Bread of Life (GB) Ministry
"Bread of Life"(GB) Ministries
Present Truth for Today
The Coming Crisis (1)
{ Last Day Events 146-149 }
Adventists Will Be Treated With Contempt
The same masterful mind that plotted against the faithful in ages past is still seeking to rid the earth of those who fear God and obey His law....{LDE 146.2}
Wealth, genius, education, will combine to cover them with contempt. Persecuting rulers, ministers, and church members will conspire against them. With voice and pen, by boasts, threats, and ridicule, they will seek to overthrow their faith.—Testimonies for the Church 5:450 (1885).{LDE 146.3}
There will come a time when, because of our advocacy of Bible truth, we shall be treated as traitors.—Testimonies for the Church 6:394 (1900).{LDE 146.4}
Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth. Their conscientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness, and contempt of authority. They will be accused of disaffection toward the government.—The Great Controversy, 592 (1911). {LDE 146.5}
All who in that evil day would fearlessly serve God according to the dictates of conscience, will need courage, firmness, and a knowledge of God and His Word, for those who are true to God will be persecuted, their motives will be impugned, their best efforts misinterpreted, and their names cast out as evil.—The Acts of the Apostles, 431, 432 (1911).{LDE 147.1}
All Kinds of Persecution
The persecutions of Protestants by Romanism, by which the religion of Jesus Christ was almost annihilated, will be more than rivaled when Protestantism and popery are combined.—Selected Messages 3:387 (1889).{LDE 147.2}
Satan has a thousand masked batteries which will be opened upon the loyal, commandment-keeping people of God to compel them to violate conscience.—Letter 30a, 1892.{LDE 147.3}
We need not be surprised at anything that may take place now. We need not marvel at any developments of horror. Those who trample under their unholy feet the law of God have the same spirit as had the men who insulted and betrayed Jesus. Without any compunctions of conscience they will do the deeds of their father the devil.—Selected Messages 3:416 (1897).{LDE 147.4}
Let those who desire to be refreshed in mind and instructed in the truth study the history of the early church during and immediately following the Day of Pentecost. Study carefully in the book of Acts the experiences of Paul and the other apostles, for God’s people in our day must pass through similar experiences.—The Paulson Collection of Ellen G. White Letters, 118 (1907).{LDE 148.1}
Every Earthly Support Will Be Cut Off
Hoarded wealth will soon be worthless. When the decree shall go forth that none shall buy or sell except they have the mark of the beast, very much means will be of no avail. God calls for us now to do all in our power to send forth the warning to the world.—The Review and Herald, March 21, 1878.{LDE 148.2}
The time is coming when we cannot sell at any price. The decree will soon go forth prohibiting men to buy or sell of any man save him that hath the mark of the beast. We came near having this realized in California a short time since, but this was only the threatening of the blowing of the four winds. As yet they are held by the four angels. We are not just ready. There is a work yet to be done, and then the angels will be bidden to let go, that the four winds may blow upon the earth.—Testimonies for the Church 5:152 (1882).{LDE 148.3}
In the last great conflict in the controversy with Satan those who are loyal to God will see every earthly support cut off. Because they refuse to break His law in obedience to earthly powers they will be forbidden to buy or sell.—The Desire of Ages, 121, 122 (1898).{LDE 148.4}
Satan says ... “For fear of wanting food and clothing they will join with the world in transgressing God’s law. The earth will be wholly under my dominion.”—Prophets and Kings, 183, 184 (c. 1914).{LDE 149.1}
Some Are Imprisoned for Their Faith
Some will be imprisoned because they refuse to desecrate the Sabbath of the Lord.—The Paulson Collection of Ellen G. White Letters, 118 (1907).{LDE 149.2}
"Bread of Life"(GB)
The Great Final Issue!
{CCh 334; Ev 235; CET 191}
The Sabbath question is to be the issue in the great final conflict in which all the world will act a part. Men have honored Satan’s principles above the principles that rule in the heavens. They have accepted the spurious sabbath, which Satan has exalted as the sign of his authority. But God has set His seal upon His royal requirement. Each sabbath institution bears the name of its author, an ineffaceable mark that shows the authority of each. It is our work to lead the people to understand this. We are to show them that it is of vital consequence whether they bear the mark of God’s kingdom or the mark of the kingdom of rebellion, for they acknowledge themselves subjects of the kingdom whose mark they bear. God has called us to uplift the standard of His downtrodden Sabbath. {CCh 334.6}
If the light of truth has been presented to you, revealing the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and showing that there is no foundation in the Word of God for Sunday observance, and yet you still cling to the false sabbath, refusing to keep holy the Sabbath which God calls “My holy day,” you receive the mark of the beast. When does this take place? When you obey the decree that commands you to cease from labor on Sunday and worship God, while you know that there is not a word in the Bible showing Sunday to be other than a common working day, you consent to receive the mark of the beast, and refuse the seal of God.—The Review and Herald, July 13, 1897. {Ev 235.2}
What are you doing, brethren, in the great work of preparation? Those who are uniting with the world, are receiving the worldly mold, and preparing for the mark of the beast. Those who are distrustful of self, who are humbling themselves before God and purifying their souls by obeying the truth,—these are receiving the heavenly mold, and preparing for the seal of God in their foreheads. When the decree goes forth, and the stamp is impressed, their character will remain pure and spotless for eternity. {CET 191.1}
Some important points to note:
The Sabbath or Sunday question is the great final issue.
It is of vital consequence that all will then receive either the Seal or the Mark.
When do we receive the Mark or the Seal? When the decree goes forth, and the stamp is impressed!
The going forth of the decree is the Sunday Law! The impressing of the stamp is the affixing of the Seal (or mark).
FRIENDS, IT IS CLEAR THAT AS SDA's OUR FINAL DECISION WILL BE MADE AT THE TIME OF THE SUNDAY LAW. THOSE WHO GIVE THE LOUD CRY UNDER THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL HAVE BEEN THE FIRST TO GET THE SEAL OF GOD!! THEY THEN TAKE THE FINAL MESSAGE TO THE WORLD!! WHEN ALL THE WORLD HAS MADE ITS DECISION THEN THE SEALING WORK WILL HAVE BEEN COMPLETED AND THE FINAL CLOSING OF PROBATION TAKES PLACE!
ITS ALSO CLEAR THAT ANY OF US WHO, SADLY, DON'T GET GOD'S SEAL AT THE TIME OF THE SUNDAY LAW WILL MAKE THEIR FINAL, SAD DECISION AT THAT TIME. FRIENDS, LET'S ARISE AND AWAKE! THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY SAYS PROBATION WILL CLOSE AT A TIME WHEN WE ARE LEAST EXPECTING IT!!
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LDE 230.1 (Last Day Events)
"When probation ends, it will come suddenly, unexpectedly—at a time when we are least expecting it.
But we can have a clean record in heaven today, and know that God accepts us."
—The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 7:989 (1906).
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"Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads—it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved—just as soon as God’s people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has begun already.—The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 4:1161 (1902).
{LDE 219.4}
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"Bread of Life" (GB) Ministry
"I have made thee a Watchman"
{This Day With God, 20}
"Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me." Ezekiel 3:17.
"God has a position of duty for each one of you. He requires you to be not only faithful sentinels, but thorough workmen. Never become uninterested, never careless and inactive; never sleep at your post, and never fail to perform your exact duty in accordance with your position of trust.
There is need of alacrity, promptness, even earnest energy, deep interest, and unwavering fidelity. You should learn to spring to the work at the call of duty. How long will be our allotted time to work, we know not. This is a secret with God, and for wise purposes, withheld from us. But what time we have to labor, let us employ it as those who must give an account. Oh, think earnestly, and in view of eternity, how much there is to be done in our world to arouse the mind of the careless, inattentive, and ignorant to become acquainted with the laws of God, and make them feel the necessity for their own good and God’s glory, of obedience to these laws. For transgression brings, not only great suffering, but loss of life in this world, and immortal life in the next world. You should consider this matter thoroughly, and feel how much the bliss or woe of men and women is dependent upon you.
Faithfulness on your part may save many souls, while negligence and carelessness may result in the loss to your fellow creatures of both the present and the future life. You can prevent much misery and much transgression of God’s law by your fidelity, by being wide awake at your post of duty.... We must arise as one, and in the power and strength of God, open our senses to the demands of the present time....
Cry to God in faith, that He may pour out His light and His grace through the channels which He has appointed for good to those who are suffering for want of knowledge. While you pray and watch with earnest diligence to suppress wrong and stand guard against dissipation and fashionable errors, lay hold by living faith of the strength which may be yours to bless all your labors. You may gather light, knowledge, and power; and your influence may be diffusive.... Every responsibility you bear will fortify and strengthen you to make renewed efforts and push forward the work successfully.—Letter 4a, January 12, 1879, to two young physicians at Battle Creek Sanitarium."
{TDG 20}
Remember:
"But what time we have to labor, let us employ it as those who must give an account."
God bless you each one, and may your work for Him bring blessing to many, and you also will be blessed.
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"Bread of Life"(GB)
Signs and wonders
{Early Writings, 59-60}
"I was pointed back to the time of Moses and saw the signs and wonders which God wrought through him before Pharaoh, most of which were imitated by the magicians of Egypt; and that just before the final deliverance of the saints, God would work powerfully for His people, and these modern magicians would be permitted to imitate the work of God.
That time will soon come, and we shall have to keep hold of the strong arm of Jehovah; for all these great signs and mighty wonders of the Devil are designed to deceive God’s people and overthrow them. Our minds must be stayed upon God, and we must not fear the fear of the wicked, that is, fear what they fear, and reverence what they reverence, but be bold and valiant for the truth. Could our eyes be opened, we should see forms of evil angels around us, trying to invent some new way to annoy and destroy us. And we should also see angels of God guarding us from their power; for God’s watchful eye is ever over Israel for good, and He will protect and save His people, if they put their trust in Him. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. (Strongs Concordance says to "put him to flight")
Said the angel, “Remember, thou art on the enchanted ground.” I saw that we must watch and have on the whole armor and take the shield of faith, and then we shall be able to stand, and the fiery darts of the wicked cannot harm us.
{EW 59-60}
May we be watching, and have on the whole armour of God and the shield of faith, so that we shall be able to stand at the last day.
May the Lord of hosts be with us all through the great final conflict.
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"Just as long as God has a church, he will have those who will cry aloud and spare not, who will be his instruments to reprove selfishness and sins, and will not shun to declare the whole counsel of God, whether men will hear or forbear. I saw that individuals would rise up against the plain testimonies. It does not suit their natural feelings. They would choose to have smooth things spoken unto them, and have peace cried in their ears. I view the church in a more dangerous condition than they ever have been. Experimental religion is known but by a few. The shaking must soon take place to purify the church.
(I believe that this is what will soon take place. Remember the parable of the 10 virgins in Matt. 25. And that "everything that can be shaken will be shaken, that those things that cannot be shaken may remain. And also the great National Sunday Law that will sift the church to its roots, and seal those who are true while affixing the Mark of the Beast on the rest. Whether we are in the independent ranks of one kind or another, or wherever, the sifting will come and shake all, one way or the other.)
Preachers should have no scruples to preach the truth as it is found in God’s word. Let the truth cut. I have been shown that why ministers have not more success is, they are afraid of hurting feelings, fearful of not being courteous, and they lower the standard of truth, and conceal if possible the peculiarity of our faith. I saw that God could not make such successful. The truth must be made pointed, and the necessity of a decision urged. And as false shepherds are crying, Peace, and are preaching smooth things, the servants of God must cry aloud, and spare not, and leave the result with God." {2SG 284.2}
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“Bread of Life (GB) Ministries”
PUBLISH THE PRESENT TRUTH
{Colporteur Ministry, p.3}
“The book work should be the means of quickly giving the sacred light of present truth to the world.
The publications that come forth from our presses today are to be of such a character as to strengthen every pin and pillar of the faith that was established by the word of God and by the revelations of His Spirit.
The truth that God has given for His people in these last days should keep them firm when there come into the church those who present false theories.
The truth that has stood firm against the attacks of the enemy for more than half a century must still be the confidence and comfort of God's people.”
{Colporteur Ministry, 3}
PRESENT TRUTH is “every pin and pillar of the faith” contained in the word of God.
ALSO, God’s truth for these Last days–End Time Events!
May the dear Lord bless you this day and may we all be “established in the present truth”. (2Peter 1:12)
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On the question of the "Abomination of desolation," we read . . . .
But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:
and . . . .
And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
and in the Spirit of Prophecy . . . .
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand), then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains [let there be no presumptuous dallying]: let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” (See Matthew 24)
Forty years afterward, at the siege of Jerusalem, the Christians obeyed this warning; and not a Christian perished in the destruction of the city. {RH December 20, 1898}
And what about this! ....
The attempt to bring in Sunday laws in Sister White's time (which was dropped after our pioneers opposed it strongly), is likened to the first Roman siege of Jerusalem back in the early Christian days. That attempt to take Jerusalem was mysteriously and suddenly dropped, and the Christians were able to safely escape.
We are in the time when Rome's power to enforce Sunday laws will be repeated, and this time it will be done. We have had the warning and the symbolic example, and as Rome invaded the Holy place in the past, so Rome of today -- the Papal power, is invading, and will invade today's Jerusalem -- God's church, and as it were surround it with earthly powers and laws that will destroy [it]. Only those who are standing ready, and as it were, have escaped, -- by heeding the warnings of God in His Word will make it.
"Bread of Life (UK)" - Times Of Trial Before Us - {ST July 14, 1898}
"Said Christ: “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father; for My Father is greater than I.”
Christ had told His disciples: “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; and ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak; for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.”
After enumerating the persecutions they should meet for His name’s sake, Christ said:“It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?”
There are times before us that will try the souls of men, and there will be need of watchfulness...."
{ST July 14, 1898}
May we, each one, prove faithful in the time of the trial of our faith that is before us.
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The Great Controversy - p. 389-390
"The second angel's message of Revelation 14 was first preached in the summer of 1844, and it then had a more direct application to the churches of the United States, where the warning of the judgment had been most widely proclaimed and most generally rejected, and where the declension in the churches had been most rapid. But the message of the second angel did not reach its complete fulfillment in 1844. The churches then experienced a moral fall, in consequence of their refusal of the light of the advent message; but that fall was not complete. As they have continued to reject the special truths for this time they have fallen lower and lower. Not yet, however, can it be said that "Babylon is fallen,... because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." She has not yet made all nations do this. The spirit of world conforming and indifference to the testing truths for our time exists and has been gaining ground in churches of the Protestant faith in all the countries of Christendom; and these churches are included in the solemn and terrible denunciation of the second angel. But the work of apostasy has not yet reached its culmination.
The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord, Satan will work "with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness;" and they that "received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved," will be left to receive "strong delusion, that they should believe a lie."
2 Thessalonians 2:9-11.
Not until this condition shall be reached, and the union of the church with the world shall be fully accomplished throughout Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be complete. The change is a progressive one, and the perfect fulfillment of Revelation 14:8 is yet future.
Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness and alienation from God that exist in the churches which constitute Babylon, the great body of Christ's true followers are still to be found in their communion. There are many of these who have never seen the special truths for this time. Not a few are dissatisfied with their present condition and are longing for clearer light. They look in vain for the image of Christ in the churches with which they are connected. As these bodies depart further and further from the truth, and ally themselves more closely with the world, the difference between the two classes will widen, and it will finally result in separation. The time will come when those who love God supremely can no longer remain in connection with such as are "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."
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Daniel and the Revelation - Chapter 17
A World Union Of Church and State
Verse 1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 and upon her forehead was a name written,
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
In verse 19 of the preceding chapter, we are informed that “great Babylon came in remembrance before God to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.” The prophet now takes up more particularly the subject of this great Babylon. In order to give a full presentation of it, he goes back to recount some of the facts of her history. That this apostate woman as presented in this chapter is a symbol of the Roman Catholic Church, is generally believed by Protestants. Between this Church and the kings of the earth there has been illicit connection. With the wine of her fornication, her false doctrines, the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk.
Church and State. — This prophecy is more definite than others applicable to the Roman power in that it distinguishes between Church and State. We have here the woman, the Church, seated upon a scarlet-colored beast, the civil power [the state], by which she is upheld, and which she controls and guides to her own ends, as a rider controls the animal upon which he is seated.
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The vesture and decorations of this woman, as brought to view in verse 4, are in striking harmony with the application made of this symbol. Purple and scarlet are the chief colors in the robes of popes and cardinals. Among the myriads of precious stones which adorn her service, according to eyewitnesses, silver is scarcely known, and gold itself is less noticeable than are costly gems. From the golden cup in her hand — symbol of purity of doctrine and profession, which should have contained only that which is unadulterated and pure, or only that which is in full accordance with truth — there came forth only abominations, and the wine of her fornication, fit symbol of her abominable doctrines and still more abominable practices.
The symbol of a woman with a cup in her hand is said to have been used at a papal jubilee.
“In 1825, on the occasion of the Jubilee, Pope Leo XII struck a medal, bearing on the one side his own image, and on the other, that of the Church of Rome symbolized as a ‘Woman,’ holding in her left hand a cross and in her right a cup, with the legend around her, Sede Super Universum, ‘The whole world is her seat.’” [1]
This woman is explicitly called Babylon. Is Rome, then, Babylon, to the exclusion of all other religious bodies? — No, she cannot be, from the fact that she is called the Mother of harlots as already noticed, which shows that there are other independent religious organizations that constitute the apostate daughters, and belong to the same great family.
Verse 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
A Cause of Wonder. — Why should John “wonder with great wonder,” as it reads in the original, when he saw the woman drunken with the blood of saints? Was the persecution of the
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people of God any strange in his day? Had he not seen Rome launch its most fiery anathemas against the church, himself being in banishment under its cruel power at the time he wrote? Why, then, should he be astonished, as he looked forward, and saw Rome still persecuting the saints? The secret of his wonder was this: All the persecution he had witnessed had been from pagan Rome, the open enemy of Christ. It was not strange that pagans should persecute Christ’s followers. But when he looked forward and saw a Church professedly Christian persecuting the followers of the Lamb, and drunk with their blood, he could but wonder with great amazement.
Verse 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
Rome in Three Phases. —The beast of which the angel here speaks is evidently the scarlet-colored beast. A wild beast, like the one thus introduced, is the symbol of an oppressive and persecuting power. While the Roman power as a nation had a long, interrupted existence, it passed through certain phases during which this symbol would not be applicable to it, and during which time the beast, in such prophecies as the present, might be said not to be, or not to exist. Thus Rome in its pagan form was a persecuting power in its relation to the people of God, during which time it constituted the beast that was. But when the Empire was nominally converted to Christianity, there was a transition from paganism to another phase of religion falsely called Christian. During a brief period, while this transition was going on, it lost its ferocious and persecuting character, and then it could be said of the beast that it was not. As time passed, it developed into the Papacy, and
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again assumed its bloodthirsty and oppressive character.
The Seven Heads. —The seven heads are explained to be first, seven mountains, and then seven kings. The expression in verse 10, “and there are seven kings,” reads in the original, “and are seven kings.” This makes the sentence read: “The seven heads are seven mountains . . . and are seven kings,” thus identifying heads, mountains, and kings.
The angel says further, “five [kings] are fallen,” or passed away. Again he says, “one [king] is”— the sixth was then reigning. “The other is not yet come; and when he cometh he must continue a short space.” Last of all, “the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven.”
From this account of the seven kings, we understand that when the one that had “not yet come” at the time of which John was writing, appears on the scene, he is here called an eighth, though he is really “of the seven,” in the sense that he absorbed and exercised their power. It is this one whose career we are interested to follow. Of this one it is said that his destiny was to go “into perdition,” that is, to perish utterly. This repeats the affirmation made in verse 8 concerning “the beast that thou sawest,” which in turn is the “scarlet colored beast,” on which the woman sat. We have shown that this beast symbolizes civil power, which according to the narrative before us, passes through seven phases represented also in the leopard beast of Revelation 13, until an eighth appears and continues to the end. Since we have already shown that Papal Rome grew out of and succeeded pagan [imperial] Rome, we must conclude that the eighth head, which was of the seven and ultimately exercised their power, represents the Papacy, with all its mixture of so-called Christian doctrines with pagan superstitions and observances.
Verse 12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 14 These shall make war
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with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
The Ten Horns. — On this subject see remarks on Daniel 7:7,where the ten horns are shown to represent the ten kingdoms that rose outof the Roman Empire. They receive power one hour ({Greek- w%ra} hora, an indefinite space of time) with the beast. That is, they reign a length of time contemporaneously with the beast, during which time they give to it their power and strength.
Croly offers this comment on verse 12: “The prediction defines the epoch of the Papacy by the formation of the ten kingdoms of the Western [Roman] Empire. “They shall receive power one hour with the beast.’ The translation should be, ‘in the same era ({Greek-mivan horan} [mian horan]). The ten kingdoms shall be contemporaneous in contradistinction to the ‘seven heads,’ which were successive [world empires]. ” [2]
This language doubtless refers to the past, when the kingdoms of Europe were unanimous in giving their support to the Papacy. The treatment which these kingdoms are finally to give the Papacy is expressed in verse 16, where it is said that they shall hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. A part of this work the nations of Europe have been doing for years. The completion of it, burning her with fire, will be accomplished when Revelation 18:8 is fulfilled.
“These shall make war with the Lamb.” Verse 14. Here we are carried into the future, to the time of the great and final battle, for at this time the Lamb bears the title King of kings and Lords of lords, a title which He assumes when He ceases His intercessory priesthood at the close of probation. (Revelation 19:11-16.)
Verse 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and
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naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Destiny of the Harlot. — In verse 15 we have a plain definition of the Scripture symbol of waters; they denote peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. The angel told John, while calling his attention to this subject, that he would show him the judgment of this great harlot. In verse 16 that judgment is specified. This chapter has naturally more especial referenda to the Mother, or Catholic Babylon. The next chapter, if we mistake not, deals with the character and destiny of another great branch of Babylon, the harlot daughters.
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[1] Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, p. 6.
[2] George Croly, The Apocalypse of St. John, p. 264, 265.
Uriah Smith, Daniel and the Revelation
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"Bread of Life (UK)"
The Loud Cry
{8T 118}
"As foretold in the eighteenth [ chapter ] of Revelation, the Third Angel's Message is to be proclaimed
with great power by those who give the final warning against the beast and his image:
"I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying,
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen,
and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit,
and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,
and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,
and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying,
Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins,
and that ye receive not of her plagues .....
..... for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works:
in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double." - Revelation 18:1-6.
This is the message given by God to be sounded forth in the loud cry of the Third Angel.
Those whose faith and zeal are proportionate to their knowledge of the truth
will reveal their loyalty to God by communicating the truth,
in all its saving, sanctifying power, to those with whom they associate.
Their lives of holiness and unselfish service will be in conformity
with the vital principles of the kingdom of heaven.
{8T - Testimonies vol. 8 p. 118}
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"Bread of Life (GB) Ministries" - Signs Of These Times - {CCh 38-39}
"The Scriptures describe the condition of the world just before Christ’s second coming. Of the men who by robbery and extortion are amassing great riches, it is written: “Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just [innocent]; and he doth not resist you.” James 5:3-6
But who reads the warnings given by the fast-fulfilling signs of the times? What impression is made upon worldlings? What change is seen in their attitude? No more than was seen in the attitude of the inhabitants of the Noachian world. Absorbed in worldly business and pleasure, the Antediluvians “knew not until the Flood came, and took them all away.” Matthew 24:39. They had heaven-sent warnings, but they refused to listen. And today the world, utterly regardless of the warning voice of God, is hurrying on to eternal ruin.
Not all in this world have taken sides with the enemy against God. Not all have become disloyal. There are a faithful few who are true to God; for John writes: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12
{Counsels For the Church, p.38-39}
Let's strive to be among that faithful number!
May the dear Lord of grace be with you today.
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"Bread of Life (GB)" —"Our Work For Today"— {CH 520}
“If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”
Isaiah 58:6-9, 13, 14.
"This is our work. The light that we have upon the third angel’s message is the true light. The mark of the beast is exactly what it has been proclaimed to be. Not all in regard to this matter is yet understood, and will not be understood until the unrolling of thescroll; but a most solemn work is to be accomplished in our world. The Lord’s command to His servants is, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Isaiah 58:1.
A message that will arouse the churches is to be proclaimed. Every effort is to be made to give the light, not only to our people, but to the world. I have been instructed that the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation should be printed in small books, with the necessary explanations, and should be sent all over the world. Our own people need to have the light placed before them in clearer lines."
{Counsels on Health, 520.3}
May your day be blessed as you walk with the Lord!
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We must not wait until the last moment. We should be comprehensively preparing now to meet the coming crisis.
Matthew 24: 9-13 says:
9 “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
PREPARE! PREPARE! PREPARE!
Proverbs 22: 3; 27: 12
“A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.”
The New Living Translation renders Proverbs 27: 12 thus:
“A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions.
The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.”
Many are in danger of being branded with the Laodicean iron, but they need to heed God’s warnings.
Luke 21: 34-35 says:
Be Watchful
“And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”
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"Bread of Life (UK)" -Ministries-
Thoughts On the Closing Events (3) -- {CCh 64}
"Here Am I Lord, Send Me"
"The end is near, stealing upon us stealthily, imperceptibly, like the noiseless approach of a thief in the night. May the Lord grant that we shall no longer sleep as do others, but that we shall watch and be sober. The truth is soon to triumph gloriously, and all who now choose to be laborers together with God will triumph with it. The time is short; the night soon cometh when no man can work. Let those who are rejoicing in the light of present truth, now make haste to impart the truth to others. The Lord is inquiring, “Whom shall I send?” Those who wish to sacrifice for the truth’s sake, are now to respond, “Here am I, Lord; send me.”
We have done only a small part of the evangelical work that God desires us to do among our neighbors and friends. In every city of our land there are those who know not the truth. And out in the broad world beyond the seas there are many new fields in which we must plow the ground and sow the seed.
We are on the very verge of the time of trouble, and perplexities that are scarcely dreamed of are before us. A power from beneath is leading men to war against Heaven. Human beings have confederated with satanic agencies to make void the law of God. The inhabitants of the world are fast becoming as the inhabitants of the world in Noah’s day, who were swept away by the Flood, and as the inhabitants of Sodom, who were consumed by fire from heaven. The powers of Satan are at work to keep minds diverted from eternal realities. The enemy has arranged matters to suit his own purposes. Worldly business, sports, the fashions of the day—these things occupy the minds of men and women. Amusements and unprofitable reading spoil the judgment. In the broad road that leads to eternal ruin there walks a long procession. The world, filled with violence, reveling, and drunkenness, is converting the church. The law of God, the divine standard of righteousness, is declared to be of no effect.
{Counsels for the Church, 64}
May the dear Lord bless your day as you walk with Him.
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*Final World War! - WARNING! *
*“Angels are belting the world, refusing Satan his claims to supremacy, made because of the vast multitude of his adherents. We hear not the voices, we see not with the natural sight the work of these angels, but their hands are linked about the world, and with sleepless vigilance they are keeping the armies of Satan at bay till the sealing of God’s people shall be accomplished. { 7BC 967.9 } *
*The ministers of Jehovah, angels have skill and power and great strength, being commissioned to go forth from heaven to earth to minister to His people. They are given the work of keeping back the raging power of him who has come down like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. The Lord is a refuge for all who put their trust in Him. He bids them hide in Him for a little moment, until the indignation shall be overpast. He is soon to come out of His place to punish the world for its iniquity. Then the earth shall disclose her blood and shall no more cover her slain. . . (Letter 79, 1900). { 7BC 967.10 } *
*I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, . . . saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. - Revelation 7:2, 3 { ML 308.1 } *
*Four mighty angels are still holding the four winds of the earth. Terrible destruction is forbidden to come in full. The accidents by land and by sea; the loss of life, steadily increasing, by storm, by tempest, by railroad disaster, by conflagration; the terrible floods, the earthquakes, and the winds will be the stirring up of the nations to one deadly combat, while the angels hold the four winds, forbidding the terrible power of Satan to be exercised in its fury until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads. { ML 308.2 } *
*Angels are holding the four winds, which are represented as an angry horse seeking to break loose and rush over the face of the whole earth, bearing destruction and death in its path. { ML 308.3 } *
*A terrible conflict is before us. We are nearing the battle of the great day of God Almighty. That which has been held in control is to be let loose. The angel of mercy is folding her wings, preparing to step down from the throne and leave the world to the control of Satan. The principalities and powers of earth are in bitter revolt against the God of heaven. They are filled with hatred against those who serve Him, and soon, very soon, will be fought the last great battle between good and evil. The earth is to be the battlefield—the scene of the final contest and the final victory. { ML 308.4 } *
*While their hands were loosening, and the four winds were about to blow, the merciful eye of Jesus gazed on the remnant that were not sealed, and He raised His hands to the Father and pleaded with Him that He had spilled His blood for them. Then another angel was commissioned to fly swiftly to the four angels and bid them hold until the servants of God were sealed with the seal of the living God in their foreheads. { ML 308.5 } *
*THANK GOD DEAR FRIENDS THAT HE IS HOLDING THOSE FOUR WINDS YET LONGER. *
*THANK GOD THAT HE HAS GIVEN US THIS ‘BORROWED TIME’ IN WHICH TO WORK, AND
TO FINISH THE PROCLAMATION OF THE THIRD ANGEL’S MESSAGE. *
*THANK GOD FRIENDS! AND LET’S DO ALL WE CAN, WITH ALL THE WITNESSING POWER AND MATERIALS WE HAVE, AND WATCH AND PRAY AS WE GO. *
*MAY THERE BE A GREAT HARVEST OF SOULS. *
*WE REALISE THAT THERE WILL COME A CRISIS AND THERE WILL BE PERSECUTION, BUT WE ARE COUNSELLED TO GO FORWARD IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, AND HE WILL BE BY OUR SIDE. *
*WE HAVE NO NEED TO FEAR!*
*MAY GOD RICHLY BLESS YOU EACH ONE!*
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"Bread of Life" (GB) Ministries
THE TIME OF THE END
{CCh 37-40}
“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” Jeremiah 30:7. {CCh 39.3}
Not all in this world have taken sides with the enemy against God. Not all have become disloyal. There are a faithful few who are true to God; for John writes: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. Soon the battle will be waged fiercely between those who serve God and those who serve Him not. Soon everything that can be shaken will be shaken, that those things that cannot be shaken may remain. {CCh 39.4}
Satan is a diligent Bible student. He knows that his time is short, and he seeks at every point to counterwork the work of the Lord upon this earth. It is impossible to give any idea of the experience of the people of God who shall be alive upon the earth when celestial glory and a repetition of the persecutions of the past are blended. They will walk in the light proceeding from the throne of God. By means of the angels there will be constant communication between heaven and earth.
And Satan, surrounded by evil angels, and claiming to be God, will work miracles of all kinds, to deceive, if possible, the very elect.
God’s people will not find their safety in working miracles, for Satan will counterfeit the miracles that will be wrought. God’s tried and tested people will find their power in the sign spoken of in Exodus 31:12-18. They are to take their stand on the living word: “It is written.” This is the only foundation upon which they can stand securely. Those who have broken their covenant with God will in that day be without God and without hope. {CCh 39.5}
The worshipers of God will be especially distinguished by their regard for the fourth commandment, since this is the sign of God’s creative power and the witness to His claim upon man’s reverence and homage.
The wicked will be distinguished by their efforts to tear down the Creator’s memorial and to exalt the institution of Rome. In the issue of the conflict all Christendom will be divided into two great classes, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and those who worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark. Although church and state will unite their power to compel all, “both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,” to receive the mark of the beast, yet the people of God will not receive it. Revelation 13:16.
The prophet of Patmos beholds “them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God,” and singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Revelation 15:2. {CCh 39.6}
Fearful tests and trials await the people of God. The spirit of war is stirring the nations from one end of the earth to the other. But in the midst of the time of trouble that is coming,—"a time of trouble such as has not been since there was a nation"—God’s chosen people will stand unmoved. Satan and his host cannot destroy them, for angels that excel in strength will protect them. {CCh 40.1}
God bless you each one as you prepare for the times of trouble ahead.
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Waymarks to the Eternal City - Elder Gordon W Collier
Volume I
1 The Miracle of Miracles (Righteousness by Faith)
2 The Holy Spirit
3 The Voice of the Holy Spirit
4 Self
Volume II
5 Lost (How People are Lost)
6 Sound an Alarm
7 Saved (How to be Saved)
8 Tests of Conversion
Volume III
9 Modern Israel (The Remnant Church)
a) God's Ideal for His Children
b) Satan's Plans for the Remnant Church
c) Satan's Present Work - Warning and Appeal
10 Deceptions and Delusions of Satan
11 Satan - Deceiver and Destroyer
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MODERN ISRAEL (The Remnant Church)
WARNING (continued from Waymarks 4)
Lessons from the past (continued)
TODAY
“We must have a knowledge of ourselves, a knowledge that results in contrition, before we can find pardon and peace. It is only he who knows himself to be a sinner that Christ can save. We must know our true condition, or we shall not feel our need of Christ’s help.
We must understand our danger, or we shall not flee to the refuge.
We must feel the pain of our wounds, or we shall not desire healing.”
{ST April 9, 1902, par. 9}
“We are living in the most solemn period of this world’s history.
The destiny of earth’s teeming multitudes is about to be decided.
Our own future well-being and also the salvation of other souls depend upon the course which we now pursue. We need to be guided by the Spirit of truth. Every follower of Christ should earnestly inquire: “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” We need to humble ourselves before the Lord, with fasting and prayer, and to meditate much upon His word, especially upon the scenes of the judgment. We should now seek a deep and living experience in the things of God. We have not a moment to lose. Events of vital importance are taking place around us; we are on Satan’s enchanted ground. Sleep not, sentinels of God; the foe is lurking near, ready at any moment, should you become lax and drowsy, to spring upon you and make you his prey.” {GC 601.1}
“The influence of the “peace and safety” sentiment is in our very midst.
An atmosphere surrounds us that will lead us off our guard.
A worldly, malarious influence prevails to soothe those who would be stirred by the message of truth to stand as faithful sentinels at the post of duty.
Truth must be expressed in our lives. The light must shine brightly or we will cause others to stumble and fall.” {Ms4-1898.4}
“Among the professed followers of Christ, there is the same pride, formalism, vainglory, selfishness, and oppression, that existed in the Jewish nation.
Before the warfare shall be ended and the victory won, we as a people are to experience trials similar to those of Paul. We shall encounter the same hardness of heart, the same cruel determination, the same unyielding hatred.” {LP 250.3}
Paul Said . . .
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature . . .
(creature=anything created; Strongs Conc. G.2937)
. . . shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8: 35-39
"The greatest sin which now exists in the church is covetousness. God frowns upon His professed people for their selfishness. His servants have sacrificed their time and strength to carry them the word of life, and many have shown by their works that they prize it but lightly." (1T 194.2)
"Many suppose an emotion or a rapture of feeling to be an evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit . . . There is danger that original devisings and superstitious imaginings will take the place of the Scriptures . . . simplicity and humility are almost unknown." 2SM 18
"The message to the Laodicean church is applicable to our condition. How plainly is pictured the position of those who think they have the truth . . . while its sanctifying power has not been felt in their lives." 1SM 357
"The plain message of rebuke to the Laodiceans is not received. Many cling to their doubts and their darling sins while they are in so great a deception as to talk and feel that they are in need of nothing. They think the testimony of the Spirit of God in reproof is uncalled for or that it does not mean them. Such are in the greatest need of the grace of God and spiritual discernment that they may discover their deficiency in spiritual knowledge. They lack almost every qualification necessary to perfect Christian character. They have not a practical knowledge of Bible truth, which leads to lowliness of life and a conformity of their will to the will of Christ. They not living in obedience to all God's requirements." 3T 253.2
". . . meekness and lowliness of heart.....is rarely seen in the.....present day, even in those who profess to be Christians." SD 82
"If our people regard God's instruction as of value, they will move out of the city, so that they will not be corrupted by its vices. Those who choose to remain in the cities, surrounded by the houses of unbelievers, must share the disaster that will come upon them." Ms 41, 1902 (March 14, 1902) par. 8
".....the time is at hand when believers will be scattered into many lands. The workers.....are to be taught what it means to be sincere followers of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." Fundamentals of Christian Education, 492
Warning (Continued from Waymarks - part 5)
Today (continued)
"Teachers (are) to educate in spiritual things, to prepare a people to stand in the trying crisis before us; but there has been a departure from God's plan in many ways. The amusements are doing more to counteract the working of The Holy Spirit than anything else, and The Lord is grieved. FE 221
" . . . this I do know, that our churches are dying for the want of teaching on the subject of righteousness by faith in Christ, and on kindred truths . . . O may we act as men who want the light! May God give us His Holy Spirit day by day, and let the light of His countenance shine upon us, that we may be learners in the school of Christ." GW 301.2
"There is a spiritual drouth in the churches, and we have accustomed ourselves to be easily satisfied with our standing before God." "Christ Our Righteousness" 145
"Unbelief, like the pall of death is surrounding our churches because they do not exercise the talents God has given them, by imparting light to those who know not the precious truth." Christian Service 37. Para. 2
"(Satan) has planted his hellish banner right in the midst (of our people) and they are so completely deceived that they know not that it is he . . . They worship mammon. They love worldly gain . . . God's professed people are selfish and self-caring. They love the things of this world, and have fellowship with the works darkness. They have pleasure in unrighteousness. They have not love toward God, nor love for their neighbours. They are idolaters, and are worse, far worse in the sight of God, than the heathen, graven-image worshippers who have no knowledge of a better way . . . Like ancient Israel, the church has dishonoured her God . . . Pride, the love of pleasure and sin have been cherished, and Christ has departed. His Spirit has been quenched in the church . . . The solemn truths they profess to believe are not a reality to them. They have not genuine faith . . . Many, while professing to be servants of Christ, are obeying another master." Old GW 225
"Not one of us should dare to be off guard for a moment, for "in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." It is only those who continue faithful in well-doing that shall reap the reward. Much that has no part in Christ is allowed a place among us. Unconsecrated ministers, professors, and teachers assist Satan to plant his banner in our very strongholds." 5T 12.1
"The professed followers of Christ are no longer a separate and peculiar people. The line of demarcation is indistinct. The people are subordinating themselves to the world, to its practices, its customs, its selfishness. The church has gone over to the world in transgression of the law, when the world should have come over to the church in obedience to the law. Daily the church is being converted to the world. COL 315.3
"When I study the Scriptures, I am alarmed for the Israel of God in these last days. They are exhorted to flee from idolatry. I fear they are asleep and so conformed to the world that it would be difficult to discern between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not. The distance is widening between Christ and His people, and lessening between them and the world. The marks of distinction between Christ's professed people and the world have almost disappeared. Like ancient Israel, they follow after the abominations of the nations around them. 1T 276.3
"I have been shown the condition of God's people. They are stupefied by the spirit of the world. They are denying their faith by their works. . . . The history of the children of Israel was written for the benefit of those who live in the last days, that they may avoid following their example of unbelief." 4T 43.3,
" . . . it is true that the pride of rank and the oppression of the poor which prevail in the world, exist also among the professed followers of Christ. With many the sympathies that ought to be exercised in full measure toward humanity seem frozen up. Men appropriate to themselves the gifts entrusted to them wherewith to bless others. The rich grind the face of the poor and use the means thus gained to indulge their pride and love of display even in the house of God. . . . Were it not that the Lord has revealed His love to the poor and lowly who are contrite in heart, this world would be a sad place for the poor man." WM (Welfare Ministry) 209.3
[ End of Waymarks Vol 3 - Part 6 ]
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The Early and Latter Rain of The Holy Spirit (Collier).
GOD'S LAST MESSAGE TO THE WORLD
"The truth for this time, - The Lord our Righteousness." RH Aug. 13, 1889
"The last message of mercy to be given to the world is a revelation of His character of love. " COL 415
"The message of Christ's righteousness is to sound from one end of the earth to the other to prepare the way of the Lord. This is the (message) glory of God, which closes the work of the third angel." 6T 19
"The truth for this time, the third angel's message, (the truth of Righteousness by Faith in Christ which reproduces the character of God in His people) is to be proclaimed with a loud voice as we approach the final test (of the National Sunday Law)." Loma Linda Messages 82, par. 2. (Ev. 191)
The Time of the Early Rain.
"The outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the days of the apostles was the beginning of the Early or Former rain, and glorious was the result. To the end of time the presence of the Spirit is to abide with the true church." AA 54
"The time in which we are now living is to be, to those that ask, the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. Ask for His blessing. It is time we were more intense in our devotions." Testimonies to Ministers, p. 511
WHEN WILL JESUS RETURN? WHAT IS GOD'S SPECIAL PURPOSE for His people in the last days of earth's history?
What is God's Purpose for His Last Message to the World?
God brought the Seventh-day Adventist Church into existence in 1844 for the specific purpose of defeating Satan and vindicating His character and His law before the world and the universe. As soon as Satan is defeated and God is vindicated,
Jesus will return. What is it that will defeat Satan, vindicate God, and enable Christ to return?
"God has called (Seventh-day Adventists) to be the depositories (Revelations) of His Holy Law and to vindicate His character before the world." 5T 746
"All Heaven is waiting to hear us (Seventh-day Adventists) vindicate God's law." RH April 16, 1901
"It is the purpose of God to glorify (vindicate) himself in His people before the world." 9T 21
"Christ is honoured (vindicated) in excellence and perfection of character." OHC 152 (And therefore dishonoured by imperfection of character.)
"The honour (vindication) of God, the honour (vindication) of Christ is involved in the perfection of the character of His people." DA 671
"The message of Christ's righteousness is to sound from one end of the earth to the other to prepare the way of the Lord. This is the glory (the message, the revelation, the demonstration) of God, which closes the work of the third angel." 6T 19
"When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people. Then He will come to claim them as His own." Christ's Object Lessons, p. 69
(See Book Number 33 - God's Eternal Purpose in the Great Controversy)
THE TIME OF THE LATTER RAIN
"Movements are at work to bring us (Seventh-day Adventists) to the front." Evangelism, p. 69
THE NATIONAL SUNDAY LAW WILL DO IT!
Are you prepared to be thrust onto the stage and into the spotlight of the whole world?
Are you prepared to stand against public opinion - to stand up for God when all the world turns its back on Him?
Are you prepared to have every earthly support cut off?
"God's people "need an experience much higher, deeper, broader, than many have yet thought of having." Ministry of Healing, p. 503
PREPARATION CANNOT BE MADE AT THE LAST MOMENT!
"Courage, fortitude, faith, and implicit trust in God's power to save do not come in a moment. These heavenly graces are acquired by the experience of years. By a life of holy endeavour and firm adherence to the right, the children of God are sealing their destiny." 5T (Testimonies vol. 5) p. 213
NOW is the TIME for you to be FULLY REVIVED and to WORK EARNESTLY for the REVIVAL of the CHURCH! SOON IT WILL BE TOO LATE!
"The coming struggle will be marked with a terrible intensity such as the world has never witnessed." Great Controversy, xi
"Past history will be repeated; old controversies will arouse to new life, and peril will beset God's people on every side . . . . We, with all our religious advantage, ought to know far more today than we do know . . . ." Testimonies to Ministers, p. 116
THERE ARE TWO CLASSES, IN WHICH ONE ARE YOU?
"Those who are uniting with the world . . . preparing for the Mark of the Beast. Those . . . who are purifying their souls . . . preparing for the Seal of God." 5T 216
(The chapter, "The Seal of God" needs to be read often. It is stirring!)
A GREAT AWAKENING AMONG SDA'S COMING SOON!
" . . . The Lord will use in the accomplishment of His work means that we do not now see. He will raise up from among the common people, men and women to do His work, even as of old He called fishermen to be His disciples. There will SOON be an AWAKENING that will SURPRISE MANY." Those who do not realise the necessity of what is to be done, will be passed by, and the heavenly messengers will work with those who called the common people, fitting them to carry the truth to many places. Now is the time for us to awake and do what we can." Loma Linda Messages (Unabridged Edn.) pp. 131, 132.
"TEACH, WRITE, PUBLISH"
"Let all have more to teach, to write, and to publish in regard to those things that are now to be fulfilled, and that concern the eternal welfare of souls. Give meat in due season to old and the young, to saints and sinners. Let everything that can be said to awaken the church from its slumbers be brought forward without delay. . . . Let more time be given to the publication and circulation of books containing present truth." 7T 157, 158
TO "THEY THAT BE TEACHERS"
"The third angel's message, the great testing truth for this time, is to taught in all our institutions. . . . The youth should understand these things. They should know the things that will come to pass before the closing up of the world's history. These things concern our eternal welfare, and teachers and students should give more attention to them." 6T 128, 129
A GREAT RESPONSIBILITY- EDUCATORS, TEACHERS!
A HOLLOW SQUARE
"When men arise, claiming to have a message from God, but instead of warning against principalities and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world, they form a hollow square, and turn the weapons of warfare against the church militant, be afraid of them. They do not bear the Divine credentials. God has not given them any such burden of labour. They would tear down that which God would restore by the Laodiceans message." Testimonies to Ministers, p. 22
SEEK THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH
"On no account should you allow yourself to be entangled in work that will weaken your influence with Seventh-day Adventists." Letters and Ms - Going to Battle Creek, p. 115.
"The Lord would be greatly dishonoured were His people to follow a course that would lead the people of the world to think that we are divided into two parties." Letters and Ms - Going to Battle Creek, p. 115.
"We must keep before the world a united front. Satan will triumph to see differences among Seventh-day Adventists." Counsels to Writers and Editors, p. 76.
"If there is any difference upon any parts of the understanding of some particular passage of Scripture, then do not be with pen or voice making your differences apparent and making a breach when there is no need of this." CW 79.
"If Satan can get in dissension among us as a people, he will be only too glad." CW 79
"This unchristian harshness has excluded Jesus from the church, and has brought in a spirit of dissension. It has fostered a disposition to judge and condemn, a hatred of those who do not see things as you see them." 5T 342. (Read context).
"Harmony and union existing among men of varied dispositions is the strongest witness that can be borne that God has sent His Son into the world to save sinners. It is our privilege to bear this witness . . . But God cannot make them one in Christ unless they are willing to give up their own way for His way." 8T 243. (Read context)
"My brethren, allow nothing to come in that will separate you from one another, or from God. Talk not of differences of opinion, but unite in the love of the truth as it is in Jesus." 8T 12. (Read context)
"Divisions, and even bitter dissensions which would disgrace any worldly community, are common in the churches. . ." COR 148. (Read context)
"Union with Christ and with one another is our only safety in these last days. Let us not make it possible for Satan to point to our church members saying, 'Behold how these people, standing under the banner of Christ, hate one another.'" 8T 240.
"Do not let anything interpose between you and your brethren. . . . God wants us to love one another as brethren." 9T 193. (Read whole section for context).
BEWARE!
Seventh-day Adventists should be on the alert for men who arise from among us from time to time claiming to have great light from God, but who do not have clear Bible evidence for their positions. Some Seventh-day Adventists are accepting "new light" without clear Bible evidence.
GOOD COUNSEL
The messenger of The Lord warns:
"God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines, and the basis of all reforms. . . . Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain, 'thus saith The Lord' in its support." Great Controversy, p. 595.
"Do not advocate theories or tests that Christ has never mentioned, and that have no foundation in the Bible." Gospel Workers, p. 309.
"It is not His plan that His people shall present something which they have to suppose, which is not taught in the Word." 1 Selected Messages, p. 174.
A TRAGIC CONDITION
"Many are going directly contrary to the light which God has given to His people, because they do not read the . . . " Spirit of Prophecy. 5T 681.
OUR DANGER
Many Seventh-day Adventists are in terrible danger of rejecting truth and consequently of being lost because they have neglected the study of the Spirit of Prophecy. Here is their opportunity to make up for lost time. It may well be the last opportunity for many!
PRESS TOGETHER
Let us now do all we can to unite our church. Let us oppose anyone, or any teaching that would divide the church. Let us present a united front to the world.
Time is running out! Soon it will be everlastingly too late to work for the revival of the church and the salvation of souls. A terrible intensity should now grip our hearts and impel us to go out into the great harvest field and to labour untiringly for the Master.
A GRAND AND AWFUL TIME
Seventh-day Adventists should be on tiptoe of expectancy, preparing most earnestly for what is soon to burst upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.
Earth-shattering events, riots, assassinations, cities destroyed, rising crime, immorality, drunkenness, strikes, the Ecumenical movement, are the end of a civilisation, the death pangs of a dying world, the culmination of earth's history, the harbingers of our coming King!
AN ALARMING SITUATION!
Soon many Seventh-day Adventists will cry out in anguish and bitterness of soul, 'It's here! It's the end; and I'm not ready!'
(G. Collier comments)
"Nearly all (Seventh-day Adventists) who profess to believe present truth . . . are wholly unfitted to receive the latter rain." Testimonies vol.1, p.466
THE BRIDE OF CHRIST
The church is the apple of God's eye.
"Nothing else in this world is so dear to God as His church." 6T 42.
Christ loves the church and gave Himself for her. God is holding each one of us individually responsible for the revival and reformation of our beloved church. The destiny of our church is our destiny! We have absolutely nothing else for which to live! May we love the church as God loves her. May we toil for her and defend her to our dying breath.
"PERILOUS TIMES are before us." 8T 298.
"A great crisis awaits THE PEOPLE OF GOD." 5T 711.
"The crisis is stealing gradually upon us." DA 636.
"Everything in the world is in agitation." DA 636.
"All Heaven is astir." 5T 451.
"A storm is coming, relentless in its fury. Are we prepared to meet it?" 8T 315.
"The fires of persecution will be rekindled." GC 48.
"Awful judgments (are) soon to fall upon the world." 8T 37. Every man's faith will be tried to the utmost.
"Fearful tests and trials await the people of God." 9T 17.
"Soon He will arise in majesty to shake terribly the earth." 8T 36.
"We need not say, The perils of the last days are soon to come upon us. Already they have come." 8T 315.
"Coming events cast their shadows before. The Spirit of God is withdrawing from the earth, . . . calamity follows calamity . . . probation's hour is fast closing . . . every case is about to be eternally decided." DA 636.
Sudden destruction is coming! "For when they shall say, peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them . . ." 1 Thess. 5: 3.
"Suddenly, with power and great glory, Christ will come." 8T 37.
"Ministers and people, wake up! 7T 14.
"We must now be terribly in earnest." 8T 36.
"Intense earnestness should now take possession of us." 9T 44.
"Let the gospel message ring through our churches, summoning them to universal action." RH August 5, 1902.
"NOW is the time to put forth earnest effort to overcome the natural tendencies of the carnal heart. Our efforts, our self-denial, our perseverance, must be proportionate to the infinite value of the object of which we are in pursuit. Only by overcoming as Christ overcame shall we win the crown of life." 8T 315
THANK GOD - "God's chosen people will stand unmoved." 9T 17.
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AN ADVENTIST APOCALYPSE (part 16)
Last Day Events
REVELATIONS OF CHARACTER BEFORE THE VITAL TEST--Letter 13
Satan's Diversionary Tactics To Mislead.
"Satan will work with his masterly power to separate the soul from God. We hear the different voices sounding from every quarter that our attention shall be taken from the true issue in this time. The end is near, and let there not be a confusion of voices to misguide and mislead some astray. To say, 'Peace, peace,' to these souls that have long resisted the voice of the True Shepherd, who have contended long against Omnipotence, is to quiet their consciences to the sleep of death. Will a man in his pride forsake his own interests by cherishing thoughts or doing deeds opposed to the mind and Spirit of God? God has been pleased to show me that men who ought to know the voice of The True Shepherd will be more ready to accept the voice of a stranger and follow in unsafe, forbidden paths because of the stubbornness of their human nature...."
Those Leaders Who Have Faltered Will Reveal This Fact Before The Last Proving Comes.
"Before the great trouble such as has never been since there was a nation shall come upon the world, those who have faltered, and who would ignorantly lead in unsafe paths, will reveal this before the real vital test, the last proving comes, so that whatsoever they may say will not be regarded as voicing the True Shepherd ."--Letter 13, August 22, 1892, pp. 9, 10. (Entire letter found in 1888 materials, pp. 993-1003.)
TWO SIDES IN THE FINAL CONFLICT -- Letter 30
There Will Be Light Shining From The Sanctuary Amid Deepening Apostasy.
"Satan is at work from beneath to stir up the hellish powers of his confederacy of evil against the just. He imbues human agencies with his own attributes. Evil Angels united with evil men will put forth efforts to harass, persecute, and destroy. But The Lord God of Israel will not forsake those who trust in Him. Amid the strengthening of infidelity and apostasy, amid the pretended illumination, which is the blindest presumption and delusion, there will be light from the Sanctuary above shining upon God's people. The truth of God will triumph...."
Those Under Satan's Banner Will Exalt The False Sabbath.
"Every person will be arrayed under one of two banners. The chosen and loyal will stand under the bloodstained banner of Prince Emmanuel, and all others under Satan's standard. All who are on Satan's side will unite with him in honouring the spurious sabbath, thus paying homage to the man of sin, who has exalted himself above all that is called God, and has thought to change times and laws. They trample upon the laws of Jehovah and frame laws to compel all to worship the false sabbath, the idol they have exalted. But the day of deliverance to God's people is not far distant."--Letter 30, September 5, 1892, pp. 2, 3. (See Upward Look, p. 262?)
DISEASE IN THE LAST DAYS--Letter 34
Disease Of Every Kind Will Be Upon The Human Family.
"Perilous times are before us. The whole world will be involved in perplexity and distress. Disease of every kind will be upon the human family, and such ignorance as now prevails concerning the laws of health would result in great suffering and the loss of many lives that [otherwise] might be saved."
God's People Should Be Gaining A Knowledge Of Physiology And Preventive Medicine.
"While Satan is constantly doing his utmost to take advantage of man's ignorance, and to lay the foundation of disease through improper treatment of the body, it is best for those who claim to be sons and daughters of God to avail themselves, while they can, of the opportunities now presented, to gain a knowledge of the human system and how it may be preserved in health...."
Those Who Become Intelligent Regarding The Cause, Prevention, And Cure Of Disease Will Find Work Anywhere.
"As we approach the close of this earth's history, selfishness and violence and crime prevail as in the days of Noah.... As religious aggression subverts the liberties of our nation, those who would stand for freedom of conscience will be placed in unfavourable positions. For their own sakes they should, while they have opportunity, become intelligent in regard to disease, its causes, prevention, and cure. And those who do this will find a field of labour anywhere. There will be suffering ones, plenty of them, who need help, not only among those of our own faith, but largely among those who know not the truth." -- Letter 34, September 16, 1892, pp. 2, 3.
HOW ADVENTISTS SHOULD PREPARE TO MEET SATAN'S STRATEGY IN THE FINAL CONFLICT -- Letter 32
Satan Will Endeavour To Divide And Scatter The Remnant.
"As we near the close of time, Satan comes down with great power, knowing that his time is short. Especially will his power be exercised upon the remnant. He will wage war against them, and seek to divide and scatter them, that they may grow weak and be overcome...."
The Business Of The Church Should Be Placed In A Secure State Lest Satan Take Advantage.
"God's people should act wisely and leave nothing undone on their part to place the business of the church in a secure state. Then, after all is done that they can do, they should trust The Lord to overrule these things for them, that Satan take no advantage of God's remnant people. It is Satan's time to work. A stormy future is before us, and the church should be awake to make an advance move that they may be able to stand securely against his plans....
Unless the churches are so organised that they can Carry out and enforce order, they have nothing to hope for in the future. They must be scattered into fragments...."
The Influence Of Apostates To Tear Down Is Recorded.
"We are living in a solemn time. Satan and evil Angels are working with mighty power with the world on their side to help them. And professed Sabbath keepers, who profess to believe solemn, important truth, unite their forces with the combined influence of the powers of darkness to distract and tear down that which God designs to build up. The influence of such is recorded as of those who retard the advance of reform among God's people."--Letter 32, December 19, 1892. (See 1T 271. [Testimonies vol. 1] )
THE WORLD-WIDE NATURE OF THE FINAL CONFLICT -- Letter 2
Persecution Will Come To Those Who Seek Uprightness And Holiness.
"The tyrant is seeking to oppress man's conscience, which Christ has made free. Persecution will come more definitely and decidedly upon the people of God, because the godly are seeking for uprightness and holiness, and the disobedient are in sin. The sin-loving do not choose the way and will of God, and the obedient, in their character and course of action are a constant rebuke to the sinful. When the truth finds access to the heart, it must fight every inch of the way.... Then the collision comes. Then comes the warfare, and if the heart has yielded to Jesus in obeying the commandments of God, there is a jealous contest; error rising up to condemn truth, and truth in its God-given principles setting strongly against error. This is the experience the world over.
The only way in which men will be enabled to stand firm in the conflict is to be rooted and grounded in Christ. They must receive the truth as it is in Jesus...."
Deny The Desire To Have Costly Musical Instruments, For There Will Be The Richest Music In Heaven.
"Our probation is about ended. Can you not wait a little for the gratification of your desire [to have costly musical instruments]? Deny self, walk in the light while you have light, and then if you are saved in the Kingdom of God, there will be the richest music of Heaven for you throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity...."
Every Nation On The Globe Will Follow America In Forcing Men To Honour The False Sabbath.
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A FUTURE WORLD UNION OF CHURCH AND STATE . . . .
When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government and shall make provision for the propagation of Papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. -- 5T 451 (1885).
The Threefold Union of Religion
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. [ Rev. 16:13, 14 ].
By the decree enforcing the institution of the Papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation [the United States] will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near.
Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience. ..
Papists, Protestants, and worldling will alike accept the form of godliness without the power, and they will see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium.
When our nation [the United States] shall so abjure the principles of its government as to enact a Sunday law, Protestantism will in this act join hands with Popery; it will be nothing else than giving life to the tyranny which has long been eagerly watching its opportunity to spring again into active despotism.
I have been shown that Satan is stealing a march upon us. The law of God, through the agency of Satan, is to be made void. In our land of boasted freedom, religious liberty will come to an end.
When our nation, in its legislative councils, shall enact laws to bind the consciences of men in regard to their religious privileges, enforcing Sunday observance, and bringing oppressive power to bear against those who keep the seventh-day Sabbath, the law of God will, to all intents and purposes, be made void in our land; and national apostasy will be followed by national ruin.
When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.
The Scriptures teach that Popery is to regain its lost supremacy, and that the fires of persecution will be rekindled through the time-serving concessions of the so-called Protestant world. In this time of peril we can stand only as we have the truth and the power of God. . . . The prospect of being brought into personal danger and distress, need not cause despondency, but should quicken the vigor and hopes of God's people; for the time of their peril is the season for God to grant them clearer manifestations of his power. - E G White, Maranatha, (excerpts).
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Revelation 17:9-18
And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills, on which the woman sitteth.
And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. . . .
And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
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Seven New Members Join NATO
26/03/2004 - NATO
29/03/04 - Washington
Speech by US President George W. Bush at the Accession Ceremony for Seven New NATO Members
On 29 March, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia formally became members of NATO by depositing their instruments of accession with the United States Government.
At 1:00 pm local time, the Prime Ministers of the seven countries handed over their instruments of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty to US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who accepted them on behalf of the United States, which is the depository nation for the Treaty.
The ceremony took place in the Cash Room at the US Department of the Treasury in Washington, D.C.
At that moment the seven countries formally became parties to the North Atlantic Treaty and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This is the fifth and the largest round of enlargement in NATO’s history, bringing NATO to 26 member countries.
The event was celebrated with a special ceremony hosted by United States President George W. Bush at the White House and attended by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
The accession of the seven new members will be marked by a special flag-raising ceremony at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on 2 April. It will be followed by an informal working luncheon of the Foreign Ministers of the now 26 member countries.
Remarks
by US President George W. Bush
at the NATO Accession Ceremony
News
29/03/04 - NATO
Thank you all. Good afternoon, and welcome to the White House.
Fifty-five years ago, the representatives of 12 nations gathered here in Washington to sign the North Atlantic Treaty, which established the most successful military alliance in history. Today, we proudly welcome Bulgaria --Estonia -- Latvia -- Lithuania -- Romania -- Slovakia -- and Slovenia. We welcome them into the ranks of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
When NATO was founded, the people of these seven nations were captives to an empire. They endured bitter tyranny, they struggled for independence, they earned their freedom through courage and perseverance. And today they stand with us as full and equal partners in this great alliance.
It has been my honor to host the Prime Ministers of each new NATO member in the Oval Office. I want to thank them for their friendship; I want to thank them for their leadership. I look forward to working with them to make the world more peaceful and more free. Welcome to America.
I want to thank the foreign and defense ministers of the new NATO members who are with us today. I want to thank the Prime Ministers of Albania, Croatia and Macedonia, who are with us today. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is with us today, who is the Secretary General of NATO. Thank you for coming, Mr. Secretary General. I thank the Ambassadors of all the members of NATO, both old and new.
I want to thank the Vice President, Secretary of State Powell, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, General Dick Myers, General Jones, members of my administration. I want to thank the members of Congress who are with us today; Majority Leader Bill Frist of the United States Senate; members of the Senate that voted unanimously in support of the admission of the new members that we welcome today. I want to thank the members of the House of Representatives who have joined us today. I want to thank those who are here today whose vision years ago helped make this moment a reality. I want to thank other distinguished guests. Welcome.
Today marks a great achievement for each of the nations joining our alliance. All member nations of NATO must be free and democratic and fully committed to defending the principles of liberty. All member nations must be willing, and able, to contribute to the common defense of our alliance. Our seven new members have built free institutions; they've increased their military capabilities in the span of a decade. They are stronger nations because of that remarkable effort -- and the NATO alliance is made stronger by their presence.
Since NATO's founding, the assurance of mutual defense has been a safeguard for peace. As President Truman said, "By this treaty, we are not only seeking to establish freedom from aggression and from the use of force in the North Atlantic community, but we are also actively striving to promote and preserve peace throughout the world."
Under NATO's banner, the nations of Europe put aside rivalries that had divided the continent for centuries. NATO members stood watch on freedom's borders for two generations of the Cold War. Because of NATO's vigilance, free people lifted the Iron Curtain, and tore down the Berlin Wall and replaced dictators with democratic governments.
In the aftermath of this victory, some questioned whether NATO could -- or should -- survive the end of the Cold War. Then the alliance proved its enduring worth by stopping ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, and by ousting the armies of a tyrant in Kosovo. Some wondered whether NATO could adapt to the new threats of the 21st century. Those doubts were laid to rest on September the 12th, 2001, when NATO invoked -- for the first time in its history -- Article Five of our charter, which states that an attack against one NATO ally is an attack against all.
NATO's core mission remains the same: the defense of its members against any aggression. Today, our alliance faces a new enemy, which has brought death to innocent people from New York to Madrid. Terrorists hate everything this alliance stands for. They despise our freedom, they fear our unity, they seek to divide us. They will fail. We will not be divided. We will never bow to the violence of a few. We will never -- we will face the mortal danger of terrorism, and we will overcome it together.
The countries we welcome today were friends before they were allies, and they were allies in action before becoming allies by treaty. Today, all seven of these nations are helping to bring lasting freedom to Afghanistan and Iraq. Bulgaria provided refueling facilities during the early days of Operation Enduring Freedom, and has deployed more than 400 soldiers to Iraq. Military engineers from Estonia and Latvia are helping to clear explosive devices from Iraq. Forces from Lithuania and Slovakia are helping to secure Iraq. Romanian troops have sacrificed their lives fighting terrorists in Afghanistan. And troops from Slovenia are serving in the international force that is protecting the city of Kabul in Afghanistan.
Forces from Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia are also contributing in Afghanistan or Iraq -- proving their mettle as they aspire to NATO membership. These three nations, joined together under the Adriatic Charter, are building strong democracies at home that can contribute to NATO efforts abroad. The United States supports these efforts. The door to NATO will remain open until the whole of Europe is united in freedom and in peace.
As witness to some of the great crimes of the last century, our new members bring moral clarity to the purposes of the Alliance. They understand our cause in Afghanistan and in Iraq, because tyranny for them is still a fresh memory. These nations know that when great democracies fail to confront danger, far worse peril can follow. They know that aggression, left unchecked, can rob millions of their liberty and their lives. And so now, as members of NATO, they are stepping forward to secure the lives and freedom of others.
The NATO alliance now flies seven new flags, and reaches from the Bay of Biscay to the Black Sea. And Europe -- once the source of global conflict -- is now a force for stability and peace.
Our great transatlantic alliance has met and overcome great dangers in the past, and our work in NATO is not done. In the past, many assumed that NATO represented a pledge that America would come to the aid of Europe. Today, by our words and by our actions, we know that NATO means much more -- it is a solemn commitment that America and Europe are joined together to advance the cause of freedom and peace.
NATO is acting to meet the challenges of our time. NATO forces are securing Afghanistan, NATO ships are patrolling the Mediterranean, and NATO is supporting the Polish-led division in Iraq. NATO is widening the circle of its friends, by creating a new chapter in our relationship with Russia. NATO members are reaching out to the nations of the Middle East, to strengthen our ability to fight terror, and to provide for our common security. And we're discussing how we can support and increase the momentum of freedom in the greater Middle East.
Our unity and our commitment to freedom carried us to victory in the Cold War, and they showed us the way to victory in the war on terror. Together, Europe and America can lead peaceful nations against the dangers of our time. Europe and America can advance freedom, and give hope and support to those who seek to lift the yoke of isolation and fear and oppression. That is the mission that history has set for NATO -- this great and confident alliance of 26 nations -- and we proudly accept this mission.
May God bless you all.
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EU welcomes 10 new members
Prodi: Largest-ever expansion heals Cold War divisions
Saturday, May 1, 2004 - CNN
Fireworks and searchlights light up Malta's harbor Friday night.
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Capitals across Europe celebrated Friday night and into Saturday morning as the European Union marked the largest expansion in its history.
Ten new members, eight of them formerly under communist rule, joined the EU at midnight CET (2200 GMT), but celebrations began earlier in countries farther east. The accession unites Eastern and Western Europe, patching rifts left by World War II and the Cold War.
The new member states are Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. The additions bring the EU's population to 450 million, making it the world's largest trading bloc.
At the Italian-Slovenian border, European Commission President Romano Prodi presided over a reunification ceremony in the Italian town of Gorizia and the Slovenian town of Nova Goricia, divided by an iron fence since the end of World War II.
Prodi said, in Italian, "Today's enlargement is the fifth and the largest in the history of the union, and I am convinced that it will not be the last. Other European countries and nations will decide to join our undertaking until the whole continent is unified in peace and democracy," Reuters reported.
In Poland, the largest new EU member, a chorus sang in a Warsaw square and a video screen showed scenes of Poland's climb from post-World War II destruction through communist domination to democratic rule.
President Aleksander Kwasniewski told the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are making history ... Today our dream is becoming reality. Poland is returning to its European family," Reuters reported.
At the German-Polish border, the hoisting of the EU flag was accompanied by fireworks and the "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
A two-hour concert at the Berliner Konzerthaus and an open-air stage in Warsaw symbolically linked the two cities, and featured performers from the newest EU states.
In Malta, part of "Ca Ira (It Will be Fine)," a new opera by former Pink Floyd singer Roger Waters, was accompanied by lasers, floodlights and fireworks. Giant images were projected on the city's historic fortress walls, and boats with sails representing EU members' flags floated below.
The Berlin, Warsaw and Malta concerts were part of the celebration arranged by the EU, and were carried on live television in 30 countries.
"We are not expecting charity," one Lithuanian reveler speaking English told Reuters. "We are hard-working people, and we will work, we will catch up with the rest of Europe, and quite soon we will do it."
In Cyprus, Greek Cypriots celebrated the event, but Reuters reported that reaction was muted in the island's north, where the breakaway Turkish cypriot state was left behind after a reunification vote failed last week.
On Saturday, the leaders of all 25 EU countries will gather for a largely ceremonial summit in Dublin. The Republic of Ireland holds the six-month rotating EU presidency.
On the eve of the celebrations, Prodi declared that the divisions of the Cold War had been removed once and for all.
"We are bringing into the EU family 10 new member states and 75 million new EU citizens," the UK Press Association quoted Prodi as saying.
"Five decades after our great project of European integration began, we are celebrating the fact that Europeans are no longer kept apart by artificial ideological barriers.
"We share the same destiny and we are stronger when we act together. I urge all Europeans to join in celebrations of this astonishing achievement."
The commission is spending about 6 million euros ($7 million) on the enlargement celebrations.
The EU began with six member states, becoming nine in 1973 with the arrival of the UK, Ireland and Denmark.
Greece followed in 1981, and Portugal and Spain in 1986. Austria, Sweden and Finland made in 15 in 1995.
"May 1 will be a milestone in the history of Europe," EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said.
"It is Europe's response to the end of the Cold War and an opportunity to heal the wounds of the past, wounds of war and dictatorship," Reuters quoted Verheugen as saying in Warsaw.
The enlargement crowns efforts by Poland and Germany to overcome the past. They are the largest old and new members of the EU, with about 80 million and 40 million citizens, respectively.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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The 2004 EU enlargement: the challenge of a 25-member EU
On 1 May 2004 ten new countries with a combined population of almost 75 million joined the EU. The 25-member EU now forms a political and economic area with 450 million citizens and includes three former Soviet republics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), four former satellites of the USSR (Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia), a former Yugoslav republic (Slovenia) and two Mediterranean islands (Cyprus and Malta).
This historic enlargement of the EU from 15 to 25 members is the culmination of a long accession process leading to the reunification of a Europe that had been divided for half a century by the Iron Curtain and the Cold War. It is therefore worth briefly reviewing the preparations for this fifth enlargement of the EU, and the challenges and prospects it brings with it.
Preparations for the fifth EU enlargement
The fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 marked the disintegration of the entire Communist bloc in the East. This event was the starting point for the process of European reunification. From then on the EU and the candidate countries worked tirelessly together to prepare the enlargement within the framework of bilateral accession partnerships between the EU and each candidate country. The partnerships set the priorities and precise timetables for the ground which needed to be covered to enable each country to take on the obligations involved in accession.
From 1987 to 1996 thirteen countries submitted applications to join the EU: Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Slovakia and Turkey. The Luxembourg European Council of 12 and 13 December 1997 launched the EU enlargement process, in which "each of the applicant States would proceed at its own rate, depending on its degree of preparedness".
To prepare for EU membership, the candidate countries first signed Europe Agreements (in the case of Central and Eastern European countries) or Association Agreements (Turkey, Cyprus and Malta). The EU supported their work to adopt the Community's rules through its pre-accession strategy. It gave them financial assistance for developing their institutions, infrastructure and economies.
ccession negotiations began on 31 March 1998 with the six best-prepared countries (Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia), and on 15 February 2000 with all the other candidate countries (Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania and Slovakia) except Turkey. They were based on the principle of "differentiation", i.e. each country's progresses at its own pace according to its level of preparation for accession. The length of the negotiations therefore varied according to each country's progress.
From 1998 the Commission published regular reports every year on the progress of each candidate country. The priorities for each candidate country and the specific support this required were defined in the accession partnerships adopted in 1998 and revised in 1999 and 2002. These documents were the basis for "screenings" (sector-by-sector evaluation) to establish a "roadmap" for each candidate specifying the legislation that needed to be adopted or amended to comply with the Community acquis.
The Copenhagen European Council of December 2002 found that 10 of the 13 candidate countries (Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia) fulfilled the conditions necessary for joining the EU. They therefore signed their Accession Treaty on 16 April 2003 in Athens and officially joined the EU on 1 May 2004 after the ratification procedures were completed.
To become part of the EU, the ten candidate countries had first and foremost to be recognised as European States (Article 49 of the EU Treaty) and secondly to comply with the principles of freedom, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law (Article 6 of the EU Treaty). They also had to fulfil the economic and political conditions known as the Copenhagen criteria, according to which a candidate country should:
- be a stable democracy, respect human rights and the rule of law and protect minorities;
- have a working market economy;
- adopt the common rules, standards and policies which make up the body of EU law.
The challenges of the fifth EU enlargement
The driving force behind the fifth EU enlargement has been the desire to ensure peace, stability and economic prosperity in a re-unified Europe. Nevertheless, this entails both costs and benefits that it is important to quantify.
Peace, stability and economic prosperity in Europe
The objectives of European unification include:
- ensuring peace and political stability throughout the continent;
- securing greater prosperity for Europe's citizens by extending the European socio-economic model and the euro-zone, while at the same time protecting the environment;
- furthering democracy through compliance with the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights, which is based on the principles of dignity, equality, solidarity and justice;
- reinforcing Europe's role internationally, particularly in trade matters;
- cultural enrichment.
To guarantee that enlargement does not undermine the economic and social achievements of the first forty years of the European project, the EU insisted in its negotiations with the candidate countries on the importance of:
- liberalising economic and agricultural sectors;
- reforming the judicial system and the police and combating corruption;
- applying the rules on food safety;
- combating organised crime, economic and financial crime, drug trafficking and trafficking in women, while upholding children's' rights;
- upholding minority rights;
- improving and protecting the environment, particularly in terms of waste management and the safety of nuclear power stations.
The cost and advantages of enlargement
The increase in the number of Member States with differing economic situations, the size of the EU's population and the number of languages spoken calls for some effort to be made by Member States, particularly in financial terms.
As part of its pre-accession strategy, the EU set up a number of financial instruments (Phare, Ispa and Sapard) to help the candidate countries become members.
From 2000 to 2003 the European Commission devoted 13.2 billion euros to pre-accession expenditure. More than 41 billion euros were released for the period 2004-2006 (40.8 billion for the new Member States: agricultural subsidies, regional and infrastructure assistance, nuclear safety, public administration and border protection; 540 million for all Member States: research, culture and education).
When the ten new Member States joined the EU on 1 May 2004 the pre-accession strategy no longer applied to them, but they still benefit from the pre-accession financial instruments for projects presented before 2005 and are now eligible for the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund.
However, along with these costs go advantages, since the enlargement from 15 to 25 countries has made it possible to extend the area of stability and peace to the whole European continent, and so avoid the recurrence of conflicts such as that in the former Yugoslavia; to stimulate economic growth and trade by expanding the single market from 378 million to 453 million consumers in 2004, with a prospect of more than 480 million by 2007; and to acquire a greater role for Europe on the international stage, particularly in trade negotiations.
The new Member States have also contributed 15 billion euros to the EU budget. As not all the funds made available have been used, the European Commission has calculated that the net budget cost of the fifth enlargement will not exceed 10 billion euros for the period up to 2006.
The outlook for the fifth enlargement: towards an EU of 30 Member States
Having successfully grown from six members to twenty-five, the EU is now preparing for its next enlargement. Bulgaria and Romania signed their accession treaty on 25 April 2005. They should become members of the EU on 1 January 2007.
Turkey submitted its application for membership on 14 April 1987 and officially obtained the status of accession candidate at the Helsinki European Council of December 1999. In its recommendation of 6 October 2004 the Commission said that it considered that Turkey sufficiently fulfilled the Copenhagen political criteria. It therefore recommended commencing accession negotiations (subject to certain conditions) with Turkey. The European Council of December 2004 therefore programmed the commencement of negotiations for October 2005.
Croatia applied for EU membership on 21 February 2003. The June 2004 European Council officially recognised the country as an accession candidate and in November 2004 the Commission recommending opening negotiations. The December 2004 European Council then concluded that accession negotiations with Croatia should start on 17 March 2005 provided that Croatia fully cooperated with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), particularly regarding the arrest of General Gotovina and his transfer to the Hague. However, finding that Croatia had not fully cooperated, on 16 March 2005 the Council of Ministers decided to postpone the commencement of accession negotiations with Croatia indefinitely. It announced that a bilateral inter-governmental conference would be called by common agreement once it was found that Croatia was fully cooperating with the ICTY.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia submitted its accession application on 22 March 2004 but has not yet obtained the official status of candidate country.
The EU is thus working resolutely for new enlargements in the western Balkan region. It believes that these countries are destined to become members of the EU when they are ready.
Last updated: 23.01.2007
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM%3Ae50017
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European Commission Press Release
IP/04/559
Brussels, 29 April 2004
European Union Enlargement Day Celebrations
On 1 May 2004, large parts of Eastern and Western Europe will be united in peace and democracy as the EU expands to 25 Member States.
Ten new countries are joining the European Union - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia. Numerous events, organised by the European Institutions, EU Governments and the private sector, are taking place across Europe to mark the historic Enlargement.
"May 1st 2004 is an historic day for Europe, when we welcome into the EU family 10 new member countries and 75 million new EU citizens. Five decades after our great project of European integration began, the divisions of the Cold War are gone - once and for all", said Romano Prodi, European Commission President. "Our new members bring to the Union the cultures and diversity of 10 countries with distinct historical roots stretching back through the centuries. The peoples of Europe are celebrating EU enlargement in a series of cultural events from the west coast of Ireland to the eastern border of Poland, and from Valletta in the south to the northernmost tip of Finland. Europeans are celebrating the fact that they are no longer kept apart by artificial ideological barriers. We share the same destiny and we are stronger when we act together. United in diversity, we can work more effectively for safety and prosperity for all. As Prime Minister Ahern said recently in Prague: 'Enlargement is about opening minds as well as borders'. I urge all Europeans to join in the celebrations of this astonishing achievement."
Gala Concert from Berlin, Warsaw and Malta, 30 April
On the eve of Enlargement, there will be a gala concert with some of the most popular artists from the new Member States performing live to a television audience of millions across Europe and beyond. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union with the support of the European Commission, this will culminate in a spectacular midnight firework display from Malta harbour. The concert can be seen live in most EU countries and further afield.
Enlargement Ceremony, 1 May
The Irish Presidency of the European Union will stage a ceremony in Dublin to mark the historic enlargement, attended by the Heads of State and Government of all 25 EU Member States.
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BBC News
Last Updated: Saturday, 1 May, 2004, 13:00 GMT 14:00 UK
In quotes: Leaders hail new EU
Leaders from the EU's 10 new member states have been marking their countries' entry into the European Union with speeches and televised addresses.
Here is a selection of what they and other European leaders have been saying.
European Commission President Romano Prodi:
Welcome to the new Europe. Five decades after our great project of European integration began, the divisions of the Cold War are gone once and for all and we live in a united Europe.
Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, President of the European Council:
To the people of Europe who are joining us today in the European Union I extend the hand of friendship. It was your democratic choice and your own efforts that made this day happen. Today marks the triumph of your determination and perseverance over the legacy of history. For Europe, today marks the closure of one chapter and the opening of another new and exciting chapter in its long history.
Former Polish president and Solidarity trade union leader Lech Walesa:
I fought for our country to recover everything it lost under communism and the Soviets... and now my struggle is over. My ship has come to port.
Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski:
We have passed the test of being Europeans.
Slovenian President Janez Drnovsek:
Dreams from 1991 are becoming reality. We will build good relations between nations and people. We will strive towards mutual respect and equality of every individual, sex, race and national or any other minority.
Lithuanian President Arturas Paulauskas:
History will rectify its greatest mistake tonight: Lithuania, the geographical centre of Europe, is returning to Europe. Today, we are saying to the old continent: Hello Europe, we are coming. We are coming to live together, to work together, to create together, yet to remain ourselves.
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy:
We used to be the gate to Europe and will continue to be so, but there is a crucial difference; we are now inside the gate.
Slovak President Rudolf Schuster:
We should take care to see all our citizens boarding the (EU) train - not to turn it into a privilege for only the richest. This is one of the reasons why the responsible politicians in our country should choose for our train into the future a speed which will take into account that not all of us are equally strong and fast. Let us, therefore, wish each other a happy journey towards our better and more beautiful future.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus:
As from midnight today the Czech Republic will no longer exist as an independent state entity and it will become a part of the EU... Today we are gaining something, but also at the same time losing something.
Estonian Prime Minister Juhan Parts:
We are returning to where we belong, to a community that shares the same values and visions.
Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos:
We don't want to celebrate the joys and fortunes of EU accession on our own, we want to share it with the Turkish Cypriots. As legal citizens of the Cyprus Republic they have every right to this joy and prosperity. We wait for them. Their place is with us.
Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga:
We have passed all the tests, we have met all the requirements, we have achieved what many, including ourselves, did not believe we would be able to attain.
Malta's Archbishop Joseph Mercieca:
Malta in Europe should not consider only material benefits, it should also take into account its Christian roots of our country and Europe. Through its words and deeds it should assist so that the community of people in the EU understand and feel the need of God and religion.
French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin:
I have tears in my eyes about this subject. I am part of a generation that believes in Europe. Europe is the force that prevents hate from being eternal. We must open our hearts to this new Europe.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder:
Enlargement will not make us poorer, but richer in the future.
Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl:
We never want to wage war again against each other. We want to honour the dead and tend to the graves but we never again want to have soldiers' tombs in Europe. That is the most important reason for a united Europe.
Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds:
There was a time when Europe's countries negotiated with each other by sending tanks. The enlargement we see today is fantastic. The Cold War's division of Europe into east and west is melting away once and for all.
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Pope urges Europe’s leaders to renew push for integration
Pontiff’s strongest words were on the migration crisis, which has torn the EU apart
https://www.ft.com/content/53332988-1377-11e6-839f-2922947098f0
FT
James Politi in Rome - FT - MAY 6, 2016
Pope Francis has called for European leaders to make a new and audacious push for the continent’s integration, to rekindle the “soul” of its founders and establish new foundations based on multiculturalism and a more equitable economic model. In a speech at the Vatican that was partly a pep talk and partly an admonishment for the top ranks of EU institutions gathered in the audience, the 79-year old Argentine pontiff warned that such a transformation was becoming increasingly urgent as “selfish interests” risked taking over the European “dream”. “The founding fathers were heralds of peace and prophets of the future. Today more than ever, their vision inspires us to build bridges and tear down walls,” said Pope Francis. “That vision urges us not to be content with cosmetic retouches or convoluted attempts at compromises aimed at correcting this or that treaty, but courageously to lay new and solid foundations,” he said. Pope Francis’ speech came as he accepted the prestigious Charlemagne award in recognition of his efforts to foster European integration from the leaders of the EU institutions — Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament, Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the EU Commission, and Donald Tusk, president of the EU Council. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, who had a private meeting with the Pope on Friday, and Matteo Renzi, the Italian prime minister, also attended. Pope Francis’s strongest words were on the migration crisis, which has torn the EU apart as different member states have struggled to mount a joint response to thousands of refugees seeking protection and better lives on the continent. The head of the Catholic Church has emerged as one of the most high-profile advocates for immigrants, and warned on Friday that attempts to exclude them from society ran counter to Europe’s traditions. “The roots of our peoples, the roots of Europe, were consolidated down the centuries by the constant need to integrate in new syntheses the most varied and discrete cultures,” the Pope said. “The identity of Europe is, and has always been, a dynamic and multicultural society . . . the true face of Europe is seen not in confrontation, but in the richness of its various cultures and the beauty of its commitment to openness”. Pope Francis’ attempts to shape the politics of migration have not been especially successful, despite repeated high-profile visits to the front lines of the crisis. Since his election to the papacy in March 2013, he has travelled to the islands of Lampedusa in Italy, Lesbos in Greece, and the US-Mexico border, where he defied presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump’s call to erect a fence there. In Europe, citizens and governments appear to have grown increasingly hostile to the arrival of migrants, which Pope Francis described as “the poverty of exclusion”. “Far from bestowing grandeur, riches and beauty, exclusion leads to vulgarity, narrowness and cruelty. Far from bestowing nobility of spirit, it brings meanness,” the Pope said. Friday’s speech was not the first wake-up call from Pope Francis to the EU. In November 2014 in Strasbourg he likened the EU to a “tired and haggard” grandmother — an analogy he repeated again on Friday. He added: “There is an impression that Europe is declining, that it has lost its ability to be innovative and creative, and that it is more concerned with preserving and dominating spaces than with generating processes of inclusion and change.” EU leaders may not disagree with his diagnosis.
At a debate on Thursday night at the Capitoline museums in Rome, Mr Schulz, Mr Juncker and Mr Tusk lamented the lack of a common purpose among EU leaders and suggested that the dream of a united Europe appeared increasingly distant. “In former times we were working together . . . this has totally gone,” Mr Juncker bemoaned. Pope Francis did not confine his criticism of the EU to the migration issue. He also called for a “new more inclusive and equitable economic model” that reined in free market capitalism — which has been another emphasis during his tenure at the helm of the Catholic Church. “It would involve passing from an economy directed at revenue, profiting from speculation and lending at interest, to a social economy that invests in persons by creating jobs and providing training,” he said. The Pope closed by listing his series of dreams for Europe, which amounted to the building of a new “humanism”, saying: “I dream of a Europe where being a migrant is not a crime but a summons to greater commitment on behalf of the dignity of every human being. I dream of a Europe that promotes and protects the rights of everyone without neglecting its duties towards all. I dream of a Europe of which it will not be said that its commitment to human rights was its last utopia.”
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Sunday, 29 June, 2003
Pope presses EU on constitution
By Liz Blunt
Pope John Paul II has urged the European Union to include a recognition of Europe's Christian heritage in its first constitution, which is due to be signed next year.
The Pope said EU policy-makers should rediscover their Christian roots.
The Pope's stance is supported by Italy and Poland
A draft constitution presented to European leaders at their recent summit in Greece referred to the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance" of Europe, but not to its Christian tradition.
The Pope has issued a lengthy document - a so-called exhortation to the Church in Europe - in which he urges those drawing up the constitution to include a reference to the religious, and in particular the Christian heritage of the continent.
He also wants churches and other religious bodies to have a recognised status as social bodies, arguing that they are far more than merely private entities.
The draft constitution was accepted by the EU leaders as a good basis for negotiation, but it now goes to a commission of member governments which could make substantial changes.
Muslim applicants
So the lobbying goes on - not just by the Vatican, but by the Greek Orthodox Church and centre-right parties in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Poland.
But there are strong arguments against endorsing any particular religion in a constitution for the Europe of the future.
Many European countries have substantial minorities who are not from Christian traditions.
And one Muslim country, Turkey, is already in the queue of countries waiting to join, with Bosnia and Albania expected to apply in the not-too-distant future.
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EU Observer.com
- POPE JOHN PAUL II - can count on support from Italy, Spain, Poland and Ireland (Photo: Polish government)
By LISBETH KIRK
25. AUG 2003, 09:47
Pope John Paul II on Sunday repeated calls for a clear reference to Europe's Christian heritage to be insearted in the European Constitution.
Speaking at his summer residence south-east of Rome, the pontiff said that incorporating Christianity [Roman Catholicism?] in the European draft constitution would be "an advantage for all", reported Eubusiness.
"The explicit recognition in the treatise of the roots of Christianity in Europe would become the principal guarantee of the future of the continent," the Pope said.
The Draft Constitution, which was adopted by the European Convention in June, has no explicit mention of Christianity. It says: "The Union shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity, and shall ensure that Europe's cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced".
EU member states will 4 October start an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) to fine tune the details of the draft Constitution. Four countries - Italy, Spain, Poland, Ireland - are pushing for a reference to Christianity to be added to the Constitution.
The European Parliament Committee on Constitutional Affairs and the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy will both meet on Monday (25 August) and discuss the Draft Treaty on the European Constitution.
https://euobserver.com/institutional/12425
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Last Updated: Tuesday, 22 June 2004, 10:57 GMT 11:57 UK
BBC News
A constitution for the European Union was agreed in Brussels on 18 June, 2004.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
February 2002: Convention starts work
June 2003: Draft submitted to EU summit
May 2004: EU enlarges to 25 Member States
June 2004: EU Constitution Text agreed
May 2005: French No vote
June 2005: Dutch No vote
The constitution brings together for the first time the many treaties and agreements on which the EU is based. It defines the powers of the EU, stating where it can and act and where the member states retain their right of veto.
It also defines the role of the EU institutions.
POWERS OF THE EU
What the constitution says:
The Union is said to be subsidiary to member states and can act only in those areas where "the objectives of the intended action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states but can rather... be better achieved at Union level." The principle is established that the Union derives its powers from the member states.
What it means:
The idea is to stop the Union from encroaching on the rights of member states other than in areas where the members have given them away. Critics say that the EU can act in so many areas that this clause does not mean much but supporters say it will act as a brake and is an important constitutional principle.
DIVISION OF RESPONSIBILITIES
What the constitution says:
The EU already has rights to legislate over external trade and customs policy, the internal market, the monetary policy of countries in the eurozone, agriculture and fisheries and many areas of domestic law including the environment and health and safety at work.
The constitution will extend its rights into some new areas, perhaps most importantly into justice policy, especially asylum and immigration. It does away with the old structure of pillars under which some policies came under the EU and some under "inter-governmental" arrangements.
What it means:
It means a greater role for the EU in more aspects of life. In some areas, the EU will have exclusive competence, in others a shared competence and in yet more, only supporting role.
DECISION MAKING
What the constitution says:
The principle of voting by qualified majority will be generally applied. It is felt that otherwise getting the agreement of all 25 members would be a recipe for inaction. There will however be a veto for members in foreign policy, defence and taxation. And there is to be what's called an "emergency brake" in which a country outvoted on an issue can take its case to the European Council, though it can still be outvoted there. The European Parliament will have an equal say on decisions requiring majority voting.
QUALIFIED MAJORITY VOTING (QMV)
What the constitution says:
"A qualified majority shall be defined as at least 55% of the members of the Council, comprising at least 15 of them and representing Member States comprising at least 65% of the population of the Union."
What it means:
This system replaces the old one under which countries got specific numbers of votes. There were objections that Spain and Poland had too many votes and this methods is felt to represent a fairer balance between large and small countries. The new one will still lead to complicated permutations of voting but the final results of the "double majority" should command more general respect.
An amendment does away with a proposed procedure under which the European Council could have changed an area of policy to QMV. Now such a proposal will have to go before national parliaments and if one objects the measure fails.
PRESIDENT
What the constitution says:
The European Council, that is the heads of state or government of the member states, "shall elect its President, by qualified majority, for a term of two and a half years, renewable once." The candidate will then have to be approved by the European Parliament. The President will "chair (the Council) and drive its work forward and ensure, at his level, the external representation of the Union."
What it means:
This is a new post. At the moment, the Council presidency rotates through the member states every six months, so continuity is lost. The new President will therefore be a permanent figure with much greater influence and symbolism. But since he or she will be subject to the Council, the powers of the post are limited.
FOREIGN MINISTER
What the constitution says:
"The European Council, deciding by qualified majority, with the agreement of the president of the Commission, shall appoint the Union Minister of Foreign Affairs... [who] shall conduct the Union's common foreign and security policy."
What it means:
It sounds grand, but the minister will only be able to speak on the EU's behalf when there is an agreed or common policy, for example over the Middle East roadmap which members have accepted. The post will combine the present roles of the external affairs member of the Commission with the High Representative on foreign policy so it will be more prominent, especially in negotiating trade and aid agreements. The EU is also to set up its diplomatic service which will strengthen the Minister's hand.
FOREIGN AND DEFENCE POLICY
What the constitution says:
"The Union shall have competence to define and implement a common foreign and security policy, including the progressive framing of a common defence policy."
What it means:
It does not mean that a common foreign or defence policy will be imposed on member states. Each one will retain a right of veto and can go its own way. There is nothing that could stop divisions over Iraq for example. The aim however is to agree on as much as possible. Defence is even more sensitive and has been ring-fenced by references to the primacy of Nato for relevant members.
REFORM OF THE COMMISSION
What it says:
The Commission, the body which proposes and executes EU laws, "will consist of one national from each Member State" for its first term of five years starting in November 2004. After that it will be slimmed down to "a number of members... corresponding to two thirds of the number of Member States, unless the European Council, acting unanimously, decides to alter this figure."
What it means:
As a transitional measure to reduce the fears of small states that they will be ignored, each member state will have a Commissioner (only one each) from November. The idea after five years is to slim down the Commission from 25 to 18 (or one or two more if there are more member states by then). It is felt that the current Commission is too big with not enough jobs to go round.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
What the constitution says:
The European Parliament is to have powers of "co-decision" with the Council of Ministers for those policies requiring a decision by qualified majority.
What it means:
The European Parliament has over the years acquired real power and the constitution confirms this. If the parliament does not agree to a piece of relevant legislation, it will not pass. This idea is to strengthen democracy because the parliament is the only EU institution in which voters have a direct say.
CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
What the constitution says:
It sets out "rights, freedoms and principles." These include a whole list from the right to life and the right to liberty down to the right to strike.
What it means:
The Charter is wide-ranging but has to be tested in the courts before its exact status is established. The British government says that rules for interpreting the Charter mean, for example, that national laws on industrial relations will not be affected.
LEGAL SUPREMACY
What the constitution says:
The EU will for the first time have a "legal personality" and its laws will trump those of national parliaments: "The Constitution and law adopted by the Union institutions in exercising competence conferred upon it by the Constitution shall have primacy over the law of the member states."
What it means:
This really just confirms the status quo, which is that if the EU is allowed to legislate in an area of policy, its law will overtake any national laws. Equally in areas where it does not legislate, national law prevails.
By having a "legal personality", the EU will be able, as an organisation, to enter into international agreements. The old European Community had this right but the EU as a whole did not so its status in world diplomacy increases.
LEAVING THE EU
What the constitution says:
A new procedure describes how a member would leave the EU: " A member state which decides to withdraw shall notify the Council of its intention... The Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with that state, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal."
What it means:
It was always the case that a member state could leave by simply repealing its own legislation. Now there is a formal procedure designed to show that the EU is a voluntary association. However a departing member would have to agree terms so there is an implied threat that it would not be that easy.
This clause is presumably designed never to be used.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2950276.stm
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When is the UK due to leave the EU?
For the UK to leave the EU it had to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty which gives the two sides two years to agree the terms of the split. Theresa May triggered this process on 29 March, meaning the UK is scheduled to leave at 11pm UK time on Friday, 29 March 2019. It can be extended if all 28 EU members agree, but at the moment all sides are focusing on that date as being the key one, and Theresa May is seeking to put it into British law.
What's going to happen to all the EU laws in force in the UK?
The Conservative government has introduced the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill to Parliament. If passed, it will end the primacy of EU law in the UK. This "Great Repeal Bill", as it was originally called, is supposed to incorporate all EU legislation into UK law in one lump, after which the government will decide over a period of time which parts to keep, change or remove. The government is facing claims from Remain supporting MPs that it is giving itself sweeping powers to change legislation without proper Parliamentary scrutiny.
What do 'soft' and 'hard' Brexit mean?
These terms are used during debate on the terms of the UK's departure from the EU. There is no strict definition of either, but they are used to refer to the closeness of the UK's relationship with the EU post-Brexit.
So at one extreme, "hard" Brexit could involve the UK refusing to compromise on issues like the free movement of people even if it meant leaving the single market or having to give up hopes of aspects of free trade arrangements. At the other end of the scale, a "soft" Brexit might follow a similar path to Norway, which is a member of the single market and has to accept the free movement of people as a result of that.
What is the single market?
The single market is seen by its advocates as the EU's biggest achievement and one of the main reasons it was set up in the first place. Britain was a member of a free trade area in Europe before it joined what was then known as the common market. In a free trade area countries can trade with each other without paying tariffs - but it is not a single market because the member states do not have to merge their economies together.
The European Union single market, which was completed in 1992, allows the free movement of goods, services, money and people within the European Union, as if it was a single country. It is possible to set up a business or take a job anywhere within it. The idea was to boost trade, create jobs and lower prices. But it requires common law-making to ensure products are made to the same technical standards and imposes other rules to ensure a "level playing field".
Critics say it generates too many petty regulations and robs members of control over their own affairs. Mass migration from poorer to richer countries has also raised questions about the free movement rule. Theresa May has ruled out the UK staying in the single market. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said continued membership of the single market has to be an option in negotiations with Brussels.Read more: A free trade area v EU single market
What's the difference between the Single Market and the customs union?
The customs union ensures EU member states all charge the same import duties to countries outside the EU. It allows member states to trade freely with each other, without burdensome customs checks at borders, but it limits their freedom to strike their own trade deals.
It is different from a free trade area. In a free trade area no tariffs, taxes or quotas are charged on goods and services moving within the area but members are free to strike their own external trade deals.
The single market is a very different beast - it is not just about the trade in goods. It allows the free movement of people, money and services as if the EU was a single country.
How long will it take for Britain to leave the EU?
The Article 50 process lasts two years so the intention is for the UK to leave the EU on 29 March 2019. EU law still stands in the UK until it ceases being a member. But as things stand there will not be a final break on that day as the two sides have agreed to a 21-month transition period to allow a smooth implementation of whatever Brexit deal is negotiated and minimise disruption to businesses and holidaymakers etc.
23 June 2016 EU Referendum - Britain votes to leave the EU
29 March 2017 UK invokes Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to begin the Brexit process - 2-year time limit begins
EU Withdrawal Bill introduced to revoke the 1972 European Communities Act
Ongoing Brexit negotiations between Britain and the EU
Final Brexit deal to be agreed and then ratified by Parliament.
UK leaves the EU, EU laws cease to apply in the UK, Great Repeal Bill comes into force copying EU laws into UK law to give time for the UK to amend or repeal them
Will leaving the EU mean we don't have to abide by the European Court of Human Rights?
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg is not a European Union institution. It was set up by the Council of Europe, which has 47 members including Russia and Ukraine. So quitting the EU will not exempt the UK from its decisions.
The Conservatives are committed to sticking with the Human Rights Act which requires UK courts to treat the ECHR as setting legal precedents for the UK during the Brexit process.
What about the European Court of Justice?
The Court of Justice of the European Union - to give it its full name - is the EU's highest legal authority. It is based in Luxembourg. It is an entirely different thing to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
It is the ECHR not the ECJ that has often upset British politicians by making it harder, for example, to deport terrorist suspects. The ECJ interprets and enforces the rules of the single market, settling disputes between member countries over issues like free movement and trade. It is at the centre of pretty much everything the EU does and it having the power over UK actions has been a key issue for those arguing for the UK to leave to the EU to regain full sovereignty.
Prime Minister Theresa May has vowed that Britain will not be under the "direct" jurisdiction of the ECJ after Brexit. But she has suggested that elements of relations could - where the UK signs up to specific EU agencies - still be covered by the ECJ after Brexit
After that, there will need to be a new mechanism for settling disputes between the UK and the EU but what form that take has yet to be decided. There has been talk of an ombudsman, or some other third party, being appointed to settle disagreements.
The initial stages of the Brexit deal, published on 8 December 2017, do also give limited powers to the ECJ in terms of EU citizens living in the UK for up to eight years.
Will the UK be able to rejoin the EU in the future?
BBC Europe editor Katya Adler says the UK would have to start from scratch with no rebate, and enter accession talks with the EU. Every member state would have to agree to the UK re-joining. But she says with elections looming elsewhere in Europe, other leaders might not be generous towards any UK demands. New members are required to adopt the euro as their currency, once they meet the relevant criteria, although the UK could try to negotiate an opt-out.
Who wanted the UK to leave the EU?
The UK Independence Party, which received nearly four million votes - 13% of those cast - in the 2015 general election, but who saw their vote collapse to about a quarter of that at this year's election, has campaigned for many years for Britain's exit from the EU. They were joined in their call during the referendum campaign by about half the Conservative Party's MPs, including Boris Johnson and five members of the then Cabinet. A handful of Labour MPs and Northern Ireland party the DUP were also in favour of leaving.
What were their reasons for wanting the UK to leave?
They said Britain was being held back by the EU, which they said imposed too many rules on business and charged billions of pounds a year in membership fees for little in return. They also wanted the UK to make all of its own laws again, rather than being created through shared decision making with other EU nations.. . . . The Leave campaign also objected to the idea of "ever closer union" between EU member states and what they see as moves towards the creation of a "United States of Europe".
UK votes to leave the EU
The UK has voted to leave the EU by 52% [ 17,410,742 VOTES ] 48% [ 16,141,241 VOTES ]
Electorate 46,501,241
Turnout 72.2%
Leave won the majority of votes in England and Wales, while every council in Scotland saw Remain majorities.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
United Kingdom European Union membership referendum
Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?
Date: 23 June 2016
Results
Votes%
Leave
17,410,742
51.89%
Remain
16,141,241
48.11%
Valid votes
33,551,983
99.92%
Invalid or blank votes
25,359
0.08%
Total votes
33,577,342
100.00%
Registered voters/turnout
46,500,001
72.21%
The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, also known as the EU referendum and the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to gauge support for the country either remaining a member of, or leaving, the European Union (EU) under the provisions of the European Union Referendum Act 2015 and also the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The referendum resulted in a simple majority of 51.9% of people voting in favour of leaving the EU. Although legally the referendum was non-binding, the government had promised to implement the result and it initiated the official EU withdrawal process on 29 March 2017, which put the UK on course to leave the EU by 30 March 2019, after a period of Brexit negotiations.
Membership of the EU and its predecessors has long been a topic of debate in the United Kingdom. The country joined what were then the three European Communities, principally the European Economic Community (EEC, or "Common Market"), in 1973. A first referendum on continued membership of the then European Communities (Common Market) was held in 1975, and it was approved by 67.2% of "Yes" voters compared to 32.8% of "No" voters.
In May 2015, in accordance with a Conservative Party manifesto commitment following their surprise victory in the 2015 UK general election, the legal basis for a referendum on EU membership was established by the UK Parliament through the European Union Referendum Act 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_European_Union_membership_referendum,_2016
Brexit
Brexit is the prospective withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU).
In a referendum on 23 June 2016, 51.9% of the participating UK electorate voted to leave the EU, out of a turnout of 72.2%. On 29 March 2017, the UK government invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union. The UK is thus due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019.[1]
Prime Minister Theresa May announced that the UK would not seek permanent membership of the single market or the customs union after leaving the EU[2][3] and promised to repeal the European Communities Act of 1972 and incorporate existing European Union law into UK domestic law.[4] A new government department, the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU), was created in July 2016, with Eurosceptic David Davis appointed its first Secretary of State. Negotiations with the EU officially started in June 2017.
The UK joined the European Communities (EC) in 1973, with membership confirmed by a referendum in 1975.
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Timeline: the EU constitution
After their recent collapse, negotiations on the EU constitution are slowly getting back on track. Natalie Feary looks back over the document's troubled history
Natalie Feary
Tue 30 Mar 2004 - The Guardian
The proposed EU constitution aims to streamline decision-making in an expanded EU of 25 member states, and to boost the union's role on the world stage by creating an EU president and foreign minister. It also proposes closer defence cooperation. However, negotiations so far have been dogged by disputes with the other EU nations and controversy at home. So how did we get into the current situation?
May 28, 2003
As controversial plans for a charter of fundamental rights are published in Brussels, Tony Blair appears to overturn the government's stated policy on not holding a vote on the EU constitution by suggesting that next year's European parliamentary elections would serve as a mini-referendum on the document.
May 29, 2003
Romano Prodi, the president of the European commission, says the draft constitution is a "step backward" that lacks integrationist vision and ambition and calls for the text of the constitution to be amended. Blair stresses that Britain and other member states will retain national control in the key areas of taxation, defence and foreign policy.
June 24, 2003
The draft EU constitution is approved at an EU summit in Greece. Blair tells EU leaders that Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's draft constitution is a good basis for future negotiations between governments.
September 10, 2003
The foreign secretary, Jack Straw, sets out the British government's response to the draft of the proposed European constitution. He insists that foreign and security policy must be kept separate, Nato must not be undermined, and qualified majority voting (QMV) should not extend into issues of national interest.
September 11, 2003
The government refers to the EU constitution as a "tidying-up" exercise. Mr Straw publishes a white paper laying down the proposals for negotiations on the constitution and confirming that there will not be a referendum on it.
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October 4, 2003
The draft of the new EU constitution is drawn up. It includes social dialogue and full employment as founding principles.
October 16, 2003
Poll reveals that 75% of voters want a referendum on the government's plans to sign an EU constitution.
November 25, 2003
The government makes it known that it does not regard an agreement on the EU constitution as essential and would not sign up without concessions.
November 27, 2003
The government objects to proposals on tax and social security, as well as proposals that a future EU foreign minister would operate by majority voting. Foreign policy is one of the areas that the government says it will defend as the preserve of the nation state.
December 16, 2003
The EU summit collapses and the proposed new EU constitution is put on hold. This is due to the fact that the interests of Europe's nation states can not be reconciled with an integrationist version of the EU. France and Germany do not accept the voting rights of Poland and Spain, as they feel they should have more voting muscle due to their larger populations and bigger economies.
March 23, 2004
EU constitution re-emerges as an issue following the election of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as the head of a socialist government in Spain. Mr Zapatero indicates that he wants to compromise on the EU constitution, and Poland in turn announces that the time has come to reach a deal.
March 25, 2004
At the Brussels summit, Bertie Ahern, the Irish prime minister and holder of the union's rotating presidency, tells Mr Blair and fellow leaders that a deal on the EU constitution should be reached by June. Britain is prepared to be flexible about one of its priorities, the national veto on judicial cooperation, partly to facilitate greater cooperation in fighting terrorism. There has been movement on the key issue of voting weights as Spain and Poland seem prepared to abandon the Nice ruling if they get improvements in the so-called "double majority" voting system.
March 27, 2004
Mr Blair pledges to reach agreement on the EU constitution as soon as possible and insists that the UK will maintain its "red lines" in the areas of tax, defence, foreign policy and the criminal justice system, as well as uphold its veto on areas such as jury trials and habeas corpus.
The prime minister says that agreement on the constitution will help the war against terror, saying that it is important for Europe to work effectively with issues such as security and terrorism. The government says it is also prepared to move to majority voting on less controversial aspects of criminal procedure to ensure quicker agreement on "lighter minimum standards", so that anyone arrested in Europe will receive standard treatment.
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BBC News
Monday, 17 January 2011
Q&A: The Lisbon Treaty
The Lisbon Treaty became law on 1 December 2009, eight years after European leaders launched a process to make the EU "more democratic, more transparent and more efficient".
Under EU rules, the treaty had to be ratified by all 27 member states before coming into force. The last country to ratify the treaty was the Czech Republic, which completed the process on 3 November 2009.
Like the proposed European constitution before it, the treaty is often described as an attempt to streamline EU institutions to make the enlarged bloc of 27 states function better. But its opponents see it as part of a federalist agenda that threatens national sovereignty.
The planned constitution was thrown out by French and Dutch voters in 2005. The Lisbon Treaty which succeeded it was rejected by Irish voters in June 2008. But it got overwhelming support in a second referendum in the Irish Republic on 2 October 2009.
How similar is Lisbon to the draft constitution?
It contains many of the changes the constitution attempted to introduce, for example:
- A politician chosen to be president of the European Council for two-and-a-half years. But ministerial meetings will still be chaired by the country holding the six-month rotating EU presidency.
- A new post - called High Representative - combining the jobs of the existing foreign affairs supremo, Javier Solana, and the external affairs commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, to give the EU more influence on the world stage.
- The European Commission will continue to have 27 commissioners - one from each member state. The previous Nice Treaty envisaged a smaller commission - and that idea was to be kept, but it was then dropped as a concession to the Irish Republic in 2008.
- A redistribution of voting weights between the member states, phased in between 2014 and 2017 - qualified majority voting based on a "double majority" of 55% of member states, accounting for 65% of the EU's population.
- New powers for the European Commission, European Parliament and European Court of Justice, for example in the field of justice and home affairs.
- The parliament will be on an equal footing with the Council - the grouping of member states' governments - for most legislation, including the budget and agriculture. This is called "co-decision".
- Removal of national vetoes in a number of areas, including fighting climate change, energy security and emergency aid. Unanimity will still be required in the areas of tax, foreign policy, defence and social security.
Most European leaders acknowledge that the treaty preserves the main substance of the constitution.
If it contains the same substance, why is the Lisbon Treaty not a constitution?
The constitution attempted to replace all earlier EU treaties and start afresh, whereas the new treaty amends the Treaty on the European Union (Maastricht) and the Treaty Establishing the European Community (Rome).
It also drops all reference to the symbols of the EU - the flag, the anthem and the motto - though these will continue to exist.
How long did it take to agree the treaty?
A declaration issued at the EU's Laeken summit in 2001 called for a Convention on the future of Europe to look into the simplification and reorganisation of the EU treaties, and raised the question whether the end result should be a constitution.
The Convention began work in February 2002 and a constitution was signed in Rome two-and-a-half years later, in October 2004. But that text became obsolete when it was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.
Work began in earnest on a replacement treaty during the German EU presidency, in the first half of 2007, and agreement on the main points of the new treaty was reached at a summit in June that year.
Negotiations continued behind the scenes over the following months, until a final draft was agreed by the leaders of the 27 member states in October 2007.
Why was the constitution dropped?
France and the Netherlands said they would be unable to adopt the constitutional treaty without significant changes, following the 2005 referendums.
The UK also pressed hard for a modest "amending treaty", which could be ratified by means of a parliamentary vote, like earlier EU treaties.
Does the Charter of Fundamental Rights feature in the new treaty?
No. There is a reference to it, making it legally binding, but the full text does not appear, even in an annex.
The UK has secured a written guarantee that the Charter cannot be used by the European Court to alter British labour law, or other laws that deal with social rights. However, experts are divided on how effective this will be.
Poland won an opt-out from the Charter, because it insisted on retaining national control over family issues and morality, such as abortion.
The Czech Republic also has an opt-out - secured by the Eurosceptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus as a condition for signing the treaty. He wanted a guarantee that his country would not be exposed to property claims by Germans expelled from the then Czechoslovakia after WorldWar II.
Q&A Charter of Fundamental Rights
Did any countries seek more opt-outs?
The Irish Republic and the UK currently have an opt-out from European policies concerning asylum, visas and immigration. Under the new treaty they have the right to opt in or out of any policies in the entire field of justice and home affairs.
Dublin also won guarantees that the treaty would not infringe on its sovereignty in the areas of taxation, family issues and state neutrality.
Denmark will continue with its existing opt-out from justice and home affairs, but has the right under the new treaty to opt for the pick-and-choose system.
Was the Irish Republic the only country to hold a referendum?
Yes. Most EU leaders argued that Lisbon merely amended earlier treaties and that there was therefore no need for a referendum.
That position was rejected by the Irish No camp and the opposition Conservative Party in Britain, as well as by many Eurosceptics across the EU.
The Irish Republic was obliged to hold a referendum because of an Irish Supreme Court ruling in 1987, saying that any major amendment to an EU treaty entails an amendment to the Irish constitution.
Before the second Irish referendum, Dublin won guarantees that Lisbon would not affect Irish sovereignty in key areas that the No camp had highlighted.
What happens next?
• The High Representative for Foreign Affairs - Baroness Catherine Ashton from the UK - is getting to grips with the EU foreign policy portfolio. Her new EU diplomatic service is taking shape, drawing in specialists from the Commission and national administrations;
• The new President of the European Council - Belgium's Herman Van Rompuy - is chairing EU summits, though many EU ministerial meetings are still being chaired by the country holding the six-month presidency - currently Hungary;
• The new European Parliament was elected in June 2009 under the existing Nice Treaty. So there are 736 MEPs - down from the previous 785. Under the Lisbon plan, the number will be fixed at 751;
• A new 27-member European Commission took office in February 2010, after a three-month delay, having won the backing of MEPs;
• Some extensions of qualified majority voting in the European Council are already in place, but plans to redistribute voting weights have been delayed until after 2014.
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Pope John Paul II - Angelus, 24 August 2003
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
1. My thoughts turn once more to the current process of European integration and especially to the determinant role of its institutions.
I am thinking in the first place of the European Union, involved in seeking new forms of openness, encounter and collaboration between its member States.
I think, moreover, of the Council of Europe, with its headquarters in Strasbourg and of the attached European Court of Human Rights, which carry out the noble task of creating a Europe of freedom, justice and solidarity.
Finally, it is necessary to mention the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe which is committed to promoting the cause of the fundamental freedom of the persons and nations of the continent.
2. I follow in prayer the laborious drafting of the Constitutional Treaty of the European Union, now being studied by the governments of the various countries. I am confident that those who are devoting their energies to it will always be motivated by the conviction that "a proper ordering of society must be rooted in authentic ethical and civil values shared as widely as possible by its citizens" (Apostolic Exhortation 'Ecclesia in Europa', n. 114).
For her part, the Catholic Church is convinced that the Gospel of Christ, which has been a unifying element of the European peoples for many centuries should be and continue to be today too an inexhaustible source of spirituality and fraternity. Taking note of this is for the benefit of all, and an explicit recognition of the Christian [ Roman Catholic? ] roots of Europe in the Treaty represents the principle guarantee for the continent's future.
3. Let us invoke Mary Most Holy, so that in the building of the Europe of today and tomorrow, that spiritual inspiration which is indispensable to ensure authentic action at the service of humanity, may never be lacking. Such an inspiration finds in the Gospel a sure guarantee in favour of the freedom, justice and peace of all, believers and non-believers.
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Pope Francis and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met at the Vatican on Thursday to discuss a range of global issues.
Among the issues the duo discussed included “conflicts in Syria and the wider Middle East, the importance of protecting civilian populations from suffering, and the importance of dialogue in international affairs to reduce tensions,” as noted by NATO.int.
“I am honoured to have met His Holiness,” Stoltenberg said following the meeting. “His wisdom and vision for a just and more peaceful world, as well as his appeal for dialogue and cooperation, should inspire us all. Especially in these times of increased tension.”
Stoltenberg’s meeting with Pope Francis comes after the rhetoric of nuclear war between the United States and Russia. According to NBC News the CIA is preparing to “deliver options to the White House for a wide-ranging ‘clandestine’ cyber operation designed to harass and ‘embarrass’ the Kremlin leadership.”
The report goes on to say that the action has been devised to keep the presidential elections safe from being interfered with and “insure that Russian hackers can’t interfere with the November vote.”
“Another goal is to send a message to Russia that it has crossed a line,” the report adds.
In the FBI investigation of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s use of private server, which involved her handling government documents that were stamped classified, while the bureau said Clinton had been “extremely careless” no charges had been filed against her.
In a tweet, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump had called for Russia to “find the 30,000 emails that are missing.” This led to the stemming of rumors concerning a “bromance” between Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin that, according to RT, provided “the necessary diversion to distract attention away from the explosive content of Clinton’s emails, and to the fantasy land of “Russian aggression.”
Also read: WW3 News – Putin Pushes Russian Invasion, Europeans Prepare For War
“The Clinton campaign’s desperate insistence that Russia is somehow responsible for the hacked emails, which even the media has admitted it cannot prove, is forcing the outgoing Obama administration to act as if it is doing something about it,” RT further notes.
The meeting between Pope Francis and Stoltenberg came a year after His Holiness said he believed World War 3 had already begun, as previously reported by Morning News USA.
Speaking during mass at Kosevo Stadium in Saravejo, Pope Francis said the “reality of many armed conflicts presently is affecting our world” and that “atmosphere of war” was being fueled by politicians and people with ulterior motives.
Pope Francis on Thursday morning met with Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of the NATO military alliance.
The Holy See Press Office did not release any details of the meeting.
However, Mr. Stoltenberg sent a tweet saying “Honoured to meet [Pope Francis]. His vision for a just world and appeal for cooperation is inspiring. Especially in times of increased tension.”
ENDS
https://www.morningnewsusa.com/ww3-news-pope-francis-meets-nato-23113201.html
NATO Secretary General meets Pope Francis
- 13 Oct. 2016 -
- NATO News
- Last updated: 13 Oct. 2016 15:35
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was received in private audience by His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday (13 October 2016). The Secretary General and His Holiness discussed global issues of common concern, including the conflicts in Syria and the wider Middle East, the importance of protecting civilian populations from suffering, and the importance of dialogue in international affairs to reduce tensions. The Secretary General also stressed that climate change could pose a significant security risk.
© L'Osservatore Romano
"I am honoured to have met His Holiness. His wisdom and vision for a just and more peaceful world, as well as his appeal for dialogue and cooperation, should inspire us all. Especially in these times of increased tension," the Secretary General said after the meeting.
Mr Stoltenberg also met with His Excellency Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See.
The Secretary General is in Rome with the North Atlantic Council and the NATO Military Committee to mark the 65th anniversary of the NATO Defense College. During his visit, Mr Stoltenberg will meet with President Sergio Mattarella, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, and Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti.
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June 24, 2016 / 12:38 PM /
Pope calls for 'guarantees' after Brexit for good of UK, Continent
Philip Pullella and Margarita Antidze
Pope Francis waves as he boards a plane at Fiumicino Airport in Rome June 24, 2016. - Remo Casilli
YEREVAN (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Friday Britain's vote to leave the European Union must be followed by "guarantees" for the good of both Britons and countries on the Continent.
Francis, who was starting a weekend visit to Armenia, normally takes questions from journalists only on the return flight of his trips but made an exception this time, clearly eager to speak about the stunning Brexit referendum.
Speaking shortly after leaving Rome for the Armenian capital Yerevan, Francis suggested the referendum result - 52 to 48 percent in favor of leaving the EU - had to be respected because it embodied the popular will.
"It was the will expressed by the people and this requires a great responsibility on the part of all of us to guarantee the good of the people of the United Kingdom, as well as the good and co-existence of the European continent," he said.
"This is what I expect," he said, adding that he had been told the definitive result when he boarded the plane in Rome. The Vatican has always strongly supported the European Union.
Pope Francis boards a plane at Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy June 24, 2016. - Remo Casilli
Francis, the first pope from Latin America, also expressed satisfaction at a ceasefire agreement between Colombia's government and FARC guerrillas brokered by Cuba. He said the accord should be made "ironclad so that there will be no going back to a state of war".
In Armenia, which in the 4th century became the first nation to adapt Christianity as a state religion, Francis had been expected to avoid the word "genocide" so as not to reignite a dispute with Turkey sparked last year when he used it to describe the 1915 mass killings of some 1.5 million Armenians.
But in a speech on Friday night to Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan, his cabinet and diplomats, Francis at first used the Armenian term 'Metz Yeghern' (the great evil). He then added to his prepared text "that genocide" to refer to "the first of the deplorable series of catastrophes of the past century".
There was no immediate reaction from Turkey, which last year recalled its ambassador to the Vatican after the pope used the "genocide" term. The envoy was kept away for 10 months. His office in Rome declined to comment on Friday.
Turkey accepts that many Christian Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War One, but it contests the figures and denies that the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide. It also says many Muslim Turks perished at that time.
The Armenian Apostolic Church, whose leader is known as the "Catholicos", split from Rome over a theological dispute in the fifth century and is part of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. It is seen as the custodian of Armenian national identity.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-pope-idUSKCN0ZA259
Europe must not 'close herself off in false forms of security', says Pope
Speaking to leaders of 27 EU member states at the Vatican, Pope Francis warns that Europe has forgotten the tragedy of past divisions
Pope Francis greets French president Francois Hollande during a meeting with EU leaders at the Vatican.
Pope Francis greets French president Francois Hollande during a meeting with EU leaders at the Vatican. Photograph: Osservatore Romano/Reuters
Daniel Boffey in Rome
The Guardian
Friday 24 March 2017 20.02 GMT Last modified on Wednesday 31 May 2017 14.52 BST
Pope Francis has urged European leaders to resist the “false forms of security” promised by those who want to wall themselves off, just days before Theresa May triggers Article 50 negotiations.
In a speech at the Vatican, the Pope warned that Europeans appeared to have forgotten the “tragedy” of the divisions of the past.
He also suggested that unless the EU showed a vision for its future, it could fall apart. “When a body loses its sense of direction and is no longer able to look ahead, it experiences a regression and, in the long run, risks dying,” the Pope said.
Francis was speaking to the 27 leaders of the EU member states that will remain once the UK leaves, on the eve of a summit in Rome to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the European Union.
He claimed that politicians were being guided by fear and crises but warned of the dangers in egotistical populism that “hems people in and prevents them from overcoming and looking beyond their own narrow
vision”.
He said: “Europe finds new hope when she refuses to yield to fear or close herself off in false forms of security. Politics needs this kind of leadership which avoids appealing to emotions to gain consent but instead, in a spirit of solidarity and subsidiarity, devises policies that can make the union as a whole develop harmoniously.”
He added that the leaders of the six countries who founded the European Economic Community on 25 March 1957 had shown faith in the future in the aftermath of a destructive war.
“They did not lack boldness, nor did they act too late,” he said. “It was clear from the outset, that the heart of the European political project could only be man himself.
“The first element of European vitality must be solidarity,” he added, describing the principle as “the most effective antidote to modern forms of populism”.
Francis didn’t mention Brexit by name, though he spoke of the solidarity owed to Britain to mourn this week’s attack on Westminster Bridge and at Parliament that left five dead, including the assailant.
Francis, the son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, also insisted that Europe continue to open its doors to migrants fleeing war and poverty.
He said: “Without an approach inspired by those ideals, we end up dominated by the fear that others will wrench us from our usual habits, deprive us of familiar comforts, and somehow call into question a lifestyle that all too often consists of material prosperity alone.”
At the end of the audience, Francis greeted each of the leaders, giving a hug to French president Francois Hollande. The leaders then posed with the Pope for a photo in the Sistine Chapel in front of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment.
Britain is due to formally notify the EU of its intention to exit the [ European ] Union in a letter on 29 March.
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COMECE
Text of statement
INTRODUCTION
THE CULTURAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE SOCIAL MARKET ECONOMY
COMMUNITY AND VOLUNTARY WELFARE INITIATIVES
IN THE SOCIAL MARKET ECONOMY
MARKET ECONOMY AND COMPETITION
SOCIAL POLICY
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIAL MARKET ECONOMY
CONCLUSION
A EUROPEAN COMMUNITY
OF SOLIDARITY AND RESPONSIBILITY
A STATEMENT OF THE COMECE BISHOPS ON THE EU TREATY OBJECTIVE OF A COMPETITIVE SOCIAL MARKET ECONOMY
The present text, a statement of the Bishops of the Commission of the [ Roman Catholic ] Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), offers a commentary on the concept of “a highly competitive social market economy”. This concept has become one of the treaty objectives of the European Union since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. As a formulation, the concept of the social market economy is used most often in German-speaking countries, but it has also entered the constitutional traditions of other EU States, such as Poland. Now it has become a legal concept that is firmly anchored in the European treaties. However, it still needs to be fleshed out and made concrete. We, as bishops, should like to make a contribution to this process, as we have already done in the past on other aspects of European policy.
The roots of the term “social market economy” are found in Europe’s philosophical, religious, and, in particular, Christian [ Catholic? ] heritage. It therefore seemed to us appropriate and legitimate to speak out on this matter from our perspective, even if we ought to acknowledge openly that we are not experts on many of the questions raised.
For this reason, initially in March 2010, we asked the Social Affairs Commission of COMECE, chaired by Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, to prepare a draft statement. We would like to thank our Social Affairs Commission and its Chairman, as well as a great many specialists, for their diligent preliminary work and advice. Special thanks are due here to the Director of the Catholic Social Sciences Centre of the German Bishops’ Conference and his colleagues in Mönchengladbach. The Social Ethics Conference, organised jointly with the Secretariat of COMECE in May 2011, was an important step on the path to the final draft, which we discussed at two plenary sessions and finally adopted last October.
The Catholic Bishops, on whose behalf the Bishops of COMECE are monitoring the European unification process, feel closely bound to the work of European unification. The significance of this work needs, however, to be communicated afresh to Europe’s citizens today. We are firmly convinced that the concept of a social market economy can be of great help in this respect. This concept calls for equal balancing of the principles of freedom and solidarity. It stands for respecting the value of all human beings and affording particular protection to those who are weakest. Within the framework and boundaries of our specific mandate, we would like to work alongside the European Union as it develops into a genuine community of solidarity and responsibility, which also lives up to its global obligations.
+ Adrianus van Luyn,
Bishop of Rotterdam
President of COMECE
The publication of this text comes in turbulent times. Despite some encouraging signals in the wake of the latest summit meetings of the European Union and the Eurozone, as these lines are being written, no one can predict the direction in which the European Union will evolve, nor whether it will be capable of addressing the challenges it faces in a spirit of solidarity and responsibility.
There is no doubt that in recent years the European Union has been through a period of the most intense internal trials since its foundation. Even today, there is still no end in sight. After the grave banking and financial crises, which in 2008 encompassed first the United States and then other countries and whole continents, doubts began to accumulate at the beginning of 2010 within the international financial community over the solvency of some of the States in the Eurozone. The level of national debt had soared to unsustainable levels in relation to economic output, so that due repayment out of their own resources was no longer considered possible. What had initially only affected certain States in the Eurozone subsequently expanded to almost all the others. Therefore, to prevent damage to the very foundations of the European order of peace, decisive common action is necessary in the present. This will demand concessions and sacrifices from all.
A collapse of the Eurozone would have profound effects on the European Union as a whole. One very important reason for the introduction of the euro was to prevent a spiral of devaluation of national currencies within the Common Market. Any break-up of the monetary union would therefore, in the long term, also undermine the achievements of the Common Market which, since the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957 has constituted the core of the integration process. This core must not be abandoned!
In the past, the often-disparaged European Internal Market contributed decisively to enabling the nations of our war-ravaged continent to remain at peace and their citizens to enjoy freedom and prosperity. Today, however, the process of European unification cannot be allowed to come to in a standstill – the Common Market must develop further. That is the reason for the present statement by the Bishops of COMECE. In this statement, a contribution to public discussion, we propose that the Common Market should evolve according to the concept of a European social market economy, thus allowing the European Union itself to become a viable community of solidarity and responsibility.
To this end it is of primary and utmost importance in the present European crisis to reaffirm the cultural bases of the concept of the social market economy. For it is much more than an economic model. It is based on the philosophical and juridical bases of Greco-Roman antiquity and grounded in Biblical theology. It binds freedom of the market with the principle of justice and the commandment to love of neighbour. These cultural and anthropological foundations are recalled and outlined in the first section of the statement.
Four essential characteristics of the European social market economy are then described. Emphasis is placed on the significance of free and voluntary initiatives to promote welfare for the process of social cohesion. In the European social market economy, free initiatives with social objectives deserve more support and a legal framework, which do justice to their specificity. Secondly, it is asserted that a social market economy must be economically efficient, that is, competitive, in order to be able to levy the taxes and contributions for debt reduction and the financing of ongoing expenditure. However, the European market needs not only rules, particularly in the financial sector, but also virtue-based action on the part of all market participants, beginning with the entrepreneur and reaching to the consumer. This is a matter for regulatory politics (“Ordnungspolitik”), for institutional ethics, for morality and virtue.
The third characteristic of the European social market economy is social policy. With reference to the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity, all those in need in the European Union must be given social protection and a guarantee of participatory justice. Our young people have the right to be offered high-quality training and education. The family needs to be cherished as the living source from which to promote the growth of solidarity and responsibility, and must be supported accordingly. In addition, at least for the States which have joined the monetary union and those that plan to take this step, there is, furthermore, today the concrete challenge of stronger alignment of their social services.
Finally, the European social market economy must be ecological. For us Europeans, one prerequisite for considerate interaction with natural resources and combating the consequences of climate change is a redefinition of our relationship with nature and the constitution of a culture of “moderation”. In international committees, the European Union should maintain its role as a standard bearer for the integrity of Creation. As a matter of principle, it must not limit itself as a community of solidarity and responsibility to shaping policy within its own borders. It must also play an active role at global level and honour its obligations and the promises it has made.
In producing this statement, we have drawn particularly on the texts of the [Roman Catholic] Church’s social teaching. Here, the statements of the Second Vatican Council, which opened nearly fifty years ago and the social Encyclicals of the Popes, are of primary significance. We have also been able to draw upon numerous reports of the Bishops’ conferences and previous statements from COMECE. Finally, in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI has given important new impetus, providing guidance in our analysis of the concept of a social market economy for the European Union. For this we are grateful to the Holy Father.
We trust that the present statement will foster a debate, which is important to us. We have supplemented our description of the four characteristics of a European social market economy each time with concrete suggestions and questions. We have ventured to do this in the interests of healthy debate. The statement is, in itself, moreover, an expression of our solidarity and responsibility with and for Europe. Since Europe must be a “contribution to a better world” (Jean Monnet).
+ Cardinal Reinhard Marx
Archbishop of Munich and Freising
Vice-Chairman of COMECE
and Chairman of the COMECE Social Affairs Commission
A EUROPEAN COMMUNITY OF SOLIDARITY AND RESPONSIBILITY
A STATEMENT OF THE COMECE BISHOPS ON THE EU TREATY OBJECTIVE OF A COMPETITIVE SOCIAL MARKET ECONOMY
The term ‘social market economy’ entered the EU treaties, along with other objectives, via the Treaty of Lisbon. The model of the social market economy thus became one of the major objectives of the Union. The comprehensive realisation of this objective, however, is still to come. By means of this statement, the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences in the countries of the European Union (COMECE) wishes to make its voice heard in the debate on how the goal of a European social market economy can be achieved and what institutional form it should assume. The current crisis in the Eurozone, and the structural weaknesses and imbalances in the European Union as a whole, underline the urgent need for this debate. We are perfectly aware that the [ Roman Catholic ] Church has no technical solutions or any political or economic model to put forward.1 However, given the fact that the Church really does live amongst ordinary people, it also shares in their day-to-day worries and hardships.2 What is more, considering the question of the probable impact of the future economic and social set-up in Europe on the lives of people both inside and outside the EU, we see it as our duty to comment on this important matter in our capacity as European bishops. In doing so, we also refer to previous statements.3
1 Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 36;
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (30 December 1987), 41;
Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991), 43;
Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 9.
2 Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 1;
Encyclical Letter Paul VI, Populorum Progressio (26 March 1967),13.
3 Cf. Statement of COMECE bishops on Monetary Union (2000), on “Solidarity is the soul of the EU” (2004), “The Evolution of the European Union and the Responsibility of Catholics” (Group Simon) (9 May 2005); also reports of expert groups: on Global Governance (2001), on a “Europe of Values” (2007); on Climate change (2009)
1. THE CULTURAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE SOCIAL MARKET ECONOMY
1) The notion of a social market economy links the principle of a free market and the instrument of a competitive economy with the principle of solidarity and with mechanisms designed to serve the interests of greater social equality. This link responds to more than the demands of common sense, or a purely instrumental sense of reason; it is founded, rather, on a value-based judgment emanating from the moral bedrock of our European culture. Its roots lie in our historical heritage. To be more precise: the idea of a social market economy is derived, to a considerable extent, from the Western Christian idea of the human being as an individual person and from the connection, peculiar to European culture, with the ancient ethics of justice and love which find their origins in Greek philosophy, Roman jurisprudence and the Bible. The forms of social market economy present in Europe today would be unthinkable without this cultural heritage. The European Union, for its part, must therefore take this heritage into account when it seeks to shape a new step in the social market economy – one of the key challenges of the present time. This is another reason prompting us to contribute to the discussion in our capacity as Catholic bishops.
2) The roots of the Western Christian [Roman Catholic] idea of man were first formed in the philosophy of Greek and Roman antiquity and in Biblical theology. In Greek philosophy, and in Roman law, we first encounter the human person in cultural history as an individual who assumes responsibility for his or her actions according to clearly delineated rights and duties. According to the Biblical account of Creation, God creates people in His image. Through this belief, the human person is placed on an altogether different level: transformed from a mere example of the species of humankind into a distinctive person with an inalienable dignity. The value of the human being set forth in the Old Testament was further elevated through the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, truly human and truly God, is at the centre of Christian anthropology: “Human nature, by the very fact that it was assumed, not absorbed, in him, has been raised in us also to a dignity beyond compare. For, by his incarnation, he, the son of God, has in a certain way united himself with each man.”4 Notwithstanding the dignity of the person as a human being, from the Christians perspective the human being is a creature. As a created being, the
4 Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 22.
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human person can only fulfil his or her destiny through the recognition that life is an inalienable gift and that the way we choose to live our lives as human beings must be integrated into the order of Creation in a comprehensive and lasting way. On the basis of this Christian understanding of the person, the Church stresses the fundamental and equal value of all people, which must also be recognised in societal institutions and in the economic system.5 In the same breath, it reaffirms that the human person as a social being is designed for relationships and for working together for the Common Good.
3) Already, in the philosophy of antiquity, justice was categorised as a cardinal virtue. The predominant idea is that each person should be granted that which he or she is legally owed. Christian theology appropriated this understanding of justice, while at the same time, decisively modifying it through belief in the fundamental equal worth of all people and the commandment to love of neighbour. The concept of social justice to which this gives rise is not just geared towards performance and the legal rights one can thereby acquire; it is first and foremost geared towards the dignity which is equal for all people. The Christian commandment to love the neighbour has, in this respect, influenced our understanding of justice to the extent that every individual is no longer entitled merely to what is legally owed to him or her; rather, every person can, at the same time, exercise a moral claim to a dignified existence in our social community. This is brought sharply into focus in the New Testament in the parable of the Good Samaritan: every human being has the right to be helped, and at the same time, everyone is called to act in solidarity. The injustice of Cain towards Abel is surpassed by the compassionate love of the Samaritan. From this vantage point, existential material poverty and the exclusion of individuals from vast swathes of society constitute a serious violation of social justice. No-one, whether young or old, irrespective of nationality or colour of skin, may be left behind. This conviction led Christian culture at a very early stage to develop structures and institutions embodying compassion and charity.6 In terms of cultural history, it is here that we can find the origins of the modern welfare state.
5 Cf. John XXIII, encyclical letter Mater et Magistra (15 may 1961), 221;
Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 25, 29.
6 On the matter of Solidarity between the various categories of human society, already in the Petristic period in the Church it was asserted that requirements and necessities of human society had to be paid attention to in the spirit of the Gospel. Indeed, Basil the Great, urged the community in this sense: “The care of the poor involves significant expenditure, so that everyone might have what is necessary, so that all people may share equally the goods of the earth and can provide for their needs” (Homily against the rich).
In its development towards becoming a social market economy, the European Union can build upon traditions that are to be found in all the Member States. Confident that this common foundation is present at all levels of society, and in recognition of the principle of subsidiarity, the social market economy can allow various types of aid and institutions to exist alongside one another, as they follow a common fundamental impulse, derived from a single source.
2. COMMUNITY AND VOLUNTARY WELFARE INITIATIVES IN THE SOCIAL MARKET ECONOMY
4) After the end of the Second World War, the social market economy became a social- political model. In some states, this occurred with explicit reference to this term. In other states, different terms were chosen which nevertheless meant the same thing: wide-ranging freedom of the market in connection with the instruments of the competitive economy and the principle of solidarity and with mechanisms for the promotion of greater social equality, i.e. far-reaching social protection on the part of the State. After the collapse of the Communist regime in 1989, central and eastern European States also referred to the social market economy as a model, although its realisation was not feasible everywhere. Thus, in recent years, in the first place, there is increasing awareness that the free market is not able to provide a range of (public) goods and services such as health, education and housing in an appropriate way and for each person without State intervention.7 Secondly, it is also increasingly coming to light that in many countries there are threats to social cohesion in spite of a high level of social protection, as the indispensable contribution of voluntary associations and private initiatives has not been adequately taken into account. The latter are an expression of a high degree of spontaneous solidarity and voluntary help based on reciprocal assistance (i.e. not state-driven or state-dependent). A society cannot function on the basis of legal claims alone, but needs space for generous giving, especially in what concerns the family. An excess of State welfare, by contrast, engenders dependency and obstructs the assumption of individual responsibility, active love of neighbour and solidarity.
5) The State is a precondition for an ordered community. Integral human development cannot be achieved without it. Arrangements aimed at institutionalising solidarity by means of taxes and social security contributions were put in place because private initiatives alone were not sufficient. The form of solidarity organised by the State is reliable, enduring and therefore necessary.
7 Here it should not be left unsaid that, in principle, the market is not inherently anti-social. Ordered in the right way, it can be a place for interactions that create relationships and it can make possible a more efficient use of scarce resources. This includes also the establishment of industrial relations through collective bargaining and workers’ participation.
However, it is not enough, because it lacks in particular the aspect of voluntariness. Assistance rendered to others as a free form of active love and solidarity – not motivated by obligation, with no expectation of receiving anything in return immediately or directly, and which often has its origin in religious faith – must not be stifled, either through bureaucratic forms of State solidarity or through market solutions motivated by short-term considerations. Indeed, it is irreplaceable and indispensable inasmuch as it demands the moral awareness of the individual and – alongside the principle of law and order – significantly contributes to the creation of the ‘trust capital’ that is necessary for the growth of reliable relations and social existence. In his encyclical Caritas in veritate, Pope Benedict XVI addressed this connection, using the terms ‘gift’, ‘reciprocity’, ‘gratuitousness’ and ‘fraternity’.8 The institutions corresponding to the free form of solidarity – mutual associations, cooperatives and self-governing municipal bodies – and other forms of the social economy and ethical investments, therefore demand to be given particular attention in building a European social market economy. For this reason, we welcome the fact that, in recent initiatives to make the European internal market more dynamic, the relevance of these institutions is receiving increasing recognition. They should be given priority whenever they prove to be the equal of state or market economy solutions, in accordance with the principle of subisidiarity. In particular in the realisation of the objective, bindingly agreed in the EU Agenda 2020, of reducing the number of people at risk of poverty in Europe by 20 million by 2020, the experience of charitable and cooperative institutions should be utilised to a greater extent.
3. MARKET ECONOMY AND COMPETITION
6) Today, there is a widely held view that market competition and the principle of solidarity are mutually exclusive. However, in the Lisbon Treaty a clear connection is made between the social objectives of the European Union and competition, insofar as it is established that the European Union is working towards a ‘highly competitive social market economy’.9 We are, however, of the opinion that in this model for European policy, the emphasis should be on the “social” rather than the “highly competitive” dimension. Competition is the means and the “social” is the goal. That being said, we are obviously conscious that a well regulated market, which is truly guided by competition, is an effective means of achieving important goals on the path towards justice.10 Competition ensures that economic resources are used in an efficient manner and that people will always look for new and better solutions to economic problems. It must be acknowledged, however, that competition is not a naturally occurring phenomenon, emerging out of nowhere wherever economic freedom reigns. It is the task of those who set up political frameworks to ensure that a genuine performance-based system of competition prevails. Monopolies, cartels, price-rigging and the distortion of competition through the abuse of economic power or public aid must be combated effectively or prevented by the legislative and executive branches of the European Union. It may sound paradoxical, but without rules which are clear, enforceable and reinforced by sanctions, the idea of free competition cannot become a reality.
7) For a competitive economic system to run smoothly, a stable currency and financial system are essential.11 The global crisis in the financial markets demonstrated in dramatic fashion that there were gaping regulative deficits in this domain.12 In the light of the systemic significance of the financial and banking sectors, particular attention must be paid to supervision and regulation in
9 Article 3 para. 3 TEU.
10 Cf Pontifical Council for Justice And Peace,
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 347.
11 Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991), 48.
12 Cf. already Pius XI, Encyclical Letter Quadragesimo Anno (15 May 1931), 89.
this field. Furthermore, the financial crisis also needs to be viewed through the prism of an understanding of wealth and growth which has been aimed entirely at the accumulation of goods and profit. This vision threatens to overshadow the social and ecological dimensions of quality of life, which often cannot be directly expressed in monetary terms, and ignores the impact of economic activity on others, especially the generations to come. Therefore, if we intend to confine the financial crisis to the past, a reassessment of the value system is needed. Founding economic activity on the sole objective of profit maximisation is misguided.13
8) Incentive systems that decouple risk and liability contradict the spirit of a social market economy. The European Union should therefore establish rules which link managers’ salaries more closely to the long-term success of investment and credit decisions and set upper limits for such remuneration. A market economy that serves exclusively the interests of capital cannot be called “social”. It is, however, indisputable that there will not be a social market economy in Europe without the conscientious, dependable and responsible conduct of all actors in the economic sphere – top management in particular. Both within the EU and in the framework of the G20, we need better laws and rules for the global financial market, not least with a view to future generations, but we also need a new, more ethical culture, the development of which cannot be entrusted solely to politics. The application of the fundamental principle from Catholic social teaching which states that the goods of this world are to be shared by all – with provision for recognition of the valid and necessary social function fulfilled by the right to private property – is the task of politics, but must also be internalised by all those involved.14
9) The governments of the Member States and the institutions of the European Union must, in the interests of the Common Good and in accordance with the model of the social market economy – in which the principles of freedom and social justice are interrelated – pursue monetary, financial and economic policies which aim at stability. Horrendous (in some cases) levels of public and private debt must be paid off in the interests of future generations. That must not, however, be achievemed at the expense of the poorest and without regard to the requirements of social justice. The burden sharing arising from measures aimed at achieving the necessary reduction of the debt contracted in the course of the current financial crisis must take account of the responsibilities of governments,
13 Cf Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 21.
14 Cf John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens (14 September 1981),14;
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (30 December 1987), 42.
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as well as of banks and other financial institutions, and may subsequently lead to additional taxation in this sector. Thus, the European Commission has proposed the establishment of bank resolution funds with financial means raised by banks, which should make it possible to cope with the consequences of possible bank collapses without recourse to taxpayers’ money. Another proposal concerns the creation of a financial transaction tax, which should be introduced as a first step by the countries of the Eurozone, if there is no other way. In particular, those countries which are already full members of the EU’s economic and currency union have taken on a particularly high level of mutual and global responsibility. With the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, these countries formed a community based on solidarity, the quality of which is only today coming to the fore. At the same time, it is evident that this solidarity also implies a community of responsibility. In the future of the European Union, solidarity and responsibility must become increasingly more closely linked. To the extent that further steps towards integration prove necessary, the community of solidarity must be supported by the willingness of people to live together. At the same time, it will only have a future if, as a responsible community, it also remains open to those Member States which are still outside it. Indeed, the readiness of the people to take this community to their hearts and their openness to all EU Member States present the greatest challenges of the next few years when it comes to European unification. As bishops, mandated by our brother bishops in Europe to follow and monitor this process, we would like to emphasise the following point: just as the system of nation states in 19th and 20th century Europe was incapable of securing lasting peace, the European Union at its present stage of integration will prove equally incapable of mastering the demographic and globalisation-induced challenges that Europe now faces. Europe must be committed to the model of the social market economy. The future for Europe’s peoples and nations is a community of responsibility and solidarity, united in the social market economy.
10) While the market has many positive aspects, it should be emphasised that the market is not an end in itself. It is an instrument which exists to serve human development and humanity as a whole.15 For this reason, people must never be reduced to the roles of producers and consumers. Rather, they must be perceived and treated as human persons, who produce and consume in order to live.16 Therefore, restrictions need to be placed on the market in cases where allowing it unrestricted reign has a harmful impact on the life and development
15 Cf Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 8f.
16 Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991), 39.
of human beings. With regard to the supply of vital goods and public services in particular, public authorities have a formal obligation. The market alone is not capable of developing satisfactory solutions in this regard. Even if it might appear prudent to organise some elements of public services and health care according to market principles, the basic offer and quality in these fields must be guaranteed by appropriate means and measures administered by public authorities. An appropriate regulation of public services, and social services in particular, in the common European market, should be a distinguishing feature of the European social market economy. We expect the European Union to take action here in cooperation with the Member States.
11) Today, our task lies in protecting ourselves from a scenario where the market and its inner logic manage to encroach on all areas of life and hold them captive. There are shared and qualitative needs which cannot be satisfied by the market, particularly in relation to the family. This is why it is the task of government to provide guaranteed market-free times and living spaces where people can search for ways to meet these needs.17 It is right that market activity is restricted on official public holidays and Sundays, because on those days, for national, cultural or religious reasons, peace and quiet and time to collect one’s thoughts take precedence over economic activities. For the same reason, economic activity is restricted or ceases entirely in certain public spaces and media, e.g. the prohibition on advertising during the broadcasting of Church services. This must also not be lost from view at the European level and in the completion of the common market.
12) However, it is not just the job of the State to impose restrictions on the market. Opting for a market economy goes together with opting for freedom of the people. This is why we need individuals to assume responsibility freely and based on the principle of solidarity.18 The market often may well ensure that material resources are channelled towards the goal of making the greatest contribution towards satisfying consumer needs. In affluent societies such as those in Europe, however, where it appears that basic material needs are met for nearly all citizens, consumer desire is mostly directed towards non-essential and luxury goods. The market turns a blind eye to the differing moral quality of the aforementioned goods, which can be traced back either to their nature or the manner in which they were produced or supplied. In affluent societies a high level of responsibility is shared by producers – who often seek to generate particular needs in the first place – as well as consumers. It is the consumers who ultimately dictate the direction of economic activity to a great extent through their consumer habits, both in Europe and globally. Every economic decision has a moral consequence.19 Decisive cultural action is therefore necessary in order to educate people on how to make responsible consumer choices.20 Here, too, the Church seeks to play its part.
17 Cf Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 36.
18 Cf Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 11.
19 Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 37.
20 Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991), 36.
4. SOCIAL POLICY
13) The European Union has, at present, only limited competence in social policy, since the primary responsibility in this area resides with the Member States. However, we notice that, within the community of solidarity and responsibility of the economic and monetary union, issues relating to social, fiscal and budgetary policies are also gaining in importance, and that a reallocation of responsibilities between the European Union and Member States proves to be both necessary and desirable. It is not least in recognition of this fact that we would like to make some general observations concerning this area, which is of particular significance for the poorest and most vulnerable in our midst. From the beginning, the European Union has considered itself not only a free trade zone, but rather a political community that is a value-based community. One of the core values of European culture is that of social justice.
14) The market can only satisfy those material demands which can be assigned to the categories of performance and reward. This means that it does not take account of the needs of those who, for reasons linked to age, illness or unemployment, are not able to play a (full) part in market activities. It is therefore important that in the European social market economy social protection is put in place to fill this gap so that a dignified standard of living can be guaranteed to all citizens. This can no longer be the concern of the Member States alone, but must also be a concern of the European Union.
15) In recent years, many European countries have introduced reforms in the field of social policy, some of which have been met with great concern by the citizens. Demographic change and the challenges of globalisation were proffered as the reasons prompting the reforms; factors which led to countries competing against one another for business locations. Such adjustments, which in some cases are necessary, must nevertheless adhere to the principle of social justice and must not disturb the fabric of social protection.21 In the interests of benefit claimants and the public good, social policy in the European Union must continue consistently to align itself with the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity. Redistribution aimed at achieving a greater balance between poor and rich, between ill and healthy, between young and old, becomes increasingly necessary as inequality gaps in society widen.
21 Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 25.
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16) When one thinks of mass unemployment in particular, social policy must not be reduced to merely providing those affected with financial aid so they can get by. Unemployment goes far beyond the absence of income: it also amounts to a far-reaching sense of exclusion from the world around you. Welfare provisions must therefore pursue the goal of enabling people to participate in social life, in particular through re-integration into active employment. For their part, those receiving benefits must make every effort to contribute to society to the best of their ability. Employment policy in the European Union should be guided by this principle. Going beyond that, efforts at the European level should be intensified to increase the mobility of workers in the European social market economy. In the matter of transferability of supplementary pension entitlement (occupational pensions), the European social partners bear the responsibility, in the framework of the European social dialogue, for producing a proposal for a European directive. In this connection, we welcome the responsibility of the social partners in the framework of the regulations of the EU regarding social policy. We invite the European institutions, in a time of crisis and sometimes difficult adjustments, to create the conditions that will enable social dialogue between European partners to play the role assigned to it in the European treaties.
17) In addition, in many European countries, the number of people employed could possibly be increased if the contributions and taxes which encumber the employment factor were reduced. The European level can give significant impetus to this, even if it only has very limited competence with respect to direct taxation and, to date, no powers at all in relation to the financing of the social security system. Furthermore, with the conclusion of the “Pact for the Euro”, which almost all the EU Member States have entered into, an instrument has recently been created which, on a voluntary basis, allows expectation of steps to align taxation policy and social policy in the direction of greater justice.
18) Social policy, family policy and education policy are all closely linked. The causes and consequences of decisions in these areas of policy have effects on each other and are mutually dependent. In the past, social policy, overly focused on financial assistance, has often shifted its viewpoint away from the fact that strengthening families and investing in education constitute the best means of preventing poverty and social exclusion. For this reason we welcome the fact that European countries are paying more attention to family and education policies. Families in particular, along with the work they do in rearing and caring for children, also perform a vital service for the common good. Since this service does not register with the market, it is the job of the State to strike a balance between parents and childless people in its taxation laws and through appropriate social
policy instruments. Education policy at the level of Member State responsibility needs to be measured in terms of the target of bringing the number of school drop-outs in the EU below the 10% level by 2020. The task of awakening moral awareness and supporting the formation of personal virtue in the individual is an urgent task for families, schools, universities and places of occupational education and further education, and is shared by the Churches and religious communities.
19) In the coming decades, too, Europe will be have to rely on workers from other parts of the world in order to ensure that the level of economic performance is sufficient to cover the financing of social security benefits. Countries of origin and host countries should work together in the interests of well-ordered handling of the flows of migrants, in order to reduce to a minimum suffering and deprivation for the new arrivals and unavoidable burdens for those accepting them. We recommend that the European Union, within the framework of its responsibility, should settle questions of foreign aid, study visits and working conditions in comprehensive agreements with third countries. This should be not done solely with the host countries in mind. The family, social and economic structures of the countries of origin, too, do not remain unaffected by migration. At all events, the value of the human beings who come to Europe from other countries must be respected by all. Their inalienable fundamental rights must be respected.22
20) In the social market economy, social responsibility is not limited only to social policy in a narrow sense. It also applies, for example, in the field of contract law, where a lack of equality between the contracting parties with regard to information and power can lead to disadvantages and injustice. The European Union is currently striving to remove bottlenecks in the European internal market. In connection with the proposals for an additional Europe-wide law of contract, which would be applicable on a voluntary basis alongside existing national laws, particular attention must be paid to ensuring that in each case the weaker contractual party – e.g. in the case of Internet sales – is effectively protected.
22 Cf Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 62.
5. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIAL MARKET ECONOMY
21) In Article 3, section 3 of the European Union Treaty, competitiveness and the social progress of the European social market economy are named alongside environmental protection and improving the quality of the environment. The European signatories to the Treaty are thus acknowledging that, today, alongside its continued social development, the continued ecological development of the social market economy is a matter of great importance. It is worth noting that in scientific circles and in public discussion the phrase ‘eco-social market economy’ is frequently mentioned in place of ‘social market economy’. The implied intention is one that we share as bishops of COMECE. In the face of dramatic environmental change, especially climate change and the scarcity of fossil fuels and other raw materials, our responsibility for Creation obliges us to respect the economic and ethical principle of sustainability. A competitive economy fit for the future draws on the strength of the markets in order to innovate and raise productivity when it comes to resources. It shapes all economic processes by laying down ecological framework conditions and incentives in such a way as to conserve the natural foundations of our existence. Without a systematic integration of ecological factors, neither economic competitiveness nor social justice can be achieved in the long run.
22) Above and beyond the imperative that we currently face to preserve our socio-economic resources, the current ecological challenges call on us to look for possible ways of redefining the relationship between humans and nature from an ethical and anthropological point of view, transforming our understanding of the term ‘development’. Protecting the environment needs to shift away from being a limitation to becoming a goal for the development of our societies through recognition of environmental quality as an integral component of the prosperity model. In his encyclical Caritas invVeritate, Pope Benedict writes that “in our use of [the natural environment] we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole”23 . Our economies need to be shaped more by a sense of development that is in harmony with the cycles and the temporal rhythms of nature. This requires us to change the way we manage food, energy and water. It is already evident that the wasteful treatment of these resources leads to
23 Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 48.
violent conflicts. Renewing the social market economy provides a framework that could be used to move us closer to these goals; indeed, this framework should provide a means of measuring this renewal. This is not only a matter of developing more efficient, economical technology; it is also about making sensible reductions in our consumption – practising moderation. When it comes to the development of States in central and eastern Europe, regulations which protect against the short term exploitation of natural and socio-cultural resources have a decisive role to play in safeguarding the Common Good in the long term.
23) Given the fact that environmental quality is regarded as a public good, damage to which affects us all, and whose benefits cannot be easily individualised, the returns on investments in an improvement of environmental quality are difficult to attribute. For this reason, sustainability needs a specific institutional guarantee, not just at European level but also at the global level. We call upon the institutions of the European Union and the national governments in Europe to do their utmost to engage with their international partners on this issue. In this regard, however, there is also a need for civil society initiatives which are acquiring increasingly important significance in international dialogue and development cooperation. In his encyclical Caritas in veritate Pope Benedict declared these to be essential in terms of the objective of civilising the global economy.24 The Church is ready and willing to offer its own expertise in the international dialogue on these issues; for example long-term reflection, a universal understanding of the Common Good and of responsibility, an understanding of nature as creation with its intrinsic value, and also, and not least, a far-reaching global network of concrete commitments.
24 Cf Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 38ff.
CONCLUSION
24) The European Union has adopted the creation of a social market economy as an objective. This statement is offered as a contribution to the debate on the principles that should underpin the achievement of this objective. The social market economy has proven its worth in many of the EU Member States. Today, the social market economy needs be spread across Europe, so that it may survive the challenge of global competition, and in order to be able to continue offering the most vulnerable in our midst effective social protection, and in order to be sustainable, given the requirements of environmental and climatic protection. To make the social market economy a reality in the European Union, we need a community of solidarity and responsibility. With solidarity and responsibility, we Europeans will also succeed in mastering the present difficult crisis and walking together on our common path and, in the end, demonstrating peace and justice to all people throughout the world.
25) The crisis in the financial markets and in the economy has clearly revealed that the major economic challenges and dangers with regard to the general integration of national economies must now be solved at international level. The European Union, as a community of highly-industrialised prosperous States, bears a particular moral responsibility to ensure that in the long term “a true world political authority”25 with supranational structures and institutions is developed. It will “need to be regulated by law, to observe consistently the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity,”26 , but it appears to us to be imperative. Alongside economic ingenuity, due regard must be shown to the principles of justice and ecological responsibility. Long-industrialised nations need to think beyond immediate, individual economic gain, choosing instead to play an active part in a global economic order which guarantees free and fair competition and opens
25 Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 67;
cf also John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris (11 April 1963), 293
and recently the explicit nota of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, published in October 2011, with the title Towards reform the international financial and monetary system in the context of a general public authority: “It is a matter of an Authority with a global reach that cannot be imposed by force, coercion or violence, but should be the outcome of a free and shared agreement and a reflection of the permanent and historic needs of the world common good. It ought to arise from a process of progressive maturation of consciences and advances in freedoms as well as awareness of growing responsibilities.” (Nr.3).
26 Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 67.
up the possibility of development to weaker national economies. Even if sensibly utilised development assistance for the poorer communities is of benefit to all in the end,27 solidarity ultimately means more than the calculated pursuit of one’s own interests exclusively. Therefore we would like to seize this opportunity to make an urgent call once more upon the governments of all EU countries to keep their promises and raise development aid to 0.7 per cent of their GDP by 2015 and make good use of it.28 To our regret, the EU has failed to achieve its own interim target of 0.56% of GDP for 2010. Additional efforts of an estimated EUR 50 billion will be necessary in order for Europe to keep the promise it made publicly to the poorest – particularly African – countries.
26) From the start, the project of European unification has been more than purely economic; it has been, and is, a political and moral project: it should serve justice and peace in Europe and worldwide. The realisation of a social market economy in Europe as a community of solidarity and responsibility is part of this endeavour towards worldwide peace and global justice. A new culture of co-responsibility should replace the current culture of blame. Christians are called upon to promote and develop this culture of co-responsibility. We support this project, as bishops of COMECE, and we recognise therein an important contribution to the creation of a culture that “drives globalisation towards the humanising goal of solidarity”29 .
As a Church we wish to engage with, and further, efforts in this direction, in the spirit of the words of Blessed Pope John Paul II in the Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus: “To those who are searching today for a new and authentic theory and praxis of liberation, the Church offers not only her social doctrine and, in general, her teaching about the human person redeemed in Christ, but also her concrete commitment and material assistance in the struggle against marginalisation and suffering.”30
27 Cf Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 60.
28 We recall that the rich countries in the United Nations promised already in 1970 to devote 0,7% of their GDP for development co-operation.
29 Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 42
30 John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991), 26.
A EUROPEAN COMMUNITY
OF SOLIDARITY AND RESPONSIBILITY
A STATEMENT OF THE COMECE BISHOPS ON THE EU TREATY OBJECTIVE OF A COMPETITIVE SOCIAL MARKET ECONOMY
COMECE - 27 October 2011 (translated from the original German)
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THE NATIONAL SUNDAY LAW
The National Sunday Law is one of the five landmark events of the last days. They are as follows:
1. The beginning of the investigative Judgement in 1844, as Jesus and the Father pass from the first to the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary to begin the final atonement.
2. The National Sunday law, which marks the setting up of the image to the beast [ a future world union of Church and State under the control of the Papacy], and the start of several other events, which include the marking and the sealing [individuals receive either the mark of the beast or the seal of God], the passing of the investigative judgement to the cases of the living, the blotting out [of sin] experience, the marriage [of the Lamb], the latter rain, and the Loud Cry.
3. The general Close of probation, when the four winds [of strife] are loosed and the [seven last] plagues begin to fall. [The eschatological time of Jacob's trouble].
4. The sounding of the voice of God which delivers God’s people from the oppressive power of the world.
5. The second advent of Christ, at which time His faithful ones are taken to heaven, the wicked are slain, and Satan is bound to this planet for a thousand years. The national Sunday Law is especially important, for it jump-starts so many crucial final events. – The National Sunday Law.
Revelation 13:15-18
And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
A Future World Union of Church and State:
“In order for the United States to form an image of the beast, the religious power must so control the civil government that the authority of the State will also be employed by the Church to accomplish her own ends. . . “
– GC 443.
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Will Trump Abolish the Johnson Amendment and Merge Church and State?
Trump vows to ‘destroy’ law meant to separate Church and State
POSTED 5:58 PM, FEBRUARY 2, 2017, BY MAX ROTH
President Donald Trump vowed not just to repeal a law barring non-profits and churches from endorsing or opposing candidates, he vowed to "destroy" it.
Trump has targeted the Johnson Amendment for destruction throughout his campaign, saying he didn't realize the regulation was in place before he ran for president.
The Johnson Amendment has been around since 1954. Named after then Senator Lyndon Johnson, it added a portion of the definition of a non-profit organization, that such a group, "...does not participate in, or intervene in...any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office."
Opponents of the amendment say it abridges the free speech rights of churches. Proponents say it just denies the benefit of a tax exemption to ensure the government doesn't give favor to a partisan group.
The dominant faith group in Utah, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, chose not to comment on this issue, but they have a long-standing policy of political neutrality they say is separate from the legal requirements in question.
http://fox13now.com/2017/02/02/trump-vows-to-destroy-law-meant-to-separate-church-and-state/
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Trump Goes After Separation of Church and State
President vows to 'totally destroy' the Johnson Amendment
By Michael Harthorne, Newser Staff
Posted Feb 2, 2017 4:58 PM CST
President Donald Trump speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
(NEWSER) – Yes, President Trump took the opportunity of the National Prayer Breakfast to drag Arnold Schwarzenegger and his weak Celebrity Apprentice ratings. But he also brought up something arguably just as important: the Johnson Amendment, which he vowed to "totally destroy." Here's what you need to know:
- The Washington Post has a great explanation of the Johnson Amendment, which basically bans churches and charities from participating in political campaigns unless they give up tax-exempt status.
- Getting rid of the Johnson Amendment is part of Trump's emerging "agenda of religious nationalism," in which the president is linking being American with being Christian, the Atlantic reports.
- MSNBC weighs in on why promising to "totally destroy" the Johnson Amendment is important. One such reason is that it would allow political parties and candidates to "funnel campaign donations through tax-exempt churches" with no oversight.
- While the Johnson Amendment is wildly unpopular with the religious right, that's not necessarily the case elsewhere, the Independent reports. A survey last year found 79% of people didn't think pastors should endorse candidates. And some religious leaders believe churches would be hurt by entering the partisan world of politics.
- In addition to the Johnson Amendment and Celebrity Apprentice, Trump also discussed foreign relations, telling those in attendance, "just don't worry about" the "tough phone calls I'm having," apparently in reference to threatening to invade Mexico and picking a fight with Australia, MarketWatch reports.
- Outside the National Prayer Breakfast, around 150 members of local churches were protesting Trump's Muslim travel ban. One Christian author at the protest tells Yahoo Newsit's important for the church to "stand up and be on the right side of history."
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FEBRUARY 2, 2017 BY DAN AREL
Patheos.com
During the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday morning, minority-President Donald Trump vowed to “totally destroy” the Johnson Amendment.
The Johnson Amendment, passed in 1954, prohibits all nonprofits, including churches, from endorsing political candidates.
By destroying such a law, Trump would open the flood-gates for churches to keep their tax-free status while politicking from the pulpit.
This would allow such churches to have their cake and eat it too.
“Today at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Trump pledged to ‘destroy’ a pillar of American democracy which has preserved the integrity of our political system for more than 60 years,” said Larry Decker, executive director of The Secular Coalition for American.
“Contrary to the president’s remarks, the Johnson Amendment does not stifle the free expression of America’s churches but helps hold them accountable to both the American taxpayer and their own congregations. Religious nonprofits already enjoy the hyper-privileged status of being exempt from both taxes and financial disclosure. The repeal of the Johnson Amendment would unleash a new wave of dark money into the political system, effectively transforming houses of worship into the equivalent of religious Super PACS. Americans of every faith and none must rally to defend this crucial piece of the wall of separation between church and state.”
This is not the first time Trump has promised to overturn the amendment.
In September, at the Voter Values Summit, Trump made the same pledge to overturn the amendment and also vowed to make taxpayer money available to religious schools.
At the time, Decker stated that “Donald Trump’s pledge to repeal the Johnson Amendment stands as one of the greatest threats to the separation of church and state.”
That statement has never been truer.
Now as president, Trump is continuing to push the threat.
With his preferred method of governing by Executive Order, it is not hard to imagine such sweeping laws going into effect without congress and even without legal council.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danthropology/2017/02/donald-trump-vowed-destroy-separation-church-state/#vV6SLBOW4qPriv0H.99
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Trump wants to 'destroy' Amendment key to Separation of Church and State
Feb 2nd 2017 2:50PM
By Nick Cardona for Veuer
President Trump made a move that will likely ignite a conversation about the separation of Church and State.
Trump recently told religious leaders he wants to "totally destroy" a 1954 U.S. law barring churches and other religious institutions from religious activity if they want to keep tax-exempt status.
At the National Prayer Breakfast, the President spoke out against the so-called Johnson Amendment.
"I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear and retribution," said Trump.
The Johnson Amendment bans all public charities, including churches, from campaigning for or against a certain candidate. If they do, they would lose their tax exemption status as a penalty.
Trump is trying to make good on a campaign promise he made in September when he said churches need to get their voices back.
(Additional reporting from Reuters)
https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/02/02/president-trump-wants-change-rules-churches/21705917/
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Donald Trump Wants to Tear Down the Wall—the Wall Between Church and State
And the Religious Right couldn’t be happier.
By The Nation
FEBRUARY 9, 2017
President Donald Trump at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 2, 2017. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
Independent News Is More Important Than Ever.
The religious right is more emboldened under Donald Trump’s presidency than it has been in recent memory, thrilled by his Supreme Court nomination, his cabinet appointments, and his parroting of claims that religious freedom is under siege by the forces of political correctness.
RELATED ARTICLE
LEAKED DRAFT OF TRUMP’S RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ORDER REVEALS SWEEPING PLANS TO LEGALIZE DISCRIMINATION
Based on his first few weeks in office, Christian-right activists are expecting that the president who owes them bigly for his surprise win will take a battering ram to the wall separating church and state.
The scope of their aspirations was revealed in a leaked draft executive order, obtained by the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute and published at TheNation.com, that shocked constitutional scholars with its staggering breadth. The draft order—whose authenticity has not been disputed by the White House—would create unprecedented exemptions based on religious or purely “moral” objections to a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, and even private activity, such as getting an abortion or having sex while unmarried. Such an order would be Hobby Lobby on steroids, creating an opening for almost anyone—government workers, federally funded social-service organizations, small-business owners, and more—to refuse to hire, serve, or provide public accommodations to others merely by citing one’s religious beliefs. By sanctioning such discrimination, the order would create a government rubber stamp for a particular religious view, in violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
Religious-right leaders were quick to react with effusive praise, expressing confidence that Trump, despite progressive objections—or, perhaps, because of them—would sign the order. Ryan Anderson, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation and a vociferous opponent of marriage equality, called on Trump to “stand up to the liberal outrage and hostility to ordinary American values that fueled his rise in the first place,” hailing the order as “good, lawful public policy” that fulfills Trump’s campaign promises to religious conservatives. Bryan Fischer, the incendiary American Family Radio host known for his unabashedly homophobic views, called the draft order a “masterpiece” and wrote that if Trump signed it, he would “flip the script” on the “radical homosexual agenda,” allowing “religious liberty [to] now triumph over sexual deviancy for the first time in nearly a decade.”
At his daily briefing for White House reporters, press secretary Sean Spicer danced around questions concerning if and when Trump would sign such an order, but his sympathies were clear: An employee’s ability to express his or her faith at work, Spicer asserted, is too often “pushed out in the name of political correctness.” The press secretary also painted the government itself as a regular violator of religious freedom, adding: “There’s clearly a lot of evidence in the last couple years of the government coming in with regulations and policies that have, frankly, denied people the ability to live according to their faith.”
The draft order also takes aim at another pet issue of Trump’s: repealing the Johnson Amendment, which was added to the Internal Revenue Code in 1954 to prohibit tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from endorsing political candidates under penalty of having their tax exemptions revoked. Trump’s promise to repeal the amendment was a centerpiece of his campaign outreach to the religious right; at the National Prayer Breakfast this month, he vowed to “totally destroy” it.
This could happen even without an executive order, raising the specter of churches becoming unaccountable de facto political-action committees. If the House and Senate pass a bill—introduced the day before the prayer breakfast—to repeal the amendment, Trump is certain to sign it into law. Such a change would create, in the words of Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, “a massive loophole for dark money, allowing unlimited sums of money to flow to nonprofit organizations for expressions of political views—but only on one side of the issues—with no disclosure of the source of that money.”
Whether Trump and his allies can use these tactics to erode the separation of church and state will, of course, depend ultimately on the courts. But as with his travel ban on Muslims and refugees, Trump could sow chaos and inflict harm in the interim—and lash out at judges who rule against his policies. Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s choice to fill the Supreme Court vacancy, is admired by the Christian right for his opinions on religious issues, including in the Hobby Lobby case. Given the events of the last two weeks, senators should be pressed to examine the scope of Gorsuch’s embrace of religious exemptions—and his views on the use of executive power to unilaterally expand them.
The Nation is America’s oldest weekly news magazine, and one of the most widely read magazines in the world for politics, news, and culture.
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WashU Expert: Repeal of Johnson Amendment should be concern for Religious groups
Do they want to face 'political pressure' or avoid 'electoral fights'?
By Neil Schoenherr February 14, 2017
President Donald Trump has vowed to “destroy” the Johnson Amendment, a 1954 provision under which tax-exempt entities like churches and charities cannot participate in any political campaign.
Doing so might actually be cause for concern among the religious organizations pushing for its repeal, a constitutional law expert at Washington University in St. Louis said.
Magarian
“The immediate motive for the repeal push is clear,” said Greg Magarian, professor of law and expert on law and religion. “A number of politically conservative churches have long complained about the Johnson Amendment. They want the ability to support conservative political candidates openly while retaining their nonprofit status. The Trump administration looks very favorably on that idea.”
When the Supreme Court held in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) that corporations may spend freely on behalf of political candidates, many corporations weren’t thrilled, Magarian noted.
“They saw the ruling as removing their protection from political shakedowns — compromising their autonomy and independence,” he said. “Religious groups rightly prize their independence from government.”
“Likewise, even some skeptics of ‘Big Religion’ laud religious tax exemptions as fortifying the ‘wall of separation’ between church and state. If the government ‘freed’ religious groups to do electoral advocacy, that freedom would bring political pressure to support candidates,” Magarian added. “In considering their positions on the Johnson Amendment, religious groups need to ask whether they care more about their ability to engage in electoral fights or their ability to avoid those fights.”
The broadest problems with repealing or altering the Johnson Amendment would arise if any change included only religious groups, leaving other nonprofits still subject to the amendment.
“Religious freedom concerns might seem to support a surgical excision of religious groups from the amendment’s restrictions,” Magarian said. “However, the Constitution bars religious establishments, and the Supreme Court has sometimes applied that bar to government actions that favor religion in general, as opposed to favoring a particular church, which is plainly unconstitutional.”
In addition, he said, any approach that favored some nonprofits over others for political reasons could violate the Equal Protection Clause.
https://source.wustl.edu/2017/02/washu-expert-repeal-johnson-amendment-concern-religious-groups/
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The Repeal of the Johnson Amendment
Trump Wants to Make Churches the New Super PACs
His promise to repeal the 1954 Johnson Amendment isn’t about free speech—it’s about cash.
Mark Harris, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday in 2012.John Adkisson / Reuters
- EMMA GREEN
- The Atlantic
- AUG 2, 2016
Why have some religious conservatives decided to support Donald Trump for United States president? Leaders have named their reasons: He’s promised to appoint pro-life Supreme Court justices; he’s allegedly good at business. But they have also consistently cited something else, perhaps more unexpected: the tax code.
Trump has promised to repeal the so-called Johnson Amendment, a 1954 provision that prohibits tax-exempt organizations from participating in political activities. Proposed by then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson and later revised by Congress, it keeps churches and other non-profits from lobbying for specific causes, campaigning on behalf of politicians, and supporting or opposing candidates for office.
While opponents of the Johnson Amendment often frame their objections in terms of free speech, the provision’s primary impact may be financial. Right now, the IRS makes a clear distinction between non-profit groups—from charities and universities to certain private schools and houses of worship—and political organizations.
If the Johnson Amendment were repealed, pastors would be able to endorse candidates from the pulpit, which they’re currently not allowed to do by law. But it’s also true that a lot more money could possibly flow into politics via donations to churches and other religious organizations. That could mean religious groups would become much more powerful political forces in American politics—and it would almost certainly tee up future court battles.
Even though religious groups are some of the most vocal opponents of the Amendment today, it was originally about something else: communism. At the time when the measure was passed, McCarthyism was at its peak, and Johnson feared that right-wing groups, parading as charities, would attack his reelection campaign. Although the rule extended to religious groups, the former Purdue University professor James D. Davidson has argued that Johnson never specifically wanted to target religious groups.
According to the Catholic University of America professor Roger Colinvaux, some critics have argued that the Amendment’s history is the best argument against it: Because it was an ad hoc measure written to satisfy one skilled legislator’s political needs, they say, it should be repealed. But, as Colinvaux wrote in 2012, this already was a long-standing issue by the time Johnson took it up—the legal limits around political activity for non-profit groups “had dogged charitable tax status from the inception of the federal-income-tax exemption for charitable organizations.”
Congress first approved a tax deduction for donations to charitable organizations in 1917, but the boundaries around those organizations’ political activities weren’t exactly clear. In a 1930 decision, Slee v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue,a Second Circuit Court judge made those boundaries clearer: He ruled that the government doesn’t have an obligation to subsidize the political activity of non-profit groups; and people can write off donations to these groups, which include religious organizations, but not if the groups are engaging in “political agitation,” or lobbying. In 1934, this rule officially became part of the tax code: “No substantial part of an organization’s activities” could involve “carrying on propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation.”
There were two problems with this rule. First, the word “substantial” is vague and confusing. “People found that standard difficult to meet because they couldn’t identify it—they couldn’t quantify it,” said Miriam Galston, a law professor at George Washington University. “The IRS never gave any clear or precise guidelines.” Subsequent court decisions made this standard somewhat clearer: “Substantial” is somewhere between 5 and 20 percent of an organization’s operating budget and efforts, Galston said, and factors like mission and volunteer time have to be taken into account.
The other problem was that lobbying isn’t the same as electioneering—a non-profit group like a church might not spend time and money trying to get a bill passed in Congress, but it might promote a candidate for office with flyers and buttons and speeches. The Johnson Amendment clarified that the ban extended to political activity: Non-profits, including religious groups, couldn’t support candidates for political office without losing their tax-exempt status. In 1987, Congress clarified that this means non-profits can’t oppose candidates, either.
The IRS doesn’t often go after churches.
Since 2008, a group of predominantly conservative, Protestant churches have participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday—a day started by the conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, when hundreds of pastors across the country give explicitly political sermons in protest of the IRS’s rule. The movement has been growing, and religious leaders will often mail tapes of their sermons directly to the agency to showcase their defiance.
The IRS doesn’t often go after these churches, though. Agency leaders have emphasized the importance of educating religious organizations about what is and is not legal, rather than aggressively initiating audits or trying to revoke the non-profit status of houses of worship. The agency has rarely pursued this last option; one of the most prominent recent cases was in 1995, when it denied the non-profit status of an upstate New York church that took out a full-page ad in USA Today warning Christians not to vote for Bill Clinton in 1992.
In general, though, “the political climate has changed in the last four or five years, where attacks on the IRS has been more frequent, more virulent, and the IRS has become extremely defensive,” Galston said. Especially with the budget cuts of the last half decade, the agency has scarce resources for enforcement of the Internal Revenue Code. “They can’t, in my view, allocate the resources in such a way that they preclude proper enforcement of the other code sections,” Galston added.
Yet even beyond purposeful protests like Pulpit Freedom Sunday, religious leaders seem to openly defy the ban on participating in political activities. The televangelist Mark Burns has openly stumped for Trump, as has Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. And at the start of the Democratic National Convention, the Decatur, Georgia, pastor Cynthia Hale prayed for Hillary Clinton to become president. Even if the IRS would not see these actions as formal violations of the law, the difference between pastors electioneering and speaking as private citizens “is a fine distinction that is easily evaded,” said Galston.
Critics of the agency, including some progressive religious groups, argue that the IRS should put more resources toward enforcing the electioneering ban. The main question, said Alan Brownstein, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, is not whether religious groups and leaders should be able to express their views—it’s whether that activity should be subsidized by the government. “Pastors can say whatever they want, as can anyone else,” he said. “The question is whether a tax-exempt institution can say whatever it wants and retain its tax-exempt status, and whether the pastor as an official can use his or her position in the tax-exempt institution to engage in electioneering.”
Although religious groups often participate in political and campaign activities in defiance of the law, only Congress could make these activities fully legal. And doing so would raise big questions about money: Would religious organizations get to keep their tax-exempt status if they were permitted to participate in campaigns and endorse candidates? More importantly, could people still make tax-deductible donations to religious organizations—effectively giving money to promote a particular candidate or campaign?
Congress could make the first change fairly easily: It could add language to the current provision adding a special exception for pastors and other religious leaders who want to talk politics from the pulpit, Galston said, although that might present constitutional challenges. It would be a little more complicated to legalize tax-deductible donations to politically active churches. As Galston pointed out, another provision of the tax code strictly bans charitable, tax-deductible contributions to organizations that engage in political activity. Moreover, all charitable organizations are forbidden from providing “private benefit” to any individual—which includes campaigning on their behalf. So Congress would have to amend those provisions as well.
It’s unlikely that a President Trump would be able to push this repeal through Congress.
The result would likely be two-fold: Social-welfare groups that currently file as 501(c)(4)s, for example, might apply to become 501(c)(3)s in order to get a better break on taxes, Galston said. Moreover, political donors might start directing more cash toward non-profits, since those donations would be tax deductible. If all of these changes were made—which seems fairly unlikely—the biggest beneficiaries would likely be the wealthy. Tax-deductible donations only benefit people who take itemized deductions; people with high incomes are significantly more likely to do so.
What’s unclear about Trump’s promise to repeal the Johnson Amendment, though, is whether he’s only intending to push a repeal of the rule for religious organizations. A broad change to the provision would likely cause minor-level chaos within the U.S. political system: There would no longer be any meaningful difference between charitable groups and lobbying organizations. The government would effectively be subsidizing the political activities of all schools, charities, churches, and scientific-research organizations. On the other hand, if Trump’s theoretical administration pushed for a repeal only for religious groups, legal challenges would almost certainly follow. “It would be a preference for religion against organizations that were not religious,” Galston said.
Realistically, it seems unlikely that a President Trump would be able to push this repeal through Congress—it would pose immense political and legal challenges for legislators, Republicans and Democrats alike. The proposal seems to serve more of a dog-whistle purpose during this 2016 presidential campaign season: It’s a signal to religious conservatives that Trump is their champion, and that he cares about religious-freedom issues. It might also be a message to rich conservatives, specifically: Here, Trump hints, might be a way to make tax-favored political donations.
For those Americans who want more, not less, religious influence on American politics, the repeal of the Johnson Amendment is the perfect campaign promise: a guarantee of increased political power, greater freedom of speech, and more control over political dollars for groups that widely feel their electoral influence slipping.
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H.R.172 - To restore the Free Speech and First Amendment rights of Churches and exempt organizations by Repealing the 1954 Johnson Amendment.
H.R.172 — 115th Congress (2017-2018)
Introduced in House (01/03/2017)
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the prohibition against churches and other tax-exempt organizations participating in political campaigns or supporting or opposing candidates for public office. The bill specifies that provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 are not invalidated or limited by the repeal.
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 172
To restore the Free Speech and First Amendment rights of churches and exempt organizations by repealing the 1954 Johnson Amendment.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 3, 2017
Mr. Jones introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To restore the Free Speech and First Amendment rights of churches and exempt organizations by repealing the 1954 Johnson Amendment.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. REPEAL OF THE 1954 JOHNSON AMENDMENT BANNING THE FREE SPEECH AND FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS OF CHURCHES AND EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS.
(a) In General.—Paragraph (3) of section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to list of exempt organizations) is amended by striking “, and which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office”.
(b) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years ending after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Campaign Finance Laws Unaffected.—The amendments made by this section shall not invalidate or limit any provision of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.).
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OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Leave the Johnson Amendment Alone
By Ellen P. Aprill
Dec. 10, 2017 - NY Times
As the House and the Senate seek agreement on tax reform, they will have to decide the fate of the so-called Johnson amendment. This provision of the Internal Revenue Code prohibits tax-exempt charities from electioneering — that is, from becoming involved in any way in a candidate’s campaign for elected office. The tax reform bill passed by the House last month loosened this prohibition to the point where it would no longer prohibit much. The Senate’s tax reform bill made no change to current law.
Evangelical churches have long objected to the strictures of the Johnson amendment. From the beginning of his candidacy, President Trump promised them that he would repeal it. In fact, as originally proposed, the House tax reform bill would have altered the Johnson amendment only for houses of worship. The House, however, quickly revised its proposal. As finally passed by the House, the provision would permit any tax-exempt charity to support or oppose a candidate as long as “the preparation and presentation of such content” occurs “in the ordinary course of the organization’s regular and customary activities” and does not result in “more than de minimis incremental expenses.”
The breadth of the House proposal is far from clear. When are activities “regular and customary”? When is an expense “de minimis” (meaning insignificant) or “incremental”? If this uncertain standard becomes law, the I.R.S. will need to give charities and potential donors guidance about the meaning of those terms. Whatever rules the I.R.S. announces, they are sure to be fraught with complication.
But no matter what the I.R.S. says, the amendment in the House bill would open the floodgates to politicking by charities. Charities today make enormous use of social media. A charity’s webpage often serves as its most important public gateway. Nothing in the House revision of the Johnson amendment forbids speeches, sermons, policy discussions or other activities that include electioneering from being posted on that webpage, streamed or tweeted. Communicating this way would cost the charity next to nothing and would probably qualify as a “de minimis” expense. In our digital era, the communicative impact of an exception for de minimis financial outlays is far more than de minimis.
The sponsors of the proposed change to the Johnson amendment may have intended to permit only brief, occasional instances of electioneering. We know that established charities, particularly churches, engage in such activity now. But the House proposal, if enacted as written, will do far more than bless current practice. Given that the I.R.S. is already suffering from too few enforcement resources, the I.R.S. may well hesitate to take action against possible violations of this de minimis limit. As a practical matter, a de minimis exception will come close to repealing the Johnson amendment completely.
Other tax-exempt organizations (such as section 501(c)(4) welfare organizations) can already engage in electioneering to a considerable extent. The Johnson amendment does not apply to them. But it is precisely because of the Johnson amendment’s prohibition on electioneering that charities have been a sanctuary in our increasingly partisan world. Over time, permitting charities to engage directly in electoral politics will reduce the respect they have long been afforded. In the long run, it will harm the sector. That is why so many charities, including many religious organizations, have opposed any change to the Johnson amendment.
Contributions to charities are deductible; contributions to PACs and section 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations are not. Because charities can have enormous influence on political campaigns with very little expense, many who wish to intervene in political campaigns will shift their contribution from PACs and social welfare organizations to charities. Currently, the House proposal operates for five years, from Jan. 1, 2019, to Dec. 31, 2023. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the revenue loss for this five-year period at $2.1 billion. This number probably underestimates the actual cost of the House’s proposed change to the Johnson amendment. Charities that make a decision to electioneer will attract large donations from donors who would like to obtain deductions and influence elections in one fell swoop.
The House proposal also encourages the establishment of new entities to take advantage of the revised rules. These newly created organizations would establish their own norms as to what is “regular and customary.” In short order, organizations would be formed precisely to take advantage of this new electioneering rule.
Under our current campaign finance regime, only dollars that have been subject to income tax can be used for electioneering. A de minimis exception for electioneering by charities will undermine this basic principle. It will harm both the law regulating charities and the law regulating campaign finance. Our country will be far poorer for such changes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/10/opinion/johnson-amendment-campaigns.html
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Republicans Should Keep the Johnson Amendment
By ALEX ENTZ
December 9, 2017 9:00 AM
National Review
The political payoff of repeal is dubious, and there are strong philosophical reasons for churches to avoid politics.
The 1954 Johnson Amendment, though seldom enforced, currently bans tax-exempt groups — including churches — from directly endorsing political candidates. At the urging of some church leaders and with the support of the president, House Republicans included a repeal of the amendment in their tax bill, allowing organizations to make campaign statements “in the ordinary course” of their activities. This provision is missing from the Senate bill, however, and it is yet to be seen whether the final legislation that comes out of the House-Senate conference committee will include it.
Republicans should oppose such a repeal.
That assertion may seem laughable to some. After all, the move is supported by Jerry Falwell Jr. and other prominent evangelical leaders, and the caterwauling from the New York Times alone is enough for some to decide it’s something that Republicans should support. However, such a repeal could have profound unintended consequences.
For one, the ultimate partisan effects are highly questionable. The amendment is fairly narrow to begin with, mostly barring pastors from directly endorsing candidates from the pulpit — something that nearly 80 percent of Americans are comfortable with. Churches may engage in myriad other activities with political implications without crossing this line, such as discussing social issues.
While evangelical churches would probably see more political proselytizing in the aftermath of repeal, those congregations are already dominated by Republican voters, and many churches would probably continue to remain neutral in most, if not all, political races. And some churches would likely advocate for Democratic candidates. Mainline Protestant churches may urge their constituencies to hew to a more progressive view of social justice, for example, when casting their ballots. In this case, it may be that repealing the Johnson Amendment would galvanize moreprogressive turnout, not less.
The drawbacks of repealing the Johnson Amendment are not limited to the practical implications for politics, though those alone should be enough to temper the clearly political motives behind many pushing for this change. The biggest reason to support keeping the Johnson Amendment is to protect religion itself.
In 1835, French political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville published Democracy in America. Tocqueville had traveled across the country to study social conditions and to understand how the democratic experiment was faring. One key finding of his is extremely relevant today: A close connection between the church and daily state affairs will, inevitably, destroy the church.
First, such a connection changes the church’s focus: Instead of discussing the eternal and universal, religious leaders increasingly focus on present-day occurrences. In a small way, this erodes the church’s significance. Second, the political connection creates nonbelievers from mere political enemies. Alienating a significant number of churchgoers and pushing them away from religion because of their political beliefs is not helpful to the church’s primary purpose of saving souls. And third, churches become linked with the inevitable upheaval that politics perpetually bring. As the tides of a political party, or political cause, come and go, so, too, does the church. The two come to be seen more as instruments of each other than as instruments of any profound and lasting cause.
Neither conservatism nor Christianity is solely about winning and losing battles in a culture war.
Some might argue against the amendment on First Amendment grounds, though it is unclear how the courts would rule, given that the policy applies only to churches that choose to file as nonprofits. Others will counter that we live in extraordinary times: The secular partisans of the 1830s did not agitate for the complete removal of religion from the public square, and thus a muscular Christianity is needed to fight back.
However, neither conservatism nor Christianity is solely about winning and losing battles in a culture war. Both involve more long-run considerations: respecting the inherited wisdom of institutions and great minds for conservatism, and, for religion, respecting the duty to the eternal and immutable. Neither is served by making churches into political-action committees commenting on specific politicians. If anything, they are undermined.
As Danish theologian Soren Kierkegaard found, intertwining church and state affairs dulls the church and creates men whose faith is a lifeless caricature of what it should be. One need look no farther than the sad, empty state of churches across Europe to see what may befall U.S. Christendom if it increasingly hitches its wagon to state issues. The short-term, “Flight 93” mindset behind repealing the Johnson Amendment could make such scenes an inevitable reckoning.
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Donald Trump vows to 'totally destroy' Johnson Amendment that stops Churches funding Political Parties
Comes as apparent leaked executive order promises to enshrine conservative Christian beliefs in policy
- Jon Sharman
- Thursday 2 February 2017 14:37 GMT - The Independent
President Donald Trump has announced he will "get rid of and totally destroy" a 60-year-old rule that blocks tax-exempt religious groups from endorsing or opposing political candidates.
The so-called Johnson amendment was introduced by then-Senator Lyndon B Johnson in 1954. It threatens churches and other religious institutions with the loss of their tax-exempt status should they overstep the mark.
At the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC on Thursday Mr Trump said: "Jefferson asked, 'Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?' Among those freedoms is the right to worship according to our own beliefs. That is why I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution—I will do that."
Mr Trump also spoke about a global threat to free worship. He said: "Freedom of religion is a sacred right, but it's also a right under threat all around us and the world is under serious, serious threat in so many different ways.
"I've never seen it so much and so openly. We're going to straighten it out. That's what I do, I fix things. It's time we're going to be a little bit tough."
In an apparent reference to Isis, he added: "We've seen unimaginable violence carried out in the name of religion. Acts of wanton slaughter against religious minorities. Terrorism is a fundamental threat to religious freedom."
The declaration came as an apparent leaked draft of a new executive order set out how specific religious beliefs—reflecting conservative Christian social tenets—could become enshrined as executive policy.
They include "the belief that marriage is or should be recognised as the union of one man and one woman, sexual relations are properly reserved for such a marriage, male and female and their equivalents refer to an individual’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy, physiology, or genetics at or before birth, and that human life begins at conception and merits protection at all stages of life".
The draft order seeks to protect the tax-exempt status of organisations that propound those beliefs, as well as to block "adverse action" against groups that discriminate, on religious grounds, in the provision of adoption and fostering services. White House spokesman Sean Spicer did not comment on the specifics of the leak.
His address to the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual event organised by The Fellowship Foundation, a Christian group, and attended by the President of the day, was not the first time Mr Trump had set out his plan for the Johnson amendment.
Last September he tried to woo evangelical voters with a promise that the US' "Christian heritage will be cherished, protected, defended like you have never seen before". His repeal of the amendment would "give our churches their voice back", he said.
The repeal was one of his 282 campaign promises.
On Thursday Mr Trump added: "Our republic was formed on the basis that freedom is not a gift from government, but that freedom is a gift from God. We are all united by our faith, in our creator, in our firm knowledge that we are all equal in his eyes. We are not just flesh and bone and blood. We are human beings with souls."
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President Donald Trump listens as he is introduced during the National Prayer Breakfast, Feb. 2, 2017, in Washington, D.C.
February 08, 2017 4:30 PM
- Cecily Hilleary
VOA News
During last week’s National Prayer Breakfast, President Donald Trump vowed to “totally destroy” the Johnson Amendment, a 62-year-old provision in the U.S. tax code that prevents certain tax-exempt organizations, secular and religious, from political campaigning. His remarks have sparked debate over the line between Church and State in America.
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) grants tax-exempt status to religious, charitable, scientific and other “giving” non-profit organizations.
Trump: I will destroy Johnson amendment
“The theory of tax exemption for a broad range of organizations in the U.S. is that they have a public function, that they serve the good of the community at large,” said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington, D.C.-based religious liberty watchdog group. “And religious institutions have been included within that range of good, non-governmental agencies that are deserving of a tax exemption.”
Many of these groups rely heavily on donations from private individuals and foundations. Being designated “tax-exempt” by the IRS lends them legitimacy, increasing the confidence of would-be donors, who are allowed to deduct contributions to tax-exempt groups from their annual tax returns.
Amendment history
The Johnson Amendment was a change to the tax code introduced by then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson in 1954 in an effort to disempower two secular, tax-exempt nonprofit groups that were spending big money to block his re-election.
The amended tax law prohibits tax-exempt nonprofit organizations from participating in political campaigning. That means they cannot collect money for political campaigns or tell members who to support or oppose in elections. They may, however, speak freely about political matters outside of their organizations.
“The amendment was based on the flagrant violation of the principle that charities and foundations ought to serve the public good and not be indistinguishable from a political committee or a partisan party apparatus,” said Lynn.
FILE - Then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson, D-Texas, holds a news conference in Washington, July 30, 1954.
The Johnson Amendment does not specifically target churches or religious organizations, but they are among the amendment’s most vocal opponents.
“What we’ve seen in the last 35 or so years, basically since the 1980 election, is that the traditional attitude of evangelical churches, something known as quietism, that is, staying out of politics, changed,” said Michael Dorf, an expert in constitutional law and professor at Cornell Law School. “And the emergence of the Religious Right has meant that people on the conservative side of the American ideological spectrum now perceive the Johnson Amendment to be an impediment to political activity by people that are most likely to support their causes.”
Conservative Christian groups argue the Johnson Amendment violates the Constitution.
“The First Amendment of our Bill of Rights, the first right granted expressively and clearly by our founding fathers was the right to the free exercise of religion, and I think it’s important to note that it’s not just somewhere in the Bill of Rights, it’s at the beginning, the first right to be protected,” said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law & Justice, a conservative, Christian-based social activist organization that opposes the Johnson Amendment.
He argues that the Constitution does not specifically call for separation of church and state, and the two entities have been intertwined since the time of the nation’s founding.
“Really, at the heart of it, it’s a restriction of free speech. What it means is that from the pulpit, your pastor cannot tell you who to vote for, even if everybody in the church is asking the pastor who to vote for,” said Sekulow.
Repealing the Johnson Amendment, he argues, would not suddenly turn all churches into political action groups, but it would allow clergy to speak openly about political and social issues that affect people of faith.
Dollars and cents
But some analysts say the debate is, at its heart, more about money than anything else, as repealing the Johnson Amendment would allow religious groups to step into the political arena.
As the law stands now, individuals may not deduct from their tax returns any donations to politicians or political campaign groups. If the Johnson Amendment were repealed, though, it would open a new loophole in the law, encouraging individuals to make political contributions through religious groups and realizing tax benefits for doing so.
And that brings up another issue, says Lynn, financial transparency. Churches, he explains, are the only tax-exempt nonprofits that are not required to disclose their finances to the IRS, the public or even their donors.
“So if the Johnson Amendment goes, I would argue that dark, hidden money will come into the political system through the churches,” Lynn said. “They’d become, essentially, money-laundering operations and would never have to disclose the sources or amounts.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/trumps-call-to-repeal-johnson-amendment-analysts-weigh-in/3714671.html
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by Jpon Sharman
3rd Feb 2017 6:13 AM
PRESIDENT Donald Trump has announced he will "get rid of and totally destroy" a 60-year-old rule that blocks tax-exempt religious groups from endorsing or opposing political candidates.
The so-called Johnson amendment was introduced by then-Senator Lyndon B Johnson in 1954. It threatens churches and other religious institutions with the loss of their tax-exempt status should they overstep the mark.
At the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC on Thursday Mr Trump said: "Jefferson asked, 'Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?' Among those freedoms is the right to worship according to our own beliefs. That is why I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution-I will do that."
Mr Trump also spoke about a global threat to free worship. He said: "Freedom of religion is a sacred right, but it's also a right under threat all around us and the world is under serious, serious threat in so many different ways.
"I've never seen it so much and so openly. We're going to straighten it out. That's what I do, I fix things. It's time we're going to be a little bit tough."
In an apparent reference to Isis, he added: "We've seen unimaginable violence carried out in the name of religion. Acts of wanton slaughter against religious minorities. Terrorism is a fundamental threat to religious freedom."
The declaration came as an apparent leaked draft of a new executive order set out how specific religious beliefs-reflecting conservative Christian social tenets - could become enshrined as executive policy.
They include "the belief that marriage is or should be recognised as the union of one man and one woman, sexual relations are properly reserved for such a marriage, male and female and their equivalents refer to an individual's immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy, physiology, or genetics at or before birth, and that human life begins at conception and merits protection at all stages of life".
The draft order seeks to protect the tax-exempt status of organisations that propound those beliefs, as well as to block "adverse action" against groups that discriminate, on religious grounds, in the provision of adoption and fostering services. White House spokesman Sean Spicer did not comment on the specifics of the leak.
His address to the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual event organised by The Fellowship Foundation, a Christian group, and attended by the President of the day, was not the first time Mr Trump had set out his plan for the Johnson amendment.
Last September he tried to woo Evangelical voters with a promise that the US' "Christian heritage will be cherished, protected, defended like you have never seen before". His repeal of the Amendment would "give our churches their voice back", he said.
The repeal was one of his 282 campaign promises.
On Thursday Mr Trump added: "Our republic was formed on the basis that freedom is not a gift from government, but that freedom is a gift from God. We are all united by our faith, in our creator, in our firm knowledge that we are all equal in his eyes. We are not just flesh and bone and blood. We are human beings with souls."
https://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/news/trump-vows-destroy-separation-church-and-state/3139066/
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