Monday 28 July 2014

Interview with Slovak Catholic Newspaper



Left to right Michal Benko (camera/editor),
Stefano Mazzeo (Producer/Presenter/Script)
Marek Poleck (Driector).

Battle for the hearts and souls of Christians on the TV screen
He has an Italian name but comes from the UK and considers himself a Celt. Thus, very briefly, we could imagine the writer, screenwriter and producer of documentary films, Stefano Mazzeo. He was visiting Slovakia a few days ago for the third time. The reason? Successful partnership with LUX communication.
Q – You’re visiting Slovakia for the third time. What project brought you this time to Kapitulská Street and the studios of LUX communication?
SM - I first came here in 2012 when we were preparing a documentary series about the history of the Catholic Church in Wales. You may have seen it, as Lux TV recently aired it with Slovak dubbing. I’m working as a television producer for the EWTN. This is now the largest religious television station in the world. Our intention is to shoot quality Christian programs, but in the UK we do not have the facilities. So we had to find a good Catholic television studio outside England. The choice fell on Slovakia. And we created our first partnership project - the documentary series Wales, The Golden Thread of Faith. Since this cooperation
proved to be successful, I was commissioned to write and produce another series, this time on the Crusades. We are finalizing the four parts of the cycle now where the controversial subject of the Crusades is handled from a Catholic perspective. We are convinced that the secular media do not give a true picture of this issue. So the opinions of ordinary people on them are not always correct. Christianity in Europe has existed for centuries but if it was not for the Crusades then maybe Europe would be Muslim.
Q - You took the Golden Thread of Faith in Britain to reveal something more? What inspired you to embark on something like that?
SM - For a full answer let me explain that my father came to Britain from Italy in the 1950s. My father married my mother, who came from Cornwall, she is a native Celt, and I also consider myself a Celt. Residents of Cornwall were once very Catholic.
The ancient Britons were Celts and knew two languages, British for everyday use and Latin for formal use and for the Church, as evidenced by many ancient inscriptions on Crosses and Bibles etc. But as the British media do not give a true picture of the history of the Catholic Church, I wanted to make a program that’s faithful to the history of the Church. I wanted to tell the story of the history of the Catholic Church since ancient times; since the days of King Arthur - if he ever existed - and before him the Romans. The Wales like England was Catholic. They did not want the Reformation. In fact, the people of Cornwall revolted, because after the Reformation the Mass and prayers were translated from Latin into English, and at that time they spoke Cornish and did not understand English. Again, this is information that today's media ignores. Since we wanted to put the facts right, EWTN allowed me to produce the documentary and sent me to TV Lux. I have to admit that until then I had not heard about LUX communication and TV Lux. EWTN recommended Lux as a strong Catholic station with excellent facilities and faith. At first I was afraid that they will not understand what I want, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Director Marek Polacek speaks excellent English, Michal Benko is extremely passionate and an excellent cameraman. Both are committed Catholics, which I consider very important.
Q - Why should we be aware of how much power the media have and what they are capable of?
SM – The battle for the hearts and souls of Catholics and Christians is being played out in the media and in particular the television screen. Many people do not realize this, but there it is. Secular television affects them and dictates to them their views and values, which they are gradually adopting. This is evidenced by this year's Eurovision contest. In order for Eurovision to be won by someone who acts weird and unnatural, ordinary Europeans must vote for him, - everyday people from all over Europe - and this is the result of long-term brainwashing, hence the termhanging out” in front of a television screen, and exposure to its impact. To give a simple parallel: if you throw a frog into cold water it will be happy. If you throw it into hot water, it hops out. But if you put it into cold water, and slowly heat the water until it boils, the frog will not notice the change in temperature. When it realizes that it should jump out, it will be too late.
Q - How do you perceive the faith of Slovaks compared with the British?
SM - Slovakia has an extremely rare religious quality. A large proportion of people still go to church, they are pious, and friendly. Please, do not look to the West, because it has been spoiled. Take for example my country, Great Britain. If you went to any large city on Friday or Saturday evening, you would meet on the streets a large amount of drunken people. Half-naked, drunken girls, dressed provocatively and lying around the streets - it's a horrible sight. And do not be charmed by our culture, because we in Britain have lost faith and young people have lost the meaning of life. The suicide rate is very high, there are even internet-based suicide clubs and websites which explain in detail how to commit suicide. Your Christianity here is very strong and is bearing fruit.

Q – The history of the Catholic Church in the UK is complex. What are the most puzzling, and perhaps the most dreadful, aspects of the Church’s history?
SM - The history of the UK overall is complex, as well as the Catholic Church having a complex history in the UK. Catholics have made many mistakes, but Jesus Christ came to make us saints, and to save sinners. I know very well that in some periods some Catholics may have committed many evil deeds. King Henry VIII asked Rome for a divorce. When it was refused he founded the Anglican Church, making himself head of the Church in England. He went on to have six wives in all, some he divorced and others he had executed. So the Anglican Church is founded on divorce. Some would argue that it was Henry’s daughter (by his second wife) Elizabeth I who founded the Anglican Church on Calvin's principles. But perhaps this would not have occurred, if previously there had not been a separation from Rome. Mary I, who was the daughter of Henry VIII and his divorced first wife Catherine of Aragon, restored Catholicism in England during the five years after the death of her half-brother Edward VI (son of Henry’s third wife). During this period, many Protestants lost their lives. However, there were centuries of suffering for Catholics, for whom participation in the Mass was considered treason. Hundreds of Catholic priests died, and were not allowed to celebrate Holy Mass publicly and had to hide. These people were heroes who sought to maintain the faith and pass it on.

Q - How do you see the status and current situation of the Catholic Church in the UK today?
SM - Worship in the Catholic and Anglican Churches is in decline. The UK, has about 5 million Catholics, of whom about 850 thousand practice their faith regularly. The same number of regular churchgoers applies for the Anglican church groups, which, however, has 35 million members. So percentage-wise, Catholics are doing better. Anglicans consider their religion as part of the national heritage; some of their ceremonies are also attended by atheists - who do so to be part of the tribe. There are also other Protestant religious communities, whose members go to church in smaller numbers. Muslims practice their religion as strongly in the UK as in traditionally Muslim countries. And a strange phenomenon occurs: many young women convert to Islam. The do not accept Islam just because they have married a Muslim. They do it out of conviction; - perhaps they are tired of the secular world.
Q – How do you engage Catholics in Great Britain, and are there Catholic faith communities?
SM – There some pro-active groups, and many other communities. Together with friends we founded the apostolate called the Crusade of Prayer; we Adopt a Celebrity, so we pray regularly for some famous person. I chose one influential radio presenter,-  whom I do not like, I have to admit. In his work he is very good, convincing, eloquent. Not everything he says and presents is true or fair, it just seems like it to the majority. But I pray for him, for his family, for his success, but above all, for him to accept the Catholic faith. Many other members of our group have chosen personalities from the world of music they like, although they find their lifestyles are not always compatible with Christianity. We also have another type of apostolate called Catholics, Unplug your TV! We are trying to convince people to turn off their televisions and not follow the secular media, because we know what they are capable of - we have a team of well over 50. If someone in our country turns off the TV and does not watch programs live they do not pay the TV license fee, and thus do not support the operation of TV channels that promote abortion, homosexuality and euthanasia. I can watch TV shows, including TV Lux (as long as they are not live), over the internet. As a producer, I have a lot of knowledge about how television works. When I see something that does not seem appropriate to me, I write articles, blogs, and draw attention to the biased media’s everyday activities. On our website cutunplugtv.co.uk you can learn more about this initiative.

Q - What are the relationships between religions in the UK, for example, between Catholics, Anglicans, Muslims? Is Islam really spreading in such a rapid manner, as we learn from the media?
SM - I would say that the Muslim faith is the only one that is growing in the UK. Relations between Catholics and Anglicans are good, Catholics are not persecuted in a physical sense anymore. Catholics have the Holy Father, the successor of St. Peter; Anglicans have the Queen, who is the head of the Church of England. The Queen even has the title Fidei Defensor (Defender of the faith), which was given to Henry VIII by the Pope before he (Henry) declared himself to be Head of the Church of England. Regarding Islam, it must be said, that there is a strong militant element, which does not apply to all Muslims. For example, in 2005, in a terrorist attack on the London Underground, bombs exploded and killed about 40 people; hundreds more were injured. When viewing our film about the Crusades, you will find that Muslims can spread their religion by the sword; Christians can’t do this, they must be peaceful missionaries.

Marek Polacek, for the production studio LUX communication, says about it:
Cooperation with Stefano Mazzeo and American EWTN Catholic television has opened our doors to the world. For 20 years since the establishment of LUX communication, our documentaries do not know how to cross the border of Slovakia. We did not process issues that might be of interest to viewers in other countries. We shot about what we understand and what we consider the most important ¬ - about Slovakia and Slovaks of the Church in Slovakia ... EWTN and Stefano Mazzeo, however, brought universal themes such as the Spanish Inquisition or the Crusades. For such a large topic we ourselves are gaining more of the necessary courage. But Americans and Britons simply feel at home everywhere and confidently want to produce for the world.

Stefano Mazzeo on the upcoming series on the Crusades
Professional advisers for this project include two professors of history from the UK - one from the University of Cambridge and the other from the University of London. In addition, we worked with two professors from the American University in Saint Louis. However, it is interesting that the most surprising information we received came from the professor from London who is non-Catholic. Regarding objectivity, my main aim is to tell the truth, but the truth from the Catholic point of view. If Catholics made
​​mistakes, I'm talking about it or I would lose my credibility as a producer. On the other hand, I’m not afraid to name the erroneous myths that the modern world believes. My intention was to prepare a spiritual documentary. Crusaders expressed their faith, and many of them lost everything, including their lives, so that victims of persecution could be saved. The project also looks at myths such as the myth of the Children's Crusade. We remember the siege of Jerusalem, the Jerusalem massacre and how it’s been used and exaggerated. Material relevant to both these events comes from historians. Regarding the siege of Jerusalem, Chronicler writes, for example, that people waded ankle-deep in blood, which is nonsense. In addition, he mentions that thousands and thousands of people were massacred, which at that time was not even possible - unlike today. Unfortunately, information about the Crusades were shaped by the Muslim view,  and the Enlightenment period, and modern historians like as Steven Runciman, who were not defenders of the Catholic Church, but secularized Protestants. It can be said that it was almost an agenda whose aim was to discredit the Crusades and the Catholic Church and paint them in the worst light.

By
ALŽBETA Šuplatová, ZUZANA Artimová
IMAGES: TIMO Pozděchov
For the Slovak Catholic Newspaper Katolicke Noviny
Notes: The article has been translated via a web translater
The new EWTN docudrama The Crusades will be shown between the 8 – 11 October 2014 before the first showing myself and Professor Thomas Madden will appear on EWTN Live with Fr. Mich Pacwa.
The Crusades contains interviews with four leading historians on the Crusades two priests and a well known Catholic Barristor.
It was filmed accross Europe and the Holyland and contains drama sequences and specilists Crusasder re-enactment groups.
For a preview trailer please click here EWTN - The Crusades

Friday 25 July 2014

Same-sex Commonwealth

Commonwealth flag
The Same-sex kiss as part of opening of Commonwealth Games
Here we go again homosexuals using a major international event to further their agenda, this time a same-sex kiss as part of the opening ceremony of the commonwealth games. It if were an opposite sex kiss it would have probably raised eyebrows but no they have to shove homosexual activity in people’s faces again. Deliberately using the TV to attack the minds and sensibilities of any families left in the world who still think that this type of activity disordered and wrong. This was watched by one billion throughout the world.
It’s all part of how the homosexual lobby will brow beating anyone who dares to stand up to them. There still some countries in the Commonwealth where by law or by culture sodomy is either outlawed or culturally frowned upon. So they never miss an opportunity to flaunt their perversion. They portray themselves as victims of bigotry or so called homophobia when they themselves are the dictators of a new form of totalitarianism. Once again the rainbow flag flew at a major world event. Still Stonewall were happy and Peter Tatchell who describes himself as a Human rights campaigner said “It was a subtle, positive affirmation that gay people are part of Scotland and the Commonwealth.”  See how things are twisted ‘subtle’ and ‘Human rights’ being used in an oxymoronic way to achieve an effect.

The people who did the same-sex kissing was the compare John Barrowman and a volunteer male dancer – all part of  the opening sequence with a kilted cast playing at being at a wedding at Gretna Green, John Barrowman is best known for roles in Doctor Who and Torchwood.

Just so glad I do not have a Television and we once again say if you want to bring your children up as normal well adjusted people unplug your TV and throw it away. It’s the big mediated events like sports and Eurovision thats are now being used to promote the 'Gay' agenda, for they know people are turning away of main-stream TV and just watching via You-Tube etc programmes that are safe.

Thursday 24 July 2014

17th Prayer Crusade for Persecuted Christians




The Arabic letter ‘Nun’, for Nazarene,
is being painted on Christian homes
in Mosul to mark them out.
  
The Media once again are Not giving the Full Scale of the Persecution of Christians in the Middle East
Once again the media led by the BBC are ignoring the full scale of persecution of Christians in the Middle East. Christians in countries like Syria and especially Iraq are being given ultimatums either convert to Islam or be killed. Christians in the Iraqi city of Mosul are having this Arabic letter painted on the doors of their houses. Most have now fled to Kurdish areas in northern Iraq. Could this be the end of Christians in Iraq?
Shame on you BBC, your too politically correct to highlight the fundamental flaw at the heart of Islam – that part of their history has always been to convert by force. 

Please we as all Prayer Crusaders to pray for the persecuted Christians of the Middle East

17th Prayer Crusade for Persecuted Christians
Please say the Prayer Crusader Prayer
Followed by a Rosary for the Christians of the Middle East and that the media will start to highlight their plight.
Remember Aide to the Church in Need 12-14 Benhill Avenue, Sutton, Surrey, 14DA

Wednesday 16 July 2014

Irish Labour party gets its comeuppance

Pro-abort, pro-homosexual Irish Labour party decimated at European elections
Update from Ireland from our Prayer Crusader in Dublin
Greetings in our Lord, I have finally got around to writing again. Just a few musings on Europe as the dust settles on the European elections and on the Eurovision song contest. I think we can finally bid au revoir to the Eurovision as a decent form of family entertainment. I think back to Dana when she won it as an innocent seventeen year old in 1970 as she sang ‘all kinds of everything’, it’s gone a long way since then, unfortunately in the wrong direction. While it tells us a lot about the organisers and the participants liaising with the media in pursuing the pseudo liberal agenda it also tells us a lot about the people of Europe generally, what they’ve settled for and how they’ve been indoctrinated with the hogwash that the media has told them is the new norm. People always want to be with it. Whether it be fashion or whatever else people don’t want to be the odd one out or left behind so whatever is in vogue people will pay above the odds to have, to be cool, to be with it. As archbishop Fulton Sheen says, ‘what’s with it’, it’s dragging souls into hell’. Unfortunately it’s the media that dictates what’s ‘with it’ and in this case it’s transgenderism and homosexuality.
Dana a voice crying in the wilderness
                  Speaking of Dana, she was also an M.E.P. and has spoken continually for life and for family values in the European parliament, a voice crying in the wilderness. The European elections have shown that the people are in a state of revolt and driven to the extremes. The cosy consensus and smugness of the so-called centrist parties, centre left etc ., has been dealt a severe blow. It has left Europe and politics reeling. Politicians are struggling and grappling to ‘try and do something’ to rectify the matter but as usual it’s just grasping the nettle from the leaf. And you can be sure it’s not to help the people who need it but out of their own self interest, to cling to power. For instance just before the elections the govt were rescinding medical cards from terminally ill people and people with lifelong illnesses, but since the election they’ve been forced to reverse this decision. This is just one of many others. Just reflecting on this to ask where is society heading? The leaders have clearly abandoned the people. Extreme political parties are on the rise. How will it play out, will it be the inevitable break up of the European Union? Would that be such a bad thing?
Irish Labour party loses all its M. E. P.s and nearly all its councillors
            The Labour party here in Ireland were decimated in the elections losing nearly all their councillors and all their M.E.P.s. This is the party of Minister Pat Rabbitte from whom we received the compulsory household broadcasting charge. Commenting on the elections he said , Even if we’d (Labour) been led by John the Baptist we couldn’t have got better results, as the party leader was being forced to fall onto his sword. One Catholic commentator replied that if John the Baptist had been leading the party he would have made sure it was led to complete extinction.
            Still on the subject of the elections: nowhere was it found in the media, before or after, any comment whatsoever as regards the abortion bill.  The bill that caused the most controversial piece of legislation possibly that Ireland has ever seen elicited a conspiracy of silence. But there was one exception to this from an unexpected station. It was the Mark Coleman show on 106fm Newstalk (a very secular liberal station) 18th May. On it he excoriated Phil Prendergast, a Labour sitting M.E.P. (at the time) and denounced her thoroughly, after she had given all her reasons why she thought that the Labour party were doing badly in the polls. He put it to her that the real reason the Labour party was doing badly in the polls was because of their liberal agenda. This particular interview went on for over ten minutes with the presenter pressing her on this point.  It was with a pleasant surprise that I heard this interview and so on throughout the show which also included a pro-life politician. It’s well worth a listen to on their podcast and it’s how a presenter should conduct a show on politics with fairness and balance.
Huge pro-Life vigil ignored by Irish Media
            On May 3rd I attended a prolife vigil in Dublin city; about 15,000 people attended. There wasn’t a mention of it at all on the national station. On the same day in Belfast 500 people attended a rally to protest about the arrest of Gerry Adams by the police investigating the death of Jean Mc Conville. This protest was on every news programme, consuming large sections of them, and the next day as well.
            At the vigil there were some speeches; the main speech was given over to denouncing the media. The text of this speech is on the website of The Pro life campaign. Also at the vigil there was a very innovative video played by a group called ‘Hear Both Sides’. It has a lively beat of music and enumerates all the instances with exact facts and figures in which there was bias shown by the media in regards to the run up to the legislation for abortion in Ireland. Well worth a viewing; it’s on You tube and should come up if you type in Hear both sides.
            You’ve probably heard by now about the mother and babies home issue. I’ve actually heard it on the BBC; it said the Irish government is to set up a commission of enquiry to investigate the mothers and babies homes.
Pregnant women fleeing to Ireland to avoid UK forced adoption
            It would take too long to enumerate it all here. It was a societal issue. It was their families who put them in there. Society and government at best stood back and turned a blind eye, only too happy to be having the problem dealt with by others. The religious had these situations foisted upon them by society. This is not to excuse any maltreatment meted out to these mothers and babies but the blame has to be kept in perspective and that was the way society functioned in those days for better or for worse. The enquiry will bring these things to light. I’m sure you’ll be hearing a lot more about it. In case you think it’s all misery for mothers and babies in Ireland RTE’s primetime on May 8th was about pregnant women fleeing from the UK to Ireland to avoid the forced adoption of their babies by UK authorities. I haven’t seen the program, just been informed of it.
                 Well that’s all for now. All the best,
                                                God bless,
                                               Dominic Casey - Dublin

Monday 7 July 2014

Investigation into BBC Child Abuse




Investigations into child abuse by BBC and NHS and MPs


Prime Minister David Cameron has at last vowed to leave no stone unturned into investigations of paedophile rings at the BBC the NHS and in politics. But will this be a proper investigation regarding the causes into who were involved and why did this happen?

It is perhaps strange how things have change at the BBC regarding the reporting of child abuse, up until last summer 40% of all their news reporting and documentaries regarding child abuse were about the Catholic Church, it now turns out that those in the Church were the least offenders. It’s BBC themselves who BBC should be making documentaries current affairs and news reports about but we can’t trust them to do thorough investigative journalism here. Not if the Saville case and other BBC staff is anything to go by.

We say it’s about time the BBC is properly investigated, and doesn’t it seem a bit convenient that files on abuse by MPs were lost by an ‘incompetent’ Home Office?

The head of the Whips office during Edward Heath’s government, Tim Fortisque told a BBC documentary in 1995 that MP’s would come to them if they were in a bit of a jam and wanted some help to suppress scandals involving small boys! Why didn’t the BBC make this piece of information widely known in recent times, could it be they wish to differentiate between homosexuals and men who abuse boys? They are actually one and the same, of course not every homosexual abuses young boys but proportionally a larger number of them do than other sections of society.

For two long the BBC have used their privileged position in the news media to bully Catholics in virtually all spheres. It’s about time they were abolished as a public funded institution and privatised – sold off like British Gas and the rest.

Here are some questions we asked in out last newsletter:

Why are there just so many paedophiles at the BBC?
               There have been some really scary news items recently, albeit that when they involve homosexuals the BBC and also RTE appear to try and suppress them. The case of the 10 year old boy who raped another boy in the school toilets after watching homosexual porn, shows how the young mind can be so totally corrupted. The case of the 15 year old who stabbed his teacher to death after playing violent video games proves the point. Then there is the endless stream of paedophiles being exposed who have worked at the BBC. The huge numbers of victims of Jimmy Savile appear to be just the tip of a child abuse iceberg at the BBC. Yet the BBC is able to blame the individual and the Corporation gets away almost scot free. Is this the BBC gagging its employees and buying their silence with licence fee payers’ money? They deny this. The answer to the sub-title question why there are just so many paedophiles at the BBC, is the Cult of Celebrity. In today’s media governed culture celebrities are the super-heroes of today. They can get away with most things - sex, drugs and rock and roll and up until recently, child abuse. Here it is also important to note the numbers of homosexuals at the BBC; it is a fact, as we mentioned in the last editorial, as a proportion of society they are more likely to indulge in child abuse than heterosexuals.

The mediated homosexual emperor has no clothes
               It’s not just at so called ‘Gay Pride’ marches that the homosexuals flaunt themselves with as little clothing on as possible, to the amusement and corruption of the millions who watch these perverse jamborees. They are also supported by the MSM and much of the social media. We have a society that has plummeted to the depths of Sodom and Gomorrah. Perhaps as in the case of Lot in Genesis it is only the few God fearing people who try and reverse this endless tidal wave of iniquity that stays God’s hand. We must pray for the BBC and those who work there, for they are even failing to properly report on the massive homosexual child abuse scandal of Liberal MP Cyril Smith. Labour MP Simon Danczuk who lifted the lid on Smith’s crimes has accused the BBC of extraordinary bias.
               The time will come when a child (perhaps a poor abused child) will point out that the big fat pink emperor of the homosexual media empire has no clothes.

Tuesday 1 July 2014

ObamaCare could mean heavy fines for EWTN


EWTN could be facing $35,000 per day fine for not complying with the ObamaCare HHS
Contraception Mandate

As part of the ObamaCare HHS health program most employers in the USA must provide and fund contraceptives, sterilization and chemically abortive drugs to their employees. As a Catholic organisation EWTN have refused to comply therefore they will be fined for every employee they have on a daily bases. In EWTN’s case that will come to about $35,000 per day fine totalling around $12,000,000 a year – a major part of EWTN’s budget.

In October 2013, EWTN filed a lawsuit against the mandate and on June 17, U.S. District Court Judge Callie V.S. Granade of Mobile, Ala., ruled against EWTN, prompting an appeal to the 11th Circuit
Court of Appeals.

CitizenGo are organizing a petition they say

“We ask you to sign this petition to tell Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell to respect religious liberty, exempt EWTN and other non-profit religious organizations from this unjust mandate. “

Please sign here: http://www.citizengo.org/en/9072-i-support-ewtns-religious-liberty