Dear TIA,

I wish to thank Mr. Arnold for his timely and thought-provoking commentary: "Hell Inside England".

My first thought was "Why would anyone want to create a human/animal hybrid?" Certainly the person desiring to do this could have no real belief in God, since they would be refusing to believe in His omnipotence and omniscience. Simply put, they would believe that they could do a better job than God. For that matter, even an atheist who believed in evolution would have to disagree with creating man/animal hybrids, since evolutionists tend to substitute "Nature" and "Time" for God, and assume that we cannot do better than billions of years of evolutionary adaptation and selection. So what sort of person, Christian or non-Christian, believer or non-believer, could desire to dabble in such madness?

Another hypothetical question is: "Why rush right into a human/animal hybrid? Why not first experiment with animal/animal hybrids like turtle/lizards or mouse/chipmunks?"

Another thought that comes to my mind is "Will it be possible to create such a creature and will it survive for any length of time?" My own belief is that such an experiment will never be successfully carried out. One reason is from my knowledge of how difficult a transplant of one human organ to another human can be. The recipient of such an organ must take large dose of immuno-suppressants for the rest of their lives, with a risk of rejection of such "foreign tissue" in their body. These drugs have their own undesirable side effects. If it is so difficult to combine two humans "parts" so they will work together, how are we to believe different species can be successfully "blended"? I believe the results of such insane experimentation will be further proof of God's superlative design, since it is doomed to failure. I therefore do not believe we will need to ask about the existence of souls in such creatures.

     J.B.S.

TIA,

In response to the recent letter to you concerning a prophecy of Pope Saint Pius X, there is such a prophecy cited in the book, The Prophets and Our Times by Rev. R. Gerald Culleton (originally published in 1941 and reprinted in 1974 by TAN Publishers).

On page 216, it is quoted:

"Pius X (d. 1914)
"I saw one of my successors by name fleeing over the corpses of his brethren. He will flee to a place for a short respite where he is unknown, but he himself will die a cruel death."

This same prophecy is also quoted in the 1956 book, Prophecy for Today by Edward Connor on page 39, but I suspect that the author may have taken the quote from the earlier book by Rev. Culleton.

I believe I have read this prophecy in other publications, but I can't recall exactly which. Hope this helps to answer the reader's question.

     T.M.

Greetings TIA,

First let it be said that I love your website. In our ever revolutionary and atheistic world, it is good to hear a CATHOLIC voice of reason! Now, being the voice of reason you are, I must ask a huge favor of you.

The recent movie, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, is extremely anti-Catholic and pro-protestant. Prods are portrayed as noble and brave, while literally every Catholic in the film is shown in a negative light. I'm sure you are well aware that in real life Queen Elizabeth was a heretic who persecuted and murdered thousands of innocent Catholics. Thus it is imperative that Catholics boycott this blasphemous film that pays homage to an anti-Catholic heretic tyrant. I ask you to write a movie review for this film, and dissect it bit by bit, proving it to be the abysmal and heretical film that it is.

Many Catholics will see this film, without knowing the truth about the evil Queen Elizabeth I.

     Thank you and God Bless.

     C.N.

Dear TIA,

I was surfing the web looking for something else, and I found a dance by Franciscan monks and nuns on a stage in Italy. The place I found the video does not specify the city and also does not guarantee that the performers are real members of the Franciscan Order. Halfway through, the team performs a known rumba, Yo no soy marinero, which seems quite inappropriate to religious persons.

Anyway, I am writing you to see if you can provide confirmation whether or not they are real Franciscans or any further information.

Thanks a lot. Here is the video.

     Sincerely,

     E.J.



TIA responds:

Dear E.J.,

Unfortunately we know no more than you on this topic. We pass the question on to our readers who may be better informed.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

TIA,

It's convenient to know that there are some who remind us of the Roman Catholic Church as it once was, so we can know little distance we have come and how far we have to go to become the church of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps I should recall the early church when women were its caretakers and first priests in order to see how far down the church sank for so many centuries into the Triumphalism that was being established by the kings and knights and princes of the Church in Europe.

Thankfully, those chains of self-delusion are being loosened if not totally shattered.

     D.D.

TIA,

Regarding your article on Hinduism at Fatima, I have to say that Hinduism is a superior religion, but accepts all other religions as having a rightful place on the continuum of God consciousness.

B.G.

Hi Dr. Horvat,

Found a couple things that might be of interest to you. I borrowed a book on ethnic folkware from the library recently, and they had an interesting comment on the development of clothing internationally.

The author said that in many countries, particularly the Mid East, the traditional garment was much the same for both sexes, namely bloomer-like pants that tapered below the knee, covered with a robe or skirt. After the turn of the 20th century, the skirt gradually disappeared in some parts of the world, although the robe is still common in the Mid East. I seem to recall that women wore bloomers under their long dresses and skirts in the USA in the 19th century.

Other than the obvious immodesty of tight pants, I am a little confused by the condemnation of women in pants since Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and St. Joseph are depicted wearing much the same clothing, except that Our Lady's head is veiled. Perhaps you can enlighten me.

At any rate, I thought you might be interested in how women came to wear pants in the USA from "The Kid Stays in the Picture," by Robert Evans, the Jewish film star turned producer of "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Godfather."

He said of women in pants "'Without exception, it was taboo with a capital 'T.' Selling bibles to the Hell's Angels would have been an easier sell'" (pages 39-40).

He then described how he went around the country, got on TV due to his celebrity status, and had local models parade around in pants while he said "If Dietrich and Hepburn can look glamourous in pants, why not you? Don't let men be the only ones wearing the pants in the family." This activity earned him "lots of green," as he put it.

     Kind regards,

     C.M.R.



TIA responds:

Dear C.M.R.,

The quote of St. Hildegard sent by a Reader and others in the letter below may serve to answer your question.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

Dear TIA,

Concerning modesty in clothing (and the wearing of trousers by women), the "St John's Bulletin" (SSPX Ireland) of April-July 1997 has a whole article on it. Among others, there are two interesting quotations on page 19, but while I cannot vouch for their veracity (like the so-called "Prophecy of St Nilus" being circulated by some Traditionalists), perhaps some of your readers can:

St Bridget (1303-1373): "Forty years before the year two thousand, the devil will be let loose for a period to tempt men. When all will seem lost, God himself will suddenly bring all evil to an end. The sign of when these events will occur will be when Priests will have discarded their holy habits and dress themselves in lay clothes and when women dress like men and men like women."

St Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419): "Be warned that there will come a time of religious laxity and of catastrophes such as will never have been seen or be seen again. In that time, women will dress like men and will behave as they like and in a licentious manner; and men will demean themselves by dressing like women. But God shall purify and regenerate all things and sadness shall be converted to joy."

      Best wishes & God bless,

      N.C. from India

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