin City, while the Catholic Church which allegedly controlled the country in the 1900s, has only a Pro Cathedral.

The two individuals portrayed in the statue are Margaret Ball and Francis Taylor.

Margaret Ball was a Catholic woman in the 1500s who hosted priests and bishops for dinner in secret when they had been banned by the Protestant authorities. Margaret's son, Walter, was an apostate who knew of his mother's Catholic faith but refused to return to it. When he later became Mayor, the evil child had his own mother arrested ans dragged through the streets to prison for being Catholic.

She was imprisoned by her Protestant son and died there aged 70, refusing to recant her faith.

A successor to her son as Mayor of Dublin, Francis Taylor, was imprisoned for refusing to accept the Act of Supremacy and also died in prison.

Beneath the statue it reads a quote from Pope John Paul II.

The quote from 1992 reads:

‘Faithful witnesses who remained steadfast in their allegiance to Christ and his Church to the point of extreme hardship and the final sacrifice of their lives.

All sectors of God's people are represented among these seventeen Servants of God: Bishops, priests both secular and religious, a religious brother and six lay people, including Margaret Bermingham Ball, a woman of extraordinary integrity who, together with the physical trials she had to endure, underwent the agony of being betrayed through the complicity of her own son.

We admire them for their personal courage. We thank them for the example of their fidelity in difficult circumstances, a fidelity which is more than an example: it is a heritage of the Irish people and a responsibility to be lived up to in every age’.

Dublin's Catholic martyrs are often forgotten in the city's history, in comparison to its political ones. With the city having become a shallow and dingy wasteland of American fast food and coffee outlets in recent years, the Archdiocese of Dublin are missing a valuable opportunity by not using these beautiful locations and stories to reinvigorate both the church and the city at large.

Signs are Ominous on Abortion Consultations

The following is from prolife group Deise4Life.

What happens when a woman in Ireland contacts a GP about having an abortion?

Online HSE documentation makes it clear that the first consultation with the GP is not meant to be a rubber-stamping exercise, but what actually happens in practice?

The HSE abortion consent form

The HSE has posted online their abortion consent form for medical abortions (i.e. abortion pills). It can be accessed here: Medical abortion consent form (hse.ie). It gives a clear picture of what is supposed to happen under our new abortion legislation.

When a woman applies for a medical abortion in Ireland, she makes an initial appointment with a GP or other abortion provider. The consent form is to be read and signed by both parties.

The woman signs to being “fully informed..about side effects.. and potential risks and complications”. In fact, she signs that she understands to her “complete satisfaction”.

The medical practitioner signs the following statement: “I confirm that in my opinion, the patient understands the nature of the treatment. I have provided them with the ‘Your Guide to Medical Abortion’ booklet and explained what the treatment will involve, the benefits and risks of this and any alternative treatments. I discussed any particular concerns of this patient. These were explained to my patient in terms suited to their understanding and they are able to give informed consent.”

There is then a 3-day waiting period after the initial appointment, and the woman returns to receive her two abortion pills, the first of which is taken on the spot, the second the following day.

Sarah’s story

Some women have shared their actual experiences in conversation with the Life Institute, and these have been posted online. Here is one such story (Sarah’s Story); others like it are also listed on the Life Institute web page.

“I was surprised how quickly I got an appointment. He (the GP) went through the abortion and it all sounded very straightforward really. There was no offer of help, support, no counselling, no encouragement... just to return in 3 days. The next three days were a blur but you could cut the tension with a knife at home. I returned 3 days later and I always remember he didn’t tell me to sit down, and while I was standing up, he handed me the pills and the plastic cup filled with water. It was like I had no time to even think about what I was doing.

The next day I was to take the 2nd set of pills. I hesitated for a few hours but overwhelming stress came over me, and I convinced myself again that I just had to do it and the damage was already done anyway.

The next few hours were excruciating, I was told I would have mild cramps. This is not true. I bled so much and the pain was awful. I stayed in bed for the next two days and only got up to use the toilet. After all that was over, I thought ‘okay it’s done’, I just felt so fragile. After a week I was in the toilet and just felt something very strange and out came a perfect tiny baby. I couldn’t believe it, I always remember the perfect shape of his leg, you could see it so clearly. I took a photo, I just had to.

All I can say is, I am traumatised.

My life is now measured by everything before and after the abortion. I feel like a different person and I’ll never be the same. It has impacted every area of my life. This is the part you are never told, no one warned me about this. I wish I had known, I would have never done it.”

How typical is Sarah’s story?

The short answer to this question is that we have no way of knowing, because hardly any information is being collected about the operation of the new regime - but there are some disturbing indicators.

More than 2000 women, about 1 in 3 women who had an abortion that year, contacted the HSE post-abortion helpline in 2020. That suggests an awful lot of women who found the abortion experience harder to deal with than they were led to believe.

In 2019, according to the Irish Family Planning Association annual report, 8% (nearly 1 in 12) of a sample of their clients ended up in hospital after taking abortion pills. Nationally, that suggests more than 500 women in just one year ending up in hospital after the pills.

There have been huge variations in abortion rates in neighbouring Irish counties, suggesting that GP’s in some counties are doing a better job of listening and counselling than others, and that when this happens, more women change their minds about proceeding with an abortion.

It has recently been confirmed (parliamentary question from Carol Nolan TD) that there have been 94 abortion-related claims to the State Claims Agency up to end October 2021.

To sum up:

- More than 6500 abortions a year

- Large variation in abortion rates between neighbouring counties

- Traumatised women accessing post-abortion helplines in their thousands

- Hundreds of women being hospitalised after taking the abortion pills

- Nearly one hundred women to date have submitted abortion-related claims

Whatever happened to “rare” and “safe” in the 2018 slogan “safe, legal and rare”? At least three members of Cabinet used that slogan in the referendum campaign. It is rarely mentioned now, and it is easy to see why.

Another slogan - Rethink Abortion – seems far more apt.

'Get them out!' Austerity Extremist's Anti Catholic Rant

During his party’s years in government, Aodhan O’Riordain’s Labour decimated Ireland’s hospitals, its schools and its young people.

The cruel party increased hospital waiting lists, slashed teacher’s wages and delighted in making young Irish people emigrate.

Now, as the party tries to shoe its way in to an inevitable Sinn Fein led far left government, Labour have come out fighting. Not fighting against the injustices that they imposed over the course of the past decade, but rather against the injustices of the Protestant built Magdalene Laundry System, which the Irish State profited from until the 1980s.

For Aodhan O’Riordain, the tens of thousands of women and children that his party forced into homeless shelters are rather irrelevant, since they cannot be used as a stick to beat the church with. In an ironic twist, the church has been largely responsible for trying to clean up O’Riordain’s party’s mess, with establishments like the Capuchin Day Centre regularly feeding thousands of people per day in Dublin.

In a frightening and unhinged speech today at Labour’s Party Conference, Ryan was close to foaming at the mouth as he screamed ‘GET THEM OUT!’ about Catholics.

He also claimed that he would impose a referendum against the church’s involvement in providing public services.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin not trying to control his anti-Catholic rage at the Labour Party conference today, calling for the church to be removed from all public institutions. pic.twitter.com/5xuD2j1sRD

— JRD (@JRD0000) November 13, 2021

Irish Catholics better prepare for what is coming when these people get back in to power.

Labour know that the homeless crisis, the trolley crisis and the problems in education are completely of their doing and they are not going to allow that narrative to take route.

This same shrewd attitude was behind their unsuccessful efforts to remove History from Irish schools, lest anyone read about the horrific impact of their pro IMF ideology in the years to come.

They are going to come first for our schools, then for our churches, then for us. We have seen this story play out in Spain, China and countless others in the past century.

'Kevin Barry Would've Been Pro Choice' Claims Notorious Fianna Fail Member

Led by British born and raised politician Paul Gavan, Sinn Fein continued their unrelenting war against Catholic prayer for the protection of unborn children this week.

Sinn Fein, who recently came out strongly in support of the Orange Order and their anti Catholic 12th of July celebrations, have been consistent in their efforts to stop people from praying the Rosary at facilities where babies are being aborted.

Gavan claimed that ‘women and pregnant people’ need such legislation immediately, citing Astro Turf group Together for Safety as their evidence for such a ban being needed.

Let me be very clear. We need this legislation without further delay because women and pregnant people are entitled to access essential healthcare including access to termination of pregnancy services in privacy and dignity without being subject to intimidation, harassment and the subtle but deliberate chill effect that anti-choice protesters are bringing to hospital, family planning and GP settings across the State right now.

Legislation was promised three and a half years ago but to date has not been delivered. Indeed, as recently as August, the Minister's Department issued a statement to the effect that there was no need for such a Bill. 

Paul Gavan introduces Sinn Féin's bill to suppress the right of activists to protest near facilities performing abortions. pic.twitter.com/Mg6I8ArEfs

— JRD (@JRD0000) November 10, 2021

Anti free speech activist Gavan stated that the bill would allow for damages to be brought against people who took part in prolife events near any public place that was designated a ‘Safe Access Zone’ for killing babies. Gavan also claimed,

Ongoing anti-abortion protests outside healthcare providers aim to deter individuals from accessing healthcare and doctors from providing it. This can cause distress, exacerbate existing social stigmas and pose a serious risk to a range of rights.

This seems quite ironic considering Sinn Fein recently picketed a Catholic church in Dublin in a UVF style rally.

In an absurd presentation, Lynn Boylan, who ran for election in Ireland’s wealthiest constituency recently, presented a number of unverifiable anecdotes about alleged harassment of women availing of abortions.

Boylan also falsely claimed that Sinn Fein, who now want the Orange Order’s celebrations made a mandatory public celebration across the entire island, that this was not an attack on religious freedom.

The protestors know what they are doing. They know the chilling effect that their protests are having. They know exactly what they are doing. This is not about religious freedom. This is about curtailing women's freedoms.

Infamous ‘politician’ Lorraine Clifford Lee then spoke also. Clifford Lee made headlines in 2019, for her incendiary and abusive tweets about Dwarves, Brazilians, Travellers, Black People, ‘Common Folk’ amongst others. She now works as a Senator against the wishes of the public, who rejected her in subsuquent elections.

She began by bizarrely claiming that:

Women and pregnant people should be able to access health services

Lorraine Clifford Lee then bragged of taking part in abortion imperialism in Poland with Lisa Chambers, who was also rejected by voters last year after claiming to be ‘prolife’ while stating ‘abortion regret is a makey up term, it doesn’t exist’.

My colleague, Senator Chambers, and I visited Poland recently. On behalf of the all-party group on sexual and reproductive health and rights, we signed the Warsaw commitment to freedom of expression in Europe, and to the access and support of people's sexual and reproductive rights

Clifford Lee also claimed that although everyone has a right to protest, she does not like anti abortion ones, therefore she would prefer if they did not take place.

Protests are part of our psyche in Ireland. I am a prolific protester. I have protested with great gusto in the past, but I would never seek to protest outside a medical establishment. These protests are very far-reaching in their impact, not only on the people accessing termination services but also on everybody accessing health services within a particular establishment, the staff and the wider community.

In response, Senator Sharon Keoghan rightly pointed out that Astro Turf group Together for Safety should not be allowed to dictate our laws, with the help of unelected politicians like Clifford Lee and Lisa Chambers.

The Minister is very welcome to the House. As I read through this Bill, I was reminded of Senator McDowell's Children (Amendment) Bill 2020 which passed into law in April 2021. That was a targeted Bill, urgently drafted to remedy an obviously unintended legal situation. There was a universally recognised need for that Bill by the public but such does not seem to be the case with this Bill. The calls for protest prohibition zones, which, let us call a spade a spade, is what they are, do not appear to be coming from the grassroots but almost exclusively from special interest and political advocacy groups. Indeed, the Bill itself was gifted to Senator Gavan by a faceless campaign group, Together for Safety. As legislators, we should be extra vigilant when it comes to outsourcing our constitutional duties to pop-up activists.

As is common with Ireland’s low quality Senators when they are presented with reasonable arguments that counter theirs, Martin Conway responded:

That is a totally unacceptable comment. It is disgraceful.

Lorraine Clifford Lee, who once complained of having to sit beside a ‘black, Brazilian dwarf’ on a Dublin Bus, claimed that she found these comments ‘shameful’.

Sharon Keogan's statement on Sinn Féin's bill to suppress abortion protests, pointing out its origin among special interest groups whose seemingly anti-Christian agendas would see the banning of prayer in designated areas.

Part 1 pic.twitter.com/IkRPR5xOaV

— JRD (@JRD0000) November 10, 2021

Part 2 pic.twitter.com/GGL1md6BM0

— JRD (@JRD0000) November 10, 2021

Part 3 pic.twitter.com/XsNtGFnCly

— JRD (@JRD0000) November 10, 2021

Senator Martin Conway then laughably claimed, with no evidence, that they were ‘praying in women’s faces’, although there are no photographs of women attending abortion appointments even within the vicinity of such prayer events.

When Sharon Keoghan compared the treatment of these Catholics by pro Orange Order Sinn Fein to that of Kevin Barry, male Senator Martin Conway snarled menacingly ‘you need to be interrupted’. Sinn Fein Senator Niall O’ Donnghaile then joined the pile on against Keoghan said ‘Hear, Hear’.

Clifford Lee then mocked Irish hero Kevin Barry by claiming:

Kevin Barry would’ve been pro choice.

Senator Lisa Chambers, who voters made clear that they did not want representing them last year, then also bragged of the Seanad’s abortion imperialism in Poland before claiming:

Do not protest at innocent citizens who are accessing services that are legal.

Ronan Mullen then pointed out that such a ban on Catholics praying against abortion would be unconstitutional.

Ronan Mullen in response to Sinn Féin's bill to remove the right to peaceful protest from anti-abortion activists, pointing out its discriminatory and unconstitutional nature.

Part 1 pic.twitter.com/d6Av4pwfiD

— JRD (@JRD0000) November 10, 2021

Part 2 pic.twitter.com/Cni6LsOotQ

— JRD (@JRD0000) November 10, 2021

Part 3 pic.twitter.com/xp8Vx1S2YE

— JRD (@JRD0000) November 10, 2021

The debate fizzled into farce ultimately with a rambling and largely irrelevant contribution from Fintan Warfield.

Fintan Warfield adds a somewhat rambling addition to Sinn Féin's attempt to prevent Catholics from praying peacefully near abortion centres. pic.twitter.com/UQ6LTakQaT

— JRD (@JRD0000) November 10, 2021

Newry Rosary Rally Draws Large Crowds

In October of this year, Catholic men in Northern Ireland began the process of organising men’s Rosary Rallies.

These powerful public displays of faith have really taken off in Poland in the past number of years, with regular crowds throbbing the streets of Warsaw and other major cities.

The next event will take place on the 4th December in Belfast at 1pm.

You can watch a video of today’s event below.

Catholic Students Hold Rosary Rally in Reparation for Planned Parenthood

In most parts of the Western world in 2021, the term ‘Catholic education’ is in many cases a misnomer.

Whether it be President Joe Biden, his poet Amanda Gorman or his supporter Lady Gaga, the notion that just having gone to a school with Catholic in the name makes one a theologically sound individual is an idea that continues to do harm.

While some are passive in their failure to transmit the faith, some are more active in allowing anti Catholic forces to influence their ‘Catholic’ students.

One such recent example occurred in Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.

The Jesuit run university shockingly allowed for Planned Parenthood, the company that aborts millions of children, to raise money on campus for killing babies.

In response to this shocking dereliction of duty from Loyola’s management, a group of Catholic students have taken part in a Rosary Rally of Reparation for the babies that will be murdered with the monies raised on campus.

One of the organisers of the Rosary, Megan Glaudini, spoke to Catholic Arena:

Loyola Marymount University, a Jesuit Catholic institution, has a Planned Parenthood fundraiser happening on campus put on by a student run club. This has caused much chaos in the Catholic world because this goes against the Church’s teachings and, therefore, should be shut down if the university actually cared to uphold its Catholic values. However, the president has allowed it to still happen.

A couple of outraged students, led by myself, spent countless hours and days emailing and setting up meetings to try and find support. We ended up coming up with a few ideas to implement to try and save our Catholic identity, the first being our Rosary Prayer for Life service happening just outside where the Planned Parenthood fundraiser will be as it begins. I really am emphasizing the fact this is not a rowdy protest, but for the spreading of love, prayer, and the right to life.

This has nothing to do with politics, but everything to do with respecting the intrinsic value of all humans, from conception to natural death.

Although it might seem like a small gesture in response to a great evil, the power of prayer should never be underestimated. Neither should we ever underestimate the power of reminding people, namely the Loyola staff, of what the Catholic faith should look like.

Christ the King by Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange

A reflection on the Feast of Christ the King by Reginald Garrigou Lagrange OP.

CHRIST THE KING, JUDGE, AND HEAD OF THE BLESSED

There are three parts:

(1)The principal testimonies of the Old and New Testaments concerning Christ's universal kingship.

(2) Whether and by what titles Christ even as man is the king of all, both spiritually and temporally.

(3) Christ's universal influence as king over all men in the social order.

It is of faith that Christ after His ascension sits at the right hand of the omnipotent Father and reigns forever. The various symbols of the faith express this.

In the time of the patriarchs, the Messias is announced as the Savior of the world, during the time of the kings He is described as king, Son of God, and priest; in fact, His passion or sacrifice are foretold. His royal dignity and universal power are proclaimed in the following text: "In His days shall justice spring up, and abundance of peace, till the moon be taken away. And He shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. Before Him the Ethiopians shall fall down... the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts. And all kings of the earth shall adore Him, and all nations shall serve Him. For He shall deliver the poor from the mighty, and the needy that had no helper.... And He shall save the souls of the poor.... For Him they shall always adore.... And in Him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed; all nations shall magnify Him," Likewise it is said: "The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, against the Lord and against His Christ.... He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them... and trouble them in His rage. But I am appointed king by Him over Sion, His holy mountain, preaching His commandment. The Lord hath said: "Thou art My Son, this day I have begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the Gentiles for Thy inheritance."

Also the prophet announces the Messias as king in this text: "For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace."[2359] And similarly another prophet speaks of a stone that struck the statue, and the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth, which is a symbolical announcement that Christ's kingdom is to replace all other kingdoms and be preferred to them. One of the minor prophets describes also the powers of this king, saying: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion.... Behold, thy King will come to thee, the just and Savior, He is poor and riding upon an ass and upon a colt, the foal of an ass." This prophecy is quoted by the Evangelist: "Behold thy king cometh to thee sitting upon an ass."

New Testament.

Here Christ's universal kingdom is more clearly affirmed. It is, indeed, first of all declared by the angel announcing Christ's birth to the Blessed Virgin, and saying: "The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of David His father and He shall reign in the house of Jacob forever."

Christ Himself says: "All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth," which means right over all nations, so that nations are under obligation to hear His teaching, for He says: "Teach all nations," and they must observe His laws, to which they are subject after having been baptized, for He says: "Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you."

This universal power of Christ includes both angels and the elect, for He says: "He shall send His angels, and shall gather together His elect." This universal power extends to demons, whom Christ rejects by His power, and it also includes all created beings, inasmuch as miracles were worked over all creatures, which absolutely obey Him. The Fourth Gospel frequently refers to Christ's kingdom, especially in this text, when "Pilate said to Jesus: "Art Thou the King of the Jews?' Jesus answered: "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from hence. ' Pilate therefore said to Him: 'Art Thou a king then?' Jesus answered: "Thou sayest that I am a king.... Everyone that is of the truth heareth My voice.’’

Therefore His kingdom is of a higher and universal order. Likewise Pilate orders the title to be inscribed on the cross, "King of the Jews, " in three languages: Hebrew, Greek and Latin; that is, as Bossuet says, in the language of God's people, in the language of philosophers, and in the language of imperial power, jurists, and statesmen. Finally, St. John the Evangelist particularly exalts Christ the King, whom He calls: "beginning and the end, King of kings, and Lord of lords, the supreme Judge, who renders to each according to His works, the Prince of the kings of the earth.’’ St. Paul in one of his epistles also often speaks of Christ's universal reign; in fact, he even points out why Christ is the universal king, because He is: (1) the natural Son and heir of God; (2) the Redeemer.

As for the first reason, he says: "In these days, [God] hath spoken to us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things... who sitteth at the right hand of the majesty on high."

The second reason is given as follows: "Who is He that shall condemn Christ Jesus that died, yea, that is risen also again; who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us?" And again he says: "For He must reign. All things are put under Him," The liturgy often recalls the title of King as in the hymn, "Thou art the King of glory, Christ," and the antiphon, "O King of nations," and in the invocation, "Christ the King, Ruler of nations, let us adore." In the liturgy, Christ is called King of angels, of apostles, of martyrs; moreover, Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands. In the symbol of faith, we chant: "Whose reign will never end." That Christ is King is therefore of faith.

BY WHAT TITLES IS CHRIST ALSO AS MAN KING OF ALL CREATED THINGS?

His claim to kingship rests on three titles: (1) the hypostatic union; (2) plenitude of created grace, and these titles He claims by natural right; (3) His redemption of us, which is not a natural right, but one that is acquired by His sacrifice on the cross.

1) The hypostatic union.

Because of this title, Christ, as man, transcends all creatures, even the higher choirs of angels, who must adore and obey Him as we do. Moreover, because of this union His acts are theandric and of infinite value. This doctrine is clearly expressed by Pope Pius XI in the following words: "His kingship is founded upon that wonderful union which is called hypostatic. Hence it follows that Christ is to be adored by angels and men as God, and also that to Him as man, angels and men are subject and must recognize His empire, since, solely because of the hypostatic union, Christ has power over all creatures."

2) His claim to plenitude of grace, virtues, and gifts.

Because of this title Christ excels all creatures, and is the head of the Church. The Evangelist says: "Of His fullness we all have received," For this reason He also has the highest degree of the light of glory and charity. This plenitude of grace He also has by natural right. 3) He is entitled to be King because He has redeemed us. Since all Christ's acts are theandric, they are meritorious and satisfactory, and of infinite value. Under this aspect, He transcends the angels who are His ministers and who must assist the redeemed in attaining their end. Therefore Pope Pius XI says: "But a thought that must give us even greater joy and consolation is this, that Christ is asking for us by acquired right as well as by natural right, because He has redeemed us. Would that they who forget what they have cost our Savior might recall the words: "You were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver... but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled." For we are no longer our own property since Christ bought us with a great price, St. Thomas expresses this doctrine clearly saying: "To sit on the right hand of the Father is nothing else than to share in the glory of the Godhead with the Father, and to possess beatitude and judiciary power, and that unchangeably and royally." Again he says: "Christ as man is exalted to divine honor, and this is signified in the aforesaid sitting." He also asks whether it belongs to Christ as man to sit at the right hand of the Father. His reply is: "To sit at the right hand of the Father belongs to Christ first of all as the Son of God..., because He has the same nature as the Father.... Secondly, according to the grace of union.... According to this, Christ as man is the Son of God, and consequently sits at the Father's right hand; yet so that the expression 'as' does not denote condition of nature, but unity Or suppositum, as explained above. Thirdly, the said approach can be understood according to habitual grace, which is more fully in Christ than in all other creatures, so much so that human nature in Christ is more blessed than in all other creatures, and possesses over all other creatures royal and judiciary power." St. Thomas goes on to say: "If 'as' denote unity of person, thus again as man He sits at the Father's right hand as to equality of power, since we venerate the Son of God with the same honor as we do His assumed nature, as was said above (q. 25, a. 1) concerning the adoration of Christ's humanity inasmuch as it is personally united to the Word."[2387] Afterward he says: "Judiciary power goes with royal dignity."

Again he says: "It belongs to no one else, angel or man, but to Christ alone to sit at the right hand of the Father."

Thus He alone is the King of all.

The holy Doctor also frequently speaks about Christ's title of Redeemer. In fact, he says: "Judiciary power belongs to the man Christ on account of His divine personality and the dignity of His headship and the fullness of His habitual grace; and yet He obtained it also from merit." To understand these assertions, we must properly define with St. Thomas the meaning of "king." The word "rex" comes from "regere, " which means to rule, to govern, and universal government belongs to the king, ordering things to a good end. Thus the king is in his kingdom as God is in the world, and as the soul is in the body.

Hence St. Thomas says: "To direct belongs more to the king, " wherefore "prudence and justice belong most properly to a king," especially legal justice and equity. To direct and to govern are defined by St. Thomas as follows: "To govern the world is to bring the things of the world to their end," and "the best government is government by one. The reason of this is that government is nothing but the directing of the things governed to the end; which consists in some good. But unity belongs to the idea of goodness.... Now the proper cause of unity is one.... From this it follows that the government of the world, to be the best, must be by one."

Thus the supreme and intelligent designer, who directs all things, corresponds to the ultimate end. But the spiritual king directs his subjects to a spiritual end; the temporal king, however, to a temporal end, to the common good of society, which is not only a useful good, but a moral good, and which is subordinated to the ultimate supernatural end. Is Christ as man, both the spiritual and temporal king of the universe, and was He the king of all kings and kingdoms in the whole world? Let us first see the three assertions on which all theologians are agreed.

1) All theologians always held that Christ as God rules as Lord and King of all, both spiritually and temporally, because "in Him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible."

2) All theologians also maintain that Christ, as man, is spiritual king of all men and societies, even of angels, as is evident from the abovequoted scriptural texts, for example: "King of kings, Lord of lords." Thus civil governments must accept Christian revelation, and legislate, for example, as regards indissolubility of marriage, in accordance with this revelation.

3) Theologians are also all in agreement thatChrist did not exercise this power as temporal king of the whole world. In fact, as the Evangelist says: "Jesus, therefore, when He knew that they would come to take Him by force and make Him king, fled again into the mountain Himself alone." But the theologians disagreed whether Christ as man, had, if not the exercise of the power, at least the power of temporal king of the world. St. Robert Bellarmine, Toletus, Sylvius, Billuart, and others reply in the negative.

On the other hand, St. Antoninus, the Salmanticenses, and others replied in the affirmative, quoting several texts of St. Thomas, and this opinion afterward becomes the more generally accepted one, and is finally approved by Pius XI in his encyclical.The summary of his declaration is that Christ as man is king by legislative jurisdiction, coercion, and administration, and has this right over members of His spiritual kingdom, over all men, all civil affairs; hence laicism must be condemned. Proof of affirmative opinion. St. Thomas says: "Christ, although established king by God, did not wish while living on earth to govern temporarily an earthly kingdom, because He came to raise men to divine things."

Objection. But the pope has only indirect power over temporal things. Therefore Christ also.

Reply. The Salmanticenses are right in saying that, although the pope may have only indirect power in temporal affairs, Christ could have direct and immediate power, by reason of the hypostatic union. Not all power that Christ had was granted to the Roman Pontiff even in spiritual things. Thus the pope cannot institute new sacraments. In our days, after the pope's encyclical, there is no more disagreement among theologians on this point. Pope Pius XI says in this encyclical: "This kind of kingdom is especially of a spiritual nature and concerns spiritual things.... It would be a grave error, on the other hand, to say that Christ has no authority whatever in civil affairs, since by virtue of the absolute empire over all creatures committed to Him by the Father, all things are in His power. Nevertheless, during His life on earth, He entirely refrained from the exercise of such authority."

Does this kingship of Christ consist of certain powers?

The Pope's encyclical replies by saying that it consists of a threefold power, namely, legislative, judicial, and executive, "which, if it be deprived of these renders this kingship scarcely intelligible. This becomes sufficiently clear from the scriptural testimony already adduced concerning the universal dominion of our Redeemer, and moreover it is a dogma of faith that Jesus Christ was given to man, not only as our Redeemer, but also as a lawgiver, to whom obedience is due (C. Trid., Sess. VI, can. 21). Not only do the Gospels tell us that He made laws, but they present Him to us in the act of making them. Those who keep them show their love for their divine Master, and He promises that they shall remain in His love (John 14:15; 15:10). He claimed judicial power as received from His Father, when the Jews accused Him of breaking the Sabbath by the miraculous cure of a sick man. 'For neither does the Father judge any man, but all judgment He has given to the Son, (John 5:22). In this power is included the right of rewarding and punishing all men living, for this right is inseparable from that of judging. Executive power, too, belongs to Christ, for all must obey His command; none can escape the sanctions imposed by Him. Nevertheless this kingdom is in a special manner of a spiritual nature and concerns spiritual things." The universal extent of Christ's influence as king is the same as His influence as head of the Church. Thus His influence is universal, bestowing upon the just grace and charity, upon sinners in the Church the supernatural virtues of faith and hope, upon schismatics, heretics, Jews, and pagans, actual graces of illumination and inspiration, which can dispose them for salvation.

Christ died for all men, and is king and lord of all. Christ also, as king of the angels, exerts at least accidental influence of grace and glory upon them, inasmuch as they are His ministers in the heavenly kingdom. He also reigns as judge by exercising His justice over demons whom He cast out of creatures during His life on earth. Christ the King, as explained in the encyclical, reigns in the whole of man, in our souls which He deifies, in our intellects so that they may always think of Him, in our wills so that they may be subject to Him, in the affections so that Christ may be loved above all things, in our bodies so that our members may serve "as instruments of justice unto God" for His honor and glory. This kingdom also includes civil society, for as Leo XIII remarks, civil society no less than the individual is dependent on God as its author, for "there is no power but from God," and without Christ's help man cannot observe even the whole natural law, provide for sound morality, pass good laws, for, as St. Thomas says: "In the state of corrupted nature man cannot fulfill all the divine commandments without healing grace," nor the whole natural law. Hence Pope Pius XI declares against laicism, "that by the rejection of Christ's universal kingdom, it gradually comes about that no distinction is made between the true religion and false religions, and then all religion, even natural religion, is abolished, and thus the reign of impiety and immorality is established," so that the words of our Lord are verified: "He that is not with Me is against Me."

In our times, because of the institution of this feast of Christ the King, some have taken occasion to object to the Thomistic doctrine concerning the motive of the Incarnation. They have said that Christ as man is King of all creatures, even of angels, independently of our redemption from sin. But in virtue of the present decree, Christ came as King. Therefore in virtue of the present decree, He came also independently of sin.

We concede that this could be so in virtue of another decree, but not in virtue of the present decree. And we reply: Let the major pass without comment, because for Christ to be King of all creatures, formally as such, does not depend upon redemption from sin. I distinguish the minor: in virtue of the present decree that Christ came primarily as King, this I deny; that He came so secondarily, I concede; for He came primarily as Savior, priest, and victim, although He is also King of all creatures. I distinguish the conclusion in like manner. Therefore, in virtue of the present decree, He came independently of sin if He came only as King, this I concede; if He also came, even primarily, as Savior of men, then I deny that He came so as king.

For the present decree, since it is efficacious and most prudent, concerns not only the substance of the Incarnation, but also all its circumstances, and therefore it is about the redemptive Incarnation, that is, it is about Christ who is to come in passible flesh. Hence, in virtue of the present decree, Christ nowise would have come unless man had sinned. This means that He would not have come in passible flesh, or in any other way, either as Savior or as King. But de facto, after the sin of the first man, He came principally as the Savior of man and as the King of all creatures. As we said, God, perceiving by His knowledge of simple intelligence the possibility of the fall of man and the redemption, by one decree willed the creation of the natural order, the elevation of the human race and of the angels to the order of grace, and at the same time, in permitting original sin, willed the redemptive Incarnation and therefore by the same sole decree ordered all created things for the incarnate Word and Redeemer, or for the conqueror of sin, the devil, and death, as also for Him as King.

This is also clearly seen in the Mass of Christ the King, in which the title of King is intimately connected with that of Savior, and this not only once a year in the Mass of this feast, but daily in every Mass that is celebrated throughout the year. The Introit of this Mass reads: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and honor. To Him be glory and empire forever and ever." The oration says: "Almighty and eternal God, who has willed to restore all things in Thy beloved Son, who is King of all things, mercifully grant that all the nations of the earth, freed from sin, may be subject to His sweet rule." The Epistle thanks God "who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins... because in Him it hath well pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell, and through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself."

The Gospel of this Mass recalls that Christ affirmed His kingship during His passion and intimately connected this royal dignity with redemption. The same is said in the Secret prayer. Also the Preface, in which Jesus is declared Priest before He is called King, says: "Thou who didst anoint with the oil of exaltation Thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ eternal Priest and King of all: so that of offering Himself... on the altar of the cross, He might accomplish the mysteries of human redemption, and having subjected all creatures to His empire, might deliver an eternal and universal kingdom to Thy immense Majesty...." Therefore the title of "King of kings" is nowise in opposition to the teaching of St. Thomas concerning the motive of the Incarnation. Christ is first of all the Savior.

Halloween: Good or Bad?

A number of priests have released some excellent videos reflecting on the complicated place of Halloween in our modern culture.

Sinn Fein Want 12th of July to be National Holiday

British political party Sinn Fein have become increasingly pro Unionist in their outlook in recent years, so much as recently accepting Westminster rule in order to deliver abortion into Northern Ireland.

The party, who are led in the South of Ireland by South Dublin’s Mary Lou McDonald, have even suggested rejoining the Commonwealth in recent years. They have simultaneously become increasingly anti Catholic, even trying to ban Catholics from praying near abortion clinics.

Now, Mary Lou McDonald has doubled down on a previously professed openness to making anti Catholic holiday the 12th of July a national holiday.

Speaking on the topic of a United Ireland today, pro Commonwealth McDonald actually stated that Sinn Fein would consider binning the Irish anthem, binning the flag and making the anti Catholic day a public holiday to appease the Orange Order:

“What about the anthem? What about the flag? What about a public holiday for the Twelfth of July, which I think is a good idea.”

On the 12th of July each year, anti Catholic and psuedo Masonic group the Orange Order march to commemorate the Battle of the Boyne, when Protestant King William of Orange’s men were successful against Catholic King James. The 12th of July each year sees Protestants march with the Orange Order through Catholic areas in a move designed to confront and intimidate them in their places of residence, continuing the tradition that has celebrated anti Catholicism since the 1600s and which glorifies not just the penal laws, but also the life and work of genocidal leader Oliver Cromwell and his various massacres.

Fine Gael Senator Neale Richmond drew controversy earlier this year after an historic photo emerged of him at an Orange Order parade where Oliver Cromwell was being commemorated only yards away. Richmond has not apologised for the deeply offensive photograph.

Every Catholic, every person from Drogheda, every person from Wexford

Should be calling for the resignation of Neale Richmond and his expulsion form public life after seeing these images

Those who honour genocide and slavery have no place in the Dail pic.twitter.com/7nDNgDPK06

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) March 1, 2021

Sinn Fein are currently riding high in the polls in Ireland, with many naive ‘Catholics’ and ‘Nationalists’ convinced that the party, who now have more in common with the Orange Order than with their own voters, are going to deliver some Irish Catholic utopia.

It is quite clear from Ms. McDonald’s recent behaviour that Sinn Fein have absolutely no such intention.

In fact, they would rather enshrine a holiday where hatred of the Catholic faith and celebration of their persecution is widespread. At some point the Celtic fan portion of Catholicism has to wake up realise that they have bought into a political party that reviles them deeply.

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.