Portsmouth Roman Catholic

 Gee I am back.  I will have to prepare a post.

  A Ukrainian Catholic leader said on Thursday that the besieged city of Mariupol — the “City of Mary” — has been transformed into a cemetery by Russian bombardment. In a  video message  issued on March 10, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk lamented what he described as the “mass murder” of Ukrainians following Russia’s full-scale invasion. “Today my conscience and the conscience of every Christian demands that we raise our voices throughout the world and loudly say the word ‘No,’ to declare strong opposition to the mass murder of people in Ukraine,” he said. “Especially in these last moments, we see mass murder in the besieged city of Mariupol. This city, which was founded by the Greek community as the ‘City of Mary,’ has been transformed into a cemetery for tens of thousands of people.” He went on: “Yesterday we saw horrific scenes of the bombarding of a maternity ward as well as scenes of mass graves, common burials, where hundreds of lifeless bodies are laid to rest.” ADVERTISEM

 The Bishops of the Ukraine have asked Pope Francis to dedicate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  There is no better time than now when the lust for war has corrupted President Putin.   Now I know that many good Catholics believe that this was already done by Pope St John Paul 11, but the evidence is that he did not.    There were many 'advisers' in the Vatican who criticised what he was doing, and pointed out that the Orthodox Church would be offended, that Russia would be offended, and so many other problems would arise.   The Pope listened and eventually never mentioned Russia at all in his dedication of the whole world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.   But Mary had asked that Russia be mentioned specifically.   There was a news item that Lucia had said the dedication was in accordance with Our Mother's wishes, but there was a great deal of controversy over a photograph of Lucia, was it really her?   And we never did know the question that was asked of her.   Am

 We live in a crazy age where normal ways of thinking and using logic seem to have disappeared.   People have aspirations to be recognised as clever, but it seems individuality does not count.   Be part of a group  who will praise you, make you feel good about yourself, assure you that you are always right, for they are always right, and of course any opposition is treated with nastiness, for you do not want to be proved wrong.  I seem to have been meeting people like the above all my life, which is why I never jump on board any band waggon and have found myself in trouble for most of my life. I feel therefore for people who are not part of the group but want to show the group the folly of their ways.   Take the question of Covid.   There are institutions where people take charge and with bursts of fervour tackle the problem as they see it, but in doing so give rise to another problem which for lack of knowledge they fail to identify.  What we need is ventilation.   They jump in and op