v1.9

If everyone could take a moment of silence today to show your respect for the death of Jesus Christ so many years ago today it would be truly appreciated. Let's show our support while he looks down on us from up high...

v1.8

More bad news in Nova Scotia concerning Catholocism....this is getting ridiculous.


from the CBC:

An Anglican priest living in Conception Bay South, N.L., was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography Tuesday following an investigation by police in both Ontario and his home province.

Robin Barrett, 50, was arrested after the child exploitation section of the Toronto Police Service contacted the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary on Nov.18, police said.

Barrett was arrested early Tuesday morning. Police said they searched his home.
He appeared in court in St. John's Tuesday.

Barrett was the rector of the church of the Good Shepherd in Mount Pearl, from May 1999 to the fall of 2008. He is currently the rector of St. Paul's Church in Goulds. Both churches are in communities near St. John's.
Conception Bay South is 10 kilometres southwest of St. John's.

In a news release, the Diocesan Synod of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador said Barrett has been relieved of his duties with the church in order to allow the investigation to proceed.

"We as a faith community, are deeply concerned with the continued issue of sexual exploitation of children and we will do all we can to address this issue," said the statement, signed by Cyrus C.J. Pittman, Bishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador. "Given the gravity of these charges, we are co-operating fully with the authorities."

Barrett is scheduled to appear in provincial court for a bail hearing Wednesday morning.

v1.7

Well, well, Mr. Leahy from the previous post got into some trouble of his own....

from the CBC:

Bishop Raymond Lahey was released on $9,000 bail after turning himself in to Ottawa police on Thursday afternoon to face charges of possessing and importing child pornography.

The Roman Catholic cleric, who resigned his post in Nova Scotia on the weekend before news of the charges broke, has been ordered to stay away from parks and from children. He is not allowed to use the internet, and while he is free he is to stay in Rogersville, N.B. The town is the site of a Trappist monastery.

His next court date is Nov. 4 in Ottawa.

A Canada-wide arrest warrant had been issued for Lahey, 69, who brokered a $15-million settlement for victims of sexual abuse by priests of the diocese of Antigonish in Nova Scotia.

Lahey was returning to Canada on Sept. 15 when he was detained at Ottawa International Airport. Canada Border Services agents checked his laptop and found images "of concern," Ottawa police said in a release.

Lahey was allowed to leave, but his computer and other media devices were seized. Police alleged a forensic examination ultimately found child pornography.

On Friday, Ottawa police charged Lahey with possession of child pornography and importation of child pornography.

The next day, he resigned as bishop of the diocese of Antigonish, citing the need for "personal renewal."

'Ultimate revictimization'

Anthony Mancini, the archbishop of Halifax who is overseeing the Antigonish diocese, went to Sydney on Thursday to speak with Lahey's former parishioners and hold a news conference.

"I am well aware that everyone is in shock," said Mancini.

"I am concerned with all who are trying to find any meaning in this devastation. I do not have the solution to this problem or the capacity to take away the pain or the means to erase this tragedy."

Mancini has said he wasn't aware of the charges against Lahey until Wednesday.

In a letter to parishioners in Newfoundland — Lahey's native province, where he was also a bishop — Mancini wrote that child pornography is equivalent to child abuse and exploitation.

"These latest allegations are another setback for the Roman Catholic Church in Newfoundland and Labrador, a church in which we have been trying to restore people's faith after years of scandal," he wrote.

Ronald Martin said his faith was shattered when he learned of the allegations.

Martin launched a class-action lawsuit on behalf of himself and others who were sexually abused by priests in the Roman Catholic diocese of Antigonish. He met with Lahey, then bishop of the diocese, many times over the years to reach a deal.

"The one thing I said to the bishop from the very beginning was that I do not want the survivors revictimized, and I think yesterday was the ultimate revictimization for every single one of us," Martin told CBC News Thursday.

In St. Peter's, Cape Breton, many parishioners were shocked to hear about the charges against Lahey. Some are already upset that they have to help pay for the $15-million settlement, one woman told CBC News.

John McKiggan, the lawyer behind the class-action suit, fears the allegations against Lahey may reflect poorly on the settlement.

"These unfortunate charges have now raised questions about a process to do right, and that's unfortunate," he said Thursday.

Legal obligations

The settlement, approved by a Nova Scotia court on Sept. 10, has been described as the first time the Roman Catholic Church has apologized and set up a compensation package for complainants without fighting the charges in court.

Rev. Paul Abbass, spokesman for the diocese of Antigonish, said Wednesday the charges would not affect the legal obligations of the diocese to the settlement.

Lahey was appointed bishop of the Antigonish diocese in 2003 by Pope John Paul II. The Vatican accepted his resignation.

Before that, Lahey served as bishop for the diocese of St. George's in Corner Brook, Nfld. He was also a priest and pastor in the archdiocese of St. John's and a professor of theology at Memorial University in St. John's.

Lahey is a graduate of the Saint Paul University seminary in Ottawa, the Gregorian University in Rome and Cambridge University in England.

v1.6

Sometimes it takes something to hit you close to home before you realize that it is real. Now that cases like this are popping up ALL OVER THE WORLD, you'd think Catholics would take a second look at abstinence. Instead they choose to gamble and pay off the abused when their horrors go public. It's amazing people still pray to, believe in, and pay into an institution like this...

from the CBC:

Roman Catholic parishes in the diocese of Antigonish in Nova Scotia are being told they will fund a $13-million settlement agreement for church members who alleged they were sexually abused by priests.

In a series of meetings held this week in Sydney, Antigonish and Port Hawkesbury, members of parish councils and finance committees met to discuss how they will come up with the money.

The settlement was announced in Halifax last week for people who claimed they suffered sexual abuse going back more than 50 years.

Tom Langley, chair of the legal settlement committee, said the diocese and parishes have enough assets to pay the settlement. He said surveys were taken of the diocese's properties and cash flow in February, months before the settlement was announced.

"The first thing that will occur is that parishes will be asked to pool their cash and liquid resources into a fund to begin the process," he said.

Langley said no churches or glebe houses currently in use will close. The other assets of a church, such as land, may be sold, but Langley said the settlement committee wants the parishes to make their own decisions about what they'll have to give up.

Michael Campbell, a member of the Parish of St. Leonard in New Waterford, said some parishioners are wondering where the money will come from.

"Many would say that parishioners weren't the ones responsible, and that's true," Campbell said. "However, because of our faith and understanding the challenge before us, as a community of Catholics, we will work together to help in any way that we can."

The settlement came out of a class-action lawsuit filed last year. The suit, spearheaded by a New Waterford man who said he was abused by a priest, claimed the church knew that children were being sexually abused and didn't protect them.

Bishop Raymond Lahey also apologized to the victims and their families when announcing the settlement last Friday.

v1.5

tsk, tsk

Dr. George Tiller, one of the few providers of late-term abortions in the United States, was shot and killed Sunday in a Kansas church where he was serving as an usher.

The gunman fled, but a 51-year-old suspect was arrested about 275 kilometres away in suburban Kansas City three hours after the shooting, Wichita Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz said.

The suspect's name was not released. Police had been looking for a gunman who fled in a car registered in the Kansas City suburb of Merriam.

Stolz said all indications were that the shooter acted alone, although authorities were investigating whether he had any connection to anti-abortion groups.

Stolz said the suspect was being brought back to Wichita, where he would likely be charged Monday with one count of murder and two of aggravated assault. Stolz said the gunman threatened two people who tried to stop him.

There was no immediate word on the possible motive of Tiller's assailant.

But the doctor's violent death was the latest in a string of shootings and bombings over two decades directed against abortion clinics, doctors and staff.

Long a focus of national anti-abortion groups, including a summer-long protest in 1991, Tiller was shot in the foyer of Reformation Lutheran Church, Stolz said. Tiller's lawyer, Dan Monnat, said Tiller's wife, Jeanne, was in the choir at the time.

The slaying of the 67-year-old doctor is "an unspeakable tragedy," his widow, four children and 10 grandchildren said in a release. "This is particularly heart-wrenching because George was shot down in his house of worship, a place of peace."

Tiller's Women's Health Care Services clinic is one of just three in the United States where abortions are performed after the 21st week of pregnancy. The clinic was heavily fortified and Tiller often travelled with a bodyguard, but Stolz said there was no indication of security at the church Sunday.

Anti-abortion groups denounced the shooting and stressed that they support only nonviolent protest.

"We are shocked at this morning's disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down," Troy Newman, Operation Rescue's president, said in a statement. "Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice.

"We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning."

At the church, Adam Watkins, 20, said he was sitting in the middle of the congregation when he heard a small pop at the start of the service.

"We just thought a child had come in with a balloon and it had popped, had gone up and hit the ceiling and popped," Watkins said.

Another usher came in and told the congregation to remain seated, then escorted Tiller's wife out. "When she got to the back doors, we heard her scream, and so we knew something bad had happened," Watkins said.

He said the service continued after an associate pastor announced that Tiller had been injured.

"We were just really shocked," he said. "We were kind of dumbfounded. We couldn't really believe it had happened."

Tiller had in the past endured threats and violence. A protester shot Tiller in both arms in 1993 and his clinic was bombed in 1985.

More recently, Monnat said Tiller had asked federal prosecutors to step up investigations of vandalism and other threats against the clinic out of fear that the incidents were increasing and that Tiller's safety was in jeopardy.

Stolz, however, said police knew of no threats connected to the shooting.

© The Canadian Press, 2009

v1.4

Happy Mother's Day!

Luke 1:43
But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

v1.3

Hebrews 13:4
Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

Revelation 21:8
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Revelation 22:15
For without are dog, and sorcerers, andwhoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

v1.2

I tried to get into God's America yesterday at the Calais/St.Stephen border and was denied entry and harassed because I'm a self-employed artist living under the poverty line. The few promotional CD's and gallery submission envelopes that I had on me were the cause of suspicion and after repeatedly explaining that I was just going to see some concerts, drop by a couple galleries and music shops, photograph their beautiful country and then quietly be on my way I was told to go back to Canada and dispose of these items and 2 of my 4 cameras before trying again.

They scoffed at my income, lifestyle and art-school education. When I told them I was only trying to make a living as an artist they responded with, "You can't do that here." Upon leaving they left me with, "Come back when you have some steady employment."


America, I'm disappointed.
Here's the photo that started this whole project and a fitting image to go with how I feel about the USA right now.



Jesus and I are hitting the road, travelling from New Brunswick to California to the UK to Western Canada to Amsterdam and back. We're planning on seeing some of his favourite sites; Ground Zero, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building site, Hyde Park, Columbine High School and many, many more....

v1.1

"God and the Ten Commandments and all moral instruction have been removed from the schools. If those kids had walked into schools with Bibles headed for a class, they would have been called to the principal's office. But you come in talking about Adolph Hitler and they're having his birthday...and that's acceptable."
- Pat Buchanan, U.S. Presidential Candidate on the Columbine shootings.


"We have experienced a miracle, something unique, something the like of which there has hardly been in the history of the world. God first allowed our people to be victorious for four and a half years, then He abased us, laid upon us a period of shamelessness, but now after a struggle of fourteen years he has permitted us to bring that period to a close. It is a miracle which has been wrought upon the German people.... It shows us that the Almighty has not deserted our people, that He received it into favour at the moment when it rediscovered itself. And that our people shall never again lose itself, that must be our vow so long as we shall live and so long as the Lord gives us the strength to carry on the fight."
- Adolf Hitler

v1.0

John 20: 1, 12-17
The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre .....

And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.