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Russians Take to the Streets Over Loss
of Free Press
by Christopher A. Ferrara
 One almost feels
sorry for the Fatima revisionists. They have got themselves in a terrible bind.
Day after day, they insist that Russia was consecrated to the Immaculate Heart
of Mary in 1984 and that anyone who says otherwise is “disloyal to the
Holy Father”—who himself has conspicuously refrained from pronouncing
authoritatively on the matter. Day after day, as the evidence piles up that the
spiritual and material condition of Russia is worse than ever, the Fatima
revisionists look more ridiculous. How will they ever get out from under? How
will they ever be able to admit they have been misleading the Catholic faithful
for years?
One suspects
that when their own ridiculousness becomes unbearable, they will finally drop
their pretense of adhering to the Message of Fatima. They will openly (instead
of furtively) give Our Lady of Fatima the heave-ho, telling us that the Message
of Fatima was never very reliable in the first place. Better that than to admit
they were wrong.
Meanwhile,
Vladimir Putin continues to reveal himself as the dictator that he is. A recent
article in World magazine neatly summarizes his systematic clampdown on
what is left of Russia’s “free” press. World notes that
in April thousands of Russians “took to the streets to protest what they
believe is a state seizure of the country's only independent television
network, NTV. Gazprom, a state-run utility monopoly, was snatching up ownership
of the network in a hostile takeover. Celebrity journalists, politicians, and
entertainment figures mixed speeches with music and poetry to express
solidarity with NTV.”
Of course, the
demonstrations did no good; Putin’s program of state seizure of
independent media outlets continues unabated. World observes that among
Russians there is “growing concern that the management image of President
Vladimir Putin is a cover for old-style authoritarianism.” Well, well,
well. Hasn’t that “alarmist” and “conspiracy theorist”
Father Nicholas Gruner been saying that for years? And now we are hearing it
from a mainstream internet journal—not to mention such reputable sources
as The New York Times, the National Post (of Canada) and The
Wall Street Journal.
And lately we
are also hearing it from the United States Department of State. According to
World “the Bush State Department is losing patience with the
Kremlin. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said ‘reasonable
observers’ would see the changes at NTV and elsewhere in the Russian media
as politically motivated. He said Media Most news outlets are ‘clear
targets of a series of extraordinary pressures from law enforcement and other
elements of the Russian government.’”
Ah, but there is
no such concern among the Fatima revisionists. No, it’s a miracle—a
miracle!—what is happening in Russia today. Just ask Father Fox, the Blue
Army and that crew of self-appointed spiritual “experts” at EWTN.
Don’t listen to Father Gruner and his “ilk,” they say. No,
listen to us, because we are “loyal to the Holy Father,” blah,
blah, blah.
How pathetic it
is that these Catholics, with access to the intelligence of Heaven itself as
revealed at Fatima, cannot see what even George Bush’s State Department
and secular journalists can see. Ruined Russia is falling into the pit, while
the Fatima-revisionist dupes obstinately proclaim her “conversion.”
And so it goes in neo-Catholic land—a land of dreams and delusions.
Thanks
to Bob Banaugh of Montana for his “heads-up” on the World
magazine piece.
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