236 years later and we've moved
away from having a Great President who is for the People, who didn't believe in Political Party Politics and who refused to be America's King to a
President who is against the People, believes in only MAGA Politics and
declared himself America's King.
50 years ago today (April 30,
1975) the Fall of Saigon occurred ending the Vietnam War.
The United States had been in
Combat in South Vietnam from 1965 until 1973 with 58,281 American Soldiers
killed.)
The Paris Peace Accords of 1973
stated that neither North Vietnam nor South Vietnam would try to take over the
other country, but Communist North Vietnam (aided by the Soviet Union and
China) kept fighting and on April 30, 1975 the Communists took control of South
Vietnam’s Capital, Saigon.
138,000 South Vietnamese either
fled themselves or were evacuated by the Americans right before the Fall of
Saigon on April 29th and 30th.
The US had no Diplomatic
Relations with Vietnam from 1975 until 1995.
North Vietnam and South Vietnam
were officially Reunited under the Communist System as the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam on July 2, 1976
On the same day the National
Assembly of the Unified Vietnam renamed Saigon Ho Chi Minh City n honor of the
Former North Vietnamese Leader Ho Chí Minh who died in 1969.
Starting in April 1975 between
500,000 to 1 Million Former South Vietnamese Men, Women and Children were sent
to Communist Re-Education Camps where both torture and indoctrination were
used. People were kept in the Camps from several weeks to 18 years.
From 1975 until 1995 more than 3
Million Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians fled as Boat People to the West
paying pirates and risking a dangerous and deadly sea voyage.
400,000 Boat People died at sea
from 1975-1988.
In 2005 the last of the Boat
People were finally resettled 30 years after the Fall of Saigon.
From 1979-1999 an additional 600,000
Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian were allowed to leave Southeast Asia directly
for the West under the United Nation’s Orderly Departure Program.
A total of 1,287,399 (883,317
Vietnamese; 251,334 Laotians and 152,748 Cambodians) were settled in the United
States from 1975 until 1995.
Picture: A CIA Officer helps
evacuees up a ladder onto an Air America Bell 204/205 helicopter at 22 Gia Long
Street on April 29, 1975 during the Fall of Saigon in South Vietnam.
80 years ago today (April 30,
1945) Adolf Hitler killed himself in Berlin, Nazi Germany.
Hitler was born on April 20, 1889
in Braunau am Inn, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (today Austria.)
He held Austro-Hungarian
Citizenship from 1889 until 1918 and then Austrian Citizenship from 1918-1925.
He was Stateless from 1925-1932
when he acquired German Citizenship in 1932.
He was Leader of the National
Socialist German Workers' Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche
Arbeiterpartei) or Nazi Party from 1921-1945.
He became Chancellor of Germany
in January 1933 and Führer (Leader) of Nazi Germany August 1934.
He killed himself in his Bunker
in Berlin when the Soviet Red Army was close to capturing him.
Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day)
came on May 8, 1945.
Hitler and the Nazis murdered
19.3 Million Civilians (including 6 Million Jews) and 28.7 Million Soldiers
from 1933-1945.
From the BBC:
“Why the Liberals won - and
Conservatives lost”
Mark Carney's Liberals have won
Canada's federal election - riding a backlash of anti-Trump sentiment to form
the next government. It is a stunning political turnaround for a party who were
widely considered dead and buried just a few months ago. It's not yet clear if
the party - which has been in power for almost a decade - will be able to
secure a majority as results continue to roll in. Either way, the prime
minister faces major challenges, including divisions in the country laid bare
by the campaign. Here are five takeaways from an election which saw the
Conservative opposition make major gains but still lose.
1. Trump's threats became the
defining issue There is no doubt the US president's tariff threats and
comments undermining Canada's sovereignty played an outsized role in this
election, suddenly making leadership and the country's economic survival the
defining issues of the campaign. Mark Carney used it to his advantage,
running as much against Trump as he did against his main opposition rival,
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. Carney warned Canada was at a
crisis moment, saying frequently on the campaign trail - and in his victory
speech - that Trump "wants to break us so America can own us". Poilievre
brought Trump up much less frequently during the campaign, focusing his message
on domestic issues - the cost of living, the housing affordability crisis, and
crime - and targeting the Liberals for their record on those matters. Carney
- who has declared the old relationship with the US "over" - plans to
start negotiations on a new economic and security relationship immediately
following the election. Kevin O'Leary, a Canadian businessman close to
Trump who previously ran for the Conservative leadership, acknowledged it was a
successful campaign strategy. "Right now Canadians are very
frustrated with America and Carney has used that to his advantage," he
told the BBC just before polls closed. "He was able to distract Canadians
from his own mistakes... and say 'Stop looking at that. Look south of the
border and I can save you'."
2. A stunning debut for a
political newcomer At the start of the year, Carney was a former central
banker with no experience as a politician. By mid-March, he was being sworn in
as prime minister - the first to have never held elected public office before -
after a resounding win in the Liberal leadership race. Now, he's faced
the Canadian electorate as a first time campaigner, won an Ottawa-area seat in
the House of Commons and steered his party to an unlikely victory. Carney
had long flirted with entering Canadian politics - and he seized his moment,
swooping in after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's sudden resignation in
January. He also took full advantage of the new political landscape,
leaning into his experience helping Canada and the UK navigate previous crises
at a time when Canadians were feeling anxious about their economic future. Trump's
late-March announcement of global levies on foreign automobile imports gave
Carney the chance to publicly audition to keep his job during the campaign. He
was able to step away from the trail and take on the prime minister's mantle,
setting up a call with the president and meeting US Cabinet ministers.
3. Conservatives make gains
but still fall short In a different election, this would have been a
successful one for the Conservatives. In 2011, the Conservatives won a
majority with 39.6% of the vote. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is on
track to beat that this time, with roughly 41.4% of the vote with most polls
reporting, according to Elections Canada. They are currently projected
to have won 144 seats - that's up from 120 at dissolution, when the election
was called in March. But with the progressive vote coalescing around the
Liberals, those numbers weren't enough this time. The bitter blow was
Poilievre losing his riding (parliamentary seat) in Carleton, Ontario. Only
months ago his party had a clear path to victory and they will now need to
figure out a way forward after a series of electoral defeats. Whether
that includes the diminished figure of Poilievre as leader is the first big
question for them to face.He is the third leader they've had since the Liberals
swept the 2015 election.
4. Divisions laid bare The
election results have highlighted divisions in Canada that could pose a
challenge for Carney. Notably, the Liberals are largely shut out of
Alberta and Saskatchewan - oil-rich and gas-rich prairie provinces where a
sense of alienation from the centre of power in Ottawa has long festered. Even
before the election, some in those regions were warning of a national unity
crisis if the Liberals won another mandate. Carney touched on those
divisions in his victory speech, acknowledging the millions who had voted for a
different outcome. "I intend to govern for all Canadians," he
said. Meanwhile, Poilievre's message, which relentlessly focused on cost
of living issues, especially on housing affordability, resonated with many
young people. Support for the Conservatives outpaced Liberals by 44% to
31.2% among 18 to 34 year olds, a Nanos poll on 25 April indicated. The divide
was more stark among younger men. Separately, Abacus Data polling found
that about 18% of 18 to 29 year olds were worried about Trump. That jumped to
45% for voters over 60, suggesting a polarisation on issues between
generations. On Monday night, Poilievre remarked on demographic
breakthroughs Conservative had made, including with younger Canadians. "We
gave voices to countless people across the country who've been left out and
left behind for far too long," he said.
5. Collapse of the left-wing
New Democrats In this election, the smaller political parties have taken a
hit as Canadians choose to park their votes with either the Liberals or the
Conservatives - especially the left-wing New Democrats, or NDP. Some of
the smaller parties have lost a significant amount of vote share - particularly
the NDP who have received just 6% of votes counted across Canada so far,
compared with 18% in 2021. Jagmeet Singh, who has been NDP leader for
almost eight years, lost his own riding in British Columbia and announced he
will step down. "Obviously I know this night is a disappointing
night for New Democrats," he said, adding: "We're only defeated if we
stop fighting." The Greens have also seen their vote share cut in
half from 2% to 1%. Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute,
a non-profit public opinion research organisation, told the BBC that Trump's
rhetoric was behind the shift to the Liberals. "The threats, the
annexation talk, all of that has been a huge motivator for left of centre
voters," she said. The sovereigntist Bloc Québécois have maintained
a vote share of around 7%. They are on track to win 23 seats in Quebec. This
is based on around 97% of polls reporting. Canada doesn't have a
two-party system, even though it has historically voted in conservative or
liberal governments in some form. In the country's political system, these
smaller parties still play a role in Parliament. Both the NDP and the Bloc have
at some points formed Official Opposition in the House of Commons.
^ This was interesting. ^
50
years ago today (April 29, 1975) Operation Frequent Wind started (and ended 1
day later.)
US
Armed Forces Radio announced the start of the Evacuation with the code: “The temperature in Saigon is 105
Degrees and rising.” This will be
followed by the playing of “I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas."
With
the Communist North Vietnamese about to take over South Vietnam’s Capital of
Saigon the United States evacuated 50,493 Americans, Westerners and South
Vietnamese.
Helicopters
flew the People to US Naval Ships and unloaded their passengers before the
helicopters were thrown into the ocean to make way for the next helicopter.
A
total of 1,373 Americans and 5,595 South Vietnamese and Third-Country Nationals
were evacuated by helicopter from Saigon alone.
Some
400Evacuees were left behind at the US Embassy in Saigon including over 100
South Korean Citizens; among them was Brigadier General Dai Yong Rhee, the Intelligence
Chief at the South Korean Embassy in Saigon.
The
South Korean Civilians were evacuated in 1976, while General Rhee and two other
Diplomats were held captive until April 1980.
49
Americans, including Dependents, were also left behind or chose to remain in
Saigon. They were evacuated to Bangkok in August 1976.
80 years ago today (April 29,
1945) the U.S. Seventh Army’s 45th Infantry Division liberates Dachau, the
first concentration camp established by Germany’s Nazi regime.
Established five weeks after
Adolf Hitler took power as German Chancellor in 1933, Dachau was situated on
the outskirts of the town of Dachau, about 10 miles northwest of Munich.
During its first year, the Camp
held about 5,000 Political Prisoners, consisting primarily of German Communists,
Social Democrats, and other Political Opponents of the Nazi Regime.
During the next few years, the number of Prisoners
grew dramatically, and other groups were interned at Dachau, including
Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roma and Sinti, Homosexuals, and Repeat Criminals.
Beginning in 1938, Jews began to comprise a
major portion of camp Internees.
Prisoners at Dachau were used as Forced
Laborers, initially in the construction and expansion of the Camp and later for
German armaments production.
The Camp served as the training
center for SS Concentration Camp Guards and was a model for other Nazi Concentration
Camps.
Dachau was also the first Nazi Camp
to use prisoners as Human Guinea Pigs in medical experiments. At Dachau, Nazi
scientists tested the effects of freezing and changes to atmospheric pressure
on Inmates, infected them with malaria and tuberculosis and treated them with
experimental drugs, and forced them to test methods of making seawater potable
and of halting excessive bleeding. Hundreds of Prisoners died or were crippled
as a result of these experiments.
41,500 Inmates died or were
executed at Dachau, and thousands more were transferred to a Nazi Extermination
Center near Linz, Austria, when they became too sick or weak to work.
With the advance of Allied forces
against Germany in April 1945, the Germans transferred Prisoners from Concentration
Camps near the front to Dachau, leading to a general deterioration of
conditions and typhus epidemics.
On April 27, 1945, approximately 7,000 Orisoners,
mostly Jews, were forced to begin a Death March from Dachau to Tegernsee, far
to the south. The next day, many of the SS Guards abandoned the camp.
On April 29th, Dachau
was liberated by units of the 45th Infantry after a brief battle with the Camp’s
remaining Guards.
As they neared Dachau the
Americans found more than 30 railroad cars filled with bodies in various states
of decomposition.
Inside the Camp there were more
bodies and 30,000 Survivors, most severely emaciated.
Some of the American troops who
liberated Dachau were so appalled by conditions at the camp that they
machine-gunned at least two groups of captured German Guards.
The German Citizens of the town
of Dachau were later forced to bury the 9,000 dead Inmates found at the Camp.
In the course of Dachau’s
history, at least 160,000 Prisoners passed through the Camp, and 90,000 through
the subcamps.
From the BBC:
“'Everything went off': How
Spain and Portugal's massive power cut unfolded”
The first sign of trouble Peter
Hughes noticed was when his train to Madrid started to slow down. Then the TV
monitor and lights went off. Emergency lights switched on, but did not last,
and the locomotive ground to a halt. Four hours later, Mr Hughes was still
stuck on the train 200 kilometres (124 miles) outside of Spain's capital. He
had food and water, but the toilets were not working. "It will be getting
dark soon and we could be stuck here for hours," he told the BBC. The
massive power cut that stranded Mr Hughes triggered chaos across Spain and
Portugal, and also impacted Andorra and parts of France, from about midday
local time (10:00 GMT).
Traffic lights shut off. Metros
closed. Businesses shuttered and people joined queues to get cash as card
payments did not work. Jonathan Emery was on a different train halfway between
Seville and Madrid when the cuts hit. For an hour, he sat on the train, the
doors closed, until people could pry them open to let in ventilation. Half an
hour later, passengers left, only to find themselves stranded. That was when
people from local villages started coming and dropping off supplies – water,
bread, fruit. "Nobody is charging for anything, and word must be getting
around in the local town because people just keep coming," he said.
In Madrid, Hannah Lowney was half
way through scanning her grocery shopping at Aldi when the power went out. People
were coming out of their offices and walking home because they could not tell
when the buses were coming, Ms Lowney said in a voice message sent to BBC Radio
5 Live. "It's a bit disconcerting that it's the whole country, I've never
experienced this before," she said. Mark England was eating lunch in the
restaurant of the hotel where he is staying on holiday in Benidorm when
"everything went off and the fire alarm started going off and the fire
doors started closing".
In an international school in
Lisbon, the electricity flickered on and off for a while, then gave up, teacher
Emily Thorowgood said. She kept teaching in the dark, the children in good
spirits, but lots of parents were taking their children out of school, she
said. "The walk home felt very strange, both with the lack of traffic
lights meaning a complete free-for-all for vehicles and pedestrians on the
roads - as well as so many people milling around outside their places of work
with nothing to do," he said.
Initially, mobile phone networks also went down for some, leaving many scrambling for information. Curtis Gladden, who is in La Vall D'Uixo, about 30 miles from Valencia, said it was "scary" as he struggled to get updates about what was happening. Eloise Edgington, who could not do any work as a copywriter in Barcelona, said she was only receiving occasional messages, could not load web pages on her phone and was trying to conserve her battery. An hour and a half after the power went out, one resident of Fortuna, in south-east Spain, said her husband was driving around, trying to find a petrol station that could supply fuel to run a generator and keep their fridge powered. "We are worried about food, water, cash and petrol in case this goes on for a couple of days," said Lesley, a Brit who has been living in Spain for 11 years. Locals "have more to worry about" than the Madrid Open tennis tournament being suspended, she said, adding there is "very little news about what's happened". Mr England said walking down the street in Benidorm, a "majority of shops are in darkness and shuttered or have people on the entrances saying you can't come in. There's no cash machines, no traffic lights so it's strange."
After Mr Gladden's phone signal
returned after about two hours, he and others ventured out to cafes, but found
"nothing is working – we came to get some food and a drink but they can't
cook without electricity". Within two hours, Spanish power grid operator
Red Electrica said it was beginning to recover power in the north and south of
the country. But two-and-a-half hours after the cuts, Madrid's mayor José Luis
Martínez-Almeida still urged all residents to "keep their movements to an
absolute minimum and, if at all possible, to remain where they are", in a
video recorded from the city's integrated emergency security centre.
At 15:00 local time, Spain's
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez pulled together an "extraordinary"
meeting of Spain's national security council. Red Electrica CEO Eduardo Prieto
said at a news conference shortly afterwards that it could take "between
six and ten hours" to restore power. Just before 16:00, electricity
flicked back on in Malaga. By 17:00, the grid operator said power was being
restored "in several areas of the north, south and west of the [Iberian]
peninsula". Portugal's power firm REN gave a more dire prediction, saying
that it could "take up to a week" before the network was back to
normal.
Knock on effects continue:
Back-up generators at airports kicked on, allowing most flights to leave on
time, but some have been unable to operate. Tom McGilloway, on holiday in
Lisbon, was due to return to London on Monday night, but as of early evening
did not know what would happen. He said for the time being people were getting
drinks and food - but vendors told him they would only be able to keep working
until the batteries ran out on their payment terminals. "If I need to book
a hotel if the plane is cancelled, I don't know how I can do it if payments are
down," he added. "My partner's parents are trying to get petrol so
they can pick us up to take us back to Alentejo but many petrol stations are
closed or not taking payment. We might be stuck with no plan for where to stay
tonight."
^ Hopefully, the power will be
restored soon. ^
80 years ago today (April 28,
1945) Benito Mussolini was killed.
He was Prime Minister of Italy
from 1922-1943 and Duce (or Leader) of Italy from 1943 until 1945.
He joined the Axis Powers (Nazi
Germany and the Japanese Empire) in 1936.
He created the Italian Racial Laws
in 1938 (based on Germany’s Nurenberg Laws.)
After the Allied Invasion of Sicily
in 1943 he was dismissed by King Victor Emmanuel III and arrested.
The Germans freed him and made
him the Leader of Republic of Salo in northern Italy from 1943-1945.
Mussolini and his Mistress Clara Petacci were shot and their bodies hung
upside down in Milan.
I just finished watching the 2025
Film “The World Will Tremble.”
It is a true story about two Jews
(Szlama Ber Winer and Mordechaï Podchlebnik) who escaped the Chełmno (called Kulmhof
by the Germans) Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland in 1942.
The Chełmno Death Camp was operational
from December 8, 1941 to April 11, 1943 and again from June 23, 1944 to January
18, 1945 and saw 200,000 Men, Women and Children murdered in that time.
Chełmno used Gas Vans to murder People.
Men, Women and Children arrived
at the Camp, told to mark their bags so they could get them back after they
were “Disinfected” from Typhus.
They then went inside the Mannor
where they took off their clothes and
walked down the hallways until they found themselves looking at the back of a
large Van where they were then beaten into it.
The doors were closed and locked
and exhaust gas was pumped into the back while the Van drove out of the Camp,
into the forest and to large Open Pits.
The People inside could be heard
screaming, praying and banging on the doors for about 20 minutes until they
were all dead.
The doors were then opened and the
Sonderkommando (Special Unit– a Group of 15 Jewish Prisoners forced by the
Germans to dig the large Pits, bury the Bodies and then go through the Personal
Belongings of the dead to send back to Germany.
Many of the Sonderkommando had to
bury the bodies of their own Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, Wives and
Children.
Szlama Ber Winer and Mordechaï
Podchlebnik were part of the Sonderkommando.
Szlama Ber Winer was born
in Izbica Kujawska, Poland on September 23, 1911.
On January 10, 1942 Winer was
deported from the Izbica Ghetto to Chełmno to work in the Sonderkommando.
On January 14, 1942 the Germans liquidated
the Izbica Ghetto sending Winer’s Wife and Children and the rest of the Ghetto
Population to the Gas Vans at Chełmno. Winer had to bury his own Family.
Mordechaï Podchlebnik was
born on June 16, 1907 in Kolo, Poland.
.jpg){kind=spacer}
On January 3, 1942 he was
deported to Chełmno.
On January 13, 1942 he was forced
to bury his Parents, his Wife and his Children.
On January 19, 1942 both Szlama
Ber Winer and Mordechaï Podchlebnik escaped from Chełmno and went to the Grabow
Ghetto where they described in detail the death process at Chełmno.
The Report made it to the Polish
Government-In-Exile in London and was broadcast on the BBC in 1942. It was the
first account of the Holocaust to the outside World.
The two then separated.
On April 10, 1942 Szlama Ber
Winer was caught by the Germans and sent to the Bełżec Death Camp where he was
gassed. He was 30 years old.
Mordechai Podchlebnik went to
different Ghettos in German-Occupied Poland telling the People there about the
murders going on.
When the Soviets liberated Poland
in 1945 Podchlebnik when to Lublin and then back to Kolo.
In September 1945 he went to a Displaced
Person’s Camp in Germany.
He married Dora Kurzfeld from
Będzin, a Seamstress and Former Prisoner of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
In 1946, their Son Jakob was
born.
In 1949, he and his Family left for Israel
(where their Second Son, Jon, was born.)
On June 5, 1961, Podchlebnik was
a Witness in the Trial of Adolf Eichmann, and two years later in the Trial of
the Staff of the Chełmno Camp in Bonn, West Germany.
Mordechai Podchlebnik died in
Israel on September 11, 1985. He was 78 years old.
From the BBC:
“World bids farewell to Pope
who told people to 'build bridges, not walls'”
Pope Francis has been buried in
Rome after a funeral ceremony and procession attended by hundreds of thousands
of people and many heads of state. The first South American pontiff passed away
on Monday aged 88, marking the end of a 12-year pontificate. As the Italian
capital woke up to a hazy morning, teenage pilgrims, nuns and priests of all
denominations filed silently down the streets leading to the Vatican. Many of
the streets around St Peter's Basilica were closed - both to allow the flow of
visitors and for security reasons, as more than a hundred foreign dignitaries
were expected to join the funeral mass.
More than 8,000 Italian police of
different branches were out in force, as well as firefighters, medics, canine
unit handlers, volunteers, members of the armed forces and even park guards. Many
had been called in from all sides of Italy to be in Rome today - resulting in a
rather joyous blend of accents from across the country, from the Sicilian to
the Milanese. By 08:00 local time (06:00 GMT) much of the square was already
full.
Jessica, 22 and from Mexico, and
Cyril, 20 and from the US, had arrived at dawn to secure a front row spot to
the funeral mass. "We never thought we'd be this close. We sacrificed a
little sleep to be here but it's worth it," said Jessica. She's a Catholic
and said her relatives in Mexico would "never believe it" when she
told them she had been at the Vatican for the Pope's funeral.
As heads of state and foreign
dignitaries took their places to the right of the altar, hundreds of
photographers in the press area on the roof of the colonnade snapped their
cameras furiously, hoping to capture a candid image of US President Donald
Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose last meeting in
February gave rise to a combative exchange in the Oval Office.
But soon after, as a striking
photo of the two men sitting on two chairs inside St Peter's began to
circulate, it emerged that they had already met for around 15 minutes before
the service began. Later, Zelensky said the meeting "had potential to
become historic, if we achieve joint results". No more details were
shared, but some on social media later joked that, given the setting, the
meeting had been a "miracle".
Photos showed that UK Prime
Minister Keir Starmer, Trump, Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron had
also all met in the Vatican.
From the bright red of the
clergy's habits to the muted grey and blue of nuns' veils to the rainbow sun
hats worn by pilgrims, all morning St Peter's Square was a riot of colours
glistening in the sun. Hymns played out on giant speakers, occasionally drowned
out by the sound of helicopters flying overhead, as drones and seagulls
crisscrossed over Michelangelo's dome.
Yet the voice of 91-year-old
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re rang loud and clear as he presided over the mass.
The service's structure was very similar to that of any Catholic funeral mass,
although the readings were done in many different languages and all hymns were
sung in Latin. Outside St Peter's, a crowd the Vatican later said numbered
200,000 applauded as large screens showed Zelensky take his seat. There was
also applause when the Pope's simple wooden coffin was brought out. The crowd's
applause marked some other salient moments - such as when Cardinal Re, as part
of his homily, remembered the Pope's commitment to migrants and peace. He
mentioned that the Pope's first trip had been to the Italian island of
Lampedusa, the port of arrival in Europe for many migrants who make the
perilous journey across the Mediterranean, and recalled the mass the Pope
celebrated at the US-Mexico border. "War, he said, results in the death of
people and the destruction of homes, hospitals and schools. War always leaves
the world worse than it was before: it is always a painful and tragic defeat
for everyone." The cardinal emphasised that Pope Francis had repeatedly
urged the world to "build bridges, not walls". "It was good to
hear that on a day when so many heads of state were on St Peter's Square,"
a woman called Maria told the BBC. She and her friend Grazia had flown in from
Sardinia especially for the funeral. "It was a message especially for
them, I think, because it's them who decide whether there's going to be war or
peace, not us... Let's hope something made it through to them." "Otherwise
them being here was just pure hypocrisy," added Grazia.
During communion, a procession of
white-clad priests made its way down St Peter's Square, carrying golden
chalices full of wafers for communion, as many in the large crowd moved forward
to receive the hosts. Soon after, Cardinal Re blessed the Pope's coffin with
holy water, before burning incense in a thurible - a symbol of cleansing - and
the basilica's bells tolled three times after the blessing of the coffin was
carried out. After some brief mingling, world leaders started making their way
out of the basilica. Their motorcades then filed out of the Vatican. Within an
hour Trump was reported to be back on Air Force One, while other leaders held
various informal meetings in Rome. Meanwhile, the Pope's coffin was carried
through Rome in a slow procession to the church of Santa Maria Maggiore for
burial.
Authorities said 140,000 had
lined the streets, clapping and waving as the hearse – a repurposed white
popemobile – crossed the Tiber river and drove past some of Rome's most
recognisable sights: the Colosseum, the Forum and the Altare della Patria national
monument on Piazza Venezia. Once the coffin reached Santa Maria Maggiore, it
was taken inside and the live broadcast ceased.
Pope Francis was buried in the
righthand side of the church, near a beloved icon of the Virgin Mary, at around
15:00.
Visitors, pilgrims and the clergy
vacated St Peter's Square quickly. Many could be seen minutes later in the
numerous cafes, restaurants and pizzerias of the historic Borgo Pio
neighbourhood nearby. Grazia from Sardinia said the funeral had made a big
impression on her. "It was wonderful to meet in a single square with
people who come from every corner of the world and to live a shared moment.
This is the legacy of the Pope," she said.
Officials said the day had
unfolded without any major incidents. "Four hundred thousand people shared
a historic and emotional moment, and thanks to everyone's commitment the day
took place in a solemn and serene way, without critical issues," said the
head of the Civil Protection, Fabio Ciciliano.
The city of Rome and the
Catholics of the world will now be preparing for the next momentous event - the
conclave, which will select the next Pope. A date has not yet been set but it
is thought it could start as early as 5 or 6 May, after the Novemdiales - the
mandatory nine days of mourning - are over. With 135 cardinals set to attend,
it will be the largest conclave in modern history and one of the most
unpredictable. Over the past few days, cardinals wandering around Rome were
hounded by journalists trying to get a steer on what the conclave might yield. After
the funeral, too, the Cardinal of Tonga Soane Patita Paini Mafi was approached
by the media as he made his way out of St Peter's Square. After a South
American pope, is it time for an Asian one, he was asked. Cardinal Mafi laughed
and pointed to the sky. "Only He knows," he said.
^ A fitting Tribute to a great Man.
^
This is Reuben Namibia.
He rescues animals like Cindy
(pictured) in Namibia.
I bought a shirt with Cindy on it
to help him and because I like his videos.
He is on Facebook, Tik Tok and
Instagram as well as his online store at the following link:
I ordered 2 Candles (one as a
gift) from this place.
It is run by a Ukrainian Family
who fled to the United States in 2022.
I wanted to show them and other
Ukrainians that I (as an American) still support them.
They have daily videos
(about their life, etc.) on Tik Tok and Instagram.
Check out their online website at
the following link:
Pope Francis’ Funeral will be
held tomorrow.
For those that don’t know the
Pope is the Leader of the Catholic Church which has 1.3 Billion People.
Pope Francis is known as “The
People’s Pope” because he sought to be accessible to the Ordinary People as
well as bringing more Transparency and Openness to the Catholic Church.
Here are some of the things Pope
Francis did (for both Catholics and Non-Catholics):
2024 Synod on Synodality
(Described as the culmination of Pope Francis's Papacy and the most important
event in the Church since the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s): Francis
allowed Women to vote in the Catholic Synod of Bishops for the first time.
Institute for the Works of Religion
– IWR - informally known as the Vatican Bank): Often criticized for corruption,
money laundering, etc. Francis restricted the IWR in 2019 after first authorizing
a Pontifical Commission in 2013 (when he first became Pope) to look at the
allegations. In 2014 he removed 4 Cardinals in charge of the IWR.
Canonizations: Francis canonized
Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin (the first married Couple to be named as Saints
together) in 2015, Mother Teresa in 2016 and Óscar Romero in 2018.
Francis also canonized three of
his Predecessors: Pope John XXIII in 2014, Pope John Paul II in 2014 and Paul
VI in 2018.
Consistories: Francis
created 163 Cardinals from 76 Countries across 10 Consistories (making the
College of Cardinals less European-dominated.)
Covid-19: Francis led the
Vatican and every Roman Catholic Church through the Covid-19 Pandemic. He
cancelled his Public Audiences to prevent People from getting sick, encouraged
Priests to visit the sick and Health Care Workers, created the Vatican COVID-19
Commission to listen to concerns and develop responses for the future and
preached that getting the Covid-19 Vaccine was a “moral obligation.”
Role of Women in the Catholic
Church: In January 2021, Francis issued Spiritus Domini, allowing Bishops
to institute Women to the Ministries of Acolyte and Lector which were
previously reserved for Men.
In April 2023, Francis announced
that 35 Women would be allowed to vote at the Sixteenth Ordinary General
Assembly of the Synod of Bishops ("just over 10%" of all voters), marking
the first time Women are allowed to vote at any Catholic Synod of Bishops.
Apologies toward Indigenous Peoples:
In 2022 Francis both apologized for the Catholic Church’s role in its abuses in
Canada (Forced Assimilation, Residential Schools and the Mass Number of Unmarked
Graves as the Schools) but he travelled to Canada and described the Canadian
Roman Catholic Church’s role as “Cultural Genocide. “He also begged for
forgiveness for these crimes.
Sexual Abuse Response: In
2017 Francis admitted he mishandled the case of the Italian Priest, Mauro
Inzoli, who had been convicted of abusing Children.
He openly admitted the Catholic
Church had “arrived late” in dealing with Sexual Abuse Worldwide.
In 2019, Francis defrocked
Theodore McCarrick, a former Archbishop of Washington, who maintained a
prominent position in the Church for decades despite repeated reports of Sexual
Misconduct against him dating back to the 1980s. Francis also publicly released
the findings of a 2020 Report on McCarrick.
In February 2019 Francis convened
a Summit on Sexual Abuse.
He abolished the "Pontifical
Secrecy" privilege in Sexual Abuse cases, clarifying that Bishops do not
need authorization from the Vatican to turn over materials from Canonical Trials
upon request of Civil Law Enforcement Authorities.
In November 2021, Francis thanked
Journalists for their work in uncovering Child Sexual Abuse scandals in the Church.
He also thanked Journalists for "helping us not to sweep it under the
carpet, and for the voice you have given to the abuse victims".
Francis has apologized for Sexual
Abuses by clergy in the United States and Ireland.
Modifying Papal Funeral and Burial
Requirements: In 2024, Francis approved a second edition of Ordo
Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, the Liturgical Book prescribing Papal Funeral Rites,
in order to make his Funeral Rites similar to that of a Bishop.
He also modified the Papal Burial
Requirements to no longer include the traditional three coffins of cypress,
lead, and oak, opting to instead be buried in one zinc-lined wooden casket.
Pope Francis will also be the first Pope since
Leo XIII (in 1903) to be buried outside the Vatican. Plans are made to bury him
in Rome's Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica. He had a "great devotion" to
the Salus populi Romani icon kept there.
Church Governance: Francis
called for Decentralization of Governance away from Rome and for a Synodal
manner of decision-making in dialogue with the people. He strongly opposed Clericalism
and made Women Full Members of the Church's Dicasteries in Rome.
Environment and Climate Change:
In October 2023, in advance to the 2023 United Nations Climate Change
Conference (COP28), Francis issued the Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum
(Praise God), in which he called for decisive action to against the Climate Crisis
and condemned Climate Change Denial.
In 2024, Francis organized a Climate
Summit that issued a Planetary Protocol for Climate Change Resilience including
three Pillars: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction (while prioritizing
nature-based solutions), Climate Change Adaptation, and Societal Transformation.
Option for the Poor: In
September 2024, Francis renewed calls for a Universal Basic Income, as well as
higher taxes on Billionaires.
Homosexuality: In July
2013, Francis televised "Who Am I to Judge?" Statement was widely
reported in the International Press, becoming one of his most famous statements
on Homosexuals.
In other public statements,
Francis had emphasized the need to accept, welcome, and accompany Homosexuals
including Children.
He also supported Same-Sex Civil Unions
as legal protections for Homosexuals.
In a January 2023 interview with
the Associated Press, Francis denounced the Criminalization of Homosexuality
(which he called "unjust.")
International Relations:
Cuba: Francis played a key
role in the talks toward restoring full Diplomatic Relations between the U.S.
and Cuba, announced in December 2014.
Israel and Palestinian
Territories: In May 2014, Francis visited Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
Francis offered symbolic gestures to both sides in the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict.
He invited Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres to a Prayer Summit at the
Vatican—both accepted.
Francis condemned the Hamas-led Attack
on Israel on October 7, 2023.
From October 2023 until the day
he died, he spoke with the only Catholic Church in the Gaza Strip every night.
Migrant and Refugee Issues:
Francis made the plight of Refugees and Migrants "a core component of his
pastoral work" and had defended their rights in dialogue both with Europe
and with the United States.
In April 2016, Francis, along
with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronimos II of Athens,
visited the Moria Refugee Camp on the Greek Island of Lesbos in order to call
the attention of the world to the 2015 European Migrant Crisis. There, the
three Christian Leaders signed a Joint Declaration.
In February 2025, following the Election
to a Second Term of US President Donald Trump there were mass deportations and swinging
cuts to International Aid by the new Administration, defended by Vice President
JD Vance, a Catholic, by recasting the Catholic idea of ordo amoris (the right
ordering of one's love) as a justification for Nativism.
Francis wrote what had been
described as "an extraordinary and excoriating response to US Bishops".
He cited the parable of the Good Samaritan, described the ordo amoris as the
love that "builds a fraternity open to all, without exception" and criticized
the focus on solely Family, Community or National Identity as
"[introducing] an ideological criterion that distorts social life and
imposes the will of the strongest.”
In the Muslim World: Francis
condemned the persecution of Christians by ISIS and supported the use of force
to stop Islamic Militants from attacking Religious Minorities in Iraq.
In January 2018, Francis met
Yazidi Refugees in Europe, expressed his support for their right to Religious
freedom, and called upon the International Community "not to remain a
silent and unresponsive spectator" to the Yazidi Genocide.”
In February 2019, Francis visited
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on the invitation of Mohammed bin Zayed Al
Nahyan. Francis became the first Pope to celebrate Mass on the Arabian
Peninsula, attended by more than 120,000 Attendees.
In March 2021, Francis held a
historic meeting with Iraq's top Shi'ite Cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani, and visited Ur, a site traditionally identified as the Birthplace
of the Prophet Abraham. He and the Iraqi Cleric urged the Muslim and Christian Communities
to work together for peaceful coexistence.
In September 2024, Francis
visited Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim Population, where he
attended Inter-Religious Dialogue in Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta and was
welcomed by the Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar.
Francis and the Grand Imam
additionally signed the Joint Declaration of Istiqlal 2024, underscoring that
the values common to all Religious traditions be effectively promoted to
"defeat the culture of violence and indifference" and promote
reconciliation and peace.
The Declaration was also read and
attended by Representatives from other Religions, including Protestants,
Hindus, Buddhists, Confucians, and Folk Religions.
Russia and Ukraine: Following
the February 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine, a major escalation of the
Russo-Ukrainian War, Francis visited the Russian Embassy in Rome, an
unprecedented action.
He called Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy to express "sorrow" as the Vatican worked to find
"room for negotiation" to end the War.
At a September 2022 Interfaith Event
in Kazakhstan, Francis urged Patriarch Kirill not to become an "altar
boy" of Putin.
In a September 2022 Press Conference,
seven months into the War, Francis said that it was justified for Ukraine to
defend itself.
In early October 2022, Francis
for the first time directly appealed to Putin to halt the "spiral of
violence and death" in Ukraine.
Summary: While Pope Francis
did many great things he was a Man who also made mistakes. He worked to reform
the Catholic Church and the World, but didn’t always go far enough.
I hope the next Pope will follow
the examples of Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis and go even further to make
the Catholic Church and the World a better place.
80 years ago today (April 25, 1945) the Soviet Red Army and the US Army met at the Elbe River in Nazi Germany – cutting the country in two.
2nd Lt. William Robertson (U.S.
Army) and Lt. Alexander Silvashko (Red Army) were the ones in the famous
picture of the event.
After the War, Silvashko returned
to his native Ukraine to find his Family and his village wiped out. Army comrades from Belarus encouraged him to
settle there in the small village of Morach where he spent the rest of his
life.
Robertson went on to study Medicine
and became a noted Neurosurgeon in Los Angeles.
Silvashko and Robertson did not see each again
until 1975, when détente between the United States and the Soviet Union brought
them back together in Moscow to commemorate the 30th anniversary of their
meeting on the Elbe.
Bill Robertson died in 1999 and
Alexander Silvashko a few years later.
80 years ago today (April 25,
1945) the Soviet Red Army and the US Army met at the Elbe River in Nazi Germany
– cutting the country in two.
2nd Lt. William Robertson (U.S.
Army) and Lt. Alexander Silvashko (Red Army) were the ones in the famous
picture of the event in 1945 and 1975.
A 17-year-old Boy died under the
rubble after a Russian Missile Strike on Kyiv.
His Friends waited over 12 hours, hoping he
was alive.
He'd walked a Friend's Dog the
night before.
Now he is gone. His Mom died too.
His Dad, a Soldier, was killed
earlier.
His 14-year-old Sister is hospitalized.
Russia is targeting Civilians
including Children in their War Crimes in Ukraine.
Today is Armenian Genocide
Remembrance Day.
(Map of the Armenian Genocide in
Turkey.)
The Turks murdered 1.5 Million
Armenian Men, Women and Children from 1915 to 1922.
The Turks murdered them by
drowning people in rivers, throwing them off cliffs, crucifying them, on Death
Marches and by burning them alive.
The Turks also kidnapped 100,000
Armenian Children forcing them to convert to Islam and giving them to Turkish
Families.
The Turks forced 100,000 Armenian
Women to convert to Islam and marry Turkish Men or be killed.
The homes and property of the
Armenians were given to Turks.
The Armenian Genocide erased
Armenian Culture and Life that had been in Turkey for 2,000 years.
The Turks consider the Genocide
necessary and justified to establish a Turkish Nation-State.
It continues to be illegal, in
Turkey, to call the murder of the 1.5 Million Armenians in Turkey a Genocide
(as it does in Pakistan and Azerbaijan.)
Countries and Organizations
around the World officially call the murder of the Armenians by the Turks a
Genocide:
The Catholic Church (in 2015),
The International Association of Genocide Scholars (in 1997), The European
Parliament (in 2015), The Council of Europe (in 2001), The Union for Reform Judaism (in 1989), The
Central Council of Jews in Germany (2015), The Mercosur Parliament, the Latin
American Parliament.
Argentina (in 1993), Armenia (in
1988), Austria (in 2015), Belgium (in 1998), Bolivia (in 2014), Brazil (in
2015), Bulgaria (in 2015), Canada (in 1996), Chile (in 2007), Cyprus (1975),
the Czech Republic (in 2017), France (in 1998). Germany (in 2005), Greece (in
1996), Italy (in 2000), Latvia (in 2021), Libya (in 2019), Lithuania (in 2005),
Lebanon (in 1997), Luxembourg (in 2015), Mexico (in 2023), The Netherlands (in
2004), Paraguay (in 2015), Poland (in 2005), Portugal (in 2019), Russia (in
1995), Slovakia (in 2004), Sweden (in 2010), Switzerland (in 2003), Syria (in
2015), The United States (in 2021), Uruguay (in 1965), the Vatican (in 2000)
and Venezuela (in 2005.)
Parts of these Countries
Recognize the Armenian Genocide:
Australia (New South Wales, South
Australia and Tasmania), Belgium (Flanders), Brazil (Ceara, Parana, Rio de
Janeiro, and Sao Paulo), Canada (Alberta, British Colombia, Ontario and
Quebec), France (Corsica), Iran (Tehran), The Philippines (Manila), Spain
(Aragon, Balearic Islands, Basque Country, Catalonia, Navarre, La Rioja), The
United Arab Emirates (Aby Dhabi) , The United Kingdom (Scotland and Wales), All
50 US States and DC.
.jpg)
