Baby Steps towards a “much needed reform” of the Roman Catholic Church.

Rome was built in approximately five hundred years of extreme labour, yet it only took six days and seven nights for this once great city to be completely engulfed in the Nero-induced flames to return to the ashes. The same concept can be applied to the reputation of the Roman Catholic Church, and now it is left to its new Pope to commence the reconstruction of his Church.

At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of spectators cheered as a cloud of white smoke emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City – the traditional indication that the new Pope had been confirmed.

No more than an hour later, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, aged 76, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was identified to the public as the new spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Unveiling himself on the balcony of the Vatican to the expansive crowds, Cardinal Jorge Mario presented himself as Pope Francis, after the St. Francis of Assisi, a humble friar and preacher who lived in poverty to serve his God, similar to that of Pope Francis’s previous life style.

Pope Francis has brought new excitement to the 1.2 billion Roman Catholics in the world, with a new heir of reform about him.

BBC reporter David Willey said that the 76 year old has already been swift to stamp his new style on the papacy.

Aside from being the first Latin American and the first Jesuit to become pope, he has also brought with him a new persona or ‘style’ – He remains Orthodox on sexual matters, however is strong on social justice.

According to Ms. Amborgetti stated “He is absolutely capable of undertaking the necessary renovations without any leaps into the unknown.”

“He would be a balancing force. He shares the view that the Church should have a missionary role that gets out to meet people... A church that does not so much regulate faith as promote and facilitate it.”

The Roman Catholic Church has suffered a severe and ironic lack of faith throughout recent years. Damage through the clerical sex scandal, internal divisions and ever reducing numbers of believers in parts of the world where Christianity was once prominent, has brought the Church into ‘a state turmoil’.

Pope Francis is seen as the redeeming force for the Church and its previous detrimental mistakes.

The extremely poor handling of the clerical sex scandal by previous popes Benedict XVI and John Paul II, where 200 cases of sexual abuse by members of the clergy were brought to media attention, has been noted as the Church’s most controversial and biggest downfall.

It is not possible to trust a pope who would attempt to cover up or ignore crimes of such unforgivable evil, an evil so contradictory of what the Church is meant to represent, for the safe keeping of the reputation of the Church.

One of the most prominent cases, the case of CardinalBernard Law, Archbishop of Boston and Archpriest of St. Mary’s basilica, has been labelled as a ‘paedophile-enabler’ through his attempts to destroy evidence of such disgraceful activities; the failure to protect children from known child molesters.

Now the mere mention of the Church evokes the memories of the vile misconduct of its previous crimes, which are heightened by the attempt to cover up its wrong doings.

The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI has also been tied in with the sex scandal, when in 2012 his secretary was imprisoned for “stealing documents” which are said to have implied his complicity in the cover up of the paedophile priest sex scandal.

It has been said that the Church is in need of a hero unlike those Benedict’s or John Paul’s, who merely created this illusion of righteousness, the Church needs a leader who is less politically inclined and more focused on justice and morality.

Many have rejoiced in the ‘new style’ of Pope Francis, and see him as a reformist to not only rebuild the reputation of the Church, through higher transparency, but to adapt the religion better to today’s modern social climate.

Although Bergoglio is not seen as an extreme reformist, as he maintains his orthodox beliefs towards sexual activities. However he is the first out of 266 popes of his kind; he is providing the foundations for reformation. This may indeed be a slow process, and may not become evident in the near future, but it is important to remember that Rome was not built in a day. 

Pro-JONG Propaganda?
(Dictatorship vs. Illusion)

Former “Chicago Bulls” player Dennis Rodman appeared on ABC this Sunday to talk about his visit to the capital of secretive North Korea, Pyongyang. Viewers were shocked to hear him proclaim that he “loved Kim Jong” and went on to say that the diminutive dictator is “an awesome guy”.

Rodman, also known for his appearance on CelebrityBig Brother in 2006, had come back with a message from North Korea asking President Obama to “pick up the phone” and call Kim Jong to discuss the long standing dispute between the US and North Korea, which dates back to the Korean War of 1950 and which recently has centered around underground nuclear weapons production and testing. 

The retired basket ball star is now, being accused of spreading Pro-Jong propaganda in the US where only recently ex president, George Bush, had referred to North Korea as a member of the "Axis of Evil" and where there are fears of a nuclear attack. 

Temperatures have been rising with both South Korea and Japan who are Washington's allies in the region mobilizing their forces to counter a possible nuclear attack from Pyongyang.

What may confuse some is the outrage that is spurred in the fact that North Korea may be producing and testing nuclear weapons, when the US itself spent $35, 100, 000, 000 on nuclear and other weaponry in 1998.

It could be said that North Korean propaganda is in fact the mirror image of American spin and the question is sometimes asked, who is to be trusted; the bare faced dictator of North Korea or slick manipulators in the Pentagon and other Western defense establishments?

David Icke, English writer and prominent public speaker, most famous for asking the questions “who and what are really controlling the world?”, would probably argue that none of them are to be trusted.

In a summary of his famous speech, “Prisons without bars” in 2007, Icke said:
“One form of Dictatorship is being in a prison cell and you can see the bars and touch them. The other one is sitting in a prison cell but you can’t see the bars and therefore think you are free.”

Icke promotes the notion that in the West we live a delusion on freedom and democracy. Westerners are told time and again with almost hypnotic repetition that they are privileged when compared to benighted citizens of countries such as Mali, Libya, Madagascar, Egypt and a very long etc... Objectively it is hard to accept that our lives are as controlled as those of North Koreans, but Icke does have a point. 

Realistically we are indeed controlled by our governments, social norms, the media and powerful business to a greater extent than allows for comfort. Elected parties go back on their word, society and social norms inhibit those seen as “extroverts” or "free thinkers", the media feeds us propaganda, depending on their motives, and powerful businesses tell us what we need to survive in the modern world.

It is possible to go as far as even saying that in some ways, our governments are still oppressive, but we either too ignorant or too scared to fight back or even realize that we are being manipulated. 

Wikileaks notorious founder Julian Assange has been labelled by the American Government as the “enemy”, and all those who assist him in bringing valid yet ‘dangerous’ information on the government and its military policies are said to be assisting the enemy.

Is it coincidence that shortly after Wikieaks crossed "US policy" Assange was then accused of sexual assault of two women in Sweden. He is now living in a room in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The Ecuadorians clearly think that their American neighbors are pushing their weight around - something which most central American countries have been complaining about for generations. 

Do we not find it strange that a man who promotes our right of freedom of information, especially involving allegations of military and governmental misconduct, should suddenly labelled as some kind of crazed sexual predator? 

Maybe he is, and maybe he isn't. 

At another level we recall the tazing of student of undergraduate Andrew Meyer, 21, who had the temerity of asking the U.S. Senator John Kerry whether he was a member of the "Skull and Bones Society" – a secret society of students at Yale University which is said to be a club of the “Power Elite” who have been accused of plotting world domination.

The video below shows Meyer asking the fatal question, and subsequently being arrested and brutally tazered. Again this serves to demonstrate the sheer power of the Government and the severe repercussions of delving too deep into the hidden areas of power. 

Aside from Governmental dictatorship, we are also subdued to the invisible dictator which is the consumerist society. We have all been subjected to following social norms and main stream ideology. We see working class families, struggling to cope, and yet drive nice cars and use iPhone 5’s, why? Because they are told it is what they need and are squeezed dry to make profits for the multinational companies. 

“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.” - Frank Zappa

An Inside Look at North Korea - Vice Documentaries.