The Constantinopolitan Visit

A few points to share:

First: the mainstream press (MSP) has somehow confused the purpose of HH Benedict's visit, which is the Feast of St. Andrew Apostle and a meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. The Turkish government is a participant only as a formality because the Pope is a visiting head of state they are the host government. So it is no sweat that the various pooh-bas of the Turkish government and elite are not putting the Pope on their schedules.

Second- you make a good point about Christianity as a religion being a cause of "horrors throughout history". Christianity is a human construct, it is NOT the indefectable Church. Thus, the various disputes, the Anglican massacre of the Carthusians, the Protestant seizure of Indian lands, etc. are the result of the secular adaptation of the Christian religious idea to Caesar.

Even alleged Catholic aberrations in the Spanish Inquisition so-called are the result of secular interference from throne and nobility; likewise the sack of Constantinople in the Crusades.

But for all of this, the Catholic Church herself has remained pure and without taint from the actions of those who have acted outside of Catholic Charity and like Peter sliced the ear off from poor Malchus with an impetuous sword. Peter even denied Him thrice. This is a mystery to contemplate.

What is to be our reaction to al-Islam? Are we to fight this scourge sent to purify the members of the Church?

Finally let us petition St. Benedict to guide and protect our Holy Father The Pope, Benedict XVI on his journey to the Eastern Patriarch so that we may reunited with our separate bretheren resist the wave of infidelity from the Quran of infidelity. Let us pray the Blessed Virgin Protect our Pope from harm and for the conversion of Mahometans.

Amen

Jahannum 1

"Iraq" as a "nation" is a fallacy imposed by the post World War I nation builders (British imperialists in their arrogance) upon a division of the Ottoman Khalifat in the region of mesopotamia.

Iraq was a geographic term used by arabs to signify "The Orient"- 'Iraq" signifies the dawning place, in Arabic.

An Iraqi in the traditional Arab designation is one who hails from the region of Mesopotamia, which to one from Damascus is to the East of is the Orient and the dawning place of the sun. Just like Egypt is al-Misri and the Occident al-Mughrib, is the area of Morocco and al-Andalus (Spain). But these are not nations in the sense of the American and European concept.

The nation we deal with is al-Islam, the people of the Quran. That is how they see themselves.

The shia and sunni battles over an ascendancy which emerged after the death of Muhammad - when the Generals Umar, Uthman and Abu Bakr seized the Khalifate over the designated heir, Ali, the son-in -law of Muhammad. This conflict has been an internal struggle from the beginning of Islam.

Consequently there has been no legitimate interpreter of Islam since the occultation of the Imam Mahdi who is hiding in a well somewhere and is expected to return and establish the reign of Islam on the earth. This is the apocalyptic vision that drives Iran and Ahmedinejad. This apocalyptic vision has been ascendant in Iran over 200 years now and this civil war which we have unleashed is just the most recent manifestation. 19th century Iranian history is replete with civil war instigated by Mahdi claimants. Lots of beheadings etc. But they did not have nuclear capability then. What will happen when the Jahannum 1 nuclear missile is fired for the first time? (Jahannum is the arabic cognate for gehenna, you get the point).

So this fight is going nowhere anytime soon and Americans are foolish to believe that a sectarian democracy is possible in that mess we have created by removing the only stability in that region Saddam and the Baath party. There is no nation of Iraq apart from Baath just as there was no Soviet Union apart from the Communist party, and there is no hope for a secular democracy in a population dominated by shia and sunni religious zealotry.

We have caught the Tiger by the nape of the neck, but now that we have it in hand, what do we do with it? It will not be tamed, turned loose it will only devour us. The only solution is to cage it or kill it.

Weapons for the Holy War

"We shall break the cross and spill the wine... Allah will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome. ... Allah enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen,"

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

We live in times not unlike those of our Father St. Francis. We have a holy war declared upon us and there are calls for the death of our Pope. Like St. Francis we are called in these dangerous times to rebuild the Church which has fallen into ruin.

As children of Francis we must be militant and our weapons are fasting, prayer, penance. To fight a holy war, one must be holy, and holiness will be the mail with which we are clothed. Prayer our sword, fasting our shield, penance is our steed. Helmeted with the Truth and bearing the Cross as our standard let us not be afraid.

Our Holy Father goes to Constantinople to meet with the Patriarch I am praying for the reunion of our separated brothers. Our Mother of God will be our light in the dark nights to come, let us be of good cheer an know that in the end Her Immaculate Heart will triumph.