Be Not Deceived

A smiling figurehead and a facelift don't change the nature of the Beast.

Jorge-Francis

(NANAIMO, Vancouver Island) - The predictable but ridiculous gestures by the Emperor of Rome, Jorge-Francis, to refashion the image of his Catholic Church into that of a more "humble, just" body makes as much sense as a ravaging strip-mining corporation sponsoring an annual "Eco-Friendly Day". A smiling figurehead and a facelift don't change the nature of the Beast.

But the crowd is fickle, and wired into its brain is a desperate need to find virtue in the power of its master. So even otherwise sage observers are caught up nowadays in the "Francis Frenzy" vomiting forth from Rome, and good friends of mine have asked me if I am "encouraged" by the new pope's statements.

Well, no. For if the smiling Francis didn't exist, he'd have to be concocted, right now. Pope Frank Bergoglio is as legitimate in his beneficence as a smiling Al Capone was as he posed at Chicago charity photo-ops.

Papal reforms? Not really. One doesn't "reform" the oldest and most iron-clad corporation on the planet.

Predictably, there's no talk at the Vatican these days of stopping its laundering of Mafia money, or abolishing the church laws that protect priestly child rapists. They're still not saying where all those aboriginal kids they slaughtered are buried. Nor are reparations being made to atone for centuries of catholic-sponsored genocide, stolen land and plundered wealth.

This new Pope, who funded and buttressed the military junta of Argentina and thinks that women are not complete human beings, is in truth a poor candidate as a reformer, despite his smooth rhetoric. Jorge Bergoglio is a Jesuit, after all: those masters of deception who by their own fourth vow are to pose as all things to all people in order to "infiltrate, dissimulate and destroy all enemies of Rome".

And yet beneath all the necessary spin-doctoring in the church of Rome these days, a fundamental break-up is unfolding in Roman Catholicism that would have happened even without the obvious crimes of Herr Joseph Ratzinger.

Like an aging Mafia Don, the papacy has made just too many enemies, done too many scams and ordered too many deaths. But even more to the point, the Vatican Incorporated has lost the capacity to manage its own crises.

According to Nicolo Machiavelli, such an incapacity to govern legitimately spells the death knell of any ruler, since retaining the confidence of one's immediate subordinates is key to keeping power. And so it's small wonder that Bishops in Ireland and America are already devising plans to loosen their ties with Rome and may even break off entirely into national churches, according to insiders in Dublin, Boston and New York.

These local Catholic hierarchs are protecting their assets, quite obviously, as the Vatican Bank is sliding under the waves of financial insolvency, and more of the papal rats are swimming from the floundering vessel. And as for the rest of us: well, any good rebel knows that the time to storm the Bastille is when the King has his hands full and his lieutenants are disunited.

Like a tiny match dropped on a properly-soaked building, our recent Common Law Court conviction of the Vatican hierarchy has come just at the right moment. Igniting a flame that is spreading now in more countries, our action directly compelled one pope's resignation and has encouraged Bishops and even Cardinals abroad to rethink their allegiance to Rome.

The following Open Letter is more fuel added to this spreading fire. It was issued today to one of the Cardinals who almost beat Jorge Bergoglio in the papal elections: Sean O'Malley of Boston, who is part of the "Autonomy" faction in the Vatican Curia and is a member of Bergoglio's so-called "Reform Commission".

Like all Catholic Cardinals, Sean O'Malley is actively subverting the sovereignty and the laws of the United States of America.

A Canadian clergyman, Kevin Annett has for nearly twenty years led the movement to bring to light and prosecute atrocities in Christian “Indian residential schools”, and win justice for survivors. Expelled in 1995 from his former United Church of Canada for exposing murders in that church’s Indian residential schools, and persecuted and blacklisted for his efforts, Kevin is now an award-winning film maker, author, social activist and public lecturer who works with victims of church violence and genocide all over the world. In 2009, he helped to establish the five-nation International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State, which is seeking to indict church and government leaders for crimes against humanity.

As a result of Kevin’s tireless efforts on behalf of native people, the Canadian government was forced to issue a public “apology” and reparations program concerning Indian residential schools, in July of 2008. In giving him the name Eagle Strong Voice in 2007, Anishinabe elder Louis Daniels declared, “Kevin Annett is doing what few of his people have done, and that is to speak about the crimes they committed against many of our nations and their children. He has earned a place forever in our hearts and history. He is a brave and prophetic man. I ask everyone to welcome him and heed his voice.” And scholar Noam Chomsky wrote in 2006, “Kevin Annett is more deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize than many of those who have received it.”

For more information on Kevin and his work, contact him at hiddenfromhistory1@gmail.com, and see these sites:

www.hiddennolonger.com
www.KevinAnnett.com
www.itccs.org
www.hiddenfromhistory.org