Patriarch Kirill Asks Iraq President to Protect Christians

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia

Moscow, October 14, Interfax - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has urged Iraqi President Fuad Masum to intervene in the plight of Iraqi Christians.

"Iraqi Christians are in a state close to despair, and many of them are looking at the option of leaving not only Iraq but the Middle East in general forever. The disappearance of Christianity from this ancient region would have disastrous consequences for the entire world," the Russian church's foreign relations service quoted Patriarch Kirill as saying in a letter to Masum.

"Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Christians and members of other religious communities have had to leave their homes under pressure from militants. The life of the refugees, who have been deprived of all their property, represents a humanitarian catastrophe," the patriarch said.

He also brought up the case of former Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz, who has been in jail for 11 years and last month asked the international community to press Iraqi authorities to release him.

Goodbye, Columbus

By Patrick J. Buchanan

In 1492, “Columbus sailed the ocean blue” and discovered the New World. And Oct. 12 was once a celebrated holiday in America.

School children in the earliest grades knew the date and the names of the ships on which Columbus and his crew had sailed: the Nina, the Pinta, the Santa Maria. They knew his voyage had been financed by Queen Isabella of Spain, after the Genoese Admiral of the Ocean Sea had been turned down by other monarchs of Europe.

Oct. 12, 1492, was considered a momentous and wonderful day in world history: the discovery of America — by men from Europe.

This year, Columbus Day passed almost without notice. And that Columbus Day has become an embarrassment to many and an issue of savage controversy to some reflects a receding belief in this country in the superiority of our civilization.

Cardinal George Pell on the Reform of Vatican Finances

Cardinal George Pell is one of the most well-known leaders of the Roman Catholic Church. Appointed Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996 and Archbishop of Sydney in 2001, he has been a consistent and unwavering voice in favour of traditional Catholic doctrine particularly in the Western world. In 2008, his diocese hosted the World Youth Day and Apostolic Journey of Pope Benedict XVI which is widely regarded as one of the most efficient and well-organized WYD's in the three decades of their existence.

A long time critic of the financial and administrative mishaps at the Vatican, Cardinal Pell was appointed by Pope Francis to his "Council of Cardinals" one month after his election as Pope. During an extensive assessment of the various bureaucratic structures of the Vatican, the Pope decided on February 14, 2014 to create a new Secretariat for the Economy in order to oversee all financial dealings at the Vatican. Cardinal Pell was hand-picked as the Secretary.

Mark Levin's Hope-Filled Remembrance of Margaret Thatcher on Her Birthday

Truro Cathedral Choir - "The God of Love My Shepherd Is"

"The God of love my Shepherd is,
And He that doth me feed:
While He is mine and I am His,
What can I want or need?" 

Our Judicial Dictatorship

By Patrick J. Buchanan

Do the states have the right to outlaw same-sex marriage?

Not long ago the question would have been seen as absurd. For every state regarded homosexual acts as crimes.

Moreover, the laws prohibiting same-sex marriage had all been enacted democratically, by statewide referenda, like Proposition 8 in California, or by Congress or elected state legislatures.

But today rogue judges and justices, appointed for life, answerable to no one, instruct a once-democratic republic on what laws we may and may not enact.

John McCain Likes Lindsey Graham for President

From The New American
By Joe Wolverton, II, J.D.

Do you ever think to yourself, “Boy, Senator Lindsey Graham would make a great president of the United States”?

Maybe not, but John McCain (not surprisingly) has.

According to an article published October 5 in the Arizona Republic, the senior senator from Arizona describes himself and Graham (R-S.C.) as “the closest of friends.”

For his part, Graham (shown, right) hasn’t declared his candidacy, but has hinted at it (as everyone does at this stage of the race) and has begun attacking potential rivals for the GOP nod, calling out Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as someone who is “not quite ready” for the Oval Office.