Pope in 'tectonic' shake-up of Vatican bureaucracy

Yahoo – AFP, Ella IDE, March 19, 2022 

Francis, 85, put together a group of cardinals to advise
him on how to enact reforms (AFP/Tiziana FABI) (Tiziana FABI)

Pope Francis on Saturday followed through on a promise made ahead of his 2013 election and published a much-anticipated shake-up of the Vatican's powerful governing body. 

The new constitution, which comes into effect on June 5, restructures parts of the unruly Roman Curia, and makes increasing the world's 1.2 billion Catholics the church's number one priority. 

Among the most significant changes are the possibility for lay and female Catholics to head up Vatican departments, and the incorporation of the pope's sex abuse advisory commission into the Curia. 

"Pope Francis has been working on a new organizational structure for the Vatican for nine years. It's a major aspect of his legacy," Joshua McElwee from the National Catholic Reporter said on Twitter. 

'Tectonic shift' 

Cardinals gathered for the conclave to elect a new pope in 2013 were divided between those who believed there were deep-rooted problems in the Curia and those who wanted to preserve the status quo. 

Ex-pope Benedict XVI, who had just resigned, was reported to have tried and failed to clean up a body some even blamed for preventing the church from properly tackling the child sex abuse scandal. 

Francis, 85, put together a group of cardinals to advise him over the years on how to reform the Curia, and has already enacted many changes as he moves to modernise the centuries-old institution. 

The 54-page text entitled "Proclaiming the Gospel", which replaces a constitution drawn up by pope John Paul II in 1988, creates a new department for evangelisation, to be headed up by Francis himself. 

Making himself "Chief Evangelizer" encapsulates a "tectonic shift to a more pastoral, missionary church," David Gibson, director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University, said on Twitter. 

In that vein, Francis says every baptised Christian is a missionary. 

"One cannot fail to take this into account in the updating of the Curia, whose reform must provide for involvement of laymen and women, even in roles of government and responsibility," he said. 

'Significant' 

The constitution, released on the ninth anniversary of the inauguration of Francis' papacy, makes the pope's charity czar, currently Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, head of a department in its own right. 

It also brings the Vatican's Commission for the Protection of Minors -- a papal advisory body -- into the office which oversees the canonical investigations of clerical sex abuse cases. 

In doing so, the pope is "effectively establishing the Vatican's first safeguarding office", the Tablet's journalist Christopher Lamb said. 

Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who heads the Commission, said it was a "significant move forward", which would give institutional weight to the fight against a scourge which has plagued the church globally. 

But Marie Collins, an Irish survivor of clerical abuse who served on the commission before resigning in outrage in 2017 over the church's handling of the crisis, slammed it instead as a clear step back. 

"The Commission has now officially lost even a semblance of independence," she said on Twitter.

Representatives of the Amazon rainforest's ethnic groups attended the synod 

with Pope Francis (AFP Photo/Tiziana FABI)

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Jubilation as Church of England's synod votes to allow female bishops

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after the vote to allow female bishops. Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God/Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.

There is a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.

It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness.  …”

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“ … Spirituality (Religions)

Number one: Spirituality. The systems of spiritual design on your planet are starting to change. This is not telling you that certain ones are going to go away. They're simply going to change. Some of the largest spiritual systems, which you would call organized religion on the planet, are shifting. They're going to shift away from that which is authority on the outside to authority on the inside. It will eventually be a different way of worship, slowly changing the rules while keeping the basic doctrine the same.

The doctrine of the Christ has always been to find the God inside. The teachings were clear. The examples of the miracles were given as an example of what humans could do, not to set a man up for worship as a God. So when that has been absorbed, the teaching of the Christ can remain the teaching of the Christ. It simply changes the interpretation. 

The teachings of the great prophets of the Middle East (all related to each other) are about unity and love. So once the holy words are redefined with new wisdom, the Human changes, not the words of the prophets. In fact, the prophets become even more divinely inspired and their wisdom becomes even more profound.

You're going to lose a pope soon. I have no clock. Soon to us can mean anything to you. The one who replaces him may surprise you, for his particular organization will be in survival mode at that point in time. That is to say that fewer and fewer are interested in starting the priesthood. Fewer and fewer young people are interested in the organization, and the new pope must make changes to keep his church alive. That means that his organization will remain, but with a more modern look at what truly is before all of you in a new energy. It is not the fall of the church. It is instead the recalibration of the divinity inside that would match the worship that goes on. It's a win-win situation. The new pope will have a difficult time, since the old guard will still be there. There could even be an assassination attempt, such is the way the old energy dies hard. That is number one. Watch for it. It's a change in the way spiritual systems work. It's a realignment of spiritual systems that resound to a stronger truth that is Human driven, rather than prophet driven.…”

"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) - (Text version)

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

Bishops urge Pope to open priesthood to married men in Amazon

Yahoo – AFP, Catherine MARCIANO, Ella IDE, October 26, 2019

The synod brought some 184 bishops to the Vatican, over 60 percent of
whom hail from the nine Amazon countries (AFP Photo/Vincenzo PINTO)

Vatican City (AFP) - Catholic bishops gathered at a special Vatican assembly called on Pope Francis Saturday to open the priesthood to married men in the Amazon, as well as giving women a greater role to play and making damaging the environment a sin.

The bishops issued a list of recommendations at the close of a three-week "synod" on the Pan-Amazonian region which highlighted challenges such as the destruction of the rainforest, the exploitation of indigenous peoples and a scarcity in priests.

The pontiff said Saturday he would addressing the issues before the year's end.

The text could have repercussions not only for the vast, isolated territory, but the whole of the Roman Catholic Church.

The synod brought some 184 bishops to the Vatican, over 60 percent of whom hail from the nine Amazon countries.

Together with representatives of indigenous peoples, experts and nuns, they discussed a multitude of regional concerns, from climate change to poverty, land-grabbing, mercury-polluted waters and violence against women.

The most hotly-debated question was whether or not to allow "viri probati" -- married "men of proven virtue" -- to join the priesthood in remote locations, where communities seldom have Mass due to a lack of priests.

It would not be necessary to rewrite Church law; the bishops simply asked Francis for an exemption to the rules -- like the one already granted to married Anglican pastors who later converted to Catholicism.

'Ecological sin'

"Sometimes it takes not just months but even several years before a priest can return to a community to celebrate the Eucharist, offer the sacrament of reconciliation or anoint the sick," the synod document said.

It suggested ordaining as priests "suitable and esteemed men of the community" who had "a legitimately constituted and stable family".

But the ultra-conservative wing of the Catholic Church -- particularly in Europe and North America -- has spoken out strongly against the idea, warning that making exceptions could pave the way to the abolition of celibacy globally.

A representative of one of the Amazon rainforest's ethnic groups reads a 

document (AFP Photo/Andreas SOLARO)

The bishops also urged the Argentine pope to make "the acts and habits of pollution and destruction of the harmony of the environment" an "ecological sin" -- or the breaking of a divine law.

It called for the Church to lead the battle against "our culture of excessive consumption", saying "we must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and the use of plastics".

People should also change their eating habits and stop an "excess consumption of meat and fish/seafood", they said.

They also proposed creating a "world fund" to protect the Amazon and its indigenous communities from "the predatory compulsion to extract their natural resources by national and multinational companies".

'Ministries for women'

The document also called for an official recognition by the Church of the key role played by lay women in the evangelisation of indigenous people by creating a formal specific role, or "ministry", called "woman leadership of the community".

There are some in the Church who would even like them to be allowed to become deacons, a function currently reserved for lay men.

Male deacons, who can be single or married, are able to baptise, witness marriages, perform funerals and preach homilies.

Francis said Saturday he would reconvene a commission to study the history of female deacons in the early Catholic Church, after the body's initial report -- delivered to the pontiff this year -- was inconclusive.

Two thirds of the indigenous communities without priests are guided by women.

"We still have not grasped the significance of women in the Church. Their role must go well beyond questions of function," Francis said.

Representatives of the Amazon rainforest's ethnic groups attended the 

synod with Pope Francis (AFP Photo/Tiziana FABI)

Related Articles:

Pope blames Amazon fires on destructive 'interests'

Pope 'opens door' to female deacons with new panel

Pope Francis' No. 2: Clerical celibacy is open to discussion
Pope Francis visits John Paul II's shrine

Church of England creates second female bishop

Church of England’s first female bishop named as Libby Lane

Church of England General Synod approves female bishops

Jubilation as Church of England's synod votes to allow female bishops

Clerics at the Church of England synod in York take a 'selfie' as they celebrate

after the vote to allow female bishops. Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God/Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.

There is a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.

It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness.  …”

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“ … Spirituality (Religions)

Number one: Spirituality. The systems of spiritual design on your planet are starting to change. This is not telling you that certain ones are going to go away. They're simply going to change. Some of the largest spiritual systems, which you would call organized religion on the planet, are shifting. They're going to shift away from that which is authority on the outside to authority on the inside. It will eventually be a different way of worship, slowly changing the rules while keeping the basic doctrine the same.

The doctrine of the Christ has always been to find the God inside. The teachings were clear. The examples of the miracles were given as an example of what humans could do, not to set a man up for worship as a God. So when that has been absorbed, the teaching of the Christ can remain the teaching of the Christ. It simply changes the interpretation. 

The teachings of the great prophets of the Middle East (all related to each other) are about unity and love. So once the holy words are redefined with new wisdom, the Human changes, not the words of the prophets. In fact, the prophets become even more divinely inspired and their wisdom becomes even more profound.

You're going to lose a pope soon. I have no clock. Soon to us can mean anything to you. The one who replaces him may surprise you, for his particular organization will be in survival mode at that point in time. That is to say that fewer and fewer are interested in starting the priesthood. Fewer and fewer young people are interested in the organization, and the new pope must make changes to keep his church alive. That means that his organization will remain, but with a more modern look at what truly is before all of you in a new energy. It is not the fall of the church. It is instead the recalibration of the divinity inside that would match the worship that goes on. It's a win-win situation. The new pope will have a difficult time, since the old guard will still be there. There could even be an assassination attempt, such is the way the old energy dies hard. That is number one. Watch for it. It's a change in the way spiritual systems work. It's a realignment of spiritual systems that resound to a stronger truth that is Human driven, rather than prophet driven.…”

"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) - (Text version)

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

Pope elevates British convert Newman to sainthood

Yahoo – AFP, Ella IDE, October 13, 2019

Giant portraits of the new saints were hung from Saint Peter's Basilica for the
canonisation ceremony which attracted tens of thousands of pilgrims (AFP
Photo/Alberto PIZZOLI)

Giant portraits of the new saints were hung from Saint Peter's Basilica for the canonisation ceremony which attracted tens of thousands of pilgrims (AFP Photo/Alberto PIZZOLI)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis created five new saints on Sunday, including Britain's Cardinal John Henry Newman -- one of the Catholic Church's most renowned converts -- and a nun dubbed the "Mother Teresa of Brazil".

Heads of state from across the world attended the canonisation ceremony, which also raised a Swiss laywoman plus two other nuns -- an Indian and an Italian -- to the highest position within the Church.

"Today we give thanks to the Lord for our new Saints," the pope told the faithful on Saint Peter's Square.

"They walked by faith and now we invoke their intercession."

Prince Charles, future head of the Church of England, led the British delegation honouring Newman, a 19th-century Anglican theologian who went on to become one of the Catholic Church's leading thinkers.

Francis quoted Newman describing "the holiness of ordinary life" in which, "the Christian is cheerful, easy, kind, gentle, courteous, candid, unassuming; has no pretence... with so little that is unusual... that he may easily be taken at first sight for an ordinary man."

Born in 1801, Newman attempted to "renew" the Anglican Church, before becoming convinced that Catholicism was the only true faith and converting aged 44, rising through the hierarchy to become a cardinal.

Giant portraits of the new saints were hung from Saint Peter's Basilica for the ceremony which attracted tens of thousands of pilgrims.

Pope Francis celebrates the canonisation mass on Saint Peter's Square 

(AFP Photo/Alberto PIZZOLI)

'Miracles'

The pope noted that three of the new saints were religious women, showing "that the consecrated life is a journey of love at the existential peripheries of the world".

But the fourth, Marguerite Bays, was a seamstress, a laywoman from Switzerland known for bearing the stigmata -- wounds corresponding to the injuries Christ suffered on the cross.

"She speaks to us of the power of simple prayer, enduring patience and silent self-giving," Francis said.

Born in 1815, the second of seven children, Bays showed an intense faith from very early on, often breaking off from playing with other village youngsters in order to pray quietly, according to the Vatican.

Despite suggestions she should become a nun, she instead began an apprenticeship as a seamstress aged 15.

Bays underwent surgery for bowel cancer in 1853, and prayed to the Virgin Mary to heal her, offering to swap her disease for the pains experienced by Jesus. The Church says she was cured but given the stigmata in exchange.

Every Friday, she would be immobilised in "ecstasy" as she relived the suffering in body and mind, it says.

Most new saints must have two "miracles" to their names -- usually scientifically inexplicable healings, attributed to prayers.

Giant portraits of the new saints were hung from Saint Peter's Basilica for the 

ceremony which attracted tens of thousands of pilgrims (AFP Photo/Alberto PIZZOLI)

Newman is credited with curing an American man from Boston with a debilitating spinal disorder, who claimed in 2001 he could suddenly walk again after praying to the British cardinal.

His second "miracle" -- the inexplicable healing of a woman with a "life-threatening pregnancy" -- was approved this year.

'Mother of the poor'

Bays was canonised alongside Brazilian Sister Dulce Lopes Pontes, who was a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception and considered a "mother of the poor".

Born in 1914 into an upper middle-class family in Salvador, she started a health clinic for poor workers and opened a school, a hospital, and an orphanage, as well as care centres for the elderly and disabled.

Sister Dulce, dubbed the "good angel of Bahia", was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988.

She was visited in hospital the year before her death by Pope John Paul II, who called her work "an example for humanity".

Tens of thousands of people attended her funeral in 1992.

Emmanuel Macron: a 39-year-old political prodigy

Yahoo – AFP, Adam PLOWRIGHT, May 7, 2017

Emmanuel Macron has charted one of the most unlikely paths to the
French presidency in modern history (AFP Photo/Eric FEFERBERG)

Paris (AFP) - In his unorthodox private life and short political career, France's new president Emmanuel Macron has battled conventions and broken with traditions.

The 39-year-old son of two doctors from the northeastern city of Amiens -- set to be the youngest president in French history -- breaks the mould of a traditional French leader, apart from his elite education in some of the country's best universities.

Firstly, he is married to his former teacher, glamorous 64-year-old Brigitte Trogneux, a divorced mother of three children whom he fell in love with as a schoolboy.

Their relationship has been a subject of fascination, often encouraged by the media-savvy Macron, in French glossy magazines.

He has also charted one of the most unlikely paths to the presidency in modern history, from virtual unknown three years ago to leader with no established political party behind him.

The philosophy, literature and classical music lover launched his independent movement En Marche ("On The Move") only 12 months ago, which he said was "neither of the left nor the right".

This unusual positioning for France, which has seen him borrow economic policies from the right coupled with social measures from the left, was initially met with cynicism.

"There is a left and a right... and that's a good thing, that's how our democracy functions," ex-prime minister Manuel Valls said after En Marche launched. "It would be absurd to want to remove those differences."

Others saw the ambitious former investment banker, who was then economy minister in Socialist President Francois Hollande's government, as too young and too inexperienced to have serious presidential ambitions.

Few apart from his loyal core of advisors believed that he had the ability to triumph in 2017 at the age of 39, a year younger than Napoleon Bonaparte when he took power in 1804.

While at ease among ordinary voters, Emmanuel Macron has been

accused of being condescending in the past (AFP Photo/Martin BUREAU)

Momentum

But Macron pressed on, using his image as a dynamic young moderniser to draw in thousands of volunteers to En Marche, which was modelled partly on the grassroots movement of ex-US president Barack Obama in 2008.

After resigning from his job as economy minister in August, he set about writing his pre-election book "Revolution" and then finally declared he was running for president on November 16.

"We can't respond with the same men and the same ideas," he said at a jobs training centre in a gritty Parisian suburb.

A giant meeting at a convention centre in southern Paris in December was an early warning to rivals -- and led to widespread mockery of Macron who ended the rally screaming, arms aloft, as he basked in the adoration.

Since then, he has benefited from the woes of the Socialist party and a scandal that engulfed one-time favourite Francois Fillon from the rightwing Republicans party, the other mainstream force in French politics.

Fillon was accused of paying his wife hundreds of thousands of euros from the public purse for a fake job as a parliamentary assistant -- allegations he denied but which sunk his campaign.

"He's been lucky," veteran political journalist Anne Fulda, who wrote a recent biography called "Emmanuel Macron, Such A Perfect Young Man", told AFP. "That's something that helped him considerably. The stars aligned."

With frustration at France's political class running high, Macron was able to tap into a desire for wholesale change that also propelled his far-right rival Marine Le Pen into Sunday's run-off vote.

Emmanuel Macron's self-assurance, expensive suits and defence of 

entrepreneurs have lent ammunition to critics who blast him as part 

of a "global capitalist elite" (AFP Photo/Eric FEFERBERG)

Already hated?

As a student, Macron worked as an assistant to a famous French philosopher and followed a well-worn path through France's elite public universities including the ENA, which has groomed many leaders.

After first working as a civil servant in the finance ministry, he then went into investment banking, where he earned millions at Rothschild putting together mergers and acquisitions.

Opponents have targeted this period of his career as proof he is part of the "global capitalist elite". His self-assurance, expensive suits and defence of entrepreneurs has offered further ammunition.

"I've spoken with hundreds of people and you can feel it in the air: you are already hated," one far-left critic, Francois Ruffin, wrote last week in an article in Le Monde newspaper.

He is also frequently criticised for being too vague or intellectual in his speeches, which are often long and peppered with literary references or poetry.

While at ease among ordinary voters, Macron has been accused of being condescending in the past, whether referring to "illiterate" abattoir workers, "alcoholic" laid-off workers or the "poor people" who travel on buses.

In an infamous exchange, when confronted by a protester in a T-shirt in May last year, he lost his cool, saying: "The best way to buy yourself a suit is to work."

Who is Emmanuel Macron? #Presidentielle2017 pic.twitter.com/Q1VJzuFFRI

— AFP news agency (@AFP) May 7, 2017

Related Article:

"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) - (Text version)

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

Hollande urges French voters to block Le Pen

Yahoo – AFP, Clare BYRNE, 24 April 2017

Emmanuel Macron, frontrunner to become France's next president, set up
his En Marche! movement just a year ago

French President Francois Hollande on Monday urged voters to reject far-right leader Marine Le Pen in next month's presidential runoff against pro-EU candidate Emmanuel Macron.

Macron is the clear favourite to become France's youngest-ever president after topping Sunday's first round of voting with 24.01 percent of votes, ahead of National Front (FN) leader Le Pen on 21.30 percent, according to final results.

The vote revealed a country deeply divided, with 39-year-old Macron, an advocate of open borders and free trade, leading the vote in cities and Le Pen topping the polls in rural areas that feel left behind by globalisation.

In a solemn address to voters, Hollande warned of the "risk for our country" of a far-right victory and said he himself would vote for Macron, who served as his economy minister for two years.

The Socialist president joined a long line of politicians urging voters to back Macron in order to thwart the anti-immigration, anti-EU Le Pen.

Le Pen seized on the flurry of endorsements for Macron from the ruling Socialists and main opposition Republicans -- both of which crashed out in the first round -- as proof he was the choice of the discredited old guard.

Visiting a market in the northern town of Rouvroy on Monday, 48-year-old Le Pen lashed out at the "rotten old republican front" -- the ad-hoc anti-FN coalition formed by mainstream parties whenever the party is at the gates of power.

"I've come here to start the second round campaign in the only way I know -- on the ground with the French people," she said.

Marine Le Pen is now trying to cast her rival Emmanuel Macron as the

choice of the discredited old guard

Macron received several congratulatory calls on Monday from European leaders relieved to find him in pole position.

Thanking Hollande in a tweet for his support, the former investment banker called on the French to "remain true to France's values" in the May 7 runoff.

He and Le Pen will take part in a TV debate on May 3.

Healing wounds

France's traditional political class suffered a stunning blow on Sunday, with voters fleeing the ruling Socialists and conservative Republicans who have governed for the past half century in favour of the extremes or outsiders.

Both Macron and Le Pen campaigned as rebels who transcended the left-right divide.

Conservative candidate Francois Fillon was seen as the favourite until January when his campaign was torpedoed by allegations that he gave his British-born wife and two of his children fictitious jobs as parliamentary assistants.

In the end, the Republicans party candidate trailed in third with 20.01 percent, ahead of radical left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon on 19.58 percent.

On Monday, Fillon told the party's top brass he lacked "the legitimacy" to lead them into parliamentary elections in June.

"I need to rethink my life and heal my family's wounds," he told them, according to a statement.

Fillon and fifth-placed Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon have both rallied behind Macron but Melenchon pointedly avoided endorsing the centrist.

Eurosceptics took around 46 percent of the first-round vote

'Patriots v nationalists'

Addressing thousands of flag-waving supporters in Paris on Sunday evening, Macron said he aimed to unite "patriots" against "the threat of nationalists".

Le Pen, who has been hoping to emulate Donald Trump's victory in the US, said the French faced a choice between "runaway globalisation" and a protectionist France.

Her plans to restore France's borders with its European neighbours, pull out of the eurozone and hold a referendum on leaving the EU had sown fear of another devastating blow to the bloc after Britain's vote to leave.

The euro and European stocks rose Monday, buoyed by polls suggesting Macron would beat Le Pen by more than 20 percentage points in the second round.

After addressing euphoric supporters in Paris on Sunday, Macron spent the evening with friends at a well-known Paris bistro, drawing criticism for what some saw as his triumphalist attitude.

"We need to be humble. The election hasn't been won and we need to bring people together to win," Richard Ferrand, secretary general of Macron's En Marche (On the Move) movement, acknowledged on BFM television Monday.

Le Pen gained over 1.2 million new voters compared with her last presidential bid in 2012, securing 7.7 million ballots, a result she hailed as "historic".

But her share of the vote was far below a March poll high of 27 percent.

"France torn apart"? International media react to presidential vote https://t.co/7tFiTVFk4M #France2017 pic.twitter.com/W0BXRlGTF7

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 24, 2017

Who is Emmanuel Macron? #France2017 pic.twitter.com/HyeK8guiZM

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 24, 2017

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