Daniel Hannan -- A Letter of Warning to America

Pat Buchanan: Nixon — Before Watergate

By Patrick J. Buchanan

It has been a summer of remembrance.

The centennial of the Great War that began with the Guns of August 1914. The 75th anniversary of the Danzig crisis that led to Hitler’s invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. The 70th anniversary of D-Day.

In America, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. And this week marks the 40th anniversary of the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

Once again, aging liberals will walk the children through the tale of that triumph of American democracy when they helped to save our republic from the greatest menace to the Constitution in all of history.

Missing from the retelling will be the astonishing achievements of that most maligned of statesmen in the 20th century. And as this writer was at Nixon’s side for more than eight years before that August day in 1974, let me recount a few.

"Christian Unity Not about Christian Uniformity" says Ordinary

 Mgr Newton and Bishop Philip Egan.

The Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, Monsignor Keith Newton, has preached to hundreds of Mass-goers in Portsmouth Cathedral, where he spent the weekend of 26/27 July, about the vision of Christian unity held out by the Ordinariate.

He said that people sometimes asked members of the Ordinariate why they couldn't become "proper Catholics" . "What they mean", he said, is "why can't you just be absorbed into the wider Catholic Church so that what you bring disappears like sugar dissolved in water". The answer , Mgr Newton said, was that Christian unity was not about Christian uniformity; rather it was about exploring the possibility of sharing a common faith in communion with the successor of Peter and yet having different liturgical, devotional and pastoral practices which enriched the wider Church. This, he said, had "important ecumenical implications".

The Ordinary spoke of the Ordinariate Use Mass, approved by Rome last year, which integrates elements of the Church of England Book of Common Prayer into the Roman rite. He said the Book of Common Prayer was one of the "treasures to be shared"  with the Catholic Church. People in Portsmouth who were interested to find out more could go to an Ordinariate"exploration day "event being held by the local Portsmouth Ordinariate group at St Agatha's Church on 6 September where they could experience the Ordinariate Use Mass.

The Portsmouth event is one of some 40 different events being held on 6 September by Ordinariate groups across the country aimed at helping people - especially those in the Church of England who may feel that God could be calling them into communion with Rome - to understand the Ordinariate better. Pope Francis has sent a message to the Ordinary in which the Holy Father sends good wishes and says he is praying for the success of the day.

Mgr Newton's visit to Portsmouth was arranged as part of an appeal by the Friends of the Ordinariate, which was set up to assist the Ordinariate and support its work. By kind permission of Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth, the Ordinary celebrated three Masses and preached at all the Masses over the weekend. There was a retiring collection for the Friends of the Ordinariate.

The Ordinary's homily included an appeal for prayers for the persecuted Catholic Christians of the Eastern Rite who are suffering in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.

To read the full homily, click here

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Standing Firm in the Face of Russian Aggression

America can only look forward to a President who is once again a bulwark of stability, peace and justice in the world.  While the illegitimate Kenyan plays 180+ rounds of golf and attends endless fundraisers, the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has boldly and decisively stood up to the Russian despot in a way once typical of an American President.

"Our duty is to stand firm in the face of Russian aggression" 

~ Prime Minister Stephen Harper

The world is saddened and rightfully outraged by images of the charred remnants of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, and by the loss of almost 300 people from 11 countries, strewn across fields in eastern Ukraine. While the grim work of identifying victims’ remains and tracking down the perpetrators of this appalling crime is just beginning, the world can be certain of one thing: There can be no weakening of our resolve to punish the Putin regime for threatening the peace and security of eastern and central Europe.

Although we may refer to militants in eastern Ukraine as “pro-Russian separatists,” we are not confused by who, and what, they really are: an extension of the Russian state. They derive their material, political and logistical support from the Putin regime, and their criminal aggression and recklessness reflect the values of their Russian benefactors. Some have suggested that these agents of the Putin regime may have shot the plane down by accident. We do not, and may never, know. But accident or no accident, the blood is on the hands of the men who took such a risk and of the government that encouraged them to do so. Even if they did not intend to kill hundreds of innocent civilians, there is no denying their intent to continue waging a war on behalf of a regime that remains in violation of international law for its illegal occupation of Crimea.

Russia’s aggressive militarism and expansionism are a threat to more than just Ukraine; they are a threat to Europe, to the rule of law and to the values that bind Western nations. Canada will not stand idly by in the face of this threat.

That is why we have taken a strong stand, imposing a broad range of sanctions against those entities and individuals responsible for the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Since the start of the crisis in Ukraine, Canada has imposed sanctions on nearly 150 individuals and entities. Earlier this week we broadened our approach, announcing economic sanctions against key sectors of the Russian economy.

It is why Canada has pledged more than $220-million in loan and loan guarantees which, once the appropriate conditions have been met to ensure that the funds are being used for their intended purposes, will help Ukraine to stabilize its economy and promote economic and social development. It is why we are providing training for the Ukrainian military, as well as Canadian military personnel and equipment to NATO’s reassurance package in eastern and central Europe.

It is also why, last spring, G7 leaders decided to suspend preparations for the 2014 G8 Summit scheduled to take place in Sochi and convened instead as the G7 in Brussels. Through its actions, Russia under President Vladimir Putin has demonstrated that it does not share the values of this community of nations, dedicated as we are to democracy, international security, and the rule of law. Given this, it is difficult to foresee any circumstance under which Mr. Putin’s Russia could be readmitted to the family of G7 nations.

Along with the sanctions imposed by our American and European allies, the measures undertaken by the international community are having an impact on the Russian economy. Investments are dropping and capital is leaving the country.

The steps Canada has taken have not been made without careful consideration of their potential impact on Canadian business interests abroad and at home. Like our allies, we will put our national interests first, but we will not allow business interests alone to dictate our foreign policy. With Mr. Putin’s Russia increasingly autocratic at home and dangerously aggressive abroad, now is not the time to ease the diplomatic and economic pressure on the regime. Sustained, strong and co-ordinated action among like-minded countries is the best way to ensure that our actions have the maximum impact on the Putin regime.

Evangelicals Hail Pope's Caserta Visit and Apologize to Catholics

Rev. Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe

(Vatican Radio) The head of the World Evangelical Alliance has hailed Pope Francis’ meeting with Pentecostals in Caserta and apologised for discrimination of Catholics by Evangelicals in the past. After an encounter with the Catholic community in the southern Italian city on Saturday, the Pope returned to Caserta on Monday where he was welcomed by over 200 members of the Pentecostal Church of Reconciliation.

Commenting on the impact of that historic meeting, the Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance, Rev. Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe said while the official conversations between Catholics and Evangelicals are an essential part of the ecumenical journey, the building up of trust and friendship leads to a deepening of those theological dialogues. He also talked about the importance of a meeting that he and other Christian leaders had in June with Pope Francis in the Vatican and about the legacy of Evangelical leader Tony Palmer who died ten days ago…..
 
Rev. Tunnicliffe said he believes the work of building up relationships within the Christian family is extremely important…. “Jesus, in John 17, clearly calls us to be one and I think for those outside the Church, it’s important for them to understand that while there are differences within the Christian denominations, at the core we have so many areas of communality….”

Asked about the impact of Pope Francis’ meeting with Pentecostals in Caserta, Rev. Tunnicliffe noted that over recent years the World Evangelical Alliance, which represents some 650 million Christians around the world, has had growing interaction with the Vatican and the Catholic Church….”We’re just concluding our 2nd official theological dialogue which identifies areas of common concerns and areas where we still differ….but I think Pope Francis reaching out to Evangelicals bodes well for future conversations, because that will allow us to go deeper in our interactions together….

Commenting on Pope Francis’ apology for the persecution of Pentecostals by Catholics in the past, Rev. Tunnicliffe said he wants to commend the Pope for taking such a public step of asking for forgiveness….”It is biblical and it reflects the message of Jesus…..so my hope is that this act of Pope Francis will send a strong message around the world, particularly to those countries where there are significant tensions between Catholics and Evangelicals. But I also need to say this: I recognise that in history there have been situations where Protestants, including Evangelicals, have discriminated against Catholic Christians and I am really sorry for these kinds of actions, because while we can disagree theologically, this should never lead to discrimination or persecution of the other. We all need to acknowledge all our failings and ask each other for forgiveness and I think Pope Francis set a great example”

Will Tragedy Derail Pope Francis on Christian Unity?

Pope Francis, Bishop Tony Palmer and Rev. Kenneth Copeland

History sometimes turns on tragedies, leaving people to ponder what might have been. A new Catholic focus for that question is a random motorcycle accident last Sunday in England, and whether it may change the arc of Pope Francis’ papacy on ecumenism, meaning the push for unity among Christians.

Christians, of course, are fond of preaching peace and brotherhood, but anyone looking at the notoriously splintered Christian landscape can see they often don’t practice that gospel. Thoughtful leaders on all sides have long tried to mend differences, with little effect, and there has been mounting hope that Pope Francis will be the one to finally move the ball, in part because of his long history of friendship with other Christians.

Francis is set to travel on Monday to the southern Italian city of Caserta to see a few of his old Protestant friends, and to pray with them. The get-together unfolds under the shadow of the loss of someone who was supposed to be there, Bishop Tony Palmer of the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, who got to know the future pope while ministering in Argentina.

Read more at The Boston Globe >>

All Creatures Of Our God And King