Catholic church dragged into public works scandal that has sent shockwaves through Italian government

* Tom Kington in Rome
* guardian.co.uk, Sunday 20 June 2010 22.24 BST

Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe The archbishop of Naples, Cardinal [...]]]> [ad#inline-ad-in-article]
Corruption and criminals within the Catholic church hierarchy, will it ever stop?
(Reprinted from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/20/vatican-cardinal-corruption-inquiry-rome-property-deals)

Catholic church dragged into public works scandal that has sent shockwaves through Italian government

* Tom Kington in Rome
* guardian.co.uk, Sunday 20 June 2010 22.24 BST

Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe The archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, delivered a fiery sermon after hearing of the investigation. Photograph: Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters

A senior Vatican cardinal is under investigation for corruption, dragging the Catholic church into a public works scandal that has sent shockwaves through the Italian government.

Italian media reported today that Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the archbishop of Naples, was suspected of striking cosy deals while head of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, the Vatican congregation that uses proceeds from a property empire including 2,000 Rome apartments to fund missionary efforts.

Sepe allegedly oversaw the sale in 2004 of a building in Rome to the then transport minister, Pietro Lunardi, for the suspiciously low price of €4.16m, newspapers reported, adding that magistrates wanted to know why Lunardi then freed up €2.5m in state funding the following year for the congregation to create a museum in its headquarters, and why that museum never opened.

Magistrates are reportedly looking into Sepe’s links to builder Diego Anemone and former public works official Angelo Balducci, both suspected of being at the centre of a web of alleged kickbacks and corrupt state construction contracting.

Italy’s industry minister, Claudio Scajola, has already resigned after claims that Anemone paid €900,000 to subsidise the purchase of his luxury Rome flat.

Newspapers said magistrates suspected Sepe and Anemone were involved in furnishing accommodation on Rome’s Via Giulia to Guido Bertolaso, Italy’s powerful civil protection chief.

The case has shed light on the links between Roman politics and the Vatican.

Balducci was a papal usher but was dismissed when the corruption inquiry brought to light his suspected involvement with a Vatican chorister in a male prostitution ring. The Vatican said it hoped the investigation could be wrapped up fast “to eliminate any shadows, be they on the person [Sepe] or church institutions”.

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Is It True That the Miter of the Pope and Bishops Is Patterned After Egyptian Paganism?

To which he proudly answered this:

ANSWER: DEFINITENLY NOT! THE EPISCOPAL MITER OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS TAKEN FROM THE HOLY GARMENTS WORN BY THE HIGH RANKING MINISTERS OF GOD [...]]]> On his blog, Mr Abe Arganiosa posed this question:

Is It True That the Miter of the Pope and Bishops Is Patterned After Egyptian Paganism?

To which he proudly answered this:

ANSWER: DEFINITENLY NOT! THE EPISCOPAL MITER OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS TAKEN FROM THE HOLY GARMENTS WORN BY THE HIGH RANKING MINISTERS OF GOD IN THE TEMPLE AND THE MEETING TENT OF ISRAEL:

He then proceeded to quote bible verses from the book of Exodus that seemed to say that indeed the mitre was used by God’s ancient servants. The verses talked about ceremonies in which the priest wore a headgear. The verses he quoted from the book of Exodus were: 28:4. 28:37, 39:31, 28:39, 29:6, 39:28.

So the assertions of Mr Arganiosa on his blog are:

1. The mitre used by the Catholic church is based on God’s ancient peoples, specifically ancient Israel.
2. The mitre was used by the ancient people of God, ancient Israel.

Let examine Mr Arganiosa’s claims and see if they have some substance.

Abe Arganiosa

A casual check of the verses he quoted revealed that not all bible version render the verse to say “mitre”! Actually a good majority of bible versions render the headgear as “turban”. So, the second assertion of Mr Arganiosa that the people of God in the time of Moses wore a mitre is on a shaky foundation. He should have consulted other versions of the bible to make sure he is right but he obviously did not do this and now he’s in danger of being inadequate in his research. Or maybe he did to intentionally mislead?

The Turban, wound as a "Mitznefet" (left) for the Kohen Gadol and as a "Migba'at" (right) for the ordinary Kohen

What exactly is in the Hebrew rendition of the verses he quoted? Again a cursory check of the bible reveals that the Hebrew word which was translated to both mitre and turban by different version is “mitsnepheth“. Mitsnepheth means a piece of cloth woven around the head.  One has to agree that even today, people in the middle east wear some sort of headgear wrapped around their head to keep the sun and heat away. So it won’t be too far fetched to think that a turban is the most likely headgear used by the early inhabitants of the Middle East. In fact, some Hebrew websites describe the apparel of ancient Hebrews to include a turban.

Clearly, even common sense dictates that the “mitre” quoted by Mr Arganiosa is a turban similar to the graphic at right and is a long piece of cloth wrapped around the head. Now let’s compare this to the mitre used by the Catholic church.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia (newadvent.org):

Mitre of the Catholic Church

The mitre is a kind of folding-cap. It consists of two like parts, each stiffened by a lining and risingto a peak; these are sewn together on the sides, but are united above by a piece of material that can fold together. Two lappets trimmed on the ends with fringe hang down from the back. The mitre is, theoretically, always supposed to be white. The official “Cæremoniale Romanum” distinguishes three kinds of mitres: the mitra pretiosa, auriphrygiata, and simplex. The first two differ from each other only in the greater or less richness of the ornamentation; the mitra simplex, or simple mitre, is one of white silk or white linen entirely without ornament. The fringe on the lappets at the back should be red.

Origin

The pontifical mitre is of Roman origin: it is derived from a non-liturgical head-covering distinctive of the pope, the camelaucum, to which also the tiara is to be traced. The camelaucum was worn as early as the beginning of the eighth century, as is shown by the biography of Pope Constantine I (708- 815) in the “Liber Pontificalis”. The same headcovering is also mentioned in the so-called “Donation of Constantine”. The Ninth Ordo states that the camelaucum was made of white stuff and shaped like a helmet. The coins of Sergius III (904-11) and of Benedict VII (974-83), on which St. Peter is portrayed wearing a camelaucum, give the cap the form of a cone, the original shape of the mitre. The camelaucum was worn by the pope principally during solemn processions. The mitre developed from the camelaucum in this way: in the course of the tenth century the pope began to wear this head-covering not merely during processions to the church, but also during the subsequent church service. Whether any influence was exerted by the recollection of the sacerdotal head-ornament of the high-priest of the Old Testament is not known, but probably not—at least there is no trace of any such influence. It was not until the mitre was universally worn by bishops that it was called an imitation of the Jewish sacerdotal head-ornament.

source: newadvent.org

Need I say more? A folding cap is not at all similar to a long piece of linen cloth wrapped around the head. The Catholic encyclopedia has more than enough information contradicting Mr Arganiosa’s claims. Too bad that Mr Arganiosa seems to not even know the history of his own religion.

To recap, we’ve just established that both of Mr Arganiosa’s claim are not true and also established the following:

1. The mitre used by the Catholic church is not based on the turban used by the ancient people of God.
2. A turban was used by the ancient people of God.

But then we’re still left by the question posed to Mr Arganiosa, which is

Is It True That the Miter of the Pope and Bishops Is Patterned After Egyptian Paganism?

"St". Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, wearing a mitre

As is stated by the Catholic Encyclopedia, the Pope’s mitre is of Roman origin! Read again, Roman origin, NOT Christian origin. It is derived from camelaucum. What is a camelaucum?  Again, the Catholic encyclopedia tells us that the camelaucum was first used  by Pope Constantine during his reign in the 8th century and was part of the supposed donation of Emperor Constantine.

Suffice it to say, we can safely assert with much authority that Mr Arganiosa doesn’t know what he’s talking about and that the mitre used by the Catholic church is of pagan influence.

Ask yourself this: do you think a supposedly Christian religion is well justified in using a pagan instrument in its practices?

He was talking about [...]]]>

Abe Arganiosa

The Roman Catholic priest Abe Arganiosa is a big disappointment. One would expect so much more from a supposedly “learned”, “schooled”, “educated” person. And yet, judging from his blog entries, Mr Arganiosa is all show and no substance. For a view of this amazing let down, read on:

Misinterpretation of Scriptures

He was talking about bible interpretation and claimed the the church, his church the Roman Catholic church is the official interpreter of the bible. Yeah right! To be honest and blunt, there’s not a single Roman Catholic doctrine that is based on the teachings of the bible, let alone the Lord Jesus Christ. And not only are the doctrines of the Roman Catholic church NOT biblical, they go against teachings written in the bible. I’ve already enumerated a few in this blog which have not been refuted by any catholic defender. Let’s name a few:

• Bowing and worshiping idols
• Forbidding to marry
• Commanding to abstain from eating meat

And who can forget the biggest snow job in the history of mankind, the doctrine of the trinity! Their own websites admit and confirm that the trinity doctrine is not biblical, therefore it is an addition and replacement to the teachings of the Apostles.

In Scripture there is as yet no single term by which the Three Divine Persons are denoted together. The word trias (of which the Latin trinitas is a translation) is first found in Theophilus of Antioch about A.D. 180. He speaks of “the Trinity of God [the Father], His Word and His Wisdom (To Autolycus II.15). The term may, of course, have been in use before his time. Afterwards it appears in its Latin form of trinitas in Tertullian (On Pudicity 21). In the next century the word is in general use. It is found in many passages of Origen (“In Ps. xvii”, 15). The first creed in which it appears is that of Origen’s pupil, Gregory Thaumaturgus. In his Ekthesis tes pisteos composed between 260 and 270

newadvent.org

Why the need for saints?

Canonization Ceremony

First, let’s define who saints are and what makes them saints. In particular, catholic “saints”. Catholic saints are another form of a money making scheme developed by the Roman Catholic. If one would look into how someone becomes a saint it would be evident that it involves money. A lot of  this money goes to the Vatican. So basically if you’re foreign to the Vatican Hierarchy, you need to have a lot of money and are willing to spend it if you wanted to be “sainted”. Miguel Arroyo, the Philippine presidents husband is now in the process of making one of his aunts a saint. Let’s hope it doesn’t involve government money intended for the poverty stricken flood victims. But I digress.

Mr Arganiosa mentioned a few names whom he said were saints and said these are not to be set aside. Curious thing is that he did not provide any basis as to why these names are saints and what their role is in the worship of God. Again let’s consult newadvent.org, a catholic website. It says:

Patron Saints – A patron is one who has been assigned by a venerable tradition, or chosen by election, as a special intercessor with God

You read it right! Catholic saints are supposedly “special intercessor” with God, or another “mediator”! A special one at that! Does this agree with the bible? Absolutely not! Here:

For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

As you can read, there is only ONE mediator between God and men, and it is the Lord Jesus Christ. Can anyone be more special than the Saviour? Ask Abe that.

God created Himself?

This has to be the most absurd statement ever made. Mr Arganiosa claims God made himself into a man. This is so wrong in so many points so let’s see a few of them for Mr Arganiosa’s benefit.

• God will not be man because He said so Himself.
• Jesus Christ, whom catholic claim is also God said there is ONLY ONE God the Father in Heaven. So to even think that God became Jesus is absurd.
• Jesus Christ died on the cross. God is immortal

There you go. A few things to answer Abe Arganiosa’s preposterous claims. I sure hope he learns something.
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Christmas Revelry

Millions of people from virtually every country of the world celebrate the holiday season during the Winter Solstice, and this has been true even before Christmas as we now know it existed. Pagans , farmers and common folk celebrated [...]]]> What do people do at Christmas? what else but merry making, eating and drinking!

Christmas Revelry

Saturnalia

Millions of people from virtually every country of the world celebrate the holiday season during the Winter Solstice, and this has been true even before Christmas as we now know it existed. Pagans , farmers and common folk celebrated the coming of spring during ancient times with festivals such as the Roman Saturnalia or rituals such as the Scandinavian Yule Log. These celebrations formed the backbone of holiday traditions that we all follow to this day. 

source:www.christmasrevelry.com

Hard as it may be to believe, I’m not a complete curmudgeon. I sort of like Christmas. The eating, the drinking

source: Tim Hayward, guardian.co.uk

Christmas Party

We all know that the origin of Christmas is pagan. Is this against teachings of the bible? Here’s the verse:

Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.”

There you go. plain and clear.

The Catholic tradition of decorated trees did not come from Christianity as laid out in scriptures but from Norse mythology similar to the eggs and bunny of Easter.

The world tree is an enormous ash that grew in the middle of the world and was sacred to Odin the chief God in Norse paganism. [...]]]> [ad#inline-ad-in-article]

Christmas tree at St Peter's Square

The Catholic tradition of decorated trees did not come from Christianity as laid out in scriptures but from Norse mythology similar to the eggs and bunny of Easter.

The world tree is an enormous ash that grew in the middle of the world and was sacred to Odin the chief God in Norse paganism. The mythical embodiment of the universe, its survival was necessary for the survival of the Aesir world or the Norse Pantheon. Three Norns (trinity!) lived at the foot of this tree who decided the fate of every human being, they were all knowing.

The Christmas tree descends from the world tree, and many of its traditional decorations were adapted from Norse mythology. Candles, and in the age of electricity, Christmas lights symbolizes Thor’s flashing lightnings. Garlands and ribbons are symbols for the rainbow bridge to Asgard. At the top instead of the pagan eagle, the Christmas angel keeps watch; and at the bottom, the Christ child in his crib replaces the Norns as the Christian ‘s arbiter of human destiny. The pagan eagle at the top of the tree fanned the air with his wings which causes winds to blow.

Yggdrail - the World tree

Some writers think the Christmas tree was adopted by Catholics of German descent such as Martin Luther. Legends say that Luther on his way home from a midnight mass saw light reflecting from icicles on a small evergreen tree. He cut down the tree brought it home and decorated it with candles, ribbons and sweets. In the morning, he read religious stories under it. The Christmas tree was first mentioned in 1605 at Strasburg and introduced to France and Englad in 1840.

Even the Catholic Pope John Paul II found it necessary to explain the Catholics’ use of the pagan symbol. Quite supprisingly, his explanation bore a striking similarity to the pagan symbolism. He said the Christmas tree is a symbol of “the tree of life, a figure of Christ, God’s greatest gift to all men.”

Asherah Pole

Tree worship is not unique to Norse mythology nor Catholic tradition, and is one of the oldest form of animism and paganism. It was among the most common form of idolatrous veneration in Ancient Assyria and is a true form of Tree Worship. It would not be hard to believe that this was the same Asherah poles or Grove mentioned frequently in the Bible.

“Be very careful never to make a treaty with the people who live in the land where you are going.
If you do, you will follow their evil ways and be trapped.

Instead, you must break down their pagan altars, smash their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles”

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source:
D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths
Ingri D’Aulaire

Legend of the Christmas Tree
Matuszak, Pat

newadvent.org

Tree and serpent worship
James Ferguson

Goddess worship is found in almost all the [...]]]>

Cybele, Mother Earth

Goddess worship is found in almost all the pagan religions throughout history, including the ancient middle east countries, Egypt, Sumeria and Canaan not to mention India, Europe and Africa. The Goddess has a long history as proven by stone statuettes indicating Goddess worship as early as the Paleolithic ages.

By the time of Jesus’ ministry, the worship of Goddesses such as Artemis and Aphrodite was prevalent in the Middle East, Greece and Rome. The pagan goddess Cybele, or the “Earth Mother/Magna Mater” was brought to Rome to “protect it” from foreign foes. It was also for Cybele where the tradition of procession was observed when the statue was brought from Pessinos to Rome. Under Emperor Augustus, Cybele’s prominence so much so that the emperor restored her temple on Palatine hill, the centermost of the seven hills of Rome. The Basilica di Santa Maria now occupies the spot.

Cybele, also known as Kubile, worship spread from Phrygia now modern day Turkey (think Constantinople) and well into Greece, Rome and neighboring countries. Like the Ephesian Artemis (see Acts 19) Cybele was worshiped in the Roman Empire until the 4th Century well after the death of Christ’s Apostles. Her full Roman name was “Mother of the Gods”. She was deified as a great single parent not only of gods but also of human beings. In 431 at the Council of Ephesus, the devotion tot he Virgin Mary was formally sanctioned by the Catholic church. It was through this council that Mary was declared the “Mother of God”.

Stephen Benko specializes in early Christianity in its pagan environment. In The Virgin Goddess: Studies in the Pagan and Christian Roots of Mariology, he traces the development of the cult of Mary from Greek and Roman mythology through to recent times. Benko avoids anti-Catholic polemics and is sympathetic to the place of the “queen of heaven” in Christianity. That said, he unerringly traces Mary’s roots to the pagan, pre-Christian heavenly queens of Greece, Rome and the wider Mediterranean—those mutable goddesses whose ranks include Artemis, Astarte, Celeste, Ceres, Cybele, Demeter, Diana, Ishtar, Isis and Selene.

Source: The Rise of the Queen of Heaven; vision.org

It is interesting to know that the first basilica dedicated to Mary is located in Ephesus where the ancient pagan goddess of Artemis was worshiped.

Generally accepted today as fact most specially by Catholics is the alleged heresy of Arius. According to most historians, Arius of Alexandria in Egypt held the teaching that Jesus was not co-equal with God the Father, and did not exist in “the beginning”. This teachings was said to cause a dispute with his Bishop, [...]]]> [ad#inline-ad-in-article]

Constantine and pagan god Sol Invictus

Generally accepted today as fact most specially by Catholics is the alleged heresy of Arius. According to most historians, Arius of Alexandria in Egypt held the teaching that Jesus was not co-equal with God the Father, and did not exist in “the beginning”. This teachings was said to cause a dispute with his Bishop, Alexander who believed on the contrary. Historians claim that the dispute boiled over and reached a fever pitch up to the time when Emperor Constantine took control of the empire. Constantine, an astute politician, saw religion as a more powerful unifying factor than force or fear, and least expensive and destructive at that. He knew that to maintain “peace” throughout his empire, this dispute needed to end and to end it is quite simple: find out which side has the majority of adherents and adapt and enforce this side throughout the empire. Emperor Constantin by all accounts is a pagan and did not have the basic understanding of the Christian faith as preached by Jesus and the Apostles themselves.

Council of Nicaea

And so in 325 AD, the pagan Roman Emperor Constantine I convened a council in Nicaea in an effort to attain “consensus” in the church. This council will come to be known as the First Council of Nicaea.

Constantine supposedly “invited” bishops of the “Christian” church, among them were Eusebius of Caesarea and Athanasius of Alexandria. It may not be known how many were in attendance but some historians put the number at more than 1,500 with all expenses paid for by the empire.  The pagan Emperor Constantine was also in attendance in this supposedly “Christian” gathering.

Emperor pope

“Resplendent in purple and gold, Constantine made a ceremonial entrance at the opening of the council, probably in early June, but respectfully seated the bishops ahead of himself.” As Eusebius described, Constantine “himself proceeded through the midst of the assembly, like some heavenly messenger of God, clothed in raiment which glittered as it were with rays of light, reflecting the glowing radiance of a purple robe, and adorned with the brilliant splendor of gold and precious stones.” Constantine organized the Council along the lines of the (pagan)Roman Senate.

source:wikipedia.org, emphasis mine

Who’s the real heretic

Webster.com defines “heretic” as someone who “dissents from an accepted belief or doctrine”. In the case of the council, we can safely assume that Arius was pronounced a heretic before a doctrine was officially accepted. Sneaky.

Destroying evidence!

The First Council of Nicaea’s purpose was supposedly to “create” the first uniform Christian doctrine, which later was to be called the Creed of Nicaea. (This runs contrary to the teachings of the bible! But I digress.) The council supposedly affirmed  the teachings of the Apostles regarding who Christ is; that Christ is the one true God in Deity with the Father. The disagreement started from the church in Alexandria, Egypt over the nature of Jesus.  Alexander of Alexandria and Athanasius his assistant took the position that Jesus was co-equal, and co-eternal with God the Father. Arius on the other hand maintained that Jesus was not eternal and that he was a created being.  The council decided against the Arius and so the doctrine that Jesus was God was created and adopted.

So was Arius really the heretic? Or was it the Catholic “church fathers” and their host, the pagan Emperor Constantine? The answer depends on who you ask.  If you ask the bible it would be very clear who the real “heretic” is. According to the Lord Jesus himself, who is God and who is Jesus.

1 These things Jesus spoke, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said: Father, the hour is come, glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee.  3 Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

source: Douay-Rhimes; emphasis mine

The verse is clear, Jesus said the Father is the only true God. If the Father is the ONLY true God, Jesus cannot be God because if he was he would be talking to another God, which would then contradict his own pronouncement that there is ONLY ONE true God, the Father.

So, who now is the “heretic”?

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Anyway, many RCC say the Orthodox church “split” from [...]]]> The Orthodox church claims to be the “one holy, catholic, apostolic” church. That’s fine and dandy, I guess. Except, the same title is also being claimed by another paganism based religion, the RCC. So, which is the true “one, holy, catholic, apostolic” church? Well, neither.

Anyway, many RCC say the Orthodox church “split” from the RCC. The Orthodox on the other hand say the RCC is the “confused” one which split from them. But whatever the case maybe, by splitting from each other, neither can claim to be the “one” body of Christ. For by claiming to be the “one holy, apostolic” church would be saying the other one is NOT “holy catholic apostolic”.

Therein lies the quandary.

Some catholic defenders contend that the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic church have the same father, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. They also say that the Protestant sects are daughters of the Roman Catholic church. This is of course contrary to scriptures for in the holy book it is clearly stated that the Lord Jesus Christ is the GROOM of the church. As far as the Protestants are concerned, the bible talks of a church that is called the “mother of harlots.” Figure it out yourself.

Besides, the if the founder of the Church is Christ, they it is only logical and reasonable to assume that the name of his (Christ) church be named after him, Christ church or Church of Christ.  It cannot be Roman Catholic church as those names don’t even appear in the bible where the life and ministry of the Lord is chronicled.

Still other catholic defenders could not accept that the church they belong to is not the church founded by Christ. They come up with some mumbo jumbo defeating the pagans so on and so forth. The reality is, the Catholic church was defeated and conquered by paganism. All of the rituals, traditions and practices of the Roman Catholic church and it’s offspring are based on pagan practices, traditions and rituals. For example, Christmas

In the 4th century CE, Catholicism imported the Saturnalia festival hoping to take the pagan masses in with it. Catholic leaders succeeded in converting large numbers of pagans by promising them that they could continue to celebrate the Saturnalia as Catholics.[2]

The problem was that there was nothing intrinsically Christian about Saturnalia. To remedy this, these Catholics leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday