US 'Spied on Future Pope Francis During Vatican Conclave'

NSA spied on the future Pope Francis before and during the Vatican conclave at which he was chosen to succeed Benedict XVI 
 

Pope Francis delivering a speech during a meeting of the world's cardinals Photo: AFP

The National Security Agency spied on the future Pope Francis before and during the Vatican conclave at which he was chosen to succeed Benedict XVI, it was claimed on Wednesday.

The American spy agency monitored telephone calls made to and from the residence in Rome where the then Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio stayed during the conclave, the secret election at which cardinals chose him as pontiff on March 13. 

Read more at The Telegraph >> 

Russia's "Protectorate" Over Middle Eastern Christians

Kremlin May Grant Citizenship to 50,000 Syrian Christians 

Putin (LaPresse/AP Photo)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has just eclipsed America's Marxist president on the Forbes list of The World's Most Powerful People, and how telling it is also that the world's most persecuted Christians increasingly look to the Russian leader for protection, peace and justice.  

Vatican Insider reports that "defending Middle Eastern Christians has become a strategic asset for Putin and is in perfect harmony with the Patriarchate of Moscow's mission."

For a half century during Soviet-American summit meetings, American presidents raised the issue of the persecution of Christians and Jews in the Soviet Union.  Can the day be far off when the persecution of believers in the United States is raised by Russian leaders?

From Vatican Insider: 

The Kremlin is about to consider granting citizenship to about 50 thousand Syrian Christians in the region of Qualamun after they issued a collective request to Moscow’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In statements issued in the past few days, the spokesmen for President Putin and the Ministry confirmed that the request is being examined by the highest Russian authorities. “This is the first time since Christ’s birth that we, the Christians of Saidnaya and Maara Saidnaya, Maalula and Maarun are being threatened with expulsion from our land.”

The letter was full of praise for Putin’s Russia, which was described as a “powerful factor for global peace and stability”. But its remarks about western countries were less flattering: “the aim of the terrorists who are being supported by the West, is to eliminate our presence in our homeland. They use the most abhorrent methods to achieve this, murdering ordinary people for example.”

The fact that the Christian cause has caught the attention of the highest levels of Russia’s government seems to imply that the Kremlin sees their case as important in terms of geopolitics. Indeed this may be the main reason Russia has been defending their cause. The Patriarchate of Moscow’s spokesman said that the letter from the 50 thousand was proof of the “great authority” Russia has at the moment in the Middle East, “particularly among the Christian minorities living in that area.” Middle Eastern Christians  “have known for centuries that no other country would look after their interests in the same way Russia would,” said Archpriest Nikolaj Balashov, the number two man of the Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations. “To reaffirm the ties between Russia and the Churches in Syria, on 14 October the Moscow Spiritual Academy decided to erect a sculpture ensemble with a statue of Jesus at its centre, on a mountain in Syria which is also home to the Marian shrine of Saidnaya. Arab Christian pilgrims come to this shrine from all over the Middle East. The sculpture ensemble was intended as a symbol of peace in a country ravaged by war. This goes hand in hand with the Patriarchate of Moscow’s active efforts to champion the Middle Eastern Christian cause in the face of Islamist violence.

Read more at Vatican Insider >>

The Churchill Bust Dedication Ceremony in the United States Capitol

"So when a great man dies, 
For years beyond our ken,
The light he leaves behind him lies   
Upon the paths of men."

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It Takes Heroic Poland – And the Truth About Katyn – To Show Us How Evil Communism Is

From The Telegraph
By Ed West

I'm an unashamed Polonophile. If you grew up in a certain kind of Irish-British Catholic household in the 1980s, Poland was a heroic and tragic fairytale kingdom that, having endured the neo-pagan Nazis, was now held captive by the godless Soviets – and yet maintained its faith, chivarly and honour. 

Yes, Obama Is A Terrorist!

Have you wondered why the United States is arming and funding the Muslim Brotherhood and destabilizing regimes that were America's allies in the Middle East?  The following videos should shock and outrage every American.  An enemy operative occupies the American presidency.  It is probably too late for anyone but God to save America now, but Republicans should at the very least be demanding that Democrats explain the following in an impeachment trial.

Walid Shoebat is a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood and is now a peace activist.  Click here for more information about his shocking revelations.

And if you are wondering why the federal government is preparing for war against the American people with its purchase of thousands of light armored vehicles, 1.6 billion rounds of hollow point bullets, FEMA camps and guillotines, consider who has infiltrated the United States government, as revealed in this video:

Historic Churchill Ceremony to be Available for Live Online Viewing

"The Best Friend America Ever Had"

The historic ceremony to dedicate a bust of Winston Churchill being donated by The Churchill Centre to the U.S. Capitol will be available for free online viewing, beginning at 11:00 AM Eastern Time on Wednesday, October 30, at the website of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. No login or other credentials are required. The ceremony will also be archived for later viewing on the Speaker's YouTube channel and on C-Span's video archive page.  If possible, we will also stream the ceremony live, here at Sunlit Uplands, or make a video available as soon as possible afterwards.
  

The Extraordinary Deeds of an Ordinary Catholic

Mother Antonia Brenner decided at the age of 50 to devote herself to the inmates of a Tijuana prison 

From The Catholic Herald (UK)
By Father Alexander Lucie-Smith

Mother Antonia Brenner (CNS)

The Catholic Church is full of extraordinary people, many of whom you have never heard of. One such, of whom I had not heard, was Mother Antonia Brenner, whose obituary has just appeared at the Telegraph.

First of all, not to be superficial, but just look at that photograph on the Telegraph website. The traditional nun’s veil and habit; the radiant smile; the hand raised in cheery, confident and sincere greeting; the stunning lady-of-a-certain-age good looks: Mother Antonia comes over as a magnetic personality, the sort of person you meet once, and whom you never forget. She ticks the same boxes as the late Blessed John Paul II.

Then there is the life story. It was all very ordinary for much of her life. Growing up in the Great Depression, the good times that come from prosperity, the two marriages, the eight children, the mink coats, the ballgowns – pretty average for life in Beverley Hills, or so I imagine. And the Catholicism, and the charity work, and then the extraordinary decision at the age of fifty or so to go and devote herself entirely to the inmates of a Tijuana prison. But that is the wonderful thing about Catholicism: it enables the most ordinary people to do the most extraordinary things.