CHAPTER 15
CONTROVERSAL DECISIONS BY THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS
The Vatican newspaper the l’Osservatore Romano, has reported that The College of Cardinals has been able to review and approve numerous controversial doctrines and administrative regulations, including allowing priests to be married, eliminating the centuries old requirement of celibacy, allowing female priests, homosexual or lesbian priests, and allowing previously ordained priests, who left to marry or for other reasons, to return to the priesthood.
One major decision has included the reunification of all the major sects within the Catholic Church, that of the Maronites, Greek Catholics, Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Assyrian or Nestorian, and minor sects comprised of Chaldean Catholics, Bahais, Armenian Catholics, Copts, Turkomans, Circassians, and Opus Dei to be governed and to follow the revised singular universal doctrines and regulations of the Universal Catholic Church with an English translation and the vernacular of the country of origin for all liturgical events.
The College of Cardinals has also approved the acceptance of the following major groups’ international religious entities: The Anglican Church of England, Episcopal Church of the United States, Lutheran Church Of America and Lutheran National Congregations and its affiliates from Europe, and will be continuing to review on an ongoing basis all applications of other denominational churches from around the world wanting to join.
All sacraments validly celebrated within the liturgical customs of each denomination, such as marriages, baptisms, confirmations are deemed valid in the Universal Catholic Church. Holy Orders, which is the sacrament reserved for the ordination of priests, will however require security and criminal background reviews, passing a theological exam of the revised church doctrines and regulations, and pledge of obedience to the Pope, upon receiving the Rite of Holy Orders. This is so that all clergy will be able to officially preside at a Mass or any other sacramental rites celebrated in any of the churches, considered part of the Universal Catholic Church. It will also be the intent of removing non-pastoral duties from all clergy and making that the responsibility of shared centralized administrative secular organizations for multiple church clusters, including any governing bodies within the designated episcopacies of various churches conferences.
All extraordinary ministers, teachers, all employees in whatever capacity in any programs associated or conducted in churches, schools, or other buildings owned by the churches, will be required to pass a security and criminal background check.
Real estate properties will continue to be owned, and any liabilities associated with them, will belong and continue to be the responsibilities of the existing church denominations, and will not be transferred to any Catholic Diocese.
Any employee compensation or benefit plan will continue as they exist, until such time as an appropriate study can be concluded, that will be able to provide a comprehensive equitable compensation and benefit plan for all employees and clergy.
All theological institutions associated with the formation and preparation for all clergy for all church denominations, that have been accepted as part of the Universal Catholic Church will now be guided by the current doctrines and regulations accepted by the College of Cardinals.
All church denominations, that are accepted as part of the Catholic Universal Church must sign a joint formal written agreement documenting their declaration of acceptance of the Doctrines, Church Laws, and Regulations governing the Catholic Universal Church, and their acceptance of the Pope as their spiritual leader.
L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican paper, reports that the volume of dignitaries from around the world representing various Christian and Protestant denominations that have come to St. Peter’s has been monumental. Every conceivable hotel, motel, bed and breakfast facility, as well as every available convent, rectory, boarding school, and college housing facility have been recruited to provide housing and dining facilities for these representatives. Every conceivable vendor and business establishment within a hundred miles from Rome, report that business incomes have been a bonanza never seen in their lifetimes. It has also been noted that at every Catholic Church, in and outside of Rome, have been holding masses every hour around the clock in order to accommodate all the visiting faithful to Rome.
Even the normal scheduled appearances by the Pope have been indefinitely suspended for the foreseeable future. It has been reported that the Pope has a sixteen-hour daily schedule of appointments meeting with various groups, reviewing documents, and is currently booked well into next year. A new web site has been established to identify major recent developments with various worldwide Christian, Jewish, and Protestant church denominations that have signed acceptance agreements to become part of the Universal Catholic Church. Copies of all finalized documents and documents now in progress are included on the website, in order to make sure everyone is up to date on the latest events. Every major tentative religious website associated with the Universal Catholic Church has been reported to include announcements of major events of all the various Christian and Protestant denominations that have agreed to join the Universal Catholic Church.
Pope John XXIV has booked the following stadiums for a mass and appearance on:
DATE LOCATION CAPACITY
September 1, 2014 St. Peter’s Square, Vatican, Rome, Italy 150,000
September 4, 2014 Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan USA 109,901
September 7, 2014 Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Canada 66,308
September 10, 2014 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico 105,000
September 16, 2014 Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 100,200
September 19, 2014 Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India 90,000
September 22, 2014 Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkota, India 120,000
September 25, 2014 Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran 100,000
September 28, 2014 Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, Indonesia 88,306
October 1, 2014 Borg El Arab Stadium, Alexandria, Egypt 86,000
October 4, 2014 Guangdong Olympic Stadium, Guanghou, China 80,012
October 7. 2014 Olimpiysky National Sports Complex, Kiev, Ukraine 83,160
October 10, 2014 Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia 75,000
October 13, 2014 Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany 81,264
October 16, 2014 Alliaz Arena, Munich, Germany 69,901
October 19, 2014 Athens Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece 71,030
October 22, 2014 Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 82,238
October 25, 2014 Estadio Monumental, Lima, Peru 80,093
October 28, 2014 Abuja Stadium, Abuja, Nigeria 60,000
November 1, 2014 Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca, Morocco 80,000
November 4, 2014 Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, Congo 80,000
November 7, 2014 King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia67, 000
November 10, 2014 Mad Day Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea 150,000
November 13, 2014 International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan 70,000
November 16, 2014 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia 100,018
November 19, 2014 Wembley Stadium, London, UK 90,000
November 22, 2014 Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland 82,300
November 25, 2014 Swedbank Arena, Stockholm, Sweden 65,000
November 28, 2014 Stade de France, Paris France 81,264
No appearances by the Pope have been planned during the month of December 2014. It is reported that scheduled visits to other countries will be planned after the Easter Holidays in 2015, to give the Pope time to meet with the College of Cardinals upon his last stadium appearance. Even though the listed stadium capacities are listed, it is anticipated that thousands more will fill the playing fields of these stadiums, and therefore it is unknown what the total attendance could be. It is also anticipated that millions more faithful will be viewing these live telecasts of the appearances by Pope John XXIV.
The security precautions for the Pope’s travels h
ave been unprecedented, including consultations with the secret service of the President of the United States. It is understood also that a new plane and armored vehicle has been ordered under tight security with the latest safety measures. It is well known that there have been numerous assassination attempts on his life, but he insist on making these planned appearances. All of the planned trips are also being coordinated with national security organizations of the countries being visited.
The First American Pope Page 15