WE MUST TAKE HEED OF WHAT'S IN THE "LAUDATO SI" OF POPE FRANCIS!

Ang Santo Papa Francisco, Nasa Sweden!

RECLAIMING NINEVEH FOR CHRIST!

CNA: The ‘people of the cross’ are taking back Iraq

Source: Catholic News Agency
On 10.26.16,  by Mary Rezac+

Mass at a refugee camp in Baghdad. Thousands of Iraqi Christians have been killed or forced to flee their homes after the rise of the Islamic State. Credit: Amigos de Irak via Facebook.

The cross of Jesus is being lifted once more over many parts of Iraq, where for years Islamic State terrorists left a path of death and destruction.

As a military campaign to rid the Mosul area of the Islamic state rages on, videos are surfacing of “the people of the cross” reclaiming their homes by raising makeshift wooden crosses over the churches and towns they were once forced to flee out of fear for their lives.

The “people of the cross” was the term for Christians used by Islamic terrorists when they beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians in February 2015.

According to many reports, the Islamic State has a special hate for the symbol of the cross, which many say points to the religious motivations of their actions. According to a journalist for Ankawa news agency, within two weeks of seizing Mosul, the Islamic State terrorists threw down all the crosses from domes of churches in the city. They also raided the houses of Christian living in Mosul in order to destroy all the crosses and icons.

The breaking of the cross is symbolic of what many Muslims believe will happen at the end times. Muhammad prophesied that when Isa (the Muslim Jesus) returns, he will “fight the people for the cause of Islam. He will break the cross, kill the swine and abolish jizya” and establish the rule of Allah throughout the world.

But after years of broken crosses throughout Christian towns near Mosul, Iraq, the symbol of Jesus’ triumph over death is returning.

Yesterday, “This is Christian Iraq” Facebook page posted a video of two priests and members of the Iraq military elevating a cross made of two wooden poles and copper wiring on top of Al-Tahira Church in Qaraqosh, Iraq’s largest Christian town.

Al-Tahira Church (The Church of the Immaculate Conception) is a Chaldean Catholic Church dating back to the 7th century. In 2014, some sources reported that ISIS terrorists destroyed a Virgin Mary statue outside this Church. Since then, most of the other icons and sacramentals inside the church have been destroyed, the interior of the Church burned, the windows smashed.

But now, there is hope again that the 50,000 some Christians who were forced to leave Qaraqosh may return.

“I’m very happy now that we are able to return to our church,” Father Amar, one of the priests who erected the new cross, told The Daily Beast.

But hope mingles with sorrow at the ruin of so many churches and Christian symbols.

“Its very hard for us to see our town like this. Everything is damaged. Do you see that the bell of the church is missing? They destroyed it. Why? I don’t know,” he said.

A second video, from France 24, shows the liberation of Bartella, a Christian village close to Mosul. In an emotional and symbolic gesture of their return, they too made a makeshift cross of wooden beams and raised it on top of their church.

On the church’s walls below, Islamic State graffiti read: “Our God is higher than the cross.”

A captain with the Iraqi army told International Business Times that the fight to take back Bartella was more difficult than some of the other fights to free nearby towns, perhaps because of the town’s religious significance.

A few days ago, church bells rang out in the town for the first time in two years since the Islamic State takeover. [Read: Church bells ring for first time in 2 years after Iraqi forces liberate Christian town of Bartella en route to Mosul http://abcnews.ws/2eloz3Tl]

Christian persecution has been happening in Iraq since the spread of Islamic terror and the U.S. invasion in 2003, and picked up in intensity with the rise of the Islamic State in 2014. Hundreds of thousands of Christians have been killed or forced to flee their homes, and the population of Christians – which was about 1.5 million in 2003 – is about a third of what it used to be, with approximately 500,000 Christians remaining.

And while the battle for Mosul has been liberating Christian towns, it has not been without cost.

The United Nations warned that ISIS is using civilians as human shields in the fight for Mosul, estimating that the militants have so far taken roughly 550 families from smaller towns close to Mosul in an effort to prevent them from leaving the area.

According to CNN, some 285 men and boys have already been used by ISIS as human shields in recent days, and their bodies dumped in a mass grave.

In a statement earlier this week, Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, stressed that liberating Mosul and the Nineveh plain are not enough. In addition, aid must be offered to ensure the survival of groups that ISIS had been trying to exterminate.

The Knights of Columbus have been heavily involved in supporting persecuted Christians in the Middle East. Earlier this year the Catholic fraternal group successfully advocated for the State Department to recognize the genocide of religious minorities at the hands of ISIS.

In 2014, the Knights established the Christian Refugee Relief Fund, which has raised $10.5 million to provide food, clothing, shelter, education, and medical care to persecuted Christians in the Middle East. They have also encouraged prayer for those facing persecution.

“Celebrations over the ongoing liberation of the historically Christian towns of the Nineveh, should not obscure the fact those minority groups who lived there for generations are now displaced and in danger of disappearing,” Anderson said in his statement.

Donations can be made to help the victims of Christian genocide in the Middle East at: http://www.kofc.org/en/charities/christian-relief/

Muhammad: Espiritu ng Katotohanan sa Juan 16:13?

Mula sa blog ni Kapatid na Cenon Bibe: SAGOT SA BALIK-ISLAM

May mga Muslim na nagsasabi na ang Propeta Muhammad nila ang “Espiritu ng Katotohanan” sa Juan 16:13.

Ginagamit nila ito para sabihing mababasa sa Bibliya ang pagdating ng kanilang propeta. Gusto nilang palabasin na siya ang “Espiritu ng katotohanan na darating at gagabay sa inyo sa lahat ng katotohanan.”

Hindi totoo ang mga sinasabi nila. Simple lang ang mga dahilan:

1. Sinasabi sa Juan 16:13 na Espiritu ang darating. Ang propeta ng Islam ay hindi espiritu kundi isang tao.

2. Sa Juan 16:7 ay sinasabi ni Hesus na Siya ang magsusugo sa Espiritu, na tinatawag ding Advocate (Tagapagtanggol), Comforter (Mang-aaliw) o Paracletos. Hindi si Hesus ang nagsugo sa propeta ng Islam. Ni hindi sila nagkita. EspMatagal nang nakabalik sa langit si Hesus bago pa lumitaw ang propeta ng mga Muslim.

3. Sa Juan 14:26 ay malinaw na kinilala ang Tagapagtanggol, Mang-aalis o Paracletos bilang ang Espiritu Santo. Ang propeta ng Islam ay hindi ang Espiritu Santo. Tao siya – TAO.

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MALING SABI NG MUSLIM IPALIWANAG NATIN

ESPIRITU

 Una, maliwanag sa Juan 16:13 na ang darating ay ang “Espiritu.”

Ang espiritu ay walang laman, walang buto, walang dugo. Sa kabaliktaran, ang propeta ng Islam ay isang tao na may laman, may buto at may dugo.

Kaya malinaw na hindi totoo ang sinasabi ng mga Muslim na ang propeta nila ang “Espiritu” na ipinahayag sa Juan 16:13.

SI HESUS ANG MAGSUSUGO

Kung babasahin natin ang Juan 16:7, sinasabi ni Hesus na Siya ang magsusugo sa Espiritu, na tinatawag na Tagapagtanggol, Mang-aaliw o Paracletos.

Sinabi ni Hesus sa Juan 16:7, “Siya’y susuguin ko sa inyo.”

Itanong natin sa kahit na sinong Muslim kung si Hesus ang nagsugo sa propeta nila at baka mainsulto pa sila. Para kasi sa kanila ay propeta lang si Hesus, kaya sa isip nila ay paanong susuguin ng isang propeta (Hesus) ang isa pang propeta (Muhammad)?

Dahil diyan, muling makikita na mali ang sinasabi ng mga Muslim na ang Propeta Muhammad nila ang tinutukoy sa Juan 16:13.

ANG ESPIRITU AY ANG ESPIRITU SANTO

Walang duda na ang Espiritu sa Juan 16:13 ay ang Espiritu Santo dahil malinaw na sinasabi sa Juan 14:26 na ang Tagapagtanggol o Mang-aaliw o Paracletos ay ang Espiritu Santo.

JUAN 14:26

“Datapuw’t ang Mang-aaliw, samakatuwid baga’y ang ESPIRITU SANTO, na susuguin ng Ama sa aking pangalan, Siya ang magtuturo sa inyo ng lahat ng mga bagay, at magpapaalala ng lahat na sa inyo’y aking sinabi.”

Muli, malinaw na mali ang sinasabi ng mga Muslim na propeta Muhammad nila ang Espiritu na darating ayon sa Juan 16:13. Bagsak at wasak ang inaangkin nilang ito.

BAKIT NAGPIPILIT SA MALI ANG MUSLIM?

Desperado na ang ilang Muslim na maghanap ng patunay na sugo ng Diyos ang kanilang propeta.

Marami nang Muslim ang umamin sa atin na hindi kailanman kinausap ng Diyos ang kanilang propeta. Aral kasi nila na hindi kailanman kinausap ng Diyos ang sino mang tao.

Ibig sabihin, kung hindi kinausap ng Diyos ang propeta nila ay hindi pwedeng sinugo mismo ng Diyos ang kanilang propeta. Hindi kinausap ng Diyos si Muhammad para suguin bilang propeta o mensahero sa sangkatauhan. Sa madaling salita ay hindi sinugo ng Diyos ang propeta ng Islam.

TUNAY NA PROPETA SINUGO MISMO NG DIYOS

Ikumpara natin ang propeta ng Islam sa mga propeta ng Diyos sa Bibliya.

Sa Bibliya ay Diyos mismo ang pumili, kumausap, tumawag at nagsugo sa mga propeta.

Halimbawa si Moises na personal na tinawag at kinausap ng Diyos sa Exodo 3:4. Sa Exodo 3:6 ay nagpakilala mismo ang Diyos kay Moises. At sa Exodo 3:10-15 ay personal na sinugo ng Diyos si Moises para hanguin ang bayan ng Diyos sa Ehipto.

Ganun din ang nangyari sa iba pang propeta tulad nina Samuel (1Sam 3:10), Elijah (1Kings 17:2-9), Isaiah (Isaiah 7:3), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:4-10), Ezekiel (Ezekiel 2:1-9) at iba pa.

Ayon sa mga Muslim, ang kanilang propeta ang “huling sugo.”

Ang problema nila ay paano nila masasabing “sugo” ang kanilang propeta kung aminado silang hindi ito tulad ng mga tunay na propeta sa Bibliya? Ang mga tunay na propeta ay kinausap at sinugo mismo ng Diyos. Ang propeta nila ay hindi man lang kinausap so paano susuguin?

MUSLIM DESPERADO NA

Dahil hindi man lang kinausap at hindi personal na sinugo ng Diyos ang kanilang propeta ay desperado ang ilang Muslim kung paano patutunayang tunay siyang sugo.

Ano ang silbi ng isang propeta kung hindi siya tunay na sugo o walang patunay na sugo nga ng Diyos?

Paano niya masasabing dala niya ang mga salita ng Diyos kung ni hindi niya narining ang mismong salita ng Diyos?

Paano madadala ng isang propeta ang mensahe ng Diyos kung siya mismo ay hindi narining ang mensahe mula sa Diyos? Lalabas na salita lang niya ang kanyang ipinahahayag. Hindi sa Diyos.

May maniniwala ba sa ganung uri ng propeta?

PROBLEMA NG MUSLIM

Iyan ang malaking problema ng mga Muslim kaya pilit silang naghahanap ng mga talata na susuporta sa kanilang propeta.

Kaya pilit nilang iniuugnay ang Juan 16:13 sa kanilang propeta. Ganun din ang ginagawa nila sa Exodo 18:18, Genesis 17:20, Isaiah 29:12, Awit ni Solomon 5:16 at iba pa.

Ang masaklap ay kinakailangan nilang baluktutin ang mga talatang iyan para lang mailapat sa propeta nilal.

HINDI PROBLEMANG KRISTIYANO

Lalong nagiging desperado ang ilang Muslim dahil hindi iyan problema ng mga Kristiyano.

Diyos mismo ang nagtatag sa Kristiyanismo. (Mateo 16:18, Mga Gawa 2:1-4)

Diyos mismo ang tumawag sa mga unang Kristiyano (Mateo 4:18-22) at Diyos mismo ang nagsugo sa kanila upang dalhin ang Kanyang mensahe sa sanlibutan. (Mt 28:19-20)

Diyos din mismo ang pumili ng mga pinuno ng Kanyang relihiyon. (Mt 16:18; John 21:15-17)

So, mauunawaan natin ang malaking problema ng mga Muslim kung bakit pilit silang naghahanap ng talata para isuporta sa propeta nila. 

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Iba pang mahahalagang basahin: 

Who is the Comforter? 

Comparative Index to Islam

The Antichrist in Muhammad: Blaspheming Against the Holy Spirit
Mario Joseph: A Muslim Imam Converted to Christianity

The Holy Spirit

AP turns anti-Catholic superstar Jack Chick into an all-purpose fundamentalist hero

Source: GetReligion
By Terry Mattingly 26 October 2016

This will be risky, but I'd like to talk about Adolf Hitler and religion for a moment.

The problem with creating a metaphor involving Hitler is that, as journalist Ron Rosenbaum told me long ago (this is a paraphrase): What people say about Hitler usually reveals more about their biases and beliefs than about those of Hitler. (Rosenbaum is the author of an amazing book, "Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil.")

So here goes. Readers, especially Jewish readers, what would you think if you read a news feature covering the life and legacy of Hitler and, right at the beginning, it stressed that he was known for his oppression of Marxists, Catholics, faithful Lutherans, gays, Jews and gypsies?

On one level, all of that is true. That is an accurate list of groups in Germany, Poland, France and elsewhere that Hitler attacked. But isn't it rather strange to see his war on the Jews turned into a mere bullet item in a list of what appear to be similar offenses?

Now, please hear me say this: I am not about to compare the work of Jack T. Chick with that of Hitler. So what am I attempting here?

I am saying that, when I read the Associated Press obituary for the famous – many would say "infamous" – cartoonist the lede struck me as strange. Click here for the version that ran in The Los Angeles Times – which is symbolic since Chick was based west of LA.

Now, Chick was famous for using his pen to attack lots of different targets. But there is no question that he attacked one body of religious believers more than any other and in ways that were uniquely scandalous. But read the AP lede and try to figure out which body got stabbed the most:

Jack T. Chick, whose cartoon tracts preached fundamentalist Christianity while vilifying secular society, evolution, homosexuality and the beliefs of Catholics and Muslims, has died. He was 92.

Then there was this follow-up:

Chick's pulpy, lurid cartoons combined traditional evangelism with frankly conspiracy-minded attacks. He and later other illustrators produced several hundred tracts over the decades. Latching onto the issues of the day, the tracts took aim at abortion, occultism, ecumenism and other perceived evils.

They portrayed everything from rock music to Dungeons & Dragons and Harry Potter as literal traps of the Devil. One tract, “The Walking Dead,” tapped into the hit zombie TV show but argued: “We're all like zombies. The spirits inside our souls are dead.”

OK, Catholic readers, does any of this strike you are rather strange?

I mean, all of this is accurate. There is no question that Chick fired away at all of these different targets. But isn't the lede here that the cartoonist would appear at the top of any informed researcher's list of the most influential anti-Catholic voices of the 20th Century? Isn't it – returning to my risky metaphor – rather strange to see Chick's fierce and at times lurid attacks on Catholicism turned into a mere bullet item in a list of what appear to be similar actions?

Yet throughout this piece, Chick's anti-Catholic campaign is consistently mixed in with this work criticizing other groups. For example:

Chick managed to offend Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims and Freemasons, who found their beliefs discounted, ridiculed or condemned as false – or worse.

“Learn how the papacy helped start Islam, only to have this new daughter rebel against her. You'll understand the Arab's place in Bible prophecy. Muslims have been saved by reading this book,” says the blurb for one pamphlet on the Chick Publications order website.

The tracts were criticized for using debunked or one-sided arguments and stereotypical portrayals of blacks, homosexuals, Arabs and others. But they also attracted collectors and fans who cherished them as quirky works of art.

This AP approach was not unique. The Religion News Service obituary for Chick underlined the Catholic attacks earlier, but did not cite the unique degree to which the cartoonist focused on the Church of Rome again and again.

Chick printed and distributed 800 million copies of more than 250 different tracts, according to ComicsAlliance. Each illustrated fundamentalist Christian beliefs about the way to heaven, as well as what he believed were stumbling blocks: Harry Potter books, homosexuality, even Catholicism.

With titles such as “The Death Cookie,” depicting Catholicism as a plan of the devil, and “Dark Dungeons,” about Dungeons and Dragons, they’re campy and controversial – and widely known, distributed on street corners, at churches, sometimes even in place of Halloween candy.

As you would expect, Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights was not amused by this approach to describing the life and work of Chick, especially its emphasis on attacking St. Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Donohue's press statement argued:

Chick’s goal was to convince Protestants that Roman Catholicism was a false religion. He published scores of books and magazines, and released many videos, but he was most famous for his small tracts and comic books. ... His titles were provocative: “Are Roman Catholics Christians?”; “Why is Mary Crying?”; and “The Death Cookie” (meaning the Host). These were among his bestsellers.

Some of the assaults on Catholicism were quite specific. For example, Confession was the work of Satan. The Jesuits constitute a “truly secret army” all over the world. The Catholic Church was responsible for the Nazi death camps. Pope Pius XI and John Paul I were drugged. Protestants must beware of the “Catholicization of America.” The Vatican is bent on creating the “New World Order.”

OK, this analysis will not surprise Donohue's critics. However, I thought this bite of information struck home:

The fact is that Jack Chick concentrated most of his time and resources attacking Catholics. ... Indeed, on the website of Chick Publications there are 680 stories on Muslims, 260 on homosexuals, and 2,460 on Catholics.

Once again let me stress: I am not comparing Hitler and Chick. I am talking about efforts to describe their targets.

Yes, it is accurate to say that Hitler attacked all kinds of people. However, it was clear that the Jews were his primary target.

Yes, it is also accurate to say that Chick used his pen and fierce, at times bizarre, talent to criticize and even attack all kinds of people. However. it was clear that the Catholic Church was his primary target. Why not say so?

Just asking.

Final resting place: Vatican releases instruction on burial, cremation (CNS)

By Cindy Wooden / October 25, 2016

Catholic News Service

Twitter: NCROnline

Professing belief in the resurrection of the dead and affirming that the human body is an essential part of a person's identity, the Catholic church insists that the bodies of the deceased be treated with respect and laid to rest in a consecrated place.

While the Catholic Church continues to prefer burial in the ground, it accepts cremation as an option, but forbids the scattering of ashes and the growing practice of keeping cremated remains at home, said Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

"Caring for the bodies of the deceased, the church confirms its faith in the resurrection and separates itself from attitudes and rites that see in death the definitive obliteration of the person, a stage in the process of reincarnation or the fusion of one's soul with the universe," the cardinal told reporters Oct. 25.

In 1963, the congregation issued an instruction permitting cremation as long as it was not done as a sign of denial of the basic Christian belief in the resurrection of the dead. The permission was incorporated into the Code of Canon Law in 1983 and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches in 1990.

However, Müller said, church law had not specified exactly what should be done with "cremains," and several bishops' conferences asked the congregation to provide guidance.

The result, approved by Pope Francis after consultation with other Vatican offices and with bishops' conferences and the Eastern churches' synods of bishops, is "Ad resurgendum cum Christo" ("To Rise with Christ"), an instruction "regarding the burial of the deceased and the conservation of the ashes in the case of cremation."

Presenting the instruction, Cardinal Müller said, "shortly, in many countries, cremation will be considered the ordinary way" to deal with the dead, including for Catholics.

Cremation, in and of itself, does not constitute a denial of belief in the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body, the instruction says. Nor does it "prevent God, in his omnipotence, from raising up the deceased body to new life."

However, the Catholic church wholeheartedly recommends continuing the "pious practice of burying the dead," Müller said. It is considered one of the corporal works of mercy and, mirroring the burial of Christ, it more clearly expresses hope in the resurrection when the person's body and soul will be reunited.

In addition, he said, when a person is buried in the ground -- and, at least to some extent -- when the urn of the person's ashes is placed in a columbarium or tomb, the final resting place is marked with the person's name, the same name with which the person was baptized and by which the person is called by God.

"Belief in the resurrection of the flesh is fundamental," he said. "A human cadaver is not trash" and an anonymous burial or scattering of ashes "is not compatible with the Christian faith. The name, the person, the concrete identity of the person" is important because God created each individual and calls each individual to himself.

In fact, when asked if there was any way to rectify the situation when a person's ashes already had been scattered, Müller suggested making a memorial in a church or other appropriate place and including the name of the deceased.

What is more, he said, labeling an urn or tomb in a public place is an expression of belief in the "communion of saints," the unending unity in Christ of all the baptized, living and dead.

"Other believers have a right to pray at the tomb" and to remember deceased members of the Catholic church on the feast of All Saints and All Souls.

Keeping ashes at home on the mantel, he said, is a sign not only of love and grief, but also of not understanding how the loved one belonged to the entire community of faith and not just to his or her closest relatives.

"Only in grave and exceptional cases," the instruction says, local bishops may give permission for ashes to be kept in a private home. Müller said it was not up to him, but to local and national bishops' conferences to determine what those "grave and exceptional" circumstances might be.

Placing the ashes in a sacred place also "prevents the faithful departed from being forgotten or their remains from being shown a lack of respect," which is more likely to happen as time goes on and the people closest to the deceased also pass way, the instruction said.

Asked specifically about the growing trend in his native Germany of "forest burials," where people pay to have their ashes in urns interred at the base of a tree in a designated forest burial ground, Müller said the German bishops were not thrilled with the idea, but accepted it with the proviso that the tree be marked with the name of the person buried at its base.

In the United States and other countries, a growing number of Catholic cemeteries set aside sections for "green burials" for bodies that have not been embalmed and are placed in simple wooden caskets that eventually will biodegrade along with the body.

"We believe in the resurrection of the body and this must be the principle of our understanding and practice," Müller told Catholic News Service, noting that there is a difference between allowing for the natural decay of the body while protecting the environment and seeing the body of the deceased primarily as fertilizer for plants and trees.

Kaanib pa ba ng Iglesia Ni Cristo-1914 si Conrad J. Obligacion? Bakit nawala na lamang ang kanyang Resbak.com?

Matagal nang hindi naririnig ang pangalan ni Conrad J. Obligacion sa mga forums at blogs ng mga INC™. Nawala na rin ang kanyang RESBAK.com sa internet.  Tanging natira na lamang ay ang mga blogs na SIYA ANG MAY AKDA na pinangalan sa mga Catholic Faith Defenders, hindi para ipagmamapuri ang kanilang gawaing pangkabanalan kundi sa paninirang-puri at atake sa Iglesia Katolika na siyang TUNAY at NAG-IISANG IGLESIA NI CRISTO (ASUGO Abril 1966, p. 46). Alin man sa dalawa iyan ang expertise niya. (Basahin "Ang Katotohanan Tungkol sa INK-1914" na inilathala ng Logos Publication.

Hindi kaya nadismaya rin siya sa lumalalang sigalot sa loob ng Iglesia Ni Cristo® sa pagitan ng pamilya ng kasalukuyang Punong Ministro ang Ka Eduardo V. Manalo laban sa kanyang kadugo at kapamilya ang Ka Eraño G. Manalo na kanyang ama, inang si Ka Tenny, at mga kapatid sa laman na sina Ka Lottie, Ka Angel at iba pa.  

Hindi kaya siya ay lumaban sa pamamahala ng kasalukuyang Punong Ministro kaya't siya ay tumahimik at kasama na ngayon sa mga "INC Defenders" na sikretong lumalaban kay EVM? 

Alin man doon, sana naman ay napagtanto niya na ang kasamaan ay walang puwang sa kaharian ng Diyos. Na ang pandaraya, pagsisinungaling, panlilinlang sa kahit sinong tao, Kristiano man o hinde ay hindi katangian ng isang taong matuwid at nagnanais na mapasa-Diyos at hindi katanggap-tanggap sa isang nagnanais na taga-sunod ni Cristo.  

Hindi natin ninais na may masamang nangyari sa isang dating tagapag-pahamak ng Iglesia Katolikang katulad niya, ngunit dahil naglipana na naman ang paninirang-puri ng mga kaaway sa pananampalataya at mga kakampi ngunit kaaway sa pulitika kaya't minabuti kong i-refresh ulit ang tungkol sa  kasaysayan ng galit ni G. Obligacion sa mga Catholic Faith Defenders mula nang ito ay nagsimulang mamayagpag taong 2008 sa pangunguna ni Rev. Fr. Abrahan 'Abe' Arganiosa, Bro. Cenon Bibe at marami pang mga tagapagtanggol.  

Sa kasalukuyan, malakas, buhay, namamayagpag at aktibong nag-aaral ng PAGTATANGGOL sa INANG SIMBAHAN ang maraming kabataang Katoliko mula Mindanao hanggang Luzon, sa pangangasiwa nina Fr. Abe Arganiosa, Atty. Bro Marwill Llasos, OP, Bro. Cenon Bibe, Bro. 'Tatang" Larry Mallari na dating kaanib ng INC™, Bro. Duane, Bro. Marco Evangelista, etc.  

Tunay nga na hindi kayang patahimikin ng mga kalaban ng Santa Iglesia ang mga Katoliko. Sila ay pinatitibay at pinalalakas ng Banal na Espiritu ang mga LINGKOD niya! Kung hindi kayang manindigan ng mga lingkod sino ang magtatanggol sa Inang Simbahan? Kung mananahimik tayo, mga bato na mismo ang magsasalita (Lk. 19:40). 

At para sa kabatiran ng mga nagsusubaybay sa blog na ito, ating basahing muli ang PANLILINLANG NI CONRAD J. OBLIGACION na isa sa mga tumutuligsa sa mga 'Defenders" at ng Inang Simbahan, upang maunawaan natin kung ano ang nagtulak sa kanya upang magsinungaling, mandaya, at manlinlang ng mga kaluluwa.

Narito rin ang artikulo ni Bro. Cenon Bible patungkol kay G. Obligacion sa TUMBUKIN NATIN.

Heto naman ang artikulo mul sa FILIPINO CULTS patungkol din kay G. Obligacion.

Heto naman ang artikolong sinulat sa blog ni Fr. Abe Arganiosa The Splendor of the Church. 

Maraming salamat po.

PURGATORY IS BIBLICAL!

In Christian theology, and especially in Catholic theology, Purgatory (Latin: Purgatorium, via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is an intermediate state after physical death in which those destined for heaven "undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven". -Wikipedia

 

Purgatory (Google Search)

NUMBERS 6:9

Sin autem mortuus fuerit subito quispiam coram eo, polluetur caput consecrationis ejus: quod radet illico in eadem die purgationis suæ, et rursum septima.

ECCLESSIASTICUS (SIRACH) 7:34

Da illis partem, sicut mandatum est tibi, primitiarum et purgationis,

et de negligentia tua purga te cum paucis.

LUKE 2:22

Et postquam impleti sunt dies purgationis ejus secundum legem Moysi, tulerunt illum in Jerusalem, ut sisterent eum Domino,

2 PETER 1:9

Cui enim non præsto sunt hæc, cæcus est, et manu tentans, oblivionem accipiens purgationis veterum suorum delictorum.

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To understand the etymological meaning of PURGATORY according to Catholic understanding, here's from Catholic Encyclopedia...

In brief, here is from the official Catechism of the Catholic Church:

III. THE FINAL PURIFICATION, OR PURGATORY

1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.606 The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.

1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin."From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.610 The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.

CNA: Iraqis hopeful in battle for Mosul, yet cautious of what lies ahead

By Elise Harris for Catholic News Agency
Posted October 17, 2016

An Iraqi woman holding a rosary. Credit: Elise Harris/CNA.

Erbil, Iraq (CNA/EWTN News).- Hours after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced a ground offensive to retake Mosul from the clutches of Islamic State, a priest working in the thick of the country’s refugee crisis said people are happy with the advances, but unsure what the future will hold.

“We are so happy because yesterday the war began between the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga with ISIS,” Father Roni Momika told CNA Oct. 17.

He relayed how shortly before, they had received the “good news” that the ancient Monastery of the Martyrs Saint Behnam and his Sister Sarah, also known as the Mar Behnam monastery, near Nimrud “is free,” though it has suffered significant damage from Islamic State forces.

There are still many Christians living in the villages surrounding Mosul, he noted, but said soldiers from the Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga are with them.

“We hope that (soon) we will hear good news about Qaraqosh, a big center for Christians, that it will be free and that there is no ISIS there,” he said, but admitted that it might not be that easy.

Fr. Momika is a Syriac Catholic priest serving in the Kurdish capital of Erbil, where he works in the city’s Aishty camp for the displaced.

He and his sister were among the victims wounded in a 2010 bombing of buses transporting mainly Christian college students from the Plains of Nineveh to the University of Mosul, where they were enrolled in classes.

In 2014, while he was in seminary, Momika and his family were forced to flee Qaraqosh, also known as Bakhdida, when Islamic State militants attacked, taking over the city after storming it in the middle of the night with bombs and gunfire.

Since his seminary was closed following Islamic State's assault, he completed his studies in Lebanon, and returned to Iraq for his diaconate ordination, which took place March 19. On Aug. 5 he was ordained a priest in the Aishty camp, where he continues to serve the people by leading women's groups and working with youth.

Canonization of Seven New Saints!

Pope Francis presides over the Holy Mass with canonisation of : Salomon Leclercq, José Sánchez Del Río, Manuel González García, Lodovico Pavoni, Alfonso Maria Fusco, José Gabriel Del Rosario Brochero, Elisabeth Catez.

Assyrian Christians Boldly Proclaim Jesus at the Presence of Muslim Migrants Attending Football in Germany

LONG LIVE ASSYRIAN BRETHREN!

Q&A: Would be appropriate for a Catholic to pledge allegiance to the Bible?

Source: Catholic Answers

Full Question

A Protestant-dominated homeschool group requires all to pledge allegiance to the Bible, which goes something like this: “I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God’s Holy Word, I will make it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path and will hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against God.” Is it appropriate for a Catholic to say this pledge?

Answer

First, Jesus is God’s Word; the Bible is God’s words. The idea of Catholic children reciting this pledge is troubling, as it could confuse them about the Protestant belief in sola scriptura. Catholics do not believe in the doctrine of sola scriptura, the idea that the Bible is our only source of revelation. Instead, Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and the teaching authority of the Church are the Church’s sources of certainty about everything which has been revealed (Dei Verbum 9).

More Quick Questions and Answers HERE! 

 

A Muslim Imam says saying "Merry Christmas" is worst than fornication and murder!

VISITORS AT ESTONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OFFERED TO KICK VIRGIN MARY'S IMAGE

Wait, until Islam will dominate their decaying democrazy! May God forbids! -CD2000

Source: Interfax-Religion via Pravoslavie.com
Posted October 3, 2016

The National Museum which opened in Estonia in the presence of President Toomas Hendrik Ilves last week, is offering its visitors to kick one of the exhibits, an interactive image of Virgin Mary, causing the picture to fall into pieces.

The virtual painting has been criticized by a number of politicians, entrepreneurs and parliamentarians in the Postimees newspaper. Thus, according to Priit Sibul, who chairs the parliamentary faction of the ruling Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica, "kicking an image of the Mother of God is something they did in the Soviet cultural space but would not demonstrate in public."

Meanwhile, the chairman of the parliamentary opposition Conservative People's Party, Mart Helme, warned against a particularly negative reaction in the Russian-speaking community where religious traditions are especially strong.

"Most Russians living in Estonia are actively religious people and their integration is not helped by religious insult approved on a state level," Helme said.

"The image should be removed as soon as possible because the virtual destruction the authors offer insults the feelings of religious Russian-speaking residents and hinders their integration," the politician was quoted in his party's press release as saying.

According to Helme, who was Estonia's ambassador to Russia in the 1990s, "mocking of the symbols of faith also has a political dimension to it." "An attack on symbols may lead to an escalation of social tensions and a cooling of the inter-state relations," he said.

For his part, Archbishop Urmas Viilma of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church said the image is an affront to the whole Estonian society, all Christians, not just Orthodox ones but Catholics and Lutherans as well. For Estonians, Virgin Mary has a special meaning, no wonder the country is popularly called the Land of Mary, the archbishop said.

The installation on display at the Estonian National Museum is a depiction of Virgin Mary on a big light screen almost the size of a human being. It is static until someone kicks a specially marked spot at the bottom of the picture, causing the virtual figure fly into pieces and the word "Reformation" appear on the screen.

The Estonian National Museum is open in the city of Tartu and set to become the country's most important. It is predicted to attract up to 200,000 visitors per year.

UPDATE: A Ghanaian man was Arrested for Attacking Catholic Churches in Rome!

Report from EWTN

Heart-breaking vandalism desecrates four churches in Rome

A 39 year old Ghanaian national has been arrested for attacking four churches in Rome and vandalising many priceless sacred statutes, including some 300 years old. The perpetrator attacked sacred art in the 9th-century Basilica of Santa Prassede, near Saint Mary Major, the church of San Martino ai Monti, and the Basilicas of San Giovanni de' Fiorentini, on the Via Giulia, and San Vitale, on the Via Nazionale.

At about 19:30 on the 30th September the parish priest of San Martino ai Monti reported to the police that a man had damaged a statue of the Madonna and infant Jesus. Shortly afterwards, the parish priest of the Basilica of Santa Prassede reported to the police that a man had damaged two statues, one of Saint Anthony of Padua and the other of Saint Prassede. Then on the morning of 1st October the police received reports of attacks on the Basilicas of San Giovanni de' Fiorentini, on the Via Giulia, and San Vitale, on the Via Nazionale. At these two churches the man attacked statues, candlesticks and crucifixes, while protesting that "it was not right that we worshipped in this way."

The police arrested the perpetrator at Ripetta, in the centre of Rome, and charged him with religious hatred and insulting religious institutions. He is being held in Regina Coeli prison.

Comment

It is alarming that violent attacks such as these on churches in Rome are occurring more frequently across Europe according to reports documented on the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe. The perpetrators of these attacks are more often than not motivated by secularism, feminism, LGBT ideology or Islam. At the present time, it is unclear what motivated the 39-year-old Ghanaian to attack four churches. However, the fact that he has been charged with religious hate crime suggests the authorities have concluded that his actions were not the result of mental illness.

He Lied! He Deceived! He Cheated! Yet he was Cheered by members of the INC™ and was Given Special Coverage by the Iglesia Ni Cristo®-1914!

But it BOOMERANGS back to them!
Read my earlier post..."That "priest" John Collado Who Converted to the Iglesia Ni Cristo® of Felix Manalo was Not an Ordained Priest according to the Orthodox Church -- He's a FAKE!"



Video Credit to Mr. Antonio Ebangelista, read his blog here!

ROME IS UNDER ATTACK! (Please Share!)

This alarming and very sad report was posted by Mr. Edoardo Fanfani at 4:21 PM, October 1, 2016 @ The Roman Anglican blog.

The Eternal City is under attack, our freedom and values are in danger.

Since it seems that no considerable press coverage has been given to the recent attacks occurred in Rome, either in Italy or elsewhere in the world, I decided to write mine own article in the hope not to incite hatred or intolerance, but rather to make people aware.

Last night a non-Italian individual entered the 9th century Basilica of Santa Prassede, just around the corner from the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the rather robust man started to smash everything he found, especially statues and candlesticks, right before a group of parishioners who were quite scared. The two devotional statues of Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Prassede were heavily damaged, the attacker did not have time to finish his job as he was heading towards the sanctuary and the crucifix when the police arrived. Later, according to video-recording proof he also entered the church of San Martino ai Monti, where he smashed a devotional statue of the Madonna and Child.

This morning two further attacks occurred in the Basilicas of San Giovanni de' Fiorentini, on the Via Giulia, and San Vitale, on the Via Nazionale. Here statues, candlesticks, crucifixes were smashed, the perpetrator at this time had time to admit that it was not right that we worshipped in this way.

Most artworks in San Giovanni de' Fiorentini were over 300 years old, but even if other statues and religious furniture weren't that old or precious we must realise that not only our art, culture and identity are in danger (and to us Italians they are the dearest thing we have, what makes us what we are), but our very freedom of worship, our own religion, here in Rome, here in the heart of Western Christianity.

Jesus mercy, Mary pray.

Please share.

Iglesia Ni Cristo® Congressman Rodante Marcoleta leaves the Minority in Favor of Duterte's Majority Block at the Request of the INC™'s Administration

... and there was NO PROTEST against "SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE"!!

Photo Source: Manila Balita

"Asked why Marcoleta left, Lagman said the party-list congressman informed him that he was joining the majority coalition at the request of the Iglesia ni Cristo, a highly influential religious group known for voting as a bloc."

By: DJ Yap

Tweeter @deejayapINQ

Philippine Daily Inquirer

October 2nd, 2016

The House opposition’s “Legitimate 8” is now the “Magnificent 7.”

An independent minority faction in the House of Representatives initially composed of eight lawmakers has lost one of its key members to President Duterte’s “supermajority.”

Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta “is applying for membership” in the majority, according to Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, a member of the opposition faction that supported the bid of Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat to be minority leader in July.

“Though we’re no longer the ‘Legitimate 8,’ now we’re the ‘Magnificent 7,’” Lagman told the Inquirer.

Asked why Marcoleta left, Lagman said the party-list congressman informed him that he was joining the majority coalition at the request of the Iglesia ni Cristo, a highly influential religious group known for voting as a bloc.

Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas confirmed the move, but said Marcoleta had given him a different reason.

“I received a letter from him asking me to accept him in the majority pursuant to our rules,” he said.

“The reason he cited was he had realized that his advocacies were more aligned with those of the majority,” said Fariñas, also the chair of the powerful committee on rules.

He clarified, however, that Marcoleta’s transfer was not yet final. “Even if the authority is with me to act on his request, out of courtesy to the Speaker [Pantaleon Alvarez], I’ll consult with him first,” he told the Inquirer.

Lagman said he was not too upset by Marcoleta’s departure from their bloc, whose members have been critical of President Duterte and his policies.

“Even though we lost a member, we are still recognized as the real minority,” he said, noting that Minority Leader Danilo Suarez “is not being critical” of the administration at all.

The other members of their “magnificent” group are Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano, Capiz Rep. Emmanuel Billones, Akbayan Rep. Tomasito Villarin and Northern Samar Rep. Raul Daza.

Except for the party-list lawmakers, Baguilat, Lagman and the three others belong to the former ruling Liberal Party (LP) whose numbers have been decimated by Mr. Duterte’s PDP-Laban, now the dominant force in the chamber.

Twenty-eight LP members led by former Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. have joined the administration bandwagon, a multiparty coalition that has been touted as Mr. Duterte’s supermajority.

That "priest" John Collado Who Converted to the Iglesia Ni Cristo® of Felix Manalo was Not an Ordained Priest according to the Orthodox Church -- He's a FAKE!

Source: Philippine Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate  

OFFICIAL STATEMENT REGARDING MR. JOHN COLLADO

On September 25, 2016, during the Philippine sect “Iglesia Ni Cristo”'s event in Lagao Gymnasium, in General Santos City, they are boosting that infront of their 50, 000 members, a priest of the Orthodox Church in the person of JOHN NGALON COLLADO take off his priestly vestment and converted to their sect. The video, photos and statements were attached on their post on social media. To shed light on this, we would like to correct the false claim of the Iglesia ni Cristo sect as well as the crime commited by Mr. Collado by declaring the following FACTS:

1.) MR. JOHN COLLADO IS NOT (AND NEVER HAS BEEN) AN ORTHODOX PRIEST

2.) MR. JOHN COLLADO HAS NOT BEEN ORDAINED EVEN IN THE LOWEST RANK WHICH IS AN ORTHODOX READER

3.) MR. JOHN COLLADO IS A FORMER PRIEST OF THE PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC CHURCH (PICC) ALSO KNOWN AS AGLIPAYAN CHURCH WHO GO ON SCHISM FROM PICC TOGETHER WITH OTHER AGLIPAYAN PRIESTS AND CREATED THE INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC CHURCH OF MINDANAO (ICCM).

4.) MR. JOHN COLLADO TOGETHER WITH OTHER ICCM CLERGIES CONVERTED VOLUNTARILY THEMSELVES TO THE ORTHODOX CHURCH (MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE) AND WE KNOW HIM ONLY FOR 2 1/2 YEARS.

5.) HE FORFEITED HIS AGLIPAYAN PRIESTHOOD IN AUGUST 2015 AND WAS BAPTIZED AS AN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN AND BECAME AN ORTHODOX LAYMAN.

6.) SINCE HE IS A NEW CONVERT, WHOSE EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND IS ONLY A HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE (WHICH IS ALLOWED IN AGLIPAYANISM FOR ORDINATION), AND HE NEVER ENTER INTO A PROPER SEMINARY EVEN IN HIS AGLIPAYAN TIMES, AND UPON CONSIDERATION OF THE NATURE OF HIS UNSTABLE CHARACTER, HE IS NOT EVEN AMONG OF THOSE CANDIDATES FOR ORTHODOX PRIESTHOOD.

7.) HIS STATEMENTS THAT HE NOW FORFEITS HIS ORTHODOX PRIESTHOOD ARE FRAUDULENT. HE IS MISLEADING THE PUBLIC BY LYING PUBLICLY AND HAS COMMITTED A CRIME OF MISREPRESENTATION AGAINST THE ORTHODOX CHURCH.

8.) THE VESTMENT WHICH HE IS WEARING AND TAKEN OFF AS SHOWN IN THE VIDEO IS NOT A VESTMENT OF AN ORTHODOX PRIEST BUT OF A CATHOLIC ONE AS COPIED BY THE AGLIPAYANS.

9.) THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH MISSION IN THE PHILIPPINES TO WHICH MR. COLLADO HAS BELONGED, IS ONLY MORE THAN TWO YEARS SINCE WE STARTED OUR MISSION AND WERE NOT ORDAINING YET NOT EVEN A SINGLE FILIPINO ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN TO ANY RANKS OF PRIESTHOOD AND HAVE NO PRIEST YET AS OF THIS TIME IN THE PHILIPPINES.

Having said the above facts, we reproach the leaders and members of the so called “Iglesia Ni Cristo” for spreading lies publicly WITHOUT verifying first the background of Mr. Collado. This only proves that this sect is IRRESPONSIBLE and NOT preaching the Truth as they even unable to do a background check to verify the claims of Mr. Collado, OR knowlingly facilitates the fradulent activity. We know the “Iglesia Ni Cristo” has a capacity to do verifications or background checks as they have members who work in many government agencies, yet they opt to just spread lies on their evangelism activities, a proof that their “evangelization” is accompanied with LIES.

We are calling all people of goodwill, including public media and government authorities not to be mislead by the lies propagated by Mr. Collado, and to refrain from further publicizing these lies.

To all Orthodox Christians, let us pray for Mr. Collado's soul and for his repentance.