lifesitenews--2020-02-03--Pepsi’s Super Bowl halftime show teaches girls that sexual exploitation is okay

February 3 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – Parents are expressing their outrage .
Religious leaders are expressing their indignation .
How dare the NFL ( and Pepsi ) put on such a raunchy , sexually explicit halftime show on prime time TV , watched by millions of families together .
But why are we surprised ?
Why the shock and outrage ?
The NFL has been doing this for years .
Have we forgotten that almost every NFL team has cheerleaders – women dressed in the scantiest outfits , gyrating and shaking to the delight of the fans , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a regular , expected part of the game .
The halftime shows just take things to another level .
As for the halftime shows themselves , while it has been my family ’ s habit for many years to skip that part of the game , to my knowledge , these shows are often anything but family-friendly .
The infamous “ wardrobe malfunction ” featuring Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake in 2004 may not have been an accident after all .
Either way , that was hardly a family-friendly performance .
What about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Did they sing old American classics while dressed in wholesome outfits ?
( Right . )
Moms , are these the kind of shows you want your husbands and sons to watch ?
Or your daughters to emulate ?
Speaking of mothers , both Jennifer Lopez and Shakira , the featured performers at the last Super Bowl , are moms themselves , perhaps very devoted moms .
And JLo even brought her 11-year-old daughter on stage to perform with her .
But that makes the performance all the more outrageous .
A 50-year-old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , performing on a stripper ’ s pole ?
With good reason , Rev .
Franklin Graham said , “ I don ’ t expect the world to act like the church , but our country has had a sense of moral decency on prime time television in order to protect children .
We see that disappearing before our eyes.
” “ It was demonstrated tonight in the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show — with millions of children watching .
This exhibition was Pepsi showing young girls that sexual exploitation of women is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the rise worldwide , instead of lowering the standard , we as a society should be raising it.
” A concerned mother expressed it like this ( the language is quite graphic ) : “ The FCC still has rules about decency on network television between certain hours when children are watching .
It is well established that children are watching during the Super Bowl .
I had to send mine out of the room as soon as Jennifer Lopez took the stage in what looked like a two-sided thong and buttless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , zooming in on Lopez 's barely covered crotch , so close that the viewer could see some sort of silver maxi pad sticking out from either side of her way-too-small fraud of a garment .
If that thing was n't riding up between her front-hole lips , then my 6o-inch HDTV television was lying to me , and HD never lies.
” I totally agree with these sentiments , and I applaud those who have spoken out .
But I ask again : why the shock ?
Was this Super Bowl performance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And did we expect JLo and Shakira to sing opera ?
The first three Super Bowl halftime shows ( years 1967-1969 ) featured top marching bands from different colleges .
The next show added in performances by Marguerite Piazza , Doc Severinsen , Al Hirt , Lionel Hampton , Carol Channing .
( Come to think of it , Piazza was an opera singer .
As for Carol Channing , she certainly wasn ’ t sexually gyrating on the stage . )
By 1974 , along with a marching band , there was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Texas 1973 – but playing a fiddle .
In 1981 , a marching band was still featured , this time with big band singer Helen O ’ Connell .
Fast forward to 1987 , and along with the marching band were funny men George Burns and Mickey Rooney .
1988 was a bit more edgy , this time adding in the Rockettes .
But I can assure you that none of them were doing pole dances .
Even in 1992 , there was still a featured marching band , and some of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Walking in a Winter Wonderland.
” 1993 , however , featured Michael Jackson , and quickly , the trend was changing .
One of the featured performers in 2001 was Britney Spears .
2004 also featured Jessica Simpson , together with the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders .
2011 had the Black Eyed Peas , not exactly known for family-friendly performances .
In 2012 , it was Madonna and Nicki Minaj .
In 2013 , Beyoncé and Destiny ’ s Child .
( Beyoncé was back in 2016 . )
And Lady Gaga ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moment in LGBT activism .
But this is just the Super Bowl .
What about the music videos that young children have been watching for decades .
I doubt that anything that JLo and Shakira did during the Super Bowl is any worse than the normal fare many young Americans have grown up with .
No big deal , right ?
There have been scandalous , sexually explicit , virtually nude videos airing 24/7 for many years now .
And , to repeat , many American children , even younger than pre-teens , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
How many crotch-grabbing scenes have they witnessed over the years ?
Why , then , are we so surprised to see a glimpse of it during the Super Bowl ?
Our culture today celebrates prostitution .
Glorifies strippers .
Idolizes porn stars .
( Just think of the cable-TV shows featuring these subjects , and in a positive light at that . )
What happened during Super Bowl LIV was just the latest manifestation of the moral downgrading of our society .
When will we wake up ?
For my part , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as if they are especially evil people .
No , I see them as being just like the rest of us : gifted but fallen human beings in need of redemption .
And they may be involved in many good and noble causes .
Today is the day for repentance and confession and self-examination .
Today is the day to plead for mercy on our fallen and debased culture .
And what does it say of a nation when a 50-year-old mother is celebrated for her pole-dancing agility and a former governor and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bowl half time show ever !
” ?
What does it say ?
Making things even worse is that all this has taken place in a climate of increased awareness for the victims of accused sexual predators like Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein , men who allegedly exploited women as sex objects .
What does it say of our culture , of our nation , of our morals ?
It says that we really , urgently , desperately need awakening and revival .

'Moms, are these the kind of shows you want your husbands and sons to watch? Or your daughters to emulate?'
PETITION: Boycott and Contact Pepsi after raunchy Super Bowl halftime show” Sign the petition here.
February 3, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Parents are expressing their outrage. Religious leaders are expressing their indignation. How dare the NFL (and Pepsi) put on such a raunchy, sexually explicit halftime show on prime time TV, watched by millions of families together.
But why are we surprised? Why the shock and outrage? The NFL has been doing this for years.
Have we forgotten that almost every NFL team has cheerleaders – women dressed in the scantiest outfits, gyrating and shaking to the delight of the fans, especially the male fans?
This is a regular, expected part of the game. The halftime shows just take things to another level.
As for the halftime shows themselves, while it has been my family’s habit for many years to skip that part of the game, to my knowledge, these shows are often anything but family-friendly.
The infamous “wardrobe malfunction” featuring Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake in 2004 may not have been an accident after all. Either way, that was hardly a family-friendly performance.
What about past performances by Beyoncé or Madonna? Did they sing old American classics while dressed in wholesome outfits? (Right.)
Moms, are these the kind of shows you want your husbands and sons to watch? Or your daughters to emulate?
Speaking of mothers, both Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, the featured performers at the last Super Bowl, are moms themselves, perhaps very devoted moms. And JLo even brought her 11-year-old daughter on stage to perform with her.
But that makes the performance all the more outrageous. A 50-year-old mother in the presence of her daughter, performing on a stripper’s pole?
With good reason, Rev. Franklin Graham said, “I don’t expect the world to act like the church, but our country has had a sense of moral decency on prime time television in order to protect children. We see that disappearing before our eyes.”
“It was demonstrated tonight in the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show — with millions of children watching. This exhibition was Pepsi showing young girls that sexual exploitation of women is okay. With the exploitation of women on the rise worldwide, instead of lowering the standard, we as a society should be raising it.”
A concerned mother expressed it like this (the language is quite graphic): “The FCC still has rules about decency on network television between certain hours when children are watching. It is well established that children are watching during the Super Bowl. I had to send mine out of the room as soon as Jennifer Lopez took the stage in what looked like a two-sided thong and buttless chaps. The camerawork was outrageously gross, zooming in on Lopez's barely covered crotch, so close that the viewer could see some sort of silver maxi pad sticking out from either side of her way-too-small fraud of a garment. If that thing wasn't riding up between her front-hole lips, then my 6o-inch HDTV television was lying to me, and HD never lies.”
I totally agree with these sentiments, and I applaud those who have spoken out. But I ask again: why the shock? Was this Super Bowl performance that much worse than past performances? And did we expect JLo and Shakira to sing opera?
The first three Super Bowl halftime shows (years 1967-1969) featured top marching bands from different colleges.
The next show added in performances by Marguerite Piazza, Doc Severinsen, Al Hirt, Lionel Hampton, Carol Channing. (Come to think of it, Piazza was an opera singer. As for Carol Channing, she certainly wasn’t sexually gyrating on the stage.)
By 1974, along with a marching band, there was a performance by Judy Mallette, Miss Texas 1973 – but playing a fiddle.
In 1981, a marching band was still featured, this time with big band singer Helen O’Connell.
Fast forward to 1987, and along with the marching band were funny men George Burns and Mickey Rooney.
1988 was a bit more edgy, this time adding in the Rockettes. But I can assure you that none of them were doing pole dances.
Even in 1992, there was still a featured marching band, and some of the songs performed by guests included, “Walking in a Winter Wonderland.”
1993, however, featured Michael Jackson, and quickly, the trend was changing.
One of the featured performers in 2001 was Britney Spears.
2004 also featured Jessica Simpson, together with the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders.
2011 had the Black Eyed Peas, not exactly known for family-friendly performances.
In 2012, it was Madonna and Nicki Minaj.
In 2013, Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child. (Beyoncé was back in 2016.)
In 2015, Katy Perry sang, “I Kissed a Girl.”
And Lady Gaga’s 2017 performance was celebrated as a major moment in LGBT activism.
But this is just the Super Bowl. What about the music videos that young children have been watching for decades. I doubt that anything that JLo and Shakira did during the Super Bowl is any worse than the normal fare many young Americans have grown up with. No big deal, right?
There have been scandalous, sexually explicit, virtually nude videos airing 24/7 for many years now. And, to repeat, many American children, even younger than pre-teens, have cut their teeth on this trash. How many crotch-grabbing scenes have they witnessed over the years? Why, then, are we so surprised to see a glimpse of it during the Super Bowl?
Our culture today celebrates prostitution. Glorifies strippers. Idolizes porn stars. (Just think of the cable-TV shows featuring these subjects, and in a positive light at that.)
What happened during Super Bowl LIV was just the latest manifestation of the moral downgrading of our society. When will we wake up?
For my part, I’m not damning the performers as if they are especially evil people. No, I see them as being just like the rest of us: gifted but fallen human beings in need of redemption. And they may be involved in many good and noble causes.
Today is the day for repentance and confession and self-examination. Today is the day to plead for mercy on our fallen and debased culture.
And what does it say of a nation when a 50-year-old mother is celebrated for her pole-dancing agility and a former governor and presidential candidate tweets, “Best Super Bowl half time show ever!”? What does it say?
Making things even worse is that all this has taken place in a climate of increased awareness for the victims of accused sexual predators like Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein, men who allegedly exploited women as sex objects.
What does it say of our culture, of our nation, of our morals?
It says that we really, urgently, desperately need awakening and revival.
God have mercy.
Follow Michael Dr. Brown is the author of more than 35 books, including Our Hands Are Stained with Blood: The Tragic Story of the “Church” and the Jewish People, which has been translated into more than twelve languages, the highly acclaimed five-volume series, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, a commentary on Jeremiah (part of the revised edition of the Expositor’s Bible Commentary), and several books on revival and the Jesus revolution. His most recent book is Evangelicals at the Crossroads: Will We Pass the Trump Test?
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lifesitenews--2020-02-03--Why legal euthanasia results in sick, elderly being pressured to die

February 3 , 2020 ( El Debate de Hoy ) – Jeanne Delpierre requested euthanasia .
He did not have advanced cancer , nor any other “ serious and incurable disease , ” a requirement required by Belgian law .
His incurable disease was old age ( 88 years ) and the “ multiple pathologies ” associated with it : osteoarthritis , loss of sight and hearing… In Holland , Senator Brongersma was killed in a case that received significant media coverage in 1998 because he had been one of the first to request euthanasia for “ psychological suffering.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : “ No one is left alive that interests me.
” In Benelux ( Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembrug ) , a beacon of euthanasic progress , there are more and more people who ask for and obtain death to avoid simple emotional disorders , or to prevent future suffering ( for example , people who are diagnosed with cancer or Alzheimer ’ s disease but are still in the early stages ) .
In our aging societies , the number of elderly people facing physical and mental decline , depression , and loneliness will grow rapidly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family-sexual revolution in the ’ 60s is reaching old age , with its sequelae of divorces and low birth rates .
Many Baby-Boomers have had no children , or have had very few : a very sad old age awaits them in hospices or empty homes .
The burden they represent to the economic and health care systems is grave , indeed .
Let ’ s say it bluntly : there is a definite risk , more or less subtle , that more and more of the elderly will be pushed toward euthanasia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them that the final stretch of life , with all of its difficulties , is “ lebensunwert , ” “ unworthy of being lived ” ( yes , it is the term that Nazi legislation used to justify the extermination of the deficient in the Aktion T4 program ) .
They will also be pressured with the idea that they are a drag on young people .
When the notion that “ the dignified choice is not to impose one ’ s own decay on others ” is incorporated into the cultural environment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the one who wishes to continue living beyond a certain age .
The “ slippery slope ” of the government Our progressive government is willing to embark society on this formidable advance .
Of course , it will say euthanasia is going to be allowed only in extreme cases of incurable and unbearable suffering ...
This is what the government has already done with abortion .
Experience shows that , once the principle of inviolability of life is demolished , public opinion and jurisprudential drift lead to an increasingly lax interpretation of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a “ reform ” of the law , to accommodate the permissive praxis that is a fait accompli .
The “ slippery slope ” is confirmed time and again in bioethical matters .
The Netherlands has already served as a laboratory for euthanasia for 40 years ( tolerated by the courts since the ’ 70s and regulated since 2001 ) , and Belgium for 20 years ( regulated in 2002 ) .
The evolution in both countries is the one synthesized by Herbert Hendin in Seduced by Death : “ From euthanizing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ euthanizing those with chronic illnesses ; from accepting euthanasia for physical illnesses they have evolved to euthanizing people with psychological illnesses ; from allowing euthanasia only for voluntary cases , it is now accepted practice to euthanize people without their express permission.
” Therefore , the number of cases shoots upward like an arrow : in Belgium , from about 200 annually at the beginning to about 2,500 today .
In the Netherlands , it has been estimated that 15 % of deaths are already caused by euthanasia .
The control is ex @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Control Commission ... when the patient has already been “ passported.
” In addition , the commission consists mostly of supporters of euthanasia .
The alternative to euthanasia is not horrible agony .
We live in a time when almost all sufferings can be attenuated by legitimate medicine .
Supporters of euthanasia try to muddle everything , confusing it with palliative care within the blurry concept of a “ dignified death.
” But palliative care seeks not to cause death , but to improve the quality of life in the final phase of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sedation be confused with euthanasia : it seeks not to cause death , but to lessen the agony of death .
But palliative care is very expensive .
In Spain , which is a pioneer in this field , investment in palliative care has been frozen for decades .
Although the Bologna Plan provided for European universities to develop palliative care as another specialty of medical studies , only 6 of 43 Spanish medical schools teach it on a mandatory basis .
There is a national palliative care strategy that has clearly been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has not met for three years , and the national plan has not been created .
In Spain alone , some 75,000 patients are in need of palliative care and can not receive it .
The culture of death , with its 100,000 abortions a year and the substitution of family stability for a libertine lifestyle , has led us to senile societies , with an inverted demographic pyramid .
Every aging society must decide whether to invest in palliative care and health care for the elderly or euthanasia .
Our socialist-communist government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way is the second .
In the “ Happy World ” of Aldous Huxley , there is no old age .
Editor ’ s note : Francisco José Contreras is a lecturer in legal philosophy at the University of Seville and is a representative in the Spanish congress from the conservative VOX party .
This article was first published at El debate de hoy .
It is republished here by permission .

February 3, 2020 (El Debate de Hoy) – Jeanne Delpierre requested euthanasia. She did not have advanced cancer, nor any other “serious and incurable disease,” a requirement required by Belgian law. Her incurable disease was old age (88 years) and the “multiple pathologies” associated with it: osteoarthritis, loss of sight and hearing…
Jeanne Delpierre was killed.
In Holland, Senator Brongersma was killed in a case that received significant media coverage in 1998 because he had been one of the first to request euthanasia for “psychological suffering.” In his case, it was loneliness: “No one is left alive that interests me.”
In Benelux (Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembrug), a beacon of euthanasic progress, there are more and more people who ask for and obtain death to avoid simple emotional disorders, or to prevent future suffering (for example, people who are diagnosed with cancer or Alzheimer’s disease but are still in the early stages).
In our aging societies, the number of elderly people facing physical and mental decline, depression, and loneliness will grow rapidly: the generation that started during the family-sexual revolution in the ’60s is reaching old age, with its sequelae of divorces and low birth rates. Many Baby-Boomers have had no children, or have had very few: a very sad old age awaits them in hospices or empty homes. The burden they represent to the economic and health care systems is grave, indeed.
Let’s say it bluntly: there is a definite risk, more or less subtle, that more and more of the elderly will be pushed toward euthanasia. It will be enough to convince them that the final stretch of life, with all of its difficulties, is “lebensunwert,” “unworthy of being lived” (yes, it is the term that Nazi legislation used to justify the extermination of the deficient in the Aktion T4 program). They will also be pressured with the idea that they are a drag on young people. When the notion that “the dignified choice is not to impose one’s own decay on others” is incorporated into the cultural environment, the burden of proof will fall on the one who wishes to continue living beyond a certain age.
The “slippery slope” of the government
Our progressive government is willing to embark society on this formidable advance. Of course, it will say euthanasia is going to be allowed only in extreme cases of incurable and unbearable suffering… This is what the government has already done with abortion. Experience shows that, once the principle of inviolability of life is demolished, public opinion and jurisprudential drift lead to an increasingly lax interpretation of legal requirements. Inevitably, it leads to a “reform” of the law, to accommodate the permissive praxis that is a fait accompli. The “slippery slope” is confirmed time and again in bioethical matters.
The Netherlands has already served as a laboratory for euthanasia for 40 years (tolerated by the courts since the ’70s and regulated since 2001), and Belgium for 20 years (regulated in 2002). The evolution in both countries is the one synthesized by Herbert Hendin in Seduced by Death: “From euthanizing terminally ill patients they have progressed to euthanizing those with chronic illnesses; from accepting euthanasia for physical illnesses they have evolved to euthanizing people with psychological illnesses; from allowing euthanasia only for voluntary cases, it is now accepted practice to euthanize people without their express permission.” Therefore, the number of cases shoots upward like an arrow: in Belgium, from about 200 annually at the beginning to about 2,500 today. In the Netherlands, it has been estimated that 15% of deaths are already caused by euthanasia. The control is ex post facto: doctors must inform the Control Commission…when the patient has already been “passported.” In addition, the commission consists mostly of supporters of euthanasia.
The alternative to euthanasia is not horrible agony. We live in a time when almost all sufferings can be attenuated by legitimate medicine. Supporters of euthanasia try to muddle everything, confusing it with palliative care within the blurry concept of a “dignified death.” But palliative care seeks not to cause death, but to improve the quality of life in the final phase of a painful disease. Nor should terminal sedation be confused with euthanasia: it seeks not to cause death, but to lessen the agony of death.
But palliative care is very expensive. In Spain, which is a pioneer in this field, investment in palliative care has been frozen for decades. Although the Bologna Plan provided for European universities to develop palliative care as another specialty of medical studies, only 6 of 43 Spanish medical schools teach it on a mandatory basis. There is a national palliative care strategy that has clearly been given up for dead since the commission has not met for three years, and the national plan has not been created. In Spain alone, some 75,000 patients are in need of palliative care and cannot receive it.
The culture of death, with its 100,000 abortions a year and the substitution of family stability for a libertine lifestyle, has led us to senile societies, with an inverted demographic pyramid. Every aging society must decide whether to invest in palliative care and health care for the elderly or euthanasia. Our socialist-communist government seems to have decided that the progressive way is the second. In the “Happy World” of Aldous Huxley, there is no old age.
Editor’s note: Francisco José Contreras is a lecturer in legal philosophy at the University of Seville and is a representative in the Spanish congress from the conservative VOX party.
This article was first published at El debate de hoy. It is republished here by permission.
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lifesitenews--2020-02-03--Amazon pagans are plagued by evil spirits. Only Christ can help them

January 31 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) — The ancient Greek historian Herodotus records a story about a young man who caused the accidental death of his brother .
Fleeing from home , he was taken in by a king who performed the necessary rite of purification and took him into his own household .
One day , out hunting with the king ’ s son , the young man accidentally caused the prince ’ s death .
In despair , he took his own life .
What is the moral of this story ?
The king ’ s act @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of purification was not sufficiently powerful ; those whom the gods have chosen to afflict can not be helped .
Perhaps the young man had inadvertently offended some deity , a common occurrence in Greek myth .
You can ’ t be too careful : Works and Days by Hesiod attempts to summarize omens and auspicious and inauspicious days for everything from getting married to planting beans .
The result is a mind-boggling collection of material that , if taken seriously , would control one ’ s every action , with no guarantee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under paganism was like in ancient Europe , and it was to this world that the Church ’ s sacraments and spirituality were first directed .
When pagan cultures accept Christianity , they are not immediately cured of all their woes , but they are given immensely powerful spiritual tools .
In a recent article in the Catholic Herald ( Jan. 24 — not , alas , online ) , Dr. Daniel J. Dolley , a social anthropologist who studied a community close to the Amazon region , described the effect of this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A great many animals in Amazonia , like the spirits of the forest and rivers , exist in a state of predatory competition with humans : they are seen as potential enemies .
There is no Amazonian equivalent of St Francis .
Their relationship with the dead before the arrival of Christianity was characterized by still more intense animosity and terror .
The old stories they tell recount how the dead used to return from the grave to harass and kill the living , how animals used to take on human form and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would descend upon people ’ s houses forcing them to flee for their lives .
The kind of Catholicism that helped this community , as it helped European pagans long ago , was a Catholicism of sacraments , blessings , ritual , and Latin .
Dolley notes how the pagan shamans use rituals and spiritually charged objects , resorting on occasion to a sacred language unknown to ordinary people , and to periods of celibacy during intense periods of communion with spirits .
In the implicit competition of spiritual power between priests and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ advantages .
Of vital importance in the Church ’ s mission in Amazonia is the fact that , unlike that of the shaman , the priest ’ s power is not dependent upon a potentially malevolent spiritual helper .
Furthermore , it does not ( or at least should not ) come at a cost .
Another difference is that the protection offered by a shaman is temporary , provisional and unreliable ; it is always vulnerable to the shaman ’ s caprice , to challenge from another shaman or from a more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which is offered by the priest is far more durable , definitive and unambiguously benevolent .
This phenomenon is not limited to the indigenous peoples of South America .
I have written elsewhere about the appeal of traditional Catholic spirituality and liturgy to the peoples of Sub-Saharan Africa , and to the traditional religious sensibility of China and the Islamic world .
A cynic might suggest that the Church is offering traditional societies a more powerful form of superstition , but when Dr. Dolley ’ s community identifies baptism , for example , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the community is perfectly correct .
Particularly in its traditional form , the Rite of Baptism makes very clear that it exorcises the candidate , because the Church teaches that without baptism , mankind is in the power of Satan .
It is not , indeed , just what these peoples get wrong that leads them to the Church ; it is what they get right .
If , as Pope Francis has urged us , we are to learn from them , we must allow ourselves to be reminded that the fallen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pope John Paul II wrote in praise of Africans what could equally be applied to traditional societies elsewhere : of their “ sense of the sacred , ” “ of a spiritual world , ” and “ the need for rites of purification and expiation ” ( Ecclesia in Africa [ 1995 ] , 42 ) .

When pagan cultures accept Christianity, they are not immediately cured of all their woes, but they are given immensely powerful spiritual tools.
PETITION: Catholics call on the Vatican to affirm all salvation comes through Jesus Sign the petition here.
January 31, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — The ancient Greek historian Herodotus records a story about a young man who caused the accidental death of his brother. Fleeing from home, he was taken in by a king who performed the necessary rite of purification and took him into his own household. One day, out hunting with the king’s son, the young man accidentally caused the prince’s death. In despair, he took his own life.
What is the moral of this story? The king’s act of kindness was misjudged; the rite of purification was not sufficiently powerful; those whom the gods have chosen to afflict cannot be helped. Perhaps the young man had inadvertently offended some deity, a common occurrence in Greek myth. You can’t be too careful: Works and Days by Hesiod attempts to summarize omens and auspicious and inauspicious days for everything from getting married to planting beans. The result is a mind-boggling collection of material that, if taken seriously, would control one’s every action, with no guarantee of success. This is what life under paganism was like in ancient Europe, and it was to this world that the Church’s sacraments and spirituality were first directed.
When pagan cultures accept Christianity, they are not immediately cured of all their woes, but they are given immensely powerful spiritual tools. In a recent article in the Catholic Herald (Jan. 24 — not, alas, online), Dr. Daniel J. Dolley, a social anthropologist who studied a community close to the Amazon region, described the effect of this group accepting Catholicism five centuries ago.
I discovered in Ecuador that, despite all the religious indifference of the previous 50 years, the arrival of the Church was seared into the collective memory as a transformative turning point in the community’s history. It was the moment at which the spirits retreated, the distance between humans and animals increased, and the dead began to lie peacefully in the grave.
Again:
A great many animals in Amazonia, like the spirits of the forest and rivers, exist in a state of predatory competition with humans: they are seen as potential enemies. There is no Amazonian equivalent of St Francis. Their relationship with the dead before the arrival of Christianity was characterized by still more intense animosity and terror. The old stories they tell recount how the dead used to return from the grave to harass and kill the living, how animals used to take on human form and fatally disrupt society, how vampiric spirits would descend upon people’s houses forcing them to flee for their lives.
The kind of Catholicism that helped this community, as it helped European pagans long ago, was a Catholicism of sacraments, blessings, ritual, and Latin. Dolley notes how the pagan shamans use rituals and spiritually charged objects, resorting on occasion to a sacred language unknown to ordinary people, and to periods of celibacy during intense periods of communion with spirits.
In the implicit competition of spiritual power between priests and the shamans, the former had several advantages.
Of vital importance in the Church’s mission in Amazonia is the fact that, unlike that of the shaman, the priest’s power is not dependent upon a potentially malevolent spiritual helper. Furthermore, it does not (or at least should not) come at a cost. Another difference is that the protection offered by a shaman is temporary, provisional and unreliable; it is always vulnerable to the shaman’s caprice, to challenge from another shaman or from a more powerful spirit. By contrast, that which is offered by the priest is far more durable, definitive and unambiguously benevolent.
This phenomenon is not limited to the indigenous peoples of South America. I have written elsewhere about the appeal of traditional Catholic spirituality and liturgy to the peoples of Sub-Saharan Africa, and to the traditional religious sensibility of China and the Islamic world. A cynic might suggest that the Church is offering traditional societies a more powerful form of superstition, but when Dr. Dolley’s community identifies baptism, for example, as having “exorcistic” power, the community is perfectly correct. Particularly in its traditional form, the Rite of Baptism makes very clear that it exorcises the candidate, because the Church teaches that without baptism, mankind is in the power of Satan.
It is not, indeed, just what these peoples get wrong that leads them to the Church; it is what they get right. If, as Pope Francis has urged us, we are to learn from them, we must allow ourselves to be reminded that the fallen world is full of spiritual dangers. Pope John Paul II wrote in praise of Africans what could equally be applied to traditional societies elsewhere: of their “sense of the sacred,” “of a spiritual world,” and “the need for rites of purification and expiation” (Ecclesia in Africa [1995], 42).
Dr. Dolley notes:
If the changes advocated by some participants in the Amazon synod were to be implemented, they would amount, ironically, to one more kind of spiritual colonization, in this instance by a Western ideological agenda whose end, as we are seeing in the West, is ultimately secular, materialistic and spiritually destructive. It is also entirely alien to the spiritual traditions of the peoples of Amazonia.
Follow Joseph Dr Joseph Shaw has a Doctorate in Philosophy from Oxford University, where he also gained a first degree in Politics and Philosophy and a graduate Diploma in Theology. He has published on Ethics and Philosophy of Religion and is the editor of The Case for Liturgical Restoration: Una Voce Position Papers on the Extraordinary Form (Angelico Press). He is the Chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales and Secretary of Una Voce International. He teaches Philosophy in Oxford University and lives nearby with his wife and nine children.
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lifesitenews--2020-02-03--Canadian conservative party may block leadership candidate for calling homosexuality ‘a choice’

OTTAWA , February 3 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) — Some senior Tories are asking the Conservative Party to block social conservative Richard Décarie ’ s leadership candidacy because of his allegedly bigoted views .
In fact , in the wake of the backlash against the Quebecer and former Stephen Harper staffer , the National Post is predicting that “ there is a very real chance the party will disqualify him from the race.
” Décarie , who has yet to officially register for the contest , has been under fire since telling CTV ’ s Evan Solomon over a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ is a choice.
” He reiterated on CBC that “ marriage should be exclusive between a man and a woman , like it was traditionally .
The base of a family that is the base of a society.
” Calgary M.P .
Michelle Rempel Garner and party strategist Kory Teneycke are among top-level Tories who say Décarie ’ s views are beyond the pale .
( Members of Teneycke ’ s consultancy firm “ are working for leadership candidate Peter MacKay , but Teneycke says he ’ s staying neutral in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . )
But another leadership candidate emerged this week to suggest that Décarie ’ s comments were “ blown into a bigger situation than it needed to be ” because “ people missed the nuance.
” And M.P .
Derek Sloan ’ s expressed views complicate things for Conservatives regarding Décarie , says former NDP leader and CTV News political analyst Tom Mulcair .
“ Mr .
Sloan is going to make it very difficult for the vetting committee to reject Richard Décarie ’ s very fringe candidacy because [ Sloan ] ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he told CTV .
“ It would have been easy to say to Richard Décarie ‘ You don ’ t represent our core values including equality rights , you ’ re not in as a candidate , ’ ” added Mulcair .
Sloan told CTV ’ s Solomon this week that while his own proposed platform would not touch “ gay marriage ” and that he disagrees with Décarie ’ s comments , the cause of sexual orientation is “ scientifically unclear.
” “ Science right now is saying that , yes , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there ’ s many other factors that play into it and they don ’ t even know how they all work together , ” Sloan said .
Sloan also expressed other socially conservative views , including that he would have voted against the Liberal pro-transgender rights Bill C-16 .
When Solomon quizzed him on conversion therapy , which will be criminalized under a bill now before the Senate , Sloan said “ conversion therapy ” should not be so broadly defined as to include “ body affirmation counselling.
” “ I don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do anything they don ’ t want to do .
But if somebody wants to receive gender-affirming , or body-affirming counselling when they ’ re going through a position of ‘ What ’ s going on with me ?
’ they should be able to have that , ” Sloan said .
“ We know a lot of kids that go through these feelings grow out of them by the time they ’ re adults , ” he added .
Décarie opposes Senate Bill S-260 “ and others like it , ” which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of pastoral and personal counselling and medical treatments that at risk youth may need , by associating loving counsel and support with previously discredited psychiatric quackery , ” he said in an email statement to LifeSiteNews .
“ Left wing activists will argue that this implies social conservatives support everything labelled conversion therapy , ” added Décarie .
“ I do not , and we do not , but that is not what this debate is about.
” Décarie , whose campaign chair is former M.P .
Brad Trost , says people express @ @ @ @ @ @ @ publicly , and they deserve a voice in the Conservative Party .
He tweeted last week that M.P.s Arnold Viersen and John Williamson support allowing him to run : Jeff Gunnarson , national president of Campaign Life Coalition , Canada ’ s national pro-life , pro-family political lobbying group , argues that Décarie is not a fringe candidate .
The view that homosexual persons are “ born that way ” has been “ totally debunked by science , ” he told LifeSiteNews .
“ We know from clinical psychological science and the lived @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attraction is caused by environmental factors and childhood trauma in most cases .
There is a ton of peer-reviewed and clinical research to bear that out , ” added Gunnarson .
“ And I ’ m glad that the leadership race is focusing some attention on this.
” Moreover , barring Décarie would hurt Conservatives , says Campaign Life director of political operations Jack Fonseca .
“ If the party disqualifies a so-con over his traditional , pro-family beliefs , they will be causing tremendous damage to the party itself , in terms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he told LifeSiteNews .
“ And that will surely come back to bite it in the next general election , resulting in another Trudeau victory.
” Tanya Granic Allen , who ran in the Ontario provincial leadership race , says the Conservative Party should welcome debate on all issues , pointing out that free speech and grassroots democracy are core conservative values .
“ Candidates who think that they are the deciders as to what is allowed to be debated or not , candidates who speak ill of social conservatives like that , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ place in the Conservative Party ; they should be running in the Communist Party , ” she observed .
As for Décarie , he “ will continue to do the right thing and is confident that the Leadership Organising Committee will do the right thing when called upon , ” says spokesman Mike Patton .
“ There can be no doubt that there is an element within the elite of the Conservative Party that would prefer to see any person of faith disqualified not only from a run at the leadership but from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ LifeSiteNews .
“ Richard is not only a conservative but a proud man of faith who does not believe that the two things are incomparable.
” Campaign Life is urging Canadians 14 years of age and older to buy a membership in the Conservative Party of Canada as soon as possible in order to influence the outcome of the leadership race .

Some senior Tories are asking the Conservative Party to block social conservative Richard Décarie’s leadership candidacy because of his allegedly bigoted views.
OTTAWA, February 3, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — Some senior Tories are asking the Conservative Party to block social conservative Richard Décarie’s leadership candidacy because of his allegedly bigoted views.
In fact, in the wake of the backlash against the Quebecer and former Stephen Harper staffer, the National Post is predicting that “there is a very real chance the party will disqualify him from the race.”
Décarie, who has yet to officially register for the contest, has been under fire since telling CTV’s Evan Solomon over a week ago that “being ‘gay’ is a choice.”
He reiterated on CBC that “marriage should be exclusive between a man and a woman, like it was traditionally. The base of a family that is the base of a society.”
Calgary M.P. Michelle Rempel Garner and party strategist Kory Teneycke are among top-level Tories who say Décarie’s views are beyond the pale. (Members of Teneycke’s consultancy firm “are working for leadership candidate Peter MacKay, but Teneycke says he’s staying neutral in the race,” the National Post reported.)
But another leadership candidate emerged this week to suggest that Décarie’s comments were “blown into a bigger situation than it needed to be” because “people missed the nuance.”
And M.P. Derek Sloan’s expressed views complicate things for Conservatives regarding Décarie, says former NDP leader and CTV News political analyst Tom Mulcair.
“Mr. Sloan is going to make it very difficult for the vetting committee to reject Richard Décarie’s very fringe candidacy because [Sloan]’s so close to him,” he told CTV.
“It would have been easy to say to Richard Décarie ‘You don’t represent our core values including equality rights, you’re not in as a candidate,’” added Mulcair.
Views blown out of proportion
Sloan told CTV’s Solomon this week that while his own proposed platform would not touch “gay marriage” and that he disagrees with Décarie’s comments, the cause of sexual orientation is “scientifically unclear.”
“Science right now is saying that, yes, there’s biological components, but there’s many other factors that play into it and they don’t even know how they all work together,” Sloan said.
Sloan, who's hoping to win over the social conservative vote, says the science right now doesn't show there's a “biological” component to being gay.#cdnpoli #ctvpp More at https://t.co/uCQmGSHoEL pic.twitter.com/ETPqA0BVGq — CTV Power Play (@CTV_PowerPlay) January 28, 2020
Sloan also expressed other socially conservative views, including that he would have voted against the Liberal pro-transgender rights Bill C-16.
When Solomon quizzed him on conversion therapy, which will be criminalized under a bill now before the Senate, Sloan said “conversion therapy” should not be so broadly defined as to include “body affirmation counselling.”
Sloan suggests “body affirming counselling” for youth struggling with gender identity issues. #cdnpoli #ctvpp More at https://t.co/uCQmGSHoEL pic.twitter.com/CMnihuFVal — CTV Power Play (@CTV_PowerPlay) January 28, 2020
“I don’t think anybody should be forced to do anything they don’t want to do. But if somebody wants to receive gender-affirming, or body-affirming counselling when they’re going through a position of ‘What’s going on with me?’ they should be able to have that,” Sloan said.
“We know a lot of kids that go through these feelings grow out of them by the time they’re adults,” he added.
Décarie opposes Senate Bill S-260 “and others like it,” which “are trying to ban all forms of pastoral and personal counselling and medical treatments that at risk youth may need, by associating loving counsel and support with previously discredited psychiatric quackery,” he said in an email statement to LifeSiteNews.
“Left wing activists will argue that this implies social conservatives support everything labelled conversion therapy,” added Décarie. “I do not, and we do not, but that is not what this debate is about.”
Disqualifying Décarie will hurt the party
Décarie, whose campaign chair is former M.P. Brad Trost, says people express privately to him the views he states publicly, and they deserve a voice in the Conservative Party.
He tweeted last week that M.P.s Arnold Viersen and John Williamson support allowing him to run:
When asked last week if I should be allowed to run, John Williamson MP said, “Absolutely. Look, we’re going to have a robust debate, I think, on all the issues across the conservative spectrum.” #cdnpoli #cpcldr — Richard DÉCARIE (@RichardDECARIE) January 27, 2020
When Arnold Viersen MP was asked last week if I should be allowed, he said, “It comes off as elitist if we say, well, ‘You’re a correct kind of conservative, and you’re not a correct conservative. We’re a big tent party.” #cdnpoli #cpcldr — Richard DÉCARIE (@RichardDECARIE) January 27, 2020
Jeff Gunnarson, national president of Campaign Life Coalition, Canada’s national pro-life, pro-family political lobbying group, argues that Décarie is not a fringe candidate.
The view that homosexual persons are “born that way” has been “totally debunked by science,” he told LifeSiteNews.
“We know from clinical psychological science and the lived experience of ex-gays themselves, that same-sex attraction is caused by environmental factors and childhood trauma in most cases. There is a ton of peer-reviewed and clinical research to bear that out,” added Gunnarson.
“And I’m glad that the leadership race is focusing some attention on this.”
Moreover, barring Décarie would hurt Conservatives, says Campaign Life director of political operations Jack Fonseca.
“If the party disqualifies a so-con over his traditional, pro-family beliefs, they will be causing tremendous damage to the party itself, in terms of deflating its core activists,” he told LifeSiteNews.
“And that will surely come back to bite it in the next general election, resulting in another Trudeau victory.”
Tanya Granic Allen, who ran in the Ontario provincial leadership race, says the Conservative Party should welcome debate on all issues, pointing out that free speech and grassroots democracy are core conservative values.
“Candidates who think that they are the deciders as to what is allowed to be debated or not, candidates who speak ill of social conservatives like that, in my opinion, they have no place in the Conservative Party; they should be running in the Communist Party,” she observed.
As for Décarie, he “will continue to do the right thing and is confident that the Leadership Organising Committee will do the right thing when called upon,” says spokesman Mike Patton.
“There can be no doubt that there is an element within the elite of the Conservative Party that would prefer to see any person of faith disqualified not only from a run at the leadership but from the party completely,” Patton told LifeSiteNews.
“Richard is not only a conservative but a proud man of faith who does not believe that the two things are incomparable.”
Campaign Life is urging Canadians 14 years of age and older to buy a membership in the Conservative Party of Canada as soon as possible in order to influence the outcome of the leadership race.
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lifesitenews--2020-02-03--Child rapist ‘having the time of his life’ preparing for women’s prison after claiming to be trans

February 3 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – There were , understandably , quite a few readers who read my column last week on a convicted pedophile who was released after identifying as a woman with no small measure of incredulousness .
The story seems unbelievable , and even though I cited multiple other examples of similar incidents , some people simply do not believe that the transgender phenomenon can lead to this level of cultural insanity .
Unfortunately , another example of this new reality turned up in the Toronto Sun only a few days later in a story @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sex killer Michael Williams , a “ psychopathic ” and “ horrendous ” murderer who earned the nickname “ Pyro ” after attempting to set a dying victim on fire , has discovered the fact that he , like many other male prisoners convicted of brutal crimes against women , can play the transgender card—and our government and prison authorities will literally be obligated by their ideology to treat him as a woman .
For context , Williams was one of several perpetrators who raped 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte at a golf course near @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rape , the young girl was strangled , stabbed , and then smashed to death with a hammer , at which point , Williams earned his nickname by attempting to set her alight .
His crimes were so heinous that even Canada ’ s soft-touch criminal justice system handed down an adult sentence of prison for life , with Judge Franklin noting that : “ She died in the darkness of night on a cold , hard field without any comfort but rather in the company of Michael Williams and others who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a vicious and senseless act of violence…Michael Williams seemingly felt nothing.
” Now 32 years old , Williams has announced that he is joining Canada ’ s transgender community .
According to Hunter : “ Prison sources told The Toronto Sun he is having the time of his life…Williams self-identifies as a woman although one source said his nod to the fairer sex is cursory at best .
‘ He is now sitting in segregation at Kent awaiting transfer to FVI ( Fraser Valley Institute women ’ s prison ) , ’ one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ FVI before but got transferred back to Kent because he got caught having sexual relations with female inmates.
’ ” In fact , Williams isn ’ t even attempting to actually “ change his gender , ” because today ’ s trans activists demand that we believe somebody is precisely what they say they are , despite any and all evidence to the contrary .
Williams has donned a bra and a crop-top to make his “ transition ” somewhat convincing , but “ only takes hormone replacement therapy drugs two weeks a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” No sane person , of course , needs to ask what he needs that for as he heads to a female prison .
And as the Toronto Sun reported earlier , “ the criteria for a male jailbird to declare themselves trans is woefully thin .
Five questions .
That ’ s it.
” It ’ s not as if Williams has been a model prisoner , either .
He ’ s been shuttled around the prison system several times for what has been dubbed “ maladaptive behavior , ” and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be at high risk to offend violently…I fear for the women that will soon be [ exposed ] to him .
We need to stop this.
” Williams , of course , is playing the “ transphobia ” card and claiming that he ’ s being victimized in men ’ s prison because of his transgender identity .
His cause has attracted the attention of one of Canada ’ s most notorious activists : In case it was unclear , Michael Williams , a child rapist who tortured his victim before she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ woman ” that Oger feels is “ unsafe ” in the men ’ s prison he ended up in for brutalizing a 13-year-old girl .
Williams is now heading for a prison where women will find themselves locked in with a cruel man who is enacting a laughable charade that pathetic ideologues are forced to play along with because they have bowed to the transgender agenda and now can not find a way to stop awful things from happening .
Women will probably get hurt .
We know this .
But according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ child rapist is a woman , too .
Jonathon ’ s new podcast , The Van Maren Show , is dedicated to telling the stories of the pro-life and pro-family movement .
In his latest episode , he interviews Brian Fisher of Human Coalition about the innovative way Human Coalition has saved over 14,500 babies from abortion .
Fisher became involved with a pregnancy resource center as a donor and volunteer over 20 years ago .
Quickly , Fischer began using his business experience and way of looking at everything to evaluate the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and listen to the episode below :

February 3, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – There were, understandably, quite a few readers who read my column last week on a convicted pedophile who was released after identifying as a woman with no small measure of incredulousness. The story seems unbelievable, and even though I cited multiple other examples of similar incidents, some people simply do not believe that the transgender phenomenon can lead to this level of cultural insanity.
Unfortunately, another example of this new reality turned up in the Toronto Sun only a few days later in a story broken by Brad Hunter. Convicted child sex killer Michael Williams, a “psychopathic” and “horrendous” murderer who earned the nickname “Pyro” after attempting to set a dying victim on fire, has discovered the fact that he, like many other male prisoners convicted of brutal crimes against women, can play the transgender card—and our government and prison authorities will literally be obligated by their ideology to treat him as a woman.
For context, Williams was one of several perpetrators who raped 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte at a golf course near Edmonton when he was 17. After the rape, the young girl was strangled, stabbed, and then smashed to death with a hammer, at which point, Williams earned his nickname by attempting to set her alight.
His crimes were so heinous that even Canada’s soft-touch criminal justice system handed down an adult sentence of prison for life, with Judge Franklin noting that: “She died in the darkness of night on a cold, hard field without any comfort but rather in the company of Michael Williams and others who tormented, beat and raped her in a vicious and senseless act of violence…Michael Williams seemingly felt nothing.”
Now 32 years old, Williams has announced that he is joining Canada’s transgender community. According to Hunter: “Prison sources told The Toronto Sun he is having the time of his life…Williams self-identifies as a woman although one source said his nod to the fairer sex is cursory at best. ‘He is now sitting in segregation at Kent awaiting transfer to FVI (Fraser Valley Institute women’s prison),’ one source said. ‘He was at FVI before but got transferred back to Kent because he got caught having sexual relations with female inmates.’”
In fact, Williams isn’t even attempting to actually “change his gender,” because today’s trans activists demand that we believe somebody is precisely what they say they are, despite any and all evidence to the contrary. Williams has donned a bra and a crop-top to make his “transition” somewhat convincing, but “only takes hormone replacement therapy drugs two weeks a month so he can maintain an erection.” No sane person, of course, needs to ask what he needs that for as he heads to a female prison. And as the Toronto Sun reported earlier, “the criteria for a male jailbird to declare themselves trans is woefully thin. Five questions. That’s it.”
It’s not as if Williams has been a model prisoner, either. He’s been shuttled around the prison system several times for what has been dubbed “maladaptive behavior,” and the Sun reported that he was “determined to be at high risk to offend violently…I fear for the women that will soon be [exposed] to him. We need to stop this.” Williams, of course, is playing the “transphobia” card and claiming that he’s being victimized in men’s prison because of his transgender identity. His cause has attracted the attention of one of Canada’s most notorious activists:
In a tweet, trans activist Morgane Oger characterized a trio of sex assaults allegedly committed by Williams as “false allegations.” Oger encouraged the sex killer to seek a transfer to FVI which has reportedly been turned down. She tweeted: “Trans women are simply unsafe in men’s prisons.” At Williams’ 2007 murder trial, Judge Janet Franklin noted that he may not feel remorse for decades.
In case it was unclear, Michael Williams, a child rapist who tortured his victim before she finally died, is the “trans woman” that Oger feels is “unsafe” in the men’s prison he ended up in for brutalizing a 13-year-old girl. Williams is now heading for a prison where women will find themselves locked in with a cruel man who is enacting a laughable charade that pathetic ideologues are forced to play along with because they have bowed to the transgender agenda and now cannot find a way to stop awful things from happening. Women will probably get hurt. We know this.
But according to trans activists like Morgane Oger, this child rapist is a woman, too.
Jonathon’s new podcast, The Van Maren Show, is dedicated to telling the stories of the pro-life and pro-family movement. In his latest episode, he interviews Brian Fisher of Human Coalition about the innovative way Human Coalition has saved over 14,500 babies from abortion. Fisher became involved with a pregnancy resource center as a donor and volunteer over 20 years ago. Quickly, Fischer began using his business experience and way of looking at everything to evaluate the pro-life movement.
You can subscribe here and listen to the episode below:
Follow Jonathon Jonathon Van Maren is a public speaker, writer, and pro-life activist. His commentary has been translated into more than eight languages and published widely online as well as print newspapers such as the Jewish Independent, the National Post, the Hamilton Spectator and others. He has received an award for combating anti-Semitism in print from the Jewish organization B’nai Brith. His commentary has been featured on CTV Primetime, Global News, EWTN, and the CBC as well as dozens of radio stations and news outlets in Canada and the United States. He speaks on a wide variety of cultural topics across North America at universities, high schools, churches, and other functions. Some of these topics include abortion, pornography, the Sexual Revolution, and euthanasia. Jonathon holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in history from Simon Fraser University, and is the communications director for the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform. Jonathon’s first book, The Culture War, was released in 2016.
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lifesitenews--2020-02-03--German cardinal: Some synodal path proposals are ‘incompatible’ with Catholic faith

February 3 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki has lamented that all his worries about the synodal path in Germany have come true , warning that he believes “ many arguments put forward at the first synodal assembly are incompatible with the faith and teaching of the universal Church.
” He also pointed out , “ My great concern that , due to the way this event was conceived and constituted , a Protestant church parliament is being implemented here , so to speak , has proved to be justified.
” The first assembly of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the end of 2019 , took place from January 30 through February 1 .
Following the proceedings , Woelki gave multiple interviews , in each expressing his dissatisfaction with what happened at the first assembly in Frankfurt .
Woelki , who serves as the archbishop of Cologne , criticized many of the 230 members of the assembly , voicing his conviction that many of their arguments are actually “ incompatible with the faith and teaching of the universal Church.
” In an interview published by katholisch.de , the news website of the German @ @ @ @ @ @ @ My impression is that much of what belongs to the theological body of knowledge is no longer shared by many of us here.
” Instead , the archbishop went on , some believe “ that you can shape the Church in a completely new and different way .
The view to the tradition of the Church no longer plays a major role.
” The ecclesiological foundations of the Church seem no longer relevant , Woelki said , continuing , “ Basically , a rather Protestant understanding of the Church has become apparent.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ makes it difficult still to recognize what constitutes the Church .
Speaking to Domradio , the news outlet associated with the archdiocese of Cologne , Woelki spelled out how an incorrect understanding of what the Church is , was already on display at the opening Mass on Thursday .
Bishops and laypeople had walked in together in procession , indicating “ that everybody here is equal.
” According to the archbishop of Cologne , this has “ actually nothing to do with what the Catholic Church is and holds.
” Woelki said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as it is also once again documented in the Second Vatican Council and expressed in ‘ Lumen Gentium , ’ is called into question.
” It would be wrong , according to the archbishop of Cologne , to simply think of the Church “ in modern , democratic , republican categories.
” The Church is based on a foundation “ which we can not create ourselves , ” added Woelki , but which is “ given to us by Christ.
” Many small signs – for instance the seating arrangement , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ questioned the “ organic togetherness of consecrated and non-consecrated persons and the diversity of tasks expressed therein.
” The archbishop considered this “ to be extremely worrying.
” 2,000 years after Christ , Woelki cautioned , “ we are not those who are implementing the Church anew or reinventing her , but we are in a long tradition .
Faith , as it was constituted in the councils and also from its apostolic origins , can not be torn down or reinvented here in any way.
” He called the members of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first on understanding what the faith and the doctrine of the Church actually is , and only then reflect on questions that are raised by today ’ s situation in Germany .
In remarks to Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost , the cardinal pointed out the difficult situation brought about by the fact that many people no longer know what the Church is .
He explained , “ The church is also a human society , but it has a divine dimension .
Both dimensions work together .
The church is hierarchically endowed.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had praised that at the assembly of the synodal path clergy and laypeople were discussing “ on equal footing , ” Woelki disputed that claim .
“ As bishop , I have a different mission , flowing from my consecration , a different authority which places me in the tradition of the apostles and assigns to me in the Church the responsibility for the office of governing and sanctifying , ” he said .
The archbishop emphasized , “ Just because many today have difficulties with the faith of the Church or do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say that faith and doctrine are wrong or no longer relevant to a modern , contemporary , democratic society.
” On the contrary , Woelki demanded a rediscovering of the treasures of the faith , followed by translating them into our time .
“ There is a great responsibility on us .
I would like to face this responsibility , ” the cardinal added .
Using the example of the Church ’ s teaching on morality , which is often presented by the media as a morality of prohibitions , Cardinal Woelki had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I love someone , some things are forbidden to me .
However , that ’ s not a morality of prohibitions , but a commandment of love.
” He continued , “ From the way in which I build and live my relationship with Christ , a morality arises from which some things are excluded.
” Asked what he had learned from the first assembly , the cardinal said it is important to talk about power in the Church .
He noticed that power was exercised at the assembly , too , explaining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was given the right to speak.
” Additionally , not all motions to speak that beforehand had been submitted in writing were given due consideration .
Referring to feedback from young Catholics , Woelki said they had stressed how important Mass is for them in their daily lives .
Because of that , they had “ sorely missed ” that there was no Mass scheduled for Saturday morning .
Even though dozens of bishops and other clergy were present , the official schedule listed only a “ liturgy of the word ” ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , many churches celebrate a “ liturgy of the word , ” presided by a layperson , sometimes even on Sundays , even though such liturgies do not enable the faithful to fulfill their Sunday obligation .

'Just because many today have difficulties with the faith of the Church or do not understand it, we cannot say that faith and doctrine are wrong or no longer relevant to a modern, contemporary, democratic society,' said Cardinal Woelki.
February 3, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki has lamented that all his worries about the synodal path in Germany have come true, warning that he believes “many arguments put forward at the first synodal assembly are incompatible with the faith and teaching of the universal Church.”
He also pointed out, “My great concern that, due to the way this event was conceived and constituted, a Protestant church parliament is being implemented here, so to speak, has proved to be justified.”
The first assembly of the synodal path, which officially started at the end of 2019, took place from January 30 through February 1. Following the proceedings, Woelki gave multiple interviews, in each expressing his dissatisfaction with what happened at the first assembly in Frankfurt.
Woelki, who serves as the archbishop of Cologne, criticized many of the 230 members of the assembly, voicing his conviction that many of their arguments are actually “incompatible with the faith and teaching of the universal Church.”
In an interview published by katholisch.de, the news website of the German bishops, Cardinal Woelki said, “My impression is that much of what belongs to the theological body of knowledge is no longer shared by many of us here.”
Instead, the archbishop went on, some believe “that you can shape the Church in a completely new and different way. The view to the tradition of the Church no longer plays a major role.”
The ecclesiological foundations of the Church seem no longer relevant, Woelki said, continuing, “Basically, a rather Protestant understanding of the Church has become apparent.”
This, according to the cardinal, makes it difficult still to recognize what constitutes the Church.
Speaking to Domradio, the news outlet associated with the archdiocese of Cologne, Woelki spelled out how an incorrect understanding of what the Church is, was already on display at the opening Mass on Thursday.
Bishops and laypeople had walked in together in procession, indicating “that everybody here is equal.” According to the archbishop of Cologne, this has “actually nothing to do with what the Catholic Church is and holds.”
Woelki said, “The hierarchical constitution of the Church, as it is also once again documented in the Second Vatican Council and expressed in ‘Lumen Gentium,’ is called into question.”
It would be wrong, according to the archbishop of Cologne, to simply think of the Church “in modern, democratic, republican categories.” The Church is based on a foundation “which we cannot create ourselves,” added Woelki, but which is “given to us by Christ.”
Many small signs – for instance the seating arrangement, which was alphabetical and not hierarchical – had questioned the “organic togetherness of consecrated and non-consecrated persons and the diversity of tasks expressed therein.” The archbishop considered this “to be extremely worrying.”
2,000 years after Christ, Woelki cautioned, “we are not those who are implementing the Church anew or reinventing her, but we are in a long tradition. Faith, as it was constituted in the councils and also from its apostolic origins, cannot be torn down or reinvented here in any way.”
He called the members of the assembly of the synodal path to focus first on understanding what the faith and the doctrine of the Church actually is, and only then reflect on questions that are raised by today’s situation in Germany.
In remarks to Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost, the cardinal pointed out the difficult situation brought about by the fact that many people no longer know what the Church is. He explained, “The church is also a human society, but it has a divine dimension. Both dimensions work together. The church is hierarchically endowed.”
While a number of participants and observers had praised that at the assembly of the synodal path clergy and laypeople were discussing “on equal footing,” Woelki disputed that claim.
“As bishop, I have a different mission, flowing from my consecration, a different authority which places me in the tradition of the apostles and assigns to me in the Church the responsibility for the office of governing and sanctifying,” he said.
The archbishop emphasized, “Just because many today have difficulties with the faith of the Church or do not understand it, we cannot say that faith and doctrine are wrong or no longer relevant to a modern, contemporary, democratic society.”
On the contrary, Woelki demanded a rediscovering of the treasures of the faith, followed by translating them into our time.
“There is a great responsibility on us. I would like to face this responsibility,” the cardinal added.
Using the example of the Church’s teaching on morality, which is often presented by the media as a morality of prohibitions, Cardinal Woelki had a completely different take. “When I love someone, some things are forbidden to me. However, that’s not a morality of prohibitions, but a commandment of love.”
He continued, “From the way in which I build and live my relationship with Christ, a morality arises from which some things are excluded.”
Asked what he had learned from the first assembly, the cardinal said it is important to talk about power in the Church. He noticed that power was exercised at the assembly, too, explaining, “not everybody who wanted to was given the right to speak.” Additionally, not all motions to speak that beforehand had been submitted in writing were given due consideration.
Referring to feedback from young Catholics, Woelki said they had stressed how important Mass is for them in their daily lives. Because of that, they had “sorely missed” that there was no Mass scheduled for Saturday morning.
Even though dozens of bishops and other clergy were present, the official schedule listed only a “liturgy of the word” (“Wortgottesfeier”). In Germany, many churches celebrate a “liturgy of the word,” presided by a layperson, sometimes even on Sundays, even though such liturgies do not enable the faithful to fulfill their Sunday obligation.
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lifesitenews--2020-01-31--Pope Francis opens door to abolish priestly celibacy according to leaked Amazon Synod doc

Jan. 31 , 2020 4:47 PM EST update : This report now includes comments from Professor Roberto de Mattei .
ROME , January 31 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – Catholic historian Roberto de Mattei is claiming , based on documents he has received from “ several bishops , ” that Pope Francis ’ post-synodal exhortation on the Amazon Synod will open the door to abolishing priestly celibacy in the Latin church .
According to documents obtained by Corrispondenza Romana , the apostolic exhortation , due for release in February , reproduces verbatim a paragraph dedicated to priestly celibacy in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ De Mattei argues that the positive inclusion of this text in the apostolic exhortation would effectively “ open the door ” for the German Bishops , and others , to create a married clergy .
“ There is no reason to prohibit in other regions of the world what will be permitted in some parts of the Amazon , ” he writes .
LifeSite spoke with Roberto de Mattei this evening in Rome .
He confirmed that in recent days a group of bishops was sent a “ part ” of the draft @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one bishop shared this text with him .
De Mattei confirmed that paragraph 111 of the Amazon Synod ’ s final document is reproduced verbatim in the draft apostolic exhortation .
He said it was unclear why the bishops were sent only part of the draft text but speculated the move may have been intended to gauge bishops ’ reactions .
De Mattei was also careful to note that the draft text which the bishops received may not be the final text promulgated by Pope Francis .
This is not “ fake news @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Benedict XVI and Cardinal Robert Sarah have co-authored a new book on priestly celibacy , taking a firm stand against the priestly ordination of married men in the Latin Church .
This statement echoes his reaffirmation of the sacred meaning and obligatory character of priestly celibacy , in his 2007 post-apostolic exhortation on the Eucharist , Sacramentum Caritatis : “ In union with the great ecclesial Tradition , with the Second Vatican Council and my Predecessors in the Petrine Ministry , I affirm the beauty and the importance of a priestly life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of total and exclusive dedication to Christ , to the Church and to the Kingdom of God , and consequently confirm its obligatory character for the Latin tradition ” ( n. 24 ) .
” In a recent interview on their co-authored book , Cardinal Robert Sarah has also asserted : Here below is an English translation of Prof. Roberto de Mattei ’ s article , published this evening in Rome .
The news we are now reporting was in the air , but the confirmation has come to us confidentially from several @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not all ) of Pope Francis ’ s post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation on Amazon Synod .
This part substantially reproduces paragraph 111 that was approved in the synod ’ s final document Many of the Church communities in the Amazonian territory have enormous difficulties in attending the Eucharist .
Sometimes it takes not just months but even several years before a priest can return to a community to celebrate the Eucharist , offer the sacrament of reconciliation or anoint the sick in the community .
We appreciate celibacy as a gift of God to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ missionary disciple , ordained to the priesthood , to dedicate himself fully to the service of the Holy People of God .
It stimulates pastoral charity , and we pray that there will be many vocations living the celibate priesthood .
We know that this discipline “ is not demanded by the very nature of the priesthood ” ( PO 16 ) although there are many practical reasons for it .
In his encyclical on priestly celibacy , St. Paul VI maintained this law and set out theological , spiritual and pastoral motivations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the post-synodal exhortation of St. John Paul II on priestly formation confirmed this tradition in the Latin Church ( cf .
PDV 29 ) .
Considering that legitimate diversity does not harm the communion and unity of the Church , but rather expresses and serves it ( cf .
LG13 ; OE 6 ) , witness the plurality of existing rites and disciplines , we propose that criteria and dispositions be established by the competent authority , within the framework of Lumen Gentium 26 , to ordain as priests suitable and respected men @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and stable family , who have had a fruitful permanent diaconate and receive an adequate formation for the priesthood , in order to sustain the life of the Christian community through the preaching of the Word and the celebration of the Sacraments in the most remote areas of the Amazon region .
Therefore , the door is open .
There is no reason to prohibit in other regions of the world what will be permitted in some parts of the Amazon .
The German bishops , and others , are ready to extend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deemed suitable by the competent authorities .
What is being gotten rid of is not only a “ ecclesiastical discipline ” subject to change , but a law of the Church based on a precept of divine and Apostolic origin .
Fifty years ago , at the symposium of European bishops held in Chur in July 1969 , Cardinal Leo-Joseph Suenens , during his concluding conference , read an appeal by Hans Küng to suppress priestly celibacy .
This request was consistent with the role which progressive theology assigned to sexuality : an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asceticism , but “ liberate , ” by finding in sex a form of “ realization ” of the human person .
Since then , this demand has expanded and accompanied the process of the Church ’ s secularization and self-demolition .
In reality , the transgression of celibacy and simony were the great plagues that have always afflicted the Mystical Body of Christ in times of crisis .
And the call to continence and evangelical poverty was the battle standard of the great reforming saints .
In the coming days of February @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as has happened so often , a bishop or a group of bishops , but the successor of Saint Peter himself .
Ecclesiastical celibacy is a glory of the Church and what he is demeaning is the very will of Christ , transmitted by the Apostles even to our day .
How can we possibly imagine Catholics to remain silent in the face of this scandal ?
Translated from the Italian by Diane Montagna of LifeSiteNews .

Pope Francis’ post-synodal exhortation of the Amazon Synod will abolish celibacy, according to several bishops who have leaked the document.
Jan. 31, 2020 4:47 PM EST update: This report now includes comments from Professor Roberto de Mattei.
ROME, January 31, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Catholic historian Roberto de Mattei is claiming, based on documents he has received from “several bishops,” that Pope Francis’ post-synodal exhortation on the Amazon Synod will open the door to married clergy in the Latin church.
According to documents obtained by Corrispondenza Romana, the apostolic exhortation, due for release in February, reproduces verbatim a paragraph dedicated to priestly celibacy in the synod’s final document.
De Mattei argues that the positive inclusion of this text in the apostolic exhortation would effectively “open the door” for the German Bishops, and others, to create a married clergy. “There is no reason to prohibit in other regions of the world what will be permitted in some parts of the Amazon,” he writes.
LifeSite spoke with Roberto de Mattei this evening in Rome. He confirmed that in recent days a group of bishops was sent a “part” of the draft apostolic exhortation, and that at least one bishop shared this text with him. De Mattei confirmed that paragraph 111 of the Amazon Synod’s final document is reproduced verbatim in the draft apostolic exhortation.
He said it was unclear why the bishops were sent only part of the draft text but speculated the move may have been intended to gauge bishops’ reactions. De Mattei was also careful to note that the draft text which the bishops received may not be the final text promulgated by Pope Francis.
This is not “fake news,” the respected Italian historian said.
Benedict XVI and Cardinal Robert Sarah have co-authored a new book on priestly celibacy, taking a firm stand against the priestly ordination of married men in the Latin Church.
In the work, Benedict XVI writes:
The ability to renounce marriage in order to place oneself totally at the Lord’s disposal is a criterion for the priestly ministry. As for the concrete form of celibacy in the ancient Church, it should also be pointed out that married men could only receive the sacrament of Holy Orders if they had committed themselves to sexual abstinence, that is to say, to a Josephite marriage. Such a situation seems to have been quite normal during the first centuries.
This statement echoes his reaffirmation of the sacred meaning and obligatory character of priestly celibacy, in his 2007 post-apostolic exhortation on the Eucharist, Sacramentum Caritatis:
“In union with the great ecclesial Tradition, with the Second Vatican Council and my Predecessors in the Petrine Ministry, I affirm the beauty and the importance of a priestly life lived in celibacy as an expressive sign of total and exclusive dedication to Christ, to the Church and to the Kingdom of God, and consequently confirm its obligatory character for the Latin tradition” (n. 24).”
In a recent interview on their co-authored book, Cardinal Robert Sarah has also asserted:
Priestly celibacy is not a simple canonical discipline. If the law of celibacy is weakened, even for a single region, it will open a breach, a wound in the mystery of the Church. There is an ontological-sacramental link between the priesthood and celibacy. This link reminds us that the Church is a mystery, a gift from God that does not belong to us. We cannot create a priesthood for married men without damaging the priesthood of Jesus Christ and His Bride, the Church. (Synod on the Amazon, final document, n. 111)
Here below is an English translation of Prof. Roberto de Mattei’s article, published this evening in Rome.
***
The news we are now reporting was in the air, but the confirmation has come to us confidentially from several bishops who have received a part (not all) of Pope Francis’s post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation on Amazon Synod. This part substantially reproduces paragraph 111 that was approved in the synod’s final document
Many of the Church communities in the Amazonian territory have enormous difficulties in attending the Eucharist. Sometimes it takes not just months but even several years before a priest can return to a community to celebrate the Eucharist, offer the sacrament of reconciliation or anoint the sick in the community. We appreciate celibacy as a gift of God to the extent that this gift enables the missionary disciple, ordained to the priesthood, to dedicate himself fully to the service of the Holy People of God. It stimulates pastoral charity, and we pray that there will be many vocations living the celibate priesthood. We know that this discipline “is not demanded by the very nature of the priesthood” (PO 16) although there are many practical reasons for it. In his encyclical on priestly celibacy, St. Paul VI maintained this law and set out theological, spiritual and pastoral motivations that support it. In 1992, the post-synodal exhortation of St. John Paul II on priestly formation confirmed this tradition in the Latin Church (cf. PDV 29). Considering that legitimate diversity does not harm the communion and unity of the Church, but rather expresses and serves it (cf. LG13; OE 6), witness the plurality of existing rites and disciplines, we propose that criteria and dispositions be established by the competent authority, within the framework of Lumen Gentium 26, to ordain as priests suitable and respected men of the community with a legitimately constituted and stable family, who have had a fruitful permanent diaconate and receive an adequate formation for the priesthood, in order to sustain the life of the Christian community through the preaching of the Word and the celebration of the Sacraments in the most remote areas of the Amazon region.
Therefore, the door is open. There is no reason to prohibit in other regions of the world what will be permitted in some parts of the Amazon. The German bishops, and others, are ready to extend access to the presbyterate to married men deemed suitable by the competent authorities. What is being gotten rid of is not only a “ecclesiastical discipline” subject to change, but a law of the Church based on a precept of divine and Apostolic origin.
Fifty years ago, at the symposium of European bishops held in Chur in July 1969, Cardinal Leo-Joseph Suenens, during his concluding conference, read an appeal by Hans Küng to suppress priestly celibacy. This request was consistent with the role which progressive theology assigned to sexuality: an instinct that man should not repress through asceticism, but “liberate,” by finding in sex a form of “realization” of the human person. Since then, this demand has expanded and accompanied the process of the Church’s secularization and self-demolition.
In reality, the transgression of celibacy and simony were the great plagues that have always afflicted the Mystical Body of Christ in times of crisis. And the call to continence and evangelical poverty was the battle standard of the great reforming saints. In the coming days of February, the anti-Reformer will not be, as has happened so often, a bishop or a group of bishops, but the successor of Saint Peter himself.
Ecclesiastical celibacy is a glory of the Church and what he is demeaning is the very will of Christ, transmitted by the Apostles even to our day. How can we possibly imagine Catholics to remain silent in the face of this scandal?
Translated from the Italian by Diane Montagna of LifeSiteNews.
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lifesitenews--2020-02-04--Street preacher takes city to court for using ‘noise bylaw’ to ticket his speech

EDMONTON , Alberta , February 3 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) — The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms ( jccf.ca ) is representing Dale Malayko , a lifelong Edmonton resident and a retired firefighter who was ticketed for peacefully expressing his opinions on a public sidewalk .
Mr. Malayko stands accused of “ permitting a noise that disturbs the peace of another.
” The ticket is being challenged as a violation of Charter-protected free expression .
Dale Malayko is part of a centuries-old tradition of “ street preaching , ” whereby individuals stand atop a small box placed on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in this case various Bible teachings including the “ good news ” of Jesus Christ .
Unlike street performers , Dale doesn ’ t hope for money from passersby .
Instead , he offers free Bibles to those who want them .
One of the spots Dale regularly speaks at is the corner of Whyte Avenue and 104th St. NW .
This location is a high-traffic , inner-city intersection that is commonly frequented by street performers due to the consistently high amount of vehicle and pedestrian traffic .
It ’ s also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , buskers , and musicians .
Dale stands on a small wooden box when he speaks .
The box contains four small holes , one in each side , in which are mounted small speakers connected to a wireless mic .
In the early evening of June 28 , 2019 , Dale and a colleague were preaching at the corner of Whyte and 104th when they were approached by two Edmonton Police officers ( EPS ) , Constable Ian Strutynski and Constable Blackwood .
Constable Strutynski issued a “ noise complaint ticket ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the street complained .
EPS officers have a long history of issuing baseless tickets that are not justified by the facts , to Dale and other street preachers , all of which have previously been dropped by City prosecutors .
The City has decided to prosecute this latest ticket .
A three-day trial is scheduled for April 1–3 , 2020 in Edmonton Provincial Court .
The Justice Centre is representing Dale pro bono and will argue that the issuing of the ticket is a violation of freedom of expression , and that Dale @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expressing himself in a manner and place that is protected by the Constitution .
The Justice Centre will argue that using noise bylaws to stifle and silence lawful speech in public is an abuse of government power which harms the sacrosanct right of free speech .
“ The Canadian Constitution protects the rights of people to peacefully express themselves on streets , whether it be through art , music , or the written or spoken word .
It does not protect the right of people to not hear things they don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ James Kitchen .
“ Noise bylaws are legitimate and serve a useful purpose , such as ensuring residents get a good night ’ s sleep , instead of being woken up at 3 AM by their lawn-mowing neighbor or a dog that never stops barking .
But EPS is abusing Edmonton ’ s noise bylaw in an attempt to pander to complainants who seek to silence forms of expression they disapprove of , ” added Kitchen .

EDMONTON, Alberta, February 3, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (jccf.ca) is representing Dale Malayko, a lifelong Edmonton resident and a retired firefighter who was ticketed for peacefully expressing his opinions on a public sidewalk.
Mr. Malayko stands accused of “permitting a noise that disturbs the peace of another.” The ticket is being challenged as a violation of Charter-protected free expression.
Dale Malayko is part of a centuries-old tradition of “street preaching,” whereby individuals stand atop a small box placed on the ground and speak impromptu regarding religious subjects, in this case various Bible teachings including the “good news” of Jesus Christ. Unlike street performers, Dale doesn’t hope for money from passersby. Instead, he offers free Bibles to those who want them.
One of the spots Dale regularly speaks at is the corner of Whyte Avenue and 104th St. NW. This location is a high-traffic, inner-city intersection that is commonly frequented by street performers due to the consistently high amount of vehicle and pedestrian traffic. It’s also very loud due to constant car traffic, buskers, and musicians. Dale stands on a small wooden box when he speaks. The box contains four small holes, one in each side, in which are mounted small speakers connected to a wireless mic.
In the early evening of June 28, 2019, Dale and a colleague were preaching at the corner of Whyte and 104th when they were approached by two Edmonton Police officers (EPS), Constable Ian Strutynski and Constable Blackwood. Constable Strutynski issued a “noise complaint ticket” to Dale after a business owner on the street complained.
EPS officers have a long history of issuing baseless tickets that are not justified by the facts, to Dale and other street preachers, all of which have previously been dropped by City prosecutors.
The City has decided to prosecute this latest ticket. A three-day trial is scheduled for April 1–3, 2020 in Edmonton Provincial Court. The Justice Centre is representing Dale pro bono and will argue that the issuing of the ticket is a violation of freedom of expression, and that Dale is not guilty because he was peacefully expressing himself in a manner and place that is protected by the Constitution. The Justice Centre will argue that using noise bylaws to stifle and silence lawful speech in public is an abuse of government power which harms the sacrosanct right of free speech.
“The Canadian Constitution protects the rights of people to peacefully express themselves on streets, whether it be through art, music, or the written or spoken word. It does not protect the right of people to not hear things they don’t like,” stated Justice Centre lawyer James Kitchen.
“Noise bylaws are legitimate and serve a useful purpose, such as ensuring residents get a good night’s sleep, instead of being woken up at 3 AM by their lawn-mowing neighbor or a dog that never stops barking. But EPS is abusing Edmonton’s noise bylaw in an attempt to pander to complainants who seek to silence forms of expression they disapprove of,” added Kitchen.
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