MAYBE PAPAL PILGRIMAGES SHOULD HAVE SEEN THEIR DAY BY NOW! THESE COST TOO MUCH AND TURN POPES INTO CELEBRITIES AND MASS AND OTHER LITURGIES INTO SPECTACLES ESPECIALLY IN THE POST VATICAN II 'S ETHOES AND STYLE OF PARTICIPATION AT THESE MEGA RALLIES

Please pray for Pope Francis pilgrimage to South America. This once devout and overwhelmingly Catholic continent prior to Vatican II, will prove to be more difficult for Pope Francis than Pope Benedict's triumphant pilgrimage to Secular Protestant Great Britain 🇬🇧!

I am a bit perplexed that our pope of the poor continues these mega costly pilgrimages when the money could be allocated to the poor to alleviate their suffering.

The following is from "Inside the Vatican":

Protests against the Pope in Chile, 

attacks on four Churches. 

Demonstrators occupy the nunciature

The activist group Andha Chile, “Too much money
 spent on the visit, while in the country there are misery
 and murders”. Homemade bombs against parishes in
 different areas of Santiago. Bachelet,
“Welcome the Pontiff with respect”

One of the Churches attacked in Chile

Pubblicato il 12/01/2018

Ultima modifica il 12/01/2018 alle ore 19:34

SALVATORE CERNUZIO

VATICAN CITY

The “Bienvenido” posters scattered around the city have been shadowed by protesters launching homemade bombs against 4 Churches in Santiago de Chile, two days ahead of Pope Francis’ visit. The latest press updates report that the Capital’s apostolic nunciature - which will be the Pope’s residence during his three-day-stay from 15 to 18 January - has been occupied (now freed by the police) by a group of demonstrators gathered under the Andha Chile people’s association, led by the former presidential candidate, Roxana Miranda. A gesture that follows the attacks on four parishes in different parts of the city this night.  

The revolt of the group – an organization that gathers among others, unemployed and homeless people – is fueled by neither a political nor a faith issue, “but rather the millions that are being spent” for the welcome of the Pope, as Roxana Miranda explains on her Twitter account, announcing the beginning of an “aggressive agenda”. There is talk of about 10 million pesos spent on the Pope’s visit, 70% funded by the State, the remaining 30% by the Church.  

An insult according to the protesters: “Here in Chile – Andha Chile tweets - there is misery, pedophilia, murder and nobody does anything, but millions are spent on a religious figure”. Always on her Twitter page, Miranda has published a video showing agents of the Chilean security forces entering the nunciature, despite the protesters trying to prevent access. Half an hour later, a new message reported that the perpetrators of the protests and occupation were being held in a Chilean Police station in Providencia.  

Last night, the police have also foiled a potential attack (the forth one) against the sanctuary of Cristo Pobre, located near the subway station Quinta Normal, where a trash bin had been filled with an inflammable liquid. While, three other Churches have been seriously damaged, especially their front doors and facades. Especially that of Santa Isabel de Hungría, in the central station area, where protesters threw a cloth soaked in fuel at the entrance door setting it on fire, then sedated by the local fire-fighters. A priest, resident in the parsonage, Father Fernando Ibáñez, reported to the local Cooperative radio station that a few hours before some young people had passed in front of the church shouting insults. Shortly afterwards, he reported, “I heard a barking dog and from my window I saw the light of a flame, I called the parish priest Don Cristian, while the neighbors shouted, calling us,” so “I took a water-hose and started putting out the fire”.  

At the same time in Penalolén, at the chapel of Christ Vencedor, some unknowns set off a homemade bomb that caused some slight damage, and at Recoleta, the chapel of Emmanuel was struck around three o’ clock at night (local time) with a bomb that exploded, damaging a door and breaking a few windows. The Chilean Minister of the Interior, Mahmud Aleuy, who condemned the use of violence in a country characterized by freedom of opinion and announced that the government will sue all those responsible for the attacks.  

The representatives of the diocese of Santiago say they are “deeply saddened by these facts, which contradict the spirit of peace that animates the Pope’s visit to the country” and ask the authors “to reflect on the need for respect and tolerance among all, in order to build a homeland of brothers and sisters ”. While Chile’s outgoing “president”, Michelle Bachelet, strongly condemned the protest, “What happened is very strange because it is not something that can be attributed to a specific group,” she said. She then confirmed that, in view of Pope Francis’ arrival, the Chilean government has done everything in its power to help planning and organizing the apostolic journey. In particular, the executive’s efforts have focused on security, support to facilitate access to event venues, as well as the movement of the faithful. Bachelet urged to welcome the Pope “in an atmosphere of respect” and “to live this visit in an atmosphere of respect, solidarity and joy” 

This is not the first time that Churches in Chile have been attacked or burned down: about 36 sites of worship, including small chapels, were attacked over the last 25 years. So far, there has been no official claim for the four attacks, but it seems that they carry the signature of the Mapuches representatives, a minority - one of the largest in Latin America (more than one million and 500 thousand out of 15 million inhabitants, i. e. about 10% of the population) - who for years have been asking the government to recognize their rights, the existence of a binational state as well as the restitution of land stolen over the past five centuries and now in the hands of corporations or foreign landowners.  

Not particularly hostile to the already fragile Chilean Church - which, indeed, has often supported their cause - the Mapuches have nevertheless chosen the path of violence to give international visibility to their protest, especially in these days when, with the Pope’s upcoming visit, the eyes of the world are focused on Chile. Several analysts have noted how the besieging of the nunciature is a skillful maneuver to strengthen the opposition movement that has been expanding for several weeks in different Chilean cities and that is now experiencing a “leap in quality” taking on the traits of a political project with its own ideological structure.  

Father Felipe Herrera, spokesman of the National Commission for Francis’ visit to Chile, spoke to Sir about “acts of vandalism carried out to draw attention”: This is “no terrorist attack”, the priest assured, rather manifestations of “a very high level of social discontent”. In any case, “we are used to them”, Herrera says, “and people are joyfully awaiting the Pope. The local Church is not concerned about the Pope’s successful visit to Chile. What we want to give, is a message of calm, of tranquility “.