George H. Russell
Universal Ethician Church
1401 19th Street
Huntsville, TX 77340
936-295-5767 Telephone
936-294-0233 Fax
info@sanjuandiego.org

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



"Juan Diego Canonized on December 12, 2001"

"Juan Diego has been an Ethician Saint for over seven months," announced Universal Ethician Church Prelate, Ethicius I, at services conducted yesterday at The Holy Trinity Wilderness Cathedral on the shores of Lake Livingston in East Texas. "We wish to congratulate our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters who will be blessed with his forthcoming canonization in Mexico City as a Catholic Saint this coming Wednesday," he continued.


The Ethician Church feels that it played a positive role in being the catalyst that finally ended the centuries of procrastination of the Catholic Church in conferring sainthood on the Aztec Prince known by his people as "Calling Eagle." On September 23, 2001, Ethicius had been visited by the Virgin of Guadalupe while returning to shore after sunset services. On December 12, 2001, Juan Diego was canonized as an Ethician Saint when it appeared that the naysayers in the Catholic Church might prevail in delaying his sainthood in that church.


A press release from the Ethician Church was e-mailed and faxed to over 2,000 media entities on that date. Just five days later the Catholic Church announced that there would be no further delays in his formal recognition as a Saint. "I feel confident, that had we not announced to the world that Juan Diego was indeed worthy of sainthood, our Catholic friends would not have so quickly followed suit," stated Ethicius.


On July 25th, Ethicius went out into the lake to watch the sun set over the Wilderness Cathedral. The fireball itself was behind a huge cumulonimbus cloud. According to Ethicius, the effect was incredibly beautiful and awe inspiring, as the entire cloud was outlined in brilliant crimson. Above the cumulonimbus was a secondary cloudbank above the darkening outlines of the trees along the Cathedral shores. A masculine face peered down at Ethicius as he attempted to find words with which to describe the iridescence of the waves. The waters glowed with mirror like brilliance, pulsating and broadcasting a range of fantastic colors that ranged from almost blinding silvery luminance to shades of red, green, blue, purple, and gold.


After several minutes of gazing at the almost hypnotic aquatic display, he looked back up toward the cloud, fully expecting the face to be gone, but there it was in the same position but displaying a slightly different benign expression of peace. Ethicius had marked his calendar, "Juan Diego press release," that morning and had been thinking about how to remind the world that Juan was already a Saint in the Ethician Church, without appearing to downgrade the historic importance of his forthcoming Catholic Sainthood.


Ethicius stared at the face in the clouds, wondering if it represented the real image of Juan Diego. It did not look like the bearded, Spanish looking Juan Diego, found in most contemporary representations. Its features were closer akin to that of a typical Native American. The face began to fade into the background of the cloudbank. Ethicius asked it to return and tell him who he was. The image did miraculously return but did not reveal its identity. At the exact minute of sunset, the image disappeared for the last time. It had been visible for over fifteen minutes.


A little log chapel had just been donated to the Ethician Church. It is in the process of being re-erected on Ethician Church property at the intersection of Waterwood Parkway and FM 980 in San Jacinto County, Texas and will be dedicated to The Virgin of Guadalupe and Saint Juan Diego. Pilgrims of all faiths are invited to visit the shrine that will be available for prayer and meditation 24 hours a day throughout the year.




George H. Russell, an outspoken opponent of the death penalty, is a resident of Huntsville, Texas, known worldwide as “The City of Death.”

He is founder of The Patriot Network, and author of its 35+ web-sites located at www.patriotnetwork.org, as well as founder of The Universal Ethician Church, an interfaith ministry with a worldwide following via the church’s 275+ web sites located at www.salvationnetwork.org.

Russell, 57, is an educational video producer, environmental activist, historic preservation specialist, photographer, art and antique collector, philanthropist, American patriot and ethician.

Additional biographical information may be found in "Who’s Who in America," through Internet searches, and in other publications. Images of Mr. Russell suitable for downloading for publication may be found at www.salvationnetwork.org.