On today’s #NCFNewspeak, NCF Director Peter Whittle, Senior Fellow Rafe Heydel-Mankoo and SDP London mayoral candidate Amy Gallagher discuss: * Far Left radical agitators are infiltrating Gaza protests on university campuses * Middle class leftists stop removal of illegal migrants to Bibby Stockholm * Do SNPs misfortunes mean that progressive politics are dead in the UK? * Local election results
Month: May 2024
Prominent Catholics urge bishops, cardinals to declare Francis has ‘lost the papal office’ if he refuses to resign
A group of 17 scholars and activists have released a lengthy statement calling for Pope Francis to resign or to be formally asked to resign by the College of Cardinals.
Stating that Francis has “caused an unprecedented crisis in the Catholic Church” by his words and actions, the 17 signatories attested that the Pope has “done great harm to the Church and the whole world” since assuming the papal throne in March 2013. (Full statement is below, with a downloadable PDF here).
In a statement released late on May 2, the signatories stated that “the members of the hierarchy of the Church have a duty to act in order to prevent Francis from causing further harm.” They added:
We therefore call for Pope Francis to resign the papal office, and to repent and do penance for his actions. If he does not do this, we request that the cardinals and bishops of the Catholic Church ask Pope Francis to resign the office of pope.
If this eventually should not take place, then the signatories called on the cardinals and bishops to declare that Francis has somehow lost the papacy:
If he refuses to resign or recant the heresies that he has upheld, we ask that they declare that he has lost the papal office.
The signatories attribute the aforementioned “unprecedented crisis” to two things:
Pope Francis has committed criminal acts gravely damaging to the Church and to individual believers.
He has shown that he rejects the Catholic faith, and has worked to destroy the faith of other Catholics.
Signatories and their accusations
The seventeen signatories comprise a mixture of academics, activists in various spheres of ecclesial life, and one priest:
- Rev. Linus F. Clovis, Ph. D., MSc, JCL, STB
- Yves Daoudal: Editor-in-chief of Reconquête and Vice-President of the Charlier Center
- Dániel Fülep: Theologian, Hungary
- Maria Guarini: Editor, Chiesa e post concilio
- Michael Kakooza, Ph. D.: Strategic Management, Eastern Africa
- Thaddeus J. Kozinski, Ph. D.: Professor of Philosophy, Memoria College
- Peter A. Kwasniewski, Ph. D.
- John R.T. Lamont, DPhil
- John Rist, Ph. D.: Professor of Classics and early Christian Philosophy and Theology (ret.)
- Dr Cesar Felix Sánchez Martínez: Professor of Philosophy, Universidad Nacional de San Agustin, Peru
- Wolfram Schrems, Mag. theol., Mag. phil.
- Peter Stephan, Dr. phil. habil: Professor of Architecture Theory & Art History, University of Applied Sciences, Potsdam
- Anna Silvas, Ph. D.: Specialist in Greek Fathers, UNE, Australia (ret.)
- John-Henry Westen, M.A.: Founder and Editor, LifeSiteNews
- Michael Wiitala, Ph. D.: Associate Lecturer in Philosophy, Cleveland State University
- Elizabeth F. Yore, Esq.: Founder, Yore Children
- John Zmirak, Ph. D.: Senior Editor, The Stream
The lengthy statement presents a summary of his interactions and dealings with a number of high-profile figures in the Church, such as Cardinals Godfried Danneels, Reinhard Marx, Theodore McCarrick, Wilton Gregory, and Víctor Manuel Fernández. The extensive list of individuals presented by the signatories, they state, is part of Francis’ “record of protecting sexual abusers” which “exemplifies his character and modus operandi.”
The signatories accuse Francis of committing “crimes other than heresy,” attesting that the actions listed are “crimes because they violate either canon law, the law of temporal states, the natural law, divine positive law, or some combination of laws from these different legal systems.”
They also list a number of other actions carried out by Francis through his pontificate, such as his secretive deal with China, his restriction of the traditional Mass and approval of blessings for same-sex couples, while further attesting that Francis “has publicly and pertinaciously contradicted a number of central teachings of the Catholic faith.”
However, the signatories did not lay all of their blame upon Francis, stating that he is “a product of a wider crisis in the Church.” Giving an historical outline of the development of modernism, the signatories wrote that “during the complex event of the Second Vatican Council, neomodernists achieved considerable influence.”
Resign or be deposed
Having detailed their list of grievances against the Pope, the signatories demanded that cardinals and bishops act against Francis, in the event that he does not resign voluntarily:
It is a mistake and a sin for faithful bishops and cardinals to do nothing, in the hope that Pope Francis will soon die and be replaced by someone better. Pope Francis is causing unremitting harm day by day to souls and the Church. The faithful have a right to expect their believing shepherds to protect them from his attacks. These shepherds have a duty before God to protect them, and failure in this duty will bring eternal punishment upon them.
“As a first step, the bishops and cardinals of the Church should make every effort to get Pope Francis to resign,” they wrote. While acknowledging that a papal resignation is “is an extraordinary event that ought not to happen,” they argued that Francis’ resignation would be “the least evil outcome available.”
Should he not resign, the signatories argued that it is the “duty of the bishops and cardinals is to proceed to declare that he has lost the papal office for heresy.” In the event that there is not a large enough body of cardinals and bishops to effect the declaration, the signatories petitioned for the prelates to form a group to “publicly warn the faithful of his crimes and heresies, state that his tenure of the papal office is in doubt due to his heresy, and admonish the faithful not to believe his statements or obey his orders unless it is clear on independent grounds that these statements and orders should be respected.”
Read more:
Germany: North Africans beat man to death and are on the run
They allegedly beat a man (30) mercilessly and kicked him in the head. So violently that the victim died from the attack.
How it happened: At around midnight on the night of May 1st, a dispute broke out in front of a kiosk in Paderborn ( North Rhine-Westphalia). One of the suspects is said to have hit the 30-year-old man on the head with a bottle. The man fell to the ground. He and two other offenders then allegedly kicked the head of the helpless victim.
The 30-year-old was so badly injured that emergency services had to resuscitate him at the scene. He was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The police have now reported that the man finally succumbed to his injuries at around 5.30 pm on Friday evening. Cerebral haemorrhage, irreparable brain injury! An autopsy has been ordered.
The Bielefeld police set up the homicide squad ‘Kiosk’ and are investigating manslaughter together with the public prosecutor’s office.
Apparently with success! According to the police, witnesses have identified two of the alleged perpetrators. The wanted man with the black baseball cap is an 18-year-old Tunisian. The suspect in the football shirt is said to be a 17-year-old Moroccan.
The suspects have gone into hiding.
Mann in Paderborn totgeprügelt: Polizei fahndet nach den Schlägern! | Regional | BILD.de
Germany: Syrian threatens kindergarten children with a knife
On Thursday, a ‘confused man’ – specifically a 30-year-old Syrian guest of Interior Minister Faeser – frightened kindergarten children and staff in Aschaffenburg with a knife. The ‘man’ was roaming around the garden of the kindergarten with a knife in his hand. The staff were able to get the children into the building to safety. The police overpowered the man. A short time later it was clear that the guy was mentally disturbed. Question: Are these believers in Allah really all out of their minds? Or is it their religion that makes them crazy?
A ‘man’ – the politically correct mainstream media term – went around with a knife in the garden of a kindergarten in Aschaffenburg on Thursday. The staff had the presence of mind to take the small children inside and call the police. A patrol in turn overpowered the ‘man’ with pepper spray. According to the police, the staff and children, together with their parents, were then looked after by staff from the Bavarian Red Cross and trained officers. The background to the man’s behaviour is currently being investigated, they added.
Nevertheless, the police in Lower Franconia already seem to know that the ‘man’ – and here again we are being precise: a 30-year-old Syrian guest of Faeser – is mentally confused.
At least that’s what the headlines in the mainstream media suggest, ranging from the tabloid Bild to the newspaper Die Zeit, which consistently framed the Syrian as a mentally disturbed man in Aschaffenburg.
Ever since Angela Merkel opened this country’s borders to millions of young Muslims, the majority of whom are male, brutal acts of violence have become more frequent, with her guests appearing as allegedly mentally disturbed perpetrators. Even when these machete-wielding, Islamist battle cries of ‘Allahu Akbar’ are used to dismember their victims, in this country they are almost always deemed not guilty by reason of mental illness.
However, anyone who dares to ask whether such believers in Allah are really all out of their minds or whether it is perhaps their religion that makes them crazy will end up in court before they can utter Allahu-Akbar. For example, the AfD politician Björn Höcke, who posted in 2022 after a knife attack by a Somali in Ludwigshafen stabbed two young tradesmen in the street and critically injured a young man in a drugstore:
‘The perpetrator is probably mentally ill and suffers from that widespread widespread disease among immigrants that makes those affected shout “Allahu Akbar” and distorts their perception so that they regard their “infidel” hosts to be unworthy to live.’’ The 27-year-old was – as Höcke speculated – acquitted and placed in a psychiatric hospital – at taxpayers’ expense – because he is said to suffer from paranoid schizophrenia. Höcke, however, had to stand trial for incitement of the people for his spot-on prediction.
In this respect – due to its frequency – Thursday’s incident in Aschaffenburg was a completely normal day in the best Germany we have ever had. And don’t forget: it used to happen in the past and the Germans do it too. Move along, there’s nothing to see. And: Islam means peace!
Philip Kiszely: I’m Being Investigated for Wrongthink but I WON’T BE SILENCED
A powerful and deeply personal speech by NCF Senior Fellow Dr. Philip Kiszely in which he recounts his own experience of being cancelled as well as the similar experiences of others. He provides guidance on what to do should you find yourself in a similar situation and encourages us all to take action and fight back.
EU won’t save Spain from Socialist PM’s ‘tyranny’
The European Union will not be coming to save Spain from the “tyranny” of Socialist Party (PSOE) Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, a senior MEP has warned.
Jorge Buxadé, the lead MEP for the Spanish VOX party’s European Parliament delegation, told Brussels Signal that the left-wing leader should be considered “the worst prime minister in Spanish history”.
Buxadé cited Sánchez’s controversial rule of law as the reason for such a claim, repeating common VOX claims that the PM has been trying to undermine core pillars of Spanish democracy.
“There have been threats against freedom of the press, against journalists, against the political opposition and against judges,” the MEP claimed, adding that such fundamental violations would – “in any healthy nation” – have already seen Sánchez removed from power.
When asked about whether the European Union or its Member States would be willing to step in regarding the various controversies currently plaguing Sánchez, Buxadé expressed scepticism.
The VOX representative said he had tried to get the European Commission interested in what was allegedly happening in Spain, writing directly to then-Rule of Law Commissioner Didier Reynders about Sánchez’s various infringements.
Such efforts, he added, had not yet amounted to anything.
“Unfortunately, there are still some who believe that Brussels is going to save us,” he said.
“It won’t.”
Buxadé’s comments come amid ratcheting tensions in Spain over alleged corruption surrounding the country’s Prime Minister.
Sánchez has reacted angrily to the claims, asserting they are being maliciously spread by “fake news” media outlets on the Right.
He has now vowed to implement legal crackdowns against such entities.
“A mud of toxic, unimaginable practices has colonised politics and public life,” he said late in April.
“Confusing freedom of expression with freedom of defamation is a democratic perversion with devastating consequences.”
He went on to vow that, with the crackdown, he and his Government would “show the world” how Spain “defends democracy”.
https://brusselssignal.eu/2024/05/buxade-eu-wont-save-spain-from-socialist-pms-tyranny
Survey: One third of prospective Islamic religious teachers in Germany regard Jews as enemies
A recently published study by the University of Münster has uncovered fundamentalist and anti-Jewish tendencies among many prospective Islamic theologians and religious education teachers. The study, conducted by Abdulkerim Şenel and Sarah Demmrich, is the first nationwide survey of its kind and questioned 252 students at eleven universities about their value orientations and religious views.
The results show a worrying familiarity with organisations such as the Turkish-Islamic Union of the Institute for Religion and the Islamic Community Millî Görüş. In addition, many respondents expressed anti-Semitic attitudes, with 37.3 per cent even considering Jews to be enemies.
The study also sheds light on views on gender, politics and violence in the name of Islam, which are supported by a significant proportion of respondents. Looking to the future, it is pointed out that these students will soon be working as teachers and thus have an influence on the religious education of children. It is emphasised that the increasing spread of such views at universities could pose a danger by supporting state-funded propaganda for Islamism.
The results of the study raise questions about integration and the role of religious education and emphasise the urgency of taking a closer look at the training of prospective religious education teachers.
Democracy as a tram – On a tram, you can get off when you wish, but what if there are no brakes…?. Meet the German Calip;hate
by Giulio Meotti
Erdogan, “the moderate”, said it clearly:
“Democracy is a tram, you take it as long as you need it and then you get off”.
Millions of Muslims in Europe, from where incredible videos arrive, must be thinking something along these lines.
You have to be afraid, very afraid. Maybe one day on Europe’s streets they will also flog women who don’t wear the veil?
“The Caliphate is the solution”, shout the Islamists who took to the streets in Hamburg. Muslims praised the Caliphate, chanted “Allahu Akbar”, waved flags depicting the Shahada and raised index finger, symbol of Islamists.
All perfectly legal. The police said that “calling for the advent of the Caliph is not a crime.”
Even in Essen, in the Ruhr, they march for the caliphate.
It’s the word of the moment: caliphate. It has a friendly sound. Like a memory from the Arabian Nights, a place where you dance and the plate of dates is never empty. The caliph will be a kind and wise man from a long-lost ruling house.
A beautiful fairy tale.
But caliphate means submission. There are Muslims and those who convert to Islam. Anyone who goes against Islam will be enslaved or killed.
“The Islamists of the Caliphate are dancing in our faces” writes the Bild.
“The West’s pathetic appeasement of Islamic extremists,” as Ayaan Hirsi Ali defines it. “Mass immigration on an unprecedented scale is transforming the demographics of European societies and accelerating the Islamization of the continent.”
And to think that Hamburg is the city of September 11th. “Mohammed Atta was not a terrorist when he came to Hamburg” his principal, Dittmar Machule, wrote in the Guardian. “He became a fanatic while he was here among us. I’m afraid it could happen again.” Hamburg, the most liberal of German cities, was an ideal environment. German officials will say they were reluctant to target mosques and risk accusations of racism and Islamophobia.
History repeats itself.
And it is no coincidence that in Hamburg there are already 50 mosques and 40 Catholic churches. The former Capernaum church is now a mosque.
It was a Jewish writer who escaped the Shoah, Ralph Giordano, who I had the fortune of interviewing shortly before his death, who first warned Germany against Islamization. “Have we ever wondered why mosques that grow like mushrooms are dedicated to the Ottoman conquerors?”.
Son of a German Jewish mother and a Sicilian father, Giordano was unable to finish his studies due to the regime of Hitler, but was saved together with the rest of the family by a woman from Hamburg, who hid them in the cellar. In an article for FAZ,
Giordano wrote:
“I want to be able to say that I don’t want to see burqas or chadors on the streets of Germany, any more than I want to hear the calls of muezzins from the minarets. Nor will I adapt my view of freedom of expression to a demon who interprets it as follows: ‘Everyone has the right to freely express his opinion in a way that is not contrary to Sharia law.’ No and three times no!”.
Speaking with the Bild, a state security manager has just raised the alarm: “More and more parents of German children are turning to counseling centers because Christian children want to convert to Islam so as to no longer be excluded in school. In schools in big cities the percentage of Muslim students is well over 80 percent: Berlin, Frankfurt, Offenbach, Duisburg, Essen”.
“Will we become a Muslim caliphate?”, asked one of the fathers of the Swedish Greens, Per Gahrton, in Aftonbladet. Now in the streets of Europe they are marching asking for precisely this under the noses of the authorities who are pleased with their tolerance.
Alexander Kissler sums it up well: “A country that tolerates repeated calls for an Islamic caliphate in public places is not tolerant, but decadent.”
And we know how decadent civilizations end. Like Erdogan’s tram without brakes that crashes against a wall.
…
Germany: AfD Sues Charity Boss Over ‘Breach of German Criminal Code’
Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is hitting back after the Diakonie charitable organisation of German Protestant churches said it wanted nothing to do with supporters of the party.
Beatrix von Storch, a lawyer and deputy leader of the right-wing populist AfD, revealed on Thursday that she is taking action against Diakonie President Rüdiger Schuch. Schuch had previously demonstrated his undemocratic credentials by warning that AfD voters—not even just party members—“can no longer count themselves as part of the church, because the AfD’s inhumane worldview contradicts the Christian view of humanity.”
Announcing her action against the organisation, which is one of Germany’s largest employers with around 627,000 employees, von Storch said that threatening to fire voters of a particular party would violate Section 108 of the German Criminal Code. This states:
Anyone who unlawfully coerces or prevents another person from voting or exercising their right to vote in a specific sense by force, by threat of serious harm, by abusing a professional or economic relationship of dependency or by other economic pressure, is punishable with a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine, in particularly serious cases with a prison sentence of one year to ten years.
Von Storch added that Schuch “deserves” prison time for attempting to shut out his political opponents.
Author and University of Zurich Master of Law Regula Heinzelmann said the action against Schuch was “very good,” adding that “dismissals because of political views are abusive.”
Diakonie has yet to respond to this legal barrier, which critics of the charity hope will make it reconsider employment terminations.
Eastern Orthodox Christians Celebrate Easter Over a Month Later Than Catholics in 2024
The significant gap between the Catholic and Orthodox Easter celebrations this year is due to the differences in the calendars and traditions followed by the two Christian traditions.
“Most years, the difference between the two Easters is just a week apart. In some years, they are even celebrated on the same day, as will be the case in 2024,” explained Rev. Dr. Demetrios Tonias, the director of the undergraduate program of theology at Hellenic College in Brookline. “But in 2024, the two Easters are separated by over a month.”
The reason for this disparity dates back to the 16th century, when the Western Church stopped following the tradition of Easter being celebrated after Passover. While the Catholic Church follows the Gregorian calendar, the Orthodox Christians base their Easter celebration on the first Sunday after Passover, after the vernal equinox, using the spring lunar calendar.
“It’s different every year because of the phases of the moon in relation to the calendar,” Tonias said.
This divergence in the calendars used by the two Christian traditions is the primary driver behind the significant gap in their Easter celebrations this year.
Beyond the date differences, the Eastern Orthodox Christians also have unique traditions that they observe during the week leading up to Easter, including coloring eggs red, getting anointed with holy oil, and participating in a Good Friday evening procession carrying an embroidered cloth of Christ’s body in a wooden tomb.
The Orthodox Church also has a distinct focus on the Resurrection, while the Catholic Church emphasizes the cross and the suffering of Christ.
“We focus on the Resurrection,” Tonias said, in contrast to the Catholic approach.
Rev. Athanasios Nenes, of the Taxiarchae Archangels Greek Orthodox Church in Watertown, provided further details on these distinctive Eastern Orthodox traditions and their meanings.
As the Eastern Orthodox Christians prepare to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on May 5, their traditions and beliefs continue to set them apart from their Catholic counterparts, despite their shared Christian faith.