by
Damien F. Mackey
Russia’s foreign ministry says it has “reached the
terrifying conclusion”
that the US is conniving with the Islamic State.
Love of money
is idolatry, according to Pope Francis in a sermon in which he bluntly stated
that what really is at the root of warfare, its essential driving force, is a
greedy lust for money.
http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/10/19/pope_francis_love_of_money_is_idolatry/1180344
The Pope reminded the congregation at Mass in the Santa Marta chapel that we cannot serve two masters: either one
serves God, or one serves wealth. Jesus, “is not against wealth as such,” but
he warns against staking one’s safety in money – something he said risks,
“turning religion into an insurance agency.” In addition, attachment to money
is divisive, as illustrated by the Gospel tale of the “the two brothers arguing
over the inheritance”:
“Let us consider how many families we know, whose
members have fought, who are fighting, who don’t [even] say ‘Hello!’ to each
other, who hate each other – all for an inheritance. This is just one of the
cases: the love of family, love of children, siblings, parents – none of these
is the most important thing – no, it’s money – and this destroys – even wars,
wars that we see today: yes, sure there is an ideal [over which people fight],
but behind that, there is money; money for arms dealers, the money of those who
profit from the war. This, then, is [just] one family, but all of us, I’m sure,
know at least one family so divided. Jesus is clear: ‘Be careful and stay away
from all kinds of greed: it is dangerous.’ Greed: for, it gives us a security
that is not true and it brings you to pray – yes, you can pray, go to church –
but also have a heart that is attached [to material wealth], and that always
ends badly.”
[End of quote]
World News |
Sat Sep 17, 2016 | 4:31pm EDT
U.S.-led jets kill dozens of Syrian soldiers: Russia, monitor
BEIRUT U.S.-led
coalition jets bombed a Syrian army position at Jebel Tharda near Deir al-Zor
airport on Saturday, killing dozens of Syrian soldiers, Russia and a war
monitor said, paving the way for Islamic State to briefly overrun it.
The U.S.
military, in an apparent admission that it may have hit the position, said in a
statement that coalition air strikes near Deir al-Zor had been halted when
Russia told coalition officials they may have hit the Syrian army.
Syria's army
general command said in a statement that the air strike was "conclusive
evidence" of U.S. support for Islamic State, noting that the strike was
"dangerous and blatant aggression".
Islamic State
said in a statement on its Amaq news channel that it had gained "complete
control" over Jebel Tharda but both Syrian state television and Russian
state media said the positions lost to the militant group were later recaptured.
The defense
ministry in Russia, which has been aiding Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in
the civil war, said U.S. jets had killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers in four
air strikes by two F-16s and two A-10s coming from the direction of Iraq.
….
….
Russia's U.N.
Ambassador Vitaly Churkin responded by saying that the U.S. airstrike that
struck Syrian government troops has put "a very big question mark" over the future
of the U.S. and Russian-brokered cease-fire agreement in Syria adding that in
his decades as a diplomat he had "never
seen such an extraordinary display of American heavy-handedness as we are
witnessing today."
* * *
Update 3: Russia's foreign ministry says it has "reached the
terrifying conclusion" that the US is conniving with the Islamic State. As
ABC
reports, Russia has called for an emergency session of the United
Nations Security Council over a U.S. air raid that it says struck Syrian troops
battling the Islamic State group. Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says Moscow
is demanding "full and detailed explanations about whether this was
deliberate support of the Islamic State or another mistake."
Zakharova was
quoted by the state news agency Tass as saying that "after today's attack on the Syrian
army, we come to the terrible conclusion that the White House is defending the
Islamic State."
The U.S.
military says it halted an air raid against IS in eastern Syria after it was
informed by Russia that it might have struck Syrian troops. If confirmed, it
would be the first American strike on President Bashar Assad's forces in the
five-year-old conflict. The allegations come as Moscow and Washington are
already at loggerheads over a five-day-old Syrian cease-fire, with each
accusing the other of failing to fully implement it.
It appears this
major diplomatic scandal is only starting to play out.
* * *
Update
2: it appears that Russia is angry, and has called a UN
Security Council session, while reporting that Washington never announced any
plans to conduct raids in the region in question.
….
Interesting, in light of all
this, is that Pope Francis had earlier this year - in the ‘Meeting of the
Millennium’ with the Russian
Patriarch Kirill - turned to the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, as
the one best able to resolve the Syrian crisis and defend the persecuted
Christians in the Middle East.
In an attempt to defend
Christians in the Middle East and other parts of the world where they're being
persecuted, Pope Francis wants to ask Russian President Vladimir Putin for
help.
According to Pope Francis, Putin is "the only one with whom the Catholic Church can unite to defend Christians in the East." "It's important to join efforts [with Russia] to save Christianity in all regions [of the world] where it's oppressed," Russia's Metropolitan Hilarion said*. With the help of Putin, Pope Francis hopes to reach out to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani and even the Chinese government elite and work out a plan to help Christians in these regions.
“For the love of
money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have
wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows”.
1 Timothy 6:10
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