Justice Scalia spent his final hours in the company of a secret society of hunters that has existed since the 1600s!!

The International Order of Saint Hubertus, founded in 1695 by Count Anton von Sporck, is named for Saint Hubertus (pictured) the patron of hunters.

Justice Scalia spent his final hours in the company of a secret society of hunters that has existed since the 1600s

Justice Scalia was found dead on a Texas ranch on the morning of Feb 13
It has now been revealed the several of his 35 companions during the trip were members of The International Order of Saint Hubertus

The secretive hunting society was founded in 1695 in central Europe

John Poindexter, the owner of the ranch and the man to find Scalia dead, and C. Allen Foster, a lawyer and Scalia's travel companion, are members
Private planes belonging to two former members were also chartered to the ranch, though it is not clear if the owners attended

Justice Antonin Scalia spent his final hours at a Texas ranch in the company of a secretive society of hunters that has existed for more than 300 years.

Several members of the 35-strong hunting party at the Cibolo Creek Ranch where Scalia was found dead are known to be current or former members of The International Order of Saint Hubertus.

John Poindexter, the owner of the ranch, is known to hold a leadership position in the Order, as does C. Allen Foster, a prominent Washington lawyer and Scalia's traveling companion for the trip.

Nebraska Congressman Jeff Fortenberry paid tribute to Justice Scalia when he died, posting this picture on Facebook of the pair of them hunting (not the hunt the judge was on at the weekend he died)

Justice Antonin Scalia spent his final hours on a Texas ranch in the company of a secret society of hunters that originated in Austria in the 1600s, it has been revealed

Foster traveled on a private plane to the ranch with Scalia after he opted to leave his U.S. marshal detail behind, while Poindexter was the man who found the Supreme Court Justice dead in bed on the morning of February 13.

Ranks in the Order include Grand Prior, the most senior position, Grand Master, and Knight Grand Officer - though it is not clear which of these roles the men occupy.

According to records unearthed by the Washington Post, private planes owned by Wallace 'Happy' Rogers III and A. J. Lewis III were also chartered to the ranch, but it is unclear if the men were there.

Rogers, a prominent hunter and museum owner, and Lewis, the owner of a restaurant wholesale business, are both former members of the Order's elite.

The Cibolo Creek Ranch was used as a meeting place for the American branch of the Order in 2010, when 53 members converged for 'three days of organized shoots, "gala" lunches and dinners.'

According to a website for the Order, it was created in 1695 by Count Anton von Sporck, ruler of Bohemia, which now forms part of the Czech Republic.

The aim was to gather the finest Noble hunters from across Bohemia, Austria, and the Austo-Hungarian Empire, ruled by the Habsburg family, one of the most powerful European dynasties.

It was named after Saint Hubertus, the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians, and metalworkers.

The Order's aim was to promote the gentlemanly sport of hunting, considered one of the finest pursuits a young Nobleman could take up during the 17th Century, and to promote the conservation of game animals on which the sport relied.

The Order was disbanded after Austria fell into the hands of Adolf Hitler during the Second World War, and refused to become part of the Nazi propaganda machine.

According to the group, Hermann Goering, who founded the infamous Gestapo police force, asked to become a member in 1938, and executed the Grand Prior when he was turned down.

The Order was restituted in 1950, and in 1966 the first American branch was established at the Bohemian Club in San Francisco.

It is under the Royal Protection of King Juan Carlos of Spain, Archduke Andreas Salvator of Austria and the Grand Master is Istvan von Habsburg Lothringen, Archduke of Austria, Prince of Hungary.

Members of the order often wear green silk coats emblazoned with their logo of a Germanic cross and the Latin words 'Deum Diligite Animalia Diligentes' - meaning 'Honoring God by honoring His creatures.'

Asked about the Order, Poindexter responded: 'There is nothing I can add to your observation that among my many guests at Cibolo Creek Ranch over the years some members of the International Order of St. Hubertus have been numbered.

Members of the Order, distinguished by their crest (pictured) included Noblemen from the royal families of Europe. The American branch of the Order was founded in 1966 in San Francisco

'I am aware of no connection between that organization and Justice Scalia.'

The revelations that a secret society was attending the ranch alongside Scalia comes amid controversy and conspiracy after it was decided that there would be no autopsy for the Supreme Court Justice.

Descriptions of the judge being found with a pillow 'over his face', the fact that the death was certified over the phone, and the suddenness of his passing all contributed to theories that his death may not have been natural.

However, his son Eugene has since said there is 'no doubt' in his mind that his father died of natural causes. Thousands paid tribute to Scalia, a lifelong Catholic, at his funeral last week.

A sheriff's incident report, released on Tuesday, shows there was 'nothing out of the ordinary' in Scalia's room when he was found dead.

John Poindexter, the owner of the Cibolo Creek Ranch (pictured) and the man who found Scalia dead is a member, as is lawyer C. Allen Foster, Scalia's travel companion

It describes a pillow being over his face, but not in a way that would obstruct breathing. There was also breathing apparatus on Scalia's bedside, to treat his sleep apnea, but he was not hooked up to it at the time.

A doctor's letter was also released that revealed Scalia had been suffering from coronary artery disease, obesity, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and high blood pressure - alongside being a smoker.

Physicians have since testified that the justice's conditions, individually or taken together, could all produce fatal results.

Source

Justice Scalia spent his last hours with members of this secretive society of elite hunters - The Washington Post

What's so funny about an extremely distinguished dead judge, Mr President? Obastard jokes about Scalia's death!!

Fury at Obama's gloating joke about replacing Justice Scalia on the Supreme Court that had a room full of governors laughing!!

President Obama made a crack yesterday about 'appointing judges' in front of the National Governors Association - a joke about Scalia's death

Conservatives took to the internet to condemn the president's remark, which they viewed as 'classless' and 'sick'

One legal expert, however, claimed the joke was about the process of appointing the next justice and not aimed directly at Scalia

Conservatives expressed fury today that President Obama joked about the death of Anontin Scalia, the Supreme Court justice

Addressing the National Governors Association at the White House yesterday, Obama talked about some of the downsides of being a lame duck.

'Some of you might be in the final year of your last term,' working as hard as you can to get as much done as possible for the folks that you represent: fixing roads, educating our children, helping people retrain, appointing judges,' Obama uttered, adding a dramatic pause. 'The usual stuff.'

Scroll down for video

President Obama got the room laughing yesterday as he addressed the National Governors Association and bemoaned 'appointing judges' - a crack that conservatives thought was aimed, disrespectfully, at Scalia

President Obama skipped Justice Antonin Scalia's Saturday funeral and went to the Supreme Court Friday to pay his respects, alongside first lady Michelle Obama, instead

The pause was filled with laughter coming from the governors sitting in the room.

Video: Obama's Scalia Death Joke Angers America

Once conservatives caught wind of the joke they pointed to it calling President Obama 'classless' and 'sick.'

Red State, the conservative website, described the president's joke as 'zero respect'.

The video adds salt to the wound that Obama opened by not attending the late justice's funeral on Saturday.

Vice President Joe Biden attended the funeral instead of the commander-in-chief, who went to the Supreme Court on Friday to pay his respects.

The White House explained to the New York Times that the decision was partially based on the 'potential for the extensive presidential security detail to be disruptive'.

Instead he was pictured on Friday with a binder of background reports on potential nominees - before Scalia was even buried.

The president also didn't do himself any favors when reporters found out that he was golfing on Sunday, a favorite leisure activity of the president's that generally gets him in trouble with conservatives.

The decision not to go to the funeral had been criticized by members of the Italian-American community.

Justice Scalia was the first Italian-American on the Supreme Court when he was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.

Philip Fogalia, the vice president of the Italian-American museum, said Italian-Americans take paying respects at funerals 'very seriously'.

'Justice Scalia was a milestone for the community,' he told the New York Post. 'The president's absence was disappointing and ill-advised.'

Justice Antonin Scalia's funeral attracted a packed house, but the one notable missing person was President Obama, who sent Vice President Joe Biden to attend

Legal expert Eugene Volokh, writing for the Washington Post, suggested that the joke wasn't aimed at Scalia, but instead the rather painful process of trying to get a Supreme Court pick through the U.S. Senate – as evidenced by today's news that Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would be holding no hearing, nor a vote, on Obama's SCOTUS pick.

'This strikes me as not at all in bad taste,' Volokh, a UCLA School of Law professor, wrote.

'The president wasn’t saying anything snide or even critical about the late justice, or mocking the justice’s views or accomplishments (which would indeed have been bad manners, in one government official publicly speaking about another who had recently died).'

'He was engaging in some mild graveyard humor about an upcoming unpleasant political process,' Volokh continued.

'And that the process was occasioned by someone’s death (more than a week earlier) doesn’t make such humor inappropriate,' Volokh added.

Source

Newchurch Theology: Newpope Bergoglio calls for global abolition of the death penalty saying 'Thou shalt not kill' applies to the guilty as well as the innocent!'

Pope wants politicians to suspend execution during Church's Holy Year

Made speech prior to conference against death penalty in Rome this week

Church had allowed capital punishment until the reign of Pope John Paul

Pontiff also commented on prison conditions during speech to thousands

Pope Francis, (again) has called on Catholic leaders to seek a ban on the death penalty exclaiming that 'Thou shall not kill applies to the guilty as well as the innocent'.

Speaking to thousands at St. Peter's Square, in the Vatican, the Pontiff asked politicians around the world to make 'a courageous and exemplary gesture' during the Church's current Holy Year.

He said: 'I appeal to the consciences of those who govern to reach an international consensus to abolish the death penalty.

Roman Catholic Theology: Men shall be sentenced to death for crimes of irreparable harm and or crimes which are particularly Perverted!!

'The commandment 'You shall not kill,' has absolute value and applies to both the innocent and the guilty.'

The 1.2 billion-member Catholic Church allowed the death penalty in extreme cases for centuries, but the position began to change under the late Pope John Paul, who died in 2005.

The pope added that there was now 'a growing opposition to the death penalty even for the legitimate defense of society' because modern means existed to 'efficiently repress crime without definitively denying the person who committed it the possibility of rehabilitating themselves.'

Francis made the comments to throw his weight behind an international conference against the death penalty starting on Monday in Rome and organized by the Sant'Egidio Community, a worldwide Catholic peace and justice group.

Francis, who has visited a number of jails since his election as pope nearly three years ago - the latest in Mexico last week - also called for better prison conditions.

He said: 'All Christians and men of good will are called on to work not only for the abolition of the death penalty, but also to improve prison conditions so that they respect the human dignity of people who have been deprived of their freedom.'

In the past, the pope also denounced life imprisonment, calling it 'a hidden death penalty' and saying that more should be done to try to rehabilitate even the most hardened of criminals.

Source

Eleison Comments by Bishop Williamson – Number CDXLIX – (449)

Bishops

The SSPX is no way “out of the woods.”

Resistant bishops must “deliver the goods!”

Ever since the General Chapter of July, 2012, when under Bishop Fellay’s direction the Society of St Pius X took a decisive lurch towards a compromise agreement with Conciliar Rome, Catholics of Tradition have wondered where the two other SSPX bishops stand, Bishop Tissier de Mallerais (Bp. T) and Bishop de Galarreta (Bp. G), because both have been rather discreet in public since that time. However, firm words spoken by each of them last month have raised hopes for the future of the SSPX. Are the hopes justified? Catholics may need to remain on their guard . . .

The Confirmations sermon of Bp. T given on January 31 in Saarbrücken in Germany could not have been more upright or clear. For instance: In the SSPX’s confrontation with Rome, it may never go in for compromise or double-dealing. We can never negotiate with Rome so long as the representatives of the Newchurch (sic) cling to the errors of Vatican II. Any talk of ours with Rome must be unambiguous, and have as its purpose the conversion of the Newchurch representatives back to our one and only truth of Catholic Tradition. No compromise or double-dealing until they have got over their Conciliar errors, and have converted back to the Truth.

Admirable words! Uprightness is not Bp. T’s problem. He is no politician, God bless him. His problem is that when it comes to putting words into action, his “Fiftiesism” makes him obey his Superior and fall back in line with the politicians of SSPX HQ in Menzingen. Nothing indicates that this will not happen again this time, but we may always pray that, as the proverb says, “Even a worm will turn.” Bp. T is far from a worm, but he is hiding from himself, or genuinely cannot see, the full malice of Menzingen’s action. It is not just the unity and welfare of the SSPX which is at stake, but the Catholic Faith.

On the contrary Bp. G is a politician. Unfortunately we do not have the full text of the conference he gave in Bailly, France, on January 17, because his exact words count, so we can only quote from a summary of his main thoughts: Rome’s latest theological and canonical proposals for a Rome-SSPX agreement remain unacceptable, but the Pope certainly wants an agreement and he is perfectly capable of overriding his own officials and of imposing a “unilateral” recognition on the SSPX. Such a recognition could definitely harm the SSPX internally, but if the SSPX had done nothing to obtain it, then there is nothing that the SSPX could do about it. However, Providence would once more watch over the Archbishop’s work.

But, your Excellency, Menzingen has now for many years been doing all it can by political negotiation to arrive at official recognition by Rome, and its eventual “unilateral” arrival would be a mere pretense to deceive Traditionalists so as to sell out the SSPX under cover of claiming, no doubt with Rome’s permission behind th e scenes , that it was all Rome’s fault. But the fact would remain that the Archbishop’s Society would finally be betrayed, and you with your own “No, no, a thousand times no . . . but possibly, yes” would have to answer for not having done all you could and should have done to block its betrayal.

In brief, that emergency lighting system of the Universal Church in Conciliar darkness, which is the SSPX, is itself flickering and in danger of no longer giving light. Therefore that repair team to sustain the emergency lighting, which is the “Resistance,” is still needed, and that team needs a sufficiency of good foremen. A third bishop for the “Resistance” is planned, as last year for March 19 at the monastery near Nova Friburgo in Brazil. He is its Prior, Fr Thomas Aquinas, faithful warrior and veteran of the post-Conciliar war for the Faith. May God be with him, and with all the humble and faithful servants of God.

Kyrie eleison.

Justice Scalia's grieving widow and children lead hundreds of mourners in a final farewell

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon him. May Justice Antonin Scalia rest in peace.

Justice Scalia's grieving widow and children lead hundreds of mourners in a final farewell to the towering, divisive judge while his body lies in repose in the Supreme Court

· Justice Antonin Scalia's family paid a silent tribute alongside fellow Supreme Court judges inside its Great Hall

· His son, father Paul Scalia, recited traditional prayers over the casket after its procession in Washington, DC

· Maureen Scalia, the justice's grieving widow, appeared frail as she was escorted from the court by family members

· Draped in an American flag, Scalia's casket was carried into the court where it will lay in repose in the Great Hall

· Hundreds lined the streets as the towering judge's body arrived at the Supreme Court on Friday morning

The grieving family of Justice Antonin Scalia have led hundreds of mourners in a final farewell to the powerhouse judge as his body lies in repose in the Supreme Court.

Draped in an American flag, his casket was carried into the Great Hall by eight pallbearers from the court's police.

A total of 180 law clerks lined the steps of the Supreme Court as Scalia's casket was carried in to the hall, followed by his frail widow, Maureen Scalia, and eight of their nine children.

Waiting inside was Scalia's son, father Paul Scalia, who recited traditional prayers as his father's body arrived. 'You have called your servant Antonin out of this world,' he said. 'May he rest in peace.'

Fellow Supreme Court justices and Scalia's family stood in silence as they paid a touching tribute to the towering, divisive judge.

The body of Justice Antonin Scalia has arrived at the Supreme Court, where hundreds of mourners lined the streets to pay their respects

Grieving: A frail Maureen Scalia, the widow of the Supreme Court Justice, was escorted out of the court by family members

Tributes: Father Paul Scalia, the son of the Supreme Court justice, recited traditional prayers as his father's body arrived at the court

Father Paul Scalia (right) watched as his father's casket, which was draped in the American flag, was carried up the court's steps

Family members of the late judge watched as eight pallbearers carried the casket of of Justice Scalia into the court this morning

The family of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia walk to greet the hearse as it arrives at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC

Hundreds of people lined the streets in Washington, DC, as the hearse carrying Scalia arrived this morning.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle will be among those to pay their respects at the court, where Scalia spent nearly three decades as one of its most influential members, later today.

FINAL SNUB FROM PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA

He will not attend Scalia's funeral mass on Saturday, where Vice President Joe Biden is expected to be in attendance.

In a break from tradition, fellow and former Supreme Court justices waited inside the hall for Scalia's arrival. Previously, following the death of a justice, they have waited on the steps alongside other officials and dignitaries.

Supreme Court police served as pallbearers to carry the casket up the marble steps into the court's Great Hall.

The procession passed between two long lines of 180 former law clerks that stretched from the plaza to the court's main entrance. Another group of 12 former clerks serving as honorary pallbearers followed. The clerks will take turns standing guard by Scalia's body while he lays in repose.

The procession then passed before the court's eight current justices and the casket was placed on the Lincoln Catafalque - where President Abraham Lincoln's coffin once rested at the Rotunda of the Capitol in 1865.

Only six other Supreme Court justices have been given such an honor, Chief Justices Earl Warren, Warren Burger and William Rehnquist and Associate Justices Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan and Harry Blackmun, USA Today reported.

Several of the justices, particularly Elena Kagan, a liberal who was known to go on hunting trips with the staunchly conservative Scalia, looked emotional as they stood in a row while the casket was placed on a raised bier in front of them.

Chief Justice John Roberts, his hands clasped in front of him, bowed his head.

His body will lay in repose in the court's Great Hall, where he spent nearly three decades as one of its most influential members

Thousands are expected to pay their respects to Scalia at the Supreme Court after his body's arrival, where it was flanked by 180 law clerks

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle will be among those to pay their respects to Scalia on Friday inside the Supreme Court

Draped in an American flag, his casket was carried into the court from a hearse by eight pallbearers from the Supreme Court's police

Hundreds of people lined the streets in Washington, DC, as the hearse carrying Scalia arrived at the Supreme Court this morning

A portrait of Scalia painted by artist Nelson Shanks in 2007 will be placed next to the casket. In it, the justice is shown surrounded by images representing important moments and influences in his life, including a framed wedding photograph of his wife, Maureen.

The doors to the court chamber were open at the east end of the hall. Black wool crepe hung over the entrance, and Scalia's courtroom chair was draped in black.

A private ceremony will be held inside the court until about 10.30am, after which the public will be able to view the casket until 8pm.

The sudden death of the outspoken, conservative justice complicated an already tumultuous election year.

Republicans, including a number of the party's presidential candidates, say a replacement should not be named until the next president takes office.

Obama has pledged to pick a replacement 'in due time' and challenged Republicans to hold a vote on his nominee.

'The Constitution is pretty clear about what's supposed to happen now,' Obama said on Tuesday as he outlined his role as the executive to put forth a name to replace Scalia.

The president said: 'Historically this has not been viewed as a question. There's no unwritten law that says that it can only be done on off years. That's not in the Constitutional text.'

Obama wouldn't promise to nominate a 'moderate,' consensus candidate, saying people should not 'assume anything about the qualifications' of the person he'll pick 'other than they're gonna be well-qualified'.

A total of 180 law clerks lined the steps of the Supreme Court as the casket was carried towards the grand entrance

Procession: The eight pallbearers from the Supreme Court's police were followed by the grieving family of the late justice

Scalia's body was discovered in his bedroom at Texas ranch between 11.30am and 11.40am on Saturday morning