lifesitenews--2020-05-16--Is coronavirus the ‘revenge of nature,’ as Pope Francis says?

May 15 , 2020 ( Tradition , Family , Property ) — In several recent pronouncements , Pope Francis has hinted that the current coronavirus pandemic is a revenge of nature .
In a March 22 interview with Spanish journalist Jordi Évole , Pope Francis was asked whether the present pandemic is not “ a revenge of nature ” ?
1 The pope answered with a popular saying , which he repeats like a theological axiom : “ God forgives always ; we men forgive sometimes ; the nature never forgives.
” He added that “ nature is kicking us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” 2 Speaking to English journalist Austen Ivereigh , of the liberal Catholic London weekly The Tablet , on April 8 , 2020 , Pope Francis repeated the same refrain and , after commenting on various calamities , he said , “ I don ’ t know if these are the revenge of nature , but they are certainly nature ’ s responses.
” 3 “ We Have Sinned Against the Earth : We Need an Ecological Conversion ” The same idea emerges in the special catechesis on the United Nations ’ fiftieth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Because of our selfishness , ” says Pope Francis , “ we have failed in our responsibility to be guardians and stewards of the earth .
... We have sinned against the earth ... And how does the earth react ?
” And he repeated the mantra : “ God forgives always ; we men forgive sometimes ; the earth never forgives .
The earth never forgives : If we have despoiled the earth , the response will be very bad.
” Later on , the pope states , “ We are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Lord !
” Hence , “ in today ’ s celebration of Earth Day , we are called to renew our sense of sacred respect for the earth , for it is not just our home but also God ’ s home.
” But respect is not enough ; it would seem .
“ We need an ecological conversion ” .4 The statement by Pope Francis that the earth “ is not just our home but also God ’ s home ” is imprecise and can lead to pantheist confusion .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ by his power and virtue , fills heaven and earth , and all things contained therein .
...
While he himself is confined to no place .
... he is , however , frequently said in Scripture , to have his dwelling in the heavens.
” * For example , Psalm 123:1 reads , “ To you , I raise my eyes , to you enthroned in heaven.
” The first book of Kings shows God ’ s omnipresence , as He can not be contained in the heavens or on earth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on earth ?
If the heavens and the highest heavens can not contain you , how much less this house which I have built !
” ( 1 Kings 8:27 ) .
The prayer that Our Lord taught us begins precisely with this invocation : “ Our Father who art in heaven , hallowed be thy name ” ( Matt .
6:9 ) .
“ Nature Never Forgives : If You Slap It , It Will Always Slap You Back ” Already in January 2015 , in one of his peculiar airborne interviews @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Philippines , when challenged by a journalist ’ s question about whether climate change was man ’ s fault , the pope answered : “ I don ’ t know if it ’ s all , but mostly , for a large part , man ‘ slaps ’ nature , continually , but we have taken hold of nature , of mother earth .
I remember — you already heard this — what an old peasant once told me : ‘ God always forgives , we men sometimes forgive , nature never forgives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will always slap you back.
’ ” 5 These and other anthropomorphic statements — certainly strange , sometimes unintelligible , and even incongruous — take on meaning when read in the light of Pope Francis ’ s encyclical Laudato Si ’ .
In fact , this encyclical gives us the key to understand other papal pronouncements , acts , gestures , and attitudes6 and , notably , the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia.7 The Earth , Treated as a Living Being In these documents , Pope Francis deals with the earth , nature @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were rational beings , endowed with intelligence , will , and sensibility , just like man .
Laudato Si ’ affirms , for example : “ This sister [ the Earth ] now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her ” ( no .
2 ) .
“ This is why our oppressed and devastated earth is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor ; she ‘ groans in travail @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( no .
2 ) .
Please note the Marxist characterization of the “ poor ” as the “ oppressed.
” The encyclical recommends an ecological approach for one “ to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor ” ( no .
49 ) .
“ These situations have caused sister earth , along with all the abandoned of our world , to cry out , pleading that we take another course ” ( no .
53 ) .
Thus , thanks to these cognitive and volitional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supposedly able to understand man ’ s behavior toward it and make a moral judgment about human acts , finding them good or bad .
Likewise , the earth would feel offended by human actions that it considers evil and take revenge by causing fires , floods , devastation , and pandemics such as the coronavirus .
Earth Day , or Mother Earth Day — celebrated by Pope Francis — is an initiative of the naturalist-pantheist ecologist movement that began in the seventies .
In 2009 , the agnostic United Nations approved it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day , ” as seen on the institution ’ s web site : Resolution Adopted by the General Assembly on April 22 , 2009 [ without reference to a Main Committee ( A/63/L.69 and Add.1 ) ] 63/278 .
International .
... Recognizing that Mother Earth is a common expression for the planet earth in a number of countries and regions , which reflects the interdependence that exists among human beings , other living species and the planet we all inhabit , Noting that Earth Day is observed each year in many countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a message to its web site on April 22 , the latest International Mother Earth Day , that goes in the line of Pope Francis ’ s conceptions : Mother Earth is clearly urging a call to action .
Nature is suffering .
Australian fires , heat records , and the worst locust invasion in Kenya .
Now we face COVID-19 , a worldwide health pandemic link to the health of our ecosystem .
... Let ’ s remind more than ever in this International Mother Earth Day that we need a shift @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for both people and the planet .
Let ’ s promote harmony with nature and the Earth .
Now , is granting the earth faculties of a rational creature and placing it as a judge and avenger of man ’ s actions , not equivalent to divinizing it ?
This divinization of the earth seems to be the “ theological ” underpinning of the ceremonies worshipping the idol of the Pachamama goddess in the Vatican Gardens and Saint Peter ’ s Basilica , the center of Christianity .
Two bishops carried the idol @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Basilica to the Synod Hall .
Pope Francis effectively participated in all these actions.8 By divinizing the earth , Pope Francis changes traditional Church doctrine , which always considered man as the king of corporeal Creation .
Genesis is clear in this regard : “ And God blessed them [ Adam and Eve ] , saying : Increase and multiply , and fill the earth , and subdue it , and rule over the fishes of the sea , and the fowls of the air , and all living creatures that move upon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Fr .
José F. Sagües , S.J.
, in his treatise on God ’ s creation , says with precision : “ Our assertion ... that the world exists because of man and certainly to serve him in order to glorify God , is of divine and Catholic faith , and , if considered in relation to each one of the things that exist in the world , it is a truth that is certain in theology.
” 9 The qualification “ of divine and Catholic faith ” means that this is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the Church to be believed .
To deny it is heresy.10 Fr .
H. Pinard says : “ All [ Church ] Fathers and theologians indeed consider man as the providential crowning of the sensible world : everything is ordained to him since without him things would not fulfill their end ; nature would have no voice to praise God .
... Man was created last , the Fathers [ of the Church ] say , precisely because it was fitting that everything should be ready before introducing the king of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Si ’ , running counter to the text of Genesis and the entire tradition of the Church , Pope Francis states : “ It is true that we Christians have at times incorrectly interpreted the Scriptures , nowadays we must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God ’ s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures ” ( no .
67 ) .
In his documents and statements , the pope consistently presents man , not as the master of nature , of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ uses to give glory to God , but virtually reverses that order .
Man is no longer considered to be the master but the servant of nature .
Man must submit to and obey nature .
With the present pontificate , the ongoing Church crisis rooted in the Modernist heresy and the “ Nouvelle Théologie , ” has reached an unimaginable degree .
With errors and evils attacking the soul more severely than the coronavirus attacks the body , this endangering eternal salvation , the crisis of faith is far worse than the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been taken to mitigate the coronavirus epidemic .
Yet , from a spiritual standpoint , the faithful are left completely unprotected at a time when they most need assistance .
While deifying nature and favoring the idolatrous cult of Pachamama , Pope Francis quickly closed Rome ’ s churches and allowed bishops from all over the world to do the same , suspending public masses and the distribution of the Sacraments .
Why should we have expected anything different , given that , in his encyclical Laudato Si ’ , Pope Francis characterizes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Blood , Soul , and Divinity of Our Lord ) as “ a fragment of matter ” ?
12 He Who Has Faith Will Possess Life Saint Paul declares , “ But we are not among those who draw back and perish , but among those who have faith and will possess life ” ( Heb .
10:39 ) .
Confident in the maternal protection of Mary Most Holy , let us continue to fight for the integrity of the Faith and the restoration of Christian civilization .
• Austen Ivereigh , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ Place of Conversion , ’ ” The Tablet , Apr .
8 , 2020 , https : //www.thetablet.co.uk/features/2/17845/pope-francis-says-pandemic-can-be-a-place-of-conversion .
• Alan Holdren and Andrea Gagliarducci , “ Full transcript of Pope ’ s interview in-flight to Manila , ” Catholic News Agency , Jan. 15 , 2015 , https : //www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/full-transcript-of-popes-interview-in-flight-to-manila-96471 .
• See Arnaldo Vidigal Xavier da Silveira , “ Notes on the Unacceptable Philosophy and Theology of Laudato Si ’ , ” TFP.org , Aug. 2 , 2017 , https : //www.tfp.org/notes-unacceptable-philosophy-theology-laudato-si/ .
• See Luiz Sérgio Solimeo , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Apostolic Exhortation Querida Amazonia , ” TFP.org , Mar .
3 , 2020 , https : //www.tfp.org/resisting-the-grave-errors-in-pope-franciss-apostolic-exhortation-querida-amazonia .
• Pope Francis , Encyclical Laudato Si ’ , May 24 , 2015 , no .
236 , http : //w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html ; see Xavier da Silveira , “ Notes on the Unacceptable Philosophy and Theology of Laudato Si ’ , ”

Pope Francis wants 'sacred respect for the earth,' which is 'not just our home but also God's home.' Do these statements stand up to scrutiny?
May 15, 2020 (Tradition, Family, Property) — In several recent pronouncements, Pope Francis has hinted that the current coronavirus pandemic is a revenge of nature.
“A Revenge of Nature”?
In a March 22 interview with Spanish journalist Jordi Évole, Pope Francis was asked whether the present pandemic is not “a revenge of nature”?1 The pope answered with a popular saying, which he repeats like a theological axiom: “God forgives always; we men forgive sometimes; the nature never forgives.” He added that “nature is kicking us so we can take care of it.”2
Speaking to English journalist Austen Ivereigh, of the liberal Catholic London weekly The Tablet, on April 8, 2020, Pope Francis repeated the same refrain and, after commenting on various calamities, he said, “I don’t know if these are the revenge of nature, but they are certainly nature’s responses.”3
“We Have Sinned Against the Earth: We Need an Ecological Conversion”
The same idea emerges in the special catechesis on the United Nations’ fiftieth Mother Earth Day, April 22.
“Because of our selfishness,” says Pope Francis, “we have failed in our responsibility to be guardians and stewards of the earth. … We have sinned against the earth… And how does the earth react?” And he repeated the mantra: “God forgives always; we men forgive sometimes; the earth never forgives. The earth never forgives: If we have despoiled the earth, the response will be very bad.”
Later on, the pope states, “We are the ones who have ruined the work of the Lord!” Hence, “in today’s celebration of Earth Day, we are called to renew our sense of sacred respect for the earth, for it is not just our home but also God’s home.”
But respect is not enough; it would seem. “We need an ecological conversion”.4
The Earth: “God’s Home”?
The statement by Pope Francis that the earth “is not just our home but also God’s home” is imprecise and can lead to pantheist confusion. Traditional Catholic doctrine says that God, “by his power and virtue, fills heaven and earth, and all things contained therein. … While he himself is confined to no place. … he is, however, frequently said in Scripture, to have his dwelling in the heavens.”*
For example, Psalm 123:1 reads, “To you, I raise my eyes, to you enthroned in heaven.”
The first book of Kings shows God’s omnipresence, as He cannot be contained in the heavens or on earth: “Is God indeed to dwell on earth? If the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you, how much less this house which I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27).
The prayer that Our Lord taught us begins precisely with this invocation: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name” (Matt. 6:9).
(* The Catechism of the Council of Trent, trans. Rev. J. Donovan [Hawthorne, Calif.: The Christian Book Club of America, 1975], 494–5.)
“Nature Never Forgives: If You Slap It, It Will Always Slap You Back”
Already in January 2015, in one of his peculiar airborne interviews, flying from Sri Lanka to the Philippines, when challenged by a journalist’s question about whether climate change was man’s fault, the pope answered: “I don’t know if it’s all, but mostly, for a large part, man ‘slaps’ nature, continually, but we have taken hold of nature, of mother earth. I remember — you already heard this — what an old peasant once told me: ‘God always forgives, we men sometimes forgive, nature never forgives. If you slap it, it will always slap you back.’”5
Encyclical Laudato Si’: The Key to Understanding Pope Francis’s Pontificate
These and other anthropomorphic statements — certainly strange, sometimes unintelligible, and even incongruous — take on meaning when read in the light of Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’.
In fact, this encyclical gives us the key to understand other papal pronouncements, acts, gestures, and attitudes6 and, notably, the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia.7
The Earth, Treated as a Living Being
In these documents, Pope Francis deals with the earth, nature, and the environment as if they were rational beings, endowed with intelligence, will, and sensibility, just like man.
Laudato Si’ affirms, for example: “This sister [the Earth] now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her” (no. 2). “This is why our oppressed and devastated earth is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she ‘groans in travail’” (Rom. 8:22) (no. 2).
Please note the Marxist characterization of the “poor” as the “oppressed.” The encyclical recommends an ecological approach for one “to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” (no. 49). “These situations have caused sister earth, along with all the abandoned of our world, to cry out, pleading that we take another course” (no. 53).
Thus, thanks to these cognitive and volitional faculties and sensitivity, Mother Earth is supposedly able to understand man’s behavior toward it and make a moral judgment about human acts, finding them good or bad. Likewise, the earth would feel offended by human actions that it considers evil and take revenge by causing fires, floods, devastation, and pandemics such as the coronavirus.
Earth Day, or Mother Earth Day — celebrated by Pope Francis — is an initiative of the naturalist-pantheist ecologist movement that began in the seventies. In 2009, the agnostic United Nations approved it as a kind of civil “holy day,” as seen on the institution’s web site:
Resolution Adopted by the General Assembly on April 22, 2009 [without reference to a Main Committee (A/63/L.69 and Add.1)] 63/278. International. …
Recognizing that Mother Earth is a common expression for the planet earth in a number of countries and regions, which reflects the interdependence that exists among human beings, other living species and the planet we all inhabit,
Noting that Earth Day is observed each year in many countries,
Decides to designate April 22 as International Mother Earth Day…
(United Nations General Assembly, “Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 22 April 2009” [without reference to a Main Committee (A/63/L.69 and Add.1)] 63/278, “International Mother Earth Day,” Sixty-third session, Agenda item 49 (d), 08-48747, May 1, 2009, https://undocs.org/A/RES/63/278.)
Moreover, the United Nations posted a message to its web site on April 22, the latest International Mother Earth Day, that goes in the line of Pope Francis’s conceptions:
When Mother Earth Sends Us a Message
Mother Earth is clearly urging a call to action. Nature is suffering. Australian fires, heat records, and the worst locust invasion in Kenya. Now we face COVID-19, a worldwide health pandemic link to the health of our ecosystem. … Let’s remind more than ever in this International Mother Earth Day that we need a shift to a more sustainable economy that works for both people and the planet. Let’s promote harmony with nature and the Earth.
(United Nations, accessed May 6, 2020, https://www.un.org/en/observances/earth-day)
Divinizing the Earth
Now, is granting the earth faculties of a rational creature and placing it as a judge and avenger of man’s actions, not equivalent to divinizing it?
This divinization of the earth seems to be the “theological” underpinning of the ceremonies worshipping the idol of the Pachamama goddess in the Vatican Gardens and Saint Peter’s Basilica, the center of Christianity. Two bishops carried the idol on their shoulders in procession from the Basilica to the Synod Hall. Pope Francis effectively participated in all these actions.8
Raising Pachamama and Dethroning Man
By divinizing the earth, Pope Francis changes traditional Church doctrine, which always considered man as the king of corporeal Creation.
Genesis is clear in this regard: “And God blessed them [Adam and Eve], saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth” (Gen. 1:28).
Fr. José F. Sagües, S.J., in his treatise on God’s creation, says with precision: “Our assertion … that the world exists because of man and certainly to serve him in order to glorify God, is of divine and Catholic faith, and, if considered in relation to each one of the things that exist in the world, it is a truth that is certain in theology.”9
The qualification “of divine and Catholic faith” means that this is a truth revealed by God and proposed by the Church to be believed. To deny it is heresy.10
Fr. H. Pinard says: “All [Church] Fathers and theologians indeed consider man as the providential crowning of the sensible world: everything is ordained to him since without him things would not fulfill their end; nature would have no voice to praise God. … Man was created last, the Fathers [of the Church] say, precisely because it was fitting that everything should be ready before introducing the king of the universe.”11
In the encyclical Laudato Si’, running counter to the text of Genesis and the entire tradition of the Church, Pope Francis states: “It is true that we Christians have at times incorrectly interpreted the Scriptures, nowadays we must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures” (no. 67).
In his documents and statements, the pope consistently presents man, not as the master of nature, of the sensible world, a condition which man uses to give glory to God, but virtually reverses that order. Man is no longer considered to be the master but the servant of nature. Man must submit to and obey nature.
Worse Than the Coronavirus Pandemic
With the present pontificate, the ongoing Church crisis rooted in the Modernist heresy and the “Nouvelle Théologie,” has reached an unimaginable degree. With errors and evils attacking the soul more severely than the coronavirus attacks the body, this endangering eternal salvation, the crisis of faith is far worse than the current pandemic.
Drastic sanitary measures have been taken to mitigate the coronavirus epidemic. Yet, from a spiritual standpoint, the faithful are left completely unprotected at a time when they most need assistance.
While deifying nature and favoring the idolatrous cult of Pachamama, Pope Francis quickly closed Rome’s churches and allowed bishops from all over the world to do the same, suspending public masses and the distribution of the Sacraments.
Why should we have expected anything different, given that, in his encyclical Laudato Si’, Pope Francis characterizes the Holy Eucharist (the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord) as “a fragment of matter”?12
He Who Has Faith Will Possess Life
Saint Paul declares, “But we are not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have faith and will possess life” (Heb. 10:39).
Confident in the maternal protection of Mary Most Holy, let us continue to fight for the integrity of the Faith and the restoration of Christian civilization.
Published with permission from Tradition, Family, Property.
Footnotes
In the original Spanish, “ajuste de cuentas de la naturaleza.” “‘Espero que los Pueblos Aprendan de la Crisis para Revisar Sus Vidas,’ Dice el Papa a Jordi Évole,” Religión en Libertad, Mar. 23, 2020, https://www.religionenlibertad.com/noticias/197972338/Espero-que-los-pueblos-aprendan-de-la-crisis-para-revisar-sus-vidas-dice-el-Papa-a-Jordi-Evole.html. (All emphases are mine). Austen Ivereigh, “Pope Francis Says Pandemic Can Be a ‘Place of Conversion,’” The Tablet, Apr. 8, 2020, https://www.thetablet.co.uk/features/2/17845/pope-francis-says-pandemic-can-be-a-place-of-conversion. Pope Francis, “General Audience,” Apr. 22, 2020, https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2020/04/22/200422a.html. Alan Holdren and Andrea Gagliarducci, “Full transcript of Pope’s interview in-flight to Manila,” Catholic News Agency, Jan. 15, 2015, https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/full-transcript-of-popes-interview-in-flight-to-manila-96471. See Arnaldo Vidigal Xavier da Silveira, “Notes on the Unacceptable Philosophy and Theology of Laudato Si’,” TFP.org, Aug. 2, 2017, https://www.tfp.org/notes-unacceptable-philosophy-theology-laudato-si/. See Luiz Sérgio Solimeo, “Resisting the Grave Errors in Pope Francis’s Apostolic Exhortation Querida Amazonia,” TFP.org, Mar. 3, 2020, https://www.tfp.org/resisting-the-grave-errors-in-pope-franciss-apostolic-exhortation-querida-amazonia. See Luiz Sergio Solimeo, “Having Worshipped Pachamama, Pope Francis Now Disparages Mary’s Co-Redeeming Role,” TFP.org, Dec. 23, 2019, https://www.tfp.org/having-worshipped-pachamama-pope-francis-now-disparages-marys-co-redeeming-role/. Fr. José F. Sagües, S.J., “De Deo Creante et elevante,” Sacrae Theologiae Summa, vol. II, tr. II, no. 204. See Fr. Sixtus Cartechini, S.J., De Valore Notarum Theologicarum (Rome: Typos Pontificiae Universitatis Gregoriane, 1951; Sainte Croix du Mont, France: TRADIBOOKS, n.d.), 83. s.v. “Création,” in Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique, vol. III, col. 2172. Pope Francis, Encyclical Laudato Si’, May 24, 2015, no. 236, https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html; see Xavier da Silveira, “Notes on the Unacceptable Philosophy and Theology of Laudato Si’,”
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lifesitenews--2020-05-16--US bishop reverses plan to ban Communion on tongue as churches reopen

LAFAYETTE , Louisiana , May 15 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – Bishop Douglas Deshotel has revised his decision to allow only reception of the Eucharist in the hand amid the coronavirus pandemic .
He credited guidelines issued by the Thomistic Institute for correcting his previous decision .
“ [ I ] f anyone desires to receive communion on the tongue they may certainly do so with every precaution taken not to make contact between the minister and the communicant , ” the head of the Diocese of Lafayette , Louisiana , wrote on May 12 .
Deshotel had previously @ @ @ @ @ @ @ implementation of Phase I of Democratic governor John Bel Edwards ’ s plan to reopen the state of Louisiana .
The diocesan directives allowed for indoor Masses at a “ maximum 25 % occupancy rate of each church , social distancing at all times , and hygiene precautions , ” the diocese wrote on its website .
In his May 12 letter , the bishop told all priests and deacons of his diocese that he wanted “ to make a clarification on the guidelines for the distribution of Holy Communion as we begin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Churches of the Diocese.
” Whereas before , he had written , “ Holy Communion on the tongue is discontinued until health conditions improve , ” he now pointed out this was stated “ out of an abundance of caution in preventing contamination and before the ruling of the [ United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ] was issued.
” “ Every Catholic has a right to receive Holy Communion in the most reverent way they deem , in the hand or on the tongue , ” Bishop Deshotel emphasized .
On April @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hartford , Connecticut , in his position as the chairman of the USCCB ’ s Committee on Divine Worship , sent a memorandum to all bishops , suggesting they use guidelines prepared by the Thomistic Institute , which is part of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington , D.C .
According to the Thomistic Institute , receiving Holy Communion directly on the tongue is possible “ without unreasonable risk.
” “ Opinions on this point are varied within the medical and scientific community : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ involves an elevated and , in the light of all the circumstances , an unreasonable risk ; others disagree , ” the document pointed out .
“ If Communion on the tongue is provided , one could consider using hand sanitizer after each communicant who receives on the tongue.
” Urgent appeal to the bishops of the world : Feed your flock !
Sign the petition here .
The guidelines specifically referred to Redemptionis Sacramentum , an instruction published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in 2004 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue.
” Popular blogger Fr .
John Zuhlsdorf praised Deshotel “ for having the backbone to move from his previous position.
” Several other bishops in the United States , but also in other countries , continue to maintain that only the reception of Communion in the hand is possible .
Bishop Richard F. Stika of Knoxville , Tennessee confirmed in a tweet that the priests of his diocese “ will not give Communion on the tongue as per @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said that if the person wanting to receive Holy Communion on the tongue “ makes a scene , ” then “ they will be asked to leave and not permitted to return [ until ] this passes.
” “ You are dispensed from Mass or you may attend Mass and not receive the Eucharist , ” he wrote .
“ You have two options .
You have not option to possibility [ sic ] spread the infection .
”

Bp. Douglas Deshotel had 'discontinued' Communion on the tongue in his diocese but reversed course after a ruling from the U.S. bishops' conference.
LAFAYETTE, Louisiana, May 15, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Bishop Douglas Deshotel has revised his decision to allow only reception of the Eucharist in the hand amid the coronavirus pandemic. He credited guidelines issued by the Thomistic Institute for correcting his previous decision.
“[I]f anyone desires to receive communion on the tongue they may certainly do so with every precaution taken not to make contact between the minister and the communicant,” the head of the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana, wrote on May 12.
Deshotel had previously sent directives to all parishes regarding the implementation of Phase I of Democratic governor John Bel Edwards’s plan to reopen the state of Louisiana. The diocesan directives allowed for indoor Masses at a “maximum 25% occupancy rate of each church, social distancing at all times, and hygiene precautions,” the diocese wrote on its website.
In his May 12 letter, the bishop told all priests and deacons of his diocese that he wanted “to make a clarification on the guidelines for the distribution of Holy Communion as we begin to implement Phase I of reopening the Churches of the Diocese.”
Whereas before, he had written, “Holy Communion on the tongue is discontinued until health conditions improve,” he now pointed out this was stated “out of an abundance of caution in preventing contamination and before the ruling of the [United States Conference of Catholic Bishops] was issued.”
“Every Catholic has a right to receive Holy Communion in the most reverent way they deem, in the hand or on the tongue,” Bishop Deshotel emphasized.
On April 30, Archbishop Leonard P. Blair of Hartford, Connecticut, in his position as the chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Divine Worship, sent a memorandum to all bishops, suggesting they use guidelines prepared by the Thomistic Institute, which is part of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.
According to the Thomistic Institute, receiving Holy Communion directly on the tongue is possible “without unreasonable risk.”
“Opinions on this point are varied within the medical and scientific community: some believe that Communion on the tongue involves an elevated and, in the light of all the circumstances, an unreasonable risk; others disagree,” the document pointed out. “If Communion on the tongue is provided, one could consider using hand sanitizer after each communicant who receives on the tongue.”
Urgent appeal to the bishops of the world: Feed your flock! Sign the petition here.
The guidelines specifically referred to Redemptionis Sacramentum, an instruction published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in 2004. According to the document, “each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue.”
Popular blogger Fr. John Zuhlsdorf praised Deshotel “for having the backbone to move from his previous position.”
Several other bishops in the United States, but also in other countries, continue to maintain that only the reception of Communion in the hand is possible.
Bishop Richard F. Stika of Knoxville, Tennessee confirmed in a tweet that the priests of his diocese “will not give Communion on the tongue as per my instruction.” Beyond that, he said that if the person wanting to receive Holy Communion on the tongue “makes a scene,” then “they will be asked to leave and not permitted to return [until] this passes.”
“You are dispensed from Mass or you may attend Mass and not receive the Eucharist,” he wrote. “You have two options. You have not option to possibility [sic] spread the infection.”
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lifesitenews--2020-05-16--Hundreds of faith leaders urge Congress to protect them from COVID-19 lawsuits

WASHINGTON , D.C. , May 15 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) — First Liberty Institute informed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday that faith leaders representing millions of believers in the United States fear “ a swarm of lawsuits blaming houses of worship and religious ministries for any person who attended a religious gathering or received food or shelter from a charity or ministry and subsequently contracted COVID-19.
” The legal organization urged Congress to protect groups of believers from lawsuits related to the coronavirus and the manifold orders currently in place .
The statement was accompanied by a letter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signed by hundreds of religious and conservative leaders , including Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council , Fr .
Frank Pavone of Priests for Life , radio host Eric Metaxas , and Protestant preacher Franklin Graham .
While First Liberty Institute , as a law firm , is convinced that “ these lawsuits should eventually prove meritless , ” religious organizations would still have to pay enormous amounts of money to get to that point .
“ Many of the same religious organizations who rushed to provide aid and comfort to those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ financially .
And a wave of lawsuits would force many to cease their operations , whether due to the cost of litigation , or the mere specter of it.
” PETITION : Tell politicians not to discriminate against churches when reopening society Sign the petition here .
First Liberty Institute suggested that there is a “ legitimate concern that some people — and their lawyers — will cherry pick certain guidelines from around the nation in order to assign liability to religious organizations.
” “ They might claim that a religious organization or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it did not follow a single recommendation buried deep within a set of guidelines , ” the statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee pointed out .
“ Or they might claim that , even though the religious organization or house of worship was careful to follow all relevant guidelines and orders , it is nonetheless negligent because it did not follow a more stringent guideline issued in a town a thousand miles away.
” The letter to members of Congress echoed those fears .
“ We must not permit religious organizations to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a food pantry in Wyoming did not follow an artificial amalgamation of every guideline from Washington to Florida , ” the faith leaders wrote by way of example .
“ And even if the courts agree , ” they continued , “ the number of lawsuits attempting to apply that artificial standard may shut down the food pantry long before it has a chance of winning its casein court .
Indeed , the mere threat of litigation may cause many religious organizations to remain closed far beyond what is necessary.
” The letter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ next iteration of COVID-19 economic relief legislation immunity for religious organizations from negligence suits resulting from their serving the public or reopening in accordance with local orders.
” Similar protections are already in place for medical professionals and certain other groups .
“ Providing this reasonable measure of protection to religious organizations and houses of worship in America will ensure that they can continue performing their vital functions of serving Americans and ministering to all of our spiritual and physical needs , ” both the statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Without this protection , ” the document continued , “ many ministries may feel that they can not reopen because a lawyer may claim that they are negligent in not following the standards of another industry or even another state .
And some of those who do open may find themselves facing the very lawsuits we fear.
” Kelly Shackelford , president of Texas-based First Liberty Counsel , said , “ Churches , synagogues , and America ’ s houses of worship have provided critical care , comfort , and calm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by a worldwide pandemic.
” With some governors already opening up their states , “ Congress should provide America ’ s houses of worship the assurance that America ’ s faith communities can continue to be good Samaritans to the oppressed and the downtrodden.
” The statement and letter did not refer to the First Amendment or religious freedom .
Most lawsuits filed in recent weeks had argued that limiting religious gatherings in size , if not outright banning them , violates the First Amendment .
Those lawsuits always emphasized that social distancing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hygiene would be implemented .
In addition to lawsuits , religious leaders in several states have demanded from their governors to change executive orders imposing more severe restrictions on worship services , which are theoretically fully protected by the First Amendment , than on grocery stores .
Last week , hundreds of pastors in California announced plans to defy Democratic governor Gavin Newsom ’ s executive orders deeming religious gatherings nonessential .
In an open letter to the governor , they “ declared their intent to begin holding in-person church services beginning on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In Massachusetts , 260 pastors told pro-abortion Republican governor Charlie Baker on May 7 that religious institutions are , in fact , essential .
“ It is also clear that church is essential under both our state and federal Constitutions , ” they wrote in their letter .
In Virginia , almost 200 pastors asked Democratic Governor Ralph Northam to revise executive orders limiting religious gatherings to ten people .
“ The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a hospital for the spiritually sick , ” the religious leaders wrote .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 10 people have been banned in Virginia since March 23 , regardless of the public-health protocols in place and notwithstanding that groups are permitted to gather in settings such as non-retail offices and ‘ essential ’ retail businesses.
” At the same time , the federal Department of Justice ( DOJ ) is supporting the case of Lighthouse Fellowship , a Protestant community in Chincoteague , Virginia , that was served a summons for holding worship services amid the coronavirus pandemic .
In a Statement of Interest filed in early May , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ position to take necessary and temporary measures to meet genuine emergencies .
However , “ there is no pandemic exception to the Constitution and its Bill of Rights .
”

Faith leaders worry that they'll be sued for helping people if someone claims to have contracted the coronavirus while having worked with them.
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 15, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — First Liberty Institute informed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday that faith leaders representing millions of believers in the United States fear “a swarm of lawsuits blaming houses of worship and religious ministries for any person who attended a religious gathering or received food or shelter from a charity or ministry and subsequently contracted COVID-19.”
The legal organization urged Congress to protect groups of believers from lawsuits related to the coronavirus and the manifold orders currently in place.
The statement was accompanied by a letter to members of Congress, which was signed by hundreds of religious and conservative leaders, including Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, radio host Eric Metaxas, and Protestant preacher Franklin Graham.
While First Liberty Institute, as a law firm, is convinced that “these lawsuits should eventually prove meritless,” religious organizations would still have to pay enormous amounts of money to get to that point.
“Many of the same religious organizations who rushed to provide aid and comfort to those affected by COVID-19 now find themselves struggling financially. And a wave of lawsuits would force many to cease their operations, whether due to the cost of litigation, or the mere specter of it.”
PETITION: Tell politicians not to discriminate against churches when reopening society Sign the petition here.
First Liberty Institute suggested that there is a “legitimate concern that some people — and their lawyers — will cherry pick certain guidelines from around the nation in order to assign liability to religious organizations.”
“They might claim that a religious organization or a house of worship was negligent because it did not follow a single recommendation buried deep within a set of guidelines,” the statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee pointed out.
“Or they might claim that, even though the religious organization or house of worship was careful to follow all relevant guidelines and orders, it is nonetheless negligent because it did not follow a more stringent guideline issued in a town a thousand miles away.”
The letter to members of Congress echoed those fears.
“We must not permit religious organizations to be blamed or held liable for negligence because a food pantry in Wyoming did not follow an artificial amalgamation of every guideline from Washington to Florida,” the faith leaders wrote by way of example.
“And even if the courts agree,” they continued, “the number of lawsuits attempting to apply that artificial standard may shut down the food pantry long before it has a chance of winning its casein court. Indeed, the mere threat of litigation may cause many religious organizations to remain closed far beyond what is necessary.”
The letter urged legislators to “include in the next iteration of COVID-19 economic relief legislation immunity for religious organizations from negligence suits resulting from their serving the public or reopening in accordance with local orders.”
Similar protections are already in place for medical professionals and certain other groups.
“Providing this reasonable measure of protection to religious organizations and houses of worship in America will ensure that they can continue performing their vital functions of serving Americans and ministering to all of our spiritual and physical needs,” both the statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee and the letter to members of Congress pointed out.
“Without this protection,” the document continued, “many ministries may feel that they cannot reopen because a lawyer may claim that they are negligent in not following the standards of another industry or even another state. And some of those who do open may find themselves facing the very lawsuits we fear.”
Kelly Shackelford, president of Texas-based First Liberty Counsel, said, “Churches, synagogues, and America’s houses of worship have provided critical care, comfort, and calm in the midst of the uncertainty caused by a worldwide pandemic.”
With some governors already opening up their states, “Congress should provide America’s houses of worship the assurance that America’s faith communities can continue to be good Samaritans to the oppressed and the downtrodden.”
The statement and letter did not refer to the First Amendment or religious freedom.
Most lawsuits filed in recent weeks had argued that limiting religious gatherings in size, if not outright banning them, violates the First Amendment. Those lawsuits always emphasized that social distancing measures and other ways to ensure proper hygiene would be implemented.
In addition to lawsuits, religious leaders in several states have demanded from their governors to change executive orders imposing more severe restrictions on worship services, which are theoretically fully protected by the First Amendment, than on grocery stores.
Last week, hundreds of pastors in California announced plans to defy Democratic governor Gavin Newsom’s executive orders deeming religious gatherings nonessential. In an open letter to the governor, they “declared their intent to begin holding in-person church services beginning on Sunday, May 31, 2020.”
In Massachusetts, 260 pastors told pro-abortion Republican governor Charlie Baker on May 7 that religious institutions are, in fact, essential. “It is also clear that church is essential under both our state and federal Constitutions,” they wrote in their letter.
In Virginia, almost 200 pastors asked Democratic Governor Ralph Northam to revise executive orders limiting religious gatherings to ten people. “The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a hospital for the spiritually sick,” the religious leaders wrote. “Yet corporate worship services of more than 10 people have been banned in Virginia since March 23, regardless of the public-health protocols in place and notwithstanding that groups are permitted to gather in settings such as non-retail offices and ‘essential’ retail businesses.”
At the same time, the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) is supporting the case of Lighthouse Fellowship, a Protestant community in Chincoteague, Virginia, that was served a summons for holding worship services amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In a Statement of Interest filed in early May, the DOJ explained that governments are in a position to take necessary and temporary measures to meet genuine emergencies. However, “there is no pandemic exception to the Constitution and its Bill of Rights.”
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lifesitenews--2020-05-16--Hero priest who ‘thundered’ against abortion remembered at Canada’s March for Life

TORONTO , May 15 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) — The late Fr .
Alphonse de Valk was a “ modern-day prophet ” who “ thundered ” against abortion , denounced sin as an “ obstacle to God ’ s will , ” and was a “ godsend ” to Canada ’ s fledgling pro-life movement who always found the right words to lift the spirits of beleaguered pro-lifers .
Those were among tributes paid during the Virtual March for Life ’ s Wednesday broadcast of a memorial Mass for the Basilian priest , a longtime mainstay of the Canadian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ age 88 .
Campaign Life Coalition , Canada ’ s national pro-life , pro-family political lobbying group , dedicated its 23rd annual March for Life , which had been moved online because of coronavirus pandemic restrictions , to Fr .
de Valk .
He was , in fact , a driving force behind Campaign Life taking on the organizing of an annual March for Life , said Campaign Life president emeritus Jim Hughes in a video tribute .
“ He was a man who didn ’ t take no for an answer , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the March for Life in Washington , goaded me into starting a National March for Life in Canada , it was Fr .
Al who said , ‘ Come on , we can do this , ’ so away we went.
” The rally on Parliament Hill and march through the streets of Ottawa has since become Canada ’ s biggest annual pro-life event , and marks May 14 , 1969 , when the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau , father of the current prime minister , passed an omnibus bill that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Hughes recalled hiring Fr .
de Valk to run the Interim in 1983 , the beginning of 30 years working alongside the Basilian in the pro-life movement .
Fr .
de Valk , who had a master ’ s in history and had taught at St. Thomas More College at the University of Saskatoon , and had been principal of St. Joseph ’ s College at the University of Alberta in Edmonton , subsequently felt it was necessary to “ dwell more on the Catholic issues , ” and with Hughes ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ He was a man dedicated to the lives of the unborn , ” and his pride in his priesthood was such that “ he wanted to imbue everyone with this whole sense of who God was and the love of God for all of us , ” Hughes said .
“ At our annual national and Ontario conference weekends , Fr .
Al would celebrate Mass and his homilies were just so absolutely beautiful they frequently were the focal point of the whole weekend.
” That was echoed by Steve Jalsevac , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fr .
de Valk would find in his homilies “ just the right thing to encourage us , take away our fears , lift our spirits and trust that we were doing the most important work in the world.
” Fr .
Ian Boyd , fellow Basilian and professor emeritus at Seton Hall University , described his late brother priest as a “ modern-day prophet.
” “ A prophet , in the biblical sense , is a providential instrument sent by God for the guidance of his people , and that ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a leading spokesman in defense of unborn life , ” said Fr .
Boyd , one of the original founders of Campaign Life .
“ I think like all prophets he thundered against a crime which modern society no longer recognized as being criminal , ” he added .
“ He was haunted by the idea of sin as an obstacle to the will of God .
He was , in that sense , a priest who had the uncomfortable role of speaking truths that people in contemporary society did not want to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ a godsend to CLC , and to Canada , and to LifeSite , with his vast historical knowledge and his ability to churn out exceptionally well-researched , hard-hitting articles faster than anyone I ’ ve ever known , ” noted Jalsevac .
“ I worked with this irascible , stubborn and yet also kind and generous Dutchman — I ’ m half Dutch so I know what that ’ s about — from the time he first became involved with Campaign Life Coalition in the 1980s , ” he recalled .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boisterous disagreements , but you know , that character was also a gift from God for him and for us , ” observed Jalsevac .
“ It gave him the strength to persevere in fighting the incredibly difficult battles that only a person with such a determined character could continue to face each day , without crumbling or giving in to the strong temptation to take the easy way of compromise.
” Campaign Life relied on Fr .
de Valk for guidance and advice , and he “ agonized over many of these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was making the correct recommendations.
” But he “ never denied Christ to even the slightest degree in his writings and political and other strategy recommendations , ” Jalsevac said .
“ He did not care what man thought but only what God would think.
” Former Campaign Life staffer Fr .
Louis Di Rocco celebrated the Mass on May 2 , the Feast of St. Athanasius , at St. Ann ’ s Parish in Ancaster , with Fr .
Wayne Lobsinger and Fr .
Gregory Merkley concelebrating .
While Fr .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ historian and writer , his “ essential identity was that of a Catholic priest , ” Fr .
Di Rocco said in his homily .
“ He related everything to his great faith , and its unchangeable truths , ” noted Fr .
Di Rocco .
“ It was his priestly identity , united to his keen intellect , as well as his stamina and perseverance , that bore so much fruit.
” The Virtual March for Life broadcast of the memorial Mass was followed by the Virtual Candlelight vigil , hosted by @ @ @ @ @ @ @

TORONTO, May 15, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — The late Fr. Alphonse de Valk was a “modern-day prophet” who “thundered” against abortion, denounced sin as an “obstacle to God’s will,” and was a “godsend” to Canada’s fledgling pro-life movement who always found the right words to lift the spirits of beleaguered pro-lifers.
Those were among tributes paid during the Virtual March for Life’s Wednesday broadcast of a memorial Mass for the Basilian priest, a longtime mainstay of the Canadian pro-life movement who died April 16 at age 88.
Campaign Life Coalition, Canada’s national pro-life, pro-family political lobbying group, dedicated its 23rd annual March for Life, which had been moved online because of coronavirus pandemic restrictions, to Fr. de Valk.
He was, in fact, a driving force behind Campaign Life taking on the organizing of an annual March for Life, said Campaign Life president emeritus Jim Hughes in a video tribute.
“He was a man who didn’t take no for an answer, so when Nellie Gray, the founder of the March for Life in Washington, goaded me into starting a National March for Life in Canada, it was Fr. Al who said, ‘Come on, we can do this,’ so away we went.”
The rally on Parliament Hill and march through the streets of Ottawa has since become Canada’s biggest annual pro-life event, and marks May 14, 1969, when the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau, father of the current prime minister, passed an omnibus bill that opened the door to abortion on demand.
Hughes recalled hiring Fr. de Valk to run the Interim in 1983, the beginning of 30 years working alongside the Basilian in the pro-life movement.
Fr. de Valk, who had a master’s in history and had taught at St. Thomas More College at the University of Saskatoon, and had been principal of St. Joseph’s College at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, subsequently felt it was necessary to “dwell more on the Catholic issues,” and with Hughes’s support, started Catholic Insight.
“He was a man dedicated to the lives of the unborn,” and his pride in his priesthood was such that “he wanted to imbue everyone with this whole sense of who God was and the love of God for all of us,” Hughes said.
“At our annual national and Ontario conference weekends, Fr. Al would celebrate Mass and his homilies were just so absolutely beautiful they frequently were the focal point of the whole weekend.”
That was echoed by Steve Jalsevac, co-founder of LifeSiteNews, who recalled that Fr. de Valk would find in his homilies “just the right thing to encourage us, take away our fears, lift our spirits and trust that we were doing the most important work in the world.”
Fr. Ian Boyd, fellow Basilian and professor emeritus at Seton Hall University, described his late brother priest as a “modern-day prophet.”
“A prophet, in the biblical sense, is a providential instrument sent by God for the guidance of his people, and that’s what Fr. de Valk did as a leading spokesman in defense of unborn life,” said Fr. Boyd, one of the original founders of Campaign Life.
“I think like all prophets he thundered against a crime which modern society no longer recognized as being criminal,” he added.
“He was haunted by the idea of sin as an obstacle to the will of God. He was, in that sense, a priest who had the uncomfortable role of speaking truths that people in contemporary society did not want to hear.”
Fr. de Valk was “a godsend to CLC, and to Canada, and to LifeSite, with his vast historical knowledge and his ability to churn out exceptionally well-researched, hard-hitting articles faster than anyone I’ve ever known,” noted Jalsevac.
“I worked with this irascible, stubborn and yet also kind and generous Dutchman — I’m half Dutch so I know what that’s about — from the time he first became involved with Campaign Life Coalition in the 1980s,” he recalled.
“His character certainly created challenges and often boisterous disagreements, but you know, that character was also a gift from God for him and for us,” observed Jalsevac.
“It gave him the strength to persevere in fighting the incredibly difficult battles that only a person with such a determined character could continue to face each day, without crumbling or giving in to the strong temptation to take the easy way of compromise.”
Campaign Life relied on Fr. de Valk for guidance and advice, and he “agonized over many of these complex decisions in order to ensure that he was making the correct recommendations.”
But he “never denied Christ to even the slightest degree in his writings and political and other strategy recommendations,” Jalsevac said. “He did not care what man thought but only what God would think.”
Former Campaign Life staffer Fr. Louis Di Rocco celebrated the Mass on May 2, the Feast of St. Athanasius, at St. Ann’s Parish in Ancaster, with Fr. Wayne Lobsinger and Fr. Gregory Merkley concelebrating.
While Fr. de Valk was an “excellent” historian and writer, his “essential identity was that of a Catholic priest,” Fr. Di Rocco said in his homily.
“He related everything to his great faith, and its unchangeable truths,” noted Fr. Di Rocco. “It was his priestly identity, united to his keen intellect, as well as his stamina and perseverance, that bore so much fruit.”
The Virtual March for Life broadcast of the memorial Mass was followed by the Virtual Candlelight vigil, hosted by A Guy and A Girl ministry.
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lifesitenews--2020-05-16--EXCLUSIVE: Virus researchers uncover new evidence implying COVID-19 was created in a lab

May 16 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – A team of Australian scientists has produced new evidence that the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is optimized for penetration into human cells rather than animal cells , undermining the theory that the virus randomly evolved in an animal subject before passing into human beings , and suggesting instead that it was developed in a laboratory .
The study , which has not yet been peer reviewed , provides new but not yet conclusive evidence favoring the theory that the novel coronavirus originated not in a food market as has been claimed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presumably one operated by the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan , China , the city in which the first outbreak of COVID-19 occurred in December of 2019 .
The lead researcher on the team says that the results represent either “ a remarkable coincidence or a sign of human intervention ” in the creation of the virus .
The authors of the study , led by vaccine researcher Nikolai Petrovsky of Flinders University in Australia , used a version of the novel coronavirus collected in the earliest days of the outbreak and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to bind to certain cell receptor enzymes , called “ ACE2 , ” that allow the virus to infect human and animal cells to varying degrees of efficacy .
They tested the propensity of the COVID-19 virus ’ s spike protein , which it uses to enter cells , to bind to the human type of ACE2 as well as to many different animal versions of ACE2 , and found that the novel coronavirus most powerfully binds with human ACE2 , and with variously lesser degrees of effectiveness with animal versions of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s authors , this implies that the virus that causes COVID-19 did not come from an animal intermediary , but became specialized for human cell penetration by living previously in human cells , quite possibly in a laboratory .
The authors write that “ this finding is particularly surprising as , typically , a virus would be expected to have highest affinity for the receptor in its original host species , e.g .
bat , with a lower initial binding affinity for the receptor of any new host , e.g .
humans .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ affinity of SARS-CoV-2 is higher for humans than for the putative original host species , bats , or for any potential intermediary host species.
” As a consequence , they add , a “ possibility which still can not be excluded is that SARSCoV-2 was created by a recombination event that occurred inadvertently or consciously in a laboratory handling coronaviruses , with the new virus then accidentally released into the local human population.
” In a separate public statement about the research made by Prof. Petrovsky on April 17 , the researcher notes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ either `` a remarkable coincidence or a sign of human intervention , ” and adds that it is “ entirely plausible that the virus was created in the biosecurity facility in Wuhan by selection on cells expressing human ACE2 , a laboratory that was known to be cultivating exotic bat coronaviruses at the time.
” “ If so the cultured virus could have escaped the facility either through accidental infection of a staff member who then visited the fish market several blocks away and there infected others , or by inappropriate disposal of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ humans outside the facility directly or via a susceptible vector such as a stray cat that then frequented the market and resulted in transmission there to humans , ” he added .
The researchers recognize that other possibilities exist , but regard them as improbable .
They found that the novel coronavirus has a strong , but lesser binding effect on the ACE2 receptor of Pangolins , which are mammals eaten in China as a delicacy which has often been proposed as the intermediary of the novel coronavirus between bats and humans .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ doesn ’ t offer a reasonable candidate for an intermediate species for human transmission , because “ given the higher affinity of [ the novel coronavirus ] SARS-CoV-2 for human ACE2 than for bat ACE2 , SARS-CoV-2 would have to have circulated in pangolins for a long period of time for this evolution and selection to occur and to date there is no evidence of a SARS-CoV-2 like virus circulating in pangolins.
” A preliminary form of the study , which is currently entitled , “ In silico comparison of spike protein-ACE2 binding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ possible origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus , ” has been published on a repository site maintained by Cornell University , which warns that studies published prior to peer review should not be considered “ established information ” unless multiple experts in a given field are first consulted .
According to his university webpage , in addition to his work as a university professor , Professor Petrovsky is currently Director of Endocrinology at Flinders Medical Centre of Flinders University , and Vice President and Secretary-General of the International Immunomics Society .
He is also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which is funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and is currently working on a COVID-19 vaccine .
In addition to Professor Petrovsky , the research team that produced the study includes Prof. Sakshi Piplani , also of Flinders University , Puneet Kumar Singh , who works with Petrovsky and Piplani at Vaxine Pty Ltd. , and Prof. David A. Winkler , who teaches at the University of Nottingham in the U.K and Monash University in Australia .
Study contradicts scientists who claim “ zero evidence ” for lab origin of virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contradict virologists who have claimed that the novel coronavirus shows no signs of having been produced in a laboratory , some of whom have gone so far as to dismiss such theories as “ conspiracy theories.
” The “ conspiracy theory ” claim has been uncritically echoed in much , but not all , of the international media .
The staff of the Wuhan Institute of Virology have repeatedly denied the virus came from their lab .
Their position has been supported by a widely-referenced letter from several scientists published in Nature Medicine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the likelihood of a laboratory generating the virus in a human cell lab culture .
The argument made by the researchers in the letter is mostly based on the claim that no genetically-close progenitor to the novel coronavirus that could be a candidate for such a process has been described in any scientific study .
They also assert that “ repeated passage ” of coronaviruses in cell cultures have not been mentioned in scientific literature .
However , the letter ’ s authors do not address the possibility that the Wuhan Institute of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of their research to the public , a possibility that seems to have been reinforced in recent months by secrecy and cover-ups regarding COVID-19 research in China , and the repeated refusal of the Chinese government to participate in an international probe of the origins of the novel coronavirus .
Unless an animal version of virus is found , evidence points to “ human intervention ” Professor Petrovsky told LifeSite in an email interview that his study indicates that “ there are some highly unusual features , including optimal human adaptation , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ close to identical virus in an animal population from which COVID19 could have arisen , would point in the direction of human intervention at some point in the evolution of COVID19.
” He noted that , so far , researchers in China and elsewhere have not produced evidence of the presence in animals of a virus closely similar to the one that causes COVID-19 in humans , which would give credence to their theory of natural development in an intermediary between bats , which presumably originated the virus , and humans .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be found then of course this would resolve the matter completely , ” Petrovksy told LifeSite .
“ One would have thought that the Chinese would be intensively sampling all conceivable animals trying to find such a virus to exonerate their labs .
If no such intense search is going on ( which I don ’ t know one way or the other ) then the inference could be that they are not looking because they already know what they might find.
” Richard Ebright , a molecular biologist at Rutgers University who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ might produce new pathogens dangerous to humans , told LifeSite that Petrovsky ’ s results “ are plausible , ” but cautioned that the results of the pre-print of the study “ are from computational modelling , not from experiments , and therefore must be considered as provisional at best.
” Ebright noted that an earlier study on ACE2 receptor binding found that a bat coronavirus similar to the COVID-19 virus had strong binding power with the ACE2 of tree shrews and ferrets , making them possible animal intermediary candidates .
However , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power of the virus ’ animal species ’ ACE2 receptors with the binding power with humans , as does Petrovsky ’ s study .
Moreover , it did not use a gene sequence from an early version of the novel coronavirus itself , as does Petrovsky ’ s study , but rather used the gene sequence of a similar bat coronavirus reported by the Wuhan Institute of Virology , called RaTG13 .
Ebright told LifeSite that he believes that multiple physical experiments that will ultimately determine if the novel coronavirus is optimized for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ underway in multiple locations , ” although he did not cite any specific studies .
What is needed , according to Prof. Petrovsky , is a thorough international investigation into the true cause of the COVID-19 outbreak , something the Chinese government has repeatedly refused .
“ Whilst the facts can not be known at this time , the nature of this event and its proximity to a high-risk biosecurity facility at the epicentre of the outbreak demands a full and independent international enquiry to ascertain whether a virus of this kind of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and might have been accidentally released , ” wrote Petrovsky on April 17 .

May 16, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – A team of Australian scientists has produced new evidence that the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is optimized for penetration into human cells rather than animal cells, undermining the theory that the virus randomly evolved in an animal subject before passing into human beings, and suggesting instead that it was developed in a laboratory.
The study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, provides new but not yet conclusive evidence favoring the theory that the novel coronavirus originated not in a food market as has been claimed, but rather in a laboratory, presumably one operated by the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, the city in which the first outbreak of COVID-19 occurred in December of 2019.
The lead researcher on the team says that the results represent either “a remarkable coincidence or a sign of human intervention” in the creation of the virus.
The authors of the study, led by vaccine researcher Nikolai Petrovsky of Flinders University in Australia, used a version of the novel coronavirus collected in the earliest days of the outbreak and applied computer models to test its capacity to bind to certain cell receptor enzymes, called “ACE2,” that allow the virus to infect human and animal cells to varying degrees of efficacy.
They tested the propensity of the COVID-19 virus’s spike protein, which it uses to enter cells, to bind to the human type of ACE2 as well as to many different animal versions of ACE2, and found that the novel coronavirus most powerfully binds with human ACE2, and with variously lesser degrees of effectiveness with animal versions of the receptor.
According to the study’s authors, this implies that the virus that causes COVID-19 did not come from an animal intermediary, but became specialized for human cell penetration by living previously in human cells, quite possibly in a laboratory.
The authors write that “this finding is particularly surprising as, typically, a virus would be expected to have highest affinity for the receptor in its original host species, e.g. bat, with a lower initial binding affinity for the receptor of any new host, e.g. humans. However, in this case, the affinity of SARS-CoV-2 is higher for humans than for the putative original host species, bats, or for any potential intermediary host species.”
As a consequence, they add, a “possibility which still cannot be excluded is that SARSCoV-2 was created by a recombination event that occurred inadvertently or consciously in a laboratory handling coronaviruses, with the new virus then accidentally released into the local human population.”
In a separate public statement about the research made by Prof. Petrovsky on April 17, the researcher notes that the results of his study are either “a remarkable coincidence or a sign of human intervention,” and adds that it is “entirely plausible that the virus was created in the biosecurity facility in Wuhan by selection on cells expressing human ACE2, a laboratory that was known to be cultivating exotic bat coronaviruses at the time.”
“If so the cultured virus could have escaped the facility either through accidental infection of a staff member who then visited the fish market several blocks away and there infected others, or by inappropriate disposal of waste from the facility that either infected humans outside the facility directly or via a susceptible vector such as a stray cat that then frequented the market and resulted in transmission there to humans,” he added.
The researchers recognize that other possibilities exist, but regard them as improbable. They found that the novel coronavirus has a strong, but lesser binding effect on the ACE2 receptor of Pangolins, which are mammals eaten in China as a delicacy which has often been proposed as the intermediary of the novel coronavirus between bats and humans. However, they note that the Pangolin doesn’t offer a reasonable candidate for an intermediate species for human transmission, because “given the higher affinity of [the novel coronavirus] SARS-CoV-2 for human ACE2 than for bat ACE2, SARS-CoV-2 would have to have circulated in pangolins for a long period of time for this evolution and selection to occur and to date there is no evidence of a SARS-CoV-2 like virus circulating in pangolins.”
A preliminary form of the study, which is currently entitled, “In silico comparison of spike protein-ACE2 binding affinities across species; significance for the possible origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” has been published on a repository site maintained by Cornell University, which warns that studies published prior to peer review should not be considered “established information” unless multiple experts in a given field are first consulted.
According to his university webpage, in addition to his work as a university professor, Professor Petrovsky is currently Director of Endocrinology at Flinders Medical Centre of Flinders University, and Vice President and Secretary-General of the International Immunomics Society. He is also the founder of Vaxine Pty Ltd., which is funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and is currently working on a COVID-19 vaccine.
In addition to Professor Petrovsky, the research team that produced the study includes Prof. Sakshi Piplani, also of Flinders University, Puneet Kumar Singh, who works with Petrovsky and Piplani at Vaxine Pty Ltd., and Prof. David A. Winkler, who teaches at the University of Nottingham in the U.K and Monash University in Australia.
Study contradicts scientists who claim “zero evidence” for lab origin of virus
The results of the study tend to contradict virologists who have claimed that the novel coronavirus shows no signs of having been produced in a laboratory, some of whom have gone so far as to dismiss such theories as “conspiracy theories.” The “conspiracy theory” claim has been uncritically echoed in much, but not all, of the international media. The staff of the Wuhan Institute of Virology have repeatedly denied the virus came from their lab.
Their position has been supported by a widely-referenced letter from several scientists published in Nature Medicine on March 17, which argues against the likelihood of a laboratory generating the virus in a human cell lab culture.
The argument made by the researchers in the letter is mostly based on the claim that no genetically-close progenitor to the novel coronavirus that could be a candidate for such a process has been described in any scientific study. They also assert that “repeated passage” of coronaviruses in cell cultures have not been mentioned in scientific literature.
However, the letter’s authors do not address the possibility that the Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers simply did not report all of their research to the public, a possibility that seems to have been reinforced in recent months by secrecy and cover-ups regarding COVID-19 research in China, and the repeated refusal of the Chinese government to participate in an international probe of the origins of the novel coronavirus.
Unless an animal version of virus is found, evidence points to “human intervention”
Professor Petrovsky told LifeSite in an email interview that his study indicates that “there are some highly unusual features, including optimal human adaptation, that in the absence of identification of a close to identical virus in an animal population from which COVID19 could have arisen, would point in the direction of human intervention at some point in the evolution of COVID19.”
He noted that, so far, researchers in China and elsewhere have not produced evidence of the presence in animals of a virus closely similar to the one that causes COVID-19 in humans, which would give credence to their theory of natural development in an intermediary between bats, which presumably originated the virus, and humans.
“If an animal vector and virus could be found then of course this would resolve the matter completely,” Petrovksy told LifeSite. “One would have thought that the Chinese would be intensively sampling all conceivable animals trying to find such a virus to exonerate their labs. If no such intense search is going on (which I don’t know one way or the other) then the inference could be that they are not looking because they already know what they might find.”
Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University who has been critical of laboratory studies that might produce new pathogens dangerous to humans, told LifeSite that Petrovsky’s results “are plausible,” but cautioned that the results of the pre-print of the study “are from computational modelling, not from experiments, and therefore must be considered as provisional at best.”
Ebright noted that an earlier study on ACE2 receptor binding found that a bat coronavirus similar to the COVID-19 virus had strong binding power with the ACE2 of tree shrews and ferrets, making them possible animal intermediary candidates. However, the study did not compare the binding power of the virus’ animal species’ ACE2 receptors with the binding power with humans, as does Petrovsky’s study. Moreover, it did not use a gene sequence from an early version of the novel coronavirus itself, as does Petrovsky’s study, but rather used the gene sequence of a similar bat coronavirus reported by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, called RaTG13.
Ebright told LifeSite that he believes that multiple physical experiments that will ultimately determine if the novel coronavirus is optimized for binding with human cells are “probably underway in multiple locations,” although he did not cite any specific studies.
What is needed, according to Prof. Petrovsky, is a thorough international investigation into the true cause of the COVID-19 outbreak, something the Chinese government has repeatedly refused.
“Whilst the facts cannot be known at this time, the nature of this event and its proximity to a high-risk biosecurity facility at the epicentre of the outbreak demands a full and independent international enquiry to ascertain whether a virus of this kind of COVID-19 was being cultured in the facility and might have been accidentally released,” wrote Petrovsky on April 17.
Contact the author at [email protected].
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lifesitenews--2020-05-16--Join our daily worldwide rosary HERE

Join our daily worldwide rosary HERE

May 16 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – In response to the coronavirus crisis , LifeSite is offering Catholics throughout the world a chance to be united in praying the rosary together , at the same time , every day at 12:00 noon EST .
The rosary is led by Father Anthony Pillari , an American priest currently in Italy .
To date , Catholics from Israel , Uganda , Italy , France , Germany , Ireland , the United Kingdom , the U.S. , Canada , Mexico , Chile , Brazil , Australia , New Zealand , the Philippines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as well as other countries , have been joining in .
The whole world – including the Church – has been thrown into chaos because of the coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) .
Thousands of people have passed away as a result of the viral outbreak , while thousands more have been sickened .
And , across the world , business has come to a grinding halt , resulting in sudden job loss and threatening economic recession .
If there ever was a time for prayer , this is it .
Catholics around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Sacraments , but in many places are unable to access them because of bishops ’ orders or government restrictions .
We know that community with other believers is vital all the time , but especially during this time of global calls for “ sheltering-in-place ” and quarantine .
“ The rosary is the weapon for these times , ” St. Padre Pio said .
Through prayer , we can shape history , change the world , and bring this painful crisis to an end .
Join us today !
Send photos or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rosary with Father Pillari to [ email protected ]

(LifeSiteNews) — In response to the crisis unfolding in our world and in the Church, LifeSite is happy to promote Regina Angelorum Press’s Daily Rosary, which is offering Catholics throughout the world the chance to be united daily in prayer, in the Our Lady of Fatima Rosary Crusade.
Catholics from all over the world — from Israel, Uganda, Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Pakistan, Singapore, the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and other countries — are gathering daily to pray the Rosary, led by Father Pillari, JCL, MCL, STL, an American priest currently studying in Italy.
The Daily Rosary is being offered each day at 12noon EST through Regina Angelorum Press’ YouTube Channel to which you can subscribe HERE.
The goal is, by means of this Daily Rosary and by embracing and living out the message given by the Virgin Mary at Fatima, the triumph of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart.
To help obtain that goal, Bishop Athanasius Schneider graciously composed the following prayer for this worldwide Rosary crusade:
O Immaculate Heart of Mary, you are the holy Mother of God and our tender Mother. Look upon the distress in which the Church and the whole of humanity are living because of the spread of materialism and the persecution of the Church. In Fatima you warned against these errors, as you spoke about the errors of Russia. You are the Mediatrix of all graces. Implore your Divine Son to grant this special grace for the Pope: that he might consecrate Russia to your Immaculate Heart, so that Russia will be converted, a period of peace will be granted to the world, and your Immaculate Heart will triumph, through an authentic renewal of the Church in the splendor of the purity of the Catholic Faith, of the sacredness of Divine worship and of the holiness of the Christian life. O Queen of the holy Rosary and our sweet Mother, turn your merciful eyes to us and graciously hear this our trusting prayer. Amen. + Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of the archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana
To learn more about the urgency of responding to Our Lady’s message at Fatima, and about what you can do, please read Cardinal Burke’s 2017 address at the Rome Life Forum.
As St. Padre Pio once said, “The Rosary is the weapon for these times.” Through prayer, God can shape history, change the world, and bring about a great time of renewal and peace for the Church and for the world, through the triumph of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart. Join us today!
If you would like to follow along with the prayers said during this Rosary, you can access them HERE. The document also includes a brief F.A.Q. pertaining to the daily Rosary.
You can send your prayer requests to https://reginangelorumpress.com/prayer-intentions/
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