Germany marks 500th anniversary of Protestant Reformation

dw.com - Germany is celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation on Tuesday with a national holiday and ceremonies in the eastern city of Wittenberg, where Martin Luther began a split in the Catholic Church that transformed Christianity and Europe.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Saxony-Anhalt state Premier Reiner Haseloff will attend several ceremonies in Wittenberg — starting with an afternoon church service in the city's Castle Church and ending with a ceremony in the city hall in the evening.

They will be joined by other German politicians and numerous international guests.

Ahead of the anniversary, Merkel said in a podcast that Tuesday's ceremonies provide "the opportunity to reflect on what changes resulted from the Reformation."

Luther, a theology professor and priest, questioned the Catholic Church's teachings and challenged the Vatican's authority through his "95 Theses." He is believed to have nailed the theses to the door of Wittenberg's Castle Church on October 31, 1517.

Performances by musicians and comedians will also take place in Wittenberg's historic city center, which has been styled to recreate the medieval era in which Luther lived.

Visitors can also attend a modern art exhibition in the city as well as a light show.

Read more: How Martin Luther became the first Christian pop star

Several other events, exhibits and church services are also taking place across Germany to mark the anniversary.

Last night, members of Berlin's protestant youth organization nailed their own theses to the doors of around 300 churches in the German capital. Berlin state youth pastor Sarah Oltmanns told protestant news angency EPD that the youths prepared their church reform suggestions for two years in workshops and other events. (ontinueReading

Vatican Pope appears to back anti-Trump protests in letter condemning populism

Via www.theguardian.com - Pope Francis has offered his unequivocal support to grassroots organisers and activists who are fighting for social justice, migrants, and environmentalism, saying he “reaffirms” their choice to fight against tyranny amid a “gutting of democracies”.

“As Christians and all people of good will, it is for us to live and act at this moment. It is a grave responsibility, since certain present realities, unless effectively dealt with, are capable of setting off processes of dehumanisation which would then be hard to reverse,” the pontiff wrote in a letter that was read to organisers this week.

The remarks can be viewed as a clear endorsement by the Argentinian pope of resistance against populist and xenophobic political movements. While he did not name Donald Trump, and stressed his remarks were not targeted at any individual politician, the letter, read at the opening of the US Regional World Meeting of Popular Movements in Modesto, California, seem to speak directly to protests against the Republican president.

“The direction taken beyond this historic turning point – the ways in which this worsening crisis gets resolved – will depend on people’s involvement and participation and, largely, on yourselves, the popular movements,” Francis wrote.

The letter was read aloud by a close ally of the pope, Cardinal Peter Turkson, who attended the meeting.

In the letter, Francis condemned the growth of populist and xenophobic movements around the world, saying they posed a “grave danger for humanity”. He also criticised leaders who rely on “fear, insecurity, quarrels, and even people’s justified indignation, in order to shift the responsibility for all these ills on to a ‘non-neighbour’”.

“Sooner or later, the moral blindness of this indifference comes to light, like when a mirage dissipates,” he wrote. “The wounds are there, they are a reality. The unemployment is real, the violence is real, the corruption is real, the identity crisis is real, the gutting of democracies is real.”

He offered praise to the activists who are organising in opposition to those threats. “I know that you have committed yourselves to fight for social justice, to defend our Sister Mother Earth and to stand alongside migrants. I want to reaffirm your choice,” he wrote.

The remarks would not be the first time Francis has appeared to take aim at the US president. The pope first criticised then-candidate Trump when he called for the building of a border wall between Mexico and the US, with Francis calling it an idea that was not "Christian". (ontinuereading

Satanic killings sweep Mexico, call for mass exorcism

(SPUTNIKNEWS) — Mexico is being swept by a wave of satanic ritual killings with exorcists saying there is an unprecedented demand for their services.

Father José Antonio Fortea, a leading Mexican exorcist, who once ordered the mass exorcism of the whole country, has warned of an increase in satanic ritual killings.

He said that “devil worship” stemmed from the so-called cult of Santa Muerte, depicted as a human corpse with all the flesh picked off the bones, and dressed like a bride for her wedding.

The name means “Holy Death” – and it harks back to the days when to be sacrificed to the Aztec gods was considered the greatest honor.

Read more at wnd.com

Pope Francis to stand with migrants at U.S. border

- Pope Francis, who has spent the past several months pressing nations, including America, to embrace those fleeing the unrest in the Middle East, Africa and Asia with open arms – and open borders – is now taking that stance to a new political level and planning a solidarity stand with migrants along the U.S.-Mexico boundary.

Market Watch reported Francis is due to arrive in Mexico on Friday for a six-day visit. And as part of that visit, he is planning to stand on the U.S. border, in Ciudad Juarez, and deliver a mass.

The town is located just 90 yards from U.S. land.

About 200,000 are expected to turn out for the mass on the Mexico side, and another 50,000 from Rio Grande in Texas, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“This is one community, despite the fence,” said Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi, during a press conference reported by Market Watch. “I think it will be moving to see this single community even though it is located on two sides of the border.”

Immigration has been a top issue during this presidential campaign season, with both Donald Trump and Sen. Ted vowing to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump in particular has sounded the alarm on illegals in the United States, promising to deport the 11 million who are breaking the law with their presence. And he’s also come down hard on the refugee situation, calling for a blanket halt to immigration of all individuals coming from Muslim dominated nations in order to allow U.S. authorities time to catch up with intelligence on who’s crossing the U.S. border.

Read more at WND.com

Pope Francis seeks Protestant forgiveness for past persecution

(christiantoday.com) Pope Francis asked Protestants and other Christian Churches for forgiveness for past persecution by Catholics as the Vatican announced on Monday he would visit Sweden later in the year to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

Speaking at an annual vespers service in St Paul's Basilica in Rome attended by representatives of other Churches, he asked "forgiveness for the un-gospel like behaviour by Catholics towards Christians of other Churches". He also asked Catholics to forgive those who had persecuted them.

The Vatican announced that on October 31 Francis would go to the southern Swedish city of Lund, where the Lutheran World Federation was founded in 1947, for a joint service with Lutherans to launch Reformation commemorations that will continue throughout the world next year.

Martin Luther, a German, is credited with starting the Protestant Reformation in 1517 with writing 95 theses – said to have been nailed to a church door in Wittenberg – criticising the CatholicChurch for selling forgiveness from sins for money.

Related: Pope Apologizes for Killing Protestants

Pope Francis, in Ecuador, Calls for More Protection of Rain Forest and Its People

(nytimes.com) QUITO, Ecuador — Pope Francis on Tuesday called for increased protection of the Amazon rain forest and the indigenous people who live there, declaring that Ecuador must resist exploiting natural riches for “short-term benefits,” an implicit rebuke of the policies of President Rafael Correa.

In his final stops of a busy day, Francis made environmental protection a central theme, invoking the biblical tenet for humans to be guardians of creation, while praising the way of life of indigenous peoples living in the rain forests. Several indigenous leaders attending Francis’ final event of the day have been fighting the policies of Mr. Correa to expand oil exploration in the Ecuadorean Amazon.

“The tapping of natural resources, which are so abundant in Ecuador, must not be concerned with short-term benefits,” Francis told a group of civil society leaders at his final stop of the day. “As stewards of these riches which we have received, we have an obligation toward society as a whole, and toward future generations.”

Francis had been expected to address the exploitation of the Amazon, after specifically including the issue in “Laudato Si’,” the environmental encyclical he released to worldwide attention last month. In the document, Francis warned against the perils of climate change but also highlighted the link between environmental destruction and the plight of the poor, including indigenous groups in South America. Full Story

Bosnia & Herzegovina: Pope Francis visits Sarajevo for historic visit, urges peace

(Telegraph.co.uk) [June 6 2015] - Pope Francis on Saturday attacked "the atmosphere of war" currently besetting the world as he urged Bosnia to pursue reconciliation efforts, 20 years after a conflict that ripped the country apart.

Many conflicts across the planet amount to "a kind of third world war being fought piecemeal and, in the context of global communications, we sense an atmosphere of war," the pontiff said in a mass at Sarajevo's Olympic Stadium during a one-day visit to the Bosnian capital.

"Some wish to incite and foment this atmosphere deliberately," he added, attacking those who want to foster division for political ends or profit from war through arms dealing.

"But war means children, women and the elderly in refugee camps, it means forced displacement, destroyed houses, streets and factories: above all countless shattered lives.

"You know this well having experienced it here."

The Pontiff had earlier referred to Sarajevo, with its synagogues, churches and mosques side by side, as a "European Jerusalem", a crossroads of cultures, nations and religions which required "the building of new bridges while maintaining and restoring older ones."

In a reference to the legacy of the war, which left Bosnia permanently divided along ethnic lines, he urged the country's Muslim, Serb and Croat communities to reach out to each other.

"In so doing, even the deep wounds of the recent past will be set aside," Francis said in a meeting with officials of the rotating presidency.

The 78-year-old then headed in his popemobile to the stadium, where he was given a rapturous reception by the 65,000-strong crowd.

"I am here because I want peace across the whole world and an end to war and hate," said Branimir Vujca, 50, a doctor from Kiseljac in central Bosnia, who had come with his wife and three children.

Katarina Dzrek, a Bosnian Croat who was also in the crowd, added: "Bosnia is in need of the message of peace the pope will send because there is still a lack of trust between."

Around 20,000 visitors from neighbouring Croatia, which is predominately Catholic, were amongst an estimated total of 100,000 people who had turned out for the occasion in the stadium and on the streets.
Francis told reporters on his flight from Rome that Sarajevo was "a city that has suffered much in its history but is now on a beautiful path of peace.

"That is why I am making this trip, as a sign of peace and a prayer for peace."

While the Vatican has played down security concerns surrounding the trip, local media have made much of a video published this week by a group of Islamists claiming to be members of the Islamic State (IS) who called for jihad in the Balkans.

More than a third of Bosnia's mostly Catholic Croats have left Bosnia since the war and the country of 3.8 million people is divided in two between a Bosnian Serb republic and a Croat-Muslim federation.

Sarajevo, once a beacon of multiculturalism, is also now largely split along ethnic lines.

Against that backdrop, Vatican officials believe Francis can have a positive impact by promoting the kind of inter-faith dialogue he holds dear.

The trip is Francis's eighth abroad in just over two years as the leader of the world's Catholics.

* * * * 

Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence on March 3 1992 & received international recognition the following month on April 6, 1992. The country soon plunged into a violent race war soon after. Bosnia is made up of the following ethnic groups: Bosnian 48% Serbian 33%  Croatian 15% & Other 4% (2013 estimate) Yugoslavia formally dissolved in 2006 with the independence of Montenegro that resulted from a democratic vote. 

‘Jesus Christ never existed at all,’ US historian claims

IT'S A ZIONIST CONSPIRACY!!

(Metro.co.uk) April 03/2015 = An atheist writer has tried to spoil the taste of everyone’s Easter eggs by claiming Jesus didn’t exist at all.

San Francisco-based David Fitzgerald claims that there are no mentions of Jesus – at all – in 125 different historical accounts of the period.

He says it makes no sense, as Jesus is supposed to have been a famous figure who wrought incredible miracles – but no contemporary writers had heard of him.

Fitzgerald, an atheist activist, says, ‘’There is a paradox that Jesus did all these amazing things and taught all these amazing things yet no one heard of him outside his immediate cult for nearly 100 years.

‘Or it means he didn’t do all these things at all.

‘Two billion people believe all these miracles happened yet there is no evidence they did.’

Fitzgerald believes that the writers of the gospels worked decades after Jesus’s death, and made up the idea of Jesus by combining information about several Jewish sect leaders from the period.

His upcoming book claims that Jesus Christ as we know him is a literary invention – and that there was no single ‘Jesus’ at all.

Fitzgerald writes, ‘I must conclude that Christ is a mythical character. “Jesus of Nazareth” was nothing more than urban (or desert) legend, likely an agglomeration of several evangelic and deluded rabbis who might have existed.’

* * * *
I feel like the professor is referring to Catholicism & not Christianity which are 2 different things. Catholics make it too easy for anyone to challenge the religion. 

Pope prays at Israeli wall in unprecedented gesture

That escalated...

(Telegraph) - Pope Francis prayed in silence and pressed his forehead against the wall that separates Jerusalem from the West Bank town of Bethlehem on Sunday, during a visit which Palestinians claimed as affirmation of their claim to statehood.

In an unscheduled stop during his visit to Bethlehem, the town where Christ was born, the Pope ordered his white Popemobile to stop as it passed the separation barrier built by the Israelis.

He prayed for a few minutes at the graffiti-daubed section of the wall, beneath a watch tower manned by Israeli soldiers.

"He got down from the Popemobile and walked up to the wall," said the Rev Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman. "He remained there for some minutes, praying silently. He then touched the wall with his forehead."

It was an unprecedented gesture which delighted Palestinians. They were also pleased that during his various addresses in Bethlehem, Francis used the term "State of Palestine".

Full Story.

Lego is a tool of Satan, warns Polish priest

Father Slawomir Kostrzewa says toy company represents 'world of death' and that Zombie and Monster Fighter mini-figures can lead children 'to the dark side'






(thetelegraph) - A Polish priest has warned parents to be on their guard against Lego, warning the plastic blocks are a tool of Satan and can "destroy" children's souls.

In a presentation aimed at parents, Father Slawomir Kostrzewa said the popular Danish toy company had taken a lurch to the dark side with its series of Monster Fighters and Zombie mini-figures, and that they "were about darkness and the world of death".

"Friendly fellows have been replaced by dark monsters," he explained. "These toys can have a negative effect on children. They can destroy their souls and lead them to the dark side."

Lego's Monster Fighters range features Lord Vampyre, a fanged Dracula-like character, who battles the likes of Doctor Rodney Rathbone and Major Quinton Steele as they try to prevent him from "cloaking the world in darkness".

The priest also cited research by New Zealand's University of Canterbury that found the facial expressions of Lego figures have also become angrier over the years, and that this compounded their evil potential.

Full Story

Malaysian king backs court ban on non-Muslims using ‘Allah’

Damn Catholics ruining it for all of us!

- Malaysia's king gave his backing on Sunday to a court ruling barring non-Muslims from using the word “Allah” to refer to G-d, weighing in for the first time on an issue that has fanned religious tensions in the multi-cultural country.

Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam, whose role as head of state is largely ceremonial, alluded to the issue which has raised questions over miniority rights during his birthday speech to the Southeast Asian nation.

A court in October ruled that the word was exclusive to majority Malay Muslims, overturning an earlier decision allowing a Catholic newspaper to use Allah in its Malay-language edition.

The court ruling has since prompted Muslim leaders to call for demonstrations against Christians who do not comply. Christians make up about 9% of Malaysia's 29 million people.

“In the context of a pluralistic society, religious sensitivities especially related to Islam as the religion of the federation should be respected,” Sultan Abdul Halim said in the speech released by state news agency Bernama.

“Confusion and controversy can be averted if there is adherence to the provisions of the law and judicial decisions.”

Police are currently investigating a Catholic priest under sedition laws for insisting the word can be used by non-Muslims in Malay, the country's national language.

Police: Second woman charged after 2 children killed during attempted exorcism

(CNN) -- A second Maryland woman has been charged with murder in connection with the Friday stabbing deaths of two children during an exorcism attempt, authorities said.

Two children died of multiple stab wounds and two others are hospitalized with undisclosed injuries, police said.

Monifa Denise Sanford, 21, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder, Montgomery County Police said.

Earlier, authorities announced that the children's mother, Zakieya L. Avery, 28, also faces the same charges. Police said Saturday that Avery stabbed two of her children to death and wounded two others while attempting an exorcism.

Full Story

The Vatican orchestrated 9/11

 That & other crazy Catholic conspiracy therories

- In order to bring down the towers, the Jesuits employed members of “CIA/Nazi-trained, Masonic Zionist Mossad” in addition to their “CIA/Nazi-trained, Masonic Islamic Intelligence Agencies.” These Islamic agents enrolled in flight schools so the Catholic-controlled media could claim that the 9/11 planes had been hijacked by Arab terrorists when they had really been remotely guided by the NSA.

Kenyan lawer takes State of Israel, Jews to Hague over Jesus' death

Dear Roman Catholics, this is why nobody likes you.

via BCF

Will the Vatican Disregard the Mass Exodus of Christians From the Middle East?

(thetrumpet) - Across the Islamic world, a mass exodus of Christians is under way. Muslims have been driving Christians from the Middle East for centuries, and the fall of the region’s dictators in recent years has ignited a new wave of persecution and displacement. The Catholic Church, shaken by the trend, will soon shift its approach to Islam—especially the radical factions.

“The flight of Christians out of the region is unprecedented, and it’s increasing year by year,” the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recently said.

Full Story.

Lawyer Sues Over Failed Exorcism Of Fridge Possessed By Flatulent Demons!

You can't make this stuff up...

(BlazingCatFur) - Romanian lawyer sues his bishop and four priests claiming they failed to properly exorcise flatulent demons in his house

South Africa Cardinal Says Pedophilia Not A Crime.

It's just a lifestyle, HATERS!

(Reuters) - A South African cardinal who helped elect Pope Francis this week has told the BBC pedophilia is an illness and not a crime.

Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, the Catholic Archbishop of Durban, told BBC Radio 5 on Saturday that pedophilia was a "disorder" that needed to be treated.

"From my experience, pedophilia is actually an illness. It's not a criminal condition, it's an illness," he said.

Napier said he knew of at least two priests who became pedophiles after they were abused as children.

"Now don't tell me that those people are criminally responsible like somebody who chooses to do something like that. I don't think you can really take the position and say that person deserves to be punished. He was himself damaged."

The Catholic Church has had its image deeply tarnished by a widespread child sex abuse scandal.

Full Story.

Argentine Jorge Bergoglio Elected Pope Francis.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elected pope Wednesday, becoming the first pontiff from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium. He chose the name Francis, associating himself with the humble 13th-century Italian preacher who lived a life of poverty.

Looking stunned, Francis shyly waved to the crowd of more than 100,000 people who packed a rain-soaked St. Peter's Square for the announcement, marveling that the cardinals needed to look to "the end of the earth" to find a bishop of Rome.

In choosing a 76-year-old pope, the cardinals clearly decided that they didn't need a vigorous, young pope who would reign for decades but rather a seasoned, popular and humble pastor who would draw followers to the faith and help rebuild a church stained by scandal.

The cardinal electors overcame deep divisions about the future of the church to select the 266th pontiff in a remarkably fast, five-ballot conclave.

Full Story.

Vatican Confirms Pope To Resign, Conspiracy & Controversy Ensue.

- After only eight years on the papal throne, Pope Benedict XVI resigned his post as the head of the Catholic Church earlier today.

The resignation, the first by a pope in nearly 600 years, caught the world by surprise and set off a frenzied international debate about why exactly the pope resigned, why the Vatican and even Benedict’s closest aides were left in the dark about the impending resignation, and who the next pope will be.

White House Petition Calls For Obama Admin. To Designate The Catholic Church As A 'Hate Group.'

- On Christmas Day, a petition was added to the White House web site, urging the U.S. government to “officially recognize the Roman Catholic Church as a "hate group.” According to a brief description accompanying the plea, the basis for the designation is the church’s stance on same-sex marriage and homosexuality.

“In his annual Christmas address to the College of Cardinals, Pope Benedict XVI, the global leader of the Roman Catholic Church, demeaned and belittled homosexual people around the world,” the petition reads. “Using hateful language and discriminatory remarks, the Pope painted a portrait in which gay people are second-class global citizens.”

The text goes on to note that Pope Benedict claimed that same-sex families “are threatening to society.” The individual behind the initiative accused the Catholic leader of implying that gays are also “sub-human.” As a result of the pope’s recent words, the petition argues that the Church meets the criteria to be called a hate group by both the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League.

The effort to urge condemnation from the White House was sparked by Pope Benedict’s Christmas message. As TheBlaze previously reported (as per AP), the Catholic leader has taken his opposition to gay marriage to new heights with a strong denunciation of how people today are manipulating their sex and gender to alter their God-given nature.

Full Story.