1977
The La Salette missionaries begin their Apostolate in India.

In November at the New York Hilton, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen received the Catholic Actors Guild Award. It was the first time he appeared in public since his open heart surgery.

1978
The ban on Blessed Faistina's diary was lifted April 15, it had been banned since 1958.

Pope Paul VI made his last public appearance at the funeral Mass of his life long friend, Aldo Moro. He had been kidnapped and murdered.

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen publishes his book, Life is Worth Living.

John-Paul I becomes Pope. He was elected on his birthday, August 26. He was Cardinal Albino Luciani. He was born in 1928, at Forno di Canale. He came from poor working class parents; his father frequently went to Switzerland as a migrant worker, and his family were known as outspoken socialists. He did military service before being ordained a priest in 1935. He was appointed a Bishop in 1958.

At the Conclave he was elected Pope on the third ballot on the first day. He was the first Pope of demonstrably working class parents. He died just three weeks later on Thursday, September 28, at about 11:00 PM., he suffered from an apparent heart attack while lying in bed. He was found about 5:30 A.M. the next day.

From August 26 to October 8 another public display was organized to mark the IV Centennial of the Holy Shroud of Turin’s transfer from Chambery to Turin. Upon conclusion of the event, forty-four Italian and International researchers were given permission to make scientific tests on the Sacred Relic for a period of 120 hours. The test results revealed that the image on the Shroud was a human corpse. Using a process Isodensity, it was revealed that the unnatural bulges on the eye lids were actually coins placed over the eye lids. The coins used were issued by Pontius Pilate, called a Lepton. These small bronze coins were worth about 1/8 of a cent, and were equivalent in value, to the Jewish, Peruta, the coins of the Widow’s Mite. Pontius Pilate issued the Lepton between the years 29-32. The Isodensity process also revealed the Holy Shroud’s three-dimensional properties. These Properties were so perfect, a model of the body was fashioned from it.

John-Paul II becomes Pope; our current Pontiff. He is the first Slav Pope in history and the first non-Italian Pope since Adrian VI, the Dutch Pope. His given family name is Karol Wojtyla. He was born May 18, 1920 at Wadowice, an industrial town 50 km. south-west of Krakow, Poland. His father was a retired army lieutenant living on his pension; Karol was very close to his father, his mother died when he was a small boy. He and a friend organized an underground theatrical club during World War II. He was ordained in 1946. and made a Cardinal in 1967.

An examination of the Holy Shroud of Turin was made by the Shroud of Turin Research Project. They determined the length and width of the Relic, fourteen feet three inches long by three feet seven inches wide. On November 23, the Holy Shroud of Turin was exhibited for the first time on television.

1979
Pope John-Paul II visits the United States for the first time and published his Papal Encyclical, Redemptor Hominis, a statement of Christian Humanism.

On October 2, a touching moment in the life of Bishop Sheen took place, when the visiting Pontiff embraced Archbishop Sheen and said to him, “You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You are a loyal son of the Church.”

Death of our beloved Bishop, Fulton J. Sheen on December 9.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1980
The Venerable Kateri Tekakwitha was solemnly Beatified.

Death of Dorothy Day, Foundress of the Catholic Worker Movement. She converted to the Catholic Faith in 1927. In 1933 she founded the Catholic Worker newspaper.

Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated in San Salvadore on March 24, while saying Holy Mass. It was at the Consecration, he raised the Chalice and said, “Do this in memory of me.” While he held the Chalice in air, the assassin aimed his rifle at the Archbishop’s upper torso. The bullet stuck the Archbishop in his heart, spewing his blood all over the Altar, killing him instantly. The Chalice filled with the Blood of Christ fell from his hands, landing upright and standing! Not one drop of the Precious Blood of Christ was spilled. The Nuns attending Mass wept bitter tears. Archbishop Oscar Romero, although he is not yet Canonized, is a modern day Martyr.

Pope John-Paul II publishes his second Papal Encyclical, Dives In Misericordia, calling men to show mercy to one another.

1981
Josemaria Escriva De Balaguer, the Founder of Opus Dei, was solemnly Venerated and earned the tile, Servant of God.

An assassination attempt was made of Pope John-Paul II at St. Peter’s Square. Mehet Ali Agca, a Turkish Muslim terrorist shot and seriously wounded the Pontiff. The Pope of course recovered, and being the man he is, the Servant of the Servants completely forgave his attacker.

Pier Luigi Baima Bollone, medical examiner at the University of Turin, performed an hematological analysis on the Holy Shroud. The test showed with certainty that the Blood on the Holy Shroud of Turin is in fact human blood and belongs to the AB+ group. Baima Bollone is currently working with DNA tests on the Holy Shroud.

Pope John Paul II publishes his Third Papal Encyclical, Laborem Exercens, commemorating the anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum.

L’Osservatorre Romano, the Vatican newspaper, stated that the Monitum issued by Pope John XXIII against Pierre Teilhard De Chardin, was in fact still in effect!

1982
Father Jerzy Popieluszko was Martyred in Poland. He was the Spiritual director of Solidarity.

On August 23, the Opus Dei Order became the personal Prelature of the Pope.

On October 10, Pope John-Paul II Canonized Blessed Maximilian Mary Kolbe. He was one of the many Polish Martyrs who gave their lives in the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz on August 14, 1941. The Concentration Camp at Aschwitz was used primarily for Polish prisoners, intellectuals, Catholic priests, and others that were labeled by the Nazis as “dangerous.” In 1940, Father Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan priest, wrote and published the his Knight of the Immaculata. He was fully aware that his arrest would come any day, therefore he spent his time preparing his brother Franciscans for the event. He ran a printing press in Niepokalanow, the City of the Immaculata. The Gestapo knew of his many gifts and tried to persuade him to use them for their Third Reich. Their intention was to use our Saint to influence stubborn Poles through his printing press. They told him that the High Command had heard of him and were well pleased. Our Saint refused the Nazis and he was immediately shipped out to Auschwitz. St. Maximilian volunteered to take another man’s place, this other man, who had a family, was chosen at random along with nine others to be starved to death. The man pleaded with the merciless Nazis to let him go. St. Maximilian Kolbe stepped forward and said, “I will take his place. I am a Catholic priest.” He was then detained in Cell Block 11, where on August 14, 1941 he and the few others that were still alive, were injected with a lethal dose of poisonous acid. The who pleaded with the Nazis spent the rest of his life on his knees every night in prayer for St. Maximilian Kolbe. St. Maximilian Kolbe is the Patron Saint of World War II; the Press; Concentration Camps; of Aviation; Progress; and the Poor.

Pope John-Paul II visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, in Poland.

1983
A Declaration from the Holy Office was made, strictly forbidding Catholics enrollment in Masonic Orders, under the pains of excommunication. Canon Law 1374.

Death of Umberto of Savoy on March 18. His last will and testament bequeathed the Holy Shroud of Turin to the Holy See. The legal act of donation was completed on October 18.

1984
Pope John-Paul II negotiated with the Italian Government a new Concordat recognizing the separation of Church and State.

Pope John-Paul II met with President Ronald Reagan of the United States and announced the establishment of diplomatic relations and the exchange of Ambassadors between the United States and the Vatican.

Rumors of foul play were heard in the Vatican as to the untimely death of Pope John-Paul I fanned by the lack of an autopsy, because the Pontiff planned to clean up the Vatican Bank, demote leading members of the Curia and revise Humanae Vitae. The evidence produced was a tissue of improbabilities.

His Eminence, Cardinal Jaime Sin, Archbishop of Manila, delivered his Pastoral Statement when TM, Transcendental Meditation, threatened to overrun the Philippines.

TM, is, as Randy England states in his book, Unicorn in the Sanctuary, “TM is the meditative system popularized by the famous Guru to the Beatles and others, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Called ‘Science of Creative Intelligence’ (SCI), this method is Hindu meditation parading as science, notwithstanding its adherents’ constant claims that ‘this is nor religious.’” TM is extremely dangerous to all Christian Faiths. In brief, the process allows oneself to be put in touch with sensations of one’s own body. The individual, called a seeker, sits in the Yoga position, and breaths while repeating what is called a Mantra. This could be a word, such as the name, Jesus, or simply a sound like OM. The danger in this comes next; beyond the meditative prayer, as they call it. The mystical experience of Contemplation. This is the absorption of one’s soul into a partial Vision of God. This contemplation, is supposedly a gift from God. The danger here is that one could contemplate something evil and the so-called seeker could take that to mean it came from God. The goal of TM is to make one’s mind an empty and open receptacle. This sounds like it was rooted deeply in Gnosticism.

1985
Pope John-Paul II publishes his Fourth Papal Encyclical, Slavorum Apostoli. The Encyclical appealed to the people of Communist Eastern Europe to resolve divisions on the basis of a common culture and religion.

Pope Pius IX was found to have Heroic Virtue and was solemnly named Venerable. He earned the tile to be called Servant of God. A Cultus for his Beatification is currently under way.

1986
Nasrallah Sfeir was elected Marionite Patriarch of Lebanon in April of this year. The Marionite Rite has five Canons called Anaphoras, which vary with the celebrant’s discretion. The most commonly used Canon is called the: Anaphora of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, Mother of all Churches.” The vestments of the Roman Rite are also used.

In October, 2,000 “Catholic” feminists mostly Nuns, attended a conference in Washington DC entitled, Women in the Church. This abomination of sin was speaker, Sister Madonna Kolbenschlag rip through the Papacy, the Church, and the Holy Trinity among other things.

Former Presbyterian minister, Professor Scott Hahn, becomes a Roman Catholic. He has brought hundreds back to the Church. He is an excellent Apologist and is currently Professor of Theology at Franciscan University in Stubenville, Ohio.

1987
Pope John-Paul II publishes his Papal Encyclical, Redemptoris Mater.

Pope John-Paul II visits the United States. He offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at Dodger Stadium; the Los Angeles Coliseum, (my parents were there); Candlestick Park, in San Francisco; then in an Iowa cornfield.

The Venerable Sister Edith Stein, a Jewish convert to the Faith, was solemnly Beatified on May 1. Blessed Edith became a Carmelite Nun, and was Martyred on August 9, 1942 along with her sister, Rosa, also a Nun. They were judged with numerous others as “unfit to work” and were killed with cyanide gas.

1988
On July 1, Pope John-Paul II Decrees the excommunication of Archbishop Marcel Lefevre; the four men he uncanonically consecrated as Bishops; and all the followers of Lefevre. This sect is called the Pius X Society, they are in schism.

Samples were taken from the Holy Shroud of Turin for Carbon-14 tests. In contrast to all preceding studies, the results indicated a date for the cloth between the Thirteenth and Fourteenth centuries. A new phase of further studies, challenging the results and the reliability of the methods used by the three laboratories began.

Pope John-Paul II appoited His Eminence Giuseppe Cardinal Caprico as Grand Master of the Equestrain Order of the Holy Sepulcher, a lay religious community with specific responsibilities of guarding the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher and the city of Jerusalem in defense of Christendom against Muslim attack. This Order was officially recognized by Pope Callistus II in 1122.

1989
The Revised Code of Canon Law was issued.

An initial vocation promotion campaign was launched in Indonesia by the La Salette Missionaries.

The Taef Peace Accord was signed in Saudi Arabia. This permitted the Lebanese, Muslims, and Christians to work together.

In this, the last decade of this present century, in which we have reached the year 1998, Mother Church is faced with three Major enemies. I am including the Muslims in this group because of their track record. In all fairness to our Muslim brothers, efforts have been made to heal old wounds. Perhaps by the Grace of Almighty God they will one day be converted to the True Faith.

The next enemy, is the enemy of mankind itself, the Freemasons, who have denied the Divinity of God and have reduced Him to the “Grand Architect of the Universe.” Their concept of marriage being a simple contract dissoluble by either partner at any given time has caught on in all faiths and has caused the divorce rate to sky rocket! The attack on the family unit is on their hands. God said what He joins together no man must divide. This is clearly another case of “Man’s will be done, not God’s.

The same is true with artificial means of birth control. The Old Testament condemns abortion, God killed Onan for spilling his seed. All Churches condemned artificial means of birth control, then, suddenly in 1930 it’s acceptable. Who’s will was this? Once again, it was man’s doing, not God’s and man has altered what our Lord had commanded.

You the reader can now understand where this twisted thinking originated from, beginning with the Gnostics. You have now witnessed from the early days of the Church, the devil has not let up; his siege on Christ’s Church has and will continue. I also think you are able to realize that the devil is not that smart. He has continually used the same format and placed the emphasis on other points, such as Faith and Feelings, the emotional aspects. The Symbolism of, in lieu of the Sacraments.

These dangerous views have cause thousands to loose sight of the Sacraments and Graces we obtain by receiving them, passing them off as works. These thousands who lost their way, turned into millions who never knew.

Artificial means of birth control and the abhorrent crime of abortion have risen to an all time high and is still soaring upward. These are truly an abomination in God’s eyes.

The other enemy, the New Age Movement, has been around for quite some time. I was unable to find an exact date. Their teaching within the Catholic Church began with Meister Eckhart and continued through Carl Jung and the Jesuit, Pierre Telihard De Chardin. It was Chardin’s pantheistic ideas that have unlocked the door for and were adopted to Transcendental Meditation. Emotion, is suddenly a key factor. These teachings did not stem from Jesus Christ. Clearly another example of man tinkering with God’s Will. We begin to see Our Lady's prediction at Akita come to pass.

Many of our Brothers and Sisters, who are now separated from the Mystical Body of Christ, the Catholic Church, have either lost or never had to begin with, Faith. See 2 Timothy 4:3-4; Matthew 7:15; 2 Peter 3:15-16; 2 John; Daniel 2; and Jeremiah 6:16.

1990
A request was made to open the cause for Beatification for Sister Malgorzata Stella and her Companions who were brutally murdered by the Nazis on August 1, 1943 during World War II. The reason given for their Martyrdom was hatred for the Catholic Church.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta stepped down from her position of Administrator of her Order for her declining health.

Iraq under the leadership of Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait.

Germany was reunited. Much of the Berlin Wall which had been built in 1961 had been torn down. Only a few segments remain today.

1991
The Persian Gulf War began in January and ended in February.

Pope John-Paul II publishes his Papal Encyclical, Centesimus Annus, on Sign of the Times.

On September 27, the remains of Sister Stella and her ten Companions, all Nuns, were brought into the Church and placed in a common grave. After forty-six years, outside the Church, they were finally home. They have been included in the Polish Martyrs.

Kazakhstan, in central Asia, proclaimed its independence.

1992
On May 17, the Venerable Josemaria Escriva De Balaguer was solemnly Beatified.

The Vatican declared Faustina Kowalska responsible for the miraculous cure of Maureen Digan, of Lee, Mass. Digan testified that, after praying at Kowalska's tomb in Krakow in 1981, she was cured of Milroy's disease, a hereditary form of lymphedema that had already cost Digan one leg.

On September 7 of this year the Holy Shroud of Turin was privately displayed to a group of International experts. These men gathered to discuss the best techniques for the Sacred Relic’s preservation.

Kazakhstan established diplomatic relations with the Holy See in October. The republic includes 300,000 Catholics, who make up just 1.8 percent of the population in the predominantly Muslim land.

1993
Pope John-Paul II publishes his Papal Encyclical, Veritas Splendor.

On February 24, the Holy Shroud of Turin was temporarily moved to the main Altar of Turin Cathedral, to allow restoration work on the Guarini Chapel to be performed.

On March 19, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, suggested that the Altars should be turned around, as per pre-Vatican II.

The Venerable Sister Helen Mary Faustina Kowalska was solemnly Beatified.

Keeping Catholics Catholic classes begin July 3, at St. Philip Neri Parish in Lenwood, California. The objective for these classes is inform our brothers and sisters about their Faith and make them stronger adherents to it. Many of our brothers and sisters who were born into the Catholic Faith haven’t the slightest idea what the Church teaches. They are unfamiliar with the Incarnation. They do not comprehend the Sacrament of Penance. Some are even leery about the Real Presence, in spite of the 153 Eucharistic Miracles. They are leery because they are uneducated about these things. They have a difficult time understanding the use of Intercessory prayer, and the roles of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They say the Nicene Creed every Sunday but have difficulty in explaining it to others. Missionaries from other faiths, doing what they believe is correct, approach them speaking out boldly, and soon our brothers and sisters are lost. It is these desperate souls, who no longer receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, who no longer obtain the actual Grace from the other Sacrament, the very souls Our Lady of La Salette wept for, that these classes were started. The shocking statistics show that the Catholic Church gains an average of 60,000 converts a year, but looses 100,000 members to the Fundamentalist sects, such as the Assembly of God, the Missionary Alliance, the Seventh Day Adventist, the non-Christians like the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, and even some to the New Age Movement. Jesus said, “I will build My Church.” He said Church, not churches. My associates and I formed this class to make an effort to bring back the lost sheep who have strayed away and educate those who desire to know their Catholic Faith that was founded by Jesus Christ and passed down through the ages from the Apostles and Fathers that you have just read about. The Facilitators: Tim Rash (myself), Bill Ellis, Bob Ira, and John Mikula. We have had classes on almost everything you have just read and have spoken on how to evangelize. By the Grace of Almighty God, we have helped several. The Bishop of the San Bernardino Diocese, Bishop Gerald Barnes, once said that this class is the model of the Diocese. That comment was made to Bill Ellis, my good friend and associate.

Pope John-Paul II visits the United States for Youth Day ‘93 in Denver, Colorado.

On November 13, Pope John-Paul II Solemnly Beatified, the Venerable Marie (Mariam) of Jesus Crucified , Stigmata.

On November 25, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, condemns Freemasonry as anti-Catholic and anti-Christians.

Pope John Paul II makes Nasrallah Sfeir a Cardinal in November of this year at the Consistory in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Colorado State Supreme Court turned down the Amendment 2 measure. The citizens of Colorado voted to pass the Amendment 2 measure in 1992. This referendum was intended to bar special legislation guaranteeing rights to homosexuals. The case is presently before the United States Supreme Court.

1994
Pope John Paul II declares this year to be the Year of the Family, in his papal Encyclical, Gratissimam Sane, a letter to the families.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church was issued in the United States.

Pope John-Paul II said in the preface of the Catechism, “The Catechism is the result of very extensive collaboration; it was prepared over six years of intense work done in a spirit of complete openness and fervent zeal.”

Pope John-Paul II granted his permission to publish the information given in an interview of the Pontiff for his book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope.

Pope John-Paul II publishes his Papal Encyclical, Be Not Afraid.

On May 9, Pope John-Paul II becomes the first Pope to condemn the Mafia.

Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, Massachusetts asked the Pope to please extend the Sacrament of Holy Orders to women. The Pope responded, “The subject is closed for all time.”

On May 22, Pope John-Paul II published his Papal Encyclical, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, on Sacred Ordination. This Encyclical was issued in response to the question of ordaining women to the Priesthood. The Pontiff clearly explains that the Church has never had the authority to create women priests. [See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1577; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; 2 Timothy 1:6; Titus 5:9; Mark 3:13-16; 16:14-15; Luke 6:12; Acts 1:2; Revelations 21:14; Matthew 10:1-8; and 28:16-20]

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger also commented that the Holy Father spoke with Papal Infallibility in his Encyclical, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis.

The Venerable Peter Damien, the Priest of the Lepers, was solemnly Beatified.

Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir is elevated to the Sacred College of Cardinals.