Pope Lifts 20 Year Excommunication of Four Priests

News came through on the wires today that Pope Benedict XVI has lifted the 20 year-old excommunication of four bishops. Normally, actions like this make headlines as big as Governor issuing a low level pardon. However, the Pope's choice of Bishops to bring back into the fold has outraged the Jewish community and will raise questions for Priory of Zion watchers.

The fours Bishops in question were all consecrated by the controversial Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre without papal consent. Lefebrve was an outspoken member of the Church that came into clashes with the Holy See over efforts to modernize the Catholic Church. To marshal likeminded individuals within the Church, Lefebvre created the International Priestly Society of Saint Pius X in 1970. The formation of the Society was a direct response to opposition over changes in the Catholic Church dictated in the Second Vatican Council. In a 17 July 1976 letter to Pope Paul VI, Lefebvre believed that the Church was collaborating with Freemasons to set the Second Council's reforms into place.

Lefebvre created the Society in such a way that it sidestepped normal Vatican protocol. The Society was never officially recognized by the Vatican. Because of his actions in the creation of the Society; Lefebvre was suspended from his duties as a Priest by Pope Paul VI in 1976. This did not stop Lefebvre from conducting ordinations or mass. The four Priests that had their excommunications lifted were all members of the Society of Saint Pius the X and ordained by Lefebvre himself.

The move by Pope Benedict was an effort to reach out to members of the Society to bring them back into the Catholic fold. On the surface this would seem to be something that a Pontiff would want to do. Mending old wounds and being inclusive seem to be high on Benedict's list of things to do.

Such actions come with a political price when one of the Priests you have brought back into the fold has highly questionable theories on the Holocaust. British Bishop Richard Williamson was recently on an interview on Swedish TV as saying, " that historical evidence is hugely against 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed."

I'm a free speech sort of guy, but such horrid nonsense such as that really has no place in the reality most of us live in. While not wishing to debate those who take Williamson's stance, I can safely say that such statements are unconscionable. Those at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Paris have also denounced Williamson's statements as indefensible. I would have added reckless to that list.

Now for you Priory of Sion watchers out there. You might remember that Lefebvre is thought to have been at least an associate if not a member of the Priory. The authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail cite a 1977 pamphlet entitled Le Cercle d'Ulysse written by a Jean Delaude. This work discusses a number of Priory related topics and names Lefebvre as being associated with the Priory. Le Cercle d'Ulysse alludes to a partnership between the Priory to take on the Vatican with Lefebvre's ecumenical clout. This partnership, evidently, was to secure the return of a King to the French throne and make Lefebvre the Pope.

While the validity of any document that surfaces on the Priory is immediately suspect for fraud or misdirection, one thing is not in question. That is Lefebvre's flock in the Society of Saint Pius X was filled with members of the Action Française organization. This counterrevolutionary group espoused the return of the monarchy and abolishment of the French departmental system. Both measures would politically have decentralized the entire French government and returned France into its pre-Revolutionary provinces. The party is also felt that France should be a thoroughly Catholic nation.

Should the Le Cercle d'Ulysse and the political underpinnings of members of Society of Saint Pius X be accurate, is there some hidden reason for bringing those four excommunicated Priests back to the Church? Pope Benedict would have know of the political consequences of Bishop Williamson's stance on the Holocaust. Given the troubles in Gaza as of late, it further seems that it would not be the time to embrace a man with such ideas.

The flip side to this could be the Priory connections in the Society of Saint Pius X and Benedict's steps in reaching back in history to open glimpses into the Knights Templar. Could there be other forces at work here that would outweigh the political fallout for Benedict's actions? You Priory of Sion watchers let me know.

The Power of Faith

In the last 24 hours I have been contacted by a number of people who had seen an episode of Unsolved Mysteries on the Nanteos Cup. In June of 2006, I had written an article about the history of the Cup and the theory that it could be Holy Grail. Along with the Nanteos Cup's history, healing powers have been ascribed to the vessel. The persons who contacted me all have ailing loved ones and feel that the power of the Nanteos Cup can in some way ease their suffering.

At present, I have never spoken with the present owner of the Cup. From my understanding the Mirylees family has taken the Cup out of the public's eye and have placed it somewhere for safe keeping. Never the less, I would like to assist those who have contacted me about their loved ones.

I generally keep my religious beliefs out of this blog. I do have a faith that there is a Higher Power and that his presence works in and around us every day. In keeping with that thought, for those of you out there that believe in the power of prayer; please ask whatever aspect of your Higher Power to assist these people:

Shannon's mother in Clearwater, FL

Scott's brother in Sacramento, CA

Ti's relative in Riverside, CA

Jessica's family member

Tracy's father

Rose's church member that needs a kidney transplant

Marianna and her husband from Facebook

Justus' father in Moreno Valley, Ca

Chris' sister-in-law in Arizona

I hope that you will focus your energies on offering a request to the Almighty for these folks recovery. Hopefully, in some way this will help these folks out.