Johan Kotze, What an Evil Husband!

Brutal and evil…

… the man allegedly shot dead his 19-year-old son who walked in on his mother being gang-raped and mutilated by him and his workers in Modimolle.

“It is alleged the husband confronted his estranged wife carrying a .22 rifle at her house on Tuesday around 17:00, accompanied by his three employees,” Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said.

The 51-year-old husband, with the help of his workers, tied the woman to a bed in her home, before her husband allegedly ordered them to rape her at gunpoint.

He also allegedly tried to cut off her nipples with a grinder.

“While the three were raping the woman, his 19-year-old son arrived at the house and without any provocation his father shot him in the head. He died on the spot.”

The man had fled in his white Toyota Fortuner. The three workers also ran away and their whereabouts were unknown.
Mulaudzi said the woman was being kept at a place of safety.

His name is Johannes Christiaan Kotze and you can also follow developments for now on Twitter (Johan Kotze).

 

Paralysed Priest Walks Again after ‘Miracle’

In the Catholic Herald:

An American priest who was paralysed from the chest down has started to walk again after praying to a 19th-century Blessed.

When Redemptorist Fr John Murray struck his head against a railing after tripping along a walkway 15 months ago, the consequences were devastating.

The Baltimore parish priest suffered a broken neck that left him immediately paralysed. Rushed to a hospital, he underwent emergency spinal cord surgery and later began rehabilitation.

Doctors said that Fr Murray, who was known across the east coast of America, for his preaching abilities, would almost certainly never walk again.

“When they said I’d never be able to move, they took away all hope,” Fr Murray told the Catholic Review, Baltimore archdiocese’s newspaper.

But on November 28 2010 Fr Murray did something everyone said was impossible. While living and undergoing rehabilitation at Stella Maris in Timonium, Maryland, he moved his left leg ever so slightly, lifting his foot off the ground.

“I was ecstatic,” Fr Murray said. “Here I was about six weeks after they told me I’d never move again and, lo and behold, I could move. Just the foot, but it kept going and going and going.”

Today Fr Murray is completely mobile. Using a Zimmer frame he is able to walk on his own at his new residence at St Clement Mission House in Ephrata.

Fr Murray sees only one explanation: an encounter with the miraculous. In his pocket he carries a small object with him at all times. Encased in a locket is a relic – a piece of bone – of Blessed Francis Seelos, a 19th-century Redemptorist priest under consideration for canonisation, who had been a rector of the same parish Fr Murray once led. “Ultimately, all prayers go to God. Seelos can’t give the grace, but he was the conduit for my prayers,” he said.

Dr Ernestine Wright, medical director of Stella Maris, said she was shocked by Fr Murray’s recovery and that she had never seen anything like it. A born-again Christian, Dr Wright said she believed it was miraculous.

Dr Wright, who treated Fr Murray throughout his year at Stella Maris, said: “With spinal cord injuries, it’s always very difficult at the time of injury to determine whether it’s a permanent or temporary injury.” No longer in need of nursing care, the priest relocated to Pennsylvania in October.

“We could not have predicted how much he has recovered,” she said. “It’s very unusual.”

Dr Wright said that Fr Murray was an inspiration to other patients and staff.

“He was determined to get better,” she said. “He was determined that Stella Maris would not be his final place of abode. He was going to get back to ministry”…

More on this story here.

 

Video: Fr Jeffrey Steenson Holds A Press Conference in Houston

Catholic Online:

In opening the press conference, Cardinal DiNardo underscored the historic nature of the events that are unfolding, saying, ” The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter begins a new chapter in the life of the Catholic Church. Today’s announcement is the culmination of much prayer and discernment by those who have longed for reconciliation with the Roman Cathoic Church.”

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) – Reverend Jeffrey Steenson stood before the media on Monday, holding his first press conference as Ordinary of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. Two press conferences were actually held, one live at Our Lady of Walsingham Church in Houston and a call-in press conference immediately following.

Present with Fr. Steenson in Houston were Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, whose archdiocese will be hosting the new Ordinariate headquarters and Bishop Kevin Vann, from the Diocese of Fort Worth, who was a part of ad hoc committee with Cardinals Wuerl and DiNardo for the founding of the Ordinariate and has recently been appointed as the new Ecclesiastical Delegate for the Pastoral Provision.

The call-in conference also included Fr. Scott Hurd, from Cardinal Wuerl’s office in Washington, who has served as the administrator of the work in its pre-Ordinariate stages and will now continue to serve as the Vicar-General to the new Ordinary.
In opening the Press Conference, Cardinal DiNardo underscored the historic nature of the events that are unfolding, saying, ” The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter begins a new chapter in the life of the Catholic Church. Today’s announcement is the culmination of much prayer and discernment by those who have longed for reconciliation with the Roman Cathoic Church.”
The cardinal also went on to give a strong endorsement to the man chosen by the Holy Father to lead this new jurisdiction in America, Fr. Jeffrey Steenson. “He is a wise and prudent administrator,” he stated, “who will bring a vibrant intellect and humility to his role as head of the Ordinariate.

“He has a very deep sense of the meaning of Church. Father Steenson is not only an outstanding patristic scholar, but a priest with a strong pastoral sense and an abiding respect for all people. He will surely be an effective, kind and joyful leader who will love and guide God’s people with the attitude of Christ.

“On behalf of the U.S. bishops, I pledge our personal support for the success of this Ordinariate. This announcement is the culmination of much prayer of those who have longed for reconciliation with the Catholic Church.”

Fr. Steenson, in addressing the media during the call-in conference, departed from his prepared remarks, commenting that since all the reporters were given copies, he would highlight a few things and then move to questions.
He first wanted to thank all those who had labored to bring about the Holy’s Father’s intention for the Anglican Ordinariate in America.

“There is so much to learn,” the new Ordinary stated, “and it is a steep learning curve. Be patient with us as we embark on this journey. Pray that we may strive to learn the faith, laws, and culture of the Catholic Church with humility and good cheer.
But pray too that we do not forget who we are and where we have come from, for we have been formed in the beautiful and noble Anglican tradition. The Holy Father has asked us to bring this patrimony with us: ‘to maintain the liturgical, spiritual and pastoral traditions of the Anglican Communion within the Catholic Church, as a precious gift nourishing the members of the Ordinariate and as a treasure to be shared.’

“Here is one thing I earnestly desire to share with you from the outset – Anglican spirituality has always emphasized the need to be gentlemanly in all of our relationships. May you see in us always the virtue of courtesy!

“The establishment of the Personal Ordinariate is an historic moment in the history of the Church. For perhaps the first time since the Reformation in the 16th century, a corporate structure has been given to assist those who in conscience seek to return to the fold of St. Peter and his successors…

Read on here.

 

Mysterious Disease Hits Uganda

The Africa Report:

As Ugandans celebrated Christmas and New Year, most people in the northern parts of the country were seeking answers about a mysterious disease that has mainly affected children.

The head nodding disease which mostly attacks children aged between five and 15 has killed over 50 children in the last three months alone.

“The major symptom of the disease is the continuous nodding of the head” said community officer Jacob Okello.

“Over 2400 children in the districts of northern Uganda are suffering from the disease.

“Some of the victims faint after several minutes from the continuous head nodding”.

There are fears that the little known disease might escalate into an outbreak amid admissions by authorities that they have no knowledge of the ailment.

“The nodding disease which is at times called the nodding syndrome is a little known disease in Uganda,” said Gregory Obulu, a medical officer in northern Uganda.

“It is alleged that it even hit South Sudan in the 1980′s.”

According to Obulu, some health workers have associated the disease with epilepsy.

Joseph Wamala, an official at Uganda’s epidemic and surveillance department of the Ministry of Health said the nodding disease could be a new type of epilepsy.

He said it could be associated with a parasitic worm known as Onchocerca Volvulus, which is also known to cause river blindness.

“Studies are being carried out to get facts on that” Obulu said.

..

More here.

 

The Grim Bishop

This morning, we wake up to some bad vestments:

Ready to slash the sheep?