FROM HEAVEN TO EARTH
POPE JOHN PAUL II, THE SAINT???
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LISTEN AND THEN MEDITATE AND DEDUCE!
IMAGINE JESUS CHRIST THAT DURING DAY-TIME PREACHES THE WORD OF GOD THE FATHER, HEALS THE LAME AND THE BLIND, RESUSCITATES THE DEAD, MULTIPLIES BREAD AND FISH FOR ALL, DEFENDS THE WEAK, THE POOR, THE PERSECUTED BECAUSE OF JUSTICE, AND THE DAY AFTER IMAGINE THE SAME JESUS? GOING HAND IN HAND WITH PONTIUS PILATE, FEROCIOUS GOVERNOR AND TORTURER OF THE PALESTINIAN AND JEWISH CIVILIAN POPULATION OF THAT TIME, HAVING DINNER WITH CAIAPHAS, THE HIGH PRIEST HYPOCRITICAL FRIEND OF CRIMINALS AND FRIEND OF THE TYRANT GOVERNOR HIMSELF, COVERING UP SCANDALS AND THE ORGIES OF HEROD WHO HAD JUST BEHEADED HIS FRIEND AND DISCIPLE JOHN THE BAPTIST.
IMAGINE JESUS CHRIST THE DAY AFTER THE SPEECH OF THE MOUNTAIN, ? BLESSED ARE THE POOR, BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO THIRST FOR LOVE AND JUSTICE, WOE TO YOU WHO ARE RICH? AND THEN HE IS ACTUALLY A FRIEND OF CRIMINALS.
WOULD THIS BEHAVIOUR OF JESUS CHRIST SON OF GOD BE TOLERABLE TO YOU BELIEVERS? OR OF SAINT PETER THAT HAS INHERITED FROM JESUS THE TASK OF BEING THE PASTOR OF CHURCH, BEHAVING IN THIS WICKED FASHION AS I MENTIONED ABOVE? WE BELIEVE THAT YOU WOULD REBEL AGAINST JESUS. THANKS GOD THE CHRIST HAS BEEN PERFECTLY CONSISTENT AND DIVINE WITH HIS HUMAN NATURE AND HIS ROYAL AND LOVING DIVINITY.
UNFORTUNATELY THE SUCCESSORS OF PETER THE APOSTLE, WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS (JOHN PAUL I ASSASSINATED BY THE VATICAN AND OTHERS), AND TRUE SAINTS (ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI, PADRE PIO AND OTHERS) HAVE ALL BEEN DISCIPLES OF THE DEVIL.
THUS, DESPITE THE NOBLE DEEDS CARRIED OUT BY JOHN PAUL II, HAVING ASKED FORGIVENESS FOR THE SINS OF THE CHURCH, HAVING BEEN A TRUE FRIEND OF A REAL SAINT PADRE PIO FROM PIETRELCINA, HAVING FOUGHT TOTALITARIAN REGIMES LIKE COMMUNISM, ALL THIS IS NOT SUFFICIENT FOR HIM TO BE PROCLAIMED SAINT, IT IS NOT SUFFICIENT BECAUSE JOHN PAUL II WAS A FRIEND OF DICTATORS LIKE PINOCHET, HE DID NOT PROTECT SAINT BISHOPS LIKE ROMERO, HE DID NOT PREVENT MONEY LAUNDERING OF MAFIA'S DIRTY MONEY INSIDE THE VATICAN BANK , THROUGH THE MAFIOSO BISHOP PAUL MARCINKUS. HE HAS COVERED UP THE BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT WITHIN HIS CHURCH (PEDOPHILIA), HE DID NOT SEVERELY PUNISH THOSE WHO HAVE OFFENDED THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS CHRIST, HE WAS OBSCURANTIST BECAUSE HE DID NOT PROTECT THE SOUTH AMERICAN MISSIONARIES, THE ONES OF THE THEOLOGY OF LIBERATION.
HE WAS AN HYPOCRITICAL POPE, HE DID NOT SAY YES, YES, NO, NO (?All you need to say is simply ?Yes? or ?No?; anything beyond this comes from the evil one." Matthew 5:33-37). A POLITICAL POPE, A POPE WHO DID NOT DAMN THE FEROCIOUS ARGENTINEAN DICTATORS MASSERA AND VIDELA, BUT RATHER HE HAS TOLERATED THEM AND ALLOWED TO HIS PRIMATE CARDINAL MONSIGNOR BERGOGLIO TO HAVE LUNCH AND DINNER WITH THEM, BLESSING THEM AND APPROVING THEIR CRIMES AGAINST GOD. A POPE WHO DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE SAINT.
EXCUSE US! BUT WE HAVE THE COURAGE TO TELL THE TRUTH, BECAUSE IT IS THE TRUTH THAT WILL SET YOU FREE. (John 8:32).
PEACE!
FROM HEAVEN TO EARTH
Sant 'Elpidio a Mare (Italy)
May 1st 2011 4:09 p.m.
Giorgio Bongiovanni
GOD DOES NOT HAVE A RELIGION
Interview with Frei Betto on September 5th , 2005
Liberation Theology explained by one of its fathers: Frei Betto
Two of the most prestigious theologians of the world Brother Betto and Giulio Giraradi, explained to us what Liberation Theology is, ?it emerged in the 1970?s, first in Peru then in Brazil, promoted by those that believe that you cannot teach the word of Jesus without teaching what the rights of the individual are, it?s an awareness that one must have in order to be a citizen, the right to have you rights.?
We met them in Piacenza, during the gathering ?Caravans, invisible cities,? (www.carovone.pc.it ) a weeklong meeting which includes literature, poetry and cinema from countries of the Southern hemisphere.
Given the complexity of the theme, PeaceReporter has decided to dedicate two different articles to these two great theologians, which with different approaches explain, examine deeply, and talk about what Liberation Theology is and what it means to live it today.
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Brother Betto, his birth name Carlos Alberto Libanio Christo, is a 62 year old Dominican monk, who for years has written books and texts. Fraternal friend of Lula, he also entered into politics in order to get support for his project Zero Hunger, which he isn?t directly involved with anymore. He left the government a few months ago ?for two reasons?: ?because I wanted to have time to write and because I don?t agree with the economic policies of the government.? He has a gentle manner and appears serene and decisive. His large face shows a great irony that demonstrates his wise intelligence.
With simplicity he explained to us Liberation Theology, what it is, what it has given to the poorest and most desperate people, and why, today, after almost 40 years, he continues to raise many doubts and concerns about the Roman Catholic Church
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What it is. ?In Latin America the majority of people live in poverty and the majority are Christian. Therefore, the main question of these people is: Did God want us to continue to suffer? Or as it is written in the first pages of the Bible, Didn?t He create the world so it would be a garden, a marvellous garden with birds, flowers, and crystal clear water? Liberation Theology, is not a theory, it isn?t something that was born in a library, on a writing desk, in an academy or a religious university?No! It is the systemisation of the experience of the faith of the poor and their search for liberation.?
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Why be shocked? According to Brother Betto, in a world of oppression, in which we want to believe in the God of life, life being God?s biggest gift, Liberation Theology means the bringing together of the vision of faith with the longing for liberation. ?I think that each Christian that lives the mystery of faith with joy, with a sense of liberation, that lives lovingly, that is involved with the fight for justice, practices Liberation Theology. Once a Bishop asked me: ?But why look for another theology when there is already the theology of the Roman Church?? And I replied to him: In the Gospel there are four different theologies, that of Matthew, John, Luke and Mark. And if there are already these four different visions of Jesus, why should you be shocked by Liberation Theology??
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Hope. ?To live with faith in Latin America is to have the hope of overcoming misery and poverty,? the Dominican continues. ?In the Bible people meet, through the words of God, the food to understand themselves better, to understand the battle in which they are living and to find solutions. I will give you a metaphor to explain this concept in better way. For many people opening the bible is like opening a window on what happened in the past. In the grassroots ecclesiastical community, however, for poor people, when they open the Bible, it is like looking at yourself in the mirror, it helps you to understand yourself better in the here and now.?
And in order to help people to understand the writings, the life of Jesus, from a liberationist perspective, Betto has also written a book ?A Man among Men,? a true down to earth reading of the Gospel.
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Changes. ?Many people here in Italy ask me what will be our Theology now, with Pope Ratzinger- says Brother Betto- Well, I must say that every time that I come to Italy it bewilders me: you are very close to the Pope, while we in Latin American are very close to God. You need to understand that what often happens in Rome isn?t reflected in the Latin American Church. Even the election of very conservative Bishops doesn?t provoke a reaction, because there?s so much exploitation, so much suffering- it?s enough to say that in my country there is still slavery- that the pain that people has is much greater and they speak directly with Christ. It was this that led to the birth of Liberation Theology in Latin America. Nevertheless, I don?t believe that the revival of the Church comes from above, I hope that it comes from below. I believe the Holy Ghost works from the grassroots.
The only thing that I know is that thirty years ago it was only Liberation Theology that talked about foreign debt, colonialism and neo-liberalism that criticised imperialism: the foreign policy of the United States. Now these themes appear in the final declarations of John Paul II. He was also a Pope that had tolerated the first Bush war in Iraq in 1991, and then he came to condemn the invasion of Iraq by Bush?s son. In fact I am always saying that Liberation Theology has arrived in Rome. Rome may not have a conscience, but it?s like that. If you think that the Pope mobilised 150 thousand people against the G8 in Genoa! It was exactly what Liberation Theologists wanted to do.? Then in conclusion he highlights the many contradictions of the Vatican: ?John Paul II was a contradiction himself: he was a man with a mind of the Right and a heart of the Left, because he had a very orthodox doctrine but was very sensitive to social issues.?
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Orthodoxy. ?Jesus preached about the kingdom of God, but unfortunately what came after him was the Church,? he refers back to the meeting with the young in Cologne underlining: ?The Pope remembered to tell young people the importance of reading the catechism of the Church, but I would have preferred that he would have underlined the importance of reading the Gospel. We have to remember that God doesn?t have a religion. It?s not so important to have faith in Jesus as much as to have the same amount of faith as Jesus. The central message of Jesus is not so much that of having faith but how you put into practice the love of liberation.?
According to Brother Betto if you analyse the four Gospels there are principally two questions turned inside out by Jesus: the first is: ?Lord, what do I have to do to get eternal life?? ? Here it is ? he explains- this question never comes out of the mouth of a poor person. It always comes from those that are assured a life on this earth and that therefore think of also securing themselves a life on the other side. It?s a typical question of a rich man, that wants to know how they can also buy paradise, All the times that Jesus heard this question he felt uncomfortable and irritated. He also reacted in a way that was also a little aggressive. When a rich man that asked the question addressed him in a flattering way calling him: ?Good teacher.? Jesus responded ?I am not the teacher, the good teacher is God.??
The second question that you find is this: ?Lord, what must I do to have a life in this life?? This only comes from the mouths of the poor. ?My hands are still, they need to be working. I am blind but I need to see. I am paralysed, I want to walk. My brother is dead I wish that you could make him be alive. My daughter is sick you could cure her.? The poor ask Jesus for life in this life. And with them Jesus always responds with mercy and compassion. Because he himself said I come here so that others can live, live a full life.?
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It?s all a mistake. For the Brazilian theologian, the world in which we live to do is a huge offence to God?s plan. Because not in any of the verses of the Bible it is written God welcomes that poverty. Poverty is a curse. The fruit of injustice. For this reason Jesus put himself on the side of the poor and he called them blessed: he considered them the protagonists in the conquest of a society in which everyone really had a life.
We need to recognise the presence of God in all religious traditions. Even if us Christians suffer from superiority complex that makes us think that we are better in respect of other religions. That?s a real sin. The best are those that love like Jesus loved. The best Saint Frances of Assisi that gave up his riches and went with the poor.? And for Brother Betto Che Guevara was even better ?a rich man that dedicated himself to the poor. And he wasn?t even a believer,? says the brother. Then he adds: ?For sure when Che went to heaven Jesus said to him: 'You?re welcome. I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, you fought for this.? He would have responded ?Look Lord, I was not a believer, and I never encountered you because I never stepped inside a church.? And Jesus would have replied, ?Each time you fought for the poor you fought for me. The importance -he asserts- is, however, that each one of us loves for our capacity to love, only through this can we save ourselves. Faith only helps to understand this aspect of love. In John?s first letter he says that God was love. He who loves knows God. There are many people that go to church and don?t love. Meanwhile whoever loves knows God, they experience God because God is love.?
The ideal aim of evangelicalisation according to Liberation Theology is when a young person of 16 or 17 years old is facing there first experience of love and recognises that this is also experiencing God. There isn?t a love that is God?s and a love that is man?s; all forms of love are Divine. ?Poets know very well how to explain this -he concludes- One time in Nicaragua I met the poet, who is now dead, Jos? Coronel Utrecho. He was already very old, but still very much in love with his wife Julia, and he had dedicated all his poems to her. There is one poem in which he describes their honeymoon. The first night of their marriage, in a hotel, he had given orders that he was not to be disturbed for any reason. When he was ready for his marriage bed someone knocked loudly on the door. What?s happened? He asked himself. Could it be a fire in the hotel, or is it me that?s being burnt! He opened the door and found himself facing God, who asked him: ?Jos?, is the bed very big?? ?Yes Lord, get in as well, all of three us will fit.? But God said to him: ?Jos? there?s already three of me,? and the poet responded: ?No problem Lord, all three of you get in. There?s room for all of you.? The poem ended with: ?The night was a great spiritual orgy.?
?Source : http://it.peacereporter.net/articolo/3612/God+doesn%92t+have+a+religion
