NEWSCORP SCANDAL

UPDATE - RUPERT MURDOCH'S NEWSCORP AND ROME’S AGENDA

Huge Scandal in United Kingdom Highlights Political Power and Influence of Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp
Provides Glimpse Into Roman Catholic Church's Religio-Political
Propaganda Disguised as Balanced News

SOME ESSENTIAL HISTORY

In his book titled Facts of Faith, published in 1943, Christian Edwardson documented the following historical facts:

A letter from Rome, dated October 14, 1894, says:

The United States of America, it can be said without exaggeration, are the chief thought of Leo XIII....A few days ago, on receiving an eminent American, Leo XIII said to him: 'But the United States are the future; we think of them incessantly.'...That is why Leo XIII turns all his soul, full of ideality, to what is improperly called his American policy. It should be called his Catholic universal policy." - "Catholic Standard and Times" (Philadelphia), Nov. 3, 1894; quoted in "Protestant Magazine," Oct., 1913, p. 441.

The report of "the third Washington conference" says:

"Our purpose is to make America dominantly Catholic." - "The Mission Movement in America," issued from the Catholic University, Washington, D.C., June, 1909.

"It seems to me that the main support of Protestantism comes from the United States and England....If we put an end to this effort in England and the United States by making these nations predominantly Catholic, we will have removed the chief obstacle to the conversion of the world to the true faith....A vigorous effort in the United States at this time will reduce the opposition to an insignificant condition....In the course of another century, the [Protestant] sects will be a study for the historian and antiquarian along with Arianism." - Extract from a letter in "The Missionary" (Roman Catholic), Washington, D.C.: May, 1910; quoted in "Protestant Magazine," Vol. II, p. 22.

This Catholic movement has already made such progress in England, that, with a little careful manipulation, its leaders anticipate very little opposition in the future. (See "History of the Romeward Movement in the Church of England," London: 1900, and "The Secret History of the Oxford Movement," London: 1899, both by Walter Walsh; and "The Oxford Movement in America," by Rev. C. E. Walworth, New York: 1895; also "The Jesuits and the British Press," by Michael J. F. McCarthy."

Now the "Catholic Action" is focused on America, not in an antagonistic way, but quietly, in wisely planned, systematically organized, and well directed efforts along numerous lines, so as to gain favor among Protestants, and not to be suspected as propaganda. And, remarkable as it may sound, Protestant leaders and people are totally asleep on the Catholic question, even more so than the Huguenots were in France before the St. Bartholomew's Massacre.

Dr. E. Boyd Barrett, for many years a Jesuit, and still a Roman Catholic, as far as the author knows, has the following to say about the plans of his church:

"In theory, Catholic Action is the work and service of lay Catholics in the cause of religion, under the guidance of the bishops. In practice it is the Catholic group fighting their way to control America." - "Rome Stoops to Conquer," p. 15. New York. 1935.

"The effort, the fight, may be drawn out. It may last for five or ten years. Even if it last for twenty - what is twenty years in the life of Rome? The fight must be fought to a finish - opposition must be worn down if it cannot be swept away. Rome's immortal destiny hangs on the outcome. That destiny overshadows the land. "And in the fight, as she has ever fought when battles were most desperate in the past, Rome will use steel, and gold, and silvery lies. Rome will stoop to conquer." - Id., pp. 266, 267.

In a communication from Vatican City, published in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Nov. 4, 1936, we read:

"Pope Pius feels that the United States is the ideal base for Catholicism's great drive....

"The Catholic Movement, Rome's militant organization numbering millions all over the world, will be marshaled direct from Rome by Monsignor Pizzardo - next to Pacelli the Holy See's shrewdest diplomat and politician - instead of by the local bishops as before. The priest's education is to be thoroughly revised and modernized - with special attention to modern propaganda methods. In addition there will be established in each country a central bureau, responsible only to Rome, to combat red agitation with every political weapon available....The church must fight, and at once.

"Coughlin has shown us the way of getting at the modern man. He has embarrassed us by showing and using the political power of the church so openly....We know how to tackle America today, and that is our most important problem at the moment.

"Pacelli is contacting the American cardinals and leading Catholic personalities,...to explain the Vatican's plan for the new crusade....The Catholic political organizations in the large cities, like Tammany Hall, will give the church a good lever. Those contacts are also being carefully inspected by the pope's minister.

"The Vatican itself resembles a general staff headquarters preparing plans and arms for a big offensive. Since the time of the Counter-Reformation, churchmen say, no such extensive reorganization of personnel and propaganda methods has been undertaken. The whole world-wide net of Catholic organizations and sub-organizations is being contacted directly from Rome and cleared for action. The church is to be adjusted to modern political, social, and cultural conditions." - p. 10, col. 3, 4, used by permission.

This article speaks of Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, then papal secretary of state, coming from the Vatican to effect the above mentioned reorganization. He toured the United States "in a chartered airplane." Christian Science Monitor says: "The visit of a high Roman prelate to the United States on the eve of an election is as unprecedented as it is delicate." - Oct. 2, 1926.

This Catholic plan of conquest was well understood years ago. An illustration in Harper's Weekly of October 1, 1870, pictured the pope pointing to America as "The Promised Land."  (Pp. 240-242, bold emphasis added)

Note Christian Edwardson's statement above:

Now the "Catholic Action" is focused on America, not in an antagonistic way, but quietly, in wisely planned, systematically organized, and well directed efforts along numerous lines, so as to gain favor among Protestants, and not to be suspected as propaganda. And, remarkable as it may sound, Protestant leaders and people are totally asleep on the Catholic question, even more so than the Huguenots were in France before the St. Bartholomew's Massacre.

Thus, initially Rome trod softly with seductive words and actions. The Protestant world sleepwalked into her deadly embrace. Now the prediction that "In the course of another century, the [Protestant] sects will be a study for the historian and antiquarian along with Arianism" is substantially realized in the major churches that are "Protestant" in name only. Concurrently, Rome's propaganda organs strike fear into the hearts of national and international leaders with hard demands and threats of retribution against those who resist.  The reference to Coughlin is significant ("Coughlin has shown us the way of getting at the modern man," quoted above):

Father Charles Coughlin occupied both a strange and a familiar place in American politics in the 1930s. Politically radical, a passionate democrat, he nevertheless was a bigot who freely vented angry, irrational charges and assertions. A Catholic priest, he broadcast weekly radio sermons that by 1930 drew as many as forty-five million listeners. Strongly egalitarian, deeply suspicious of elites, a champion of what he saw as the ordinary person’s rights, Coughlin frequently and vigorously attacked capitalism, communism, socialism, and dictatorship By the mid-1930s, his talks took on a nasty edge as he combined harsh attacks on Roosevelt as the tool of international Jewish bankers with praise for the fascist leaders Benito Mussolini and Adolph Hitler. The “Radio Priest’s” relentless anti-elitism pushed Roosevelt to sharpen his own critiques of elites, and in that sense Coughlin had a powerful impact on American politics beyond his immediate radio audience.  “Somebody Must be Blamed”: Father Coughlin Speaks to the Nation

Rome did not disapprove of the content of Father Coughlin's sermons.  They were only concerned that "He has embarrassed us by showing and using the political power of the church so openly."  This gives us an understanding of the reckless and irresponsible lying propaganda that is being spewed out in all types of "news" media.  This is "steel, and gold, and silvery lies" much of the lies no longer "silvery;" but harsh and unrelenting.

THE POWER AND INFLUENCE

There is this news organization that first established itself in the United Kingdom, then moved into the United States:  ("It seems to me that the main support of Protestantism comes from the United States and England....If we put an end to this effort in England and the United States by making these nations predominantly Catholic, we will have removed the chief obstacle to the conversion of the world to the true faith....A vigorous effort in the United States at this time will reduce the opposition to an insignificant condition..." [Quoted above from Facts of Faith.]) Consider the power wielded openly by this organization in the United Kingdom, and more insidiously in the United States:

At long last, Rupert Murdoch and his News International empire is feeling the heat over the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

I hope this spells the beginning of the end for Murdoch's near suffocating hold over much of the Western media. Over the last two decades or more, the most powerful media owner ever to emerge has built up a huge empire that includes numerous newspaper titles, television and radio stations around the world (including in New Zealand and his native Australia). Murdoch's company owns some of the best known publications in the world including the UK newspapers The Times and The Sun. One of his most famous television mouthpieces is the neoconservative Fox News channel in the US.

Through controlling a vast number of media outlets, Murdoch has been able to influence political debate and decisionmaking, particularly in the UK and increasingly in the US. British prime ministers such as Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Gordon Brown have been built up and then torn down at his mere whim. It was reported this week, for example, that former prime minister Tony Blair regularly phoned Murdoch and, in particular, he conversed with the Aussie media mogul just days before the Iraq War in 2003. The Murdoch empire backed the Iraq War to the hilt.' (The News Of The World Scandal: Murdoch And News International In The Dock)

'In a press conference minutes before Mr Coulson, the paper’s former editor, was arrested by police, the Prime Minister repeatedly stressed that the appointment was “his responsibility” but declined to apologise or acknowledge a mistake had been made.

He admitted that the relationship between politicians and the media had become too close. . .The Prime Minister described the News of the World scandal as a “wake-up call”, adding: “Over the decades, on the watch of both Labour leaders and Conservative leaders, politicians and the press have spent time courting support, not confronting the problems.' (News of the World phone hacking scandal hits No. 10)

The scandal that has rocked News Corp. has brought to the fore the singular role played by its controlling owner, Rupert Murdoch. The media mogul's influence is exerted for a single-minded purpose in the U.K.

The past five prime ministers have courted Murdoch assiduously in gaining and holding onto office — none more so than Labour's Tony Blair. In plotting his path to 10 Downing St. in the mid-1990s, Blair once flew to an island off the coast of Murdoch's native Australia to address an annual meeting of News Corp. That impressed Murdoch, who threw his support behind Blair's New Labour movement.

Labour MP Paul Farrelly questions how many votes Murdoch's publications can really deliver.

"There are two reasons for Rupert Murdoch's clout in the U.K. One has been a perception that his newspapers have influenced the outcomes of elections. That's doubtful. What Rupert Murdoch does is before elections: He backs winners or political parties he thinks are going to win," Farrelly says.

Murdoch controls two of the most prestigious papers in the country, as well as the two most widely read, both tabloids. Despite his conservative leanings, Murdoch and his papers have swung to leaders of both major political parties, so his patronage constantly appears to be in play.

Farrelly says there's a second, more sinister reason for politicians to curry favor.

"There is the threat of intrusion, the sword hanging over people if they take powerful vested interests in the press on," he says. "And that's a fact of life."' (The Bottom Line: Murdoch's Influence In The U.K.)

[NPR Interview]:

KELLY: So let's tick through our list here. We just heard some of the Murdoch empire's holdings. But when you're talking about the empire, you were talking about a dozen film studios, all the Fox TV channels, the book publisher HarperCollins, of course lots of newspapers, and I'm sure I'm leaving a lot out.

Mr. AULETTA: You are. You're also leaving out not only Fox Television Network and Fox News but cable networks they own. They own sports networks. They own 150 newspapers. They own outdoor billboards, satellite TV that covers much of Europe and much of Asia. They are a colossus. . . .

Mr. AULETTA: In the U.S. he has enormous influence. I mean just think of the Fox Network, which has more viewers in the evening than CNN and MSNBC, its two competitors, combined. So if you think about the impact of Fox News on elevating the Tea Party and its profile in the United States, it had enormous impact. So presidential candidates, senatorial candidates and gubernatorial candidates court Rupert Murdoch. And they court him not just because they want his editorial support but because they don't want him to oppose them. He's a very powerful foe.  (Will News Corp.'s Scandal Spread To The U.S.?)

 

Added July 20,2011

. . .What the scandal really teaches us is the dangers that inevitably arise when any single company or individual exercises excessive influence in media circles. Why? Because a healthy democracy depends on a well-informed citizenry, and media oligarchs can use excessive influence to skew what the public knows or believes in order to advance their own political objectives. If the Murdoch scandal doesn't convince you, just look at how Silvio Berlusconi used his media empire to drive his political career and look where Italy is today.

Furthermore, politicians are likely to accommodate powerful media organizations that are willing to play hardball, punishing politicians they didn't like and rewarding officials who played along. The NewsCorp was a master at this, and it is no wonder David Cameron and even Scotland Yard became compliant.

The media sector is a critical part of any society, and keeping ownership divided as much as possible is essential for a healthy democracy. If ever there were a part of our society where aggressive anti-trust policy is essential, it is right here. Having a "free press" means little when a handful of voices predominate, and healthy democracy requires a political diverse ecology of editors, reporters, and commentators.

One could argue that the digital revolution is creating a far more heterogeneous information ecosystem, and gradually reducing the power of old-style media barons like Murdoch. There may be some truth in that, but the power of major news organizations like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Economist, etc., remains formidable and some of them are bound to emerge as major players in the digital media world over time. Notice that this blog isn't my own operation: Foreign Policy is itself a subsidiary of the Washington Post Corporation. And a lot of other blogs I read operate under the umbrella of larger organizations like the Daily Beast/Newsweek, the New Yorker, or the Atlantic.

I hope the scandal keeps widening, and that the NewsCorp eventually breaks into lots of tiny little pieces. Moving forward, I hope that government officials and the public will learn from this sorry episode and take a more assertive approach to regulating media conglomerates in the future. But based on what I think I know about politics and human nature, I'm not betting my retirement account on it.  (Emphasis added;  What the NewsCorp scandal really means (and why you should hope it implodes))

Tony Blair urged Gordon Brown to persuade the Labour MP who led the campaign to expose the phone-hacking scandal to fall silent, according to a report yesterday.

The Mail on Sunday stated that "well-placed" sources said Mr Blair had sought to encourage Mr Brown to ask his supporter Tom Watson to back off. A "friend of Mr Brown" was quoted as saying: "There is no doubt about it, Tony wanted Gordon to intervene." Mr Watson, who claimed last week that News International had entered "the criminal underworld", was reported to have been told that Rebekah Brooks, News International's chief executive, "will pursue you for the rest of your life".

Earlier this year, another Labour MP, Chris Bryant, said in a Commons speech that a senior figure allied to Mr Murdoch had warned his friends that speaking out about the scandal would not be forgotten.

Members of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee claim they were warned off calling Ms Brooks to give evidence to them in the committee's inquiry about phone hacking.

News International last night made no comment in response to the claims about Ms Brooks' alleged attempt to put pressure on Mr Watson to back off.

A spokesman for Mr Blair, who enjoyed a cordial relationship with News International's proprietor Rupert Murdoch, denied the claim by the Mail on Sunday. The spokesman said: "The allegation is categorically untrue." Mr Brown's office declined to comment.

Mr Watson told The Independent: "Senior people told me that was the case but I have not spoken to Tony or Gordon about it."  (Tony Blair accused of trying to silence Rupert Murdoch critic.  [Who is Tony Blair trying to protect - himself/ Newscorp/ the Church of Rome's power and influence through Newscorp?]  Cf.  NOTES ON TONY BLAIR'S CONVERSION TO ROMAN CATHOLICISM)

 

Before proceeding to the Roman Catholic Connection, here is a startling and blatant example of the power and influence of the hierarchy, which may or may not have been exercised with the aid of the Murdoch publishing empire:

September 30, 2003

The Roman Catholic Church launched an unprecedented attack on the BBC yesterday, accusing it of bias and hostility.

The Archbishop of Birmingham, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, said sections of the corporation, particularly in news and current affairs, were pursuing an anti-Catholic agenda. . . .

The Archbishop demanded an urgent meeting with senior executives, including Greg Dyke, the director-general. He said the BBC should be forced to justify its funding through the licence fee.

He said Catholics were "fed up with seeing a public service broadcaster using the licence fee to pay unscrupulous reporters trying to re-circulate old news and to broadcast programmes that are so biased and hostile. Enough is enough."  (BBC is biased against Roman Catholics, claims Archbishop)

February 18, 2010

Secular groups have reacted angrily to news that the director-general of the BBC, Mark Thompson, is lobbying the Vatican in an effort to persuade the Pope to deliver the Thought for the Day religious slot on Radio 4's Today programme. The corporation hopes that a broadcast can be recorded to coincide with the Papal visit to Britain, which is set to take place in September.

Mr Thompson, who is a devout Roman Catholic and was educated by Jesuits, is leading the negotiations himself. He recently went to Rome to attend the Pope's weekly audience, where he was a special guest in the front row. He spoke with the pontiff and during his visit is understood to have discussed with Vatican officials the possibility of him recording a message for the BBC.  (Don't let Pope present Thought for the Day, say secularists)

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CONNECTION

Who is Rupert Murdoch?

Rupert Murdoch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rupert Murdoch

Murdoch at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival Vanity Fair party
Born Keith Rupert Murdoch
11 March 1931 (1931-03-11) (age 80)
Melbourne, Australia
Nationality United States
Citizenship United States (naturalized 1985)
Occupation Chairman and CEO of
News Corporation
Net worth increaseUS$7.6 billion (2011)[1]
Spouse Patricia Booker (m. 1956–1967) «start: (1956)–end+1: (1968)»"Marriage: Patricia Booker to Rupert Murdoch" Location: (linkback:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Murdoch)
Anna Maria Torv (m. 1967–1999) «start: (1967)–end+1: (2000)»"Marriage: Anna Maria Torv to Rupert Murdoch" Location: (linkback:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Murdoch)
Wendi Deng (m. 1999–present) «start: (1999)»"Marriage: Wendi Deng to Rupert Murdoch" Location: (linkback:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Murdoch)
Children Prudence Murdoch (b. 1958)
Elisabeth Murdoch (b. 1968)
Lachlan Murdoch (b. 1971)
James Murdoch (b. 1972)
Grace Murdoch (b. 2001)
Chloe Murdoch (b. 2005)
Parents Keith Murdoch (1885–1952)
Elisabeth Joy (née Greene) (b. 1909)
Relatives Matthew Freud (son-in-law)
Sarah Murdoch (daughter-in-law)
Awards Companion of the Order of Australia (1984).[2]
Notes
a Australian citizenship lost in 1985 with acquisition of U.S nationality.

Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG (English pronunciation: /ˈruːpərt ˈmɜrdɒk/; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian American media mogul and the Chairman and CEO of News Corporation.

Beginning with one newspaper in Adelaide, Murdoch acquired and started other publications in his native Australia before expanding News Corp into the United Kingdom, United States and Asian media markets. Although it was in Australia in the late 1950s that he first dabbled in television, he later sold these assets, and News Corp's Australian current media interests (still mainly in print) are restricted by cross-media ownership rules. Murdoch's first permanent foray into TV was in the USA, where he created Fox Broadcasting Company in 1986. In the 2000s, he became a leading investor in satellite television, the film industry and the Internet, and purchased a respected business newspaper, The Wall Street Journal.

Rupert Murdoch was listed three times in the Time 100 as among the most influential people in the world. He is ranked 13th most powerful person in the world in the 2010 Forbes' The World's Most Powerful People list.[3] With a net worth of US$6.3 billion, he is ranked 117th wealthiest person in the world.[4]

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[July 16, 2011 - Rupert Murdoch was bookmarked during the past week, because Murdoch's religion was listed in the right column as Roman Catholic.  That has now been edited out of the page; nevertheless, this excerpt provides valuable information about the scope of his publishing empire and his contacts with world leaders.]

 

News Corp

04/03/08 Murdoch defends News Corp The Georgetown Voice - Washington,DC,USA by John Cooke Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is just like the Jesuits, he told a mostly-full Gaston Hall yesterday, “except we don’t insist on vows of ...

Re: NewsCorpDear friends, Link

Here's good tidbit of information. Viet Dihn, main architect of the U.S. Patriot Act is also on the board of directors of the powerful News Corporation owned by Rupert Murdoch.

  • Viet Dinh Professor of Law Georgetown University

    And the powerful Roman catholic, Fascist, former president of Spain, and personal friend of King Juan Carlos of Spain, José María Aznar is current President (of the board of directors). He is the one Hugo Chavez called a Fascist and King Juan Carlos told Hugo to "shut up".

    (Mr. Aznar has been a Distinguished Scholar at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Georgetown University since 2004 ~Link

    Another member of the Board is, Andrew Stephen Bower Knight (born 1 November 1939 in England) is a journalist, editor, and media baron.

    He was educated at the Roman Catholic school Ampleforth College, where he was appointed Head Boy, and was awarded an Exhibition to Balliol College, Oxford (MA, Modern History).

    Director of Rothschild Investment Trust Capital Partners plc since 1997

    Interesting and strange connection: Another NewsCorp board member Rod Paige, (2nd Link)was sitting with George W. Bush at the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, when Bush received the news that a second plane had hit the World Trade Center in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

    He is also prominent member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

  •  

    The foregoing SpirituallySmart.com web page is provided for research purposes only, and does not constitute an endorsement of any ideology, doctrine, theology, or political perspective promoted on it or its hyperlinked web pages, some, although not all, of which promote theology in conflict with that of Adventist Laymen's Foundation.  The interlocking associations are highly informative; and note the award by the Roman Catholic Church to Rupert Murdoch of the Papal Knighthood of St. Gregory.

    Seventh-day Adventist Fans of Fox News - Beware!

    "TEA PARTY UNITED™"

    PRESENTS:

    FOX NEWS!

    FOX NEWS "IS" CATHOLIC NEWS!

    The vast majority of FOX NEWS Hosts and Analysts are Devout Catholics:

    Bill O'Reilly, Monica Crowley, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Glenn Beck, Megyn Kelly, Juan Williams, Ann Coulter, . . .and MANY MORE! Rick Santorum (Temporarily not under contract by presidential bid) . . .

    A poll conducted by Public Policy Polling recently found Fox News to be the only US television news network to receive a positive rating by the public for trustworthiness.[41]

    [SOURCE: Fox Most Trusted Name in News? Public Policy Polling, 2010].

    The successful leader, Roger Ailes - although not a Catholic, Ailes attends weekly Mass with his Catholic wife. He says he has a good relationship with the priest and bishop and supports the Church.

    At times, Fox News seems to be the Catholic Newsroom rather than "America's Newsroom." . . . (Copied from TEA PARTY UNITED™, FOX News IS The CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY.)

    Are these Tea Party People gloating Roman Catholics, or misguided Evangelical fans? - It seems most likely that they are the former. There are amongst Seventh-day Adventists who sit in the pews of the local churches, attitudes ranging from indifference to actual hostility against recognizing Rome's role in the great controversy between Christ and Satan.  This is probably a reflection of the re-education that has been in progress before and since 1974, when the following statement was made in a Court Brief filed on behalf of the highest officials of the Seventh-day Adventist Church:

    "Although it is true that there was a period in the life of the Seventh-day Adventist Church when the denomination took a distinctly anti-Roman Catholic viewpoint, and the term "hierarchy" was used in a pejorative sense to refer to the papal form of church governance, that attitude on the church's part was nothing more than a manifestation of widespread anti-popery among conservative Protestant denominations in the early part of this century and the latter part of the last, and which has now been consigned to the historical trash heap so far as the Seventh-day Adventist Church is concerned." From EEOC vs. PPPA (1975 Reply Brief for SDA Defendants in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment)

    Even with the tolerant attitude towards the Papacy that has been fostered in the Seventh-day Adventist Church for decades, it is still inexplicable that there is widespread acceptance by many, many, members of the most patently false and rabid propaganda which is being spewed out on Fox News and other Religious Right dominated media.  It is propaganda that is most unchristian in tone - and right in line with what Rome herself has stated she will do in order to gain domination of the United States and the world.  (Cf. Rev. 16:13-14. - On which side of "the battle of that great day of God Almighty" will the reader of this page be?)

    This kind of propaganda should be like an illuminated red sign flashing: "Deadly Danger, this is a Mark of the Beast."  ('The fight must be fought to a finish - opposition must be worn down if it cannot be swept away. Rome's immortal destiny hangs on the outcome. That destiny overshadows the land. "And in the fight, as she has ever fought when battles were most desperate in the past, Rome will use steel, and gold, and silvery lies."'  Quoted above from Facts of Faith.)  It is reasonable to conclude that believing the printed propaganda, and acquiescing in the lies being spewed on television, radio, and the Internet, all with the aim of destroying the American Constitution's guarantee of freedom of worship and bringing the Nation under the domination of Rome, is one way to receive the Mark of the Beast.  ("In theory, Catholic Action is the work and service of lay Catholics in the cause of religion, under the guidance of the bishops. In practice it is the Catholic group fighting their way to control America." - "Rome Stoops to Conquer," p. 15. New York. 1935, quoted above from Facts of Faith.)

    There is a further aspect of the power and influence exercised by Rome through the news media, that requires attention.  It is Rome's antagonism towards Liberalism:

    It may have been a long time coming, but the collective uprising of Britain's MPs had dramatic, immediate effect, with News Corp backing down hours before the three parties could vote on Wednesday night to demand it drop its bid for BSkyB. If, as some suggest, the phone-hacking scandal does mark a fresh beginning for our politics, shorn of fear and favour, what will that new era look like? Will there be a new liberal dawn across all areas of policy, but particularly in the area all recent governments have been at their most abject towards the tabloids – criminal justice and civil liberties?

    Tony Blair and Gordon Brown believed that Britain was both a Conservative and conservative country. They were pessimistic, fatalistic perhaps, about their ability to change society. As I wrote in a pamphlet entitled Lost Labours before the last election, in which I decried Labour's timidity: "Blair turned what he saw as electoral necessity into burning rhetoric. He assumed from early on that he would achieve little if he did not acquiesce to the tastes of the majority view as represented to him by pollsters and selected newspaper magnates and editors."

    It was Robin Cook, my political lodestar, who summed up the malaise: "Blair's dominant political style is concessionary. He spots where the next attack on the left is going to come from and pre-empts it by making it himself." Cook made these comments in 2004, a year after resigning from the cabinet over Iraq, and shortly before his untimely death. "You cannot argue with two landslide victories and a tenure in office without precedent in Labour's history. But as a means of shifting the political values of society, it is hopeless."  (One battle won. Now will MPs fight for their liberal values?)

    We may not agree with all aspects of the liberal priorities expressed in this article, but it is essential to understand why the Roman Catholic Church has been driving society in a far rightward direction.  The Papacy is very definitely anti-liberal, and the reason has been revealed:

    [In] a Catholic schoolbook, "Manual of Christian Doctrine, by a Seminary Professor," printed by J. J. McVey, Philadelphia, 1915, and carrying the sanction of the Catholic Censor and the seal of the Church [the following is stated]:

    "What name is given to the doctrine that the state has neither the right nor the duty to be united to the Church to protect it?

       "This doctrine is called Liberalism. It is founded principally on the fact that modern society rests on liberty of conscience and of worship, on liberty of speech and of the press.

       "Why is Liberalism to be condemned?

       "Because it denies all subordination of the state to the Church." - pp. 131-133. (Facts of Faith, p. 260, emphasis added)

    An essay in the issue of the Wanderer Newspaper online, dated March 6, 2002, by Arthur M. Hippler, director of the Office of Justice and Peace in the Diocese of La Crosse, Wis., was titled "Lucifer, The First Liberal." Here are the opening and closing paragraphs:

    In his encyclical on The Nature of True Liberty (Libertas Praestantissimum), Leo XIII makes the remarkable claim that liberalism is diabolic in its origins. "But many there are who follow in the footsteps of Lucifer, and adopt as their own his rebellious cry, I will not serve; and consequently substitute for true liberty what is sheer and most foolish license. Such, for instance, are the men belonging to that widely spread and powerful organization, who, usurping the name of liberty, style themselves liberals" (Libertas Praestantissimum, n.14). Although the Holy Father’s comparison may seem hyperbolic, nonetheless the principles of liberalism mirror the Devil’s original revolt. . . .

    While many understand liberalism as a freedom for certain political equality and civil rights, more fundamentally liberalism is a freedom from the moral law and the teaching authority of the Church. One cannot speak of "Catholic liberals" without contradiction, or at the very least, equivocation. Liberalism, like socialism and Communism, has been condemned by Pope after Pope in the social encyclicals. If we are tempted to minimize the evils of this error, we would do well to remind ourselves that Pope Leo XIII presents Lucifer to us as the original liberal.  (Emphasis added; note the date of the essay!)  (Lucifer, The First Liberal)

    (Cf.  Liberalism.)  The Roman Catholic view of Liberalism turns Truth upside down; and this is not surprising, because  the "power behind the throne" is Satan (Rev. 13:2.)  Jesus Christ said to the Jews who sought to kill Him, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." (John 8:44.)  ('The fight must be fought to a finish - opposition must be worn down if it cannot be swept away. Rome's immortal destiny hangs on the outcome. That destiny overshadows the land. "And in the fight, as she has ever fought when battles were most desperate in the past, Rome will use steel, and gold, and silvery lies."'  Quoted above from Facts of Faith; emphasis added.)

    RUPERT MURDOCH'S NEWSCORP AND ROME’S AGENDA

    An Interesting Dichotomy in Tension Within Harmony

    It is highly unlikely that such a tribunal as the Leveson Inquiry in the United Kingdom could ever be set up in the United States, especially in the current political climate, and because stealth and propaganda have already brought an alarming proportion of the populace under the overpowering influence of the enemies of democracy and religious liberty.  Revelation 16:13-14 is no longer a prediction of the future, but is being fulfilled under our very eyes; and vast numbers of Christians, including Seventh-day Adventists, have come under the spell of the lying spirits.  Since the Rupert Murdoch media empire is at the heart of the phone-hacking scandal and has 40 per cent of the national newspaper circulation in the UK, father Rupert and son James have been called to testify before the Inquiry.  What has transpired there is highly informative of the manipulative powers infuencing socioeconomic and political policies that are hidden from view in the United States.  For those who can find the time during the week for the study of the secular events that shape the unfolding of prophetic events, the videos and transcripts of Rupert Murdoch's testimony before the Leveson Inquiry (Leveson Inquiry Web Pages) in the United Kindgom are highly educational as an aid to putting it all together - "connecting the dots," if you will.

    RUPERT MURDOCH AND BRITISH POLITICAL LEADERS

    MARGARET THATCHER (Note the linkage between Thatcher, Reagan, and Murdoch.)

    10 Q. The three of you, if I can put it in this way, President
    11 Elect Reagan, Baroness Thatcher and you were all of
    12 course on the same page politically, weren't you?

    13 A. I guess that's fair. Yes, this was just before his
    14 inauguration.

    15 Q. Indeed it was. Was it part of the purpose of this
    16 meeting, if one can talk almost psychologically, to
    17 demonstrate to Mrs Thatcher how very much you were "one
    18 of us"? "One of us" is Baroness Thatcher's term, but
    19 was that part of your purpose?
    20 A. No. (Morning hearing, Page 11 of Transcript.)

    4 Q. According to Roy Greenslade's book "Press Gang",
    5 Mr Douglas-Home told Mr Greenslade that you were one of
    6 the main powers behind the Thatcher throne.
    Do you feel
    7 that's right or not?
    8 A. Doesn't sound like Mr Douglas-Home to me, he was
    9 a pretty modest individual, but I don't know.
    10 Q. But were you one of the main powers behind --
    11 A. Whether I was?
    12 Q. Yes.
    13 A. No.
    14 Q. Lance Price's book "Where Power Lies" page 254 --
    15 A. We were probably -- not the Times. The Sun. If you
    16 want to judge my thinking, look at the Sun.
    17 Q. I think the point was you personally, not the Sun, the
    18 Sunday Times or the Times. You personally were one of
    19 the main powers behind the Thatcher throne. Do you
    20 think that's right?

    21 A. No.
    22 Q. Did you consult with her regularly on every important
    23 matter of policy?
    24 A. Certainly not.
    (Morning Hearing, Page 36.)

    18 MR JAY: Mr Murdoch, the 1980s, one frankly wouldn't, given
    19 your perspective on the world, expect you to have
    20 supported Neil Kinnock's Labour Party. Do you regret
    21 any of the Sun's constant attacks on him?
    22 A. I don't remember them. I remember the famous front page
    23 on the day of the election, which I thought was
    24 absolutely brilliant. Our problem with the Labour Party
    25 then -- I mean, I think we would have supported the
    1 Labour Party in that election if it had a different
    2 policy, but you remember the famous clause 4, which was
    3 the socialisation of everything in the country,
    4 nationalisation, all the means of production, et cetera,
    5 et cetera. We were certainly against that, and if there
    6 were personal attacks on Mr Kinnock I would apologise
    7 for that, I don't remember them, but he was the
    8 personification of the leadership of the Labour Party
    9 and it was fair to attack his policies, and even
    10 sometimes the way he expressed himself.

    11 Q. Clause 4 had been part of the Labour Party's
    12 constitution, I think, since its inception. That would
    13 be a reason for never supporting the Labour Party, yet
    14 the Sun did until 1979, didn't it?
    15 A. That could mean -- yes. There was the failure of the
    16 Heath government, there was the support of Mr Harold
    17 Wilson. I don't remember whether Mr Callaghan ever
    18 stood for election.
    19 Q. 1976 he was Prime Minister.
    20 A. Hm? He was -- yes, okay.
    21 Q. Holding though --
    22 A. We had very good relations with him and with Mr Wilson.
    23 There was no thought of pursuing clause 4 with them. Or
    24 by them.
    25 Q. Mr Murdoch, can I take you to polling day on 11 June
    1 1987, a dinner you attended at Clifton in the evening,
    2 which is reported by Mr Woodrow Wyatt. He says this:
    3 "Rupert turned up and sat near to us at one stage.
    4 When Ken Livingstone appeared on the screen and put the
    5 Labour defeat to the dreadful lies and smears of the
    6 media, Rupert cried out, 'That's me', and was
    7 delighted."
    8 Is that true?
    9 A. I remember that party, I mean that I was very late for
    10 it, and if I said that, then I'm afraid that was the
    11 influence of alcohol.
    12 Q. It didn't reflect any part of your thinking then,
    13 Mr Murdoch; is that right?
    14 A. It was a joke.

    15 Q. An external observer might observe that Mrs Thatcher
    16 might have won anyway, but let's not go into that.
    17 Can I deal with one point --
    18 A. I wasn't planning victory. It was just a stupid,
    19 light-hearted remark. (Morning Hearing, Pages 45-47.)

    JOHN MAJOR & NEIL KINNOCK

    20 Q. That's very frank, Mr Murdoch, but the point may be
    21 this, that you would not want it to appear that
    22 newspapers did have this influence over voters, because
    23 that might be said to be anti-democratic. Would you
    24 agree with that?
    25 A. I think saying anti-democratic is too strong a word, but
    1 I just thought it was tasteless and wrong for us. It
    2 was wrong in fact. We don't have that sort of power.
    3 I think if you -- well, you can't do it now, but if you
    4 go after an election and you see a newspaper that's
    5 taken a very strong line, particularly the Sun, and ask
    6 their readers how did they vote, there would be no
    7 unanimity. It may be 60/40 one way. Whatever. I think
    8 some papers you can recognise as having very strong
    9 Conservative roots and some very strong Labour roots,
    10 but you can't say that of the Sun. I think we're
    11 perhaps the only independent newspaper in the business.
    12 Q. I just want to explore with you a little bit the factors
    13 which might go into the decision of the Sun to support
    14 certain parties. If one looks at the 1992 election,
    15 that was Mr Kinnock's last election, the Labour Party
    16 manifesto included a commitment to:
    17 "Establish an urgent inquiry by the Monopolies and
    18 Mergers Commission into the concentration of media
    19 ownership."
    20 So, in other words, they were out to get you. Do
    21 you follow me?
    22 A. Sounds like that.
    23 Q. So it's self-evident that had the Labour Party won that
    24 election, that would have been heavily disadvantageous
    25 to the commercial interests of your company, wouldn't
    1 it?
    2 A. That's what they say afterwards, yes. That was
    3 obviously their intent, or would have been their intent,
    4 if they'd carried through. I doubt it, but ...
    5 Q. So the support the Sun gave to the Tory Party, not that
    6 it was the strongest support, because you, to put it
    7 bluntly, weren't that appreciative of Sir John Major --
    8 A. Or his government. Well, we were reading in all the
    9 papers of cabinet divisions.
    10 Q. But part of the reason for supporting the Conservative
    11 Party in that election, apart from macro-economic
    12 considerations, was that a Labour victory would have
    13 been disastrous to your commercial interests in this
    14 country, wouldn't it?

    15 A. No. If you're -- I didn't know Mr Kinnock had those
    16 plans to move against us afterwards. If he ever did,
    17 really. You know, people say things in defeat which
    18 come to them suddenly, but it was certainly not part of
    19 his policy before the election.
    20 Q. Well, it was part of his manifesto, and he was extremely
    21 angry after the election. I think it was on 13 April
    22 1992, he blamed his defeat on you, to put it bluntly.
    23 It's reasonable to suppose that, had he got in, he would
    24 have been right after you and your company, wouldn't he?
    25 A. Well, I hope not.

    TONY BLAIR & GORDON BROWN

    15 Q. Okay. But did you at least sense that this sort of
    16 encounter with Mr Blair and Mr Brown, so they were the
    17 two most powerful people in the then Labour Opposition
    18 just before a General Election -- that they were very
    19 anxious to sound you out and see what your thinking was?
    20 Didn't you at least sense that?
    21 A. No, I think they probably wanted to convince me that
    22 they were the right people to be leading Britain, and
    23 I'm sure they were doing that to every other press
    24 proprietor.
    25 Q. So you didn't feel that they were sizing you up, trying
    1 to work out what you were thinking, what was necessary,
    2 from their perspective, they had to do to win your
    3 support?
    4 A. No. I think you must ask them that.

    (Morning Hearing, Pages 71-72.)

    DAVID CAMERON

    14 Q. When you refer to "policy" here, Mr Murdoch, did you
    15 discuss with Mr Cameron issues such as broadcasting
    16 regulation?
    17 A. No. Mr Jay, you keep inferring that endorsements were
    18 motivated by business motives, and if that had been the
    19 case, we would have endorsed the Tory Party in every
    20 election. It was always more pro business. I could
    21 have been like the Telegraph. I could even have texted
    22 him every day. But I didn't. I was interested in
    23 issues.
    24 Q. But --
    25 A. As it says here, we probably discussed Afghanistan.

    Afternoon Hearing, Page 3)

    RUPERT MURDOCH AND ROMAN CATHOLICISM

    On the NEWSCORP SCANDAL page of this website there is acceptance of reports that he was born and is a Roman Catholic.  This appears to be factually incorrect.  It emerged during his testimony before the Leveson Inquiry that he has strong Presbyterian roots, and apparently is still connected to the Presbyterian Church.  However, the picture is more complicated.  His close association with prominent Roman Catholic opinion makers and causes is well documented, as demonstrated by such Newscorp entities as Fox News Channel TEA PARTY UNITED™, FOX News IS The CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY.  There is no denying the identification of Murdoch's media empire with the rightwing political agenda of the Roman Catholic Church in America.

    A footnote to an article on the website, NNDB - Tracking the entire world, titled "Rupert Murdoch," subtitled "AKA Keith Rupert Murdoch" quotes an interview with the subject as follows:

    Asked if there is any truth to recent press describing his newfound piety, Murdoch replies: "No. They say I'm a born again Christian and a Catholic convert and so on. I'm certainly a practicing Christian, I go to church quite a bit but not every Sunday and I tend to go to Catholic church -- because my wife is Catholic, [since divorced] I have not formally converted. And I get increasingly disenchanted with the C of E or Episcopalians as they call themselves here. But no, I'm not intensely religious as I'm sometimes described." Interviewed in 1992. Nicholas Coleridge, Paper Tigers (1993), p. 487.

    Some further insights into the religious influences on Murdoch's thinking are provided on RadioNational Religion and Ethics Report - "Rupert's Religion" as follows:

    David McKnight: Well if you study Rupert Murdoch as I’ve done, you soon realise that he has a kind of Calvinist sense of mission. He brings it to everything he does. He’s always been a great believer in newspapers campaigning and really when you look at it, these are political crusades. If you look at what his mass media did around the world after 9/11, they really trumpeted and campaigned and went on a crusade to invade Iraq. There’s been many many crusades in the Murdoch era. I mean probably beginning with a campaign to elect the Whitlam government in Australia in 1972. But then the same style but a different political allegiance, over to Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher where his media really did campaign in the most extraordinary way, particularly for Thatcher. . . .

    Andrew West: The other thing about Presbyterianism is that running through it is a streak of Puritanism. I mean to what extent is there that in the Murdoch family?

    David McKnight: Well if we can mix Puritanism with social conservatism yes there is. I mean Rupert Murdoch has always been an opponent, as far as I can tell, of abortion. And it’s very interesting today his favoured candidate in the nomination for the Republican nomination for President, is Rick Santorum who is on record not only as opposing abortion but also opposing birth control. And Rupert said of him he has a ‘great vision for America.’ . . .
    Andrew West: One of the really great apparent contradictions David is that about 10-15 years ago Rupert Murdoch was given a papal knighthood. How did this reward from the Catholic Church come about?

    David McKnight: Well of course it’s hard to know. These…there are truths of these kind of things but commentators at the time—and it was 1998—said that he’d been a very generous donor to the Catholic Church. This was almost certainly because of his then wife Anna who was a devout Catholic. I think he gave a considerable amount of money to a cathedral in Chicago and several other things, so I think the knighthood…while Rupert refused knighthoods from the British government he did accept a papal knighthood and I think this was to some degree a quid pro quo.

    Whatever the true reason(s) for the knighthood from the Roman Catholic Church, there is more than enough proof that in America at least Murdoch and Rome are soulmates, and his propaganda machine moves in lockstep with the Catholic hierarchy.

    RUPERT MURDOCH AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

    It came as a shocking revelation from the Leveson Inquiry for this writer, that Rupert Murdoch and Newscorp are and always have been opposed to the European Union, which is a major path of the Papacy towards world domination.  Nevertheless in his "libertarian" ideology at least, with its emphasis on limited government and as few rules as possible, he serves Rome's purpose even in the United Kingdom.  This is documented in the next section on his identification with "Subsidiarity."

    RUPERT MURDOCH AND SUBSIDIARITY

    The website SOURCEWATCH makes the following statement in an article titled "K. Rupert Murdoch":

    Murdoch told William Shawcross, who authored a biography of Murdoch, that he considers himself a libertarian. "What does libertarian mean? As much individual responsibility as possible, as little government as possible, as few rules as possible. But I'm not saying it should be taken to the absolute limit."

    The following observation and a curious comparison is made in a CATHOLICA.COM.AU Editorial Commentary titled The Trouble With Rupert:

    So what is Murdoch's great skill?

    As argued two paragraphs ago, Murdoch's great skill is not going to be found in his management styles nor his personal sincerity and integrity. We think Murdoch's great skill is in an uncanny ability to "read the mind" of the average citizen. Murdoch understands what is called the "lizard brain" or "reptile brain" cravings of the ordinary person whose main interests in life centre around "eating, roots and leaves". Page 3 "tits and bums" sell newspapers by the tens of millions. The ordinary person is not interested in the lengthy philosophical and theological conversations we have in places like Catholica — their attention span is limited to about the 140 characters allowed in a tweet. They crave entertainment and distraction far more than they crave information and enlightenment. Rupert Murdoch really does understand the mentality of the average Jo and Sally Blo in the suburbs in any of the major countries of the Western world. Rupert understands how to feed their needs for "entertainment and distraction" in ways that attract massive readership numbers, or massive electronic media audiences, and through that, massive advertising revenues. The question is: is that good for the overall health of human civilisation? Is there a question of "balance" involved here?

    In many ways it might be compared to the philosophy of Joseph Ratzinger who said back in 1979:

    "The Christian believer is a simple person: bishops should protect the faith of these little people against the power of intellectuals." (Allen,130)[1]
    Rupert plays the same game in the secular sphere of society. And he has become without peer at doing it. Just as Pope Ratzinger seems to believe that if the "ordinary person" wants miracles, weeping statues and simple devotions and pieties he will deliver it to them; Rupert has worked out if all the average citizen craves in life is celebrity and sporting star gossip, tits and bums titillation, political scandal, and acres of massage parlour and dating advertisements he'll deliver it to them by the truckload and denuded forest. It's a great way to make money.

    One cannot help but note that this is an excellent description of a science of propaganda which distracts minds from the serious issues of life - Pope Benedict XVI subscribes to it, and Rupert Murdoch practises it.

    In the paragraphs immediately preceding the above quotation, the Catholica Editorial Commentary states:

    Listening to the evidence last night I couldn't help thinking how much Murdoch's style seems almost to be taken from the very Catholic notion of "subsidiarity" — allowing people to take responsibility at the lowest level as possible in an organisation. Murdoch's management style is very much a "subsidiarity" management style.

    While this quotation is applied to Murdoch's management style, it is an undoubted fact that his political ideology as quoted in the SOURCEWATCH article above is precisely in harmony with the Roman Catholic principle of "subsidiarity."  Here may be the greatest affinity between him and the Roman Catholic agenda, and a reason why the Papacy may tolerate the vociferous opposition of the Murdoch empire to the European Union.  After all, Rome has Europe under control both in terms of demographics and the very advanced stage of the Union.  Moreover, the Papacy is inflexible in its relentless drive towards world domination; but there is flexibility in its inflexibility as pointed out in this website's essay titled SUBSIDIARITY - THE PRINCIPLE AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION.

    CONCLUSION 

    This website seeks to draw attention to the danger of entrapment by the religious power of which the Bible states:  "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered [followed] after the beast" (Rev. 13:3.)
    When one surveys the broad range of snares set by Satan in the political as well as the spriritual realm, and the exclusive focus of some Seventh-day Adventists on Sunday legislation - others on the Trinity dogma - while ignoring the climactic, earth-shaking, events occuring in the political realm, these words spoken by Jesus Christ seem to be an appropriate prescription: ". . .these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone" (Luke 11:42.)  It is worthy of careful consideration that professing Christians may receive the Mark of the Beast as well by falling prey to the Papacy's political agenda as by willingly submitting to Roman Catholic theology.