Five Algerians Held In Plot Against Pope

From SKY:

Five Algerians Held In Pope Plot Terror Swoop

Five Algerian men have been arrested over a potential threat to the Pope, Sky News sources say.

Armed counter-terror officers swooped on a business premises in central London in the early hours of the morning.

The suspects, who are aged 26, 27, 36, 40 and 50, are being held and questioned under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt said: "The Pope’s itinerary continues today.

"His security arrangements have been reviewed and nothing has changed in terms of the level of protection around him.

"I was at a briefing last week around the whole issue of the Pope’s security and the point was made then that there was no known threat or intelligence to suggest a plot against the Pope.

"What the police are dealing with today is something that has cropped up in the last 24 hours."

The business where the arrests were made is now being searched, as well as homes in north and east London.

Sky sources say that although the suspects are Algerian the plot did not originate overseas.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "Initial searches have not uncovered any hazardous items.

"Today’s arrests were made after police received information. Following initial inquiries by detectives, a decision was made to arrest the five men.

"Following today’s arrests the policing arrangements for the Papal visit were reviewed and we are satisfied that our current policing plan remains appropriate.

"The itinerary has not changed. There is no change to the UK threat level."

A spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales said: "We have absolute confidence in the security operation to protect both the Pope and the public.

"The Pope is enjoying a wonderful visit, warmly welcomed wherever he goes.

"This morning he has met with school children at the ‘Big Assembly’ and faith leaders from across the country at the multi-faith event."

A spokesman for the Vatican confirmed the itinerary would not change.

"We are calm, the Pope is happy and we go on with the same joy we have had until now," he said.

From the the Enchiridion of Indulgences, #25:

A partial indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who, in a spirit of filial devotion, devoutly recite any duly approved prayer for the Supreme Pontiff (e.g., the Oremus pro Pontifice):

V. Let us pray for our Pontiff, Pope Benedict.

R. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and bless him upon earth, and deliver him not to the will of his enemies.

Our Father.  Hail Mary.

Let us pray.

O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, look mercifully upon Thy servant Benedict, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church. Grant him, we beseech Thee, that by his word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
This entry was posted in SESSIUNCULA. Bookmark the permalink.

24 Comments

  1. basilorat says:

    I’m certain that Muslims and Imams all over the world will be denouncing this terrible plot and reaffirm and comfort all of us that Islam is a religion of peace…..RIIIIIIIIGHT?????????

  2. DisturbedMary says:

    I keep thinking about the vision at Fatima of the man in white…

  3. paul_leone says:

    I’m far from unwilling to believe people who follow Unspecified Religion might want to do harm to the Holy Father, but let’s wait and see what happens with the story in the next 24 hours. People have been arrested before and then quickly released with an “Oops, yeah, sorry about that,” from the police over this sort of thing.

  4. I immediately stopped what I was doing to pray.

    Honestly, though, is anyone surprised?

  5. DisturbedMary says:

    Let me correct the “man” in white Fatima reference. Here are Lucy’s words about what the children saw:
    …After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!’. And we saw in an immense light that is God: ‘something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it’ a Bishop dressed in White ‘we had the impression that it was the Holy Father’. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God….

  6. Why are all the comments in italics?

  7. Ellen says:

    I see where the happy crowds are drowning out the disaffected intellectualoids. Bless our dear Papa – he is such a wonderful man. May God protect him.

  8. TJerome says:

    member of the “religion of Peace.” Yawn. I’m sure the New York Times will go into high dundgeon over this (NOT!)

  9. Jerry says:

    It appears there is an unclosed tag at the end of the main post. Let’s see if will fix it. Or maybe _off_ will do.
    .

  10. Jerry says:

    One more test: Better?

  11. Geoffrey says:

    Oremus pro Pontifice nostro…

  12. The pope’s see is Rome, so you have to talk about him in Italic or Times Roman. :)

    God bless and keep our pope, and all the other people in the crowd also.

  13. Supertradmum says:

    98% of the population of Algeria are Muslims. Why is it that the BBC and Skynews are not reporting the religious aspect of this? We are too PC

  14. TJerome says:

    Supertradmum because the BBC and Skynews are left-wing loons. Now if born again Christians (gasp!) were involved, their religious affiliation would be front and center because to lefties they are more dangerous and sinister than muslim radicals who cut off peoples heads, kill young girls in “honor killings” and the like. The irony is if these muslim radicals would kill the lefties first if they ever came to power.

  15. Frank_Bearer says:

    Sounds like these guys will be just fine:

    “The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day.” – Catechism 841

  16. irishgirl says:

    If these guys are Algerian, and their intent was to harm the Holy Father, then they AND THEIR FAMILIES should be kicked out of the country IMMEDIATELY! Deported!

    Of course, I’m ‘only dreaming’, because this kind of tough action will NEVER HAPPEN!

    You’re right, Supertradmum-‘we ARE TOO PC’! There are no leaders with ‘guts’ anymore!

    Sorry if I’m ‘shouting’, Father Z-I was afraid something like this could happen.

    Oremus pro Pontifice….I’m also ticked off because I can’t access EWTN’s coverage on my laptop. It quit all of a sudden. I have no TV, so this is the only way I can watch anything of the Holy Father’s visit without any of the secularist ‘spin’. GRRRRR……

  17. Jaybirdnbham says:

    Not sure how reliable either Debka.com or American Catholic.com are, but both are reporting this as a foiled Al Queda plot to kill the Holy Father. Here is a link to the debka article:
    http://www.debka.com/article/9029/

  18. RichardT says:

    According to the latest reports, the “business premises” where they were arrested is in fact a rubbish depot, and the men were street cleaners – a perfect disguise for a roadside bomb.

  19. wolfeken says:

    Our schola director in Washington, D.C. will have us sing the Oremus pro Pontifice during communion at Sunday’s High Mass. Perhaps other choirs would do the same — it is on page 1866 (or thereabout) in the Liber after the Marian hymns.

  20. asophist says:

    Re Frank_Bearer’s comment:
    Catechism 841, eh? Of course, the “plan of salvation” may also include anything and everything that exists or occurs, right? Also, if a certain deity is not triune, is it the same God we worship?

  21. Supertradmum says:

    Yes, TJerome, I do know that those work run and work at the Beeb are lefties. I guess I thought, that just perhaps, they would be so left that they would want to denigrate any religion, including that of the Islamists.

  22. Supertradmum says:

    irishgirl,

    I am praying that you meet a very nice practicing Catholic who gets EWTN on his or her television and invites you over for tea and Papal coverage!

  23. EXCHIEF says:

    Algerians attempting to harm a Pope—now where have we seen that before?

  24. DHippolito says:

    DEBKA is a legitimate service that surveys Arabic-language media in the Middle East. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit that al-Qaeda would attempt to assassinate the Pope.

    I will keep asking this until I get a serious, reasonable answer: Why do the majority of Catholics seem to be infatuated with Islam while paying Judaism, Protestantism and Eastern Orthodoxy little heed?

Comments are closed.