Michelle SweeneyCatholic priests and nuns should all be issued with sub-machine guns.
February 20th 2008 22:37
Each year on February 27, the Catholic Church celebrates the life of St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, or Gabriel Possenti, the gun-toting seminarian and ‘Saviour of Isola’. (Isola is about 2-3 hours east of Rome by car. Depending upon how fast you drive).
There is a movement in America, the St Gabriel Possenti Society, which is urging the Vatican to make St Gabriel the Patron Saint of Handgunners.
This Society argues against pacifism and nonviolence, backing up their views with Biblical references, and traditional teachings on the difference between aggression and self-defense by such luminaries as St Thomas Aquinas, and St Augustine of Hippo.
They also remind people that the Catholic Church has a patron of Artillerymen (St Barbara) a patron of archers (St Sebastian) and a patron of Security/Armed Forces (St Michael the Archangel). And bemoan the fact shooters do not have an official patron saint.
The founder of the Society, John Michael Snyder (former editor of the NRAs American rifleman magazine), has written a book, Gun Saint (Arlington VA, Telum Associates, 2003) detailing the Society’s standpoint. Gun Saint is a book described as ‘must have for all those who believe owning and using guns is not against the Law of Jesus.’
Why Snyder and his Society have chosen St Gabriel is because of the most famous incident in the saint’s life.
In 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi’s army defeated Pope Pius IXs army and terrorized the countryside. About twenty of them entered Isola where Gabriel Possenti was a Passionist seminarian.
Possenti went into town and found the gang about to rape a young woman. He ordered them to set her free. When they refused to obey, Possenti yanked pistols out of two soldiers’ holsters.
At that moment, a lizard ran across the road. Possenti (who was a master marksmen before joining religious life) took aim, fired and killed it with one shot. Then, he turned his weapons toward the gang. Surprised and shocked, they left the village. Possenti was hailed by the townfolk as ‘the Saviour of Isola’.
“By naming St. Gabriel Possenti officially the Patron of Handgunners, the Vatican could hold up this holy man as an example of the proper use of handguns,” Mr. Snyder points out. “This would underscore the good purposes to which these inanimate objects can be and often are put. Possenti used guns in order to pursue a just end: protecting the victims’ life, liberty and property against aggression. He used a handgun to rescue an entire village full of peaceful, law-abiding people from the grip of a renegade band of soldier/terrorists. He accomplished his mission without causing physical harm, let alone bloodshed, to anyone… [He] not only defended a village against a band of brigands. He also aimed a bullet at the heart of tyranny, at the heart of terrorism, at the heart of a brute ideology that justified the use of armed force against the innocent…'
While I agree with Mr Snyder that St Gabriel should be made patron saint of handgunners, I would also like to see all priests and nuns licensed to carry submachine guns.
First and foremost, it would cut down a lot of bad confessions and wasted time in the confessional box. If a penitent goes to confession one week and says, ‘I’m sorry, Father, I did such-and-such,’ the priest can absolve him/her of his/her sins, but if he/she returns the next week to say, ‘Sorry, Father. I did such-and-such again,’ he could just shoot the person dead, and leave it all up to God.
_________________________
The St Gabriel Possenti Society.
Really Long Link
St Gabriel Possenti (St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows) was born in Assisi, Italy in 1838. He was baptised Francis Possenti.
Francis learnt to become a great horse rider and excellent marksman. He dressed in fancy clothes, loved to go dancing, and was popular with girls.
Twice during his schooldays Francis became so ill, he nearly died. Both times he promised Our Lady that if she would cure him, he would become a priest. He got better both times but both times failed to keep his promise.
One day, a banner of Our Lady Help of Christians was being carried in a procession. She seemed to be looking at him. Francis heard a voice in his heart saying, ‘This world and its pleasures are not for you any more, Francis. It’s time you kept your promise.’
Francis was eighteen years old at the time. He kept his promise this time and very soon after entered a the local Passionist monastery. He took the religious name, Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows.
He loved to meditate on Our Lady’s sorrows and Our Lords Passion and sufferings. His dream was to become a missionary in foreign lands but he died four years later of consumption. He was only twenty-four.
There is a movement in America, the St Gabriel Possenti Society, which is urging the Vatican to make St Gabriel the Patron Saint of Handgunners.
This Society argues against pacifism and nonviolence, backing up their views with Biblical references, and traditional teachings on the difference between aggression and self-defense by such luminaries as St Thomas Aquinas, and St Augustine of Hippo.
They also remind people that the Catholic Church has a patron of Artillerymen (St Barbara) a patron of archers (St Sebastian) and a patron of Security/Armed Forces (St Michael the Archangel). And bemoan the fact shooters do not have an official patron saint.
The founder of the Society, John Michael Snyder (former editor of the NRAs American rifleman magazine), has written a book, Gun Saint (Arlington VA, Telum Associates, 2003) detailing the Society’s standpoint. Gun Saint is a book described as ‘must have for all those who believe owning and using guns is not against the Law of Jesus.’
Why Snyder and his Society have chosen St Gabriel is because of the most famous incident in the saint’s life.
In 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi’s army defeated Pope Pius IXs army and terrorized the countryside. About twenty of them entered Isola where Gabriel Possenti was a Passionist seminarian.
Possenti went into town and found the gang about to rape a young woman. He ordered them to set her free. When they refused to obey, Possenti yanked pistols out of two soldiers’ holsters.
At that moment, a lizard ran across the road. Possenti (who was a master marksmen before joining religious life) took aim, fired and killed it with one shot. Then, he turned his weapons toward the gang. Surprised and shocked, they left the village. Possenti was hailed by the townfolk as ‘the Saviour of Isola’.
“By naming St. Gabriel Possenti officially the Patron of Handgunners, the Vatican could hold up this holy man as an example of the proper use of handguns,” Mr. Snyder points out. “This would underscore the good purposes to which these inanimate objects can be and often are put. Possenti used guns in order to pursue a just end: protecting the victims’ life, liberty and property against aggression. He used a handgun to rescue an entire village full of peaceful, law-abiding people from the grip of a renegade band of soldier/terrorists. He accomplished his mission without causing physical harm, let alone bloodshed, to anyone… [He] not only defended a village against a band of brigands. He also aimed a bullet at the heart of tyranny, at the heart of terrorism, at the heart of a brute ideology that justified the use of armed force against the innocent…'
While I agree with Mr Snyder that St Gabriel should be made patron saint of handgunners, I would also like to see all priests and nuns licensed to carry submachine guns.
First and foremost, it would cut down a lot of bad confessions and wasted time in the confessional box. If a penitent goes to confession one week and says, ‘I’m sorry, Father, I did such-and-such,’ the priest can absolve him/her of his/her sins, but if he/she returns the next week to say, ‘Sorry, Father. I did such-and-such again,’ he could just shoot the person dead, and leave it all up to God.
_________________________
The St Gabriel Possenti Society.
Really Long Link
St Gabriel Possenti (St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows) was born in Assisi, Italy in 1838. He was baptised Francis Possenti.
Francis learnt to become a great horse rider and excellent marksman. He dressed in fancy clothes, loved to go dancing, and was popular with girls.
Twice during his schooldays Francis became so ill, he nearly died. Both times he promised Our Lady that if she would cure him, he would become a priest. He got better both times but both times failed to keep his promise.
One day, a banner of Our Lady Help of Christians was being carried in a procession. She seemed to be looking at him. Francis heard a voice in his heart saying, ‘This world and its pleasures are not for you any more, Francis. It’s time you kept your promise.’
Francis was eighteen years old at the time. He kept his promise this time and very soon after entered a the local Passionist monastery. He took the religious name, Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows.
He loved to meditate on Our Lady’s sorrows and Our Lords Passion and sufferings. His dream was to become a missionary in foreign lands but he died four years later of consumption. He was only twenty-four.
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Comment by Harry
Sydney Diary
Personals
Brisbane Diarystar
Zoo Parent
Comment by Damo
Me thinks that they will get a polite no.
Comment by Ann 1
Bloganymity
There's some strange patron saints already in the Catholic Church, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if St Gabriel gets a guernsey, or the nod.
I always thought naming St Clare the patron saint of television was strange. The reason they gave was, Toward the end of her life, when the was too ill to attend Mass, an image of the service would display on the wall of her cell.
Ann.
Comment by Ann 1
Bloganymity
It appears the NRA are that desperate.
I'm not so certain they'll get a polite no. (refer to my response to Harry).
I just hope Pope Benedict XVI gets rid of the popemobile if he's going to carry an AK47. The damn thing's got bulletproof windows. The bullet might ricochet and kill the driver.
Ann.
Comment by Damo
Revolution Theology Mark 2
Comment by Lilla
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
Riveting.
My response?
..you know the world has gone mad, when .....
Lilla ...
Comment by Miswanderlust
Killer Beats
Ramble On
Hipnotherapy
These patron saints must uphold the ten commandments with conviction. Alms not arms for the poor I say!
Mis
Comment by Ann 1
Bloganymity
It would have to be revolution theology Mark III. Teilhard de Chardin and Carl Jung have RT Mk II all tied up.
Ann
Comment by Ann 1
Bloganymity
I'm certain the world went mad a long time ago. As certain as I am that it's going madder. (But, that's the subject for a future post or ten).
Ann.
Comment by Ann 1
Bloganymity
A bad moral theologian is like a 'bad' lawyer. He can find loopholes in every aspect of the Divine Law.
I really like this:
Ann.