Jack Chick Dies October 23, 2016

http://www.chick.com/information/Jack-Chick/
  Our beloved brother, Jack Chick, is now with the Lord.
Jack Chick passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sunday evening, October 23, 2016. He was 92.

We at Chick Publications all loved Jack.

We are like a family, and he was our closest relative. He loved every one of us, and we regularly got to tell him our appreciation and love for him. We got to see what kind of person he was on a daily basis —some people for over 45 years! It was very important for us to be with him before he made his final journey.
Unlike the king in the Chick tract The Fool, Jack had made every preparation for his eternal future. So we visited him to pray, to tell him we loved him, and to bless him on his way to his eternal reward.

But so many others have not gotten that opportunity, either to see what kind of person Jack was or testify how Chick tracts and Jack Chick affected them personally. We want to give you that opportunity.

We would appreciate any comments or testimonies you would like to share with us. To do so, please visit our facebook page or email u

KJ Only-ism Is Un-Wise - Jesus Partisans Balkans

http://jesus-partisans-balkans.blogspot.com/2016/10/king-james-only-ism-is-not-wise.html

King James Only-ism is not wise

While the King James Bible is a literary masterpiece and a milestone in the history of biblical translation, and while it was the spiritual bread and butter of early modern English christianity, I have to "tell it like it is", its language is lamentably outdated and not accessible to modern English speakers, not to speak of non-native speakers. I can compose a list of several hundred words (many of which latinisms or old English artefacts) which even natural literature-savvy speakers(readers) would need to process through a large dictionary to understand.

I am in no way endorsing any other English translation as superior, most others are based on faulty texts,but works like the Modern English Version, the Greene KJB and even the "satanic" NKJV have their merits.

I cannot help but wonder if the KJB only movement is a brainchild of the jesuits with the purpose of

1 Keeping honest and zealous christians in ignorance
2 giving baptists a cultic status among the rest of christianity.
3 preventing translation work from the TR for missionaries, who feel pressed to follow the KJB blindly

It is in little different than the "latin vulgate only" movement within traditionalist catholicism, which actually was the prevalent sentiment, which had dogmatic weight from the middle age through Trent, up to vatican II and was only interrupted by unknown good men and women and the reformers, who rendered the scriptures in the common/vulgar language (most of it language you could hear around town)

With the knowledge of Greek and Hebrew we have in the 21th century it is a shame nobody has taken up the task to prepare a translation, which is readable, comprehensible and applicable in day-to-day life. Or perhaps they have, only to be disregarded by the "enlightened" fundamental independent baptists, who care little for anything outside their dogmas.

Публикувано от Христо Стилиянов в 9:54

The 5 Living Popes

The Black Popes

Peter Hans Kolvenbach  born November 30, 1928

Adolfo Nichols Pachon  born April 29, 1936

Arturo Sosa Abascal  born November 12, 1948


The White Popes

Benedict XVI (Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger)  born April 16, 1927

Francis  (Jorge Mario Bergoglio)  born December 17, 1936

As far as I know, there have never before been 5 living current and former Popes, as both positions - Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, and Superior General of the Jesuit Order are customarily held until death.

http://continuingcounterreformation.blogspot.com/2015/12/more-popes-than-ever-before.html

October 2016 Alfred E. Smith Dinner Features Trump and Hillary Clinton

Held in New York since 1945, this annual event since 1960 features the Democrat and Republican candidates for U.S. Presidents in election years.

The 71st such annual event, just held in October 2016, featured U.S. President candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump flanking Archbishop Dolan, as a symbolic representation of how the Roman Catholic Church plays both sides of the mainstream political aisle.

See the New York Times video of the event:

http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000004721088/watch-live-al-smith-dinner.html


Various accounts:

http://endrtimes.blogspot.com/2016/10/highlights-of-clinton-and-trump-at-al.html


http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2016/10/in-catholic-gotham-final-showdown.html

Arturo Sosa Abascal S.J. Friday October 15, 2016 Homily

Speech given by the newly elected Jesuit Superior Genera at the Gesu

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i17-TX6hjes

http://gc36.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/161016_Thanksgiving_Homily_ENG.pdf

Entire [here published] text of the homily of Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ, on the occasion of celebrating and giving thanks for his election as Superior General of the Society of Jesus. Roma, Chiesa del Gesù, 15/10/2016

Dearest Brothers, A few days ago, in this very Church of the Gesù, where the remains of St. Ignatius and Pedro Arrupe are laid to rest, Fr. Bruno Cadorè invited us to have the audacity of the improbable as the distinctive stance of persons of faith, who seek to bear witness to such faith in the complex reality of human life. He invited us to leave behind our fear and to row out into the deep, as a kind of attitude for being at once creative and faithful during the General Congregation.

Certainly, the audacity that we need in order to be servants of the mission of Christ Jesus can flow only from faith. For this reason, our gaze is directed first of all to God, since you have only one Father, and He is in heaven , as the passage from the Gospel which we have just heard reminds us. And as the Formula of the Institute reminds us at paragraph no .1: “Let (the Jesuit) have before his eyes, as long as he lives, before anything else, God, and then the form of this his Institute.” In fact, it is the whole heart that we wish to have in tune with the Merciful Father, the God that is only Love, our Principle and Foundation – the heart of each of us and also the heart of the body of the Society.

If our faith is like that of Mary, Jesus’ own mother and the Mother of the Society of Jesus, our audacity can go even further and seek not only the improbable, but the impossible, because nothing is impossible for God , as the Archangel Gabriel proclaims in the scene of the Annunciation (Luke 1:37). It is the same faith held by St. Teresa of Avila, or St. Teresa of Jesus, whose memorial we celebrate today. She too, without fear, entrusted herself to the Lord in order to undertake the improbable and the impossible.

Let us ask, therefore, for this faith from the Lord, so that we, as the Society of Jesus, can also make our own the words of Mary in her response to the extraordinary call that she received: “Behold the servant of the Lord: Be it done to me according to your word.” Like Ignatius and the First Companions, like so many Jesuit brothers who have fought and who fight today under the banner of the cross, in service only to the Lord and to his Church, we too desire to contribute to that which today seems impossible: a humanity reconciled in justice, that dwells peacefully in a well -­‐ cared -­‐ for common home, where there is a place for all, since we recognize each other as brothers and sisters, as sons and daughters of the same and only Father.

For this reason, we reaffirm even today the conviction of Ignatius as he wrote the Constitutions: “ Since the Society of Jesus was not instituted by human means, it is not through them that it can be preserved and increased, but with the all -­‐ powerful hand of Christ, our God and Lord ; in Him alone must our hope be placed.”

With our hope placed in God and in God alone the General Congregation will proceed with its deliberations and it will contribute to its duty to preserve and grow this whole body ( Const. 719).

The preservation and growth of the body of the Society is tightly bound to the depth o f the spiritual life of each of its members and of the communities in which we share life and mission with our companions. At the same time, it is necessary to have an extraordinary intellectual depth in order to think creatively about the ways in which our service to the mission of Christ Jesus can be more effective, in the creative tension of the Ignatian magis. To think about ways of deeply understanding the unique moment of human history in which we are living, and to contribute to the search f or alternatives for overcoming poverty, inequality, and oppression. To think so that we never cease posing pertinent theological questions, and so that we continue to deepen our understanding of the faith that we ask the Lord to increase in ourselves.

We are not alone. As companions of Jesus we too want to follow the journey of the incarnation, to identify ourselves with the human beings that suffer the consequences of injustice. The Society of Jesus can develop only in collaboration with others, only if it becomes the least Society that collaborates. Let us be attentive to the linguistic pitfalls here. We want to increase collaboration, not just to seek that others collaborate with us, with our own works, only because we don’t want to lose the prestige o f the position of who has the last word. We want to collaborate generously with others, inside and outside of the Church, in the awareness, which comes from the experience of God, of being called to the mission of Christ Jesus, which doesn’t belong to us exclusively, but whom we share with so many men and women who are consecrated to the service of others.

In the journey of collaboration, with the grace of God, we will also find new companions to increase the number, always much too small no matter how great, of collaborators who, along with the others, are invited to be part of this body. There is hardly any doubt about the need to increase our prayer and our work for vocations to the Society, and to continue the complex commitment to provide the formation that makes of them true Jesuits, members of this multicultural body that is called to testify to the richness of interculturalism as the face of humanity, created in the image and likeness of God.

Let us, therefore , today make our own the words of the Apostle Paul: may the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like -­‐ minded one toward the other according to the example of Christ Jesus, so that you may give glory to the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ with one heart and one voice. (Rm. 15 :5) In the Church of the Gesù in R

 As reported by the Jesuit General Convocation 36 site:

 http://gc36.org/mass-thanksgiving-presided-new-general/

The afternoon of Friday, October 14, after the election, the congregation members were able to take a well deserved break. They met this morning at the Gesù Church for the second time in two weeks. They had the joy to be around their new Superior General, Father Arturo Sosa, who therefore had the opportunity, in his homily, to offer for the first time a spiritual message inspired by the Holy Scripture.

The first reading was taken from the wisdom tradition, the book of Sirach. It emphasized how the search for wisdom provides the intelligence and opens the way for just decisions. Whoever has this wisdom coming from the Lord will spread it to all nations. Psalm 88 reminded that the Lord is pleased by the fidelity of his servant. An excerpt from the letter of St. Paul to the Christians of Rome exhorted them to avoid causing scandal and division, but mainly to show perseverance and hope by doing everything for the good of their neighbour. In the Gospel of St. Mark, Jesus invited his disciples to be watchful at all times.

In his homily, the new Superior General first recalled that a few days earlier, at the opening of the General Congregation, the Master of the Dominicans had invited the Jesuits to the audacity of the improbable, something that characterizes a person of faith. Fr. Sosa was even more daring: referring to Mary, he opened the way to the audacity not only of the ‘improbable’ but also of the ‘impossible’, because “Nothing is impossible for God”, had said the angel Gabriel.

The General added: “We ask the Lord for that kind of faith, because we can make it our own, as Society of Jesus, the faith expressed in Mary’s words in response to receiving the extraordinary appeal: ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord, all be done according to thy words.’ As Ignatius and his first companions, like so many brothers who fought and lived under the banner of the cross in the service of the Lord and his Church, we also want to contribute to what seems impossible today: a humanity reconciled in justice, living in peace in a common house well kept, where there is room for everyone because we recognize that we are siblings, son and daughters of the same and unique Father.”

Father General then stressed the fact that we are not alone to accomplish this task; we do it in collaboration. Not only that of collaborators in our works, but by making ourselves collaborators of people, inside and outside of the Church, who are involved in a mission that is not ours exclusively, a mission we share with many men and women dedicated to the service of others.

You can read the original homily in Italian by clicking here.
Official English translation here.

About Arturo Sosa Abascal S.J. - from Wikipedia Spanish language edition

Studies	Doctor in Political Science
Alma mater	Andres Bello Catholic University Central University of Venezuela
Website	General Curia of the Society of Jesus

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arturo_Sosa&prev=search

Arturo Sosa Abascal

(Redirected from " Arturo Sosa ")

2. Arturo Sosa Abascal, SJ (born December as November as 1948 ) is a priest Catholic Venezuelan . The 14 of October of 2016 , the 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus , the religious order most numerous of the Catholic Church , chose him as the thirty - first Superior General of the Society of Jesus . succeeds to Adolfo Nicolas Pachon SJ , who served in it for eight years. It is considered one of the most important cultural and social references of Venezuela.
   

   Biography

   Arturo Marcelino Sosa Abascal was born in Caracas ( Venezuela ) on 12 November 1948. It is delegated to the Curia and the houses and interprovincial works of the Society of Jesus in Rome , and is a director of General Father . He holds a degree in philosophy from the Catholic University Andres Bello (1972) and a doctorate in political science from the Central University of Venezuela .
    
   In the General Congregation 35 held in 2008 he was chosen by the Father General Adolfo Nicolás as Director General. And in 2014 he joined the Curia of the Society of Jesus in Rome as a delegate to the Curia and the houses and interprovincial works of the Society of Jesus in Rome. It is institutions that depend directly on the Superior General of the Jesuits and for appointing a delegate. These include, in addition to the General Curia, the Pontifical Gregorian University , the Pontifical Biblical Institute , the Pontifical Oriental Institute , the Vatican Observatory , as well as various International and Residential Schools.
    
   Between 1996 and 2004 was Provincial Superior of the Jesuits in Venezuela. He was previously coordinator of the social apostolate in this country and director of Gumilla Center , a research and social action of the Jesuits in Venezuela. Along with that I was responsible for the magazine SIC, which won under his leadership in 1979 National Journalism Award. 
    
   Father Arturo Sosa has a long history of dedication to teaching and research. He has played several positions and functions in the university. He has been professor and member of the Foundation Board of the Andres Bello Catholic University and Rector of the Catholic University of Tachira . Especially he pursued research and teaching in the field of political science, in different centers and institutions, as the Chair of Contemporary Political Theory and the Department of Social Change in Venezuela at the School of Social Sciences. He has been a researcher at the Institute of Political Studies, Faculty of Political Science at the Central University of Venezuela and, at the same university, professor at the School of Political Studies at the Department of History of the political ideas of Venezuela. In 2004 he was invited by the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University in the United States was professor and professor of the Department of Venezuelan Political Thought of the Catholic University of Tachira.
    
   He has published several works, especially on Venezuelan history and politics.
   

   References
3. Europa Press, ed. (14 October 2016). "The Venezuelan Arturo Sosa Abascal, new Superior General of the Jesuits' . Retrieved on October 14, 2016.
Sosa Abascal, Arturo (1999). "From the liberal tyranny to democracy threatened" . In Bernal, Josefina. The reason and passion. Around Manuel Caballero. Caracas: Fondo Editorial Humanities, Central University of Venezuela. p. 100. ISBN 980-00-1507-8 . Retrieved on October 14, 2016.

Now There Are 5

'Father' Arturo Sosa Abascal, of the Venezuelan Province,
elected as 31st Superior General of the Jesuit Order.
with 50% + 1 vote (107 votes).

Succeeds Adolfo Nichols who resigned October 3, 2006,
who succeeded Peter Kolvenbach who resigned in 2008 and who is still alive
making 3 living former and one current 'Black' Popes;
plus the current Pope Francis ad his predecessor Benedict XVI who remains alive
making 2 current and former White Popes
all together making 5 current and former Black and White Popes.

Popes traditionally die in office.
This situation of emeritus Popes is apparently unprecedented. 
 

From America- National Catholic Review

http://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/jesuits-elect-arturo-sosa-sj-new-superior-general

The 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus has elected Father Arturo Sosa Abascal, of the Venezuelan Province, Superior General.

Father Arturo Sosa was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on November 12, 1948. He is the Delegate of the General for the Interprovincial Houses and Works of the Society of Jesus in Rome. He is a doctor in political sciences from the Universidad Central de Venezuela and has a license in philosophy from the Andrés Bello Catholic University. Father Arturo Sosa speaks Spanish, Italian, English and understands French.

Alan Fogarty, S.J., the president of the Gregorian University Foundation, has Father Sosa as his superior. This morning he told America that Father Sosa is “man of great faith, a real leader, because he has a vision coming from a strong sense of the history of the Society.  He is a great listener, a man of patience, and believes deeply in discernment, in the tradition of St. Ignatius of Loyola.”

“He is very friendly, very easy to talk to, and is sensitive, and has a deep concern for others. He is a true companion of Jesus,” Father Fogarty added.

During the 35th General Congregation, in 2008, Father Sosa was chosen Counselor General by then-Superior General Father Adolfo Nicolás. In 2014, he joined the curia of the Society of Jesus, in Rome, as delegate for the Society’s Interprovincial Houses and Works. These include the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Pontifical Biblical Institute, the Pontifical Oriental Institute and the Vatican Observatory.

According to the announcement by General Congregation, Father Sosa served as Provincial Superior of the Jesuits in Venezuela between 1996 and 2004. Before that, he was coordinator of the social apostolate in that country and director of Centro Gumilla, a center for research and social action by the Jesuits in Venezuela.

Father Sosa has had a long career in teaching and research. He was a professor and a member of the Foundation Council of the Andrés Bello Catholic University and for 10 years he was the rector of the Catholic University in Táchira. He did most of his research and teaching in political science and published several works about the history and politics of Venezuela.

 From the Jesuit General Convocation 36 site:

http://gc36.org/gc36-new-father-general/

The 36th General Congregation has elected Father Arturo Sosa Abascal, of the Jesuit Province of Venezuela as Superior General.

Father Sosa was born in Caracas, Venezuela on 12 November 1948. Until his election, Father Sosa has been Delegate for Interprovincial Houses of the Society in Rome, as well as serving on the General Council as a Counsellor. He obtained a licentiate in philosophy from l’Università Cattolica Andrés Bello in 1972. He later obtained a doctorate in Political Science from l’Università Centrale del Venezuela, in 1990. He speaks Spanish, Italian, English, and understands French.

In 2008, during General Congregation 35, Father General Adolfo Nicolás appointed Father Arturo Sosa as General Counsellor, based in Venezuela. In 2014, Father Sosa joined the General Curia community and took on the role of Delegate for Interprovincial Roman Houses of the Society of Jesus in Rome, which include: the Pontifical Gregorian University,  the Pontifical Biblical Institute, the Pontifical Oriental Institute, the Vatican Observatory, Civiltà Cattolica, as well as international Jesuit colleges in Rome.

Between 1996 and 2004, Father Sosa was provincial superior of the Jesuits in Venezuela. Before that, he was the province coordinator for the social apostolate, during which time he was also director of Gumilla Social Centre, a centre for research and social action for the Jesuits in Venezuela.

Father Arturo Sosa has dedicated his life to research and teaching. He has held different positions in academia. He has been a professor and member of the Council of the Andrés Bello Catholic Foundation and Rector of the Catholic University of Tachira. He has pursued research and teaching in the field of political science, in various centers and institutions, as the Chair of Contemporary Political Theory and the Department of Social Change in Venezuela at the Faculty of Social Sciences.

See our Album on the Election of Fr. Arturo.

In 2004, he was invited as a visiting professor by the Latin American Studies Center at Georgetown University in the United States while he was a professor in the Department of Venezuelan political thought of the Catholic University of Tachira.

While Father Sosa election as superior general completes one of the main tasks of GC 36, the group’s work is not over. Now the delegates will tackle matters of mission, governance and the state of the Society. Topics may range from the Society’s changing demographics to challenges in worldwide ministries, to the Jesuit response to a rapidly changing world, environmental concerns, poverty and violence.

 http://continuingcounterreformation.blogspot.com/2015/12/more-popes-than-ever-before.html

Jesuit Order Expected To Elect Next 'Black Pope' Today- October 14, 2016

Found at Endr Times

http://endrtimes.blogspot.com/2016/10/jesuits-to-elect-black-pope-today.html

Originally published at The Times of India  

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Jesuits-to-elect-Black-Pope-today/articleshow/54840091.cms?from=mdr

Panaji: In Rome, a spiritual meeting is underway, as the Society of Jesus, a Catholic religious order founded by St Ignatius of Loyola, prepares to elect the Spaniard’s 30th successor — a new ‘Black Pope’. Representing 112 countries, 79 provinces and six continents, 215 members of the order have been involved in deep prayer and intense discussions at the 36th General Congregation (GC 36), held at the Jesuit Curia in Rome, and, on October 14, they will elect their new general.

India has the largest population of Jesuits in the world and there is strong feeling among the 3,000-odd Indian Jesuits that 476 years since its existence, the general may be one of their own. But, sources from inside the Jesuit Curia in Rome say that it could be a South American, considering that Christianity is more widespread and a bigger part of the local culture in Latin America than Asia.

The Catholic Church broke stereotypes by electing a non-European Pope, an Argentinian Jesuit — Jorge Bergoglio, in 2013, and by 4pm on Friday, the world will know if the Society of Jesus will take a similar plunge at its 36th General Congregation during which Jesuits will elect their new general, who is also called the Black Pope. 

The election will take place after the delegates concelebrate the Eucharist at 7.30am in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Rome. The thirtieth and most recent Superior General is the Fr Adolfo Nicolás, who officially resigned on October 3, 2016.

What makes GC 36 special is that it's the first paper-less congregation. The Jesuits will digitally vote for their new general through a tablet.pppp Despite TOI’s several attempts to break down the code of silence and secrecy about who could be the next general of the largest religious order of the Catholic Church, conversations with the Jesuits failed to produce any name. “There is no point in speculating. Every time we speculate who it could be, it never matches the one chosen with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The 215 delegates in Rome can elect any one of them or someone out there in the world who is a professed Jesuit priest, having taken his fourth vow to the ChurchThe possibilities for anyone to be elected is roughly about one in 15,000. So, we have to just wait with bated breath and restrained excitement, spending time in prayer,” says Fr Cedric Prakash, a Gujarat-based Jesuit, who is currently on a mission in Beirut, Lebanon, as the advocacy and communications officer of the Jesuit Refugee Service.

The GC 36, which officially began on October 2, is in the most exciting stage called ‘murmaratio’, where the focus is on electing a new leader, through a process of intense prayer and great confidentiality. “A new general will bring in new leadership and inspiration to respond to the challenges facing the society and will reformulate the mission of the Society of Jesus in a language that appeal to younger Jesuits,” says Fr Anthony da Silva, former provincial of the Goa province of the Society of Jesus, who is currently based at the Xavier Centre for Historical Research, Porvorim.

Da Silva, who hails from Moira, was in Rome in March 2008, when the Jesuits gathered for GC 35 and he recounts his experience. “A few names start to surface at the beginning of the congregation and the next days are spent in getting to know better the people behind these names by having a one-on-one conversations with each of them. We could sit down for a coffee or share the same dining table, or just take a walk, but we discuss their vision for the society and explore their leadership capabilities. There is no debate or political lobbying or propaganda. On the election day, which is October 14 this year, there is this powerful spiritual feeling that will drive the congregation to narrow down on a couple of names, after which, we vote,” he says.

“The biggest challenges the Jesuits face in South Asia are growing instances of intolerance, exploitation and injustices. At the global level, some of our challenges include engaging ourselves in works of restoration, responding to the environmental crisis gripping our planet and humanely handling the refugee crisis in many parts of the world,” said scholastic Anderson Fernandes, a Jesuit from Margao, who is currently pursuing his theological studies at Vidyajyoti College of Theology, New Delhi.

A Black, Black Pope?

from East Africa Jesuits

http://www.jesuits-aor.net/some-considerations-before-gc36/

Some Considerations before GC36

Written by admin// September 23, 2016// No Comment// News

September 10, 2016 – Orlando Torres, SJ

At GC36 there are some new developments in light of the experience of the last Congregations.  For instance, the report on the State of the Society will be ready before the start of the General Congregation in order to allow for a more serene and reflected formulation.  Also, the previous work done by other commissions on various topics will be considered part of the General Congregation.  Finally, for the first time six Jesuit Brothers will participate as electors with the right to vote in the election of the General.

Regarding topics for the Congregation, in the letter of convocation of the General Congregation, Fr. Nicolás asked each Jesuit to reflect and discern the three most important calls that the Lord makes to the Society today.  It seems to me that gathering together these calls could indicate some important themes for the General Congregation.

I think we should also keep in mind the call of the Holy Father to go to the frontiers and peripheries of the world, issues connected with migrants and refugees, the Jubilee of Mercy, the Synod on the family.  It is important to recall that the well-known decree 4 of GC 32 on the service of faith and the promotion of justice was inspired as follow-up to the Synod on Justice in 1971-72.

Another big issue that I think should be addressed is the demographic change in the Society.  As it happens in the universal Church, the number of young Jesuits grows especially in Asia (47%) and Africa (20%), it remains more or less the same in Latin America (12%), and continues to diminish in Europe (12%) and the United States (9%).  That means that 79% of young Jesuits is found in the global South (Asia, Africa and Latin America) while only 21% is found in the whole of Europe and the United States.  The Society of the future, and by that I mean in the next ten years, will show a different face.  Considering that key positions in many institutions – such as in the Gregorian University – have been occupied by Jesuits from Europe and North America, we must reflect on the consequences of this demographic change so as not to find ourselves unprepared.

This post is a fragment of an interview to Fr. Orlando Torres published at the last issue of the Gregorian University publication, available in Italian at http://www.unigre.it/sito/PUG_HG_03O820150936/web/LaGregoriana/48_03_36ma_congregazione_generale_it.pdf

View more updates on GC 36 here

10 Admitted Facts About the Jesuit General Convocation

http://gc36.org/ten-facts-about-jesuit-general-congregations/

General Congregations are the ultimate governing body in the Society of Jesus, and here are some of the more interesting facts about these gatherings, which began over 450 years ago:

1. The first General Congregation took place in 1558, delayed for two years after St. Ignatius’ death by a war between King Philip II of Spain and Pope Paul IV. Father Diego Laynez was elected Superior General.

2. The fourth congregation in 1581 elected the youngest Jesuit general: 38-year-old Father Claudio Acquaviva.

 3. Fr. Acquaviva served as Superior General for 34 years — the longest term in Jesuit history — and presided over three congregations.

4. The sixth General Congregation made obligatory a daily hour of prayer and an annual eight-day retreat for all Jesuits.

5. Given the variety of cultures and circumstances in which Jesuits have lived and worked, differing views have sometimes made for lively debate on major and minor issues alike, from interreligious dialogue to Jesuit formation to how long a cassock should be.

6. General Congregation 10 is the only one to have elected two Superior Generals. Father Luigi Gottifredi was elected first, but he died before the congregation concluded. The same group then elected Father Goswin Nickel.

7. The 20th General Congregation (1820) was the first one held after the Society’s restoration in 1814. Greatly concerned that the Society be the same as before the suppression, it reinstated the decrees of all past congregations.

8. The 31st congregation took place during and after Vatican Council II and elected Father Pedro Arrupe as general. GC 31 dealt with Jesuit life and work in greater detail than any previous meeting, legislating changes and updating the theory and practice of poverty.

9. The Jesuit elected as Superior General need not be present at the congregation — but this would be very unusual.

10. When more than 200 Jesuits arrive for General Congregation 36 in Rome in October 2016, there won’t be any confusion about who sits where. It’s decided for them — seating is alphabetical!

Adapted from an article by Jesuit Father John Padberg, a historian and the former longtime director of the Institute of Jesuit Sources. This post has been originally published by the JCU conference website at http://jesuits.org/news-detail?tn=news-20141203032106

A Jesuitical Move Favoring A U.S. Presidential Ticket With a Jesuit As #2

See the bus that Trump was recorded upon in 2005 with the logos for "Verizon Wireless"

See the head of Verizon Wireless at that time, Dennis Strigl

http://wwwfreespeechbeneathushs.blogspot.com/2007/10/verizon-wireless-ceo-chairman-of-board.html

excerpt-

Dennis Strigl, is a member of the class of 1974, and is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Jesuit Order's Canisius College.

Officers for the 2006-2007 Canisius College Board of Trustees include Chairman Dennis F. Strigl ’74, president and CEO of Verizon Wireless; Vice Chairman Rocco J. Maggiotto ’72, MBA ’78, Executive Vice President and Director of Customer Development for Zurich Financial Services; Secretary John J. Hurley ’78, executive vice president and vice president for college relations at Canisius; and Treasurer Patrick E. Richey, vice president for business & finance/treasurer at Canisius.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Strigl

Dennis F. Strigl (born April 13, 1946), is the retired^[1] President and Chief Operating Officer of Verizon Communications, responsible for operations at Verizon Telecom, Verizon Wireless and Verizon Business. He assumed this position from January 2007. Previously he was the president and CEO of Verizon Wireless.

Career

Strigl was the lead executive in charge of integrating Verizon Wireless when that company was formed in April 2000, by combining the domestic wireless operations of Bell Atlantic, Vodafone AirTouch and GTE. Previously, he served as president and CEO of Bell Atlantic Mobile and group president and CEO of Bell Atlantic Global Wireless, the company’s domestic and international wireless portfolio

Upon his retirement from Verizon on December 31, 2009, Strigl served in the telecommunications industry for over 40 years. His telecommunications career began in 1968 with New York Telephone Company. After this, he held positions at AT&T and Wisconsin Telephone, Illinois Bell, before becoming vice president of American Bell, Inc. In 1984 he became president of Ameritech Mobile Communications. Strigl launched the nation's first cellular telephone network in Chicago, resulting in the Cellular Industry Achievement Award, which he was given for engineering advancement and pioneering in marketing programs. Applied Data Research, Inc., an Ameritech subsidiary was the next company in which he served for as president and chief executive officer.

Starting in 1989, Strigl served as vice president-product management for Bell Atlantic Network Services, followed by his later position as vice president-operations and chief operating officer and a member of New Jersey Bell's board of directors. He was named president and CEO of Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems in 1991, and oversaw its merger with Metro Mobile CTS. In 1995, Bell Atlantic Mobile and Nynex Mobile merged. Strigl took over the company as CEO and president.

Strigl was a founding member and served on the Board of Directors of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, the national industry association based in Washington, D.C., for many years. From 1996 to 1997 he served as the chairman of the association. He was inducted into The Wireless Hall of Fame in 2004 and received Wireless Week's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.

He currently serves on the boards of directors of Anadigics Inc., PNC Financial Services Group and PNC Bank. In September 2015 he ventured into a technology start-up, Smartiply, Inc. (www.smartiply.com) in the area of Fog Networks and Internet of Things, where he serves as a board member and Chairman of the Board. He is a former director of Kodak, Nokia and Tellabs.

Academia

Strigl holds a degree in business administration from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York (where he served as a trustee and as Chairman of the Board of Trustees) and a MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford, New Jersey. He received an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, in May 2011 from Canisius College and in May 2016 from Fairleigh Dickinson University. ^[2]

He has been a visiting professor at Princeton University since 2013 where he teaches an undergraduate level course in leadership. He is a licensed commercial pilot. Since retiring from Verizon he has written a management book and spoken to numerous groups on management leadership. He has been a frequent guest on the FOX News Channel, FOX Business, CNBC and MSNBC.

Was a lead figure in creating Verizon in 2000, and prior to 2007 was the CEO of Verizon Wireless.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canisius_College

excerpt

Canisius College /kəˈniːʃəs/ was founded in 1870 by members of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. It is a private college in the Hamlin Park neighborhood of Buffalo, New York, United States. One of 28 Jesuit institutions in the nation, Canisius offers 145 undergraduate majors and minors and around 35 master’s and certificate programs. The college sponsors 20 NCAA Division 1 Athletic teams and is a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).

History

"Canisius" has with roots in the Jesuit community that arose from disputed ownership of St. Louis Church in Buffalo in 1851.^[5][6] Rev. Lucas Caveng, a German Jesuit, along with 19 families from St. Louis Church, founded St. Michael's Church on Washington St.^[6] The college followed, primarily for serving sons of German immigrants, along with the high school in 1870, first at 434 Ellicott St. and next to St. Michael's.^[7] In 1913 construction of the Old Main building at 2001 Main St. was completed.^[8] The early presidents of the college were German Jesuits.^[9]

Academics

Canisius offers more than 100 majors, minors, and special programs. The college is accredited by the Middle States Association Commission on Higher Education, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). In fall 2009, Canisius College introduced a new major in Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation.^[10] Other new majors include Creative Writing,^[11] Health and Wellness, and Journalism.^[12] With the George E. Schreiner '43, MD, Pre-Medical Center as an asset,^[13] the college caters strongly to the biological and health science fields and holds close relationships with both the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM).

Canisius is a Jesuit  institution founded in 1870.

Seems appropriate, given the Jesuit Order's interest in hearing people's confessions and accumulating knowledge that one of their people would be som involved in telecommunications, an ideal positioning to spy upon people in general.

According to Democrat Party candidate for U.S. president Hillary Clinton, Trump's remarks in 2005 disqualify him from ever holding that position- a standard that would logically likewise disqualify her husband Bill Clinton from ever holding that very same position.

See Hillary Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine:

http://continuingcounterreformation.blogspot.com/2016/09/hillary-clinton-seeks-to-place-jesuit.html

The incriminating 2005 Verizon Wireless Access Hollywood audio-video sat in obscurity for over a decade, only to be publicly released in an October 8, 20016 article in The Washington Post, just prior to the 2nd Trump-Clinton debate held in St. Louis, Missouri on October 9, 2016, and within hours of a wiki-leaks public release of Hillary Clinton related emails.  According to that Washington Post article, the date of that audio-video was apparently September 16, 2005.

A jesuitical move to shift public voter opinion against Trump, in order to favor what would logically be the Jesuit preferred ticket with one of its very own in the #2 position?

Starting the Gathering To Raise The Number of Living Popes From 4 to 5

October 3, 2016- the start of the 36th Jesuit General Convocation to replace Adolfo Nichols,
Jesuit Superior General/'Black' Pope (2008-1016) who is still alive,
along with his predecessor Peter Kolvenbach (1983-2008),
plus the current 'White' Pope Francis's predecessor Benedict XVI (2005-20013)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QZ0S6hFhH4

http://continuingcounterreformation.blogspot.com/2015/12/more-popes-than-ever-before.html

http://jesus-partisans-balkans.blogspot.com/2016/10/time-for-new-president-of-world.html

According to this Jesuit site, Nichols formally resigned from the position of Superior General:

http://gc36.org/in-gods-hands/

In God’s Hands

October 5, 2016 - Chuckwuyenum A. Afiawari

 

A child on his/her mother’s back (or hands) does not worry about the journey, so says an African proverb. The child feels secure, cared for, protected and loved by the mother. When around mid-morning of Monday, 3 October 2016, Fr. General Adolfo Nicolás tendered his resignation to General Congregation (GC) 36, there was certainly no doubt that that was a “matter of greater moment!” He did it with so much graciousness, calm, peace and interior freedom—and, I should add, with joy! Shortly before noon, GC 36 accepted the resignation of the 30th Superior General of the Society of Jesus on the Feast day of the 3rd Superior General of the Society, St. Francis Borgia. As Fr. Nicolás walked back into the Aula, the standing ovation was prolonged and deafening! A rare historical event of enormous importance had just taken place before our very eyes! Different emotions welled up. Somewhat strangely, I felt like a newly bereaved orphan—not only “orphaned” as an individual, but it seemed as though the entire Society of Jesus had just lost a good, caring and beloved parent! Indeed, the Society had just “lost” her General, her spiritual servant-leader. But, as has been true from the time of the First Superior General of the Society, Ignatius of Loyola, the Society continues to remain in God’s providential hands.

God’s hands have always guided the Society since the 16th century. Our ‘ancestors” in the Society, though dead, are still, in some sense, an integral part of the One Apostolic Body of the Society. This was powerfully ritualized towards the end of the opening Eucharistic celebration on Sunday, 2 October, in the Church of the Gesù. After Communion, Fr. General Nicolás gave a vote of thanks to Fr. Bruno Cadoré, the Master General of the Dominicans who presided and preached. Afterwards, Fr. Nicolas led the six Presidents of the various Jesuit Conferences to the Chest of Relics of Jesuit Saints and Blessed. There they said a series of prayers, read by each president in his native language, with the opening and concluding prayer by Fr. General. For me, this was a very moving experience, symbolizing the unity and continuity of the living Jesuits with our Jesuit companions—ancestors—who have gone before us to their eternal reward.

Beginning yesterday afternoon, and continuing all day today, we have been meeting in small groups. There we share our Jesuit vocation stories and the various ministries through which we have been engaged in the service of the Lord and the Church. We also discuss some of the current state of affairs in the universal Society. We are getting to know one another gradually. Conversations over tea and meals are enlightening. These are only the initial days of the Congregation. We have begun well. As we journey along in the coming weeks, we abandon ourselves in the hands of God.

Chuks Afiawari, S.J.

They speak of "God" - perhaps unwittingly whether they are referring to God the Creator, or rather the God of this eart: Lucifer:

http://continuingcounterreformation.blogspot.com/2015/12/ignatius-loyola-visions-of-serpent.html

http://continuingcounterreformation.blogspot.com/2016/01/pope-francis-sj-lucifer-is-god-of-roman.html

See:

http://gc36.org/tag/convocation/

The Washington, D.C. Red Mass Continues in 2016

The Washington, D.C. 'Red Mass' is an event held by prominent Roman Catholic Church officials to host the members of the U.S. Supreme Court, held annually just before the start of that court's fall term.

The D.C. Red Mass is but only one of such events held regularly.  According to one Roman Catholic site:

http://www.anchornews.org/news/breaking/red-mass.html

The Red Mass is the popular name for the Mass of the Holy Spirit offered to invoke God’s guidance and strength on those working in the areas of law and justice.  Its origins go back to 13th-century Europe; its name is derived from the color of the vestments customarily worn by the celebrants. Today, the Mass is widely celebrated in dioceses throughout the U.S. and beyond.

As with past such events, the event was hosted by D.C. Chief Bishop Werhl.

Catholic News Service reports that this year's event was addressed by Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and was attended by five of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices, a number of other government officials, plus figures within the Roman Catholic Church.

These  Supreme Court justices were: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Associate Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Stephen G. Breyer and Samuel A. Alito Jr.

The government officials so reported in attendance included U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch; U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr.; and Denis McDonough, President Barack Obama's chief of staff.

The church officials included Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States; Archbishop Hebda; Bishop Paul S. Loverde of Arlington, Virginia; Auxiliary Bishop Richard B. Higgins of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services; and Washington Auxiliary Bishops Barry C. Knestout and Mario E. Dorsonville. Twenty-one priests also concelebrated the Mass.

 Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda's address included the following statements:

"Those involved in the administration of law should seek justice and mercy in their work ... Those two virtues must intersect in our lives and actions,"

"Men and women of goodwill throughout this nation depend on you to protect their liberties,"

"Gathering together to pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance in the administration of justice is an appropriate response to facing difficult challenges".

That such a Church can so speak about justice, mercy and the protection of liberties in an atmosphere of a near universial judicial rejection of the right of freedom of medicine and diet - asides from perhaps the issue of abortion - should speak volumes about their influence over such a judiciary.

Who Was Alfred E. Smith?

The man who the Alfred E. Smith Dinner is named for.

A Roman Catholic politician in the U.S. elected Governor of New York and the Democrat Party candidate for U.S. President in 1928

An 'anti-prohibition' of alcohol figure who nonetheless helped lay the groundwork for the prohibition of other substances, such as with his participation in the smear campaign against cocaine.  Such disregarded the vast differences between the drug in ultra concentrated forms versus the dilute forms, thus establishing the market protection for Tobacco derived cigarettes via Rome's Pharmacratic Inquisition (see more) better known as the 'war on drugs'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Smith

Alfred Emanuel "Al" Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American statesman who was elected Governor of New York four times and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928. He was the foremost urban leader of the efficiency-oriented Progressive Movement and was noted for achieving a wide range of reforms as governor in the 1920s. He was also linked to the notorious Tammany Hall machine that controlled New York City's politics; was a strong opponent of Prohibition, which he did not think could be enforced, and was the first Catholic nominee for President. His candidacy mobilized Catholic votes—especially of women, who had only recently received federal suffrage. It also brought out the anti-Catholic vote, which was strongest among white conservative Democrats in the South.

As a committed "wet" (anti-Prohibition) candidate, Smith attracted not only drinkers but also voters angered by the corruption and lawlessness that developed alongside prohibition.^[1] Many Protestants feared his candidacy, including German Lutherans and Southern Baptists, believing that the Catholic Church and the Pope would dictate his policies. Most importantly, this was a time of national prosperity under a Republican Presidency. Smith lost in a landslide to Republican Herbert Hoover, who gained electoral support from five southern states. Four years later Smith sought the 1932 nomination but was defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt, his former ally and successor as New York Governor. Smith entered business in New York City and became an increasingly vocal opponent of Roosevelt's New Deal.

Early life
Smith was born and raised in the Fourth Ward on the Lower East Side of Manhattan; he resided here for his entire life.^[2] His mother, Catherine (Mulvihill), was the daughter of Maria Marsh and Thomas Mulvihill, who were immigrants from County Westmeath, Ireland.^[3] His father, Alfred Emanuele Ferraro, took the anglicized name Alfred E. Smith ('ferraro' means 'blacksmith' or 'smith' in Italian). The elder Alfred was the son of Italian and German^[4][5] immigrants. He served with the 11th New York Fire Zouaves in the opening months of the Civil War.

Al Smith grew up with his family struggling financially in the Gilded Age; New York City matured and completed major infrastructure projects. The Brooklyn Bridge was being constructed nearby. "The Brooklyn Bridge and I grew up together," Smith would later recall.^[6] His four grandparents were Irish, German, Italian, and Anglo-Irish,^[7] but Smith identified with the Irish-American community and became its leading spokesman in the 1920s.

His father Alfred owned a small trucking firm, but died when the boy was 13. At 14 Smith had to drop out of St. James parochial school to help support the family, and worked at a fish market for seven years. Prior to dropping out of school, he served as an altar boy, and was strongly influenced by the Catholic priests he worked with.^[8] He never attended high school or college, and claimed he learned about people by studying them at the Fulton Fish Market, where he worked for $12 per week. His acting skills made him a success on the amateur theater circuit. He became widely known, and developed the smooth oratorical style that characterized his political career. On May 6, 1900, Al Smith married Catherine Ann Dunn, with whom he had five children.^[9]

Political Career

In his political career, Smith built on his working-class beginnings, identifying himself with immigrants and campaigning as a man of the people. Although indebted to the Tammany Hall political machine, particularly to its boss, "Silent" Charlie Murphy, he remained untarnished by corruption and worked for the passage of progressive legislation.^[9] It was during his early unofficial jobs with Tammany Hall that he gained renown as an excellent speaker.^[10] Smith's first political job was in 1895 as an investigator in the office of the Commissioner of Jurors as appointed by Tammany Hall.

State legislature
Smith was first elected to the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 2nd D.) in 1904, and repeatedly elected to office, serving through 1915.^[8] After being approached by Frances Perkins, an activist to improve labor practices, Smith sought to improve the conditions of factory workers. He served as vice chairman of the state commission appointed to investigate factory conditions after 146 workers died in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Meeting the families of the deceased Triangle factory workers left a strong impression on him. Together with Perkins, Smith crusaded against dangerous and unhealthy workplace conditions and championed corrective legislation.^[10][11]

The Commission was chaired by State Senator Robert F. Wagner and co-chaired by Smith. They held a series of widely publicized investigations around the state, interviewing 222 witnesses and taking 3500 pages of testimony. They hired field agents to do on-site inspections of factories. Starting with the issue of fire safety, they studied broader issues of the risks of injury in the factory environment. Their findings led to thirty-eight new laws regulating labor in New York state, and gave each of them a reputation as leading progressive reformers working on behalf of the working class. In the process, they changed Tammany's reputation from mere corruption to progressive endeavors to help the workers.^[12] New York City's Fire Chief John Kenlon told the investigators that his department had identified more than 200 factories where conditions resulted in risk of a fire like that at the Triangle Factory.^[13] The State Commission's reports led to modernization of the state's labor laws, making New York State "one of the most progressive states in terms of labor reform."^[14][15] New laws mandated better building access and egress, fireproofing requirements, the availability of fire extinguishers, the installation of alarm systems and automatic sprinklers, better eating and toilet facilities for workers, and limited the number of hours that women and children could work. In the years from 1911 to 1913, sixty of the sixty-four new laws recommended by the Commission were legislated with the support of Governor William Sulzer.^[16]

In 1911, the Democrats obtained a majority of seats in the State Assembly; and Smith became Majority Leader and Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means. In 1912, following the loss of the majority, he became the Minority Leader. When the Democrats reclaimed the majority after the next election, he was elected Speaker for the 1913 session. He became Minority Leader again in 1914 and 1915. In November 1915, he was elected Sheriff of New York County, New York. By now he was a leader of the Progressive movement in New York City and state. His campaign manager and top aide was Belle Moskowitz, a daughter of Jewish immigrants.^[9]

 Governor 1918-1928

After serving in the patronage-rich job of Sheriff of New York County, Smith was elected President of the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York in 1917. Smith was elected Governor of New York at the New York state election, 1918 with the help of Murphy and James A. Farley, who brought Smith the upstate vote.
In 1919, Smith gave the famous speech, "A man as low and mean as I can picture",^[17] making a drastic break with William Randolph Hearst. Publisher Hearst, known for his notoriously sensationalist and largely left-wing position in the state Democratic Party, was the leader of its populist wing in the city. Hearst had combined with Tammany Hall in electing the local administration. Hearst had attacked Smith for starving children by not reducing the cost of milk.^[18]

Smith lost his bid for re-election at the New York state election, 1920, but was again elected governor in 1922, 1924 and 1926, with James A. Farley managing his campaign. In his 1922 re-election, he embraced his position as an anti-prohibitionist. Smith offered alcohol to guests at the Executive Mansion in Albany, and repealed the Prohibition enforcement statute: the Mullan-Gage law.^[19] Governor Smith became known nationally as a progressive who sought to make government more efficient and more effective in meeting social needs. Smith's young assistant Robert Moses built the nation's first state park system and reformed the civil service, later gaining appointment as Secretary of State of New York. During Smith's term, New York strengthened laws governing workers' compensation, women's pensions and children and women's labor with the help of Frances Perkins, soon to be President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Labor Secretary.

At the 1924 Democratic National Convention, Smith unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for president, advancing the cause of civil liberty by decrying lynching and racial violence. Roosevelt made the nominating speech in which he saluted Smith as "the Happy Warrior of the political battlefield."^[9] Smith represented the urban, east coast wing of the party as an anti-prohibition "wet" candidate while his main rival for the nomination, California Senator William Gibbs McAdoo, stood for the more rural tradition and prohibition "dry" candidacy.^[20] The party was hopelessly split between the two. An increasingly chaotic convention balloted 100 times before both men accepted that neither would be able to win the two-thirds majority required to win, and so each withdrew. The exhausted party nominated the little-known John W. Davis of West Virginia. Davis lost the election by a landslide to the Republican Calvin Coolidge, who won in part because of the prosperous times.

Undeterred, Smith returned to fight a determined campaign for the party's nomination in 1928.

1928 election

Reporter Frederick William Wile made the oft-repeated observation that Smith was defeated by "the three P's: Prohibition, Prejudice and Prosperity".^[21] The Republican Party was still benefiting from an economic boom, as well as a failure to reapportion Congress and the electoral college following the 1920 census, which had registered a 15 percent increase in the urban population. The party was biased to small town and rural areas. Their presidential candidate Herbert Hoover did little to alter these events.

Historians agree that prosperity, along with widespread anti-Catholic sentiment against Smith, made Hoover's election inevitable.^[22] He defeated Smith by a landslide in the 1928 election, carrying five southern states in crossover voting by conservative white Democrats (since disenfranchisement of blacks in the South at the turn of the century, whites dominated voting.)

The fact that Smith was Catholic and the descendant of Catholic immigrants was instrumental in his loss of the election of 1928.^[8] Historical hostilities between Protestants and Catholics had been carried by national groups to the United States by immigrants, and centuries of Protestant domination allowed myths and superstitions about Catholicism to flourish. Native Protestants had viewed the waves of Catholic immigrants from Ireland, Italy and eastern Europe since the mid-19th century with suspicion. In addition, many Protestants carried old fears related to extravagant claims of one religion against the other dating from the European national wars of religion. They feared that Smith would answer to the Pope and not the US Constitution. White rural conservatives in the South also believed that his close association with Tammany Hall, the Democratic machine in Manhattan, showed he tolerated corruption in government (and overlooking their own brands). Another major controversial issue was the continuation of Prohibition, which was widely considered a problem to enforce. Smith was personally in favor of relaxation or repeal of Prohibition laws, as they had given rise to more criminality. The Democratic Party split North and South on the issue, with the more rural South continuing to favor Prohibition. During the campaign Smith tried to duck the issue with noncommittal statements.^[23]

Smith was an articulate proponent of good government and efficiency, as was Hoover. Smith swept the entire Catholic vote, which had been split in 1920 and 1924 between the parties; he attracted millions of Catholics, generally ethnic whites, to the polls for the first time, especially women, who were first allowed to vote in 1920. He lost important Democratic constituencies in the rural North and in southern cities and suburbs. He did carry some of the Deep South, thanks in part to the appeal of his running mate, Senator Joseph Robinson from Arkansas, but he lost five southern states to Hoover. Smith carried the ten most populous cities in the United States, an indication of the rising power of the urban areas and their new demographics. In addition to the issues noted above, Smith was not a very good campaigner. His campaign theme song, "The Sidewalks of New York", had little appeal for rural folks, and they found his 'city' accent, when heard on the "raddio," seemed slightly foreign. Smith narrowly lost New York state, whose electors were biased to rural upstate and largely Protestant districts. But in 1928 his fellow Democrat Roosevelt (a Protestant of Dutch old-line stock) was elected to replace him as governor of New York.^[24] James A. Farley left Smith's camp to run Franklin D. Roosevelt's successful campaign for Governor, and later Roosevelt's successful campaigns for the Presidency in 1932 and 1936.

Voter realignment

Some political scientists believe that the 1928 election started a voter realignment that helped develop the New Deal coalition of Franklin D. Roosevelt.^[25] As one political scientist explains, "...not until 1928, with the nomination of Al Smith, a northeastern reformer, did Democrats make gains among the urban, blue-collar and Catholic voters who were later to become core components of the New Deal coalition and break the pattern of minimal class polarization that had characterized the Fourth Party System."^[26] However, Allan Lichtman's quantitative analysis suggests that the 1928 results were based largely on religion and are not a useful barometer of the voting patterns of the New Deal era.^[27]

Finan (2003) says Smith is an underestimated symbol of the changing nature of American politics in the first half of the last century. He represented the rising ambitions of urban, industrial America at a time when the hegemony of rural, agrarian America was in decline, although many states had legislatures and congressional delegations biased toward rural areas because of lack of redistricting after censuses. Smith was connected to the hopes and aspirations of immigrants, especially Catholics and Jews from eastern and southern Europe. Smith was a devout Catholic, but his struggles against religious bigotry were often misinterpreted when he fought the religiously inspired Protestant morality imposed by prohibitionists.

Opposition to Roosevelt and the New Deal

Smith felt slighted by Roosevelt during the latter's governorship. They became rivals for the 1932 Democratic presidential nomination. At the convention, Smith's animosity toward Roosevelt was so great that he put aside longstanding rivalries and managed to work with William McAdoo and William Randolph Hearst to try to block FDR's nomination for several ballots. This unlikely coalition fell apart when Smith refused to work on finding a compromise candidate; instead he maneuvered to become the nominee. After losing the nomination, Smith eventually campaigned for Roosevelt in 1932, giving a particularly important speech on behalf of the Democratic nominee at Boston on October 27 in which he "pulled out all the stops."^[28]
Smith became highly critical of Roosevelt's New Deal policies and joined the American Liberty League, an anti-Roosevelt group. Smith believed the New Deal was a betrayal of good-government progressive ideals and ran counter to the goal of close cooperation with business. The Liberty League was an organization that tried to rally public opinion against Roosevelt's New Deal. Conservative Democrats who disapproved of Roosevelt's New Deal measures founded the group. In 1934, Smith joined forces with wealthy business executives, who provided most of the league's funds. The league published pamphlets and sponsored radio programs, arguing that the New Deal was destroying personal liberty. However, the league failed to gain support in the 1934 and 1936 elections, and it rapidly declined in influence. The league was officially dissolved in 1940.^[29][30]

Smith's antipathy to Roosevelt and his policies was so great that he supported Republican presidential candidates Alfred M. Landon (in the 1936 election) and Wendell Willkie (in the 1940 election).^[9] Although personal resentment was one factor in Smith's break with Roosevelt and the New Deal, Smith was consistent in his beliefs and politics. Finan (2003) argues Smith always believed in social mobility, economic opportunity, religious tolerance, and individualism. Despite the break between the men, Smith and Eleanor Roosevelt remained close. In 1936, while Smith was in Washington making a vehement radio attack on the President, she invited him to stay at the White House. To avoid embarrassing the Roosevelts, he declined.

Business Life & Later Years

After the 1928 election, Smith became the president of Empire State, Inc., the corporation that built and operated the Empire State Building. Construction for the building began symbolically on March 17, 1930, St. Patrick's Day, per Smith's instructions. Smith's grandchildren cut the ribbon when the world's tallest skyscraper opened on May 1, 1931, which was May Day, an international labor celebration. It had been completed in a record 13 months for such a large project. As with the Brooklyn Bridge, which Smith had seen being built from his Lower East Side boyhood home, the Empire State Building was a vision and an achievement constructed by combining the interests of all, rather than being divided by interests of a few.
In 1929 Smith was elected as President of the Board of Trustees of the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University.^[31]

Like most New York City businessmen, Smith enthusiastically supported World War II. He was not asked by Roosevelt to play any role in the war effort.^[9]

In 1939 Smith was appointed a Papal Chamberlain of the Sword and Cape, one of the highest honors the Papacy bestowed on a layman. In the early 21st century, this honor is styled a Gentleman of His Holiness.
Smith died at the Rockefeller Institute Hospital on October 4, 1944 of a heart attack, at the age of 70. He had been broken-hearted over the death of his wife from cancer five months earlier, on May 4, 1944.^[32] He is interred at Calvary Cemetery.^[33]