Happy Halloween - Courtesy Of The Obama Regime And Cronies!

My friend at Les Femmes put up a post last week about how the disaster of the Obamacare website can be attributed to cronyism - that is, give the plum jobs to your friends who've been helpful to you in the past.  But this is just a microcosm of what we should expect from the main rollout - treats for the progressive lackeys and tricks on the rest of America.

Speaking of "trick or treat", I found this on Facebook and thought it very appropriate.  Enjoy!

USCCB Partners With DHHS To Promote Amoral "Child Protection"

First, thanks to Catholic Culture for bringing this to light.  It is they who highlight this "Bridging Refugee Youth and Children's Services" initiative.  The training manuals (to which the Catholic Culture page links) are copyrighted by the USCCB and give politically-correct yarn about dealing with kids who are "gay and transgendered".  While they are quick to denounce any harassment, they say absolutely nothing about sound Christian morality and the importance of quitting these deviant behaviors.  Remember - the USCCB is putting their "stamp of approval" to this.

The larger picture, in my opinion, is that the USCCB has started this initiative - with a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services.  The latter, of course, is overseen by pr-abort cino Kathleen Sebelius.  Might this be a factor in the rather tepid response of the USCCB towards the abortion-laden Obamacare?

The Pax Christi Event At St Francis Of Assisi This Evening

If you attended that event in Derwood Maryland and are visiting this site, no doubt you are doing so because this was left on your car.  The only difference between this online version and the paper flyer is that the hyperlinks are indeed "clickable".  I strongly urge you to study those links.  Please note that two of them are links to Pax Christi's own site.  The evidence of Pax Christi's dissent from Christ's teachings don't get any more "first-hand" than that!

I contend that any debatable benefit that you might have gleaned from this evening's event is far outweighed by the harm wrought by lending Pax Christi your audience and a moral credibility that it simply doesn't deserve.  I've no doubt that many people are genuinely unaware of Pax Christi's desire to undermine Church teaching in fundamental matters of faith and morals.  For any new awareness that has come about, I am thankful.

Shades Of Stalin And Hitler In Maryland

Last August Audrey Hudson, while writing for the Washington Times, was "visited" by the Maryland State Troopers, Homeland Security agents and the Coast Guard - at 4:00am.  Allegedly they were searching for a "potato launcher".  Ms Hudson found out several weeks later that they seized source material that she used while writing on the Federal Air Marshall program.  They also seized the Hudsons' legally-obtained firearms.  I wonder if they seized any boxes of Pop Tarts for good measure?  Read the Fox News account.

Marylanders, this happened here.  The video indicates that this occurred in Anne Arundel County.  As Defend Life learned a few years ago, the Maryland State Troopers do tend to be, uh, "constitutionally challenged".  That is, they display woeful ignorance, if not blatant disrespect, of the First Amendment.  In the Hudsons' case, we can also list knowledge of the Second Amendment and Fourth Amendments to their intellectual deficiencies.  Now I'm sure there are decent Troopers in uniform today, but where is the internal hue and cry against this blight on their profession?  This is what happens in a state dictated governed by progressive ideologues.

I understand that the Washington Times has filed suit against these tin-horn tyrants because of this raid.  Good for them.  But some "leadership" in the DHS and MD State Troopers (and the judge who signed the search warrant) need to do some serious jail time in addition to losing their jobs.

WMAL interviewed Ms. Hudson yesterday.  Here is the clip.

Condoms Put To Good Use!

Well, whaddya know?  They're good for something, after all!

MD Abortionist Ordered To Halt Abortion Practice

I've written a bit about Maryland abortionist Harold Alexander in the past, detailing his wanton disregard for his patients.  Today Operation Rescue announced that the Maryland Physician's Board has issued to Alexander a "Cease and Desist" order.  Among the offenses that occasioned this order was the permitting of non-licensed employees to issue sedatives to patients.  The Operation Rescue page contains a link to the actual order.

Operation Rescue, its staff and its Maryland collaborators are to be commended for their dogged efforts in removing this one threat from the Maryland landscape.  Also to be commended in this instance are the Maryland Board of Physicians and Maryland Office of Health Care Quality.  We now pray that CINO O'Malley sees fit to act like a true public-servant governor and let them do their jobs.

When The Church Disregards Subsidiarity...

Then we can expect church "leaders" to wax apoplectic and hysterical when the federal money spigot runs dry.  Apparently that is what they did, according to an article that appeared on page 3 of the print edition of the Catholic Standard -dated Oct 24, 2013.

The article is entitled, "Faith Leaders Welcome Government Reopening, Point To Unfinished Work".  I could not locate this on the Standard's web page, nor did I see it on that of the Catholic News Service.  I finally found it on the site of the Not-At-All Catholic Reporter.  Of course it is the sort of pig-slop that one might find on the pages of the socialist-injustice aficionado rag.  By the way, when I call it "pig slop" I don't impugn the integrity of the Reporter's reporting - on this occasion.  Rather, I use the term to accurately describe the whining and sniveling that I'm sure did spew forth from the mouths of these, uh, leaders.

They bemoaned the "lack of services" and lack of "safety net".  Well, if one examines the Principle of Subsidiarity as put forth by various popes, we see that centralized government is to be the last-resort type of safety-net, not the "first responder" as it were.  However, as I noted a week or two ago, the USCCB and the puppet-bishops seem to have some serious difficulties with reading the Catechism.  Here's paragraphs 1883-1885 regarding subsidiarity (scroll till you see those paragraphs).

Then the article goes on to quote Network, citing it as "THE Catholic social justice lobby" (emphasis mine).  Notice that it touts the Obama regime's yarn, claiming that the debt and deficits will decrease (??!??!).  Network clearly is in the number of the Minions Most Mindless of the Messiah Most Miserable.  Even the USCCB seemed to have an eye-opener regarding them, be that insight ever so brief.  This came about as Network embraced the abortion provisions in Obamacare; read this from the National Catholic Register (The Register, as opposed to the Reporter, does deserve the "Catholic" designation).

In a side bar in the Standard's print edition (found only there, as far as I know), it was lamented that the shutdown "cost Catholic Charities $25,000 each day".  What is lamentable is that Catholic Charities is just another piglet attached to a teat of the federal entitlement sow.  Ultimately, from where does that $25k/day originate?  Boys and girls, can we all say "OUR TAX DOLLARS!"?  This is not charity; it is legalized extortion.  The government has no authority under the US Constitution to exact such taxes.  Moreover, under the principle of subsidiarity and the Seventh Commandment, the Church has no moral right to accept, let alone request, such funds that are the result of aforementioned legalized extortion.

If the Church leaders were truly observing the Principle of Subsidiarity, no government shutdown would be able to get their undies bunched as they obviously were two weeks ago.  The Church is, first and foremost, about the business of saving souls.  Charitable works, while important in and of itself, plays second-fiddle to eternal salvation.  When will our modernism-boondoggled bishops acknowledge that?

ADDENDUM/CLARIFICATION
I noted in the fourth paragraph that Network was cited as being "THE Catholic social justice agency".  It should be pointed out that this ridiculous statement is the product of the Catholic News Service, an arm of the USCCB.  Both the Reporter and the Standard are merely repeating the absurd opinion.

Pax Christi - Wolf In Sheep's Clothing Coming To Montgomery County Parish

Here is more key data on Pax Christi USA, the spiritual predator that is being granted admittance to St Francis of Assisi Church in Derwood MD this coming Wednesday.

My Catholic Media Coalition colleague Stephanie Block wrote an article on Pax Christi USA in her newsletter Los Pequenos.  I link to the archive here; you'll need to go to page 14 of the pdf.  As usual, Stephanie has done thorough research.  For the rest of this piece I'll refer to Pax Christi USA as "PCUSA".

PCUSA is also linked to many dissident organizations.  From the program of their recent national conference we see that they allowed New Ways Ministry to be a vendor at their conference.  New Ways Ministry is solely dedicated to advancing the acceptance of sexual perversion by the Catholic Church.  Its founders have been censured by the DC bishops throughout the years (being headquartered in Prince George's County MD, within the Archdiocese of Washington).  To further document Pax Christi's own embrace of perversion, please review this page of photos from that same conference; about halfway down the page you'll see their slide projection stating quite openly that "if PC-USA is to remain relevant and on the frontier as a Catholic movement of peace-making with justice, it must intentionally welcome people of all gender identities and sexual orientations."

In August 2012 the fight over the HHS mandate was getting underway as various dioceses and Catholic organizations filed their suits in court.  A naive person might have believed that Pax Christi might have stood for religious freedom, respect for conscience, etc.  Well, think again!  When the Diocese of Erie (PA) filed its suit, four of the so-called "Catholic social justice" groups filed friend-of-the-court briefs siding with the Obama regime!  Two of them were Pax Christi (Pittsburgh area) and Call to Action.  Their reasoning?  They themselves dissent from Church teaching on contraception - pure and simple.

As the astute reader of this blog and others may have noticed, many of these progressive groups can be intertwined in lots of coalitions.  Pax Christi and Call to Action are both to be found in something called "Catholic Organizations for Renewal".  While the latter does not have a national website, some sites do exist and can be quite informative.  Take, for instance, this site in which its congratulations to Pope Francis on his selection as Pontiff is seen.  The various organizations - including Pax Christi - voice their "hopes" for Francis's pontificate.  Those "hopes" include "women's ordination", gay "rights" and unrestricted abortion.

The Latest Two Scandals From Georgetown University

Scandal #1
From the Cardinal Newman Society we learn that a class at the Georgetown Law School will have its students interning with a pro-abortion advocacy group.  The professor for that class is Kelli Garcia, who happens to be senior counsel for the National Women's Law Center.  The NWLC has also tasked Garcia with overseeing "the Center's efforts to address religious restrictions on women's access to reproductive health services, including its work with hospital mergers and crisis pregnancy centers".  By the way - that last link is from Georgetown's site, not NWLC.   Well we all know what the pro-aborts are trying to do with pregnancy centers, right?  (One of the main purposes to the MD-NARAL bash was to raise funds to cripple pro-life pregnancy aid centers.  But I digress.)  Read her biography on the NWLC site, along with her blog pieces; one bemoans the pro-life victory in Texas - this from a professor at an ostensibly Catholic institution.  The students will have the "opportunity" to participate in meetings and conferences between NWLC and "partnering organizations".  Will these students be endeavoring to endanger more unborn babies?

Scandal #2
(HT to Pewsitter) Hoyas for Choice has announced a (drums and trumpets, please!) a "condom delivery service".  Their "mission" (using that term loosely) is to "make condoms more accessible to Georgetown students at parties".  These things would be ordered by the host of the party and most likely would be placed in a bowl.  I wonder if it's set with the chips and salsa or with that unmarked keg?  Of course the Georgetown administration is wimping out, ostensibly because Hoyas for Choice does not utilize campus funds.  If any of these orgies are being held on campus grounds, why should that matter a whit?  Either the administration is a pack of wimp OR they actually approve.  I think it's the latter case, particularly given what kinds of professors they allow into their classrooms (see scandal #1 above).

I hope Mr. Blattney's suit moves forward with all alacrity.

What Real Evangelism Looks Like

Pay close attention to the whole thing.

Common Core Inflicted Among Maryland High School Students

I've written a bit about Common Core in the past; read here for some background.   It has come to my attention that Common Core has indeed reared its ugly head here in Montgomery County MD.  Since this area is such a bastion of liberal drones, this comes as no surprise.  What does raise the eyebrows a bit is the audacity with which Common Core devotees bombard students with their brainwashing.

A "case in point" was published in the Freedom Outpost.  It reveals the contents of a Common-Core derived survey foisted upon sophomores at Poolesville High School in Montgomery County MD.  Please read that article in its entirety for therein is the complete survey presented to these kids.  It asks them to divulge highly personal information such as the demographics of their family, family income, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, various political convictions, etc.  Pardon my French, but none of that is any damned business of school officials.

More distressing yet is the emergence of Common Core in Maryland Catholic Schools.  The Sept-Oct issue of the Defend Life newsletter has a four-page article; on the link go to page 6 and read on.  It's clear that the Archdiocese of Baltimore's education office has allowed itself to become "useful dupes" of the Common Core progressives.  While the author was unable to ascertain the stance of the Archdiocese of Washington, I think it reasonable (in light of their lack of response to the reporter) to assume that it too has swallowed the proverbial kook-aid.  Our children aren't safe even there.

In 2014 we will have the chance to replace a goodly number of these officials.  All state-wide and lower-level seats are up for grabs.  Many of the local school boards are too.  Some minds and voices of sanity would be a welcome relief.  Let's work for that.

Obama And The Fainting Lady - Really???

Much has been made about Obama steadying the light-headed lady during an address he gave on Monday at the Rose Garden.  The Christian Science Monitor has a write-up about it, with some details about the woman in question, along with a video, which I urge you to watch there.  Continue down this post after watching for there is some analysis of the incident.

A blogger at Lady Patriots looked at the video above, and another taken at a different angle.  She has reason to suspect that the whole incident is staged.  She notes the behavior of the woman's friend and other surrounding individuals.  A commenter to the post asks why the Secret Service didn't spring into action at that moment.  I post that video below.



Fake?  I wouldn't put it past the Messiah Most Miserable.

A Tale Of Two Bishops

Two very different bishops have shown the world what motivates them - one to shame and the other to honor.  First let's look at the "bad news".

Bishop Gary Gordon is prelate to the Diocese of Whitehorse in Yukon, Canada.  This diocese had promulgated a policy for pastoral care for same-sex attracted students in its schools.  At first this policy conformed to and echoed the Church's teachings regarding homosexuality.  But these schools are publicly funded.  It aroused a bit of rancor among the politically-correct public.  The Minister of Education ordered Bishop Gordon to expunge the policy of Catholic morality.  Shamefully the bishop cowered and complied.  It would have been better for the all concerned had the bishop simply refused to accept any more government funds and made clear to all that the laws of Jesus Christ reign supreme.  Instead, he squandered an opportune teaching moment and brought shame upon the Church in Canada.

That's today's bad news - now for the good news.

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield is acting proactively to stare down a planned gay-rights protest.  He has already announced that anyone wearing rainbow sashes (indicating affiliation with the Rainbow Sash Movement) will not be granted admittance to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.  Furthermore he stated that anyone praying for "marriage equality" will be asked to leave.  He did reiterate that the church remains open for those who wish to repent of their sins.  Now this is a bishop!!

Amnesty For Illegal Aliens Makes For Strange Bedfellows In Catholic Circles.

Let's take a look at Pax Christi.  We haven't done so in a while but in Montgomery County MD behooves us to do so.  They put on a nice pacifist front and they claim to be Catholic, but underneath that nice sanctimonious image they project lies an organization that is at odds with the Church on several key matters of faith and morals.

Over the years Pax Christi has cropped up like kudzu.  See some basic information here.   I won't rehash everything, but will highlight some key points.

• Two of its former presidents, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton and Bishop Gambino Zavala.  Both these prelates were forced to resign.  No, I don't mean just resign from Pax Christi; I mean resign from their posts as bishops, both for grievous causes.
• Three years ago, I blogged on the American Catholic Council, an organization thoroughly steeped in the heresy of Americanism.  At that time the ACC linked to member organizations, including Pax Christi.  Well, bust my britches, that link has disappeared!  Why, oh why, do you think that happened?   Hmmm!
• Discover the Networks has much information about Pax Christi and its sordid networks.

That's enough information for now - certainly enough to understand why the flyer below, inserted in yesterday's parish bulletin, caught my eye.

Let's ponder the subject matter of the flyer.  It regards immigration: illegal immigration to be precise.  Now let's think for a minute.  No Catholic in their right mind has any problem with immigration per se.  Most of us are immigrants or the descendants of immigrants.  So why the perceived need for all this "discussion"?  Ladies and gentlemen, in a very circuitous fashion these progressives are trying to get us to acquiesce to blanket amnesty for those who imperiously break our laws.  Of course they dare not say so openly, lest their disingenuous thought-reform gambits be laid bare for all to see.

I've been blogging a bit about this misguided effort to reward those who disobey our laws; see a montage of these posts here.  Please notice the June 22 post, where I quote Section 2241 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  The Catechism states that host nations should welcome immigrants to the extent that they are able.  Who determines that "extent"?  This question alone makes plain that the debate regarding the immigration matter falls within the realm of prudential judgment.  That is to say that good Catholics can have legitimate differences of opinions regarding the various facets of the immigration question.  There is no one "Catholic position" on this matter.  Moreover, Pope Benedict XVI reiterated that national bishops' conferences have no inherent authority per canon law.  For the USCCB to state that there is a "Catholic position" here is flat out presumptuous, if not downright deceitful.

That section of the Catechism states quite plainly that the immigrants have a duty to abide by the laws of their host countries and to recognize their "duties to their countries of adoption".  In other words, they should expect no consideration above and beyond that experienced by other citizens.  Some in the "immigrant rights" movement have trouble with the concept of "equal justice".  One such individual might be Salvador G. Sarmiento, one of the speakers; at least he demonstrated such trouble in a situation regarding his wife's traffic violations.

One hazard of the bishops flirting with pet causes of progressives is that they engage in unseemly partnerships with organizations that are at clear variance with Church teachings, sometimes to the point of dissent and disobedience.  In this flyer we see (yet again) another incongruous alliance, this time with Pax Christi.  It's quite likely that Pax Christi won't trot out their gripes with the Magisterium at St. Francis' on Oct 30th.  However, in this partnership, the Church is lending to Pax Christi - as an organization - credibility that it just doesn't deserve.

It is this alliance with Pax Christi that renders the upcoming "discussion" utterly unacceptable.  I am exploring the feasibility of a picket of this event.  I will keep you posted.

Common Core Infestation In Catholic Schools

It appears that progressive mega-bucks sugar-daddies Bill and Melinda Gates have insinuated their mental poison into Catholic schools, baiting their traps with lots of money.  To be frank, I blame the Catholic educators and administrators for being so easily seduced by the greenbacks more so than the Gates, but I digress.

Below I'll give some links to information relating to Common Core and why we consider it a threat to our children.  Then there will be two Vortex links: the first is a summary of Common Core and its infiltration into our schools.  The next is taken from the Mic'd Up program, where Voris interviews Father Peter  Stravinskas.

Throw-Away Babies

I remember when abortion was legally regarded as murder, and some muddled-headed folks were trying to get it legalized.  One canard they tried to get us to buy (with success) was that "abortion would reduce the number of abused children".  Never mind that abortion is itself the most heinous form of abuse.

But child-abuse has multiplied exponentially since the wide-spread acceptance of abortion.  It seems like a weekly occurrence to hear of some poor babe being tossed in a dumpster or even flushed down a toilet.  LifeSiteNews has compiled a list of various accounts of these cases of infant abuse and yes, infanticide.  Read it, weep, pray - and resolve to do something about this matter on an ongoing basis.

I regret that this LifeSiteNews list will most likely be obsolete in a week or two when we learn of the next travesties.

Joy-Pop Christianity??

As I watched today's Vortex, I couldn't help but "connect some dots", as it were.  Go back to my post regarding the "lighten up brigade".  It has been my observation that this "brigade" and the population that Voris describes has a high degree of overlap.  Might such folks be headed to spiritual trouble if they don't sober up?  I have a bit of personal experience with this, having been wrapped up in what is still called the "charismatic renewal".  I pulled away from that for many reasons.  One reason is that I saw an over-emphasis on "experience".  God never called us to have particular kinds of "experiences"; those experiences are at most ancillary to the Christian life.  God calls us to the Church, the sacraments and teachings and to obedience to His commands.  If we "experience consolation", well that's nice.  But if we don't, then there's nothing wrong with us spiritually (meaning we don't have to "lighten up"!); we're being swindled out of absolutely nothing.  In fact, we're in good company.  Mother Teresa had very little of consolation; yet she obeyed God in a manner that I suspect few of us do.

The Vote To Capitulate

The vote to capitulate to tyrannical bullying from the White House was conducted this evening.  In both houses, the GOP leaders shamed themselves.  I blame them more than I do the Messiah Most Miserable, for now his despotic behavior has been rewarded and affirmed by John Boehner, Mitch McConnell and the rest of the RINO bunch.  Here are the roll calls:

• House of Representatives - Note that both John Boehner and Eric Cantor sold their country down the river.  They and the other 85 RINOs need to be given their pink slips in 2014.  It's bad enough that Boehner allowed it on the floor, but he added insult to injury in voting for it.
• Senate - Again, McConnell voted for it.  The RINOs here must go.

We need representatives who understand the US Constitution and who have courage of their convictions.  Of course that presupposes that they have convictions at all.  We are seeing our republic devolve to an oligarchy before our very eyes.  Will enough of us wake up in time to halt this deterioration?

MD Physicians Board Closes Carhart Investigation

In the lovely state of Maryland, where abortionists - and their campaign contributions - are put on the pedestals of elected officials, we are not surprised to see that the Maryland Board of Physicians has ended its "investigation" (or more accurately, the investigation charade) of Leroy Carhart following the latter's utter negligence in the death of Jennifer Morbelli.  There is, of course, the matter of the cold-blooded murder of Madison Morbelli, in which Jennifer herself was more than complicit.

An account of this "closing of the case" appeared in the online edition of Washington Post yesterday.  One curious line appears, the so-called diagnosis of the cause of Jennifer's death.  She allegedly suffered from "a rare condition in which amniotic fluid was pushed into her blood system".  Well, some questions come to mind:

• Does this "rare condition" have a name?
• To be identified at all, there must have been previous occurrences of this "rare condition".  I for one would like to see some accounts of these.
• In order for amniotic fluid to be "pushed into her blood system", something had to do the "pushing".  How did this "pushing" occur?

But don't expect these questions to be asked by the Board.  Nope.  As long as Martin O'Malley is governor, the same who spearheaded NARAL fundraisers, abortionists will continue to get a free pass in Maryland.  Their investigation might as well have closed with..

"Nothing to see here, folks!  Move along!  Move along!"

Modern Education - Where No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

In just a few days I've come across two stories of public school students getting into trouble with their respective school authorities.  We're they drinking or doing drugs?  Nope!  We're they skipping classes?  Nope!  Did they "offend" someone with "politically incorrect" speech or clothing?  Not even that!  Well, just what were these high crimes and misdemeanors?

1. Briar MacLean, a 7th grader at Sir John A McDonald School in Calgary, Alberta broke up a knife fight by pushing the knife-wielding student against the wall.  He most likely prevented a stabbing.
2. Erin Cox, a senior at North Andover School in Massachusetts, was called by a friend who asked her to take her home; the latter was intoxicated.  The police broke up the party when she arrived.  Even though the police vouched for Erin, she is suffering inappropriate punishment.

Here you have it - two selfless kids being punished by their idiot-school officials for performing actions that can only be called kind and even heroic.  I wish I could say these were just cases of school bureaucrats slavishly adhering to mindless rules, but I think there's more than meets the eye here.  Couple this with the stories a little while ago with children being treated like criminals for playing with imaginary guns and maybe you'll get the picture.

Having studied secondary education while in college, I was told in no uncertain terms that John Dewey is considered the "father of modern education".  That is arguably a true statement. John Dewey was a signer of the first Humanist Manifesto.  Go to the American Humanist website and examine this, and the subsequent versions.  The humanist world view is there for all to see.  It is this world view that the teachers are being trained to impart to their students, regardless of the wishes of their parents.  Now this is not true for all public school teachers for there remain some whom the progressives have not yet expunged.  By and large, the public school system aims to train its students to be useful cogs in the New World Order.  That is best accomplished by brainwashing the kids into becoming passive and hedonistic automatons.

Both Briar and Erin have demonstrated that they won't fit into that cookie-cutter mold.  Both have demonstrated initiative, decisiveness, selflessness and - most threatening to the progressives controlling the schools - a propensity to think outside the box.  The public-school lemmings cannot have such independence among their students.  Heaven forbid they might start thinking independently and start eschewing the largess and directives of the politically-correct statists.   Good heavens!  They might even tear down barry-cades when they get older!  The school-nazis simply can't have that going on now, can they?

Thus we see the completely ludicrous punishments being heaped upon these two kids.  Thankfully their parents are standing by them, as are large percentages of their respective communities.  I understand that at least Erin's mother has retained legal counsel.  Good for her.

On Wednesday Michael Voris will be doing a program focusing on the snake in the grass called Common Core.  I've no doubt its tentacles are manifest in Briar's and Erin's plights.  Here is the link; I plan to watch it.

Barry-Cades Are Down!

I regret that I wasn't able to get down there, but there are some great shots.  My friend at Les Femmes has a nice post.  She in turn links to the Blaze and that has video of some of the protesters confronting police.  Right Scoop has video of the protesters bringing the barry-cades to the White House to "return to sender".

God bless all who went downtown to advise the Messiah Most Miserable that we won't sit down for his deplorable antics.  You won't see any of this on the lame-brain-main-stream media so please look online.

The Charge Of The Lighten-Up Brigade

I and some others have noted with dismay a growing tendency of some Catholics (mostly younger) to simper and giggle about trivial doings and sayings of prominent Catholic leaders.  I noticed this first when a blogger (I won't name him) regularly featured Pope Benedict XVI's pictures on his blog and asked readers to supply a caption.  Either the Pope had an unusual expression on his face or was undergoing some harmless mishap.  Because that was really quite harmless I paid no attention to it, not wanting to waste my time.  But recently some not-so-harmless manifestations have blazed their ways through the blogosphere.

Crdl Dolan: Abortion Just A "Pet Issue"???

According to the Catholic Herald of England, Cardinal Dolan put his own spin on Pope Francis' mid-September interviews, when the latter suggested that the Church should not focus only on moral issues.  I opined in my earlier post that the pope meant that we must pay attention to the entire deposit of faith, such as the Sacraments, who God is, etc.

According to Cardinal Dolan, though, the pope wants the public not to see the Church "as a scold who's always nagging and always negative..because nobody wants to join a paranoid group".  He also says that "we (the bishops) have been saying for a long time, 'listen to everything we say, don't just listen to us when we speak about your pet issue."

Excuse me?  The large-scale murder of tiny babies, to the tune of 3500 every day, with the death toll at 52 million and counting, is merely a "pet issue"????  And we should ascribe the socialistic blathering of the USCCB, including its grossly-misinformed obamacare advocacy, the same status as the Church's teachings on life issues?  I've detailed Friday why the USCCB, by championing socialized medicine, is paving the way for moral evil to be further ensconced on our culture

In this latest gaffe of his, Cardinal Dolan appears to be channeling the late Cardinal Bernardin and his now-discredited "seamless-garment" schtick.

Pope Francis To Consecrate World To The Immaculate Heart Of Mary

Tomorrow is the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima.  That Mass would be celebrated were tomorrow not Sunday.  The Holy Father will consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  I think it very good and pleasing to both Our Lord and Our Lady that this consecration is occurring.  However, one thing needs to be crystal clear.

What will happen tomorrow is not the fulfillment of Our Lady of Fatima's request, as relayed by the three children.  Our Lady of Fatima was very clear and specific.  There are two facets to her request for consecration that are, in some circles, deliberately obfuscated.  They are:

1. The request of Our Lady that Russia, by name, be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart
2. This consecration must be done in union with bishops of the world

Neither requirement has been met.  Many fault the various pontiffs for not mentioning Russia.  I myself was one of that number.  I'm beginning to believe though, that the stumbling block lies with the second facet.  If any of us has been paying attention to church affairs, we know that some bishops have been downright cantankerous regarding matters of fealty to the Holy Father and of Catholic spirituality.  Think "Bernardin, Weakland, Gumbleton", etc.  I think you get the picture.  Getting the current collection of bishops to unite in this consecration would be akin to herding cats - although I think the cats would be more reasonable to be frank.

This is pure conjecture on my part, but could it be that the pontiffs have demurred from mentioning Russia because they couldn't get the bishops to unite with them without causing a major ruckus?  Perhaps they didn't mention Russia as Our Lady requested to signal that they found it impossible to comply.

All this should do is cause each and every one of us to fulfill Our Lady of Fatima's request to the church at large: daily Rosary, scapular usage, First Saturday devotions.  These times demand it, if nothing else.

Sentimentality And Niceness - Dangers To Salvation

An overly-sentimental approach to spiritual matters is not a recent problem.  In 1940, Brother Francis of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary penned a piece called "Sentimental Theology".  It's worth a read.  Now below is some "food for thought" from Ann Barnhardt regarding the vice of being "nice".

USCCB Misquotes Catechism To Buttress Their Socialist Propaganda

Today Sister Mary Ann Walsh penned an article on the USCCB blog entitled "Time to Listen to the Bishops on the Shutdown".  A study of this piece makes clear that the title should be "Time for the Bishops to Abolish the USCCB".

The theme of this less-than-masterpiece is a simple regurgitation of the USCCB swan song heard throughout the fight over the passing and implementation of Obamacare.  In a nutshell, the progressives controlling the various puppet strings at the USCCB support the idea of socialized medicine.  Notice that they aren't even advocating that abortion and contraception be expunged from Obamacare.  They simply don't want to be put in the position of paying for it.  In other words, as long as they (believe that they) won't sully their hands with abortion, they've no problem whatsoever with these moral evils becoming even more ensconced within our medical system because of Obamacare.

Now notice in the fifth paragraph, the one that starts with "The bishops noted that the Catechism..".  They claim to cite the Catechism as the source of their belief that the state must supply health care.  I'll post the full paragraph below:
The bishops noted that the Catechism of the Catholic Church says it is the proper role of government to "make accessible to each what is needed to lead a truly human life," including food, clothing, heath care, education and culture.

Ladies and gentlemen, that is a misquote of paragraph 2288; here is the link to the Catechism, and you'll need to scroll to the paragraph.  I'll post it below.
Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help in the attainment of living-conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity: food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education, employment, and social assistance.

Are you noticing any differences??  There are two big differences.  Notice that the USCCB claims that government is the agent of provision.  The Catechism uses the word society.  They are not synonyms.  Let's look at the Catechism again, this time paragraph 1880, where "society" is plainly defined as "a group of persons bound together organically by a principle of unity that goes beyond each one of them".   Thus, the Catholic Church is a "society" as much as any civil body.  At this point, I'd also suggest a close study of paragraphs 1883-1885; they go into detail about the Principle of Subsidiarity and the danger of collectivism.

Bearing those last two points in mind, let's look at the second difference.  The USCCB uses the phrase "make accessible" while the Catechism uses the phrase "help in the attainment".   How can the government "make accessible" that which it doesn't possess?  Why, it has to seize it, doesn't it?  From whom?  Remember the phrase "from each according to his ability to each according to his need"?  That's straight from Karl Marx.  On the other hand, help in the attainment is innocuous: it could mean job skills training or truly charitable outreaches - means that don't entail confiscation from those who honestly attain goods vis-a-vis onerous taxes/fines such as the ones that Obamacare is already starting to impose.

I would propose that the USCCB is not worthy of the audience of anyone.

Oh, Oh! I Guess They Didn't Get The Shutdown Memo!

Of course the Feds will be right on the case, arresting these guys, right?

CCHD And CRS - And Time To Boycott The CCHD Collection Again - Say #no2cchd

My Catholic Media Coalition colleague Stephanie Block recently published an article entitled "What Is Going On With Catholic Relief Services?"  I urge all to read it, as well as previous blog posts here regarding this entity.  She points out that CRS has a history of providing only real aid to needy people overseas, but has been going astray since it started receiving government funds in 1961 and then it started spouting "community organizing noises" like its CCHD cousin.  So what induced CRS to accept government funds?  I suspect such acceptance was merely par for the course, owing to the fact that CRS, like CCHD, is under the direction of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.  There are some who hold out a hope that these two organizations can be reformed.  Not I.  The entire USCCB needs to be tossed into the garbage.  But that is way in the future.  Right now we have another related duty that requires immediate attention.

Right now the federal government is operating under reduced capacity.  While the federal government has shut down many times in the past, never has it shut down under such a petulant man-child like Barack HUSSEIN Obama.  Life could go on as normal were it not for the fact that he and his Minions Most Mindless, particularly those in the Senate, are doing all they can to maximize discomfort to vulnerable people: aged veterans, military families, etc.  All during this, though, folks are beginning to wake up to the fact that Obamacare will be an unprecedented disaster.  But how did Obama get to the position that he currently holds?

In large part, we have the Catholic Campaign for Human Development to thank/blame for this mess.  Over the years, they have diverted millions of dollars (mostly collected during the November collection) to "community organizing" organizations who have in turn helped Obama and other progressives advance their political careers to where they know are in positions to inflict incredible damage.  Think ACORN, Gamaliel Foundation, PICO, etc - just a few of the recipients of Catholic cash.  Put "Catholic Campaign for Human Development" or "CCHD" in this blog's search box for much more information (actually, those phrases are hyperlinks).

Traditionally the CCHD collection was held in November throughout the US.  Because of the well-deserved criticism and the resulting boycotts of the collection, some dioceses have been holding their collections at other times (and even disguising the names, as did the Archdiocese of Washington) to catch us off-guard.  The DC collection was held in August, but was met with our "say #no2cchd" campaign.  Most of the nation's dioceses, however, will still conduct their CCHD collections in November - in other words, next month.  Click on the above link for more information.

Perhaps if the CCHD collection had dried up a few years ago, Obama's career might not have gotten off the ground.  Let's ensure that no other progressive lout derives benefit from our collection dollars.

From The "Get Your Hanky" Department

Sob and sniffle with this poor young lady.  And in case I have to actually say this, of course she's spoofing!

More On Unhelpful PollyAnnas Among Faithful Catholics

As I suggested in my previous "pollyanna" post a few days ago, there are some Catholics who cannot accept that sometimes the Pope's words and/or deeds can and indeed should be criticized.  Let me clarify something.  He is the Vicar of Christ and must always receive all due respect.  We never criticize him as a person - never!  When he teaches in the name of the Church, those teachings are due all respect and yes, obedience.  There are those times when he will pronounce dogma in a solemn fashion, that is, ex cathedra.  On those occasions he does indeed speak infallibly.  We also have the Magisterium's promise that he will never teach error.

That said, the "off-the-cuff" interviews he has been giving lately cannot by any stretch of the imagination be called "teaching moments", let alone solemn declarations in which he speaks infallibly.  It is quite legitimate for faithful Catholics to question spontaneous remarks and certainly acceptable to discuss the means of delivery of said messages.

Many of us have been questioning the wisdom of the pope's conduct of these interviews for they have often led individuals to believe that he is altering the Church's age-old teachings on faith and morals - particularly the latter in regards to the life issues.  In the latest interview with La Repubblica there was even talk of the necessity of each individual to follow their concept of right and wrong - minimizing the need for a properly formed conscience.  I needn't rehash that here; see my previous post.

I've been involved in some on-line discussions regarding these interviews.  One of the more recent ones was with some good-hearted Catholics who enthuse over these debatable remarks by the Holy Father - and who in fact go so far as to insinuate that those of us who are wary are somehow "pharisees" or "holier than the pope" or other such pejorative sentiments.  They admit that what he's saying is different, but "God must be showing us a new way".  Apparently I'm not the only one who is baffled by this mindset; see this from American Catholic.  To quote him, I have indeed seen this: "Frankly, the most evident fruit of the papacy thus far seems to be the willingness of orthodox Catholics to break out the cutlery and start stabbing whenever someone expresses unease over the Pope’s actions and words."  I was actually threatened with expulsion from a facebook group when I didn't "get with their program" and join in their giggle-fest when the Pope posed for a "selfie" (that's a group cell-phone photo) with some teenagers.

My previous post also showed a video of a rather pathetic attempt by Father Fessio to put a "positive spin" on the pope's remarks.  Such attempts, unfortunately, abound.   See what the Creative Minority Report reveals.  So we "shouldn't attach value to individual words, but an overall sense"?  Really?  Father Lombardi, how, oh how, is this "overall sense" defined and communicated, if not by judiciously chosen words?  This is a philosophical - and theological - disaster in the making.  One would hope that a Vatican spokeman would know better, but Father's gaffe seems symptomatic of another problem.

This problem is broached by Hilary White of LifeSiteNews.  She senses a breakdown of coordination and communication in the Vatican itself - one starting from the onset of this papacy.  I urge you all to read it, and the comments besides.  Now we are hearing that there were inaccuracies in the La Repubblica interview; witness this from the Not-At-All Catholic Reporter.  However, one must ask why they waited so long to issue some disclaimer.  Are they only doing so pursuant to a lame attempt at "damage control"?   There is also the revelation that the Vatican was offered the opportunity to vet the La Repubblica article prior to its release.  It seems that a proper review might have apprehended some of the errors arising from Scalfari's poor memory.  Not only was there no review, but the Vatican even posted the article on their own site and here it is, straight from the Vatican.

Some might say that the Pope didn't speak infallibly so "what's the big deal"?  The "big deal" is two-fold in my opinion:

1. Many people who dissent from the Church's moral teaching and who are in fact living in mortal sin are taking false comfort from imprecisely-stated ideas
2. The Pope is undermining his own credibility so that if an occasion does arise when he must, some might conclude that the occasion is just another "off-the-cuff" affair.

To be clear, I am grateful that the Holy Father has spoken clearly on matters of faith and morals when he has.  I pray for him that his interviews (and/or the Vatican communications staff) don't trip up the essential message of the Church.

US Air Force Sending Recruits To Planned Parenthood? Really?

Is the United States Air Force pimping for Planned Parenthood?

Today in front of the building in Silver Spring where Planned Parenthood rents a suite to carry out its baby-killing business, one of the sidewalk counselors had a rather illuminating exchange with a woman going into the abortuary.  The lady informed my colleague that she is an Air Force reservist who will soon report to an Air Force base in Austin Texas for basic training.  As a prerequisite she is required to take a pregnancy test, presumably to ensure she isn't pregnant before undergoing the training.

One might think a pregnancy test from any licensed ob/gyn would suffice for those purposes.  In a sane, reasonable world that would be the case.  However, the Air Force instructions were quite explicit.  They would only accept results from tests administered by Planned Parenthood.

This is the first we've heard of such a thing and as of this writing, we haven't verified this woman's account - yet.  However, given the scandalous conduct of the Obama regime as it has toadied to Planned Parenthood and driven Christian morality from the armed services, we've no reason to doubt her.

If her account has factual basis, that would raise a whole bevy of questions such as:

• How long has this requirement been in place?
• Does the same requirement exist in the other branches of the armed services?
• While we know that the Obama regime would definitely approve of this requirement, that doesn't necessarily mean that this order came from the White House.  From what specific individual(s) did this originate?

If this is indeed the situation, that means that even more of our tax dollars are being diverted to Planned Parenthood.  Undoubtedly the recruits aren't paying for these tests themselves as they would be considered military recruiting expenses.  Doesn't it seem rather convenient for Cecile Richards and company to have that kind of monopoly?  Doesn't it just seem like another Planned Parenthood scandal?

If any of my readers has any information regarding this question, please feel free to supply it via the comments section.  Please supply references (links, etc).  I do not need to make your comments public in order to see the information myself.  Thank you.

Some Progressives Might Be Disappointed In Pope Francis

Yep!  It might mean that the Messiah Most Miserable is no longer "hugely impressed" by His Holiness.  And NARAL might be inclined to rescind its "thank-you" that it gave Pope Francis recently.  Why?

Today in Assisi (today is the feast of St Francis of Assisi) His Holiness told young people in attendance to have the courage to (wait for it!) get married and (progressives, please be seated and have smelling salts handy!) have children!

Presuming that the progressives have recovered from their fainting attacks and/or temper tantrums, we will continue.

He told them to do so despite a culture that emphasizes "individual rights" over family.  Not only that, but he talked of marriage as being a vocation to form one flesh, one life from the two and (Equality MD types, take deep breaths!), male and female.

The Holy Father went on to extol the virtues of priestly celibacy and consecrated virginity.  He said that "virginity for the kingdom of God is not a 'no', but a 'yes'."

In all seriousness, I thank the Holy Father for standing for both marriage and the religious life.  Clearly that's a message that not only those young people but the entire world needs to hear.

Polyannas Are NOT Helping!

There's a fair amount of "damage control" occurring in regards to the La Repubblica interview.  Last week Raymond Arroyo hosted Robert Royal and Father Joseph Fessio; the latter two had different perspectives on the Holy Father's words.  Father Fessio is himself a Jesuit so he brings that perspective to the table.  The discussion revolves around the Pope's previous interview, but I find the comments apropos.

In the video below the relevant section starts at 18:46.  At around the 24:00 mark, Father brings up the example of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4) and illustrates how Our Lord engaged the woman in conversation.  He seems to imply that is the strategy of Pope Francis with these interviews.  If such is the case, I think that's flawed.  Our Lord was engaged in a one-on-one conversation.  These broadcast interviews, by dint of the intended promulgation of these, cannot be likened to the one-on-one conversation. Rather we're talking of a one-to-millions proclamation, with these "millions" coming from a myriad of cultures, perspectives, etc.  One size does not fit all.  Isn't it rather ironic that in his attempt to address the interviewer "where he's at" that the Holy Father loses sight of all the other millions of people and their situations?   Does the phrase "can't see the forest for the sake of one tree" have relevance here?

A Troubling Interview With Pope Francis

Thanks to Rorate Caeli, I was directed to another interview given by Pope Francis.  This is more recent than that other "well-known" interview of his.  His Holiness interviewed with Eugenio Scalfari of La Repubblica.  The context makes clear that Scalfari is a fallen-away Catholic.  I link now to the interview as it was rendered in English.

While I realize that there might have been some loss of meaning in the translation process, there couldn't have been that much.  That said, the proceeds of this interview are most troubling.  Many of His Holiness' replies seem to fly in the face of Sacred Tradition and Scripture.  Of course Our Lord Himself guarantees that the Pope cannot teach error, presuming that he is speaking solemnly "ex cathedra".  By no stretch of the imagination is this "ex cathedra". But there's no way to put a positive spin, a "happy face" if you will, on this.