Iraq. Jihadists are advancing on the plain of Nineveh, Christians fleeing: “The blood flowing in the streets, because the West does not do anything?”

Interview with Father Wahel Tooma, superior general of the Chaldean Catholic monastery of Hormisdas, Alqosh, home to more than 60 families fleeing Qaraqosh, Christian city where the Kurds are trying to stop the advance of jihad.

“The 90 percent of the population of Qaraqosh fled during the fighting between Kurds and terrorists. If the city falls I do not know how can they defend other villages. ” It’s very worried Father Wahel Tooma, superior general of the Chaldean Catholic monastery of Hormisdas, Alqosh, 45 kilometers from Mosul in Kurdistan.The Isil ( Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ) advances to the nearby plain of Nineveh in Iraq and its monastery and the nearby village, which already housed 40 families fled from Mosul , now we have received from other Qaraqosh 60 “but not we have more room. “Qaraqosh, just 28 kilometers from Mosul, was inhabited by 50 000 inhabitants to 90 per cent belonging to the Syrian Catholic Church.

Father Tooma, what is the situation in Qaraqosh?
It’s bad, there are bombings, war rages between terrorists and Kurds, and more than 90 percent of the population fled. They went to Erbil and Alqosh. In the village that belongs to the property of the monastery we now have 100 families. We opened the church of the village to fix them but the situation is dramatic. We did not expect in these days: we’re trying to help them. Sixty families moved between yesterday and today, we opened all the schools and houses for them. Every vacancy we have made ​​available. Unfortunately, no organization has come to bring us aid and we are trying to do what we can for everyone but we have no place to host anyone now. We do not know if all this will end tomorrow, tomorrow, or next month.

How do you feel right now?
I am very concerned about the situation frightens us. If Qaraqosh falls, we do not know how the other villages will be able to resist. We thank the Kurdistan who is struggling to stop these bandits and thank God, but we do not know what will happen tomorrow.

Rumor has it that the terrorists in Mosul have applied the sharia and imposed humiliating tribute to the Christians.
Unfortunately it’s all true. Now the situation is fairly quiet but we do not know what will happen tomorrow, maybe begin to hurt the Christians. A  statue of Our Lady was destroyed, they applied an Islamic extremist mentality and although they have not yet begun to fight against the Christians do not know what will happen tomorrow. I wonder why the western states do nothing to put an end to this war in Iraq. Everyone makes only its own interests but no one thinks of these families, these poor people.

How many Christians were in Mosul?
do not know, there is no communication. About 80 percent of Christians escaped, 20 percent at most stayed in town because he has not found a way to escape.I would like to make an appeal.

Please.
Find a solution for the poor people, not only for Christians but for all the Iraqi people. The blood flows in the streets, people are afraid, the women arrive crying, the children tremble with fear for the shots and bombs. Until the land of Iraq will have to suffer all this? Where is the human consciousness of the larger countries that have the power to put an end to this tragic situation in the countries where there is an Islamic mentality? Until the Iraqi people will have to pay? We can no longer stand against terrorism, bombs and all that.

http://www.tempi.it/iraq-jihadisti-ninive-cristiani-scappano-occidente-non-fa-niente#.U68DRhI-Pmc

Scalia accuses fellow justices of discriminating against pro-lifers

  

 

While Thursday’s ruling overturning buffer zones outside abortion clinics pleased pro-life activists, Justice Antonin Scalia thinks it didn’t go far enough.

The court unanimously agreed that the Massachusetts law, which barred protesters and counselors from being within 35 feet of abortion clinics, violated the First Amendment, but denied that it unfairly discriminated against abortion opponents.

“Today’s opinion carries forward this Court’s practice of giving abortion-rights advocates a pass when it comes to suppressing the free-speech rights of their opponents,” wrote Justice Antonin Scalia, with whom Justices Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas concurred. “There is an entirely separate, abridged edition of the First Amendment applicable to speech against abortion.”

The law’s opponents argued that the law was what is known as a “content-based” restriction of speech because “it creates speech exclusion zones only at abortion clinics and, as a practical matter, affects speech on only one controversial issue–abortion.” Because the law exempted clinic employees and volunteers from the buffer zone, they also argued that it privileged abortion supporters.

Content-based restrictions must pass strict scrutiny, the highest level of judicial review.

The law’s supporters argued that buffer zones are necessary because of “the severe violence, obstruction and harassment targeting reproductive healthcare facilities,” although, as Scalia pointed out, only one abortion clinic in Massachusetts “is known to have been beset by the problems that the statute supposedly addresses.”

The buffer zones, it should be noted, were demarcated by yellow lines painted on the ground surrounding the facilities — hardly anything that could stop a determined criminal.

“It blinks reality to say, as the majority does, that a blanket prohibition on the use of streets and sidewalks where speech on only one politically controversial topic is likely to occur—and where that speech can most effectively be communicated—is not content based,” wrote Justice Scalia. “Would the Court exempt from strict scru­tiny a law banning access to the streets and sidewalks surrounding the site of the Republican National Conven­tion?”

This isn’t the first time Scalia has spoken out against his fellow justices on this issue. In 2000, Scalia dissented from a majority ruling in favor of a Colorado buffer zone law: “What is before us, after all, is a speech regulation directed against the opponents of abortion, and it therefore enjoys the benefit of the ‘ad hoc nullification machine’ that the Court has set in motion to push aside whatever doctrines of constitutional law stand in the way of that highly favored practice.”

“Having deprived abortion opponents of the political right to persuade the electorate that abortion should be restricted by law, the Court today continues and expands its assault upon their individual right to persuade women contemplating abortion that what they are doing is wrong. Because, like the rest of our abortion jurisprudence, today’s decision is in stark contradiction of the constitutional principles we apply in all other contexts, I dissent.”

It is unclear whether the court’s Thursday ruling will overturn the 2000 decision.

 

More from The Daily Caller

Days of Lot: Presbyterian Church Votes To Allow Gay Marriage

In a monumental move, the nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination voted Thursday to change its definition of marriage and allow its pastors to officiate same-sex ceremonies in states where gay marriage is legal.

By a vote of 429-175, leaders of the 1.76 million-member Presbyterian Church (USA) voted during the biennial General Assembly in Detroit to change the denomination’s Book of Order to describe marriage as being between “two people.”

The decision opens a path toward gay marriage across the denomination’s 10,000 churches.

A majority of the church’s 173 regional bodies, called Presbyteries, must now approve the decision before it’s official, a process that can take up to a year. But after years of failed efforts to get the church to approve gay marriages, LGBT activists and pastors said they were optimistic.

“This is a glorious day for the church and for LGBT people who have been seeking full inclusion here for decades,” Pittsburgh-based Rev. Randy Bush, the co-moderator of the board for pro-LGBT church group Covenant Network, said in a statement.

In a separate vote, 371 to 238, the church assembly also approved a measure to allow pastors in the 19 states where same-sex marriage is legal to officiate those weddings. That move is final and doesn’t need further approval.

Many smaller, more conservative Presbyterian denominations, including the Presbyterian Church in America and Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians, don’t ordain gay people or official same-sex marriages.

But the decisions for the USA group, which came after hours of tense debate, follow years of discussions on the meaning of marriage in the church and a rapidly changing tide of support for religious and civil same-sex marriage. The Presbyterian Church (USA) voted in May 2011 to allow the ordination of openly gay men and women in same-sex relationships, and other Christian denominations have also increasingly ordained openly gay clergy.

The Episcopal Church started allowing same-sex marriage blessings last year, though individual priests have been performing gay marriage ceremonies for years in states where they are legal. The United Church of Christ has allowed same-sex marriages since 2005. Going further back, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations has officially supported same-sex marriages since 1996. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America allows individual church ministers to make decisions on gay marriages. Among Jews, two of the three major Jewish denominations, Reform and Conservative, allow same-sex marriages.

Like most religious groups that have policies allowing same-sex marriage, Presbyterians decided Thursday to let pastors who are against gay marriage make the choice to not perform them.

Some speakers at the assembly said they were afraid the decision would cause more conservative people to leave the church, which has been gradually losing members. As recently as 2010, the Presbyterian Church (USA) had 2.1 million members. According to the Presbyterian News Service, at least 100 congregations have defected in recent years, in part because of the church’s increasingly liberal views on gay issues.

To combat splintering, Presbyterians voted to include language that marriage is not only between “two people,” but also “traditionally of a man a woman” in the change passed Thursday.

While all Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations are affiliated nationally, congregations tend to differ widely in worship style and views on homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Liberal pastors are known to publicly and privately officiate same-sex marriages, but the church has censured some of these people. In one high-profile case in 2010, the church’s highest court found a California minister guilty of misconduct for officiating gay marriage ceremonies.

Link –  Presbyterian Church Votes To Allow Gay Marriage

While Pope Francis rages over inequality, a cardinal builds a Vatican penthouse

Of the many things Pope Francis dislikes — his Popemobile, Vatican politicking, seagulls that attack his peace doves — the one that perhaps rankles him most is the world economy.

Francis is no friend of the Austrian School of economics, and he again returned to that message on Monday. It’s not only that he thinks a capitalist model that concentrates wealth at the very top and endows its financier class with fortunes is a bad idea. It’s that he thinks its downright abhorrent.

“It is increasingly intolerable that financial markets are shaping the destiny of peoples rather than serving their needs, or that the few derive immense wealth from financial speculation while the many are deeply burdened by the consequences,” he said Monday in comments that were among his sharpest on the subject. “It is important that ethics once again play its due part in the world of finance” and that markets “serve the interests of people and the common good of humanity.”

Francis especially disdains speculation in agricultural commodities. It is “a scandal which seriously compromises access to food on the part of the poorest members of our human family,” he said.

Francis has earned a reputation for iconoclasm on a number of fronts. He broached an unprecedented prayer session this month between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. He dumped his bullet-proof Popemobile: “I cannot greet people and tell them I love them from inside a sardine can even if it is crystal.” He called a random Argentine woman to mull matters of divorce and Communion. On homosexuality, he has asked, “Who am I to judge?”

While condemning rapacious global businessmen who have done the world’s economy wrong, he is doing the same thing among the clergy. First, he accepted the resignation of Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst — the Bishop of Bling — who plowed an astonishing $43 million into his posh pad in Limburg, Germany. Then he replaced the scandal-ridden Vatican Bank’s supervisory body with fresh faces. And now, the clash between what Francis describes as “a poor church for the poor” and church extravagance has shifted to a controversial cardinal named Tarcisio Bertone.

The drama, like that which consumed the Bishop of Bling, involves accommodations.

Read more – http://vassallomalta.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/while-pope-francis-rages-over-inequality-a-cardinal-builds-a-vatican-penthouse/

Pope Francis cancels all audiences and Masses in July!!

Pope Francis Cancels July Appointments, Raises Question If Vatican Is Hiding Declining Health

From a hardworking and physically resilient stature since accepting the post in March 2013, Pope Francis has decided to take a breather from his demanding job to cancel all his audiences and daily masses in the month of July.

The Vatican’s official news service on Monday announced the 77-year-old Argentinean spiritual leader of the 1.2-billion strong Roman Catholic church has suspended his popular Wednesday audiences in July, including his daily Mass at the Casa Santa Marta where he lives. The latter will be suspended till August.

While Pope Francis is very much entitled to a day off from his grueling schedule, observers, supporters and cynics alike, there is more than meets the eye regarding the spiritual leader’s sudden desire to rest.

“Close observers are noting that the Pope’s physical body may be failing to keep up with his youthful energy and vigor, especially considering he only has one fully functioning lung,” longtime Vatican correspondent Edward Pentin said.

 Just last week, Pope Francis surprised the world when he took his first-ever two-day leave from work.

 Read: Pope Francis Takes Day Off, Nothing Major Says Vatican, Just Tired, Advisers Keen on Doomsday Conspiracy Mill

 “Some in the Holy See are beginning to openly discuss concerns about Francis’ condition and asking if the Holy Father is overtaxing himself.”

 In May, Newsmaxhealth expert Dr. Peter Hibberd noted the pope’s increasing difficulty breathing and weight gain of at least 20 pounds since taking office. Since the pope no longer has ample time to exercise, coupled with a rigorous workload, Hibberd said Pope Francis could be slipping in a form of chronic heart failure which is common among victims of significant lung disorders.

 “His immunity will be challenged when under stress, and more frequent pauses to recover from otherwise small insults-such as colds, sore throats, and minor injuries-can be expected to increase in the future unless he paces himself.”

 Cardinal Telesphonre Placidus Toppo of India, a papal confidante, told Italy’s Libero newspaper that he found the pope in one of their meetings “very tired and fatigued.”

 “I honestly do not know how long he might be able to sustain this pace that he’s certainly not accustomed to,” Toppo said.

http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/556186/20140618/pope-francis-appointments-vatican-declining-health.htm#.U6JFjhI-Pmc

BERGOGLIO OPENS PICKPOCKETS?

Stop showing ‘contempt’ for Gypsies, urges Pope Francis!!

A thief is he, so Jorge can relate!!

“When I took the bus to Rome and climbed the Gypsies, the driver often told passengers:` Look at the portfolios’. This is contempt, perhaps it is true, but it is contempt, “these are the words of Bergoglio during the event organized by the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People, which was held Thursday in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace:” The Church and the Gypsies : to proclaim the Gospel in the suburbs. ” According Bergoglio would therefore be unfair to inform people (even the old ladies) that there are pickpockets.

Bergoglio added: “Gypsies are often on the margins of society and are sometimes viewed with hostility and suspicion.” He continued: “They are among the most vulnerable, especially when there are aid for the integration and promotion of the human person in the various dimensions of civil life.” According to the Better World Rom would only unlucky in Italy, too bad all over the world live the same condition.

Read more – http://radiospada.org/2014/06/bergoglio-apre-ai-borseggiatori/

Houston Mayor Forces All to Open Girls Rooms to Men

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Houston’s bathrooms, showers, and dressing facilities will now be open to all, regardless of gender, gender identity, gender expression, or other predilection of gender behavior. By an 11-6 vote of the Houston City Council, Mayor Annise Parker achieved this as the crowning jewel of her tenure as mayor.

Mayor Parker, Houston’s first openly gay mayor, said passing this ordinance was not the most important thing she has done in office, according to an article in the Fairfield Citizen, but it is the “most personally meaningful thing I will ever do as mayor.”

Houston Council Member, At Large Position 3, Michael Kubosh took exception to this. Kubosh told KPRC TV, “It’s going to criminalize people that have been found in violation in the ordinance and the fine could be between $500 to $5,000.”

In an interview with Breitbart Texas, Kubosh said, “The system is flawed and has little, if any, transparency…

View original post 627 more words