'Final pope' authors predicted Benedict would resign

WND/ By Jerome R. Corsi 

Although a Roman Catholic pope had not stepped down in nearly 600 years, the startling resignation of Pope Benedict XVI was predicted by the co-authors of a book published last spring about a medieval prophecy that the next pontiff will be the last.

In “Petrus Romanus: The Final Pope is Here,” co-authors Tom Horn and Cris Putnam examine St. Malachy’s “Prophecy of the Popes,” said to be based on his prophetic vision of the next 112 popes, beginning with Pope Celestine II, who died in 1144. Malachy presented a description of each pope, culminating with the “final pope,” “Peter the Roman,” whose reign would end with the destruction of Rome and judgment.

Horn explained to WND in an interview today that his conclusion Benedict would resign rather than die in the papacy was based not only on St. Malachy but also on a host of historical and current information.

“We took ‘The Prophecy of the Popes,’ we took what was happening in Italian media, and we determined, based on a great deal of information, that Pope Benedict would likely step down, citing health reasons, in 2012 or 2013,” he said.

St. Malachy was an Irish saint and the archbishop of Armagh, who lived from 1094 to 1l48. Malacy described the penultimate pope, which Horn believes is Benedict, as “Gloria Olivae,” or “Glory of the Olive.”

Pope Benedict XVI was not a Benedictine priest, yet he chose the name of Benedict, the founder of the Order of Saint Benedict, which also is known as the Olivetans

The symbol of the Benedictine order includes an olive branch.

Benedict, speaking Monday morning in Latin to a small gathering of cardinals at the Vatican, said that after examining his conscience “before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise” of leading the Roman Catholic Church.

Peter the Roman

Horn and Putnam discuss the evidence pointing to a Benedict resignation on pages 74 and 486 of their April 2012 book, and Horn has made the prediction on a number of radio programs in recent months, including Jan. 13.

Malachy described the last Pope as “Petrus Romanus,” or “Peter the Roman,” writing: “In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock among many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people.”

Horn and his co-author have created their own list of 10 candidates to succeed Benedict and become “Peter the Roman.”

Interestingly, a leading candidate is Cardinal Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Bertone, the Cardinal secretary of state, who was born in Romano, Italy. His name could, therefore, be rendered Peter the Roman.

Another Peter on the list is a black African, Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, the current president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

In any case, Horn noted, Catholics believe the pope inhabits the “Petrine office” as a successor of the apostle Peter.

Other candidates on Horn’s list are Francis Arinze, Angelo Scola, Gianfranco Ravasi, Leonardo Sandri, Ennio Antonelli, Jean-Louis Tauran, Christoph Schönborn and Marc Quellet.

In 1880, M. J. O’Brien, a Catholic priest, published in Dublin a book providing a “historical and critical account” of St. Malachy’s prophecies.

O’Brien believed Malachy was declaring that the reign of the pope identified as Petrus Romanus would culminate with the end of the world and the return of Jesus Christ.

O’Brien describes Malachy’s vision occurring while the saint was in Rome for a month, visiting and praying at the Eternal City’s many historical and holy sites.

The sight of the ruins of Pagan Rome, the tombs of the Apostles, the thought of so many thousands of martyrs, the presence of [Pope] Innocent II, who had been obligated to wander so many years in France and elsewhere on account of the anti-pope Anaclete – all this, I say, filled the mind of St. Malachy with deep and sad reflections and he was forced to cry out in the words of the old prophets: “Usquequo, Domine non misereberis Sion?” – “How long, O Lord! wilt Thou not have mercy on Sion?”

O’Brien continued:

And God answered: “Until the end of the world the Church will be both militant and triumphant. Until the end of time the sufferings of my passion and the mysteries of my cross must be continued on earth, and I shall be with you until the end of the world.” And then was unfolded before the gaze of the holy bishop of Armagh the long line of illustrious pilots who were to guide the storm-tossed bark of Peter until the end.

Malachy gave his manuscript to Innocent II, who was pontiff from 1130 to 1143. The document was placed in the Vatican archives, where it remained unknown until its discovery in 1590.

‘Amazingly accurate’

Through the past 900 years, various critics have questioned the authenticity and the accuracy of St. Malachy’s prophecies, often arguing the methods used by some of his interpreters to apply his epithets to certain popes have been tortuous.

Horn told WND he and Putnam took a critical view of “The Prophecy of the Popes” and determined that the first part of it, the first 70 or so predictions, probably was altered in the late 16th century.

“It appears that somebody had altered the original medieval document from 1590 backward to promote a particular cardinal to the College of Cardinals to be the fulfillment of what at that time was still a secret list of popes,” Horn explained.

An advocate for Cardinal Girolamo Simoncelli, Horn said, likely “tinkered with the document to make it look like it was pointing toward Simoncelli.”

In “Petrus Romanus,” Horn said, he and Putnam “disregard everything pre-1595, as partly or fully tainted.”

After 1595, however, “The Prophecy of the Popes” was open to public scrutiny.

A modern version of Malachy’s prophecies was published in 1969 by Archbishop H. E. Cardinale, the Apostolic Nuncio to Belgium and Luxembourg.

Cardinale wrote “it is fair to say the vast majority of Malachy’s predictions about successive Popes is amazingly accurate – always remembering that he gives only a minimum of information.”

Horn noted Benedict’s brother, Georg Ratzinger, also a priest, suggested last year that the pontiff might retire at age 85, arguing Catholic law would allow for him to step down if his health wouldn’t allow him to continue.

Benedict, himself, made a case for papal resignation in a book-length interview, “Light of the World.”

Asked if he thought it appropriate for a pope to retire, he said, “If a pope clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right and, under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign.”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/final-pope-authors-predicted-benedict-would-resign/#gUZUA0qsZdGqMfBT.99

As Vatican leader Pope Benedict never had a chance

foxnews

By John Moody 

He never had a chance.

From the moment he appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s on April 19, 2005, to greet the faithful, Benedict XVI faced an insurmountable problem: He was not John Paul II.

Benedict’s decision to resign the papacy is being blamed on his age – nearly 86 – and his health – never robust. He might just as well have been diagnosed with a broken papal heart.

Because his nearly eight years on the Throne of the Fisherman never really produced the results he hoped for. He did not unite the conservative and progressive wings of the Catholic Church. He did not re-establish its place in Europe, the work of a previous Pope Benedict and the reason he took that name. Nor did he expand its foothold in Asia, cement its dominance in Latin America, or make serious inroads in Africa. And he did not bring to fruition the ecumenical understanding with other major faiths that he hoped would bloom during his reign.

Benedict faced nearly impossible odds, even before he was elected. Joseph Ratzinger -- his given name -- was already white-haired and stooped when he became pope. He was a German of the World War II generation, and as a boy had served, involuntarily, as a member of the Hitler Youth. His last job in Rome as Cardinal Ratzinger was to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – the branch of the Vatican charged with enforcing dogma and rooting out dissent. For that, he was dubbed The Chief Inquisitor and The Rottweiler. His idea of a wild night was a single glass of Riesling and an hour of playing his piano – he was an accomplished interpreter of Beethoven and Mozart.

That’s who he is. But what stymied him was who he isn’t.

His Polish predecessor as Pope, Karol Wojtyla of Krakow, exploded into worldwide prominence and popularity in 1978 as a strong, smiling face for a church that had not elected a non-Italian for nearly 500 years. In combining as his papal name both John and Paul, Wojtyla suggested to the Church that he would follow the prudent style of rule set forth by John XXIII and Paul VI – neither of them firebrands.

Then, John Paul revealed his true nature: a brilliant, conservative theologian, a master politician and historian, a nonpareil philosopher, a polished performer thanks to his youthful acting career, an unapologetic anti-communist, and an inveterate traveler. He also didn’t mind showing off. He skied. He hiked. He canoed. He sported sneakers. He watched bare-breasted African women do traditional dances. And he never stopped talking, in any of the seven or eight languages he spoke fluently, about how God loves us.

By contrast, Benedict’s meek initial outings were public relations meltdowns. His smile, though genuine, looked somehow sinister, as if he were about to bite his audience. Determined to restore the Church’s luster in Europe, where it is often treated like a dotty old aunt, Benedict gave a lecture in Regensburg, Germany, in 2006 that appeared to denigrate Islam. The non-Catholic world howled; the Vatican cringed and apologized.

On his first visit to the U.S. as pope, Benedict offered contrite apologies for the Church’s ham-handed treatment of the U.S. church’s sex scandal involving its priests. Even the pope’s humble mien did not satisfy some, who pronounced him cold and unfeeling toward the plight of victims of clergy abuse. He joined the Twitterati, but his first attempt was a sterile: “I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. I bless all of you from my heart.” At least he stayed under 140 characters.

In nearly eight years, Benedict issued three encyclicals – direct messages to the faithful that often reveal a pope’s enthusiasms and interests. Benedict’s first – entitled “God is Love” -- is a caressing, simply worded, logic-based reassurance that our Lord loves us. Yet even his writing about love suffers in comparison with John Paul’s towering, intellectual yet intimate canon of work.

None of which lessens Benedict’s place in the line of Vicars of Christ. His decision to resign was a brave one, based on personal humility, in keeping with his message to the faithful that the things of Earth are transient, but the promise of heaven lasting and infinite.  For that he should be remembered.

John Moody is Executive Vice President, Executive Editor at Fox News. A former Vatican correspondent and Rome bureau chief for Time magazine, he is the author of four books, including "Pope John Paul II : Biography."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/02/11/as-vatican-leader-pope-benedict-never-had-chance/#ixzz2Kd0OMVbY

Who'll be next pope? Here are 8 frontrunners

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Look who's reporting visions of Jesus now

WND/ Michael Carl

“Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions,” asserts the promise of God from the book of Joel.
Yet some of those men reportedly seeing visions and dreams are neither Jews nor Christians … but Muslims.

What’s more, Middle East evangelists report the dreamers are coming to Christianity because of their visions of Jesus.
According to a CBN report, Christian Middle East evangelist Hazem Farraj’s television program “Reflections” is reaching a large Muslim audience. Farraj told CBN that he hears from Muslims who report having dreams or visions of Jesus.
Tom Doyle, an evangelist, pastor and the E3 Partners Ministry director for the Middle East and Central Asia says it’s true: Muslims are coming to Christianity through dreams and visions.
“Great things are happening in the Muslim world,” Doyle said in an email to WND. “It’s all very unexpected.”
Doyle told WND that he is familiar with Farraj’s program and that Jesus is breaking through where missionaries have not succeeded.
“We’ve been seeing this for 15 years now, where Muslims are no longer Muslims but are Jesus followers,” Doyle said. “It’s someone who is a Christian, someone who is willing to die for Jesus.
“It all started with them with a dream,” Doyle said. “They had a Jesus dream, and some of them had many Jesus dreams. They would seek out Christians after a while because the dreams would get so intense that they wanted an answer.”
Doyle explains there is still a difficult process involved for a Muslim to convert to Christianity, even for those who have the dreams.
“Nobody goes to bed a Muslim and wakes up a Christian,” Doyle said. “They have a couple of barriers between them and Jesus. They’ve been told that Christians worship three gods. They’re told that the Bible is corrupted. It’s just what they’ve been told, kind of a party line rhetoric.”
Yet dreams, Doyle says, become a starting point.
“They’re motivated to find a Bible, find a Christian and ask what this means. Ninety-five percent of the Muslims who are now Jesus followers say that they were led to Christ by someone explaining the dream to them,” Doyle said.
Doyle says he wrote a book called “Dreams and Visions,” in which he recorded a series of real stories from Muslims who follow Christ and who did so because they had a dream about Jesus. He adds that the phenomenon is taking place in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Syria and on the West Bank.
Doyle says he knows of one Muslim who was on a hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca, and he had a daytime vision of Jesus.
“I met a man yesterday who said he saw a Jesus dream and he didn’t know what to do with it, so he got deeper into his Muslim faith,” Doyle said. “Then he went to Mecca on the hajj, and on the first time around the Kabah, he saw a vision of Jesus standing in front of him.”
Doyle said the man told him Jesus had a message: “You’re on the wrong path; you’re on the wrong road. Leave this place and come follow me.”
“This man is getting baptized in the next few weeks,” Doyle said.
Doyle believes that the phenomenon will continue and that the stories are taking place in countries that the West believes are bad and dangerous places.
Former PLO operative turned Christian and peace activist Walid Shoebat says he believes Jesus is compensating for the weaknesses of the Western Church.
“I had first doubted the countless stories of Muslims becoming Christian as a result of dreams until I met some of them and heard their testimonies,” Shoebat said. “My conclusion to this phenomenon is that Christ succeeds where the church fails.”
Doyle agrees. He says Jesus should get the credit.
“It is a real Divine intervention. That is for sure,” Doyle said.
Shoebat, a former radicalized Muslim, says he didn’t come to Christ through such a dramatic event, but through a personal journey.
“I must say that Jesus did not appear to me in a dream, but He did take me on my challenge as I prayed to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to show me the problems in the Bible,” Shoebat explained. “Was the Bible corrupt? That was my question to God.”
Curiosity caused Shoebat to turn to the Scriptures.
“I finally read the Bible for myself in order to poke holes in Christian theology, but God’s Word did not return void,” Shoebat said. “It was as a hammer slamming into an anvil, and I finally broke under a power that cannot be explained by human hands.
“By the time I read through the countless predictions in the Bible in which God had laid out the future of Israel from Jeremiah to Joel and how intricate and accurate this manuscript was, I had to come to terms with reality,” Shoebat said.
Shoebat adds that he discovered it wasn’t the Bible that was corrupt.
“Indeed, the Bible was corrupted by man, for the Quran was that corruption. ‘The corruptors,’ I concluded, were the ones who always accused the Bible of corruption,” Shoebat said.
Shoebat is clear that he believes the Western Church is missing a great opportunity to win Muslims to Christianity.
“The 10/40 window is not on the radar of the Western church. Tourists and Christian pilgrims rarely would witness to us when they visited the Holy Land out of fear and respect to Islam,” Shoebat said. “Even in the West, I had had many occasions where I probed Christians to express their views about Islam, and they mostly where reluctant to say anything. They were easily repelled by our sarcastic comments about the Trinity and how the Bible was supposedly corrupt.”
Shoebat adds that God’s promises to Israel are also evidence of the truth of Christianity.
“I had found out from the Bible that God loves agreements. I had made a deal with Him to show me the truth and that I would do whatever He commands me to do. The volume of evidence from so many verses cannot be expressed here, but [there is] one word I concluded from the Bible that proves its caliber,” Shoebat said. “That word is Israel. He had promised to bring them back in unbelief and then to take away the heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Today many hate Israel, exactly as the Bible predicted, yet we must await God’s plans to be carried out by Him, and in due time, Israel, God’s glory and His testimony to the Gentiles, will shine and come to pass.
“God’s timetable is not man’s timetable, and His ways are not our ways. I learned from the Bible to see things in God’s perspective and not ours,” Shoebat continued. “The bottom line for me was what the Lord Jesus Christ said ‘you shall know them by their fruits.’ Islam brought bloodshed, and Christianity brought light.”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/visions-of-jesus-appearing-to-muslims/#uxW73TZuVAUvelOL.99

12-YEAR NIGHTMARE: Ariz. Mom Escapes Warren Jeffs' Polygamous Sect

Read at foxnews >>

Pachanga Castro-Chavista en el Santuario del Cobre

cubadebate.cu

no les basta con la misas realizadas en la catedral de la habana, en la iglesia de regla [sede del santuario de la virge de regla], ni cuanto santero, palero o plante preste inescrupulosamente las sagradas creencias a la marranada de pedir a sus santos y dioses por la salud no de un ser humano, lo que seria legitimo, sino por  inscribirse en la comparsa manipuladora que raul castro  despliega con el caso de la salud de chavez, para que ademas ahora tomen el sagrado Santuario del Cobre  para amplificar la pachanga. 

es como diciendo que hemos agotado todos los recursos medicos, humanos y divinos, no es muestra culpa.

siendo cierto que la unica condicion que debe cumplir un ser humano para sufrir una enfermedad terminal es adquirirla, lo cual es siempre lamentable y devastador no importa la naturaleza del individuo, hay mucho que explicar por parte del gobierno cubano en el origen y posterior decursar de los padecimientos de hugo chavez.

Castro Freezes Church Funds

Capitolhillcubans

From Christian Solidarity Worldwide:

Trinidad First Baptist Church/ mexcubministries.com

Cuban government refuses to release church funds
Church leaders in the Cuban city of Santa Clara have condemned the Cuban government’s refusal to allow Trinidad First Baptist Church access to its bank account. The accounts for the historic local church, with funds amounting to approximately US$27,000, were frozen by government officials in 2010.

Church targeted because of refusal to bar members of the Cuban dissident movement

In an open letter published in October 2010, the longstanding pastor of the church, Reverend Homero Carbonell, expressed hope that his retirement would convince the government to restore the church’s access to its accounts, which were opened with the International Finance Bank in 1988. He and other church leaders believe the church was targeted in part because of his refusal to acquiesce to demands from state security that he bar members of the Cuban dissident movement, including Sakharov Prize winner Guillermo Fariñas, from attending the church.

According to another local Baptist pastor, Reverend Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso, who authors the blog Cubano Confesante and is also a professor at the Luis Manuel González Peña Seminary, housed on the Trinidad Church’s property, the retirement of Reverend Carbonell did not have the hoped-for effect. The funds, the majority of which were donated by churches abroad for essential repairs to the 105 year-old church, remain inaccessible more than two years later.

"...the government continues to punish the church"

Reverend Lleonart Barroso told Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) that the current pastor of the Trinidad Baptist Church, Reverend Juan Carlos Mentado, “in the short time in which he has been there, has been an obliging leader, complying with every legal requirement, yet the government continues to punish the church.”

The situation is made even more difficult by the fact that official decisions pertaining to religious organisations, such as the decision to freeze a church’s bank accounts, are made by the Office of Religious Affairs (ORA) of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, with no recourse for appeal. Reverend Lleonart Barroso added that repeated applications to Caridad Diego, the head of ORA, for legal recognition of the church seminary have also gone unanswered.

El pastor cubano de los presidentes de Estados Unidos

Daniel Shoer Roth

En 1961, Luis León salió de Cuba a Miami sin sus padres. Sólo tenía 11 años, un cepillo de dientes, una muda de ropa y $3 en el bolsillo. Pero también traía un corazón que décadas después lo llevaría a dirigir una iglesia histórica aledaña a la Casa Blanca conocida como “la iglesia de los presidentes”.
El próximo lunes, aquel joven que formó parte de la Operación Pedro Pan recitará la bendición en la ceremonia que investirá por segunda vez a Barack Obama como presidente de Estados Unidos. Y encarnará el espíritu de lo que significa ser un ciudadano de este país, así como de los valores de diversidad e inclusión que representa el presidente reelecto.
“Es un honor ser parte de un hito de la historia estadounidense, puesto que todas las investiduras presidenciales lo son, y es un honor especial por ser un inmigrante en este país, el único país donde un hecho como éste puede suceder”, afirmó León el miércoles en una entrevista telefónica con El Nuevo Herald desde la Iglesia Episcopal St. John’s, en Washington. “Siento que de cierta manera estoy representando a la comunidad hispana de Estados Unidos. Somos una parte importante de este país”.
El Día de las Elecciones, Obama cimentó su victoria en el fuerte respaldo de los latinos.
León no será el único representante de sangre cubana en la ceremonia de asunción, que tendrá lugar en el National Mall a partir de las 11:30 a.m. Obama también eligió personalmente al poeta Richard Blanco, criado en Miami de padres cubanos, quien declamará un poema original para el juramento. Blanco es el primer poeta hispano y el más joven que participa en la investidura de un presidente.
Como ministro de St. Jhon’s desde 1995, León ha aconsejado desde el púlpito a tres líderes de la nación que le abrió los brazos cuando el gobierno comunista de Cuba descarriló su vida: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush – quien organizó una fiesta en la Casa Blanca para celebrar el vigésimo quinto aniversario de su ordenación en la Iglesia Episcopal – , y Obama.
Fue en el 2005, durante la ceremonia de asunción del ex presidente Bush, que León ingresó a los anales de la historia nacional como el primer hispano en ofrecer la bendición inaugural. Y la semana próxima, la vida le concederá el privilegio por segunda vez.
Durante los tres minutos en que será el foco de atención de millones de ciudadanos alrededor del mundo, se centrará en el tema del diálogo y la reconciliación.
“Mi preocupación es que no estamos hablando unos con los otros”, explicó León, de 63 años. “Creo que cuando Dios nos bendice, Dios nos llama a dar lo mejor de nosotros; a conversar y relacionarnos unos con otros”.
El pastor nació en el área cubana de Guantánamo en 1949, hijo de Luis y Concepción “Concha” León, que profesaban la fe católica. La madre trabajaba en la única escuela episcopal de Guantánamo y se sintió atraída hacia esa denominación de origen anglicano. Su esposo siguió sus pasos y ambos fueron recibidos formalmente en la Iglesia Episcopal, cuya presencia en Cuba data del siglo XIX, cuando se fundó una capellanía para atender a los ingleses y norteamericanos que vivían en la isla en tiempos de la Colonia.

Read more here: http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2013/01/17/1386104/el-pastor-cubano-de-los-presidentes.html#storylink=cpy

JAILED FOR BELIEFS: Egypt Family Gets 15 Years For Christian Conversion

By Benjamin Weinthal

scoop.it

The 15-year prison sentence given to a woman and her seven children by an Egyptian court for converting to Christianity is a sign of things to come, according to alarmed human rights advocates who say the nation's Islamist government is bad news for Christians in the North African country.

A criminal court  in the central Egyptian city of Beni Suef  meted out the shocking sentence last week, according to the Arabic-language Egyptian paper Al-Masry Al-Youm. Nadia Mohamed Ali, who was raised a Christian, converted to Islam when she married Mohamed Abdel-Wahhab Mustafa, a Muslim, 23 years ago. He later died, and his widow planned to convert her family back to Christianity in order to obtain an inheritance from her family. She sought the help of others in the registration office to process new identity cards between 2004 and 2006. When the conversion came to light under the new regime, Nadia, her children and even the clerks who processed the identity cards were all sentenced to prison.

Samuel Tadros, a research fellow at Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, said conversions like Nadia's have been common in the past, but said Egypt's new Sharia-based constitution "is a real disaster in terms of religion freedom.”

"Now that Sharia law has become an integral part of Egypt's new constitution, Christians in that country are at greater risk than ever."- Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice

"The cases will increase in the future," Tadros said. "It will be much harder for people to return to Christianity."

President Mohamed Morsi, who was elected last June and succeeded the secular reign of Hosni Mubarak, who is now in prison, pushed the new constitution through last year.

Tadros said the constitution limits the practice of Christianity because “religious freedom has to be understood within the boundaries of Sharia.” He added that the constitution prescribes that the highest Sunni authority should be referred to as an interpreter of the religion clause contained in the constitution.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/01/16/egyptian-court-sentences-entire-family-to-15-years-for-converting-to/#ixzz2IAaENfdD

La Iglesia Ortodoxa de Castro vs Pastores por el Cambio

César  Duniet Serrano Palacios, pastor del Ministerio
 Evangélico y Profético Pastores por el Cambio, asediado
por miembros de la policía cuando predicaba en las calles
de la ciudad de Bayamo, Cuba.

cubarepresorid

  Denuncia César Duniet Serrano Palacios apostol del Movimiento Apostólico Profético Pastores por el Cambio a los obispos Samuel Ramos Sanfiel y Josué Ramos Sanfiel ambos son representantes de la Iglesia de Dios Ortodoxa en Cuba con sede en Holguín, Cuba.

Según César Serrano, ambos obispos se han encargado de promover, al igual que la seguridad del estado, el odio y acusar a los líderes y miembros de Pastores por el Cambio de ser MERCENARIOS Y PAGADOS POR LA CIA (Agencia Central de Inteligencia de los Estados Unidos) calificativos muy usados por los esbirros y simpasantes del régimen castrista contra los opositores y disidentes.

A estos obispos, continúa diciendo Serrano Palacios,  se les olvida que viajan y llegan a los Estados Unidos y se nutren de la economía norteamericana para servir a la tiranía castro terrorista que roba donaciones, como sucedió con la  que Pastores por el Cambio que consistía en una tonelada de alimentos y útiles que sus miembros aportaron para familias damnificadas por el huracán Sandy en la provincia Santiago de Cuba y que el régimen les arrebató en un aparatoso despliegue policial donde fueron detenidos varios miembros, humillados y finalmente robada la totalidad de la donación. Mas información: http://cubayatwittea.blogspot.com/2012/11/inaudito-la-dictadura-asalta-y-se-roba.html

Pastores por el Cambio es una organización religiosa, surgida en la ciudad de Bayamo, con rápido crecimiento en toda Cuba. Sus líderes son perseguidos, hostigados y amenazados por la dictadura castrista y sus funcionarios a través de la seguridad del estado y la policía porque defienden la libertad del pueblo cubano y denuncian los abusos, los maltratos y la represión.
Pastores por el Cambio  no se subordina a los dictámenes del Partido Comunista ni de su Consejo de Iglesias de Cuba.

"Ocultos" - Controversias religiosas [Documental]

Karoll William

Una interesante controversia de cultos. Documental rodado en Bauta, La Habana, por estudiantes de la EICTV.

'American Taliban' wins right to group prayer in prison

security

nydailynews.com

By Mariano Castillo

The man known as the "American Taliban" won a legal fight that will allow him and fellow Muslim inmates to gather for daily prayers.

A federal judge ruled Friday that the warden at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, was violating John Walker Lindh's rights by not allowing the religious activities.

Lindh argued that before 2007 Muslim prisoners were allowed to pray together for at least three of Islam's five daily prayers. Since then, with the exception of the holy month of Ramadan, the Muslim prisoners are allowed to gather only once a week.

The unit Lindh is housed in has 55 cells, and the majority of the prisoners are Muslim, according to court documents.

By not allowing group prayer, while at the same time allowing other group activities such as board games, the warden was violating the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson found.

The law was designed to protect freedom of religion in prison, where policies can place burdens on such rights.

The judge ordered an injunction "prohibiting the warden from enforcing the policy against daily congregate prayer for Muslims, including Mr. Lindh, for whom daily congregate prayer is a sincerely held religious belief," the court order states.

Already, prisoners are allowed to gather in the unit's multi-purpose room to listen or watch recording of Quran verses. Allowing them to pray is not significantly different from this and should be allowed, the judge ruled.

Lindh, who was born in California, converted to Islam as a teenager.

He traveled to Afghanistan in 2001 and attended a terror training camp where he was introduced to Osama bin Laden.

Lindh was captured by the Afghan Northern Alliance on November 25, 2001, and imprisoned in a compound in Mazar-e-Sharif, where he was questioned by CIA agent Johnny Michael Spann, who was killed in an uprising at the compound a short time later.

As part of a deal, Lindh pleaded guilty to supplying services to the Taliban and carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony. His family filed a petition for clemency to commute the 20-year sentence, a request that was denied by President George W. Bush in one of his final acts in office.

CNN's Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report.

Evangelical pastor withdraws from Obama inaugural

nbcchicago.com

(AP) The evangelical pastor chosen to give the benediction at President Barack Obama’s inauguration withdrew from the ceremony Thursday after remarks he made two decades ago condemning the gay rights movement surfaced.

The Rev. Louie Giglio of Passion City Church in Atlanta said in a statement he withdrew because it was likely that the “prayer I would offer will be dwarfed by those seeking to make their agenda the focal point of the inauguration.”

Addie Whisenant, a spokeswoman for the Presidential Inaugural Committee, said the committee had chosen Giglio because of his work to end human trafficking.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/inaugural-pastor-withdraws-over-anti-gay-remarks/#E9Cmp9WgozpxLG8l.99

The Formidable Islamist Minority in America

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Ryan Mauro

A summary of polls about the ideological makeup of the Muslim-American community shows that the majority is moderate, but there is a formidable minority influenced by Islamist doctrine. A significant number are refusing to give answers or are still figuring out where they stand on issues like terrorism and Sharia Law.

The number one question is how many Muslim-Americans support terrorism. A 2011 Pew poll found very little support for Al-Qaeda, with only 2% viewing the terrorist group very favorably, 3% somewhat favorably and 11% somewhat unfavorably. About 70% view Al-Qaeda very unfavorably, an increase of 12% since 2007.

There are 2.6 million Muslim-Americans, a number that is expected to rise to 6.2 million by 2030. This means there are 130,000 Muslim-Americans who will admit that they view Al-Qaeda favorably and that assumes there are no supporters among the 14% who did not answer the question. Plus, the survey did not poll support for Hamas, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood and other groups.

Only 1% of Muslim-Americans say violence against civilians to defend Islam is “often” justified. About 7% say it is sometimes justified and 5% say it is rarely justified. Approximately 81% say attacks on civilians are never justified. Of course, the definition of “civilian” varies. Hamas supporters, for example, argue that there is no such thing as an Israeli civilian. The survey did not poll support for attacks on soldiers.

The 2007 Pew poll found that about 49% feel mosques should stay out of politics and about the same amount feel the Koran should not be taken entirely literally. The survey concluded that Muslim immigrants are more moderate on this issue than those who were born here.

“Native-born Muslims express overwhelming support for the notion that mosques should express their views on social and political matters. By contrast, a large majority of foreign-born Muslims—many of whom are from countries where religion and politics are often closely intertwined—say that mosques should be kept out of political matters,” the report said.

Perhaps the most surprising findings were related to social issues. The Pew 2011 poll shows that 39% feel that homosexuality should be accepted by society, an increase of 12% from 2007. On the issue of multiple wives, a Wenzel Strategies poll released in October found 22% support allowing polygamy.

The findings related to Sharia Law and specific elements of Islamist doctrine were less comforting.

The Wenzel poll found that almost 40% strongly or somewhat agree that Sharia Law should be the supreme law of the country. A slight majority oppose that proposition, with 35% strongly disagreeing and 18% somewhat disagreeing. However, when presented with a more refined question about what to do if Sharia conflicts with the U.S. Constitution, 70% would follow the Constitution and only 9% would follow Sharia Law. About 21% were undecided.

There is high support for restricting freedom of speech in compliance with Sharia Law.

About 59% feel that criticism of Islam or its founder is not permitted under the First Amendment. Only 41% disagreed. Shockingly, 52% strongly or somewhat support criminal charges against those that criticize or parody Islam, while 33% oppose it. Nearly 15% strongly or somewhat support executing critics of their religion. About 70% strongly oppose it and around 11% only somewhat oppose it.

Only about 30% believe that Americans have the right to encourage Muslims to leave their faith. Around 45% disagree. Note that this question isn’t about whether people should proselytize to Muslims. It’s about whether doing so is a constitutional right.

The polls indicate that the Muslim-American community is more moderate than its counterparts overseas on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A 2011 Gallup poll found that over 80% support a two-state solution. However, the 2011 Pew poll shows only 61% believe a two-state solution that respects the rights of Palestinians is possible. About 20% feel it is impossible, matching Gallup’s result.

The Wenzel poll directly asked Muslim-Americans whether Israel has a right to exist. About 46% strongly agreed that it does and 21% somewhat agree. Only 8% strongly disagree, essentially supporting the elimination of the state of Israel. Another 8% somewhat disagree that Israel has a right to exist and 16% were unsure.

The campaign to demonize the U.S. government’s counter-terrorism efforts by Islamists and Muslim Brotherhood legacy groups has been fruitful. The 2011 Pew poll found that 41% do not believe that the war on terrorism is a sincere effort to reduce terrorism, while slightly more (43%) believe it is. This is a huge improvement from 2007, when 55% felt the U.S. government had ulterior motives and only 26% felt it was sincere.

The 2007 Pew poll found strong support for 9/11 conspiracy theories. Only 40% of Muslim-Americans would say that Arabs perpetrated the attacks. Of the 28% that said Arabs were not involved, 7% blamed the U.S. government, 1% attributed it to an Israeli/Jewish plot and 2% blamed insane people or others. The remaining 18% of those who denied Arab involvement said they did not know who carried out the attacks or wouldn’t answer the question.

One important observation from the Gallup poll is that the Muslim-American community does not feel represented by any major Muslim-American organization with Muslim Brotherhood origins. The most popular one was the Council on American-Islamic Relations, followed by the Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Muslim American Society and the Islamic Circle of North America, in declining order of popularity.

Altogether, only 25% of Muslim-American men and 19% of Muslim-American women chose one of these organizations when asked which one most represents their interests. This is remarkable because these organizations have been around for decades without any major challenge from within the community. This may be connected to the 2011 Pew poll’s finding that 48% feel that the Muslim-American leadership hasn’t done enough to speak out against extremism and only 34% feel they have.

The polls show there is a sharp divide in the Muslim-American community between those who completely reject Islamist doctrine and those who subscribe to it, in part or in whole. There is a significant number that is on the fence. Unfortunately, the U.S. government overlooks it.

The nominee for CIA director, John Brennan, won’t say “Islamist” or “jihadist.” The White House is regularly visited by the self-proclaimed Islamist leaders of the Muslim-American community that have actually been rejected by the community. The coordinator of the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Violent Extremism efforts emphasizes that it is focused on violence, not ideology.

You cannot be an Islamist terrorist without first being an Islamist. You cannot spread Islamist doctrine unless you are first a believer in that doctrine. We must recognize that this is a broader ideological conflict than just Al-Qaeda.

This article was sponsored by the Institute on Religion and Democracy.

Friedrich Kittler-Religion and Writing Systems

egsvideo

What exactly is the motivation behind the Islamic Center of Washington, DC?

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en.wikipedia.org

Walid Shoebat and Ben Barrack  

In 2007, President George W. Bush spoke at the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C. and was introduced by the mosque’s director; the latter had a history that included time spent as a representative of an organization that has enabled Al-Qaeda. This was also the same mosque at which Bush spoke six days after 9/11/01 with Nihad Awad – Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) – at his side.

Before delving into the history of the Islamic Center of Washington of Washington, D.C., consider the Ground Zero mosque for a moment. It was named ‘Cordoba House’ and the name was changed as opposition to the mosque grew and people began to learn more about the symbolic significance of the initial word choice, which was a city in Spain.

Via Raymond Ibrahim at MEF:

…the Christian city was conquered by Muslims around 711, its inhabitants slaughtered or enslaved. The original mosque of Cordoba—the namesake of the Ground Zero mosque—was built atop, and partly from the materials of, a Christian church. Modern day Muslims are well aware of all this. Such is the true—and ominous—legacy of Cordoba.
More pointedly, throughout Islam’s history, whenever a region was conquered, one of the first signs of consolidation was/is the erection of a mosque atop the sacred sites of the vanquished: the pagan Ka’ba temple in Arabia was converted into Islam’s holiest site, the mosque of Mecca; the al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, was built atop Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem; the Umayyad mosque was built atop the Church of St. John the Baptist; and the Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque upon the conquest of Constantinople.

With that as a premise, shouldn’t Americans take a second look at the motivation behind the Islamic Center of Washington, DC? If Islamic fundamentalists were to follow the formula of their forefathers and wanted to construct a symbol of future conquest, wouldn’t they seek to do so at the heart of the Capital of the country that won the war?

Check out this excerpt from the history page of the mosque’s website:

The Foundation’s membership quickly grew to include representatives from every Islamic nation in the world and American citizens. They all supported the Foundation’s appeal for funds. They managed to raise enough money that enabled them to purchase the land that the Center sits on now on Washington’s “Embassy Row”. They purchased the land on April 30, 1946, and laid the cornerstone on January 11, 1949.

Take note of those two dates in bold.

Generally, when people think of the defeated axis of enemies in World War II, Japan, Italy, and Nazi Germany come to mind but the Nazis had an ally that was never defeated. In fact, that ally never stopped fighting; that ally was the Muslim Brotherhood.

Again, if one accepts the notion that symbolism in Islam is very important, consider the date the land was purchased. Adolf Hitler’s death occurred one year earlier, on April 30, 1945.

Via History Learning Site:

None of the bunker’s survivors heard the shot that killed Hitler. At 15.15 on April 30th, Bormann, Goebbels, Heinz Linge, Hitler’s valet, Otto Gunshce and Artur Axmann, Head of the Hitler Youth, entered Hitler’s sitting room. Gunsche and Linge wrapped the body of Hitler in a blanket and carried it to the Reich Chancellery garden.

Coincidence? Possibly.

How about January 11, 1949 – the date the cornerstone was laid. That date could be significant.

Tuesday 11 Raby` al-awal 1368 A.H. Laying the cornerstone on Jan 11, 1949 in the Islamic calendar is a day prior to the 12th day of Rabi-al-Awwal, which marks the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, but keep in mind that Saudi Arabia is 10 hours ahead of the United States. While it was the 11th in the United States, it was very possibly the 12th in Saudi Arabia.

On June 28, 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower was on-hand to dedicate the mosque. Click here for the video of a news report at the time.

During his speech, Eisenhower said the following:

The countries which have sponsored and built this Islamic Center have for centuries contributed to the building of civilization. With their traditions of learning and rich culture, the countries of Islam have added much to the advancement of mankind. Inspired by a sense of brotherhood, common to our innermost beliefs, we can here together reaffirm our determination to secure the foundations of a just and lasting peace.

“Brotherhood” is indeed an interesting word choice. Eisenhower ended his speech thusly:

Our country has long enjoyed a strong bond of friendship with the Islamic nations. .  .  . Under the American Constitution, .  .  . this Center, this place of worship, is as welcome as could be any similar edifice of any religion. Indeed, America would fight with her whole strength for your right to have your own church and worship according to your own conscience. Without this, we would be something else than what we are.

Doesn’t the “conscience” of the Muslim “Brotherhood” involve destroying America from within?

Yes, it does.

President George W. Bush returned to the Washington, DC mosque for the RE-dedication ceremony in 2007, fifty years after Eisenhower did it originally. The man who introduced Bush in the clip below is the mosque’s director, Abdullah M. Khouj, who began his tenure there in 1984. According to the Weekly Standard’s Stephen Schwartz, Saudi officials took over the mosque in 1983 and Khouj was subsequently appointed. Khouj has been a representative for the Muslim World League (MWL):

Khouj represented the Muslim World League (MWL), founded in Saudi Arabia in 1962 as an international agency for the propagation of Wahhabism. In 2006, relief branches of the MWL in Southeast Asia would be designated by the U.S. Treasury as financing fronts for al Qaeda. In addition, Khouj was admitted to the United States as a diplomat, allegedly serving as an attaché at the Saudi Embassy, but actually dedicated to advancing the most radical interpretation of Islam in history.

The MWL is significant for many reasons but one such reason is its involvement as the umbrella organization for the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs (IMMA). This is the same IMMA where Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Huma Abedin, worked as an assistant editor for at least twelve years until leaving in 2009, to work for Clinton at the State Department. The man responsible for launching the IMMA was none other than Abdullah Omar Naseef, who was the Secretary General of the MWL when Khouj became the Director of the Washington mosque.

The Saudi Manifesto, reveals the MWL / IMMA connection:

“It [Muslim Minority Affairs] will work under the umbrella of the Muslim World League (MWL) and the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) and World Association of Muslim Youth (WAMY) and others.”

Remember, Naseef also founded the Rabita Trust, an entity that was headed by Al-Qaeda founder Wael Hamza Julaidan and identified by the U.S. Treasury Department in October of 2001 as a terrorist organization. If Naseef was commissioned by the Saudi Royal family to found the IMMA, it would seem to indicate a willingness on the part of the Brotherhood and the Saudis to work together in some respects, the furthering of Islam in foreign lands, for example.

That’s what the IMMA is all about.

It’s important to remember that Khouj – the man who introduced Bush at the Washington, D.C. mosque re-dedication ceremony – was a representative of the MWL at the time of his being named director, according to Schwartz. The Rabita Trust was founded in 1988 by Naseef, four years after Khouj became the Director of the mosque.

Before watching the video of Bush’s 2007 speech inside the mosque, consider that less than six years earlier, the Rabita Trust had been shut down by the Bush administration as a “Global Terrorist Entity”. As a representative of the MWL, Khouj ultimately worked for an organization whose Secretary General from 1983-1993 was none other than Al-Qaeda financier, Abdullah Omar Naseef.

Note at the 1:15 mark in the video below that Bush references Eisenhower’s speech from 1957 and quotes the former president. Said Bush:

“He (Eisenhower) asked that together we commit ourselves ‘to peaceful progress of all men under one God.’”

This had not been the first time that Bush had conflated Islam and Christianity. William Murray, of the Religious Freedom Coalition chronicled his experiences in the days after 9/11 and wrote the following about what he witnessed on 9/14/01 at the National Cathedral, where then head of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) – Muzammil Siddiqi – was in attendance:

Our Christian President had bowed his head to prayers offered to other gods, prayers that may have been for those who would destroy our nation and enslave our children to an alien religion. At that moment the hand of protection of the true God was removed from our nation.

Here is Bush at the 2007 re-dedication ceremony inside the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C.

According to Schwartz, the mosque was built at the urging of various Muslim groups, to include the Turks. In 1998, before becoming Prime Minister of Turkey – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – quoted from the following poem during a speech:

“The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers…”

Go figure. Today, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamist government of Turkey seem to be working together.

And World War II may have a new front.

Piers Morgan: Time to Amend the Bible

thelittlelephant

Donde estan los Reyes Magos kubiches?

EFE trae la noticia que unos reyes magos de la isla del encanto visitan la isla carcel. cualquier noble peregrinacion es apreciada, pero donde estan los reyes magos kubiches?

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noticias.terra.es

La Habana -- La ceremonia de los Reyes Magos de la localidad puertorriqueña Juana Díaz se presentó el sábado en la catedral católica de La Habana donde decenas de niños cubanos les dieron la bienvenida y asistieron a la festividad navideña de la Epifanía.
Los “Reyes Magos”, que visitan la isla por segunda vez desde el año 2000, viajaron desde Ponce (Puerto Rico) junto a otras 33 personas que participan en la organización de este viaje, explicó el coordinador de la visita, el diácono William Santiago.
“Tenemos un mensaje especial de paz y hermandad para el pueblo cubano de parte de nuestra iglesia y la diócesis de Ponce, gracias por recibir a los Reyes Magos para festejar el nacimiento de Jesús”, señaló Santiago durante la celebración.

Los niños y sus familiares participantes en la celebración acogieron entusiasmados y atentos la escenificación que ofreció la delegación religiosa de Puerto Rico, y al final, se hicieron fotos con los reyes visitantes, Gaspar, Melchor y Baltasar.
Desde su llegada a La Habana el pasado viernes se presentaron el fin de semana primeramente en la parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre, y en las iglesias de Regla y Jesús de Miramar.
Además este lunes sostuvieron un encuentro con las religiosas del convento de las “Siervas de María” y visitaron a los niños recluidos en el hospital oncológico.
Santiago, quien administra la casa-museo de los Santos Reyes de Juana Díaz, resaltó que el próximo 6 de enero celebrarán la 129 “Epifanía del Señor”, una tradición que han mantenido ininterrumpidamente desde 1884.
Dijo que esta fiesta de Reyes, que considera única en el mundo, ha recorrido entre otros países a Venezuela, México, España, Italia, Estados Unidos, Islas Vírgenes, República Dominicana, y todos los pueblos de Puerto Rico.
La visita a Cuba concluirá el próximo sábado, después de un recorrido por otras parroquias, iglesias y catedrales de la isla en las ciudades centrales de Santa Clara, Trinidad y Cienfuegos.

Christians Flock to Bethlehem; Pope Celebrates Christmas Mass at Vatican

In this photo taken on Friday, Dec. 21, 2012 the Nativity Scene set up in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican that will be unveiled by Pope Benedict XVI Monday, Dec. 24. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) (The Associated Press)

VATICAN CITY –  Despite the tension and violence that shook the Holy Land this year, Christians from around the world flocked to Manger Square in Bethlehem on Monday to celebrate the birth of Jesus in the ancient West Bank town where he was born.

Others traveled to Vatican City, where Pope Benedict XVI had lit a Christmas peace candle set on the windowsill of his private studio. Pilgrims, tourists and Romans gathered below in St. Peter's Square for the inauguration Monday evening of a Nativity scene and cheered when the flame was lit.

The pope marked Christmas Eve with Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. The service began at 10 p.m. local time, or 4 p.m. ET. The midnight start time was changed at the Vatican years ago to let the pontiff rest before a Christmas Day speech to be delivered from the basilica's central balcony.

In his homily, Benedict cited the Gospel account of Mary and Joseph finding no room at an inn and ending up in a stable which sheltered the baby Jesus. He urged people to reflect upon what they find time for in their busy, technology-driven lives.

"The great moral question of our attitude toward the homeless, toward refugees and migrants takes on a deeper dimension: Do we really have room for God when he seeks to enter under our roof? Do we have time and space for him?" the pope said.

"The faster we can move, the more efficient our time-saving appliances become, the less time we have. And God? The question of God never seems urgent," Benedict lamented.

The pope worried that "we are so 'full' of ourselves that there is no room left for God." He added, "that means there is no room for others either -- for children, for the poor, for the stranger."

The pontiff also prayed that Israelis and Palestinians live in peace and freedom, and asked the faithful to pray for strife-torn Syria as well as Lebanon and Iraq.

In Bethlehem, the Palestinian hosts were hopeful after a recent vote in favor of statehood in the United Nations, though the vote did little to bring them closer to independence.

In his annual pre-Christmas homily, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, said this year's festivities were doubly joyful.

"The path (to statehood) remains long, and will require a united effort," said Twal, a Palestinian citizen of Jordan, at the patriarchate's headquarters in Jerusalem's Old City.

Then he set off in a procession for the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Jesus' traditional birthplace. Twal had to enter the biblical town through a massive metal gate in the barrier of towering concrete slabs Israel built between Jerusalem and Bethlehem during a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings in the last decade. The Israeli military, which controls the crossing, said it significantly eased restrictions for the Christmas season.

Israel, backed by the United States, opposed the statehood bid, saying it was a Palestinian ploy to bypass negotiations. Talks stalled four years ago.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/24/pope-lights-christmas-peace-candle-on-windowsill-his-vatican-studio-as-pilgrims/#ixzz2G1CEh9Pp

A failed president: American Christian Pastor Jailed Visiting Family in Iran

Saeed Abedini is seen with his family

A 32-year-old Iranian who is a U.S. citizen and a Christian convert has been imprisoned without notice of any formal charges while visiting his family in Iran, according to his wife and attorneys in the U.S., who are now hoping that a media campaign will help set him free.

The Rev. Saeed Abedini, who lives in the U.S. with his wife and two young children, was making one of his frequent visits to see his parents and the rest of his family in Iran, his country of origin and where he spent many years as a Christian leader and community organizer developing Iran's underground home church communities for Christian converts.

On this last trip, the Iranian government pulled him off a bus and said he must face a penalty for his previous work as a Christian leader in Iran.

He is currently awaiting trial at Iran's notoriously brutal Evin Prison, where he has been incarcerated since late September.

"When he became a Christian, he became a criminal in his own country. His passion was to reach the people of Iran," Naghmeh, his wife, said in an exclusive interview with Fox News.

"He comes from a very close-knit family, and he loved evangelizing and passing out Bibles on the streets of Tehran. This was his passion," she said.

In July, Abedini left his wife and kids to go to Iran to visit family and continue a humanitarian effort he began years ago to build an orphanage.

After a short visit to a nearby country, Abedini was traveling back into Iran to catch his flight back to the U.S. when members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard stopped his bus near the Turkey-Iran border and pulled Abedini from the bus, confiscating his passports and subjecting him to intense interrogation, according to his wife.

After weeks under house arrest and many calls to Iran's passport control office about the status of his confiscated passport, Abedini was told that his case has been referred to the Revolutionary Guard, the Iranian government's elite military force.

On Sept. 26, five men kicked open the door of Abedini's parents' residence in Tehran where they collected all communications devices and arrested him while placing the rest of his family members, who are also Christians converts from Islam, under house arrest.

The family remains under house arrest, according to Naghmeh.

Two days before the home raid, Naghmeh reports getting a call to her cellphone in the U.S., from someone she thinks was an Iranian government agent threatening that she would "never see him again."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/19/american-pastor-imprisoned-without-notice-charges-while-visiting-family-in-iran/#ixzz2FWPH3joD