According to Cruxnow.com:

“The bond between the Vatican and Iran is a partnership destined to endure” -source

The author of this piece in Cruxnow.com is John L. Allen, Jr. Here is an excerpt from his bio:

“John L. Allen Jr. is associate editor of Crux, specializing in coverage of the Vatican and the Catholic Church.The London Tablet has called John “the most authoritative writer on Vatican affairs in the English language,” and renowned papal biographer George Weigel has called him “the best Anglophone Vatican reporter ever.” When John was called upon to put the first question to Pope Benedict XVI aboard the papal plane en route to the United States in April 2008, the Vatican spokesman said to the pope: “Holy Father, this man needs no introduction.” -source

Brethren – this article is so troubling to me and should be to you as well. I will take excerpts from the piece and interject commentary. If you have never believed that the Vatican is evil, perhaps this piece will help to change your mind.

From cruxnow.com

Although it’s forever surprising to Americans to hear this, when Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on Pope Francis Tuesday, he did so as head of a state that has enjoyed diplomatic relations with the Vatican for much longer than the United States, and arguably representing a strategic partnership that’s almost as important as Washington.

Since when is the Vatican and its Pope considered a nation to be “called on” by heads of state for “strategic” reasons?  Especially by a most provocative and controversial nation such as Iran?

Iran and the Holy See established full diplomatic ties in 1954, 30 years before the United States did so in 1984 under Ronald Reagan, and the bond has remained uninterrupted ever since, even during the Iranian Revolution and the US hostage crisis.

And the Vatican is bragging that their close ties to Iran continued “Even during the Iranian Revolution and US hostage crisis.”  REALLY?  This is something to be bragged about?

Rouhani was the first Iranian president since 1999 to meet the pope in the Vatican, a gap of time largely explained by the fact that it coincides with the reign of populist firebrand Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran. (Rouhani and Francis were supposed to meet in November, but the Iranian leader’s European swing was canceled after the terrorist attacks in Paris.)

Oh, I suppose that would have shed a bad light on the pontiff to meet with the head of Iran right after the Islamic terrorist slaughter in Paris.

Not so long ago, when Iran’s ambitions to become a nuclear power still posed real questions about global security, such an outing would have been problematic, especially for a “Peace Pope.” Last year’s framework agreement with the P5+1 powers, however, has made it more thinkable.

So, the incredibly horrible nuclear treaty with Iran made the visit more “thinkable.” ?

At one level, the close ties between Rome and Tehran reflect the often under-appreciated fact that both the Vatican and post-revolutionary Iran are basically theocracies, representing spiritual traditions — Catholicism and Shia Islam — that have a surprising amount in common.

Wait until you read how commonalities between Shia Islam and Catholicism are expanded upon!

Iranian writer Vali Nasr, author of the 2006 book “The Shia Revival,” argues that the divide between Sunni and Shia bears comparison to that between Protestants and Catholics, with Shia being the branch closer to Catholicism.

Oh wait…… except for the fact that Protestants and Catholics do not terrorize and slaughter people. 

Among those points of contact are:

An approach to the Quran accenting both scripture and tradition

They really mean both Scriptures and man-made heresy (in apostate Christianity)

A deep mystical streak

Yes!  The Catholic Church is filled with mysticism!

Devotion to a holy family (in the case of Shiites, the blood relatives of Mohammad) and to saints (the Twelve Imams)

Holy family?  Mohammad and his ilk were murderers and molesters of children. Well, the molesters of children would be an accurate commonality with the Catholic church.

A theology of sacrifice and atonement through the death of Hussain, grandson of Mohammad and the first imam of Shia Islam

How dare this writer compare the death of our Savior Jesus Christ, to the death of Mohammad? Jesus Christ lives and sits at the right hand of the Father.  Mohammad is dead.

Belief in free will (as opposed to the Sunni doctrine of pre-destination)

Free will?  That’s laughable.

One recent sign of the spiritual vicinity is that Iranian scholars recently translated the Confessions of Augustine and the Catechism of the Catholic Church into Farsi, the result of a 12-year effort.

That is because in the 2nd Vatican Council, it was added into the Catechism that Muslims worship the same God as do Christians.  COMPLETE LIE

In terms of sheer realpolitik, both parties also have strong motives for keeping their relationship green.

An article I wrote last year about this “relationship”

An Unholy Alliance – Islam and the Vatican

From Iran’s point of view, it aspires to being not merely a regional but a global player, and to do so it requires not merely “hard” power, to invoke the famous distinction of Harvard political scientist Joseph Nye, but also “soft,” meaning moral legitimacy. The perception of being in dialogue with the Vatican is crucially important, counteracting Bush administration rhetoric about Iran being part of an “axis of evil.”

Oh, but Bush was right!  Iran IS part of an axis of evil!

Tehran also sees the Vatican as a firebreak with sometimes hostile Western nations. In 2007, when it seemed as if concerns over Iran’s nuclear program might lead to armed conflict with the United States, Iranian diplomats quietly sought out the Vatican as a potential mediator.

“Hostile Western nations?”  Unbelievable. Incredible propaganda!

Pope Francis meets Iranian leader to discuss Middle East, possible trip
‘Marrakesh Express’ aims to prove that ISIS is not the real face of Islam
As far as the Vatican is concerned, few geopolitical challenges these days loom larger than the future direction of Islamic societies, including the fate of the Christian minorities within those nations. Given the decisive role Iran plays in neighboring countries such as Syria and Iraq, the Vatican believes that engagement is critically important.

More PROPAGANDA!  ISIS is definitely the face of fundamentalist Islam!

Ironically, some Vatican diplomats actually have greater confidence in the protection of Christians in the Middle East by Iran and Russia than by the Western powers, who, in their judgment, simply don’t take religion seriously as a source of identity.

I actually have no words for this excerpt. Well, maybe ‘bull hockey’ would suffice.

Francis has already made trips to Turkey, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, and has also repeatedly voiced frustration that security concerns so far have made it impossible for him to go to Iraq and Syria. In that context, an outing to Iran would fit naturally both with the pope’s political priorities and also his outreach to the Islamic world, which recently found confirmation in indications that he’s also planning to make a first-ever papal stop at Rome’s Great Mosque.

Oh, poor Francis cannot go to Iraq or Syria. I’m sure he looses sleep over this. Isn’t it just so exciting that he plans to stop in at Rome’s Great Mosque!!  <insert sarcasm>

For his role in heading off an anti-Assad offensive, Foreign Policy magazine called Francis a “lion-slayer.”

I just like to call Pope Francis the “False Prophet.”

Nonetheless, when Francis and Rouhani parted company on Tuesday, they did so as friends, and possibly with a papal trip on the drawing board.

In other words, this is a partnership destined to endure.

Well, I’m sure that this partnership is destined to endure – right into hell.

I’m sorry if I offended any readers with this piece, but we need to speak out against this pope of Rome. His words have had nothing to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is mouthpiece for the U.N. and it’s Sustainable Initiatives.  He is a Marxist Socialist. I am sick and tired of hearing news commentators speak of this pope as if he is deity. He is FAR from that!

Come Lord Jesus!

MARANATHA!

“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” — Winston Churchill

From Town Hall:

“Socialism is particularly dangerous because it’s so perfectly suited for the modern era. It’s the ultimate “miracle” product: it’s “nice,” it’s “fair,” it’ll make you feel good about yourself, it’ll “help” people who “deserve it” by taking things away from people who “have so much” they’ll barely miss it. It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? But, like most products with sleazy salesmen and hidden track records, the promises socialism makes are all a mirage. Since our schools do a terrible job of teaching history and economics these days, it’s our job to explain how socialism slowly, insidiously eats away at the core of a society.” -source

We can see the negative effects of Socialism by looking at countries where the socialist “experiment” has been tried and has miserably failed. Look at Greece. They are broke. Look at Europe – most of the EU are struggling to stay afloat.

From the Daily Signal: from July of 2015

“The Greek citizens have rolled the dice and voted overwhelmingly to reject the “austerity” referendum. This was a way for voters to stick a finger in the eye of their creditors. The left around the world has responded to the vote with thunderous applause—and is selling the results as a vote for “the little guy.”

The Greeks believed that voting against the debt restructuring plan would give them more leverage with the banks, the IMF and the EU. But what happens now in Greece? The banks are shutting down this week. Withdrawals from bank accounts are being tightly restricted.

Greece is formally in default on its loans and in the weeks ahead as more IMF and EU loans come due, Greece is about to slide into fiscal oblivion. This is the natural and unavoidable consequence of socialism everywhere it has been tried.

Financial collapse.” -source

Since the Daily Signal article was written in 2015, PM Alexis Tsipras has back peddled on his anti-austerity mantra, and is now looking for ways to boost his economy. One thing Mr. Tsipras is considering is partnering with Israel and Cyprus in a joint energy endeavor. He understands now that his party’s socialist ideologies nearly destroyed his country, and in order to pay back their enormous debt (if that can ever happen), he must get his economy going again. Perhaps he is finally seeing the virtues of capitalism!

Back to Town Hall:

“There are a lot of arguments about whether communism, socialism, and liberalism are the same thing. What shouldn’t be arguable is that they’re all closely related branches of the same tree. If you don’t want to live in a house made out of Aleppo Pine, you probably won’t like a Coulter Pine or Eastern White Pine house either. However, since socialism has failed so often, socialists of every stripe bend over backwards to disassociate themselves from the many other disasters created by their ideology. Still, a pine by any other name is still a pine.

Socialism is particularly dangerous because it’s so perfectly suited for the modern era. It’s the ultimate “miracle” product: it’s “nice,” it’s “fair,” it’ll make you feel good about yourself, it’ll “help” people who “deserve it” by taking things away from people who “have so much” they’ll barely miss it. It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? But, like most products with sleazy salesmen and hidden track records, the promises socialism makes are all a mirage. Since our schools do a terrible job of teaching history and economics these days, it’s our job to explain how socialism slowly, insidiously eats away at the core of a society.” – source

Town Hall goes on to clearly spell out why socialism is so dangerous for a nation:

1)
“It kills economic growth: Strong economic growth is what produces jobs, tax revenue and a better standard of living for everyone, including the poor and middle class. That’s what John F. Kennedy was driving at when he said, “A rising tide (in the economy) lifts all boats.” Socialism strangles economic growth in the crib by penalizing success and rewarding failure. When you loot the successful people in a society to give it to the less successful, you quite naturally reduce the number of successful people and encourage more people to fail. This leads to a never-ending cycle. The more people in need there are, the more the successful must be penalized to pay for them. The more the successful are penalized, the fewer successful people there are. This causes wealth to concentrate in fewer hands, the economy slows down, and even more people need help. It goes on and on until you get a slow economy that can’t produce enough tax revenue to sustain itself. That’s exactly what killed the Soviet Union, it’s killing Greece right now and sadly, the United States and most of Western Europe is on exactly the same path.” – source

Why is it so difficult for people to understand that a strong economy profits all people? The high achievers are the people who create companies; and in those successful companies, jobs open up for people who have worked hard in school or in other jobs. These are the people who will be promoted to better paying jobs in the aforementioned companies. These people are rewarded for their hard work and achievements. This is not hard to understand!

Taxing companies to death only forces the owners to increase prices of their products, and then cut back on the number of employees. In extreme cases they move their companies to another country. Capitalism works and Socialists are trying to kill the best economic system on the earth!

Town Hall:
2)
It stifles free speech:
“Why is there ridiculous government propaganda in like North Korea? Why are most schools, papers, and colleges run by liberals in the United States? Why do liberals often try to disrupt conservative speakers on college campuses? Why are there such extreme speech codes in Canada that it practically makes some conservative arguments illegal? Why does speaking out against the government risk imprisonment in China and the old Soviet Union? Because socialism requires protection, propaganda, intimidation, and darkness to survive. Socialism can’t survive honest, informed debate about its merits among people who are free to choose or reject it because it would not survive the conversation. As Reagan said, “How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.” -source (Emphasis mine)

More from Town Hall:
3)
“It leads to an increasingly tyrannical government: Freedom and socialism go together like oil and water. The more socialism you have, the less freedom you will have because socialism can’t survive if people are free to choose whether they want socialism or not. People who are free to say what they want will criticize socialism’s many failures. Areas that aren’t tightly controlled will move towards the free exchange of ideas and goods, not socialism. So, socialism requires a massive bureaucracy that almost inevitably grows. As government grows, it inevitably becomes more centralized, more distant from the people and ultimately more menacing.” -source

Let me repeat that one sentence from #3 again:
“The more socialism you have, the less freedom you will have because socialism can’t survive if people are free to choose whether they want socialism or not.”

Can you see why Socialism always evolves into Communism? It’s the only way to control the masses! Countries have opened the door to Communism by allowing Socialistic governments.

4)
It creates strife and division: Socialism is all about turning people against each other. It has to be. After all, if you believe in controlling people’s lives, the people who don’t wish to be controlled need to be vilified. If you believe in confiscating the wealth of successful people who won’t give it up willingly, then others must be convinced they’re terrible human beings who deserve to be punished. “Victim” classes must be created for the socialists to defend because if everyone is responsible for himself, what need is there for the socialist? Eventually, those who depend on government for their livelihood and those that the government smears and loots to pay them off come to hate each other.” -source

Have we not seen the class warfare that Barack Obama has brought to this country? This is part of his fundamental transformation of America. He wants people to despise one another.

5)
Socialists believe the ends justify the means: Like the pigs in Orwell’sAnimal Farm, socialists believe that, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” For a socialist, the overriding concern is always promoting socialism; so process, rules and regulation mean different things for different people. Fidel Castro may have been the leader of a Communist revolution against the evil “rich people” in Cuba, but he’s worth 900 million dollars today. A law broken by a Democrat and a Republican may be treated very differently by the papers, the courts, and even the Department of Justice under Eric Holder. As Margaret Thatcher explained,

“Left-wing zealots have often been prepared to ride roughshod over due process and basic considerations of fairness when they think they can get away with it. For them the ends always seems to justify the means. That is precisely how their predecessors came to create the gulag.” -source

Brethren, if Bernie Sanders is elected president, the United States will officially be a Socialist nation. With Obama, it seems as if we are almost there.

Socialist and Communist governments do NOT like people to love God. The government wants to be “god” to the people. They want the full allegiance of their citizens, and that means spiritual allegiance as well. This does not bode well for those of us who love and worship the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you know people who think that Socialism is a good thing, please print out this article and give it to them!

MARANATHA!