Fighters of the Islamic State stand guard at a checkpoint in the northern Iraq city of Mosul, June 11, 2014. ISIS fighters have seized Iraq’s second biggest city Mosul and Tikrit, home town of former dictator Saddam Hussein, as well as other towns and cities north of Baghdad.

As ISIS continues to pose a menace to religious minorities in Iraq and Syria, Christians from the region have spoken with horror about what the terrorist group is doing to their communities.

Auday P. Arabo, lay spokesman for the St. Thomas Chaldean Catholic Diocese, told The New York Times that Iraqi Christians are calling it “a slow-motion genocide.”

“It’s unfortunate people don’t feel it until it hits home. But I guess it’s human nature that you only see what’s happening in the mirror,” said Arabo.

Bishop Francis Y. Kalabat, who was appointed by Pope Francis to oversee a Michigan-based community, told the Times that recent actions by ISIS against Iraqi Christians was the worst yet.

“The bad things we look back at now — the Iran-Iraq War, the first Gulf War, the embargo, even six months ago. …We’d take all of that over today,” said Kalabat.

“We wish to scream, but there are no ears that wish to hear.”

Formed last year, the Islamic State is also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Over the past few months, ISIS has garnered international attention for both its conquest of territory in the Middle East and its strong penchant for violence against civilians and prisoners of war.

Among its victims include Christian communities in Northern Iraq, many of which date back to the earliest centuries of Christianity.

Earlier this month, the Christian persecution watchdog group Open Doors reported that in territory it controlled ISIS performed “outright targeting of all non-Sunni Muslim groups.”

“This has resulted in a mass loss of life, forced conversions and seizure of homes for Iraq’s minority Christians, Shiite Muslims, Yazidis and Turkmen,” noted Open Doors.

“Since then, IS has steadily moved north of Mosul into the Nineveh Plain, a predominantly Christian area. In total, more than 100,000 people have had to flee the villages and towns of Qaraqosh, Mosul and the Nineveh plain.”

The attacks on Christians in Northern Iraq represents the most recent series of violence against the Middle Eastern country’s Christian minority.

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Iraq’s Christian population has decreased dramatically as large numbers have fled the nation due to escalating persecution.

In late 2007, the Rev. Canon Andrew White, Anglican chaplain at St. George’s Church in Baghdad, told CBS that it was “clearly worse” now than under Hussien.

“Things are the most difficult they have ever been for Christians. Probably ever in history. They’ve never known it like now,” said White.

Efforts to combat ISIS have included Iraqi Kurdish militias battling the terrorist organization in conjunction with airstrikes by the United States Armed Forces.

President Barack Obama and his administration are reportedly planning out a long term strategy to eliminate ISIS from the region.

“The first phase, airstrikes against Islamic State, also known as ISIS, is already under way in Iraq, where U.S. aircraft have launched 143 attacks since Aug. 8,” noted Fox News.

“The second phase involves an intensified effort to train, advise, and equip the Iraqi Army, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, and any Sunni tribesmen willing to fight their ISIS co-religionists.”

Original Post by Christian Post

In this April 29, 2010, file photo, Stephen Hawking watches the first preview of his new show for the Discovery Channel, Stephen Hawking’s Universe.
Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has warned that the Higgs boson, also known as the “God particle,” is capable of destroying the universe if it happens to become unstable and thereby cause a “catastrophic vacuum decay” leading to the collapse of time and space.

In his preface to a new book, Starmus, which is scheduled to be released next month, Hawking, however, underlines that the possibility of the God Particle wiping out the universe is highly unlikely, according to U.K.’s The Sunday Times.

The Higgs boson is the particle, scientists say, that is responsible for mass in the standard model of physics.

“The Higgs potential has the worrisome feature that it might become metastable at energies above 100bn gigaelectronvolts,” he says in the preface. “This could mean that the universe could undergo catastrophic vacuum decay, with a bubble of the true vacuum expanding at the speed of light. This could happen at any time and we wouldn’t see it coming.”

But this possibility alone is alarming, given that it points to a completely new realm of physics, he explains. “A particle accelerator that reaches 100bn GeV would be larger than Earth, and is unlikely to be funded in the present economic climate.”

Last year, Hawking said he was left disappointed after the discovery of the God Particle, explaining that it has made physics less interesting.

He said this in a speech at the Science Museum in London, England, last November, in which he also claimed that humans have only have 1,000 years left on Earth.

“I don’t think we will survive another thousand years without escaping beyond our fragile planet. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space,” he said at the time.

Peter Higgs, the theoretical physicist who discovered the Higgs boson, attempted to describe the fundamental particle in the most basic way he could in an interview earlier this year.

“… These particles are just packages of energy of some kind of field,” the scientist said on the BBC Radio 4 program, “The Life Scientific.”

He continued: “And the feature [that] distinguishes this kind of theory, which leads to this kind of symmetry breaking, is the existence of what we, theoretical physicists, call the vacuum, which means nowadays something different from what it used to mean. It’s just the lowest energy state that you could possibly have in which there are no particles around but there may be something around. And that something around can be a background field of some sort, which pervades the universe.”

“In this theory, there is such a background field. And the background field, its interaction with all the other stuff that goes through, is responsible for generating the masses and mass differences of the other particles, elementary particles, [those] which are packages of all the energy in other fields. Simply because the background affects the way the waves propagate,” Higgs added.

“But then, the field itself can be excited, or classically to give you waves to the packages of energy of that are the Higgs boson. So it’s an extra, which comes with this type of theory, that you need to have something there, which is the excitation of the background field.”

Original Post by Christian Post

The 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis was “the highlight of my life,” said Cardinal Seán Brady, the day the Pope accepted his resignation as archbishop of Armagh, Northern Ireland.

Pope Francis “challenges and inspires me” with the “message of God having mercy and at the same time choosing us, despite our sinfulness,” the cardinal told people gathered in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh. “It reminds me that I, too, need to say sorry and to ask forgiveness. And I do so again, now.”

Cardinal Brady spoke on September 8, the day it was announced at the Vatican that Pope Francis had accepted his resignation, which bishops must submit when they turn 75. The cardinal, who as archbishop of Armagh serves as primate of all Ireland, will be replaced by Archbishop Eamon Martin, who has served as coadjutor since early 2013.

“It has been my privilege to have been appointed a bishop by Pope St John Paul II, to have worked closely with Pope Benedict XVI, and to have taken part in the conclave that elected Pope Francis — that conclave has been the highlight of my life,” he said.

“The people of the Archdiocese of Armagh and the people of Ireland will remain in my prayers for the rest of my life. I ask the favor of your prayers to help me continue to serve God as best I can all the days God gives me.”

Cardinal Brady was ordained a priest in 1964 and was initially appointed to teach in a Catholic high school while serving as a part-time secretary to the late Bishop Francis McKiernan of Kilmore.

It was in this role that he assisted in a canonical inquiry into a priest who had been accused of abuse. Then-Father Brady interviewed a 14-year-old boy who alleged he had been abused by Norbertine Father Brendan Smyth. The allegations were not shared with the civil authorities, and Father Smyth went on to abuse in Northern Ireland, the Irish Republic and the United States; he was arrested and imprisoned in 1994.

When Cardinal Brady’s role came to light in 2010, he faced serious pressure and calls for his resignation. However, he refused to quit, but admitted he had done wrong, sought forgiveness and pledged to stay on, describing himself as a “wounded healer.”

During his time as president of the Irish bishops’ conference, Cardinal Brady was responsible for the adoption of stringent child-safeguarding procedures on both sides of the Irish border that have won praise from the civil authorities in both jurisdictions. He also spearheaded a zero-tolerance approach to abuse and insisted that all allegations are passed on to the civil authorities.

In a bid to ensure confidence in the new procedures, he established the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church as an independent watchdog to ensure that the church was following its own guidelines when it came to the protection of children and vulnerable adults.

As an archbishop whose diocese straddles the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, he keenly followed events that led to the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland.

In 2001, he led his fellow bishops in supporting a radical program of reform of policing that would phase out the sectarian Royal Ulster Constabulary and replace it with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, which had an affirmative action policy to ensure equal recruitment from the Catholic and Protestant communities.

He showed a passion for ecumenism. The Rev Donald Watts, co-chair of the Irish Inter Church Meeting and president of the Irish Council of Churches, said the cardinal made an “enormous contribution to interchurch relations in Ireland.

“He chaired meetings with a gentle humility that has enabled rich dialogue and built understanding. As he retires, we enjoy unprecedented positive relationships between our member Churches,” Rev Watts said.

Original Post by Catholic Herald

Pope Francis mourned the deaths of three Xaverian Missionary Sisters of Mary, who were murdered in two separate attacks in their residence in Burundi.

Sister Lucia Pulici, 75, and Sister Olga Raschietti, 82, were found dead on September 7 in their mission residence in the capital of Bujumbura. Sister Bernadetta Boggian, 79, who had found the bodies, was killed the next night.

According to the Washington Times, Sisters Raschietti and Pulici were stabbed to death, while Agence France-Presse reported that Sister Boggian was beaten and beheaded.

In telegrams sent to Archbishop Evariste Ngoyagoye of Bujumbura and Sister Ines Frizza superior general of the Xaverian Missionary Sister of Mary, the Pope expressed his sadness concerning the “tragic deaths” of these “faithful and devout nuns”.

The messages, sent on behalf of the Pope by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said the Pope hoped that “the blood they have shed may become the seed of hope to build true fraternity between peoples.”

Xaverian Missionary Father Mario Pulcini, superior of the Xaverian Missionaries in Burundi, told MISNA, the missionary news service, that he had gone to the mission house on September 7 after he and Sister Boggian had been unable to reach Sisters Pulici and Raschietti by telephone all of that day.

“I was in front of the main door with the idea of forcing it open when it opened and I saw Bernadetta there very upset. She had found a side service entrance open and, once she entered, found the lifeless bodies of Sisters Olga and Lucia,” he said.

They alerted government, military, judicial and religious authorities, the priest said, and an investigation was begun.

Despite the murders, the sisters decided to spend the night in their home. However, they phoned Father Pulcini during the night of September 8, afraid that “the aggressor was in the home”. When the priest arrived, he found Sister Boggian had been killed, too.

There was no word yet on possible suspects or motives of the killings.

The three missionary sisters had been working in Burundi, helping the poor and the sick, the past seven years, Vatican Radio reported. Sister Boggian had been a superior of the congregation for many years.

On September 8, the mission house was “full of people who have come to mourn the nuns and express their solidarity,” Vatican Radio reported.

Original Post by Catholic Herald

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, said on Tuesday that he was “delighted” at the announcement that the Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant again.

The news of Catherine’s second pregnancy was released in advance of her canceling a public engagement at Oxford University with Prince William.

Catherine suffers from Hyperemesis gravidarum, extremely severe morning sickness in the early weeks of pregnancy, which can cause dehydration, weight loss and a build up of toxins in the blood and urine. During her first pregnancy with Prince George, Catherine was admitted to King Edward VII hospital. This time she is being treated at Kensington Palace by the surgeon gynaecologist to the Queen.

Cardinal Nichols said: “I am delighted at the happy news that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting a second child. Our prayers are with the family, and indeed all families awaiting the birth of a child.”

Speaking yesterday, Prince William said: “(Catherine’s) feeling OK, it’s been a tricky few days… we’re immensely thrilled, it’s great news.”

Original Post by Catholic Herald

Whenever prophetic voices rise to explain world events from a non-secular perspective, those voices often are minimized as “fringe” and “lunatic.”

But that is simply an occupational hazard of offering a prophetic voice. They will be beaten to a pulp by competing godless voices until they give in or give up.

For example, consider today’s voices in the wilderness that connect this country’s moral collapse to the twin scourges of terrorism and financial indebtedness. Anyone who connects our current struggles to our own spiritual and moral vacuum will be labeled a “nut.” I mean, who wants to hear about such things, right?

But even a cursory look at biblical prophets during times of crisis will quickly reveal how the godless voices of their day attacked them.

Immediately prior to God sending His people into Babylonian exile, the prophet Jeremiah tried to remind the people, again and again, that their abandonment of biblical morality was the reason for the impending disaster.

Their rejection of God’s law then is the equivalent of today’s attack on Christianity in our court system and the “loosening” of sexual ideals across our country.

Prior to the exile, Judah’s priests rationalized their own moral failure, and worse, legitimized the power of kings to legalize immorality and uphold it as a virtue. In modern times, too many of our pastors and priests have sought to go along with our pagan culture and have in essence told the typical pew sitter to go ahead and “live it up.” Certainly, God does not do anything so medieval as to punish disobedience, they believe. Surely, He would never allow disaster to come upon us.

Today’s religious leaders have preached fun, entertainment and sports. We should grab all we can from this life and expect nothing but indefinite happiness. After all, they say, God just wants us to be happy and free to pursue our pleasures.

Meanwhile those leaders act to silence any voice that warns of the impending consequences to unbridled heathenism.

They label prophetic voices as “bigots.” Such voices are “narrow-minded” and full of all sorts of “phobias.”

In ancient times, such rejection of the prophets was well-and-good until disaster struck and the king of Babylon conquered Jerusalem, taking its inhabitants into exile.

For many people today, that’s just a sad story. But it will be an all-too-real story when history repeats itself.

What will be the equivalent of exile in our time? Devastating terrorism that ends our way of life? Complete financial collapse from unrecoverable debt?

Ancient nations always lived with the threat of war and conquest. But we naively refuse to believe that anything really devastating could ever happen to us. In the tradition of the ostrich, we believe that our way of life will continue on forever.

But whatever we may face in the coming years, we can be sure that our response will be just like Jerusalem’s. We will never say: “We brought this on ourselves.” We will never declare: “We should have listened to the prophetic voices”; nor will we ask: “How can we find our way back to God?”

Instead, we will blame the prophetic voices. And we will throw in a good measure of blaming God, too.

May we as a nation, and a church, wake up in time to turn to the only truth that is worthy.

Michael Youssef, Ph.D., is the founder and president of Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, a worldwide ministry that leads the way for people living in spiritual darkness to discover the light of Christ through the creative use of media and on-the-ground ministry teams. Youssef was born in Egypt.

Original Post by Charisma Mag