Apocalypse (Revelation) 9:5
And it was given unto them that they should not kill them; but that they should torment them five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when he striketh a man.

It is one of the most terrifying robots ever made. MORE

ROME — Four nuns from the order founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta are reportedly among 16 killed by gunmen who attacked a church-run retirement home in Yemen, the latest attack on Christians in the increasingly lawless country.

The women religious, members of the Missionaries of Charity, were killed when four armed men attacked the convent and home for the elderly in the southern city of Aden on Friday (March 4), the Catholic news agency Fides reported. MORE

Religious freedom, Russian style – “All right Russia!”

A Russian man may face jail time for denying God’s existence in an online discussion forum.

Viktor Krasnov, who wrote, “There is no God,” on the social network VKontakte in 2014, is on trial in Stavropol, in southern Russia. He is being prosecuted under a controversial 2013 law, known as Article 148, that criminalizes acts that insult people’s religious feelings and beliefs, his lawyer, Andrei Sabinin, told Agence France-Presse. If convicted, he faces up to a year in prison or a fine of 300,000 rubles ($4,065). MORE

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Florida law will specify that churches can’t be forced to marry same-sex couples under a bill the Legislature send to Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday. Scott’s office said he’ll sign the measure, which opponents say isn’t necessary and is simply an overreaction to the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage.

Bill sponsor Sen. Aaron Bean acknowledged last year’s ruling is the reason for his bill, which passed on a 23-15 vote with only Republicans in favor and Democrats joined by only one Republican in opposition. MORE

Just recently we took Bp. Richard Williamson to task for his ludicrous argumentation that the “New Mass” of the Vatican II Sect can licitly be attended by Catholics under certain restrictive circumstances. As we demonstrated in our post and video, the former SSPX bishop’s argumentation was lacking in consistency and, most of all, in traditional Catholic theological principles. Williamson based his entire argumentation on the Modernist, Subjectivist, and Protestant idea that licit attendance at Holy Mass is determined by what it does for the believer, rather than whether it is the true worship of God by the Catholic Church. Holy Mass, for Williamson, is principally and essentially a spiritual aid to the believer, rather than the Church’s solemn worship of the Most Holy Trinity.

Bp. Donald Sanborn, rector of the sedevacantist Most Holy Trinity Seminary in Brooksville, Florida, has now weighed in with a substantial blog post that systematically refutes the errors of Bp. Williamson on this very topic. Here is an excerpt, followed by a link to the full article: MORE

The Charles and David Koch, two of the country’s most prolific conservative political donors, will not try to stop Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump from winning the nomination, Reuters reported Wednesday.

“We have no plans to get involved in the primary,” said James Davis, a spokesman for Freedom Partners, a nonprofit funded by the brothers. MORE

(RNS) A Catholic priest in Northern Ireland has been caught on camera snorting what appears to be cocaine in a room decked out with Nazi memorabilia. MORE

Although always regarded as a father, Joseph was little known on his own account until the later Middle Ages, following the adoption of his feast by the Franciscans in 1399, and later by the Dominicans. Due in part to the “goddess like granduer” accorded to his wife, Mary, Joseph was reduced to “an abject, even ludicrous old man who figured as “God’s cuckold” in [medieval] legends and plays.”[35] The feast was only added to the Roman Breviary in 1479, and was not compulsory for the whole Catholic church until 1621. An effort by some church leaders, including Jean Gerson, Continue reading →

A series of essays in the semiofficial Vatican newspaper is urging the Catholic Church to allow women to preach from the pulpit at Mass, a role that has been reserved almost exclusively to the all-male priesthood for nearly 800 years.

“This topic is a delicate one, but I believe it is urgent that we address it,” Enzo Bianchi, leader of an ecumenical religious community in northern Italy and a popular Catholic commentator, wrote in his article in L’Osservatore Romano. MORE

Guatemala City (AFP) – Guatemalan authorities issued a warning Wednesday as the country’s Fuego volcano, located near the capital, spewed ash into the air. SOURCE

Jan 4, 2016

Two Catholic bishops who led a small Pennsylvania diocese helped cover up the sexual abuse of hundreds of children by more than 50 priests and other religious leaders over a 40-year period, according to a grand jury report that portrays the church as holding such sway over law enforcement that it helped select a police chief.

The 147-page report issued Tuesday on sexual abuse in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, home to nearly 100,000 Roman Catholics, was based partly on evidence from a secret diocesan archive opened through a search warrant over the summer. MORE

Months of below average rainfall have conspired to produce the worst drought in Vietnam in the best part of 100 years. It has been reported that the Mekong River is at its lowest level since 1926.

The ongoing El Nino weather pattern is thought to be the main cause of the lack of rainfall affecting the country.

Vietnam is not alone in suffering drought. Neighbouring Cambodia, and Laos, as well as Thailand and Myanmar have been experiencing water shortages as a result of the weather phenomenon. MORE

A BEETLE invasion of biblical proportions has hit beaches in seaside resorts.  Locals reacted with horror after seeing millions of the bugs swarm on to beaches 30 miles from the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires. In scenes straight out of a horror film, entire beaches turned black as beetles covered miles of coastline. Original Article