Religion, Nations, and Geopolitical Review: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9

by A. Joseph Lynch

R&G NEWS ROUND UP

MAKING MASS MEANINGFUL: This week the Religion, Sex, & Politics YouTube channel hosted its first livestream class entitled Making Mass Meaningful. We invite our readers to watch the presentation and join the channel for the next class on Thursday, October 21 at 7 PM (central time) featuring a presentation about Sacred Scripture.

FRENCH SEX ABUSE REPORT: A new, 2,500+ page report from France has revealed that some 330,000 French youth - 80% of whom were underage boys - were sexually abused by more than 3,000 Catholic priests and by church employees since 1950. It is another stunning revelation of homosexual pederasty within the Church's hierarchy that must be dealt with or risk the total collapse of (what's left of) the Church in Western Europe.

SWISS GUARDSMEN RETREAT: The vaccine insanity plaguing the Vatican is claiming victims among the Swiss Guard, the warrior men willing to lay down their lives in order to protect the Pope. At least three guardsmen have been forced to resign - perhaps the first to do so in centuries, if ever - because, given their health and high survival probability, they refuse to take the experimental COVID vaccines. It's a tragic moment for the Swiss Guard that could be used to press forward with certain plans to add women to its ranks.

SERRA STATUE INSTITUTIONALLY TOPPLED: The statue of Junipero Serra, the Catholic saint who evangelized and served the native populations of the west, was toppled first by anti-Christian rioters and has now been institutionally toppled by Newsom and his far-Left Democrat allies in California's statehouse. And replacing it will be a statue to the Indians with no mention of the charitable services rendered to them by great men like St. Junipero Serra. The saint has been doubly desecrated. God help California.  

JORDAN-SYRIA NORMALIZATION: Relations appear to be on the mend between Jordan and Syria after their leaders shared a phone call for the first time in over a decade. The two countries are moving forward with normalization and it appears it is the next step towards the war's end. Turkey is under pressure to make peace as well. Rumors are swirling that the Turks may give back Idlib province to Syria, return Syrian refugees, and sponsor global Syrian reconstruction efforts... in return for the Syrian government clamping down on Syrian Kurds. Time will tell, but with the 2023 elections nearing the horizon, Erdogan is hard pressed to end the war that Assad has clearly won.

DUTERTE RETIRES: Rodrigo Duterte will not be running for vice president after all. Instead, he surprised the world by announcing his retirement from politics. Despite indicating his daughter would run in his place, it appears she will keep her sights set on running for mayor of Davao (the Philippines third largest city). While we're glad to hear she will not run for president, we wonder what is to come of Duterte and the path forward he set for his nation.

PORTLAND FD GETS BULLETPROOF VESTS: Firefighters in bulletproof vests. This is what you get when a city cancels its police while its civic leaders abdicate all authority to govern. 

PHILLY OUT OF CONTROL: In another out-of-control city, Philadelphia police could only look on as street racers ran donuts around their squad car - and even danced on top of it - outside of city hall. 

CITY AS ESCHATON AND SACRAMENT: Considering the Christian theology surrounding the city, the current chaos in the cities is truly demonic. Be it Revelation's depiction of the holy city come down from heaven or St. Augustine's City of God, the city is a central image in Christian theology. In order to reflect on this reality, we invite readers to listen to a talk from the Thomistic Institute entitled The City As Eschaton And Sacrament.

ARE PARENTS DOMESTIC TERRORISTS? Attorney General Garland is seeking prosecute (and persecute) parents and teachers who question the propaganda being imposed on school children via public education. This comes as thousands of parents demand an end to masking and the teaching of (racist) critical race theory. Garland may have a vested interest in the battle, however, as his family is in the business of selling critical race theory materials to schools.