Friday, April 25, 2014

Gavin D'Costa, professor of Theology at the University of Bristol infers deceased-saved are visible in England :official policy of the university?

Gavin D'Costa is a Catholic professor of theology at the University of Bristol, England. He  has not specifically denied  three points in the blogpost which I e-mailed him. 

The professor of theology at the University of Bristol is saying that in Vatican Council II there are known exceptions to the traditional Catholic teaching on salvation and other religions.

Since there are exceptions for him he infers
1. There is text in Vatican Council II which states there are known exceptions to traditional teaching on exclusive salvation in the Catholic Church.
2. There is text which states that those saved with 'seeds of the Word' etc are visible to us on earth.They would have to be visible for them to be exceptions.
3.These explicit exceptions in England in 2014 can be named by Prof. D'Costa .They are personally known to him.

This is also the position
of the University of Bristol, England ?

International students in a lecture 

Regarding these three points which were mentioned in the original report which I sent him he would be saying that:-


1.Conference of Bishops of England and Wales infers there are exceptions to the traditional teaching on exclusive salvation in the Catholic Church. YES this is what the bishops infer and so does he.
 
2.There is no text in Vatican Council II which states there are known exceptions yet this is taken for granted by the Bishops. YES there is such text in Vatican Council II which states there are known exceptions to AG 7 ( all need faith and baptism) and to the dogma extra ecclesiam nullas salus.



3.It is an objective error to assume that the deceased saved with 'seeds of the Word' or ' a ray of that Truth' can be named or seen physically. YES these cases can be named and seen physically by Prof. Gavin D'Costa and the bishops of England and Wales.
 -Lionel Andrades   
 
Video

Approximately 11,000 foreign jihadis in Syria, recruited through social media and Skype

Approximately 11,000 foreign jihadis in Syria, recruited through social media and Skype

By on Apr 24, 2014       
article-syria-0904According to the popular Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta and as relayed on Arabic media, “the civil war in Syria appears to be in need of more victims, so that the jihadis are making use of the social networks to recruit fighters from among the Muslims of Britain.”
Adds the report: “A new wave of recruitment of fighters has begun through social Internet networks, whereby there are approximately 11,000 foreign fighters among the ranks of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and the Nusra Front, 1,900 of whom are from Europe, 366 from Britain, 269 from Belgium, 412 from France, and 249 from Germany and Scandinavian countries.”
The Russian paper added that “thousands of pictures of boys carrying weapons and calling on their friends and peers to join them in Syria have been deployed on social networks,” pointing out that “Skype is also used to exchange experiences between old and new fighters.”
Accordingly, “the Syrian crisis has become history’s first battleground to recruit fighters across its social networking.”

U.S. doesn’t object, so Iran gets a seat on U.N. women’s rights body

By on Apr 25, 2014 
 
Here is why this is so evil and absurd, from the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center:
The real issue is that hijab—or proper Islamic dress—is still compulsory for women in Iran’s streets and public places and failure to cover accordingly can result in imprisonment or a hefty fine.
The real issue is that in today’s Iran divorce is a husband’s unilateral right but if a woman seeks to divorce her husband she must prove he has either abandoned her or is mentally ill, abusive, or a drug addict.
The real issue is that the Islamic Republic’s child custody laws favour the father, inheritance and ownership laws overwhelmingly favor men over women heirs, and since 1979 women have been barred from being judges.
The real issue is that a husband is allowed to kill his wife and her lover if he catches them in the heat of passion, whereas no such exemption from a murder charge exists for a wife should she catch her husband in a similarly compromised position.
The real issue is that convictions and punishments for sex crimes such as adultery are applieddisproportionately to women in Iran’s criminal courts.
The real issue is that despite the propensity of Iran’s courts to hold women accountable for sex crimes and other moral offenses, when it comes to the evidence that will be used against them to secure such convictions, the testimony of a woman is worth half of that of a man’s.
That list one is strictly Qur’anic: “And bring to witness two witnesses from among your men. And if there are not two men [available], then a man and two women from those whom you accept as witnesses – so that if one of the women errs, then the other can remind her.” (2:282) The rest is based on Sharia principles as well.
“U.S. Doesn’t Object, So Iran Gets a Seat on U.N. Women’s Rights Body,” by Patrick Goodenough, CNS News, April 24, 2014 (thanks to Twostellas):
(CNSNews.com) – The Obama administration on Wednesday criticized Iran’s election to the U.N.’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) – but neither the U.S. nor any other delegation objected when given the opportunity to do so, thus allowing Iran to get the seat “by acclamation.”
Iran will now serve on the CSW, a body dealing with gender equality and the advancement of women, for another four-year term, having already been a member since 2011.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power took to Twitter to express her views: “Yet again Iran unopposed & was ‘elected’ to Commission on Status of Women. Given record on women’s & human rights, this is an outrage.”
But Richard Grenell, who served as spokesman for four U.S. ambassadors to the U.N. during the George W. Bush administration and is a close observer of the world body, was unimpressed with her reaction.
“Ambassador Power can tweet her outrage after the fact all she wants,” he said. “She should have been in the room for the vote and demanded a secret ballot rather than allow an automatic acclamation by her silence.”
CSW members are elected by the 54-member U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
There were 11 vacancies to fill on the CSW, and each of the five regional groups put forward “closed slates” – the same number of candidates as there were vacancies available for that group.
Even so, had just one ECOSOC member objected to Iran’s candidacy, a secret ballot vote would then have been called. And had Iran not received the required minimum 28 votes, that would have allowed another member state from Iran’s regional group, Asia, to step in as an alternative.
Yet neither the U.S. nor any other member of ECOSOC objected. Other democracies on the council include 13 European nations, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and India.
A webcast of the ECOSOC session shows just how the process unfolded.
First, the meeting secretary read out the names of the 11 countries put forward by their respective regional groups for the 11 available seats – Iran, Mongolia (Asia); Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Malawi (Africa); Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina (Eastern Europe); Colombia (Latin America and Caribbean); and Belgium, Liechtenstein and Spain (Western European and others).
Then ECOSOC’s president, Oh Joon of South Korea, said, “Since the number of candidates from all regional groups is equal to the number of vacancies, may I take it that the council wishes to elect the proposed candidates by acclamation?”
He looked around, then hearing no protestations, continued, “I hear no objection. It is so decided.”
The entire process took 103 seconds.
A few minutes after the CSW vote, a similar exercise saw ECOSOC hand Iran a seat on a body that oversees accreditation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This enables Iran to attend and express their views at meetings of various U.N. bodies, including the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva.
Again, no ECOSOC member raised objection to any of the 19 countries nominated for the 19 vacancies, and again the chair used identical language to declare the outcome:
“Since the number of candidates from all regional groups is equal to the number of vacancies, may I take it that the council wishes to elect the proposed candidates by acclamation? I hear no objection. It is so decided.”…

 http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/04/u-s-doesnt-object-so-iran-gets-a-seat-on-u-n-womens-rights-body

Dreams and Visions: Revival Hits Muslim N. Africa

Dreams and Visions: Revival Hits Muslim N. Africa

ALONG THE MEDITERRANEAN -- A Christian revival is touching the northernmost reaches of Africa. In a region once hostile to the Gospel, now tens of thousands of Muslims are following Jesus.
As the sun sets over the Mediterranean Sea, Muslims across Northern Africa are converting to faith in Jesus Christ in record numbers.
"What God is doing in North Africa, all the way from actually Mauritanian to Libya, is unprecedented in the history of missions," said Tino Qahoush, a graduate of Regent University and filmmaker.
Qahoush has spent years traveling the region to document the transformation.
"I have the privilege of recording testimonies and listening to first-hand stories of men and women of all ages, where they can be sitting in a room and see the appearance and the presence of God appear to them in reality, like a vision," he told CBN News.
"Some of them gave me stories of how they carry on a conversation. It's not just a light that appears" he added.
Qahoush revealed that sometimes he feels jealous.
"How come Jesus is visiting the Muslim world at this time and age and we don't hear that happening in the traditional Christian community?" he said.
A Profound Move of God
His interviews confirm what experts say is a profound move of God in the predominantly Muslim nations of Mauritania, Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia.
From the shores of Casablanca, Morocco, to Tripoli, Libya, experts say the growth of Christianity, especially in the last 20 years, has been unprecedented.
Now that growth is also evident in the North African nation of Algeria.
Pastor Salah leads one of the largest churches in Algeria. Some 1,200 believers attend the church, and 99 percent of the population is Muslim.
"In fact we never thought the Algerian church would grow so big," Salah said.
He said every new Christian in his church came from a Muslim background. Since the church opened, they have baptized on average 150-160 believers per year.
Zino, a former Muslim, was invited to attend Pastor Salah's church by a friend. What he saw transformed him.
"I saw Algerians worshipping God with all their hearts and it touched me," Zino shared.
Others like Farhat, who is also a former Muslim, spoke of miraculous encounters. He said he was illiterate and couldn't read the Bible when he accepted the Lord. Then God made a change.
"Since then I've read the Bible and understood the Word of God," he told CBN News. "This is just an example of what God has done in my life, and this is the case of many people here in Algeria."
Muslims: 'Tell Us About Jesus!'
Even though Algeria is overwhelmingly Muslim, the government has given Protestant churches the freedom to register their congregations.
"It is the first Muslim Arab government who recognizes, officially, churches from Islam," Youssef Qurahmane, a leading Algerian pastor, said.
He said although government will harass and intimidate Christians from time to time, the level of persecution is nothing like it was 20 years ago.
In fact, Qurahmane is seeing God open unprecedented doors.
"God has given to us many opportunities to witness at the police stations, at the courts, and in fact one time I went to the police station and they gave me 45 minutes to speak about Jesus!" he said.
"Just imagine yourself: they are all Muslims sitting and telling me, 'Tell us about Jesus!'" Qurahmane exclaimed.
But Algeria and the countries of North Africa weren't always open to the gospel.
A veteran missionary in the region, identified only as "Peter" for security reasons, said things were very different some years ago. He used the Bible to describe the landscape.
"You know there's that parable, the sower went out to sow and the seeds fell on stony ground - this is North Africa," he explained. "In those days was quiet resistant and stony."
"The religion and the culture were unsympathetic to anything that was foreign," he continued. "And Christianity was considered to be the religion of the Europeans."
The Difference Technology Makes
Peter believes the arrival of satellite TV and the Internet have dramatically changed people's perception of Christianity.
"Today in North Africa on TV, you can hear native Arab Christians talking about their faith, who are mature Christians, answering questions, involved in debates," he told CBN News.
"You can hear different points of view, the Christian point of view, in your own living room or in the privacy of your own bedroom," he said.
Emboldened by God's power, Algerian Christians are now on a mission to take the Gospel to the four corners of the globe.
"God has put in our heart to be able to send 1,000 missionaries by the year 2025," Pastor Qurahmane told CBN News.
"I really believe that maybe one day America will end up with some Muslim convert missionaries coming to reach out to the Muslims there and in other parts as well," he said.
 
 
 

Pakistan: Conversions to Islam and forced marriages

Pakistan: Conversions to Islam and forced marriages

25-04-2014  
Filed under News
7_James_Channan
Fr. James Channan.
A report published by the “Movement for Solidarity and Peace”—a coalition of Pakistani associations and NGO’s—indicates that around 1,000 young Christian and Hindu women in Pakistan are abducted each year, “converted” and compelled to contract an Islamic marriage.  According to a dispatch of the news agency Fides published on April 9, 700 cases concern Christian women and 300 Hindus, but no formal complaint is made in many cases and they remain uncounted.
The report cites the examples of young Christian women chiefly in Pendjab.  Most of these are young women between the ages of 12 and 25, belonging to poor families in disadvantaged areas.  Those who complain often run into law enforcement or the threats of the relatives of the abductors.  In the rare cases that are brought to trial, the young women, intimidated and violated, declare that they had converted and married freely, which closes the case.  “In the custody of their abductor, the young woman may endure sexual violence, forced prostitution, beatings and domestic abuse, or else be the victim of human trafficking,” the document emphasizes.  Interviewed by Fides, Fr. James Channan, a Pakistani Dominican priest, stated that “the phenomenon is actually very alarming and worrisome for Christians and Hindus who feel very unsafe and very vulnerable.  In Pakistan, they suffer social, religious and political discrimination that is constantly getting worse.”
(Sources: apic/fides – DICI no. 295 dated April 25, 2014)
 

Prof.Gavin D'Costa responds : does not deny that he made a factual mistake

Catholic Dioceses of England and Wales websites are full of the same objective error made by D'Costa. Their theology is built upon the ability to see the dead-saved on earth. 
 
Yesterday night I sent Prof. Gavin D'costa  the blogpost:
 
April 24, 2014

I asked  him if he had any clarifications or comments to make. He has none of course! How can he say that he can see the dead-saved in England who are known exceptions to the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus?!
 
Neither can he quote any text in Vatican Council II which states that these cases saved with 'seeds of the Word' etc are visible to us on earth in the present times to be relevant exceptions. 

CBCEW plaque - front door

What I have mentioned in the report critical of his irrational position is not just a personal opinion or theology, it is common sense. In general we humans know that we cannot see the dead with the physical eye.

Prof. DCosta responds
'I discuss this issue in proper and significant detail in the last two chapters of my book, Christianity and the world religions. I do not think I guilty of what you say. Thanks for your comments. Prayers and good wishes'.
 
Here are the main points of the blogpost which he was unable to deny:-
 
1.Conference of Bishops of England and Wales infers there are exceptions to the traditional teaching on exclusive salvation in the Catholic Church.
2.There is no text in Vatican Council II which states there are known exceptions yet this is taken for granted by the Bishops.
3.It is an objective error to assume that the deceased saved with 'seeds of the Word' or ' a ray of that Truth' can be named or seen physically.
-Lionel Andrades














 
 
 

Divine Mercy Novena of St.Faustina Kowalski : Eighth Day

   Eighth Day
"Today bring to Me the Souls who are in the prison of Purgatory,
and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. Let the torrents of My Blood cool down their scorching flames. All these souls are greatly loved by Me. They are making retribution to My justice. It is in your power to bring them relief. Draw all the indulgences from the treasury of My Church and offer them on their behalf. Oh, if you only knew the torments they suffer, you would continually offer for them the alms of the spirit and pay off their debt to My justice."   
Most Merciful Jesus, You Yourself have said that You desire mercy; so I bring into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls in Purgatory, souls who are very dear to You, and yet, who must make retribution to Your justice. May the streams of Blood and Water which gushed forth from Your Heart put out the flames of Purgatory, that there, too, the power of Your mercy may be celebrated.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls suffering in Purgatory, who are enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. I beg You, by the sorrowful Passion of Jesus Your Son, and by all the bitterness with which His most sacred Soul was flooded: Manifest Your mercy to the souls who are under Your just scrutiny. Look upon them in no other way but only through the Wounds of Jesus, Your dearly beloved Son; for we firmly believe that there is no limit to Your goodness and compassion. Amen.

http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/novena.htm#6