1. (first) Navy Cancels Religious Service Contracts – Leaving Catholics in the Lurch. (then President Trump intervenes; see article #2 below)
September 7, 2020
Jesus saves … but the US Navy cuts. In a strange budget maneuver, the Navy has decided to end its contracts with outside ministries to provide religious services to its officers and enlisted personnel, relying instead entirely on its chaplain corps. That has the material effect of curtailing access to Catholic Masses, a point noticed in San Diego by the Union-Tribune. It appears that the policy is nationwide, however:
Catholic Masses at San Diego-area Navy bases have ended because the Navy, in what it says is a cost-cutting move, has declined to renew its contracts with Catholic priests, and there are not enough Catholic chaplains on active duty to fill the void.
Protestant services on bases, which are led by active duty chaplains, will continue, said Brian O’Rourke, a Navy Region Southwest spokesman.
The full article can be found here:
2. Breaking: Trump praises Catholic navy chaplains for “compassion and skill”, says U.S. government won’t cancel contracts.
‘The United States Navy, or the Department of Defense, will NOT be cancelling its contract with Catholic Priests who serve our men and women in the Armed Forces so well,’ the president tweeted this morning.
September 9,2020
September 9, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – President Donald Trump confirmed in a tweet this morning that the U.S. Navy has reversed course and decided to renew contracts with Catholic priests to celebrate Holy Mass on military bases. Trump praised the Catholic priests for their “great compassion & skill.”
“The United States Navy, or the Department of Defense, will NOT be cancelling its contract with Catholic Priests who serve our men and women in the Armed Forces so well, and with such great compassion & skill. This will no longer be even a point of discussion!” he wrote in a tweeted in which he tagged New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan.
The complete article can be found here:
3. Sweden: The Violence Is “Extremely Serious”
September 8, 2020
Things in Sweden have now deteriorated to such a degree that on August 29, the Swedish police published a statement titled “The trends in violence are extremely serious.” It said:
“Recently, there have been serious incidents and serious acts of violence linked to criminal networks, in which several people have been murdered and others seriously injured…
“In Stockholm, two people were murdered in the past week, and in Gothenburg, criminal groups have tried to demonstrate power by controlling vehicles entering certain districts. Earlier in August, an innocent 12-year-old girl was murdered… [during a gang incident], and in other parts of the country there are conflicts between various criminal networks and other ruthless crime, as well. On Friday night, a violent riot also occurred in Malmö where several police officers were injured…”
Sweden’s National Police Chief, Anders Thornberg, made what sounded like a plea for help from the rest of society: “Swedish police are in a tough operational situation. It is now a matter of society joining forces behind the police,” he said.
“We will continue to fight organized crime with all the tools we have available. Other good forces in society, everything from municipal officials and civil society to law enforcement agencies and not least the general public, also need to focus on facing the current situation. The police must ensure that the criminals are arrested and can be prosecuted. The criminals need to disappear from our streets and squares so that no more ruthless crimes are committed…
“The everyday life many police officers face when they go to work right now is worrying and very tiring. We work intensively, around the clock, despite this, the severe violence continues. The police are there 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We do not give up and we do not back down, but the situation is currently very stressful.”
The police statement did not mention that two boys were raped, tortured and nearly buried alive in a cemetery close to Stockholm. The atrocity added to the growing number of so-called “humiliation crimes“. These are crimes where the victim is not only robbed, but also violently humiliated to demonstrate the power of the perpetrator. Another such humiliation crime, for instance, took place in Gothenburg in October 2019, when a criminal gang forced their victim to kiss the gang leader’s feet, while they filmed him. After that, they stomped on his face until he lost consciousness.
“Sweden is losing control of its own territory,” Ivar Arpi, a Swedish columnist, recently told the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende.
“These heinous crimes and humiliations are connected to a ghetto culture… Journalists do not like to write about it, politicians do not want to talk about it and researchers do not want to touch it. There is a systematic ignorance.”
Continue reading here:
