Month: March 2025

‘With a heart broken,’ pope prays for peace in Ukraine

People wear the national colors of Ukraine as Pope Francis leads the Angelus from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Feb. 27, 2022. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis said his heart was “broken” by the war in Ukraine, and he pleaded again, “Silence the weapons!”

“Many times, we prayed that this path would not be taken,” he told people gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the midday recitation of the Angelus prayer Feb. 27. But rather than giving up, he said, “we beg God more intensely.”

With many of the people in the square holding Ukrainian flags, Pope Francis greeted them the way they traditionally greet each other, “Slava Isusu Chrystu,” meaning, “Glory to Jesus Christ.”

Pope Francis has continued to personally express his concern about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and to appeal for peace. The previous evening, he phoned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Vatican press office confirmed the call Feb. 26 but provided no details.

Zelenskyy tweeted that he had thanked Pope Francis “for praying for peace in Ukraine and a cease-fire. The Ukrainian people feel the spiritual support of His Holiness.”

The Ukrainian Embassy to the Holy See tweeted, “The Holy Father expressed his deepest sorrow for the tragic events happening in our country.”

The call to Zelenskyy came a day after Pope Francis made the diplomatically unusual gesture of going to the Russian Embassy to the Holy See to express his concern about the war. Usually, a head of state would have an ambassador come to him.

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Việt Nam a trustworthy partner of UN: Secretary-General Guterres

Ambassador Đặng Hoàng Giang, the newly-appointed Permanent Representative of Việt Nam to the United Nations, presenting his credentials to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (right). — VNA/VNS Photo

NEW YORK — United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that Việt Nam is a trustworthy partner of the UN, and described the country as a successful example of a developing nation, given its achievements so far.

Guterres made the remarks while receiving Ambassador Đặng Hoàng Giang, the newly-appointed Permanent Representative of Việt Nam to the UN, who came to present his credentials on February 25 (New York time).

The UN leader hailed Việt Nam’s capacity to perform important roles at UN agencies, including a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the 2020-21 tenure, and engaging in UN peacekeeping operations.

He expressed his hope that, during the office tenure of Ambassador Giang, Việt Nam would continue making effective contributions to UN forums and activities in New York, helping promote multilateralism based on the UN Charter and deepen the growing partnership between the UN and Việt Nam.

For his part, Ambassador Giang conveyed the regards of Vietnamese leaders to the UN Secretary-General, saying that Việt Nam is always a trustworthy and responsible partner of the UN.

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Potential Effects on the Brain for Children Who Experienced Sustained Trauma

  • A decrease in the size of the hippocampus, which is important in learning and memory
  • A decrease in the size of the corpus callosum, which functions for emotion, impulses, and arousal, as well as communicating between the right and left brain hemispheres
  • A decrease in the size of the cerebellum, which can affect motor skills and coordination
  • A decrease in the volume of the prefrontal cortex, which affects behavior, balancing emotions and perception
  • Too much activity in the amygdala, which is responsible for processing emotions and determining reactions to potentially stressful or dangerous situations
  • Cortisol level becomes unregulated, leading to high anxiety from stress or depression

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Core Beliefs of Survivors of Severe Trauma:

I don’t believe there are really good options or good people out there
• It’s just easier being alone
• I don’t seem to be able to love, nurture, or bond with healthy people in healthy ways
• I wonder if I really deserve love and tenderness, and I wonder what it would be like to experience it
• I think I am codependent because I get trauma bonded to bad people
• I find it difficult to receive love or nurturing
• I find it difficult to commit to people and plans
• I feel constantly overwhelmed
• I don’t seem to be able to make decisions
• I can’t think clearly
• It all seems too much
• When I try to explain myself, people don’t get it
• I can’t risk going there again (love, relationships, close bonds)
• I’m losing sight of where I’m going
• I don’t have any energy
• I feel stuck or caught is a repeat cycle of circumstances
• I keep getting stuck in emotional loops

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Playing on urgency and fear, they thus push their victims to act without suspicion.

The message is not directly understandable by the human brain, because it is addressed to its unconscious. FEAR… Here are some common signs that would indicate that someone has cast an evil eye on you: – Unexpected bad luck or misfortune– Sudden physical illness or pain– Mental or emotional distress– Unusual fatigue or weakness– Financial […]

Playing on urgency and fear, they thus push their victims to act without suspicion.

12 Characteristics of a Leviathan Spirit: How to Recognize and Overcome It

Do you feel like you’re constantly at war? Like you’re fighting a never-ending battle that you can’t seem to win?If so, you may be dealing with a leviathan spirit.

This spirit is one of the most powerful and destructive spirits in the spiritual realm because he is an ancient high-ruling demonic prince in the spiritual world. Leviathan especially targets leaders, ministries, and marriages.

This spirit often comes in through a wounded spirit involving rejection. The demon realm sets up an individual to be traumatized through rejection. Rejection then opens the door to a spirit of pride and offers pride as a false fix (an angel of light) for rejection.

The 12 Characteristics of a Leviathan Spirit

  1. Twists the Truth.

Experiences

Experiences and manifestations can be from many sources; physical, emotional, mental, paranormal/demonic, or from the Lord. ALL experiences need to be tested against the testimony and teachings of the tried and true written word of God. “Slain in the spirit” is an occult technique imported into Christianity, and has nothing to do with what we are taught in the Scriptures. The prophets, Apostles and Jesus Christ did not do it or teach it as something that should be done. If you have an experience, you had better check the source. Think twice before you submit to people laying hands on you for whatever reason.

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How to Discern, Test and Judge Rightly Posted on 18 Sep 2012 by Truth in Reality

In running a web site with over 900+ articles, thousands of hits per month from all over the world, and hundreds of e-mails per week, I have come to realize, with time, that there is a terrible problem in Christendom today. The problem stems from an existential subjective view of the world that has filtered into the church from secular society, but also from the teachings of heretical wolves who have taught an entire generation of churchgoers completely unbiblical methods of discernment or to get rid of any discernment altogether.

Let me start out this chapter by telling you what methods are being used for “discernment” today that don’t have biblical support, then I will move on to the ways in which the Bible does tell us to test teaching, prophecy and actions.

The following criteria are what many people who call themselves Christians are using to test reality and truth today:

(1) Experiences, manifestations