According to Monsignor James F. Campbell, "something as elaborate as this had to come from the Holy Father."

The tapestry is a calendar of 365 relics. One saint's relic for each day of the year.
In the center of the 2-foot-by-3-foot tapestry are relics of the actual crucifixion of Jesus: a piece of the Crown of Thorns, the sponge used to dab his lips, and a sliver of the cross itself, all woven into the cloth.

"Collectively, it means a great deal because the spirit of the church is in this framed object,” Campbell says. “You can see how magnificent this particular reliquary is, that just the amount of relics in this has got to say something of itself. It overwhelms you."
News of the reliquary has just begun to seep into the world of academia.

"It is exciting because it is a link, however tenuous, to the times of the apostles, the time of medieval saints." says Maureen A. Tilley, professor of theology at Fordham University.

The reliquary is believed to have been a gift from Pope Pius IX to Bishop John Timon and Diocese of Buffalo sometime in mid 1800s.

But in the 1900's it was placed in the Sisters of Saint Joseph's convent in Buffalo. One of the sisters came across the important relic stored in the cellar. But no documentation can be found.

Without proper documentation or certification, it's very difficult to figure out if the relics are real. There are clues, but no proof yet.

The relics are most likely thousands of years old and came from a religious order in Rome. The discovery has brought a renewal of faith to the struggling community.

The Diocese of Buffalo is now looking to Rome because the Vatican keeps meticulous records and may be able to shed light on this beautiful and likely holy relic.

They were first published by Arnold de Wyon, and ever since there has been much discussion as to whether they are genuine predictions of St. Malachy or forgeries. The silence of 400 years on the part of so many learned authors who had written about the popes, and the silence of St. Bernard especially, who wrote the "Life of St. Malachy", is a strong argument against their authenticity, but it is not conclusive if we adopt Cucherat's theory that they were hidden in the Archives during those 400 years.

These short prophetical announcements, in number 112, indicate some noticeable trait of all future popes from Celestine II, who was elected in the year 1143, until the end of the world. They are enunciated under mystical titles. Those who have undertaken to interpret and explain these symbolical prophecies have succeeded in discovering some trait, allusion, point, or similitude in their application to the individual popes, either as to their country, their name, their coat of arms or insignia, their birth-place, their talent or learning, the title of their cardinalate, the dignities which they held etc.

For example, the prophecy concerning Urban VIII is Lilium et Rosa (the lily and the rose); he was a native of Florence and on the arms of Florence figured a fleur-de-lis; he had three bees emblazoned on his escutcheon, and the bees gather honey from the lilies and roses.

Again, the name accords often with some remarkable and rare circumstance in the pope's career; thus Peregrinus apostolicus (pilgrim pope), which designates Pius VI, appears to be verified by his journey when pope into Germany, by his long career as pope, and by his expatriation from Rome at the end of his pontificate.

Those who have lived and followed the course of events in an intelligent manner during the pontificates of Pius IX, Leo XIII, and Pius X cannot fail to be impressed with the titles given to each by the prophecies of St. Malachy and their wonderful appropriateness: Crux de Cruce (Cross from a Cross) Pius IX; Lumen in caelo (Light in the Sky) Leo XIII; Ignis ardens (Burning Fire) Pius X.

There is something more than coincidence in the designations given to these three popes so many hundred years before their time. We need not have recourse either to the family names, armorial bearings or cardinalatial titles, to see the fitness of their designations as given in the prophecies. The afflictions and crosses of Pius IX were more than fell to the lot of his predecessors; and the more aggravating of these crosses were brought on by the House of Savoy whose emblem was a cross. Leo XIII was a veritable luminary of the papacy. The present pope is truly a burning fire of zeal for the restoration of all things to Christ.

The last of these prophecies concerns the end of the world and is as follows: "In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End."

It has been noticed concerning Petrus Romanus, who according to St. Malachy's list is to be the last pope, that the prophecy does not say that no popes will intervene between him and his predecessor designated Gloria olivæ. It merely says that he is to be the last, so that we may suppose as many popes as we please before "Peter the Roman". Cornelius a Lapide refers to this prophecy in his commentary "On the Gospel of St. John" (C. xvi) and "On the Apocalypse" (cc. xvii-xx), and he endeavours to calculate according to it the remaining years of time.

Devine, A. (1911). Prophecy. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved December 20, 2011 from New Advent:http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12473a.htm

People that study end-times Bible prophecy (a.k.a. "eschatology") know that there is an overwhelming amount of evidence suggesting it should be studiedand that it is very relevant for us today. Yet we also encounter people that do not appreciate that concept for a variety of reasons. I hope the following information will help people that already understand the importance of prophecy to better defend their understanding of that matter, and that it will dispel a few common myths that some people believe so they too will fully grasp all that God's Word has to say about Bible prophecy.

1. The first discussion addresses the misconception that prophecy has little relevance.
2. The second discussion helps dispel the myth that prophecy is too complex to study.
3. The third and final myth refuted is that prophecy has already been fulfilled historically. (Therein is the bulk of this article since that myth requires substantial discussion to be addressed thoroughly.)

MYTH #1 Bible Prophecy Has Little Relevance

Bible prophecy is found throughout scripture and many experts note that over 25% of the Bible is devoted to the topic. It is easy to find core concepts of every theological issue linked to prophecy. Prophecy concerning the first coming of Christ (a.k.a. "Messianic Prophecy") is found in many places in the Old Testament, and end-times prophecy is found throughout the Bible.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the apostles Paul, Peter, and others give end-times prophecy specific attention. Jesus Himself explained the end-times scenario in the Olivet Discourse, (recorded in Matthew 24 and in parallel passages of Mark 13 and Luke 21). Of course, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the last book of the Bible is aptly named Revelation and obviously denotes the importance of prophecy. Bible prophecy about the end times can also be found in Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Romans, Hebrews, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and many other places in scripture.

Moreover, we know that God does everything according to His divine plan and purpose and, thus, it would be contradictory to God's nature for Him to have had the prophetic words recorded if it had no purpose. God even tells us it is important with specific verses:

• Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)
• "See, I have told you ahead of time." (Matthew 24:25) And "So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time." (Mark 13:23)
• Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21)
• And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. (2 Peter 1:19)
• Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21)
• Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it. (Revelation 1:3)

MYTH #2 Bible Prophecy is Too Complex to Study

In the past it could have been said the prophecy was a complex subject; and, therefore, it was not that well understood. Only recently has end-times Bible prophecy become as understood as it today. To acknowledge that concept is actually a tremendous encouragement to people who study end-times Bible prophecy. Why is that? Because of what God Himself told Daniel. Daniel wrote, "I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?' He replied, Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end'"(Daniel 12:8-9).

As you can see, Daniel did not understand what God was asking him to record. When he asked the Lord what the outcome would be, God replied that the words were not meant for Daniel to understand and, in fact, they were to be "closed up and sealed until the time of the end." Consequently, if it can be demonstrated that now, due to relatively recent events, we are able to understand prophecy more than ever, then the logical conclusion is that we are now living in "the time of the end" that God mentioned!

Today Bible prophecy scholars are able to understand so much more than could have been understood even a few decades ago. We now understand that historical events and modern technological advances make the fulfillment of prophecy something that only a few decades ago could not have been achieved. I'll discuss some of those issues while addressing the last myth that requires more study to fully understand.

MYTH #3 Bible Prophecy Was Fulfilled Historically

This myth is widely accepted, as it has been propagated by the Roman Catholic Church for centuries. Unfortunately that viewpoint has also been adopted by many protestant denominations that would otherwise shudder at the thought of accepting false doctrine originating from Catholicism. The viewpoint existed in a mild form for centuries, but it progressed in the 17th Century when a Jesuit priest named Luis de Alcazar (1554-1613) gave it new life.

The Reformation was a time when the Bible was being made available to read by anyone, which presented a lot of potential problems for the Roman Catholic Church because people could then begin to understand the Book of Revelation was discussing the apostasy of the Roman Catholic Church. Alcazar developed a sophisticated theory to refute that conclusion by claiming that Revelation was about the Church's struggles during its early years. To support that theory, he suggested an allegorical method of interpreting Revelation to help the text of scripture align with historical events.

Unfortunately, during the Reformation that theory took hold and spilled over into some protestant groups that otherwise had shed many other false doctrines of Catholicism. People that believe prophecy was fulfilled in the past are called "preterists", whereas people that understand end-times Bible prophecy is future to us are called "futurists". The preterist interpretation is very clever; therefore, to the unsuspecting person that may be taught that viewpoint, it can appear to be quite valid.

Many fine Christians that believe in preterism are intelligent people that maintain sound doctrine on other fundamental issues. However, as I'll demonstrate further in this article, the logic and interpretation methods used to conclude that the prophecies were all fulfilled in the past require substantial inconsistencies to make it all fit; and, most importantly, the theory falls apart when the facts of history are closely scrutinized with the text of the Bible.

We read in 2 Peter 3:2-4 an interesting prophecy, "I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, 'Where is this coming' he promised?'" Then, just a few verses later (2 Peter 3:8) we find these important words to explain that the Lord is not going to return immediately, "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

What makes those words in 2 Peter interesting, yet disappointing, is that while we can imagine people outside the church questioning the return of our Lord, it will also be people within the Church scoffing at those that stand upon God's Word and point to Christ's return for the Church via the Rapture (an event clearly explained in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, which I'll address later in this article).

I believe if someone that holds the preterist position is willing to honestly explore the matter, they will realize that trying to make prophetic biblical passages align with historic events requires too much imagination and manipulation of the Bible; and that there is too much evidence pointing us to the fact prophecy is for our future. Interpreting the Bible literally, on the other hand, provides us with an appreciation that God said what He meant, and meant what He said. Dr. D.L. Cooper's explanation of the best way to interpret the Bible is commonly referred to as the Golden Rule of Interpretation:

When the plain sense of scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise.

Interestingly preterists often take literally all passages that refer to repenting from sins and being baptized. They also interpret the Bible literally at most other places, even if it requires faith to accept that what was said was absolutely true (e.g. creationism, the great flood of Noah's day, Daniel in the lion's den, the virgin birth, all of the miracles Jesus performed, the resurrection, etc.). Yet when it comes to understanding that Jesus will return for His Church and that Christians will be taken into the clouds via the Rapture, they consider those passages nonsensical to the rational mind. If they would, however, question why they are taught to allegorized only the topic of end-times prophecy and then consider it could be the viewpoint came from false teachings that originating from Roman Catholic Church, then they could begin to understand the issue is not a matter of what makes sense to our finite minds; but, rather, what makes sense in light of the inerrant Word of our omnipotent Creator.

Put another way, we must accept God's Word is inerrant and that it has to be taken literally for us to understand God existed before time and created everything; or how the entire earth was consumed in a flood (but not before God warned one man and his family to first build an ark). We must interpret the Bible literally to stand upon God's Word that Jesus was born of a virgin; or how He healed the blind and the crippled, how He walked on water, and how He instantly calmed a raging storm by speaking to it. We must not compromise to understand Lazarus was raised from the dead; and especially how Jesus literally died and then rose again three days later. The list could go on and on.

I hope this article will encourage people to explore the topic of end-times prophecy alongside God's Word as they remain intellectually open and spiritually sensitive. There is no disgrace in reevaluating what one has been taught and then adjusting that in light of new knowledge. Thanks be to God that the Apostle Paul did just that when he turned from persecuting Christians to being arguably the most influential person, except Christ Himself, in Christianity! The only disgrace is if one ignores the facts and entrenches themselves deeper into misunderstanding God's Word. (I myself, from time to time, have had to rethink how I thought about particular verses and certain topics once new information was provided to me. Often it was after a lot of prayer, wherein I also asked the Lord for wisdom and discernment. I have found that sometimes as we study God's Word more and learn new facts from inspired teachers, we gain a better understanding after all the pieces are put together.)

As we return to the topic at hand, even a common sense understanding of God's Word and it's application for us today would have one ask, "Why is so much written about prophecy if, in the end, it was really only meant for the early Church, and then from that point forward it has no real application for future generations?" There are many examples of how not expecting Christ to return unexpectedly via the Rapture undermines God's Word, such as 2 Peter 3:9-10 or Titus 2:11-14. As noted earlier, one would also have to seriously marginalize a substantial amount of the Bible where prophecy is discussed, such as 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, Romans chapters 9-11, 2 Peter, and the Book of Revelation (to name a few major places).

As we examine the preterist position, we must also consider why this false viewpoint has been allowed to succeed. First, we have to recognize the obvious, which is that many of the events that happened in A.D. 70 did fit, at least to some extent, some of the text. Also, because Israel ceased to be a nation for so long, it only helped support the position. I'll address both of those issues in much more detail further below.

I believe we also have to consider that Satan, who is the master of lies and deception and a devious enemy to Jews and Christians alike, has had his hand in the matter as well. He knows scripture and understands that if he can deceive people into believing lies, he gains a substantial advantage. In this case, a belief that God is essentially done with the nation of Israel helps promote anti-Semitism, which clearly fits Satan's strategya plan witnessed time and time again throughout history.

It is clear that Satan believes that if he can derail God's plan, he can change the outcome. We need only look at how the Egyptians, Babylonians, Syrians, and Romans were used to persecute the Jews; how Satan motivated King Herod to kill all the male babies at the time of Christ's birth; and how the Nazi Holocaust was an attempt to exterminate all the Jewish people. Today we see much of the same thing, except it is in the likes of Islamic nations (particularly Iran) and terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. These are people openly bent on destroying the Jewish people and taking land the size of New Jersey away from them, despite so much other land that they could have.

Satan knows that if he can, once again, lull Christians into turning their backs upon the Jewish people, then he will gain strategic ground for yet another assault on the Jews. If he can show that God does not honor His promise made centuries ago to Abraham and his descendants that the land of Israel would be theirs and without any preconditions (Genesis 15:18-21), then a case could be made that God could also dishonor His covenant with sinners. Of course, we serve a God that keeps His unconditional promises. He is also a God that has proven, and will continue to prove, that He is clearly superior to Satan's schemes. He will, once again, use the Jewish people and Bible prophecy to prove His perfect character and omniscience.

The viewpoint that it all already happened also will help the real future events to take many people by surprise. In particular, if people are not expecting any of the end times events to happen, such as the real Antichrist to rise onto the world scene, then that will make it all the more easy for him to do so without being recognized for who he is. Also, a one world banking system, one world government, etc. will make logical sense to everyone except those sensitive to the fact that those conditions will precede the Antichrist's rule and reign of terror. An apostate religious system can also more easily flourish when Christians are unaware of its coming.

Now I am not saying that people that believe in preterism are Satanic, in alliance with the Antichrist, nor are they necessarily Anti-Semitic; however, often the viewpoint they hold leads to a loss of appreciation for what God's Word says about His chosen people, the Jews, and the land of Israel. Also, while one's viewpoint on the matter is not a salvation issue, it can have far-reaching implications as we approach the last days in light of what scripture says will happen. It is, therefore, the reason I write this part of this article, as I hope to help people that are willing to be intellectually honest and consider that a preterist viewpoint of prophecy may be wrong in light of scriptural analysis of the subject.

As alluded to earlier, what clouds the issue is that some of what is described in the Bible did happen in the past; thus, the theory has just enough credibility to seem very plausible without further study. The most notable events that did happen was the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70 and the persecution of the early Church. However, when one diligently studies the matter, they learn that many of the prophetic events Jesus foretold did not happen; and it requires a substantial manipulation of the Bible to make it fit when examined closer.

DROPBOP

WELFARE MOTHERS TRADE FOOD STAMPS FOR DIAPERS

Food stamps cannot purchase diapers, baby wipes or toiletries. These are just some of the expensive, yet necessary items for any family to afford since the recession barged in. Welfare mothers don't have enough cash to buy items needed for everyday living. Some mothers have been selling their food stamps for lesser the amount than the food value, so they can purchase the non-food items food stamps won't cover.

The unemployment rate is at an all time high, relationships are strained. Marriages are at an all time low. The recession is threatening to go for round two. The wait in the Welfare offices are all day and then some. Tempers are getting over heated and forcing families to do what they would never think of to get by.

The New York Times reported that about six million Americans are receiving food stamps since the recession hit.

“I personally think that John Paul II should be made patron saint of youth,” Cardinal Martins told a gathering a Rome’s Santa Croce University on April 30. He even mapped out how that could be achieved.


“Some saints are patrons. If somebody wants to make a proposal to nominate somebody as a patron saint, though, then they must submit comprehensive documentation on their reasons and motivations.”

It’s easy to understand Cardinal Martins thinking. Over the 27 years of his papacy, Pope John Paul II had a particular rapport with young people. So much so that he was known to many as “the Pope of Youth.”

In 1984 he initiated a now-famous event, World Youth Day, to enable him to meet young people from around the globe every three years. The initiative proved to be such a success that the 1995 event in the capital city of the Philippines, Manila, brought over five million young pilgrims together with the Pope. It’s still estimated as the largest communal gathering in history.

His challenge to the young people on that occasion was typical of his pontificate. “Are you capable of giving yourselves, your time, your energy and your talent to the well-being of others? Are you capable of love? If you are, the Church and society can expect great things of each one of you.”

There is already a patron saint of youth, the 16th century Portuguese Jesuit St. Aloysius Gonzaga. It is not unheard of, though, for there to be more than one patron saint of a particular cause. Any proposal to make Pope John Paul II a fellow patron saint of youth would have to go before the Vatican body responsible, the Congregation for Divine Worship.

The Antichrist will be a false messiah who glorifies man instead of God

Based on a statement made by Pope Benedict XVI suggesting that world peace and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary may take place 100 years after the 1917 approved apparitions at Fatima, Portugal, a Catholic priest from Texas is projecting that a 2017 global peace experience will be preceded by the predicted three and half years of Antichrist rule which would start in perhaps mid-2013.

"In a homily on May 13, 2010 the Pope, before a half a million of the faithful, expressed a wish that was actually quite spectacular when he said: 'May the seven years which separates us from the centenary (of the apparitions 1917 - 2017) hasten the fulfillment of the prophecy of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity,'" the priest quoted.

"Now, the 'triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary' will not occur until the beginning of the 'Era of Peace' predicted by Our lady at Fatima.

"However, we know that before the triumph of Our Lady, there must first come the Reign of the Antichrist for three and a half years, as has been prophesied by the Prophet Daniel 12:7  'It should be for a year, two years, and a half-year: when the power of the destroyer of the holy people was brought to an end.'"

The priest then performed the simple calculation that the  3 1/2 years of Antichrist tribulation subtracted from the year of triumph, 2017, equals a point in time identified as mid-2013 which may be the beginning of the 42-month period of  spiritual darkness and global terror.

The Texas priest has some interesting insight regarding the coming of Christ.

"The Pope also added: 'Whereas people had previously spoken only of a twofold coming of Christ - one in Bethlehem and again at the end of the world - Saint Bernard of Clairvau(x) spoke also of an intermediate coming, thanks to which Christ periodically renews His intervention in history.'

"So we may conclude that the risen Christ may well return for the Era of Peace as the true Prince of Peace, together with His glorified Queen Mother, the Queen of Peace," the priest concluded.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church foresees two important characteristics of the Antichrist (1) he will be a false messiah and (2) his message will be a false messianism replacing worship of God with worship of man.

"The persecution (of the Church) that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the 'mystery of iniquity' in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostacy from the truth.

"The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh," Catechism of the Catholic Church, message 675.

Apparently, we are in the final preparations of the grand opening of this much anticipated cosmic drama.  The curtain could go up as early as mid-2013.  The main character, a messiah to some and a destroyer to others, will allegedly be on stage for three and a half years giving a performance so reprehensible that he will be condemned to hell forever.

Then, the Queen of Peace along with her Son, the Prince of Peace, will draw down the final curtain on this Greek and rest of mankind tragedy writing a new script revealing the predestined role of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in human events and ushering in a New Earth, a New Heaven and a New Jerusalem.

Hope you can make the show.

Transition to a New Heaven and a New Earth?

"I am here to tell you now that there will be great changes coming to all of you here on Earth to bring about a New Heaven and a New Earth, a New Jerusalem, which will be to all of you more a state of  mind initially than an actual physical location, for during this time of transition your future journey will be governed by principles of the Universe that heretofore have not been obvious or evident to all of you on Earth," states a message given on March 1, 2011, to Catholic mystic, Ned Dougherty, who allegedly received it in the form of a locution from a source identified as "Jesus the Redeemer."

Dougherty's journey into the future has a timely relevance since his near-death experience some 25 years ago followed by his remarkable predictions like the 9-11 attack and the Asian tsunami.

"This will be a time when much of the geophysical and material laws of nature will be suspended, creating in each and every one of you a sense of disbelief, until you begin to realize that the hand of the Almighty Creator is guiding all of you through a period of transition heretofore not experienced by mankind," the message continues.

Many people are curious when these extraordinary events will take place.

"Worry not and do not concern yourselves with a date fixed in time and place, for your beliefs of reality are blocked by the filters of your earthly lives, which will be lifted from you during this time of transition," Dougherty's message explains.

See the entire message here.

The Catholic Investigative Journal has investigated the Dougherty messages over the years and finds the content of the messages in tune with current events, but if the Catholic Church  disapproves of the authenticity of the messages, then we will discontinue publishing the messages. 

Are you on the road to Hell?

"Today, I was led by an Angel to the chasms of hell.  It is a place of great suffering, awesomely large and extensive," wrote the modern day Catholic mystic, Saint Faustina, in her spiritual diary.

St. Faustina saw seven kinds of suffering in hell.

"The first kind of suffering I saw, and the main suffering that constitutes hell, is the loss of God;

"the second is perpetual remorse of conscience;

"the third is that one's condition will never change;

"the fourth is the fire will penetrate the soul without destroying it, it is a terrible suffering, since it is a spiritual fire lit by God's anger;

"the fifth suffering is continual darkness and a terrible suffocating smell, and despite the darkness, the devils and the souls of the damned see each other and all the evil, both of others and their own;

"the sixth suffering is the constant company of Satan;

"the seventh suffering is horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses and blasphemies.  These are the sufferings suffered by all the damned together, but that is not the end of the sufferings," St. Faustina wrote.

"But I noticed one thing, that most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell," wrote St. Faustina about a common trait of hell's prisoners.

Where exactly is eternal hell located?

The question as to the place where hell is located has been a matter of conjecture among the Fathers of the Church and theologians.

St. John Chrysostom believed hell was located outside the bounds of this universe.

A significant number of theologians believe that hell is located within the earth itself.

Remember, when Lucifer was cast out of heaven, Scripture says that the fallen angel and his cohorts were cast into earth.  "The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it," Revelations 12: 9.

When the children of Fatima saw a vision of hell in 1917, the earth opened up and they saw hell down and inside the earth.

Whether hell is located outside the bounds of the universe or within the bowels of this earth, what Catholics should know for sure is that immediately after our judgement before God lost souls are snatched by Satan and driven into hell forever.

St. Faustina warns us that we cannot avoid hell by claiming that we didn't know it exists.

The Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace, weeping tears of blood for her lost children

Nine nations are sitting on approximately 23,000 nuclear bombs and one of the ways to avoid a nuclear holocaust is through the intercession and activism of Catholic women.

One of the crazy ideas that men have come up with is that warfare will be the basis of the global economy.

Already in the United States an organized mentality is being orchestrated to persuade the American public that global conflict will lead to an inevitable condition called "fighting perpetual wars for perpetual peace."

The time is now for women, especially Catholic women, to challenge this testosterone-charged, ridiculous game plan and to collectively bring this male-dominated planet of ours back to some sense of sanity.

Two women have already stepped forward to take their places on the global scene becoming inspirational models of action for women everywhere on the planet.

One is the beautiful, 59 year-old, American born, Princeton educated Queen Noor of Jordan, who has been the widow of King Hussein since 1999 and has now dedicated her life to humanitarian and charitable causes.

Her Majesty is a brilliant spokesperson for the Countdown to Zero Movement, committed to bringing about peaceful settlements among disagreeing nations, especially those countries with nuclear arsenals.

At this time Russia and the United States possess approximately 96% of all the nuclear weapons in the world with about 10,000 each in various stages of deployment and dismantlement.

The other seven nations have 4% of the nuclear weapons: France has 300, China has 240, the United Kingdom has 225, Israel has between 80 and 200, India has 60 to 80, Pakistan has 70 to 90 and North Korea has about 10, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

Queen Noor's peace initiatives are about increasing diplomatic exchanges and decreasing nuclear proliferation.  Click here.

Another champion of peace is a young woman in blue jeans and a black ski jacket challenging two Israeli soldiers in Gaza with rifles aimed at  rock-throwing Palestinian youths.

This young woman, who is simply identified as a Palestinian girl and looks like a typical American college co-ed, places herself in the dangerous line of fire and challenges the soldiers saying, "What are you doing? They're just kids."  Click here.

So, whether it's a famous, high-profile queen of a nation or an unidentified Palestinian girl facing down soldiers, there's video proof that women can make a difference and interrupt the plans of some men who are preparing for 10,000 years of continuous warfare.

It is only natural that the Catholic faith, which is the home of  pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-family values, would be the champion of pro-peace initiatives, and the most convincing spokespersons of this movement could be Catholic women.

When Catholic college co-eds, moms and grandmothers, single, married and divorced women realize that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary under her title of the Queen of Peace they can stand between armies and save the lives of their boyfriends, husbands, sons and grandsons; then, true peace can  be accomplished.

One can almost imagine the Virgin Mary addressing all the Catholic women of the world and saying to them, "You go, girl."