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| Protomartyr |
[Zenit]Drawing from the First Reading account of Stephen, the first martyr, being dragged before the Sanhedrin, Pope Francis today strongly condemned the sin of calumny.Link to Zenit…
At his customary morning Mass in Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Holy Father noted that Stephen was accused of "false witness," and that his enemies chose "the path of calumny.”
Vatican Radio reported on the Holy Father's homily, noting that Francis described calumny as worse than sin and a direct expression of Satan.
"We are all sinners; all of us. We all commit sins. But calumny is something else. It is of course a sin, too, but it is something more. Calumny aims to destroy the work of God, and calumny comes from a very evil thing: it is born of hatred. And hate is the work of Satan. Calumny destroys the work of God in people, in their souls. Calumny uses lies to get ahead. And let us be in no doubt, eh?: Where there is calumny, there is Satan himself," he said.
It’s persecution like this which not only brings to mind martyrs of the past, the very first martyrs who fell victim to the Sanhedrin, but those martyrs of the recent past:
And it so happens that even the leadership of the Church raises a hand against its own champions, in order to shame them and destroy them if possible in an autolesionistic festering. How obedient and eager to serve Roman Catholic Faithful was back in 1997 when Father Paul Marx was unjustly accused of hating Jews:
We reject in the strongest possible terms any suggestion that HLI is anti-Semitic. The allegations of "bigotry" and "anti-Semitism," made by members of the chancery staff and by the news media against HLI are serious and defamatory.Link to source at Roman Catholic Faithful…
We are deeply saddened that Archbishop Harry Flynn has reneged on his previous commitment to HLI and to Father Paul Marx to celebrate the opening Mass of our international conference of pro-life leaders.
We hold Archbishop Flynn in highest regard. Even as recently as February 24, 1997, we received a warm letter of welcome from him, which included high praise for Fr. Marx. Therefore, we wholeheartedly believe that his actions today are out of character and that he has been ill-advised and ill-served by members of his staff.
Furthermore, we deplore the manner in which this matter has been handled. Since November, we have repeatedly contacted the chancery to request a meeting between the Archbishop and any one of the members of our Board of Directors, all Catholic priests. These requests were repeatedly denied.
Then, upon receipt of false, inflammatory and defamatory information about HLI, rather than communicate directly with our office, the chancery communicated with us through the media, with a story that appeared in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on Holy Thursday, casting aspersions on the integrity of Fr. Marx and HLI. This news report went statewide. Continuously, our requests to speak with the Archbishop have been denied.
At the same time however, it is evident that a "dialogue" has been conducted between members of the chancery bureaucracy and groups that oppose HLI and the pro-life cause. It is emphatically clear that such groups have an agenda of their own which has nothing to do with "interfaith cooperation." Has ecumenism come to mean abandoning one's own to the lies and calumny of the pro-abortion opposition?
One only need to examine the past — the HLI 1995 World Conference in Montreal for example — to see the well-orchestrated campaign against HLI, which has as its genesis a 1994 report about HLI by Planned Parenthood.
The charge of anti-Semitism is a smokescreen to hide the real agenda of the Culture of Death that HLI meets at World Conferences: Planned Parenthood, the Fight the Right Coalition, Refuse and Resist, Love and Rage, radical feminists, radical gay activists and anarchists.
The Archbishop has been deceived.
PRO-LIFE RABBI REFUTES HLI's JEWISH CRITICS
Front Royal, VA — Rabbi Yehuda Levin, Jewish Advisor to Human Life International expressed his extreme dismay at allegations of anti-Semitism made by the American Jewish Congress against HLI Founder and Chairman, Father Paul Marx.
"I've been involved with Father Marx in furthering protection for unborn Jewish babies in Israel and North America for more than ten years. Father Marx is providing seed money to mobilize public support for Jewish pro-life efforts. What kind of Anti-Semite does this?" said Levin.
Rabbi Levin pointed out the close working relationship that Fr. Marx has with other Jewish leaders such as Midge Dector, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Norman Kurland and Dr. Judith Reisman. He also noted that for the past two years Fr. Marx has spearheaded interfaith cooperation with the Jewish community by signing the Judeo Christian Pro-Life Alliance, a document that binds both groups to work on behalf of the unborn of all faiths: Jewish, Christian or Muslim.
"I agree with my Jewish colleague Midge Dector, former contributing editor to Commentary magazine, that 'the charge of anti-Semitism has become, alas, a sinfully cheapened currency, and we feel that it is long since time to put a stop to its...tendentious circulation.'"
"Many secular Jews tend to be overwhelmingly liberal, even supporting abortion on demand. Why else would B'nai Brith or the American Jewish Congress or other such organizations not take a stand on saving the lives of pre-born babies, Jewish or non-Jewish" Levin added.
Rabbi Levin concluded with an invitation to members of the American Jewish Congress to join Human Life International's efforts to protect unborn Jewish babies and support their mothers.
Image taken from here...
