Byzantine Europe vs Roman America (*)
Historical matches:
Church = worldview/diplomacy
The Papacy = Bilderberg (Transatlantic business lobby)
Greeks = Europeans
Latins = Americans
Venetians = Jews
John Beccos = Tony Blair
(*) Message 17054621
Now....
Bush: Monday is 'a moment of truth' on Iraq
U.N. observers pull out of Iraqi side of DMZ
Monday, March 17, 2003 Posted: 0538 GMT ( 1:38 PM HKT)
LAJES, Azores (CNN) -- President Bush said the "coalition of the willing" would make its final effort Monday -- "a moment of truth for the world" -- to extract a resolution from the U.N. Security Council that would give Iraq an ultimatum to disarm immediately or be disarmed by force.
"Tomorrow is the day we determine whether or not diplomacy can work," Bush said after a one-hour meeting with his key council allies, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.
"Tomorrow is a moment of truth for the world," Bush said. "Many nations have voiced a commitment to peace and security, and now they must demonstrate that commitment in the only effective way, by supporting the immediate and unconditional disarmament of Saddam Hussein."
Administration sources said White House officials would be calling many of the 15 Security Council members in a final effort to persuade them to vote for a draft resolution that would give Iraq a few more days to disarm or face military action.
Bush's speechwriters, in anticipation that the president might appear on television this week to issue an ultimatum to the Iraqi president -- with or without the blessing of the Security Council -- spent the weekend with Bush at Camp David and traveled with him to the Azores.
Aboard Air Force One on his way back to Washington, Bush made two phone calls: one to Secretary of State Colin Powell, and another to Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
Bush was expected to consult with Blair and Aznar again Monday to decide whether to seek a Security Council vote, administration sources said.
[...]
edition.cnn.com
And then....
Second Council of Lyons - 1274 A.D.
part one
[...]
Introduction
After the death of Pope Clement IV (29 November 1268) almost three years passed before the cardinals were able to elect a new pope, Gregory X (1 September 1271). The political aspect of Europe in those times was undergoing great change. The popes themselves in their struggles with the German emperors had sought help from various states and had placed Charles of Anjou on the throne of Sicily. This long conflict, which the popes fought in order to protect their freedom and immunity, had finally upset the traditional system of government in Christendom. This system depended on two institutions, the papacy and the empire. In the East, moreover, the emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus had captured Constantinople in 1261 and brought the Latin empire there to an end.
Since the state of affairs was undoubtedly complex and difficult, Gregory X had conceived a very broad plan involving the whole christian world. In this plan the eastern question was of the highest importance. The pope sought to conclude a treaty with Michael VIII Palaeologus and to unite the eastern and western churches. For if the churches were united and the strength of all christian peoples were combined, the problem of the holy Land could be resolved and the Roman church could flourish with fresh authority and influence in the western states.
Gregory X, therefore, when he convoked the general council on 31 March 1272, outlined three themes: union with the Greeks, the crusade, and the reform of the church. Regarding the third theme, which was not only traditional in medieval councils but was also required by the actual state of ecclesiastical morals, the pope in March 1273 sought the opinion of all christian people and asked for their help. Some reports sent to him for this purpose are still extant. After long preparatory arrangements the council assembled at Lyons [France] and opened on 7 May 1274. Probably there were present about 300 bishops, 60 abbots and a large number of other clergy, many of whom apparently were theologians (Thomas Aquinas died while on his journey to Lyons), as well as king James of Aragon and the delegates sent by the rulers of France, Germany, England and Sicily. The Greeks arrived late, on 24 June, since they had been shipwrecked.
Meanwhile a delegation of Tartars had also arrived. Although the number of participants does not seem to have been especially large, the whole christian world was present either in person or through representatives, and it was evident that the council, as Gregory X had wished, was universal and ecumenical.
The council had six general sessions: on 7 and 18 May, 4 or 7 June, 6, 16 and 17 July. In the fourth session the union of the Greek church with the Latin church was decreed and defined, this union being based on the consent which the Greeks had given to the claims of the Roman church. In the last session the dogmatic constitution concerning the procession of the holy Spirit was approved, this question having been a cause of disagreement between the two churches. The union however appears to have been imposed, on the Greek side by the emperor Michael VIII. He wanted the support of the pope in order to deter Charles of Anjou from an attack on the Byzantine empire, while the majority of the Greek clergy opposed the union. The union was therefore fleeting, either because in the East the clergy steadily resisted it, or because the popes after Gregory X changed their plan of action.
The weakness of the union with the Greeks also rendered a crusade impossible. Gregory X won the approval of the principal states of Europe for the undertaking and was able, in the second session, to impose heavy taxes (a tenth for six years) in order to carry it out (const. Zelus fidei, below pp. 309-314). The council however merely decided to engage in the crusade; no start was made at getting things done and the project came to nothing. Moreover Gregory died soon afterwards (10 January 1276), and he was not sufficiently influential or powerful to bring to a conclusion his plans for church and state.
[...]
dailycatholic.org
newadvent.org |
