Saturday, April 25, 2020

Feast of Saint Mark -- Imperial Patriarchate




Jean DuBois

AQUILEIA 25 April 2020 (ORCNS) - The feast of St. Mark the Evangelist is celebrated on 25 April and is a particularly important feast day for the Anglo-Italian Imperial Patriarchate since it is the Custodian of the Apostolic See of St. Mark in Aquileia. The feast is also traditionally marked in Catholic custom by a special procession.
St. Mark with his symbol,
the winged lion.

Believed to have been born in Cyrene, St. Mark was not one of the original twelve Apostles, but instead was one of the seventy sent out by Christ. According to the tradition of the Coptic Church, which was founded by St. Mark in Alexandria, he hosted the disciples in his house after the Crucifixion, and when Jesus came to see the Apostles after the Resurrection as detailed in the Gospel of John as well as when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles at the Pentecost, it was in the very same house of St. Mark. Coptic tradition also holds that St. Mark was one of those who poured out the water that Christ turned into wine during the wedding feast at Cana. He was sent by St. Peter the Apostle to Aquileia, where he founded an Apostolic See. Then he founded the Apostolic See in Alexandria. The pagans of Alexandria, in opposition to his efforts to convert people to the Christian faith, tied a rope around his neck and dragged him violently through the streets. Thus he met a martyr’s end. His symbol is a winged lion.
The Apostolic See in Aquileia founded by St. Mark became quite important, with its bishop quickly becoming a Metropolitan by the fourth century A.D. Western Illria (the modern-day coast of the Balkans on the Adriatic, including countries such as Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece) were under the jurisdiction of Aquileia, as were many key Roman cities in northeastern Italy. During the Ostrogothic and Lombard rule of Italy after the fall of th
Matilda, Margravine of
Tuscany and Imperial
Vice-Queen of Italy.
e Western Roman Empire, the new kings recognised the Archbishop of Aquileia as a Patriarch, with recognition of the Patriarchate's legitimacy of traditional apostolic independence from Rome.

During the Frankish establishment of the Imperial Kingdom of Italy, the Emperor Charlemagne also recognised the status of the Patriarch of Aquileia. In 1077, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV established the Patriarch as a Prince-Bishop of the Empire, with temporal control over Friuli. The Emperor had the just made peace with the Pope due to the negotiations made by Matilda, Margravine of Tuscany and Imperial Vice-Queen of Italy. It was with this gift of the title of Duke of Friuli to the patriarch that the Imperial Patriarchate of Aquileia became a temporal as well as ecclesiastical state.
Clergy uniform insignia in the
Walsingham Guard bearing the
winged lions of St. Mark

The Imperial Patriarchate of Aquileia eventually came into conflict with Venice, which was within its territory, but was rising as a state power of its own. The patriarchate lasted as a functioning temporal power until the 15th century. In 1420, the last of its territories were taken by the Venetians. Today Aquileia is a titular Roman Catholic archbishopric rather than a regular archdiocese. The traditional Imperial Patriarchate of Aquileia is part of the patrimony of the Anglo-Italian Imperial Patriarchate in memory of St. Stephen as Custodians of the Apostolic See of St. Mark in Aquileia. The uniform insignia for clergy in the Walsingham Guard consists of a crowned Barcelona cross of St. George supported by two winged lions on either side in honour of St. Mark the Evangelist.


Friday, April 24, 2020

Enciclico Patriarcale in merito della Guerra contro la Santa Chiesa e contro le Tradizioni della Società Libera durante la Pandemia di COVID-19



Giovanni DiNardo

SEDE PATRIARCALE 24 Aprile 2020 (ORCNS) -- Sua Eminenza Santissima l'Arcipadre Don Rutherford ha scritto un nuovo enciclico patriarcale della tema della guerra contro la Chiesa e contro le tradizioni della società libera durante la pandemia di COVID-19. Il video ed il testo dell'enciclico di Sua Eminenza Santissima seguono:

________________________________





DON RVTHERFORDVS ARCHIPATER I

Siamo in Guerra

23 Aprile A.D. 2020

A tutti i Cristifideli nel Mondo:

Carissimi: 

     Siamo in guerra veramente, e questa guerra non è contro un virus, ma è le porte dell’inferno contro la Santa Chiesa e contro le tradizioni antiche della società libera. In verità questa guerra è una delle guerre le più importanti nella storia del mondo, poichè combattiamo per la continuazione della libertà della chiesa sul mondo e per la continuazione della nostra civiltà. Non possiamo avere dubiti che questa lotta adesso è molto dura e seguirà ad essere durissima nel prossimo futuro. Quanto tempo rimane Noi non sapiamo, e non possiamo saperlo. Di questa cosa non dobbiamo pensare. Solo dovremmo pensare dell’ultima vittoria, una vittoria solo possibile per nostro Signore. Veramente, Carissimi figli, voi siete soldati nell’esercito di Cristo. In questa lotta, le bandiere non valgono niente, eccetto solo la sacra bandiera di nostro Signore e della Santa Chiesa. 

     Le forze del diavolo nel mondo ha usato la situazione del virus stabilire una grande confusione nel popolo del mondo. Molta gente ha avuto paura, e questa paura fu il strumento del diavolo. Gli agenti diabolichi hanno sfruttato la situazione per rimuovere la libertà, non solo del popolo, ma anche della Santa Chiesa. La gente era rubata e continua essere rubata della sua dignità, della sua libertà, in un modo più forte e più completo del modo sovietico, e anche di quello dei nazisti. Sì, è un buon lavoro salvare le vite, ma questa situazione ancora non è una scelta di vite contro danari, ma vite contro vite. Ma gli agenti del diavolo hanno causato che molta gente pensa che la ragione veramente sia salvare le vite. Quelli agenti sfruttano questa per cambiare tutta la vita, tutte le ditte, tutta della società, ed anche i diritti della Santa Chiesa e la libertà religiosa del popolo. La ragione vera, l’unica ragione per gli azioni della maggior parte dei governi del mondo è cambiare radicalmente il vero cuore del popolo e di società. Vogliono che la società abbandone Cristo ed abbandone le tradizioni antiche e sacre e prenda un nuovo modo socio-fascisto. 

     In questi giorni il popolo è sotto la mano degli stati modernisti. I governi hanno forzato a chiudere le ditte, ma per qual delitto? Per niente. I governi hanno sceltato vincitori e perdenti in un modo arbitrario. Anche i governi hanno forzato una grande sezione della gente agli arresti domiciliari, ma anche per qual delitto? Per nessun delitto. È un’opera compita ancora in un modo più forte e più completo del modo sovietico, e anche di quello dei nazisti. Governi, vi accuso del delitto diabolico. Non vi importa la gente sotto la vostra protezione. 

     La protezione del popolo è un sacro incarico sotto Dio, ma i governi sono falliti. Loro modernisti contro Dio, sotto la bandiera del salvtataggio di qualche vite umane di questo nuovo virus, in verità pochi in confronto della populazione del mondo, hanno messo in pericolo al meno di centi di milioni di persone in tutti i luoghi del mondo – pericolo di fame, pericolo di privazione, percicolo di problemmi di salute, pericolo di bancarotta, di mancanza della capacità di provvedere alle loro famiglie. Quante di questi dovrebbero morire per salvare quelli? Non possono i governi dire che queste vite valono più di quelle vite, per i governi e gli ufficiali dei governi non sono Dio. Ma adesso giocano a Dio. In verità questi stati moderni vogliono essere Dio e vogliono che la gente genuflettersi umilmente al governo civile e solo al governo civile. Questa cosa è al cuore di questa battaglia, di questa guerra. Non possiamo lasciare che i governi sostituiscano Dio con loro stessi. 

     Il tempo è adesso. Dobbiamo vincere per la gloria di Dio. Adesso è il tempo nel cui i cristiani devono insorgere contro le forze moderne del diavolo. Non sono forze nuove, ma sono le stesse forze d’ogni tempo nella storia del mondo. Gli nostri antenati valorosi hanno combattuto contro le stesse forze. Adesso è tocca nostra. 

Ego Archipater R.


Wednesday, April 22, 2020

What the Walsingham Guard Members are Doing to Help During Pandemic

Jean DuBois

GENERAL COMMAND 22 April 2020 (ORCNS) - The Walsingham Guard is an international humanitarian organisation with a long military heritage. Members of the Walsingham Guard and Walsingham Naval Guard are men and women from all walks of life who are concerned about the welfare of our world. Guards participate according to their interests and qualifications. For example, Mariners maintain their nautical traditions working together with Cavalrymen, Pilots, Historians, and others who use their skills to make a positive difference. And, the 2020 Global Pandemic is no exception. The Walsingham Guard members are involved in health and humanitarian efforts, including medical care, chaplaincy, COVID testing, food distributions, and high-level international policy work. 

The Walsingham Guard is part of the Anglo-Italian Imperial Patriarchate, Anglican Rite Roman Catholic Church, which is an organisation in special consultative status with the United National Economic and Social Council since 2019.

Guard and Naval Guard members serve today in many ways. The one thing they all have in common is a passion to serve others in the example of Christ. In this current global pandemic and the humanitarian crisis accompanying it, the members of the Walsingham Guard and Naval Guard are truly making a difference. 



Defrauding Workers of Just Wages, the Topic of New Encyclical "Intentio Est"

Jean DuBois


PATRIARCHAL SEE 22 April 2020 (ORCNS) - Archfather Don Rutherford released a Patriarchal Encyclical today entitled Intentio Est ("Intent is") regarding the defrauding of worker wages due to economic shutdown resulting from global government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Archfather stated that this situation is pushing the world toward the serious possibility of one of the greatest humanitarian crises in history. Read the full text below: 



DON RVTHERFORDVS ARCHIPATER I
S. ANIMIAE CARD. COMES ET S. STEFANI EPISCOPVS

Intentio Est

Patriarchal Encyclical on the Defrauding of Worker Wages Due to Economic Shutdown
Resulting from Global Government Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic


22 April A.D. 2020 

To the Christian Faithful Around the World 

Carissimi: 

     Intent is the most essential factor in determining whether an action is right or wrong. An act with a proposed good end that requires an evil act renders that act immoral. We speak in this case of the situation facing workers around the world due to economic shutdown imposed by governments during the COVID-19 pandemic. We spoke earlier regarding the humanitarian impact of such responses, which placed and continue to place hundreds of millions of people in severe peril, including risk to their lives through loss of wages. Indeed, defrauding workers of their just wages is counted among those sins crying to Heaven for vengeance. That is precisely what governments have done by forcefully shutting down large segments of their economies under the supposed justification of saving lives. However, as We have said before, it is not a question of lives versus money, but lives versus lives, for peoples’ lives are being robbed through artificially not being permitted to work. It is a basic right of mankind to provide for himself and for his family. To prevent workers from earning their just wages, particularly over a long period or indefinite period, under the stated purpose of saving lives may have a good stated end purpose, but nevertheless requires doing evil in the process, thereby rendering the overall act immoral. 

     The government responses around the world have divided workers into broad categories called “essential” and “non-essential,” arbitrarily defined by the state. These designations in this case wrongly imply that the right to work is justly held by one set of workers and not another. It wrongly permits one group to work for their daily bread and consigns another group to spend down what savings they may have and/or be dependent upon charity or payments from the public treasury. Such workers are robbed of the dignity of providing for themselves and the ability to carry out their just work in freedom. 

     The government responses around the world have furthermore divided workers into four main groups. The first are the upper-level executives, professionals, and major corporations. They have more resources and are more likely to weather the economic storm. Indeed, they may even profit from it. The second are the essential workers and essential businesses, as arbitrarily defined by the state, whom We have just mentioned previously. They can continue earning their wages and likewise may be able to profit from the situation. The third and fourth groups are small businesses deemed non-essential and workers deemed non-essential. Though all groups could easily be defrauded of just wages, it is the third and fourth groups who are in the most peril. They are the most vulnerable and most likely to suffer from the public choice to shut down the economy. The businesses are in serious risk of bankruptcy, lost of life savings of their owners, and loss of collateral property justly gained through free labour. Even if they are compensated and made reasonably whole by the state, which is highly unlikely and impracticable except perhaps for the shortest of shut downs, such compensation does not render a disordered act morally correct. Truly it is a sin committed against at least hundreds of millions of people around the world, a sin crying out to Heaven for vengeance! 

     Due to this situation as outlined here, the world is heading rapidly towards the strong possibility of the greatest humanitarian crisis in recent history. The time to act morally for good is now. We, therefore, call upon all the faithful of the world to work to encourage governments to end their forced economic shut down, but only through legitimate and moral means, for to do otherwise would likewise be of the same nature of morally disordered act of which We rightly accuse the governments. Similarly, We call upon the governments of the world to consider these matters and end their forced economic shut down, restoring the dignity and freedom to work for daily bread, to work for their very lives, that is the right of all men and women. 

Ego Archipater R.

Monday, April 20, 2020

The Collective Choice of Global Lockdown (Patriarchal Letter)

By Jean Du Bois

PATRIARCHAL SEE 19 April 2020 (ORCNS) - HHEArchfather Don Rutherford issued a Patriarchal Letter entitled "The Collective Choice of Global Lockdown." The letter addressed five key conditions in society that existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that contributed to the widespread international decision by governments to lock down their populations and close large portions of their economies. The complete text of His Holy Eminence's letter follows:


DON RVTHERFORDVS ARCHIPATER I

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, people around the globe made the collective decision through their demands and their consent, both vocal and tacit, to lock down the world, keeping individuals at home and closing down many businesses. That is, many governments imposed such restrictions, but they seemed merely to be reflecting the wishes of the vocal majority (and not every country in the world chose to shut down). The collective choice seems to be rooted in part in pre-pandemic attitudes against commerce, individual profit, religion, responsible use of resources, and forward-looking calculated risk; and in favour of socialism, socialist utilitarianism, secularism, and the idea that humanity is a blight on the earth. Those attitudes were coupled with and perhaps led to a lack of faith in institutions, for it quickly became unclear who in authority was trustworthy and what information could be trusted. That widespread fear quickly set in and spread faster than the virus was no surprise. 

There were and are, of course, alternatives to a lockdown. Each option has its own set of benefits and risks, while still caring for those who are at the most risk. At the moment, to suggest an alternative to lockdown is to risk the wrath of others, it seems. However, this is not the first pandemic that I have been through. This is the first time that the collective choice – and it was a choice – to lockdown the world was made. 

Such choices do not appear out of thin air. When each of us decide something, it is according to our personal viewpoints, beliefs, and philosophies. In this pandemic, media fueled the flames with sensational headlines and questionable statistics. Confusion reigned as scientists and politicians emotionally promoted their agendas. There was no vote to lock everything down per se. There were opinion polls taken in some places, and the public often clamoured to have their government “cancel everything” and lock everyone down. Governments gave the order, but society agreed, and thus society as a whole is accountable for the decision and its outcome. Indeed, societal agreement with and encouragement for the global lockdown decision by government ultimately seems to have resulted from the collective viewpoint, beliefs, and philosophy of society at large prior to the pandemic. What, then, did society on average think before the pandemic? It is difficult on one hand to generalise, but there are trends, and I submit that those trends that existed before the pandemic that led to conditions in which a lockdown decision would be accepted by the general public are as follows: 

1. Society, egged on by the media, promoted the idea that commerce (especially profit from commerce) is bad and stems from greed. Of course, greed exists, but to apply that label to all profit-making commercial activity is both unfair and a gross misunderstanding of the nature of work. Much of commerce is providing valuable services to others. When we as individuals go to work, we are working to live – we work to put food on the table, as well as to provide other necessary and even discretionary items. The money we earn is not simply money, but it is the fruit of our labour. Unless we are slaves (and slavery sadly does still exist in the world today), then we own our own labour, for our labour is merely the application of our time and energy, both of which are part of our individual lives. This is not a question of lives versus money, as some people now attempt to claim. Rather, it is a question of lives versus lives. That is even more true for the most poor and vulnerable people. In some cases, people around the world depend upon daily wages just to be able to eat, making the risk of starvation a higher concern for them than contagious diseases (and there are plenty of other contagious or even lethal diseases around the world at the moment than the novel coronavirus). When a business or an individual is forced into economic hardship or bankruptcy, it is, therefore, literally taking away part of the life of that individual. Consider, for example, the new college graduate who can no longer expect to get a job this summer or the person who used their life savings and a house mortgage to start a business just before the pandemic, only to have it fail due to being forced by the government (acting under popular opinion) to close. Yes, there are attempts by government and private organisations to provide financial assistance, but there is not a limitless pool of money. A society that believes that commerce and legitimate profit from commerce are evil will certainly not blink at businesses being shut down – that is, not until it hits them personally in the pocketbook, but perhaps not even then, depending on how deeply rooted their anti-commerce beliefs are. 

2. Society has been moving more and more towards socialism and has entered into it in some countries. Socialism believes in strong state control of commerce, with a primary focus on the common good rather than a balance between common good and the rights of individuals. This applies to economic activity, such as issues of redistribution of wealth, as well as personal property, health, and even personal freedom. And, what is “good for society” is naturally determined by the state, for individuals under socialism are subject to and dependents of the state. The concept of an individual in the image of God vanishes. Indeed, a crisis benefits socialist leaders since it offers an opportunity to exercise more control and redistribute wealth as they see fit. And, it will typically do so according to the utilitarian principles that so often go along with socialism. Utilitarianism says that society should choose the option that is believed to do the most good for the most people, even if it imposes costs on the minority. The state and society are all-important. The individual disappears. A society that believes in socialism, then, seems quite ripe for a lockdown that the government has determined is “good for them,” even when it imposes risks and costs on individuals. 

3. Going along with an increased belief in socialism is a decreased belief in God and religion. In socialism, God is replaced with the state. If God is no longer important, then the result is what we actually see now. Clergy are declared nonessential workers in many places, while marijuana stores are in fact considered essential and remain open. In some places, clergy are prohibited under criminal penalty from visiting those in need, and some churches are cited by the police even for holding services in which everyone remains in their vehicles. Furthermore, a lack of belief in God and religion naturally leads to an abandonment of the idea that there is any higher purpose for which risks are justified. A society that has abandoned God, deemed religion unimportant, and abandoned any sense of higher purpose, then, would surely not be too bothered when religious institutions are deemed nonessential and their rights are trampled underfoot by the civil government. 

4. Consistent with a belief that commerce is evil, an increase in socialist utilitarianism, and a reduction in a belief in God and religion, society has increasingly adopted the belief that humanity is a curse upon the earth. Some even suggest that the earth would be better off if humans did not exist. Without going to that extreme, though, there was an increasing belief in society that travel, commerce, and other human activities should be dramatically curtailed. However, the principles of sustainability do not say all activity should be stopped, but rather that there should be a balance between activity today and activity tomorrow and in the future. It is the principal of conservation. Complete reduction of environmental pollutants is simply not practicable, and thus it becomes a trade-of between pollution abatement and disposable income that can be used for other purposes. Yet, those that believe that humanity truly is a curse to the world would surely applaud the forced stoppage of a tremendous amount of economic activity around the globe, despite the damage it does to individuals. 

5. Society has become far more focused on the present. History is often abandoned, except where it might serve a political agenda. The future (ironically in violation of the basic principles of sustainability and conservation that society claims to admire today) is ignored. When there is no historical framework, one lacks an “internal compass” to determine the correct path. When there is no concern for the future, the present becomes all-important. As the focus becomes more on the present, people are less willing to take risks now for the future. A present-focused, risk-averse society seems quite likely to opt for a total lockdown. 

These five societal trends certainly appear to be leading influencing forces that led to the (almost universal) societal collective choice to have governments lock down the population and shut down businesses. Prudence appears to have been replaced with “an abundance of caution.” Government leaders around the world also have consistently presented unclear, constantly changing messages and often arbitrary decisions, contributing understandably to public paranoia and fear. Far from the utopian promises of these five societal trends, the result has actually been a decrease in order in society. In this situation, society, both in the short run in the long run, would be far better served by forethought and balance. In the end, society gets the outcome that it deserves based on its choices – or at least the choices of the vocal majority. How do we fix the situation in the world? Remedy the five societal trends mentioned above, and fear should diminish. Once fear is no longer part of the equation, the solution will become clear.