What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

No, by fireworks I don’t the Indult, though that would be great.  Tomorrow is the anniversary of the Lateran Pacts.  Usually there are fireworks. 

Last year I shot this.  Who knows what I’ll capture this year!

 

There are 160 stair-steps from our ground floor to my quarters.

Hard words from our favorite Cardinal, the great bishop of Hong Kong Joseph Card. Zen.  Talk is getting tougher.

Here is the story (my emphasis):

HK cardinal hits out at China over "acts of war"

The top Catholic official on Chinese soil has lashed out at Beijing, saying the ordinations last year of three bishops without Vatican approval were illegitimate and "acts of war."

Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, who travelled to the Vatican last month to map out the Holy See’s China strategy, told the BBC on Friday: "These three illegitimate ordinations … are acts of war against the church.

"So how can you say that we opt for confrontation? They are waging a war, they want to destroy the church," said Zen, the head of Hong Kong’s Catholic dioceses and a Vatican adviser on Chinese affairs.

A battle between Beijing and the Vatican over control of church posts flared as China’s state-backed Catholic church installed bishops without papal blessing last year.

Until then, bishops were appointed after unofficial consultations with Rome.

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On the wall behind the main altar are traces of the Cultural Revolution, which are being preserved as a testament to China’s history. After bricks had been removed and the wall washed, huge slogans in red paint were revealed such as “Long live Chairman Mao” and the “Working class must exercise leadership of everything.”

Those uncovered slogans from the Cultural Revolution are a metaphor of sorts.  The actions of the PRC official religion arm can be whitewashed, but underneath, something else is going on.  Let us not forget that the Communist Party does nothing out of charity or a spirit of fair play.