https://www.drfuhrman.com/library/eat-to-live-blog/144/fasting-rejuvenates-the-immune-system

Fasting rejuvenates the immune system

Fasting under medical supervision can have amazing healing results. The concept of therapeutic fasting is not new; the early great philosophers, thinkers, and healers used fasting for health. Hippocrates, Plato, Socrates, Aristotle and Galen all praised the benefits of fasting. Paracelsus, one of the three fathers of Western medicine, is quoted as saying, "Fasting is the greatest remedy--the physician within."

Unfortunately, as time went on fasting as a modality to heal became obsolete as pill popping became the modality of treatment. However, a small number of medical professionals kept up with its use and today we are learning of its vast benefits and in particular, how it works on a cellular level. Fasting works because the body has the capacity to heal itself and when the process of digestion stops, healing is accelerated. Eating a Nutritarian diet allows the body to heal at a faster pace. I have been using fasting as a healing strategy throughout my career as a physician for patients who need to quicken the healing process.

Fasting promotes accelerated healing and a valuable treatment for a variety of medical conditions.

In my 1995 book, Fasting and Eating For Health, I described my observations of health improvements due to fasting. In fact, my colleagues and I published a series of case reports that showed remission of autoimmune diseases following supervised fasting. ¹  Reviews of studies on fasting supported those findings, concluding that fasting (followed by a vegetarian or vegan diet) produces improvements in symptoms for patients with autoimmune diseases.^2,3

Although fasting is a powerful healing modality that has been used for many years, only recent research studies are uncovering specifically how fasting works on a cellular level. These new studies are generating more interest in fasting. To understand how fasting works, you first need to know that our bodies stores sugar in the form of glycogen and when we stop eating, the stored glycogen is used by the body. Fasting, after glycogen stores are depleted, (which occurs during the first 24-48 hours of a fast), sets off complex biochemical pathways in the body that aim to conserve energy while adequately fueling vital organs. These complex biochemical pathways have tremendous healing benefits.

New research reveals cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy may have immune building benefit from fasting

 A recent study⁴ suggests that fasting promotes the regenerative capacity of the immune system that could benefit cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy,  as well as healthy individuals.. Previous research suggested that fasting could protect mice against toxicity from chemotherapy (without compromising the effectiveness of the chemotherapy).^5,6 Also, in a series of 10 case reports of patients who had voluntarily fasted alongside some of their chemotherapy treatments, all of the patients experienced fewer and less severe side effects during fasting cycles compared to non-fasting cycles of chemotherapy.^7,8

In an extensive series of experiments, a group of scientists found that fasting decreased DNA damage and cell death in white blood cells and bone marrow cells, and reduced chemotherapy-induced mortality in mice. Most importantly, after 4-5 cycles of fasting accompanying chemotherapy, the white blood cell count of the fasting group returned to normal, but the control group remained diminished by the chemotherapy.

The scientists also looked at fasting without chemotherapy, and found similar results: a six-fold increase in newly generated hematopoietic stem cells. Hematopoietic stem cells are those stem cells that are produced in the bone marrow and which give rise to all the other blood cells, including white blood cells that modulate immune function.  Fasting was able to provoke regeneration of the immune cells in healthy mice, and also changed the hematopoietic stem cell profile of aging mice to that of younger mice. The scientists were surprised at these dramatic results, which suggested that fasting signals the immune system to get rid of old of damaged cells and rebuild itself with new cells.^4,9 

IGF-1 and Fasting: Another fascinating finding

The scientists found that reduced IGF-1 signaling was a key player in the regeneration of immune cells that occurred in response to fasting. Lower levels of IGF-1 are associated with reduced risk of cancer and slower aging.  Mice that were given extra IGF-1 during the fasts did not have the same increase in hematopoietic stem cells.

Would this work in humans too?

Within the same publication, the scientists have begun to answer this question.  A clinical trial assigned patients undergoing chemotherapy to either 24 or 72 hour fasts prior to each chemotherapy cycle. Preliminary results were similar to what was seen in mice; the 72 hour fasting group saw an improvement in immune cell count and a shift toward the ‘younger’ cellular profile.

This promising and exciting research suggests that occasional fasting could have profound immune-boosting benefits for healthy individuals and those undergoing chemotherapy. By simulating an energy shortage with a few days of fasting, we can jumpstart the immune system’s natural self-renewing capacity, exchanging old immune cells for new ones.

What this could mean for cancer patients

The toxicity and side effects associated with chemotherapy are a major limitation for treatment of cancer.  An important research goal is to identify an adjunct treatment that could ameliorate those side effects without compromising the effectiveness of the chemotherapy. Research suggests that fasting could achieve these goals and even make chemotherapy more effective.  In other words, fasting is thought to protect normal cells while making cancerous cells vulnerable.

Depriving normal, healthy cells of energy-yielding nutrients signals them to set aside growth and go into a mode of energy conservation, protection, maintenance, and repair. It increases the capacity of these cells for stress resistance. In vitro, this resistance to stress helps to prevent oxidative DNA damage from chemotherapy drugs.

Since cancerous cells have mutations that hyper activate growth pathways, causing uncontrolled proliferation, they are unable to go into the protective stress-resistance mode like healthy cells.^5,10This is called “differential stress resistance.”  Fasting appears to induce stress resistance in normal cells but vulnerability in cancerous cells. Like the results regarding immune function, a reduction in IGF-1 levels due to fasting contributes to this differential stress resistance.^6,10

After the early series of 10 case reports noted a low rate of side effects in patients that had fasted prior to chemotherapy,⁷ additional studies in human patients were undertaken. The studies were small, but the results are positive. In one study, patients who fasted for 48 or 72 hours showed reduced chemotherapy-related side effects (including fatigue and nausea) and DNA damage in white blood cells compared to those who completed a shorter fast of 24 hours.¹¹

 A randomized controlled trial in women with breast cancer also showed evidence of attenuated DNA damage due to chemotherapy in the fasting group compared to the non-fasting group over the course of multiple chemotherapy cycles.¹²

 Future studies are needed to determine whether fasting strengthens patients’ response to chemotherapy, and also to determine the optimal fasting length for reducing side effects.  Potentially this research could lead to a widespread use of fasting as an adjunct treatment alongside chemotherapy.

Fasting and Eating for Health

My book, Fasting and Eating for Health, is still a must read for the health enthusiast, though 20 years ago we did not know about fasting’s potential to help rejuvenate the immune system and sensitize cancerous cells through a combination of reduced IGF-1, stem cell rejuvenation and stress resistance.

Horrors at an abortion clinic went ignored--Dr. Kermit Gosnell

Horrors at an abortion clinic went ignored: This column contains material that is difficult to read. Dr. Kermit Gosnell's former Philadelphia facility, the Women's Medical Society, was the scene...

Horrors at an abortion clinic went ignored

Dr. Kermit Gosnell's former Philadelphia facility, the Women's Medical Society, was the scene of untold horrors for many years, involving hundreds of babies being killed after being aborted alive.

This column contains material that is difficult to read.  But for a long time it was difficult even to find material to read about the story, as major media outlets tried mightily to ignore the story of America's most prolific killer.

That may change now that "Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer" has been released in more than 600 movie theatres.  It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.

Let me explain, with apologies for the details.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell owned and operated the Women's Medical Society clinic in Philadelphia.  Well known for providing grisly lateterm abortions, the Gosnell clinic was actually raided in 2010 by the police on suspicion of illegal use of prescription drugs.  They found an unsanitary, blood-stained, cat-infested "house of horrors" in which women were found suffering various degrees of malpractice by unlicensed and unqualified personnel.  Fetal remains from late-term abortions were found in jars, in milk bags, in cat-food containers.  The severed feet of dozens of fetal corpses were preserved.

In 2011, Gosnell was charged with eight counts of murder in addition to hundreds of violations of Pennsylvania's abortion laws.  The murder charges related to an adult woman, Karnamaya Mongar, who died following an abortion procedure, and seven newborns killed by having their spinal cords severed with scissors after being born alive during attempted abortions.  In the May 2013 trial, prosecutors focused on fewer charges to obtain the necessary convictions to send Gosnell away for life.  He was convicted of murder (first degree) for three of the infants, and manslaughter for Mongar.  Gosnell is in prison for life, having waived his right to appeal in order to avoid the death penalty.

But what was introduced at trial was only the bloody tip of a massive iceberg of killing.  An unlicensed physician at the clinic, Steven Massof, 49, pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree murder, murder conspiracy and other charges before Gosnell's trial.  He testified to a grand jury that he snipped the spines of more than 100 babies after seeing them breathe, move or show other signs of life.

"Severing the spinal cords of moving, breathing babies outside their mothers' wombs was, according to Massof, 'standard procedure'," reported the grand jury.

"Partial-birth" abortion is infanticide by another name.  "After-birth" abortion is infanticide, homicide, murder, pure and simple.  And it took place on a massive scale at the Gosnell clinic.

How then did America's most prolific serial killer get away with it for so long?  Therein lies a tale about regulators, the medical profession, police and journalists.

Gosnell had been sued dozens of times over more than three decades.  Detailed complaints on several occasions had been made to state regulators.  His clinic was found in violation by the state department of health as early as 1989.  But despite mountains of evidence that would have shut down an orthopedic practice overnight, Gosnell was allowed to operate, with abortion politics providing cover.  It went right to the top, with the grand jury finding Gov.  Tom Ridge's office responsible for regulators looking the other way, or not bothering to look at all.  That Gosnell preyed upon the poor made it easier for his victims to be ignored.

The police and prosecutors seemed deliberately lethargic, if not negligent, in following up deaths of women at the clinic, at least one of which resulted in a civil settlement.  It was, after all, a Drug Enforcement Agency investigation that finally brought Gosnell down for illegal prescriptions.  Had it not been for the DEA, Philadelphia police may have waited for the Internal Revenue Service to do its work for them.

Then came the trial.  By all accounts it should have been a notorious story locally, if not nationally.  But the major news media gave it a pass.  Only after a shaming campaign on social media built pressure on the major networks and newspapers did the Gosnell story get some of the coverage it deserved.

Abortion politics had corrupted the news media.  While a graphic sign outside an abortion clinic merits a disapproving story — to say nothing of violence at abortion clinics — the dismemberment of hundreds of babies born alive was treated as a non-story, unhelpful to the abortion cause.

And while Hollywood is eager to make movies about serial killers, the producers of the Gosnell film could not get the film financed.  It got made only after a crowdfunding campaign raised the necessary US$2.1 million, normally chump change in the movie business.

The Gosnell story is difficult to tell.  But that was not the reason that so many tried not to tell it.  Will its cinematic telling now also be ignored?

 

Kavanaugh/Ford credibility-READ THIS ARTICLE

If you are going to read one article on the Kavanaugh/Ford credibility read this one

Steve Jalsevac

Fox's Chris Wallace proclaiming that Ford's testimony was "extremely credible", based on just her performance during the hearings. Fox News video frame capture

October 1, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) –Breitbart's John Nolte smashes any thought that Christine Blasey Ford's testimony against Judge Kavanaugh was credible - regardless of what Fox News and other media commentators proclaimed:

By any standard of truth, fairness, classical liberalism, evidence, and facts, Dr. Ford is not only not credible, she is nothing close to credible.

Let me count the ways…

She has aligned herself with the far-left.
She straight-up lied about being afraid to fly.
She said she wanted anonymity but continually reached out to the far-left Washington Post.
Her polygraph is a farce.
Her story has been carefully weaved into a Kafka-esque nightmare no man (even with detailed calendars) can ever escape from.
Every single one of her witnesses refutes her story — has no memory of the gathering in question or says it doesn’t happen, and this includes a lifelong friend.
Her team was so desperate to have The Woman Who Wants Anonymity to testify publicly, they turned down the opportunity to have her questioned in private at her home in California — and then lied about it.
Ford’s therapist’s notes from 2012 also refute here tale, even as the media and Democrats try to gaslight us into believing the opposite. Ford originally claimed four boys tried to rape her when she was in her late teens in the mid-eighties. Now she says it was one rapist and one bystander when she was 15 in the early eighties.
Ford refused to give her therapist’s notes to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In the statement she wrote out in her farce of a polygraph test, Ford crossed out “early 80’s” so it would only read “80’s.”

And the points made go on and on ...

Read the rest of it here. Very compelling.

Nolte ends the article with 

A man’s life and career and name and reputation are on the line, his accusers actions and accusations are, by any standard, equal parts deceptive, dishonest, and implausible… And there was Fox News spreading the fake news that 2 + 2 = 5.

Fr. Rutler - Sept. 30th, 2018

Fr. Rutler's Weekly Column September 30, 2018

Abraham Lincoln won the election of 1860 with only 39.8 percent of the popular vote and was so loathed that he had to take a night train secretly into Washington for his inauguration. The Salem Advocate in his own state of Illinois editorialized: “…he is no more capable of becoming a statesman, nay, even a moderate one, than the braying ass can become a noble lion. People now marvel how it came to pass that Mr. Lincoln should have been selected as the representative man of any party. His weak, wishy-washy, namby-pamby efforts, imbecile in matter, disgusting in manner, have made us the laughing stock of the whole world.” Two years later, the author Richard Henry Dana reported: "As to the politics of Washington, the most striking thing is the absence of personal loyalty to the President. It does not exist. He has no admirers, no enthusiastic supporters, none to bet on his head.”    Against the rising tide of hate, Lincoln maintained his balance with quiet humor. And humor as the perception of imbalance is a strong defense against irrational people whose defining characteristic is a humorless lack of proportion. There is much hatred in our culture today, which has abandoned self-deprecation and has replaced humor with caustic vulgarity. It is not melodramatic to say that when people abandon Christ, they embrace the Anti-Christ who laughs not with us, but at us.    The viciousness of current politics, perhaps even worse than Lincoln knew in his time, is a dance of despair that logically results from rejecting the logic of Christ who is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” When people lose hope in eternal verities, they resort to slander instead of discourse, desperately shouting mockeries from Senate balconies and university platforms. The enemy becomes not the unjust, but the just: “The godless say to themselves: ‘Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us and opposed our way of life…’” (Wisdom 2:12).    As human nature does not change, it is not surprising that Saint James accurately took the moral temperature of our generation back in his own: “Where do these wars and battles between yourselves first start? Isn’t it precisely in the desires fighting inside your own selves? You want something, and you haven’t got it; so you are prepared to kill. You have an ambition that you cannot satisfy; so you fight to get your way by force” (James 4:1-2).    When people shout in hate and demonize their opponents, it is because hateful demons are at work. Milton’s Satan in Paradise Lost realized that he could not match God’s creation of beautiful man and woman in his image, so he must deface that image by the seductive charm of evil in disguise: “So farewell hope, and with hope, farewell fear, / Farewell remorse! All good to me is lost; / Evil, be thou my good.” Subscribers, Like what you're reading? If so, please consider making a special donation to the Church of St. Michael the Archangel at 424 West 34th Street, so that we can afford to continue distributing the column! If you have Parish Pay, you can also contribute to the column by clicking the button below. P.S. - You can also now hear Father's Sunday homilies. Simply go to https://fathergeorgerutler.podbean.com

The next big Church scandal is coming--SPREAD OF ISLAM

The next big Church scandal is coming

William Kilpatrick

September 25, 2018 (Turning Point Project) – The clerical sex-abuse scandal has done grave damage to the Church.  It may seem that the situation couldn't get much worse – but it almost certainly will.  That's because another scandal is building which, when added to the first, will threaten the Church's very survival.

The second scandal is the facilitation of the spread of Islam by certain Church leaders – often the same leaders who have been implicated in enabling the sex-abusers.

As bad as the first scandal is, the second will be even larger.  The victims will number not in the tens of thousands, but in the tens of millions.

The largest persecution of Christians in history is now underway, yet Church leaders have little if anything to say about the slaughter.  Instead they have covered-up for Islam's murderous ideology, declaring it to be a religion of peace and justice.

Meanwhile, waves of Muslim migrants – most of them men – are bringing unprecedented rates of crime to Europe.  One result is a dramatic increase in rapes, with tens of thousands of victims in England and Sweden alone.  But once again, Church leaders have fallen silent.  They rarely acknowledge the victims, but never miss an opportunity to remind endangered Europeans of their duty to admit even more migrants from cultures that are misogynistic, and violent.

Catholic shepherds provided no warning about the dangers inherent in Islam.  And when the predictable crimes ensued, they covered up for them by insisting that they had nothing to do with Islam.  Instead of alerting the flock, they invited the wolves into the sheepfold.

As the hierarchy's role in enabling the spread of Islam becomes more apparent, the sense of betrayal and anger will grow.  Unless a decisive course correction is taken, the Church will be badly weakened. The outcome of the present crisis will have a profound effect on you, your children, and your grandchildren.

The Turning Point Project is one of the few Catholic voices that is speaking out about the danger.

Published with permission from the Turning Point Project.

Homosexual ‘cesspool’: Priest blows whistle on Ireland’s national seminary

Anthony Murphy

St Patrick's College, Maynooth, Ireland. http://seminary.maynoothcollege.ie

September 24, 2018 (Lumenfidei) – A priest and former seminary vocational growth counselor in Ireland has revealed for the first time the real reason he resigned from the country’s national seminary two years ago. 

Father David Marsden told Lumen Fidei in an exclusive interview about the existence of a powerful “gay” subculture in St Patrick's College in Maynooth, Ireland. 

The trained psychologist, who specializes in priestly formation, said that a homosexual network exists among seminary council and spiritual directors. In the face of such widespread dissent from Church teaching on sexuality, it was no longer possible to conduct proper formation in the seminary, he said, and he felt compelled to resign. 

Fr. Marsden relates in the interview how he became aware of the existence of the homosexual network and attempted, to no avail, to make it known to proper authorities. 

The priest’s testimony suggests that an active and secretive homosexual subculture is being allowed to thrive in the Maynooth seminary, with the approval of the ecclesial authorities.

Same-sex 'marriage' referendum, a forbidden topic in seminary

The year is 2015 and debate in Ireland is dominated by the State’s plan to change the constitution to allow same-sex couples to “marry.” With such a blatant assault on God’s plan for marriage one might expect the Church to be vocal in promoting the natural law, yet, despite the intensity of the pro-LGBT campaign, there was silence from much of the hierarchy. Priests and bishops did not speak. Were they afraid, unsure or compromised, we do not know. But the silence was deafening.

Even in the country's heart of Catholic learning — the Pontifical University in Maynooth — there was silence...apart from one lone clerical voice supported by the small group of orthodox seminarians.

During a meeting of the seminary council and heads of faculty, months before the referendum, Fr. Marsden suggested that the seminary hold a Novena, or Holy Hour, or consider some other prayerful devotion so the seminarians and college staff could unite in prayer for a good outcome. He recounted how instead of support, his idea was dismissed...by the President. It was clear that the other priests did not want to do anything spiritual or temporal to defend the teaching of the Church. In fact, Fr. Marsden was left with the impression that many of the staff preferred to remain silent and not even mention the referendum, never mind speak out against it. The staff dining room became a place where the referendum was never mentioned, he said.

In the run-up to the same-sex “marriage” referendum, Fr. David Marsden delivered two homilies in the seminary in which he spoke out strongly in defense of marriage between a man and woman. He denounced from the pulpit the notion that people of the same sex could marry.

It was after the second homily, he said, that he was called into the President’s office and informed that a complaint had been made against him. The identity of the individual was not revealed to him. Fr. Marsden told Lumin Fidei that he strongly suspects it was a friend of a homosexual seminarian who made the complaint as the Mass was on a Sunday morning and therefore open to all the students from Maynooth University.

Culture of fear

It was during this meeting that the President aired a concern that Fr. Marsden was becoming a ‘one issue person,’ the priest related. The implication was, he said, that the President was becoming anxious that the priest was speaking out too much about the referendum and homosexuality in general. Fr. Marsden said he responded by saying the only reason he could be called a ‘one issue person’ in the seminary was because he was the only person saying anything about the referendum or homosexuality. He told Lumin Fidei that this was likely because other staff members were either afraid to speak out or were homosexual themselves.

Despite the opposition from the staff, Fr. Marsden received much support and was admired by many of the seminarians, he recounted. But he was also aware of an active and vocal "gay" subculture operating freely in the seminary. When the referendum was passed in May 2015, the priest recounted how this group became emboldened to the point of having no fear in letting others know they were homosexual, sexually active, and in the seminary with the full knowledge and support of their bishops.

Against this backdrop, a group of faithful seminarians became concerned that the seminary not only seemed to take a liberal view of Catholic teaching, but also encouraged a “gay” subculture to develop within the seminary. Exasperated and at the point of desperation, one of the seminarians decided enough was enough and wrote an anonymous letter to the Bishops’ Conference pleading with the bishops to intervene. The letter named seven active homosexual seminarians.

It is understood that this letter was sent back from the bishops’ office to the President of the seminary Monsignor Hugh Connolly. But, rather than take action to investigate the claims in the letter, the seminary council began a witch hunt to discover the author. In the end, a completely innocent seminarian was accused, based on the fact that he had reported two seminarians – one of them his close friend – when he found them in bed together. No proof was given that he had written the letter. He was simply accused and thrown out of the seminary.

Notorious seminarian threatens Fr. Marsden

Fr. Marsden recounted how he challenged one of the most notorious homosexual seminarians about his disordered lifestyle. He was given the response: “My bishop knows, the seminary council knows, my spiritual director knows – none of them have a problem with it so neither should you.” The priest said he realized that he was being told to essentially shut up since this was none of his business. It was after this encounter that Fr. Marsden said he realized that it was now no longer possible to conduct proper formation in the seminary in the face of such widespread dissent from Church teaching that was blatant among the seminary council and the spiritual directors. It was at this point, he said, that he wrote a letter to Mons. Connolly tendering his resignation.

When Fr. Marsden tried to raise the problems he was seeing in the seminary with the Church authorities, the response he received was to not only ignore his concerns, but, to ridicule him for raising them in the first place. He recounted how one high-ranking cleric stated that “you see gays under the bed.” 

In the end, Fr. Marsden said he could no longer work in the seminary and retain his integrity. He chose to resign from what he describes as an “institution riddled by systemic disobedience to Church teaching.”

It was reported in the secular press during the summer of 2016 that the reason for his resignation was a conflict of theological outlook. But, the priest said, this reason was incorrect. There certainly was a divergence of theological opinion. In fact, many of Fr. Marsden’s friends related to him their amazement at how long he managed to stay in the seminary. But, it was the issue of homosexuality within the seminary which brought matters to a head. 

The seminary has long been a “cesspool of liberal theology and heterodoxy,” Fr. Marsden said. Because of this, those few staff members who, down through the years, maintained a fidelity to the Magisterium were often isolated and subtly persecuted, he added.

Dictatorship of blandness

Fr. Marsden described the model of formation in the Maynooth seminary as a “dictatorship of blandness,” by which he means that any sort of vibrant or orthodox expressions of the Faith on the part of seminarians were harshly dealt with and suppressed. Seminary staff resented students who used the internet for alternative, i.e. orthodox, sources of information about the faith. In fact, the term for such alternative sources that was bandied about on a regular basis during staff meetings was “shadow formation.” 

“The tripe they were getting served up by the theology faculty was in most cases utter drivel,” Fr. Marsden explained.

“It is my honest assessment that the formation and academic staff in Maynooth are either liberal or homosexual and a significant number are both,” he added. 

The Irish McCarrick?

Fr. Marsden also revealed that there may have been an Irish version of seminarian and priest abuser now-ex Cardinal McCarrick. Fr. Ronan Drury, a priest of Meath diocese, lived in the seminary until his death last year. Reading his obituaries and the praise heaped on him by bishops and the current President of the Seminary, Father Michael Mullaney, one might picture Drury as a learned and jovial priest, popular with all in the seminary which was his home for 42 years. He was Professor of Homiletics there since 1977 until his death last year. He was also editor of the liberal Furrow magazine for 40 years.

However, Fr. Marsden said he discovered a dark and secretive side to Drury. Known by his nickname “Kitty,” he was a notorious figure among the “gay” subculture in St Patrick's College. His behavior was such an open secret among the students that even the normally cautious Mons. Connolly felt it necessary to inform Fr. Marsden that a credible allegation of molestation had been made against Drury by an individual. The complaint was regarding inappropriate touching by Drury of this person. Later, a priest also confided to Fr. Marsden that Drury had molested him as a first year seminarian. Monsignor Connolly never suspended Drury. 

Fr. Marsden’s testimony suggests that a place like Maynooth seminary is a playground for the likes of Drury. He had daily one-to-one access to young male students. Many questions remain. Who knew about his abuse? Was his bishop informed?  If Mons. Connolly was concerned about his behaviour, what did he do to protect seminarians? Why was Fr. Drury allowed to continue living in the seminary with open access to vulnerable young men? 

Fr. Marsden’s testimony also suggests that an active and secretive homosexual subculture is being allowed to thrive in the Maynooth seminary, with the approval of the ecclesial authorities – some of whom Fr. Marsden suspects are also same-sex attracted themselves.

Lumen Fidei reached out to various bishop trustees of the college for comment on Fr. Marsden’s testimony prior to publication, but no response was given. The current President of Maynooth seminary was also contacted, but he refused to answer any questions about Drury’s behaviour. 

It would appear that the circle of secrecy is protecting its own.

But the faithful will not accept cowardice or silence. An open and transparent investigation into the various scandals which have afflicted Maynooth seminary for at least 30 years must take place. Questions that need to be address include: Were payments made to silence victims, and who were the key figures behind the culture of cover up and secrecy? 

The only sure way to end the disease in Maynooth seminary is to send the remaining small number of faithful seminarians to the Irish College in Rome and to close the seminary for a year or more until such an investigation is carried out and the recommendations from it are fully implemented. If this cannot be accomplished, then the seminary should simply close. Fr. Marsden’s testimony suggests that Maynooth seminary is no longer fit for its purpose of forming Catholic men to be future priests. Parents should do all in their power to dissuade their sons from going there. 

The long suffering faithful and those seminarians who have been abused and persecuted deserve action and transparency. This is a defining moment for the Church in Ireland. Faithful Catholics should not rest until every bishop stands up and takes direct action to purge the filth from the Church.

Note: The Catholic Voice encourages any of Drury’s victims to come forward with the possibility of speaking in confidence about any abuse they experienced during their time in the seminary. Please email: info@catholicvoice.ie. You will be listened to in the strictest confidence.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared at LumenFidei.ie. It has been edited and published here by permission of the author. 

GOSNELL MOVIE--SERIAL KILLER

See the movie Hollywood does not want you to see. See the story the media would not cover. They are the crimes the government tried to cover up. See the true story of how abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell hid in plain sight for nearly twenty years, to become America’s biggest serial killer. And see how a Philadelphia detective and the District Attorney office took on a system bound to shut them down to put Kermit Gosnell in prison for life. GOSNELL: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer In Theaters Friday, October 12th Visit http://gosnellmovie.com/ for more information. ‘I hope that all of our viewers watch this movie.’ Tucker Carlson – Fox News ‘Everyone needs to see the Gosnell movie particularly young people. I can’t recommend this movie more strongly.’ Marjorie Dannenfelser – Susan B. Anthony List ‘After watching the Gosnell movie, I’m angry, I’m sad, and I’m more motivated than ever to end abortion.’ Kristan Hawkins – Students for Life of America ‘This movie is amazing!’ Michelle Malkin Based on the NY Times Bestseller — Gosnell: The Untold Story of America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer. The film stars Dean Cain, Sarah Jane Morris, Nick Searcy, Michael Beach and Earl Billings as Dr. Kermit Gosnell. The film is the shocking true story of the investigation and trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell – his 30-year killing spree and the political and media establishment that tried to cover it up. Originally investigated for illegal prescription drug sales, a raid by DEA, FBI & local law enforcement revealed crimes they could not have expected within the clinic.  The film was crowd funded on Indiegogo by over 29,000 people, who gave over $2.3mm to make sure this story was told. It’s an uplifting story of justice and the men and women in law enforcement who helped bring Kermit Gosnell to trial. While taking a hard look at the facts, the movie is not graphic or explicit. It’s rated PG-13 and is appropriate for teenagers. If you can handle an episode of Law & Order or NCIS you can see Gosnell. The film has faced opposition from the very beginning when Kickstarter kicked the campaign off their platform. It aced opposition in the production of the film. And recently NPR refused to run advertising describing Kermit Gosnell as an abortion. See the movie that shines a light on a story the mainstream media refused to cover.

http://www.tfp.org/learning-to-blame-others-for-americas-opioid-epidemic/

Learning to Blame Others for America’s Opioid Epidemic

August 31, 2018 | John Horvat II

Learning to Blame Others for America’s Opioid Epidemic

There is talk that the government will soon file lawsuits against the pharmaceutical firms that make opioid painkillers. They claim that these companies have failed to warn patients about the addictive nature of their product, which in turn allowed them to amass huge profits.

This is not the only plan to solve the opioid crisis. Others are calling upon doctors to taper off doses of medications after one year to prevent addiction and abuse. Such schemes promise to slay the opioid-abuse dragon that is wreaking havoc upon countless individuals, families and communities.

The problem with these solutions is that they do not address the causes of the problem but only suppress the effects. In this case, it just makes the problem worse.

Opioid painkillers are not the problem. They have a proper role in the care of individuals. They are legal drugs needed by patients with chronic pain conditions. They do carry a risk of dependency, which can be mitigated by their correct use. However, if their doses are curtailed or eliminated, many individuals will suffer much and needlessly.

Those Who Abuse Opioids

The vast majority of proper users do not abuse these painkillers or suffer from overdoses. According to one study, the risk of opioid overdose by chronic pain patients who use them as directed is very low. It accounts for less than 0.3 percent of prescribed doses annually. This is hardly the kind of abuse responsible for all the dire headlines that talk about the destruction of lives and communities.

The next category of users is made up of those with mental illnesses or major medical conditions that can overdose because of impaired judgment or lack of supervision. This is still a medical problem that comes from lack of care. However, it is not the cause of the epidemic.

The real problem comes from those who abuse painkillers by making wrong choices. This is no longer a medical problem but a moral one. It is caused by bad personal decisions, vices and behaviors.

Eternal and Natural Law: The Foundation of Morals and Law

According to research by Kaiser Permanente and the Denver Health Medical Center, most abuse of opioids occurs when compounded by moral problems. Patients in the midst of chaotic personal conditions are one high-risk category. Yet others are those who mix their opioids with other sedatives, drugs and alcohol. Those suffering from high emotional stress will also tend to abuse.

These abusers also include those who engage in fraud. Patients will purchase pills via over-prescription or illegal pill mills. People use Medicaid funds to buy and resell them to addicts who crave them.

A Moral Problem Becomes a Legal One

Thus, most abuse stems from moral choices between the correct use of opioids as prescribed by doctors and patients’ desire to escape personal stress and suffering by increasing their use. Abuse involves intemperance, in which people allow their appetites to rule. It happens when people abandon virtue and allow families or relationships to break up. Others wish to profit off the vices of others by selling opioids. These are all moral problems that have medical consequences.

Science Confirms: Angels Took the House of Our Lady of Nazareth to Loreto

As a result, abusers suffer when their lives break down. Their families suffer. Communities suffer. Government officials are pressured to take action.

Thus, the medical problem that became a moral issue now becomes a legal case. Officials propose legislation that seeks to limit the supply of opioids but not the desire for them. They will provide educational programs to tell people how dangerous abuse can be—even though most people know abusing any drug is dangerous.

The Failure of Legal Measures

These solutions do not involve developing moral character and virtue. In fact, they create a hell for abusers and non-abusers alike. They impose a mountain of regulations on society to limit access to opioids. Such measures can be helpful, but addicts usually find ways around the rules by immersing themselves in a hellish subculture. They can then resort to more desperate and illegal means to feed their frenzied addictions.

Meanwhile, those who suffer the most from the opioid crisis are the patients that need them. They are the ones that must comply with all the new regulations and rules designed to stop the abusers. The hysteria around opioid abuse has prompted many doctors to play it safe and under-prescribe them. They will try to eliminate opioid use or suggest painful alternative treatments that may not be proper for the malady. Some sufferers find an ever smaller pool of doctors who are willing to prescribe needed medications leading to what are called “opioid refugees” who wander about the country looking for experts willing to treat them.

Inevitably, the strong government measures fail to stop the problem. Then, the next phase of the cycle begins. It consists of finding someone to blame—other than the addicts.

Finding a Scapegoat

In this case, the culpable are the pharmaceutical companies who ruthlessly seek profits from the weaknesses of others. As in all things, there may be some abuse by the firms, but it is often exaggerated by leftist media. The legal problem becomes an ideological one. The crisis is dressed up in terms of Marxist class struggle. Let the rich companies pay the bill for the ruined lives of those poor unfortunate people who abuse their products.

The opioid crisis has thus evolved from a medical to moral to legal to ideological problem. People will do anything to avoid putting the blame on themselves.

Such is the fate of a society without virtue. When people live lives of unrestraint, their passions take over and throw them into the misery of stress, broken relationships and loneliness. When they reject all suffering which is the result of their follies, they go to the extremes to escape the pain. When the pain cannot be subdued, they look to throw the blame upon others and seek recompense for it.

“Lord, to Whom Shall We Go?”

SEPTEMBER 1, 2018 BY MOTHER MARY ASSUMPTA LONG, OP 2 COMMENTS

We are deeply saddened by the news that comes in daily about the sexual abuse involving the hierarchy (cardinals, bishops, and priests) in the Catholic Church. We certainly believe that those found guilty should be punished and live out their lives in prayer, penance, and reparation. We hope and pray that the persons who have been abused will find support, love, and healing.

Our thoughts turn to all of those wonderful men in the hierarchy who love the Church and are faithful to her teachings, who must be going through their own Calvary with each report of the above. We think of the religious who have given their lives to the Lord and who were helped in their vocation discernment by some wise counsel of a priest. We think of the laity who are trying themselves, and also trying to raise their children, to love the Church and live by her teachings in a culture which gives very little or no support for so doing.

There will probably be many, weak in the knowledge and living of their Catholic Faith, who will use clerical abuse as an excuse to leave the Church, but hopefully [it will] make others stronger in the Faith. “Lord, to whom shall we go?” The Catholic Church has the fullness of faith, with all the means to lead men and women to holiness of life and to eternal salvation. The history of the Church has always been through crises, and at these times great saints were raised up. A good example of this was St. Thomas More, who was martyred for defending the Church of Rome when many of the hierarchy were defending King Henry VIII, who declared himself the Head of the Church in England. Thomas More is the one who has Saint before his name. Or we look to St. Catherine of Siena, who worked so hard to help bring Pope Gregory XI from Avignon to Rome.

In 1969, when Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was Professor Joseph Ratzinger, he gave a radio talk, “What Will the Future Church Look Like?” I will quote a few sentences from this talk. “From the crisis of today a new Church of tomorrow will emerge—a Church that has lost much! She will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning…. But in all [this] … the Church will find her essence afresh and with full conviction in that which was always at her center: faith in the triune God, in Jesus Christ, the son of God made man, in the presence of the Spirit until the end of the world.” I certainly think that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s words are surely applicable today.

So what should our response be to this crisis in the Church today? It calls us all to strengthen our own faith, to pray, practice virtue, fast, and sacrifice not only for those who have been abused but also for those who have caused this scandal in the Church. We desire all to receive the love and mercy of God.

The tree is being pruned radically only to put forth more healthy and stronger shoots. If we are looking at a smaller Church, perhaps the best example we could take would be the mustard seed—the smallest of all seeds, but when grown becomes the biggest shrub of all and becomes a tree so big that the birds of the air come and shelter in its branches. (MT 13:31,32). So if all of us in the smaller Church are planted deeply in the belief and practice of our Faith, the Church will grow stronger and stronger and many will come to be embraced in the loving arms of their Mother.

Mother Mary Assumpta Long, OP
Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist
Ann Arbor, Michigan

https://www.hprweb.com/2018/09/lord-to-whom-shall-we-go/
www.sistersofmary.org

Fr. Altier Tells The Whole Truth about the Abuse Scandals!

Subject: Fr. Altier Tells the Whole Truth about the Abuse Scandals!

Date: August 24, 2018 at 3:42:07 PM CDT

To: info@catholicparents.org

 “Not simply a cover up, it’s an agenda; intentional and purposeful, to destroy the Church from within”

  
1924 homosexual infiltration began; reference given; beginning to seed the Seminaries, then the Priesthood, then the Bishops and Cardinals 

1929 Communist infiltration began

Listen: :  https://straphaelcrystal.org/homily/august-19-2018/   20 minutes long, riveting summary

The Fedit Sea in Which They Swim

The Fetid Sea in Which They Swim

Austin Ruse

The gaying of the Church is perhaps the most diabolical attack the Devil has ever launched against the Catholic Faith.

First, there is the massive damage done to the Church: the thousands of victims, the hundreds of millions in payouts, the bankruptcy of dioceses, and the cratering of ecclesial credibility.

And yet, in our society is there a more sympathetic group than gays? Is there a more favored group? So sympathetic are they, so eager are we to cover their sins and cower before them, that when the long Lent came and more than 80 percent of the victims were young men, we were eager to claim these homosexual assaults weren’t homosexual at all but pedophile, which we were quickly told has nothing to do with homosexuality.

Then consider that in order for the Church to regain her moral authority, in order to fight this terrible scourge, made even worse by recent revelations, the Church must turn on this most favored group and receive even more hatred and scorn for it.

Cardinal McCarrick’s crimes are at least something of a gift since no one can claim this was merely pedophilia. It was homosexual predation like practically all the others.

If you wonder how a Prince of the Church spent decades sexually assaulting boys and young men not only with impunity but with high honors and acclaim, look no further than this gaying of the Church. An authority on this is one Joseph Sciambra who has painstakingly chronicled this fetid sea in which the likes of Cardinal McCarrick swim.

When he was just beginning his gay life many years ago, Sciambra went to Catholic priests who did not try to dissuade him but rather confirmed him in his disordered desires. This helped to set Sciambra on a years-long path of sexual degradation. Nothing has changed since those days. In fact, according to Sciambra, it has gotten worse. There are now priests openly promoting the gay lifestyle, usually under the guise of gay-friendly outreach at the parish level.

Sciambra ranks the gay-friendliest dioceses: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Newark, Atlanta, Lexington, and Memphis. He gives “dishonorable mention” to Baltimore, Boston, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle.

A few months ago, Sciambra reported on a drag performer named Jay Malsky who for the past five years has run the homo/trans ministry at St. Francis de Sales Church in New York City. Sciambra posted a picture of the guy, wearing red sparkly shoes, handing out Communion during Mass. Sciambra ran a second picture of him all dolled up.

Sciambra quotes Malsky’s Facebook timeline that featured a crude drawing of an erect penis, “This is my boyfriend’s fat di*k. Ever since I was in middle school, kids teased me about loving fat di*k but I’m like whatever what I do with these fat di*ks is my biz not yours. #bodypositive #sexpositive.”

Everyone knows.

Then there is the homo/trans ministry called “Out at St. Paul,” which is located at the Paulist Father’s motherhouse, St. Paul the Apostle Parish in New York City. Sciambra reports this “ministry” hosted its “Winter Social” at a notorious gay bar called Rise in Hell’s Kitchen that is regularly listed as being among the best gay bars in New York and hosts “elaborate weekly drag shows” where the bartenders “wear nothing except jock-straps.” In March of last year, this same group held their “Spring Social” at a bar called “Bottom’s Up,” and they don’t mean their glasses.

Yet another homo/trans outreach, this one located at St. Francis of Assisi Church near Penn Station in New York, hosted its Mardi Gras party at Rise.

Jesuit priest James Martin has spoken many times at “Out at St. Paul” events and considers it an example of a “vibrant” homo/trans outreach.

Sciambra says there are several gay-friendly parishes in New York including my old parish, Blessed Sacrament on the Upper West Side. Blessed Sacrament hosted a Halloween dance party that featured heretical gay speakers including Carl Siciliano of the Ali Forney Center who says the Catechism is “homophobic” and who has spoken in favor of homosexual sex acts. The homo/trans ministry at Blessed Sacrament is headed by a man named John Gasdaska who “married” his boyfriend two years ago.

Everyone knows.

Sciambra reported on a homo/trans ministry leader named John Huân Vû in San Jose, California whose LinkedIn.com as an LGBT Ministry Leader, Young Adult Ministry Leader, Mass Coordinator, Eucharistic Minister, and Lector at St. Julie Billart Catholic Church. Vû married his boyfriend, Greg Ripa, in 2014. Vû also appeared in the movie “Owning Your Faith” produced by the gay-enthusiastic St. Paul the Apostle Church in New York.

Everyone knows.

The Archdiocese of Atlanta has allowed the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to march in the upcoming “Pride” parade that will inevitably feature naked or near-naked men feigning anal and oral sex. The Shrine also hosts a regular potluck dinner for homo/trans couples.

These stories can be told from coast to coast, and from border to border, and it has all happened with the express support and even encouragement of pastors and bishops. Think back to when Cardinal McCarrick started his craven life of crime. There were very few, if any, gay-affirming parishes. Maybe in San Francisco. However, even there they were probably sotto voce. These days, they shout it from the rooftops. How much easier it is now for gay priests and bishops to practice their predilections. How much easier it is now to ensnare young men into such a life.

There is talk of investigations. I suggest they be run only by laymen and only by laymen with no connections to the hierarchical Church. The investigations must be staffed by professional investigators, former FBI agents, or former detectives.

They must be ruthless and fearless. They must cast a wide net. Any pastor of a gay-affirming parish must be scrutinized, as well as any bishop who allows such places in his diocese. This fetid sea, i.e.,these places, did not come about by accident. They are prima facie evidence not of building bridges, but of the kind of moral corruption that has brought us to this moment.

What we need is a New Inquisition. Nothing less will do. Souls hang in the balance.

Editor’s note: Pictured above is a rainbow flag held by “gay pride” marchers walking passed the York Cathedral on June 9, 2018 in England. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)