POPE BENEDICT KISSES THE BLOOD OF JOHN PAUL II

The blood of John Paul II has arrived in Colombia.“His blood is the symbol of life, says Father Slawomir Oder. The small round cylinder inside the glass mounter contains a sample of the blood of the late Pope, ready to be carried through the streets of Bogota. The relics that arrived ion Bogota 20th of January consist of a small vile of the late pontiff’s blood which was extracted by medical officials before his death in April of 2005.

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"PROTESTANTS AREN'T PROPER CHRISTIANS," SAYS POPE BENEDICT XVI

Pope Benedict XVI declared yesterday that Christian denominations other than his own were not true churches and their holy orders have no value. Protestant leaders immediately responded by saying the claims were offensive and would hurt efforts to promote ecumenism. Roman Catholic- Anglican relations are already strained over the Church of England's plans to ordain homosexuals and women as bishops. The claims came in a document, from a Vatican watchdog which was approved by the Pope. It said the branches of Christianity formed after the split with Rome at the Reformation could not be called churches "in the proper sense" because they broke with a succession of popes who dated back to St Peter. As a result, it went on, Protestant churches have "no sacramental priesthood", effectively reaffirming the controversial Catholic position that Anglican holy orders are worthless. The document claimed the Catholic church was the "one true church of Christ". Pope Benedict's commitment to the hardline teaching comes days after he reinstated the Mass in Latin, which was sidelined in the 1960s in an attempt to modernise.

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UPON THIS ROCK, I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH: PETROS/PETRA DEBATE

Since God delivered man from the Dark Ages, a debate has raged among Catholics and Protestants concerning the one true church, and the foundation upon which it is built. For centuries, the Catholic Church has maintained that Jesus Christ founded His church upon the apostle Peter, and that the papacy represents an “unbroken” line of apostolic succession from Peter to the present day. Supposedly, all those who do not submit to the authority of Peter (i.e. the popes) are in rebellion against Christ and God. Even today, this belief keeps many Catholics bound in the Catholic faith.

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BILLY GRAHAM AND ROME

To understand Billy Graham, his involvement in the Ecumenical Movement, and why he would accept something like the Templeton Award, we must understand his relationship with Rome. While the principles of ecumenism can be traced back for centuries (through the Gnostics, Rosicrucians, Freemasons, and of course the Parliament of World Religions) it was Rome's Vatican II that "officially" launched the modern ecumenical movement. Vatican II opened the doors of Roman Catholicism (which the world largely views as the oldest form of Christianity) to all other religions of the world. This is why Vatican II is often referred to as "the ecumenical council." As such, as the relationship of Billy Graham developed with the Vatican and the popes, his views became increasingly ecumenical. This has confused many people because they don't make the Rome-connection. Graham, like many other Protestant Evangelicals, seems to be working to fulfill – not the Great Commission – but the mandate of Vatican II. Once this is understood, the rest of what Billy Graham has done begins to make sense.

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VATICAN OPENS SECRET ARCHIVES

As the confidential correspondence of popes, princes and potentates, the Vatican Secret Archives have been jealously guarded for centuries. But now 100 of the most historically significant documents held by the Vatican's Secret Archives are to go on public display in Rome – the first and probably last time that they will leave the buttressed stone walls of the tiny city state. The priceless documents span more than a millennium, from the 8th century to modern times, and feature a cast of historical characters ranging from the Knights Templar to Galileo, Martin Luther and Henry VIII.

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