At times Padre Pio may speak sternly, but ultimately he is always reassuring! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
The Ukraine conflict is apparently no longer very worrying I don't know whether there is another thread in which current events in Ukraine are mentioned. Otherwise it just shows how much the Ukraine has fallen out of the media spotlight. In German news, Ukraine is almost only mentioned as a side note, or often not at all. Until recently, everything had to be done for Russia to lose. Scott Ritter is certainly a bit controversial, other analysts will have different assessments, but if he is right, what you have been able to read in the alternatives for some time will probably soon become mainstream: Ukraine no longer has a chance of winning the war. https://consortiumnews.com/2023/10/31/scott-ritter-john-kirby-versus-russian-military/ (If this analysis is correct, the "Russia will overrun Europe"-prophecies becomes more likely)
The Ukraine war is similar to the "vaccination"-campaign. At first, they tell us we have a moral obligation. Then, when disaster spreads, they want us to move on and forget about it. That's why we now have war in the Middle East. It is the next new thing.
Oh, Steve, this war was never about self determination for Ukraine any more than what's happening in Palestine is about a safe refuge for Jews or Nagorno Karabach is about Muslim hatred of Christians. It's about money and who gets to control the world. None of the contenders cares a whit about God or His divine will. The prevailing (Western) power(s), led by the US, perceived a potential challenge to their dominance and set about a process of self-preservation. There's a way to go yet before it's all decided but at the moment it looks like major changes are afoot. If I'm not mistaken, you are in the UK, and if I were you I would be careful not to burden myself with any big debt because if the West loses the UK could be hit hardest. I think that's the reason Boris Johnson talked Zelensky out of the deal with Russia and explains why the UK talking heads have seemed almost desperate in their will for humiliation and regime change in Russia. The British were the most gung-ho for the Europeans to get actively involved. It was the British who went on and on about Poland being next when it was clear that Putin had neither the will nor the resources to take all of Ukraine let alone the rest of Europe. The EU will suffer far more than the US but, if what the West fears most from BRICS comes to pass, it could destroy the British economy because of its reliance on the financial services sector (over 80% of the economy). Even I, who struggle with simple arithmetic, can see the potential problems there. Those ancient prophecies of Russia invading Europe came from Catholics who would have seen Russia as a non-Catholic aggressor. The most recent and clearest approved prophecy involving Russia came from Our Lady of Fatima who said that Russia would be converted. Unlikely though it appears now, for all we know an invading Russia might not be the worst case scenario some time in the future.. It could also be the case that the consecration of Russia prevented what had previously been prophesised and there will be no invasion. It remains to be seen what plans Heaven has for Europe and Russia. Meanwhile, we know what's required of us - daily Rosary and first Saturdays.
Russia might not be Catholic, but it is nevertheless Christian, and with a polity that is not opposed to Christianity and that is quite hostile to the 'woke' ideology predominant in the West, at least among those who hold the reins of power. Abortion might still be common in Russia, a habit developed from decades of Bolshevism, but at least it is not officially celebrated and euphemised as entitled 'health care'. The intention of NATO seemed to be to provoke a war in the Ukraine in order to weaken Russia, in line with the document on the subject available on the RAND Corporation site. Instead of weakening Russia, it has battle-hardened her, demonstrated that Russian weapons are superior to those of NATO and has greatly depleted the availability of NATO weapons. Europe is now quite vulnerable, particularly if the ongoing atrocities in Palestine provoke the Islamic minorities in European countries into militant action.
Don't worry, I haven't been on the side of the mainstream narrative for a long time. Not on anything. I see some things in a similar way to you, and what DeGaulle sees as the cause is certainly not wrong. In the meantime, I just see it as follows: all major events that have a global impact arise for reasons that are so multi-layered and complex that it is not possible to fully fathom and explain them. You can only ever focus on one aspect, but there are always other aspects that were/are also relevant, and all these interactions are beyond our ability to think. A devilishly good plan, you could say. However, I'm not sure whether everything really goes according to his plan, I suspect he often has to react or anticipate. Also due to a lack of time, my microcosm makes it necessary, I have been spending less time on in-depth research for a few months now. But as I think we are on the verge of great spiritual events, which I have been looking forward to for a long time, I can cope with the loss of internet time by sacrificing it. (Btw completely irrelevant, but I live in Germany)
The majority of Russian Orthodox members are probably as orthodox with a small "o" as the majority of Catholics in Western countries who conform their religious beliefs to their political allegiances while still believing they are devout, faithful Catholics. The same people who succeeded in destroying the family in the West did their darnedest to rinse and repeat in Russia. How can anyone forget the pussy riot "activists" being hailed as heroines on Western TV for doing their strip act in Russian Orthodox churches and being portrayed as martyrs because the Russians put a stop to it after they broke into some public building. The difference between Russia and here is that the puppets of the Western powers didn't own all the media in Russia. The Western powers also made some serious misjudgements about a country as diverse as Russia. The gas station posing as a country is more than the trendy hangouts in St. Petersburg and Moscow. I think NATO imagined that the sanctions would work and that their favourite oligarchs would succeed in deposing Putin. When the war ends, the EU would do well to recruit whoever is in charge of the Russian economy - if the EU survives. NATO's plan B seems to have been getting all EU countries into the war, beginning with Poland. Fortunately, the Poles came to their senses before sacrificing their own country. God help the Ukrainians. They have been used and abused. Demonic is the only way to describe what has been done to them by their so-called friends. But the fat lady hasn't found her voice yet. The evil people behind this are desperate enough to try a nuclear false flag. When Ukraine returned the soviet nukes to Russia they were given a guarantee of Western protection should nukes ever be used against them. We need to keep up the prayers for peace.
I hope you're right about the spiritual events. I fear that we have much cleansing to endure before things take a turn for the better. Those multi layers are sandwiched between the love of money and the power it buys. Stirring up hatred and fear controls the masses. It's hard to keep up with all the groups we're expected to hate. I'm glad I'm old and can remember a time when people acted like they believed that human life is sacred. The future doesn't look good for Germany. Can you speak Norwegian? At least the Norwegians have their own oil. I wish you all the best Steve.
The West failed to understand that Russia is a self-contained economy, with no dependence on imported resources. Therefore, the value of its currency relative to others would make little difference. In fact, a weakened currency would make Russian exports more valuable.
Exactly. And it could have been so different had our Western leaders not wasted the opportunity to mend fences with Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. We had our period of peace and blew it, leaving us with a resources rich Russia closely aligned with Communist China. It really shows how the world has changed when it's in the Russian leader's interests to appear to be a devout member of the ROC while our Catholic leaders feel obliged to prove that the doctrine doesn't live too loudly in them. My previous post should have read orthodox with a small "o".
That might bother Putin if you had a vote in Russia. I doubt that he or most Russians value the opinions of people living in countries that have tried everything from sanctions to regime change in an effort to keep them down. All Putin and the Russian Orthodox have to do is point to the self proclaimed devout Catholic leader of the West who not only supports abortion and funds its promotion throughout the developing world but also supports the sale of the organs of dismembered pre-born babies. That's probably enough to gain him plenty of support from pro-lifers in Russia. It surely doesn't help with any potential conversion of Russia.
I believe this video will help us to understand more of what is at stake. It’s excellent. https://www.youtube.com/live/4xMqPg-WI-o?si=ktrGzVaC6oktRENz
You already know it, it's no longer interesting at the moment and it's not very relevant for the here and now. But... David Arahamiya, head of the delegation to the peace negotiations in Turkey in March 2022, has now also confirmed that the war could have ended shortly after it began. Ukraine would have had to maintain its neutrality. "When we came back from Istanbul, Boris Johnson came to Kiev and said we shouldn't sign anything with them [Russia]: Let's just fight." "They [Russia] really hoped to the last that we would sign such an agreement. They were ready [for neutrality] to end the war. In fact, this was the decisive point." https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2023/11/24/7430282/ Edit: Now, thousands of dead people later, there are signs that the West wants to make Zelenskyi willing to negotiate.
I’ve just read a report of an interview with a Ukrainian opposition politician who was involved in the negotiations with Russia and he has admitted these reports, so it’s more or less official. Having lost the war decisively, NATO will find that Putin will probably be looking for more than Ukrainian neutrality. He’s certainly going to keep the East, which is mostly supported by the people living there. It seems likely that the Ukraine will be expected to give up her claims on the Crimea, again which would be the wishes of the vast majority living there. Hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded for this result. The media will, of course, sell it as a great victory for ‘democracy’ and most will probably swallow the lie.
The question that torments is WHY. Why did the west via Boris Johnson dynamite the peace possibilities. Why pick a fight with Putin because they clearly did. Shaking my head. Money to be made no doubt. Murderous Greed.
