G K Chesterton (1874-1936) - literary giant and Catholic convert

Gilbert Keith Chesterton, born 1874 in London, died 1936 in Beaconsfield.
Educated at  St Pauls School, then at the Slade School of Art studying illustration.
From 1896 to 1902 he worked for London publishers Redway and Fisher Unwin. In 1901 he married Frances Blogg.   In 1902 he was given a weekly opinion column in the Daily News and in1905 a weekly column in the Illustrated London News which lasted for the next thirty years. From his teenage years he nurtured a deep interest in Christianity culminating in his conversion to the Roman Catholic faith in 1922.
                  Chesterton was a large man, standing 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and weighing around 21 stone (130 kg; 290 lb). His girth gave rise to a famous anecdote. During World War I,  a lady in London asked why he wasn't 'out at the Front', he replied, 'If you go round to the side, you will see that I am'.  On another occasion he remarked to his friend George Bernard Shaw, 'To look at you, anyone would think there was a famine in England'. Shaw retorted, 'To look at you, anyone would think you caused it'.                 

                 Chesterton wrote around 80 books, several hundred poems, some 200 short stories, 4000 essays, and several plays. He was a literary and social critic, historian, playwright, novelist, Catholic theologian and apologist, debater, and mystery writer. He was a columnist for the Daily News, the Illustrated London News, and his own paper, G. K.'s Weekly; with his writings consistently displaying wit and a sense of humour. He employed paradox whilst at the same time making serious comments on world affairs. His best-known character is perhaps the priest-detective Father Brown.                                                                                              (Wikipedia – with thanks)

 GKC snippets

"Religious liberty might be supposed to mean that everybody is free to discuss religion. In practice it means that hardly anybody is allowed to mention it."

"Obedience.- The most  thrilling word in the world; a very thunderclap of a word. Why do all these fools fancy that the soul is only free when it disagrees with the common command? Even the mobs who rise to burn and destroy owe all their grandeur and terror, and a sort of authority, not to their anger but to their agreement. Why should disagreement make us feel free?"

"If there were no God, there would be no atheists."
                                                                                   All GKC
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A taste of poetry by GKC.
The Horrible History of Jones – from ‘Poems’ (1915)

Jones had a dog; it had a chain;
Not often worn, not causing pain;
But, as the I.K.L had passed
Their “Unleashed Cousins Act” at last,
Inspectors took the chain away;
Whereat the canine barked “hurray!”
At which, of course, the S.P.U.
(Whose ‘Nervous Motorists Bill’ was through)
Were forced to give the dog in charge
For being ‘Audibly at Large’.
None, you will say, were now annoyed,
Save haply Jones – the yard was void.
But something being in the lease
About “alarms to aid police,”
The U.S.U. annexed the yard
For having no sufficient guard;
Now if there’s one condition
The C.C.P.are strong upon,
It is that every house one buys
Must have a yard for exercise;
So Jones, as tenant, was unfit,
His state of health was proof of it.
Two doctors of the T.T.U.’s
Told him his legs, from long disuse,
Were atrophied; and saying “So
From step to higher step we go
Till everything is New and True”,
They cut his legs off and withdrew.
You know the E.T.S.T.’s views
Are stronger than the T.T.U.’s;
And soon (as one may say) took wing
The Arms, though not the Man, I sing.
To see him sitting limbless there
Was more than the K.K. could  bear.
“In mercy silence with all speed
That mouth there are no hands to feed;
What cruel sentimentalist
O Jones, would doom thee to exist –
Clinging to selfish Selfhood yet?
Weak one! Such reasoning might upset
The Pump Act, and the accumulation
Of all constructive legislation;
Let us construct you up a bit –"
The head fell off when it was hit:
Then words did rise and honest doubt,
And four Commissioners sat about,
Whether the slash that left him dead
Cut off his body or his head.

An author in the Isle of Wight
Observed with unconcealed delight,
A land of old and just renown
Where Freedom slowly broadened down
From Precedent to Precedent -----
And this, I think was what he meant.
                                                   GKC

*Note: Tennyson lived on the Isle of Wight for the last 40
years of his life. The lines "A land ... precedent' are from
Tennyson's "You Ask Me, Why, Tho' Ill at Ease"

The Donkey  - from ‘The Wild Knight and Other Poems (1900)

When fishes flew and forests walked
And figs grew upon thorn,
Some moments when the moon was blood
Then surely I was born.

With monstrous head and sickening cry
And ears like errant wings,
The devil’s walking parody
On all four-footed things.

The tattered outlaw of the earth,
Of ancient crooked will;
Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,
I keep my secret still.

Fools!  For I also had my hour;
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms before my feet.
                                 GKC




By the Babe Unborn – from ‘The Wild Knight and Other Poems’ (1900)

If trees were tall and grasses short,
As in some crazy tale,
If here and there a sea were blue
Beyond the breaking pale.

If a fixed fire hung in the air
To warm me one day through,
If deep green hair grew on great hills,
I know what I should do.

In dark I lie: dreaming that there
Are great eyes cold or kind,
And twisted streets and silent doors,
And living men behind.

Let storm-clouds come: better an hour,
And leave to weep and fight,
Than all the ages I have ruled
The empires of the night.

I think that if they gave me leave
Within the world to stand,
I would be good through all the day
I spent in fairyland.

They should not hear a word from me
Of selfishness or scorn,
If only I could find the door,
If only I were born.
                        GKC
   


Thou shalt not kill – from ’The Wild Knight and Other Poems (1900)

I had grown weary of him; of his breath
And hands and features I was sick to death.
Each day I heard the same dull voice and tread;
I did not hate him: but I wished him dead.
And he must with his blank face fill my life –
Then my brain blackened, and I snatched a knife.

But ere I struck, my soul’s grey deserts through
A voice cried, ‘Know at least what thing you do.
‘This is a common man: knowest  thou, O soul,
‘What this thing is? Somewhere where seasons roll
‘There is some living thing for whom this man
‘Is as seven heavens girt into a span,
‘For some one soul you take the world away ---
‘Now know you well your deed and purpose. Slay!’
Then I cast down the knife upon the ground
And saw that mean man for one moment crowned.
I turned and laughed: for there was no one by ---
The man that I had sought to slay was I.
                                                 GKC
 

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"Of all modern phenomena, the most monstrous and ominous, the most manifestly rotting with disease, the most grimly prophetic of destruction, the most clearly and unmistakably inspired by evil spirits, the most instantly and awfully overshadowed by the wrath of heaven, the most near to madness and moral chaos, the most vivid with devilry and despair, is the practice of having to listen to loud music while eating a meal in a restaurant."
                 GKC

Our Blessed Lady, Queen of Heaven, pray for our Church and for our Country, and guide and protect our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI,  particularly during  his forthcoming visit,  when we ask  God’s blessings on ourselves and our families and friends, and on all men of goodwill. We pray particularly at this special time,  for the F.SS.R Community - ‘The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer” on Papa Stronsay, that their long awaited episcopal approbation may very soon be forthcoming, thus enabling  the ordination to the priesthood of two of their community who have completed their seminary training – for the glory of God and His Church.
St Alphonsus,  pray for them. Amen.

The Fairy Dentist and a 'Verdi' chorus

 Browsing idly through the bookcase, I came across an old school exercise book in which were numerous poems carefully and clearly hand-written, and all on the subject of fairies. This book belongs to my wife, having been part of her mother's personal effects when she died aged 90 years, some 12 years ago. The book is clearly a labour of love, and many of the poems date back perhaps 70 years. They are poems for children, but they have a delightful innocence which is very appealing.

Who is there that actually enjoys going to the dentist? I suspect that most people go only when they have to, when the pain of raging toothache exceeds the fear of the dentist's surgery. But what would we have done if we had lived in the Middle Ages, or if we live today in those third world countries where there are no dentists? We are truly fortunate in this country where we have access to skilled and qualified dentists, equipped with appropriate drugs and modern technology.....Deo gratias.

Now if you were a fairy .......?

 

The Fairy Dentist

O did you know the fairies had a dentist of their own?

He's got a little dentist house below an old grey stone.

The fairies love to go there where he works away beneath,

For he's always very gentle with their little pearly teeth.

And he's the greatest dentist man that ever has been seen,

For once he stopped a wisdom tooth of Mab, the Fairy Queen.

The dentist room is quite the prettiest colour ever planned,

With bluey-purple floor like sea, and greeny walls like land.

 And when you clamber in the chair and tilt your chin up high,

You'll find the ceilings painted like a lovely sunset sky.

The chair is awf'ly comfy, it's a rocking chair that rocks,

And you sit on lots of cushions made of dandelion clocks.

The arms are made of ivy roots, most splendid things to hold,

And very reassuring when you're wanting to feel bold.

Then there's a toadstool table full of instruments and things,

And several well-trained Bumble-bees, but none of them have stings.

They're sometimes used for little girls, sometimes for little boys,

And when they're working hard, they make a funny, buzzing noise.

And on the toadstool table there's a fairy half-a-crown,

And a box of cotton-wool that's made from finest thistledown.

Some dainty little forceps made of wise old beetles jaws,

And a pot of liquid stuff that smells like summer out of doors.

And if you've got an aching tooth that isn't any good,

A nightingale comes singing from a little poppy wood.

He'll sing you fast and fast asleep, although it is the day,

And when you wake again you'll find your tooth has run away.

Then you say 'Goodbye and thank you very much for asking me,'

And you take the half-a-crown, and then run back home to tea.

So that's why fairies love to go (they'll even go alone)

To the little fairy dentist underneath the old grey stone.

                                                                                (anon)

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 And now, a little piece of musical entertainment...

On Saturday, April 24th, 2010, over thirty members of the Opera Company of Philadelphia Chorus and principal cast members from the upcoming production of La Traviata converged on the Reading Terminal Market Italian Festival.  

 Wearing street clothes and blending in with the crowd, the artists swung into action as the first orchestral strains of the famous opera were piped through the market, giving a rousing, surprise performance for hundreds of delighted onlookers who were there to enjoy the Italian delicacies and the everyday treats that the Reading Terminal Market has to offer.  
 The four-minute piece drew an overwhelming crowd, and won a thunderous ovation that included both laughter and tears from the audience.
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zmwRitYO3w                            

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           Thoughts from St Alphonsus for every day of the year - compiled by Rev C McNeiry C.SS.R

'Some people resemble the hedgehog.  They seem all calmness and meekness as long as they remain untouched.  But no sooner does a superior or friend touch them, by an observation on something they have done imperfectly,  than they forthwith become all prickles'  (August 1st).

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Our Lady of Aberdeen pray for us, and guide and protect our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI.

Former Soviet Dissident Warns For EU Dictatorship

     I recently came across the website of  'Brussels Journal', http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/865 in which was an article, published in February 2006, entitled 'Former Soviet Dissident Warns for EU Dictatorship'. The article deals with an interview between reporter Paul Belien, and Soviet dissident, Vladimir Bukovsky, aged 63 years, then living in the UK. Although this interview was more than four years ago, Vladimir Bukovsky  has proved surprisingly  accurate in his views. His certain conviction of economic collapse within the EU is exactly what is happening today, and his dire warning on a Euro police force (Europol) with increasingly unlimited and authoritarian legal power, is reflected  in the manner of the  recent heavy-handed police operation in Belgium, aimed at the collective hierarchy of the Catholic Church in that country. This is not to suggest that police action was unecessary, but the manner and scale of the operation, must surely come under scrutiny. Increasing legal prohibitions on free-speech,  increasing state control over parent's rights,  'political correctness' rather than 'common-sense'  in civil rights and equality laws, and much new European legislation, provide additional incentives for a large and powerful Europol.

Mr Bukovsky's view simply put, is that the EU was formulated, designed and intended, to emulate the old Soviet Union. This opinion might appear old hat or wildly eccentric to many readers, but what really strikes home is the accuracy of Mr Bukovsky's forecast. I have been given permission by Thomas Landen, the Editor of 'Brussel's Journal' to reproduce this article, which I think is both  challenging and relevant in Europe today.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

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From the desk of Paul Belien on Mon, 27.02.2006

Vladimir Bukovksy, the 63-year old former Soviet dissident, fears that the European Union is on its way to becoming another Soviet Union. In a speech he delivered in Brussels last week Mr Bukovsky called the EU a “monster” that must be destroyed, the sooner the better, before it develops into a fullfledged totalitarian state. Mr Bukovsky paid a visit to the European Parliament on Thursday at the invitation of Fidesz, the Hungarian Civic Forum. Fidesz, a member of the European Christian Democrat group, had invited the former Soviet dissident over from England, where he lives, on the occasion of this year’s 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising. After his morning meeting with the Hungarians, Mr Bukovsky gave an afternoon speech in a Polish restaurant in the Trier straat, opposite the European Parliament, where he spoke at the invitation of the United Kingdom Independence Party, of which he is a patron.

 An interview with Vladimir Bukovsky about the impending EUSSR

In his speech Mr Bukovsky referred to confidential documents from secret Soviet files which he was allowed to read in 1992. These documents confirm the existence of a “conspiracy” to turn the European Union into a socialist organization.

I attended the meeting and taped the speech. A transcript can be found below. I also had a brief interview with Mr Bukovsky (4 minutes), a transcript of which can also be found below. The interview about the European Union had to be cut short because Mr Bukovsky had other engagements, but it brought back some memories to me, as I had interviewed Vladimir Bukovsky twenty years ago, in 1986, when the Soviet Union, the first monster that he so valiantly fought, was still alive and thriving. 

Mr Bukovsky was one of the heroes of the 20th century. As a young man he exposed the use of psychiatric imprisonment against political prisoners in the former USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 1917-1991) and spent a total of twelve years (1964-1976), from his 22nd to his 34th year, in Soviet jails, labour camps and psychiatric institutions. In 1976 the Soviets expelled him to the West. In 1992 he was invited by the Russian government to serve as an expert testifying at the trial conducted to determine whether the Soviet Communist Party had been a criminal institution. To prepare for his testimony Mr Bukovsky was granted access to a large number of documents from Soviet secret archives. He is one of the few people ever to have seen these documents because they are still classified. Using a small handheld scanner and a laptop computer, however, he managed to copy many documents (some with high security clearance), including KGB reports to the Soviet government.

An interview with Vladimir Bukovsky

Paul Belien: You were a very famous Soviet dissident and now you are drawing a parallel between the European Union and the Soviet Union. Can you explain this?

Vladimir Bukovsky: I am referrring to structures, to certain ideologies being instilled, to the plans, the direction, the inevitable expansion, the obliteration of nations, which was the purpose of the Soviet Union. Most people do not understand this. They do not know it, but we do because we were raised in the Soviet Union where we had to study the Soviet ideology in school and at university. The ultimate purpose of the Soviet Union was to create a new historic entity, the Soviet people, all around the globe. The same is true in the EU today. They are trying to create a new people. They call this people “Europeans”, whatever that means. According to Communist doctrine as well as to many forms of Socialist thinking, the state, the national state, is supposed to wither away. In Russia, however, the opposite happened. Instead of withering away the Soviet state became a very powerful state, but the nationalities were obliterated. But when the time of the Soviet collapse came these suppressed feelings of national identity came bouncing back and they nearly destroyed the country. It was so frightening.

PB: Do you think the same thing can happen when the European Union collapses?

VB: Absolutely, you can press a spring only that much, and the human psyche is very resilient you know. You can press it, you can press it, but don’t forget it is still accumulating a power to rebound. It is like a spring and it always goes to overshoot.

PB: But all these countries that joined the European Union did so voluntarily.

VB: No, they did not. Look at Denmark which voted against the Maastricht treaty twice. Look at Ireland [which voted against the Nice treaty]. Look at many other countries, they are under enormous pressure. It is almost blackmail. Switzerland was forced to vote five times in a referendum. All five times they have rejected it, but who knows what will happen the sixth time, the seventh time. It is always the same thing. It is a trick for idiots. The people have to vote in referendums until the people vote the way that is wanted. Then they have to stop voting. Why stop? Let us continue voting. The European Union is what Americans would call a shotgun marriage.

PB: What do you think young people should do about the European Union? What should they insist on, to democratize the institution or just abolish it?

VB: I think that the European Union, like the Soviet Union, cannot be democratized. Gorbachev tried to democratize it and it blew up. This kind of structures cannot be democratized.

PB: But we have a European Parliament which is chosen by the people.

VB: The European Parliament is elected on the basis of proportional representation, which is not true representation. And what does it vote on? The percentage of fat in yoghurt, that kind of thing. It is ridiculous. It is given the task of the Supreme Soviet. The average MP can speak for six minutes per year in the Chamber. That is not a real parliament.

Transcript of Mr Bukovsky’s Brussels speech

'In 1992 I had unprecedented access to Politburo and Central Committee secret documents which have been classified, and still are even now, for 30 years. These documents show very clearly that the whole idea of turning the European common market into a federal state was agreed between the left-wing parties of Europe and Moscow as a joint project which Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1988-89 called our “common European home.”

The idea was very simple. It first came up in 1985-86, when the Italian Communists visited Gorbachev, followed by the German Social-Democrats. They all complained that the changes in the world, particularly after British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, introduced privatisation and economic liberalisation, were threatening to wipe out the achievement (as they called it) of generations of Socialists and Social-Democrats – threatening to reverse it completely. Therefore the only way to withstand this onslaught of wild capitalism (as they called it) was to try to introduce the same socialist goals in all countries at once. Prior to that, the left-wing parties and the Soviet Union had opposed European integration very much because they perceived it as a means to block their socialist goals. From 1985 onwards they completely changed their view. The Soviets came to a conclusion and to an agreement with the left-wing parties that if they worked together they could hijack the whole European project and turn it upside down. Instead of an open market they would turn it into a federal state.

According to the secret Soviet documents, 1985-86 is the turning point. I have published most of these documents. You might even find them on the internet. But the conversations they had are really eye opening. For the first time you understand that there is a conspiracy – quite understandable for them, as they were trying to save their political hides. In the East the Soviets needed a change of relations with Europe because they were entering a protracted and very deep structural crisis; in the West the left-wing parties were afraid of being wiped out and losing their influence and prestige. So it was a conspiracy, quite openly made by them, agreed upon, and worked out.

In January of 1989, for example, a delegation of the Trilateral Commission came to see Gorbachev. It included former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, former French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, American banker David Rockefeller and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. They had a very nice conversation where they tried to explain to Gorbachev that Soviet Russia had to integrate into the financial institutions of the world, such as Gatt, the IMF and the World Bank.

In the middle of it Giscard d’Estaing suddenly takes the floor and says: “Mr President, I cannot tell you exactly when it will happen – probably within 15 years – but Europe is going to be a federal state and you have to prepare yourself for that. You have to work out with us, and the European leaders, how you would react to that, how would you allow the other Easteuropean countries to interact with it or how to become a part of it, you have to be prepared.”

This was January 1989, at a time when the 1992 Maastricht treaty had not even been drafted. How the hell did Giscard d’Estaing know what was going to happen in 15 years time? And surprise, surprise, how did he become the author of the European constitution in 2002-03? A very good question. It does smell of conspiracy, doesn’t it?

Luckily for us the Soviet part of this conspiracy collapsed earlier and it did not reach the point where Moscow could influence the course of events. But the original idea was to have what they called a convergency, whereby the Soviet Union would mellow somewhat and become more social-democratic, while Western Europe would become social-democratic and socialist. Then there will be convergency. The structures have to fit each other. This is why the structures of the European Union were initially built with the purpose of fitting into the Soviet structure. This is why they are so similar in functioning and in structure.

It is no accident that the European Parliament, for example, reminds me of the Supreme Soviet. It looks like the Supreme Soviet because it was designed like it. Similary, when you look at the European Commission it looks like the Politburo. I mean it does so exactly, except for the fact that the Commission now has 25 members and the Politburo usually had 13 or 15 members. Apart from that they are exactly the same, unaccountable to anyone, not directly elected by anyone at all. When you look into all this bizarre activity of the European Union with its 80,000 pages of regulations it looks like Gosplan. We used to have an organisation which was planning everything in the economy, to the last nut and bolt, five years in advance. Exactly the same thing is happening in the EU. When you look at the type of EU corruption, it is exactly the Soviet type of corruption, going from top to bottom rather than going from bottom to top.

If you go through all the structures and features of this emerging European monster you will notice that it more and more resembles the Soviet Union. Of course, it is a milder version of the Soviet Union. Please, do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that it has a Gulag. It has no KGB – not yet – but I am very carefully watching such structures as Europol for example. That really worries me a lot because this organisation will probably have powers bigger than those of the KGB. They will have diplomatic immunity. Can you imagine a KGB with diplomatic immunity? They will have to police us on 32 kinds of crimes – two of which are particularly worrying, one is called racism, another is called xenophobia. No criminal court on earth defines anything like this as a crime [this is not entirely true, as Belgium already does so – pb]. So it is a new crime, and we have already been warned. Someone from the British government told us that those who object to uncontrolled immigration from the Third World will be regarded as racist and those who oppose further European integration will be regarded as xenophobes. I think Patricia Hewitt said this publicly.

Hence, we have now been warned. Meanwhile they are introducing more and more ideology. The Soviet Union used to be a state run by ideology. Today’s ideology of the European Union is social-democratic, statist, and a big part of it is also political correctness. I watch very carefully how political correctness spreads and becomes an oppressive ideology, not to mention the fact that they forbid smoking almost everywhere now. Look at this persecution of people like the Swedish pastor who was persecuted for several months because he said that the Bible does not approve homosexuality. France passed the same law of hate speech concerning gays. Britain is passing hate speech laws concerning race relations and now religious speech, and so on and so forth. What you observe, taken into perspective, is a systematic introduction of ideology which could later be enforced with oppressive measures. Apparently that is the whole purpose of Europol. Otherwise why do we need it? To me Europol looks very suspicious. I watch very carefully who is persecuted for what and what is happening, because that is one field in which I am an expert. I know how Gulags spring up.

It looks like we are living in a period of rapid, systematic and very consistent dismantlement of democracy. Look at this Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill. It makes ministers into legislators who can introduce new laws without bothering to tell Parliament or anyone. My immediate reaction is why do we need it? Britain survived two world wars, the war with Napoleon, the Spanish Armada, not to mention the Cold War, when we were told at any moment we might have a nuclear world war, without any need for introducing this kind legislation, without the need for suspending our civil liberties and introducing emergency powers. Why do we need it right now? This can make a dictatorship out of your country in no time.

Today’s situation is really grim. Major political parties have been completely taken in by the new EU project. None of them really opposes it. They have become very corrupt. Who is going to defend our freedoms? It looks like we are heading towards some kind of collapse, some kind of crisis. The most likely outcome is that there will be an economic collapse in Europe, which in due time is bound to happen with this growth of expenses and taxes. The inability to create a competitive environment, the overregulation of the economy, the bureaucratisation, it is going to lead to economic collapse. Particularly the introduction of the euro was a crazy idea. Currency is not supposed to be political.

I have no doubt about it. There will be a collapse of the European Union pretty much like the Soviet Union collapsed. But do not forget that when these things collapse they leave such devastation that it takes a generation to recover. Just think what will happen if it comes to an economic crisis. The recrimination between nations will be huge. It might come to blows. Look to the huge number of immigrants from Third World countries now living in Europe. This was promoted by the European Union. What will happen with them if there is an economic collapse? We will probably have, like in the Soviet Union at the end, so much ethnic strife that the mind boggles. In no other country were there such ethnic tensions as in the Soviet Union, except probably in Yugoslavia. So that is exactly what will happen here, too. We have to be prepared for that. This huge edifice of bureaucracy is going to collapse on our heads.

This is why, and I am very frank about it, the sooner we finish with the EU the better. The sooner it collapses the less damage it will have done to us and to other countries. But we have to be quick because the Eurocrats are moving very fast. It will be difficult to defeat them. Today it is still simple. If one million people march on Brussels today these guys will run away to the Bahamas. If tomorrow half of the British population refuses to pay its taxes, nothing will happen and no-one will go to jail. Today you can still do that. But I do not know what the situation will be tomorrow with a fully fledged Europol staffed by former Stasi or Securitate officers. Anything may happen.

                                      

We are losing time. We have to defeat them. We have to sit and think, work out a strategy in the shortest possible way to achieve maximum effect. Otherwise it will be too late. So what should I say

My conclusion is not optimistic. So far, despite the fact that we do have some anti-EU forces in almost every country, it is not enough. We are losing and we are wasting time.'

	'Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, pray for us and for our Country, and guide and protect our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.'