Given all of the propoganda thats been posted, are you at all suprised? I respect your right to post whatever you want folks but can we at least agree none of this rubbish around freemasonry or neocons or any such info has anything to do a marian apparition??
Actually the battle between the Church and Freemasonry is central to understanding what is happening now. Just type in "Marian apparition" and "Freemasonry" and you will find a plethora of information.
As Peppermint Patty once said to Charlie Brown, "Good Grief". Im done with the ridiculousness and done with this forum. Enjoy the agenda and propaganda folks. God bless and good night.
You may not enjoy this discussion, but there are threads on the forum that discuss Marian apparitions. Here are a few that I have found http://motheofgod.com/threads/notre-dame-de-laus.388/ http://motheofgod.com/threads/our-lady-of-guadalupe.9660/ http://motheofgod.com/threads/our-lady-of-fatima.12004/ http://motheofgod.com/threads/the-gift-of-our-lady-of-medjugorje.1489/ There are many others, too. What a great gift we have in Our LORD who has come into humanity as a little baby to redeem us from our sins and his Immaculate Mother that is so caring for our salvation.
There are also places on this forum that discuss Our Lady of Revelation to Bruno, and Our Lady of Good Success. Thank you, WBTW, for pointing this out. Let us not forget Garabandal!
Snoog359, I agree about the propaganda and I feel better when I post in opposition to those types of posts. In addition, the name calling/labeling from particular members on this thread is not good at all and I also feel good knowing that I have resisted the temptation to return the name calling/labeling. As others have stated here, there is a connection to what we are discussing on this thread to certain Marian apparitions but I appreciate much of what you have stated here nonetheless. Thank you. *** Those that follow Our Lady of Garabandal know that the Blessed Virgin Mary stated, “When communism comes again everything will happen.”. http://www.1260.org/Mary/Apparitions_Garabandal/Garabandal_Apparitions_Communism_Comes_again_en.htm Here is an article that is related to this and Venezuela imho. Why is the Vatican defending Venezuela’s illegitimate president? Monica Showalter | communism, nicolás maduro, pope francis, Venezuela | https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/why-is-the-vatican-defending-venezuelas-illegitimate-president January 18, 2019 (American Thinker) – In the wake of Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro swearing himself into office after a fraudulent election, the global consensus is that the regime ruling in Caracas is illegitimate. It's so bad that the news accounts call the Maduro regime "isolated." Brazil, led by President Jair Bolsonaro, not only refused to recognize the regime, but openly recognized the constitutionally mandated succession of the Venezuelan National Assembly's leader, Juan Guaidó. That's who's president to his country. Other nations, such as Paraguay, cut ties to the regime and pulled their envoys. The United States and Canada have come close to recognizing Guaidó as Venezuela's president, too, with secretary of state Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton (and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) openly calling the regime "illegitimate." All eyes are now on whether President Trump will make recognition of Guaidó official, which I think he will. At his Jan. 10 inaugural, Maduro was indeed isolated, with just the pitiful support of socialist hellholes Nicaragua, Cuba, and Bolivia. Nobody else could stomach it. Well, with one sorry exception: the Vatican. According to an Agencia EFE report published in the Argentine newspaper Clarín, they actually showed the flag for Maduro, giving him that patina of legitimacy as everyone else decent stayed away and now are getting flak for it. Here's the link to the account, which is Spanish-only, and here's a Google Translate passage with some tweaks and clarifications from me. I haven't seen this published anywhere else: After the [local bishops from the] church of Venezuela lambasted Nicolás Maduro by calling him "illegitimate and immoral" on the eve of his inauguration, the Vatican sent a representative to the Venezuelan president's [swearing in] on Thursday, in a clear sign of support for the Chavista leader, leaving more than one of them surprised. This Monday, the Holy See came out to give explanations. And it justified the presence of the [Vatican] envoy [by] saying that the institution "aims to promote the common good, protect peace and ensure respect for human dignity." The new (interim) spokesman of the Vatican, Alessandro Gisotti, explained in a note that "the Holy See maintains diplomatic relations with the Venezuelan State, its diplomatic activity is aimed at promoting the common good, protecting peace and guaranteeing respect for human dignity." Therefore, the statement adds, "the Holy See has decided to be represented at the inauguration ceremony of the Presidency, by the head of business ad interim of the Apostolic Nunciature of Caracas (George Koovakod)." This, at this point, is pure Mr. Magoo, and some miserable spin control. That culpable blindness has pretty well been how the Vatican has done business with Venezuela since Pope Francis took the reins in 2013. Under his leadership, the Vatican tried and failed to negotiate a "peace settlement" with the Maduro regime about three years ago. It was junk diplomacy, then, because it came after Venezuela's opposition had tried to do the same thing in good faith for at least ten years. By then, the protests had grown massive and uncontrollable. Coming in after all that and pretending to be the peacemaker as if nothing had ever happened led to exactly the failure Venezuela's democrats said would happen. This was a totalitarian regime, and it was determined to hold power no matter what. It was around this time that people were starting to murmur about getting a Pinochet of their own, given the regime's implacability, which the Vatican seemed to think it could march into and turn around. Of course, it failed. Now the revolution has reached a different stage, and there seems to be a pincer move from both the U.S. and Brazil to oust Maduro by recognizing a new president. It's a delicate, dangerous operation, as the recent arbitrary arrest of Guaidó by Cuban agents a couple days ago demonstrated. This, after all, is a revolution, and it's been on "simmer" for about 20 years, but recent events suggest it's begun to move to "boil." Yet there the Vatican was, standing up and showing the flag for the Chavista status quo, which seems to be a hallmark of Pope Francis's papacy, in defiance of the warnings of the country's own bishops, who have joined the country's democrats. Look at it this way: can you imagine Pope John Paul II sending in his diplomats to legitimize the military dictatorship of Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski while it was in its showdown with Solidarity? Pope John Paul was with the democrats all along, and as they won freedom with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Velvet Revolution, the Vatican in the end played a pivotal role for freedom. Poland, as a matter of fact, is one of the few countries in Europe where Catholicism is still significantly practiced. No such luck in Venezuela. The battle lines have been drawn, and the first Latin pope and his Vatican bureaucrats have picked the bad guy, the ruling dictatorship, over the suffering people, all in the phony name of preserving peace, something whose potential came and went years ago. Coming right on the heels of a recent scandal of a Vatican news site "congratulating" the Cuban Castro regime for 60 years of oppression, including oppression of the Catholic Church, one wonders what its real alliances are. Venezuela is a hellhole regime at war with its own people, and it's eventually going to fall. It's amazing that the Vatican is choosing to try to prop it up instead of supporting the people – and in defiance of the international community. Siding with Venezuela's democrats ought to be a slam-dunk for them, particularly with the diplomatic cover. All an outsider can ask in the wake of the Holy See's decision is, what do they stand for? At a historic critical juncture, they made their choice, and they chose poorly. Published with permission from the American Thinker.
The idea that politics and religion can be talked about in isolation, as if each has no bearing upon the other, is not realistic. I don't care for the political discussions on here much so I tend to avoid them. For example, when people begin arguing over the minutia of whether one country or another is right or wrong in a certain border dispute. On a broader scale though, politics is one of the central issues of the current crisis. The Western Democracies are exporting an anti-Catholic agenda. That is just a fact we have to deal with today and so politics bleeds over into the discussion. Our Lady brought politics into the equation at Fatima when she said Russia will export her errors.
Boy, how dare the Vatican defy the International community and go against the all important global consensus. The horror of such a thing. This article really does a decent job of stoking the fire for haters of the Church.
You will find that the enemy uses socialism, neocons, and freemasonry to attack the followers of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the One, Holy, Catholic, & Apostolic Church. Please, as a new member do not tell others on this forum to go somewhere else. We ask that everyone be charitable towards one another here at Our Lady's forum. May the heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time. Amen
Unfortunately, the Vatican of late has provided quite enough fuel for the haters of the Church all by itself. In addition, maybe you have forgotten about the highly questionable decisions the Vatican has made in respect to the Church in China. The Vatican's statements in regard to Venezuela seem to coincide with those decisions. *** Here is a more recent article from the same author. Why won’t Pope Francis take a stand against the dictatorship in Venezuela? Monica Showalter| catholic, nicolás maduro, pope francis, Venezuela | February 4, 2019 (American Thinker) – Imagine Pope John Paul II openly declaring he wouldn't take sides in Poland, as the showdown between Solidarity's hugely popular freedom-fighters and the detested Jaruzelski communist military regime came to a head. In Venezuela, that same sort of sort of conflict over communism and freedom is happening, the world is choosing sides, a pope from the actual region is there, and Russia remains the same malevolent puppet-master in the background. The difference is that now, we seem to have a pope who's abdicated his moral authority, saying he's not about to take sides, and all because he's concerned about "violence." He didn't specify who was doing the violence, but it's obvious enough to the rest of us. Here's the incredible report: ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (Reuters) – Pope Francis said on Sunday he feared bloodshed in Venezuela but that it was premature for him to take sides because it could cause more damage. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is confronting an unprecedented challenge to his authority after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president, citing a fraudulent election and winning wide international support. "In this moment, I support all the Venezuelan people because they are a people who are suffering," the pope told reporters on a plane taking him back from Panama, where he made an appeal for a just solution and respect for human rights in Venezuela. Talk about empty words. Venezuela's opposition is making just that move for a "just solution" and "respect for human rights," and he's not offering them a word of support. America is. Brazil is. Most of Latin America is. The European Union is. Israel is. Australia is. Georgia is. Heck, even the Inter-American Development Bank is. But not the pope. His neutral position is exactly the same as the position of China, which has a large financial stake at risk if the dictatorship is sent packing. The old gray men of the Forbidden City are hedging because they don't want to burn bridges if the whole thing falls apart, because, well, money. The pope's neutrality is suggestive of this being all about soulless money, too, though it probably isn't. No, instead of using the might and power of his office to speak out against some very real injustice – seriously, this is a no-brainer, not hard to do at all – he's just calling for a preservation of the status quo, and his words must mean a world of comfort to Venezuela's odious dictator, Nicolás Maduro, who can now yell he's got the pope on his side as his goons and foreign "advisers" keep their little torture operation going on and millions of poor continue to starve and flee. The pope pays lip service to caring about the poor, even in his cowardly statements, but the hard fact is, the poor are going to starve so that Maduro can stay in power. His socialist system has failed. The money is worthless. The money for imports is running out, meaning that the food is running out. Medical care has become nonexistent. Foreign aid has been blocked, a regime act so bad that Venezuelans are planning their next big protest around it. Venezuelans are starving, with the poor hardest hit – they lost an average of 21 pounds under the Maduro regime last year, and 90% are in poverty. At least three million have fled for their lives. That's why it's the poor who are leading this protest – which is countrywide. And the pope can't spare a word of support for these poor, who are unanimous in their loathing for this detested Cuban- and Russian-controlled military regime and are doing the only thing they possibly can, which is to peacefully protest it out of existence? He should be praising these poor if he cares as much as he says he does about them, especially for not taking up arms, which, frankly, they have a right to do. He speaks of his fears of violence, which is pretty cowardly, given that the Venezuelan government's war on the poor has already started. The violence is no longer to be feared; the violence is there. Venezuela's people weren't interested in war, but under socialism, war was interested in them. With this insane "neutrality," about a matter no one can be neutral about, the pope doesn't seem to actually care about the poor, at least as far as getting them less poor is concerned. The poor have already concluded that Maduro (an obviously well fed billionaire along with his cronies) isn't going to give them any food based on the threat that poses to his power, therefore Venezuela's poor will continue to see their children and old people starve or eat garbage if nothing is done. They are responding to literally a mortal threat from an odious dictatorship that they didn't elect, and they are doing the only moral thing they can to save those babies, which is try to stop it. The local bishops of Venezuela have been forthright about the horrors of socialism and the abuses of the regime. Yet the pope is ignoring them, too. It's baffling. The Maduro regime probably is going to fall as momentum builds and the West separates the thug from Venezuela's money. What is the pope going to say then? He won't have anything to say. For a Latin pope to be that out of moral ammunition is sad. Nobody's going to call this guy after he passes "Pope Francis the Great." Published with permission from the American Thinker.
What's your point with these articles Carol? What makes you think the world has the solution to the problems in VZ to the point of posting articles where the author calls the pope a coward and repeatedly states that the church is wrong to take a stance of neutrality?
The first Latin American Pope and he is neutral towards Venezuela? Come on Don, it’s weird. Pope John Paul was never neutral towards Eastern Europe.
This article is from back in January but it is still very relevant to the topic of this thread. Imho it is better to discuss these things than to ignore them. 20 Latin American leaders criticize Pope’s call for ‘reconciliation’ with brutal communist regimes Martin M. Barillas | https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/2...icize-popes-call-for-reconciliation-with-brut catholic, communism, latin america, nicaragua, oscar arias, pope francis, socialism, venezuela COSTA RICA, January 8, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Twenty former presidents of Latin American nations sent an open letter on Jan. 5 to Pope Francis in which they criticized his call for “harmony” in socialist Venezuela and “reconciliation” in Nicaragua where Marxist governments have ruined these countries' national economies and subjected citizens to torture and summary executions. Led by Nobel Prize-winner and former president of Costa Rica Oscar Arias, the letter to the pontiff said, “We are concerned that the call for harmony on the part of your Holiness in which, given the current context, can be understood by the victimized nations that they should come to agreement with their victimizers. In particular, in the case of Venezuela, the government has caused the flight of 3 million refugees, which the United Nations predicts will reach 5.9 million in 2019.” The letter writers were reacting to the Pope’s Dec. 25 Christmas message in which he referred to Venezuela and Nicaragua. “May this blessed season allow Venezuela once more to recover social harmony and enable all the members of society to work fraternally for the country’s development and to aid the most vulnerable sectors of the population,” he said. As for Nicaragua, the pope stated: “Before the Child Jesus, may the inhabitants of beloved Nicaragua see themselves once more as brothers and sisters, so that divisions and discord will not prevail, but all may work to promote reconciliation and to build together the future of the country.” The letter co-signed by Arias and nineteen other Latin American leaders noted that Venezuelans are the “victims of a militarized narco-dictatorship, which has no qualms about systematically violating the rights to life, liberty and personal integrity.” The following is a translation of the letter: *** We the undersigned, as former chiefs of state and government, have signed statements concerning Venezuela and Nicaragua that stem from the Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas (IDEA), and therefore come to you regarding your recent Christmas message in which you call for “harmony” among the peoples of both nations. As we expressed in a previous message to your Holiness, we understand your concern for the suffering that today, without distinction, all Venezuelans and now Nicaraguans face. The former are victims of oppression by a militarized narco-dictatorship, which has no qualms about systematically violating the rights to life, liberty and personal integrity and, as a result of deliberate public policies and unbridled corruption, has scandalized the world and that have subjected them to widespread famine and lack of medicine. The latter case, in the middle of the year, there were 300 killed and 2,500 wounded in a wave of repression. We are concerned that the call for harmony on the part of your Holiness which, given the current context, can be understood by the victimized nations that they should come to agreement with their victimizers. In particular, in the case of Venezuela, the government has caused the flight of 3 million refugees, which the United Nations predicts will reach 5.9 million in 2019. The expression used by His Holiness, who we know which was in good faith and guided by his pastoral spirit, is being interpreted in a very negative way by the majorities of Venezuela and Nicaragua. Above all, there is currently, in these countries, a political dispute that demands understanding, tolerance between conflicting forces with different narratives within a normal or deficient democracy that today unfortunately does not exist there. Their entire populations are subjected to suffering by their governments, under regimes that serve a lie, and social and political leaders, opinion leaders and the press, who suffer jailings, persecution and death, as demonstrated by European and American human rights organizations. Your Holiness: The encyclical Ad Petri Cathedram declares that the call to harmony must be made, fundamentally, "to those who govern the nations." "Those who oppress others and strip them of their due liberty can contribute nothing to the attainment of this unity” for the intelligence, of the spirits, of the actions, as your predecessor, St. Pope John XXIII, reminds us, and for which we long for the dear people of Venezuela and Nicaragua may regain, based on truth and justice, so that they may enjoy a just peace. We wish your Holiness a very happy Feast of the Nativity. We look forward to meeting with you at an appropriate time. Cordially, Oscar Arias, Costa Rica Nicolás Ardito Barletta, Panamá Enrique Bolaños, Nicaragua Alfredo Cristiani, El Salvador Felipe Calderón, México Rafael Ángel Calderón, Costa Rica Laura Chinchilla, Costa Rica Fernando De la Rúa, Argentina Vicente Fox, México Eduardo Frei, Chile César Gaviria T., Colombia Osvaldo Hurtado, Ecuador Luis Alberto Lacalle, Uruguay Jamil Mahuad, Ecuador Mireya Moscoso, Panamá Andrés Pastrana A., Colombia Jorge Tuto Quiroga, Bolivia Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, Costa Rica Álvaro Uribe V., Colombia Juan Carlos Wasmosy, Paraguay
Although your comment was addressed to Don, I think it prudent to give the Pope some slack on his apparently neutral stance re Venezuela. I read that Maduro had asked the Pope to get involved - possibly by acting as some kind of mediator to work out some kind of deal with the opposition. The Vatican only acts as mediator when a request is received from both sides, and the opposition hasn't submitted a request. Any statement from the Pope indicating a preference for either side would rule him out as a mediator. The Pope (or his advisors) could be hoping that the opposition will submit a request for the Vatican to help broker a deal. A coup against Maduro could provoke a full-blown civil war, and each side has powerful backing. Nobody really knows how much support Maduro has. Even if he only has the support of a third or quarter of the population, and if they resorted to a "freedom fighter resistance" or terrorist campaign, it could be years before Venezuela sees any kind of stability. Modern civil wars don't really end in one side winning an outright victory and the other side agreeing to lay down arms. They are more likely to drag on until there is a brokered agreement. My guess is that the Vatican is hoping there will be a negotiated settlement to avoid civil war.
The following article explains Pope Francis' stance on Venezuela a little bit better and is the most recent article of the four that I posted on this thread today. The three LifeSiteNews articles above provide insight to how others view Pope Francis' statements and actions in regard to Venezuela and imo are valuable in this discussion because they also help explain why many leaders in the world view Maduro as a dictator. Thankfully in the article below it is confirmed that the pope stands with the Venezuelan bishops. Analysis: Pope Francis' position on Venezuela Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela. Credit: Eneas de Troya, Flickr By Andrea Gagliarducci | https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/analysis-pope-francis-position-on-venezuela-12146 Vatican City, Feb 16, 2019 / 11:00 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis’ recent letter to Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro confirmed the Holy See’s position on the Venezuelan crisis, while demonstrating that Maduro has become an increasingly isolated global figure. While the Holy See has long maintained its diplomatic ties with Venezuela, and for this reason a papal representative to Caracas took part in Maduro’s swearing in for his second term Jan. 10, Pope Francis and the Holy See’s diplomacy has always been on the Venezuelan bishops side, and backed their efforts to restore social peace, relief the population and call for new and free elections. The pope’s letter, however, showed that Maduro’s request for a mediation can take place only under some specific conditions. This is the reason why the letter was not leaked by Maduro’s entourage, but from other sources that gave it to the Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera. The Holy See Press Office limited itself to saying that it would not commentc on a private letter, indirectly confirming that the pope might have actually written the letter. The letter, two pages and a half long, is dated Feb. 7, 2019, and it is addressed to “Excelentismo señor Nicolas Maduro Moros, Caracas” (To Most Excellent Mister Nicolas Maduro Moros). The pope did not refer to Maduro as president, and in that way his letter backed the Venezuelan bishops. Gathered for their 111st plenary assembly on Jan. 9, the bishops said that “Maduro’s claim to start a new presidential mandate on Jan 10 is illegitimate at his roots, and paves the way for the unrecognition of the government, as democratic foundations on justice and right are lacking. In the letter, Pope Francis reminded Maduro that the Holy See has been committed to mediation in the past, but in all of the attempts “what had been agreed in the meetings was not followed by concrete action to carry out the accords,” and that “words seemed to delegitimize the good propositions put into a written form.” Pope Francis also stressed that he did not back “any kind of dialogue,” but only “the dialogue that takes places when all conflicting parties put the common good above any other interest and work for unity and peace.” Pope Francis also recalled a letter by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of State, that set the conditions for a dialogue: liberation of political prisoners, re-establishment of the constitutional assembly, open access for humanitarian aid, free political elections. Those conditions are still in effect. The letter is tailored in a perfect diplomatic style. On one hand, Pope Francis takes the bishops’ position. On the other hand, he places the Holy See in the middle between two positions: that of the US and Europe, eager to recognize Juan Guaidò as interim president; and that of China, Russia, Turkey and Iran, who are on the opposite position. As a diplomatic habit, the Holy See never breaks diplomatic ties. Papal ambassadors are called to stay on the ground as long as it is possible, to support the bishops and to carry on institutional dialogue that can resolve into an aid for population. For example, the Holy See never broke diplomatic ties with Cuba, not even when Castro regime persecuted Christians. In fact, ties stayed because there was an ongoing persecution. Read through this lens, the Secretariat of State’s decision not to meet at an institutional level the delegation Guaidò sent to Italy for talks with Italian government on Feb. 11 should be no surprise. The Holy See makes no interference in domestic policies, and the meeting with Guaidò could have been instrumentalized. The delegation reportedly met with Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, deputy to the Secretariat of State, who is Venezuelan. The meeting was framed as a meeting of a Venezuelan that works in Secretariat of State and his concerned for his country and some representatives coming from his country. Pope Francis’ statements on the matter have always been prudent. Coming back from Panama on Jan. 28, Pope Francis told journalists that it is not his role as a pastor to pick political sides, and said he is terrified of the possibility of a bloodshed there. However, the narrative that presents the pope on a different side from that of Venezuelan bishops is not correct at all. [Emphasis added] It must not be forgotten that Pope Francis, after a visit from the presidency of the Venezuelan bishops' conference, said his voice “resounds in the voice of the Venezuelan bishops.” Pope Francis’ followed each step of the Venezuelan crisis. On April 10, 2014 he addressed an appeal to political leaders of Venezuela and asked to respect truth and justice. On March 1, 2015, the Pope condemned the death of some students involved in pacific protests. The Holy See accepted to conduct a facilitation of the dialogue in October 2016, and on Dec. 2, 2016 Cardinal Parolin stressed the four conditions. Coming back from Egypt on Apr. 29, 2017, Pope Francis denounced that the government did not accomplish these conditions. On April 30, 2017 after the prayer of Regina Coeli, Pope Francis spoke of the “dramatic news” on Venezuela and “the worsening of clashes there, with many people reported dead, injured and detained”, and appealed “to the government and all the members of Venezuelan society to avoid any further forms of violence, to respect human rights and to negotiate solutions to the serious humanitarian, social, political and economic crisis that is exhausting the population”. The action of bishops moved along with Pope Francis’ declaration. This combined action encouraged all the local and regional Catholic realities of Latin America to take a common stance: the Conference of Religious Brothers and Sisters in Venezuela, the Jesuits of Venezuela, but also the Colombian, Ecuadorian, Uruguayan, Chilean and Bolivian bishops conference took strong stances on the Venezuelan crisis, which weakened Maduro position. Despite the will to keep a diplomatic neutrality, also the Holy See diplomacy was very active. Cardinal Parolin, who was nuncio to Venezuela from 2009 to 2013, stressed on May 13, 2017 that “the only solution for Venezuela is elections.” On Aug. 4, 2017, the Pope sent via the Secretariat of State a communiqué asking “all the political actors, and in particular the government, to ensure the full respect of the human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as of current Constitution; to suspend initiative like the new constitutional assembly that, instead of favoring reconciliation and paz, foster a climate of tensions and confrontations; to create conditions for a negotiated solution”. It is also noteworthy that, in his urbi et orbi message of Christmas 2018, Pope Francis included Venezuela among the countries that are enduring serious humanitarian crisis, on a par with Yemen, Syria and Nicaragua: the decision turned out to be prescient. The pope also spoke about Venezuela on his new year speech to the diplomatic corps, and said that he wishes “that peaceful institutional means can be found to provide solutions to the political, social and economic crisis, means that can make it possible to help all those suffering from the tensions of recent years, and to offer all the Venezuelan people a horizon of hope and peace.” The pope’s letter to Maduro comes at the end of a path that the pope and the Venezuelan bishops have been following since the beginning. The Holy See will never break diplomatic ties, and will always seek dialogue and reconciliation. But, on the other hand, bishops on the ground are backed in supporting the population and to work for the common good. This is, in the end, how the pontifical diplomacy works.
Civil disobedience is a fundamental right, says Venezuelan cardinal https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/...damental-right-says-venezuelan-cardinal-54409 Caracas, Venezuela, Mar 22, 2019 / 03:02 am (CNA).- A Venezuelan cardinal has called on state security forces to exercise civil disobedience when given orders to use lethal force against citizens. “State security agencies exist not to take care of the government but to take care of the citizens,” said Cardinal Baltazar Porras, at a press conference this week. “Therefore every order that is given that goes against the lives of the citizenry is an order to kill, it is an order which there is no duty to carry out nor heed, because civil disobedience is also a fundamental right,” the cardinal stressed. Porras, who serves as archbishop of Merida and apostolic administrator of Caracas, stressed the disobeying unjust orders is both a right and a duty for members of the security forces. Since Nicolas Maduro succeeded Hugo Chávez as president of Venezuela in 2013, the country has been marred by violence and social upheaval. Under the socialist government, the country has seen hyperinflation and severe shortages of food, medicine, and other necessities, and millions have emigrated. Amid the protests that have taken place throughout the country, dozens of people have been killed by security forces. Cardinal Porras stressed that “it’s a citizen’s right, a right in any democracy to be able to hold demonstrations and to say what [you think] will solve the problems.” The cardinal made these statements the same day that the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and former president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, delivered a report to the world organization in Geneva, Switzerland, after sending a mission to Venezuela. “In the context of the last wave of protests in the first two months of this year, my office documented numerous violations of human rights, torture and abuses committed by the security forces and armed pro-government groups,” Bachelet said. She said that in Venezuela, democratic freedoms have been restricted, with limited freedom of speech and the criminalization of peaceful protest and dissidence. Cardinal Porras also stressed the importance of allowing the entrance of humanitarian aid into the country. Maduro has blocked the international aid, denying that it is needed in the country. The humanitarian aid, the cardinal said, must be “for malnourished children, the elderly, for those requiring ongoing treatment...We have to keep on insisting on this.”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8722720/pope-francis-refuses-ring-kiss-meet-and-greet/ This is WEIRD. So sorry, but this Pope is a phenomenon. I just can’t believe this. He almost pushed a lady to the floor.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Fabiana Rosales, wife of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido at the White House in Washington, March 27, 2019. Trump: Russian Military Must 'Get Out' of Venezuela March 27, 2019 12:10 PM | https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-russian-military-must-get-out-of-venezuela/4850422.html U.S. President Donald Trump says Russia "has to get out" of Venezuela, following the recent arrival of Russian military personnel in the country. Trump spoke to reporters at the White House alongside Fabiana Rosales, the wife of Venezuelan opposition leader and self-declared interim President Juan Guaido The United States, along with dozens of other countries, have recognized Guaido as the country's interim president while Russia has backed President Nicolas Maduro. Earlier this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned his Russian counterpart that the United States will not "stand idly" as Russia escalates political tensions in Venezuela "The continued insertion of Russian military personnel to support the illegitimate regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela risks prolonging the suffering of the Venezuelan people who overwhelmingly support interim President Juan Guaido," a State Department readout of the call between Pompeo and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. News reports this week said two Russian air force planes landed in the capital city of Caracas, carrying a Russian defense official and nearly 100 troops. *** Please continue to pray for Venezuela, thank you.
