The USCCB's Corrosive And Deadly "Social Justice" Teachings With Their Poster Boy John Sweeney

Yesterday John Zmirak published an article called "The Myth Of Catholic Social Teaching".  I commend it to your reading.  He basically states that the Magisterium speaks infallibly on matters of faith and morals.  Some issues such as abortion and contraception involve the direct commission of mortal sin.  Those are intrinsic evils; no amount of debate is permissible.  We do not commit murder - period.

There is also the matter of care for the poor.  That is a charge laid upon us.  However, good people can disagree as to the best methods to implement such care.  Sometimes it's clear that those in high places of the Church are exercising faulty logic in their approaches to matters such as alleviating poverty, etc.  In those circumstances, we are not obliged to give obedience to those directives as they do not carry magisterial weight.  Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said so himself when he attempted to have a letter delivered to a US bishops' meeting.  It said - in part - "not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion."

It is becoming all too clear that the USCCB advocates progressive positions on matters such as illegal immigration, self-defense rights, and even the atrocities being committed by Muslims in the Middle East.  I blogged on the muslim matter last week, chiding the USCCB for urging more useless "dialogue" with thugs.  I've no doubt that the USCCB dismisses my words.  Sadly, they probably also dismiss the words of Archbishop Emil Nona, the Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul.  He and four other Mosul bishops have been driven from their dioceses, along with countless thousands of their flocks.  He warns that what we see there could well be a harbinger of things to come in the western world - that means us, folks!  I will quote the archbishops's own words: "Your liberal and democratic principles are worth nothing here. You must consider again our reality in the Middle East, because you are welcoming in your countries an ever growing number of Muslims. Also you are in danger. You must take strong and courageous decisions, even at the cost of contradicting your principles.  You think all men are equal, but that is not true: Islam does not say that all men are equal. Your values are not their values.  If you do not understand this soon enough, you will become the victims of the enemy you have welcomed in your home."  King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has issued his own, very similar warning.

I think there are two things Archbishop Nona is trying to say.  First, the US bishops must stop their simpering and groveling pleas for "dialogue".  They are an abysmal waste of time at best and at worst, they serve to distract us when we should be preparing for real action to protect our families and our very culture.

Second, we must stop "welcoming them in our homes".  That means we must stop the floods of immigrants that pour across our borders.  Make no mistake about it; the bulk of illegals are young men, not helpless little waifs.  How many of these young men are muslim terrorists?  We don't know because there is no effective screening of those who cross the Rio Grande.  But again, we hear the USCCB telling us to "welcome the stranger".  Never mind that these "strangers" may well be murderers awaiting their orders from their muslim commanders.  By the way - there are reports that ISIS groups are in Mexico, planning an attack on the US with car bombs and the such.  USCCB, shall we "welcome those strangers"?

A gentleman named John Snyder posted an article on Crossmap a few days ago, taking the USCCB to task for their stance on gun control, given the threats of terrorism that are looming in the United States.  I quote one salient statement:  "USCCB should terminate its disgraceful support for the criminalization of private handgun possession. Such criminalization would eliminate the ability of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves from criminals, including terrorists.  Catholic clergy should abandon pacifism and see reality for what it is. People need guns for protection. As Christ Our Lord proclaimed, 'The man without a sword must sell his cloak and buy one,' according to Luke 22:36"  Hear!  Hear!

So why, oh why, does the USCCB insist on parroting the Obamanista's talking points on illegal immigration, muslims and gun control?  In a word, follow the money, for the USCCB certainly does.  I wrote an article for Defend Life recently (look on page 7 of this link), detailing the obvious links between the USCCB shilling for porous borders and allowance of everyone crossing the Rio Grande.  The money trail was so blatant; they aren't even trying to hide it.

There you have it.  One consequence of the USCCB's wrong-headed stances on these issues will most likely be an increase of murders, if not outright terrorism - both because they favor unfettered admission through our borders AND the removal of our ability to defend ourselves and our loved ones.

"But that's merely conjecture!" some might say.  Fair enough, but it's reasonable to believe this to be a very solid probability.  AND we have evidence of current corrosion of faith and morals by USCCB-esque social teaching.  That evidence comes from the mouth of the corrosion victim himself - John Sweeney!

John Sweeney
Thank USCCB social teaching for this!

Sweeney was recently honored by the AFL-CIO for his union work.  The erstwhile head of both the AFL-CIO and SEIU, at that award function, credited "Catholic social teaching" for giving him the impetus for his work.  I've detailed a lot of his work here and here.  The second link details the two occasions in which I led pickets of Sweeney public events.  I know I gave you a lot to read, so I'll close with a picture showing the beneficial impact of "USCCB social teaching" on John Sweeney.

Recall what Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said - there are areas regarding prudential judgment in which we can disagree with Church leaders.  Many times, particularly with the USCCB, we must oppose them outright.

Obama: Drat That Social Meda!

The Messiah Most Miserable has released his latest hissy-fit statement regarding the state of affairs yesterday at a Democratic fundraiser in New York.  He's either at fundraisers or on golf courses these days, but I digress.

We have ISIS/ISIL and other terrorists shedding blood right and left in the mid-east, uncontrolled floods of illegals crossing our southern border (funny how that's dropped off the radar!), unemployment and cost of living ever rising, etc.  But according to His Nibs, it's really not that bad!  We just think it's that bad; it's all in our imaginations!  He said, "the world's always messy...we're just noticing now in part because of social media".  Two things immediately come to mind

1. I cannot think of when we had whole-scale murder of Christians and Jews in the mid-east before.  Perhaps during the reign of Adolf Hitler we had barbarity akin to what's going on and some isolated incidents between then and now, but the world hasn't "been messy" like that on this scale.
2. He admits that many are now just noticing because of social media.  In doing so, he acknowledges the conspiracy of silence in which so many in the mainstream media are participating.  They do so to protect Obama's image (as much as it can be, as more and more that effort becomes an exercise in futility).

I am honored to be part of that big, bad "social media" that is popping Obama's fantasy balloons whenever possible.  All we do is speak the truth.  If he can't deal with that without sniveling and pouting, perhaps he should resign and head off to his favorite golf course for good!

I would be remiss if I didn't point out the more ominous aspect of Obama's little rant.  Might this be a prelude to attempts to stifle our First Amendment rights?  Let's keep an eye on this.

A Handy Chart To Combat Ecumenicide With Muslims

Recall my post from last week.  Perhaps the picture/chart below will further illustrate why "dialogue" with allah-worshipers is at best, an exercise of futility.

Father Marcel Guarnizo On Economic Thought And Postmodernism - And Other Implications That I See

The Dignitatis Huamae Institute recently held a conference.  One of the speakers at that conference was Father Marcel Guarnizo - the priest who was ousted from the Archdiocese of Washington because he withheld Holy Communion from a flagrant lesbian at my parish two years ago. I wrote copiously about that travesty; you may read some of these links to refresh your memories.

I post below the video of Father's talk at that conference.  He touches upon many topics, although the main theme is the underlying philosophies (many of them contradicting) of economic thought in today's situations.  Between 2:46 and 4:20 he speaks of the destructive influences of postmodernism.  I hold that postmodernism has corroded the thinking of many people - including faithful Catholics - not only on specific matters, but their very ability to think rationally.

I won't go into a whole treatise of the problem, but I think we can see that today people would rather emote than think.  We hear homilies at Mass that could well be auditions for a stand-up comedy show rather than the solemn proclamation of truths that the Mass-goers need to attain their eternal salvation.  Too often these clerics defend their routines as "new evangelism".

Case in point - Recently Father Dwight Longenecker posted a piece called "The Laughing Evangelist".  It's both pathetic and erroneous.  He opines that "humor is one of the signs of a saint".  Well, that might be his opinion but I'd hardly call that infallible dogma.

Now look at this paragraph: "When Jesse and Dr Ray made people laugh their defenses went down. They did feel good about their religion and their God and they did feel uplifted and that means they went away charged up in their faith and wanting to serve and love God more."  The problems are obvious.  Father Longnecker is opining that people are "wanting to serve and love God more", but why?  Because they "feel uplifted and charged up"?  Ladies and gentlemen, we know human nature just by observing ourselves.  That "charged up" feeling will eventually wane.  What will stand in its stead?  Father Longenecker doesn't seem to elaborate on that.  Where is the teaching of the Truths of the Church, the formation of the intellect and the will, the two faculties that distinguish us as being in the image and likeness of God?  Is such teaching "too serious and boring"?  Well guess what?  It is that formation of intellect and will that fortified the martyrs of whom Longnecker spoke.

I also take exception with Longenecker's de facto equating of "hilarity" with the Fruit of the Spirit known as joy (toward the end of his article).  While the two are not diametrically opposed, neither can we hold them to be equivalent.

I certainly am no expert on postmodernism, but I do believe that mental paradigm has impacted Longenecker's criteria for evaluating evangelism.  Sadly. Longnecker is not alone.

I'll now post Father Guarnizo's video.  I think there's much to learn from it.

On-The-Job Deathscort Training - More Blocking And Slamming

About two weeks ago I published a video showing some deathscort "on the job" training.  At that time I promised to publish more helpful hints to the budding thugs escorts as opportunity presented itself.  We didn't have to wait too long!  On Saturday, Sept 23 at 1400 Spring Street in Silver Spring MD - where Planned Parenthood is a tenant - some on the job training was offered.

Meet your deathscort tutor of the day.  His picture is to the right; I don't know his name.  You'll see him in action in the video below.  He engaged in quite a bit of blocking and even body-slamming of a pro-life woman as she sought to offer information to women approaching the doors.  As you watch, you'll notice something immediately; the male escort is at least twice the woman's size.  Deathscort neophytes, while you might find this size discrepancy to be helpful, I wouldn't recommend that you strive for the huge size as that may have undesirable health consequences!

Update On The CBN-Shriver Situation

Yesterday I had sent several emails to CBN-Montgomery officers to protest the planned appearance of Mark Shriver.  Today I received a reply from Robert Scanlon, CBN-MC president.  He advised me that Shriver canceled his appearance due to a scheduling conflict.  Indeed, the main CBN page was changed to this:

He also mentioned that their board would discuss this matter at their next board meeting.  Therefore, I'd urge that we continue to write to them to remind them of the bishops' directives that those who flagrantly flout the Church's teachings on faith and morals not be honored and feted at Catholic venues.  The bishops' directive should be a key guiding principle as they select future speakers and guests of honor.

Catholic Business Network Of Montgomery County MD To Host Mark Shriver - Act Now To Forestall This Outrage

In their 2004 Statement on Catholics in Political Life, the nations' bishops had this to say: "The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions."

The Catholic Business Network of Montgomery County is preparing to act in defiance of the bishops, not to mention in defiance of decency, common sense and God's laws regarding human life.  On Friday, Sept 12, the featured speaker at their monthly breakfast will be Mark Shriver - unless of course the light of reason shines upon them and they rescind that invitation.  Here's a picture of their main web page - just in case that invitation gets (ahem!) "disappears" from that site.

My church bulletin alerted me to this.  Unfortunately that bulletin is not online yet.  The advertisement (most likely submitted by CBN) gave a glowing account of his political career and the book that Shriver wrote about his father.  Conveniently missing from that write-up is the unabashed support that Shriver has lent to abortion while in Annapolis.  In his failed bid for US Congress, he ran on a pro-abortion platform.  Even as he was touting his book on his father, he did not apologize for the fact that he took issue with his father's pro-life convictions.

As the bishops made clear in 2004, the CBN acted in appropriately by inviting Shriver to speak at their Catholic community.  Here is the contact information from their website and more contacts.  Please contact these individuals.  Politely but firmly insist that the invitation to Shriver be rescinded.  Please spread this word.

OR - Brigham May Lose His NJ License

Operation Rescue broke the news that a New Jersey judge recommended that Stephen Chase Brigham's last remaining medical license should be revoked and that he pay $30,000 in fines.  Recall that nearly four years ago, it was discovered that Brigham and accomplice Nicola Riley were initiating late-term abortions in New Jersey - where that's illegal - then shipping them to a shoddy abortion facility in Elkton MD to complete the procedure.  Their cover was blown when they botched an abortion and had to take the woman to Johns Hopkins.  Doctors there were suspicious and notified the police.

So for now it seems that Brigham will be impeded from murdering babies in New Jersey.  Sadly that is not the case in Florida, Delaware and Virginia for those states don't require that abortion mill owners be licensed.

These NJ mills operated under the banner of "American Women's Services".  I believe his Maryland-owned mills will continue to see babies murdered.

Ecumenicide - USCCB Channels Neville Chamberlain

First a little history lesson.  Neville Chamberlain was Prime Minister of England during the late 1930s, immediately preceding Winston Churchill.  He and much of Europe watched as Hitler began annexing and conquering middle Europe.  Chamberlain earned notoriety for the Munich Accord that he struck with Hitler that basically threw Czechoslovakia under Hitler's bus.  Chamberlain thought that by this treachery disguised as "dialog", that there would be "peace in our time".  He was absolutely wrong, in spades.

The USCCB has a penchant for not learning from history - or at least not caring about the obvious lessons therein.  In the wake of American reporters being beheaded, Christians being crucified, babies beheaded, other minorities being buried alive and driven from their homes to certain death - all at the hands of Muslims - the USCCB wants to engage in Chamberlain-style "dialogue".  That is absolutely useless.  Are there more "moderate" Muslims?  We can answer that question by asking another: have we heard any "moderate" Muslim roundly denounce the barbarism of the more obviously radical Muslims?  The answer to the second question is the answer to the first.  I have heard of none.  Dialogue with these "moderates" is an absolute waste at best.  Perhaps the US bishops would do well to read this sermon by St. Bernard of Clairvaux as he called Christendom to arms for the Second Crusade.

Why are the bishops concerned about "dialogue"?  Why aren't they proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in all its fullness?  Perhaps if they focused only on their God-given mission, Christians would not be facing near extinction in many parts of the middle east.

UPDATE - I'm afraid the lunacy is getting worse. See this.

Two Abortionists Get Spanked

One of them is Martin Haskell, who murdered babies in the Cincinnati OH area.  The Ohio Department of Health finally ordered him to cease all abortions by August 22.  He has decided not to appeal.  That's one death chamber that will no longer see the butchery of babies.

The other situation literally strikes close to home.  Leroy Carhart, late term abortionist, kills babies not ten miles from my home.  He also does so in Nebraska, so he splits his time between his two death mills.  The Nebraska Department of Health has decided to investigate him, owing to the eight women he has recently injured both in Nebraska and Maryland.  The OR article to which I linked states that "Maryland authorities seem unconcerned with the pattern of injuries inflicted by Carhart's dubious practices.."  No, it's more insidious than just passive indifference.  The abortion-loving administration in Annapolis actively covers for these abortionists and stonewalls any attempt to bring sanity and justice regarding the killing of babies in Maryland.  Put the words "Joshua Sharfstein" in my search box - or just google "Sharfstein NARAL"; you'll get an eyeful of the corruption that exists in Maryland's medical oversight apparatus.

I congratulate the states of Ohio and Nebraska for taking actions against two menaces to babies and women.  As for Maryland, our situation will change if and only if we can "clean house" with the elections this coming November.

Atheist Richard Dawkins Puts Both Feet In His Mouth

Richard Dawkins, Oxford University professor, has made quite a name for himself by embracing and advocating a rabid atheism.  Read this wikipedia article for a list of his screeds publications.

LifesiteNews reports that during a Twitter conversation, Dawkins declared that it "immoral" for a couple expecting a Down syndrome baby NOT to abort.  Of course this statement (and others in the rant) is horrid, but from an atheistic viewpoint, it is completely illogical.

Consider - he's an atheist.  By what objective standard does Dawkins evaluate whether or not it is "moral" to abort a Down syndrome baby or bring him/her to live birth?  He used the term "immoral".  Fine!  But what standards of morality does he use to come to that conclusion?  Herein lies the logical conundrum in which atheists plop themselves - continuously.  Eschewing belief in God, they also jettison any objective standards for evaluating morality.  The best they can do is go by their own whims of the moment - and then try to bamboozle others into following suit.  That's why he blatantly told those people it was the proper thing to murder an innocent baby and that they were wrong if they demured.  In truth, without belief and obedience to God, his opinions have no basis in objective reality.

Now also consider that atheists cannot help but talk themselves into logical paradoxes.  Their very atheism constitutes fundamental rebellion against logic, reason and reality - and the fact that an awareness of God is written in the fabric of each and everyone of us.  Despite their best attempts to stifle that tiny remnant of reason that remains within them, it still pops out ever now and then.  That's why Dawkins uttered the word "immoral".  It was a proverbial "Freudian slip" for him.

Let us pray that Dawkins and other atheists repent.  They WILL believe in God after they meet Him in their particular judgment days.

Lovers Of Ecumenicide Pretend Muslims Worship Our God - They DON'T!

There is a great deal of confusion in the Church today as to whether or not Muslims worship the same God as do we.  In fact many prelates, including our own Cardinal McCarrick, either are honestly confused about the matter or they exploit general confusion so that they may appear to be "ecumenical".  Indeed, nine years ago at Catholic University His Eminence addressed some Muslim dignitaries; in that address he invoked "allah" three times but he gave not one mention to Jesus Christ.  That address, which can be called de facto idolatry, is here.

Cardinal McCarrick and other devotees of ecumenicide often cite Lumen Gentium and the Catechism as their authorities.  They are misreading those church documents.  A few weeks ago Dr. Taylor Marshall posted an article that addressed this question.  I link to it now; it's worth careful study.  He points out that the Church documents state that the Muslims profess to worship the God of Abraham, and profess to hold faith in Him.

It's one thing to profess to worship God.  It can be quite another to worship God in fact.  Here's an example of this occurrence.  We've all heard Nancy Pelosi's protestations of being a "good faithful Catholic".  This is the same Pelosi who went on a rampage when her bishop upheld traditional marriage.  This is the same Pelosi who was honored at Planned Parenthood's gala in March and said that" to be associated with the great Margaret Sanger is a distinct privilege" (she may well "enjoy that privilege" for all eternity if she doesn't repent, but I digress).  She also believes Hamas to be a "humanitarian organization".  So Pelosi may think she's a great Catholic, but reality indicates otherwise.  Similarly, Muslims think they worship the God of Abraham but their actions indicate otherwise.  The more vociferous Muslims state that we don't worship the same deity (more than we can say for Cardinal McCarrick); they just don't accept that they are the ones worshiping a false idol - if not actual demons.

Below is a video of Muslim jihadists burying alive opponents.  This action (among so many others) is evidence that these monsters do NOT worship the One True God.  Parents - you may wish to keep your small children from seeing this.

Blind Bishops Following Governmental Grants

In the August 13th issue of The Wanderer, we see published an article by Dexter Duggan entitled "Bishops on Wrong Side of the Fence".  This is in reference to the US bishops' take on the massive influx of illegal aliens coming across our southern border.  He makes a number of salient points on which I'd like to comment.

First he correctly opines that "no matter how good the original intentions of a political strategy that has produced damaging results, the USCCB needs to make its overriding priority the advocacy of justice and reform in immigrants’ home countries, not lawbreaking focused on forcing entry into one country alone, the United States."  But as we all know, the bishops continue to echo the Obamanista's demand for amnesty and porous borders.  We see NYC Cardinal Dolan sidling up with rabidly pro-abortion Chuck Schumer to shill for "immigration reform".  (Get a load of that picture; it's almost as disgusting as the picture of Dolan yokking it up with the Messiah Most Miserable at the Al Smith Dinner in 2012).  After calling citizens concerned about this massive influx (that is, people like me) "unbiblical", "inhumane" and "un-American", Dolan garnered some well-deserved criticism by Ann Coulter; I stand with her on this.

Moving down the Wanderer article, we see some statements by Barbara Wilson, a California reporter and commentator who has corresponded with the Wanderer.  She too hit some nails on the head.  She said, "As for the hierarchy of the Church, bishops are glib in their comments about caring for the stranger and now say that amnesty is ‘pro-life’  This smacks of too much politics for me.  On top of that, they ignore the millions of dollars Catholic Charities collects on contracts with the feds to house and care for illegals in locations across the county.  I attend church regularly and have never heard that Catholic Charities in the state has a fund to care for immigrants and many churches are offering temporary housing,  thus the dependence on federal largess.  I think their whole attitude is beyond disingenuous and hypocritical, and is, quite frankly, politically motivated. As someone said, ‘What would Jesus say?’”

Ain't it just peculiar how the bishops don't like to mention that teensy detail of the millions of dollars that Catholic Charities received for the express purpose of handling the burgeoning number of illegals - illegals that, at the time of granting, had not yet arrived?  I suppose when one considers that the bulk of funding that Catholic Charities receives comes from federal grants (that is, our tax dollars at work), one might understand the lack of mention here, but even that is too much to swallow.  A number of us have detailed some of the financing and other political maneuverings that have paved the way for this artificially-induced influx of illegals, the bulk of whom are not innocent little tykes fleeing desperate situations.  See here, here, here, here, here,  I realize that these posts (with related links) are a lot to read, but it's important that you invest the time to do so.  This is information that you'll not read in the lame-brain main-stream media, be that media secular or diocesan.

Let's move on now to another excellent article, this one written by Christopher Manion entitled "A Plea to America's Bishops".  He touches upon the tragedy in Iraq and Syria and the fact that Christians and other minorities are literally fleeing for their lives, as countless relatives have been butchered by Muslims.  He also makes mention that the response of many western countries - including the United States - has been one of passivity and indifferentism.  At a parish in Rome where he met with several mid-east refugees, the Pope basically told them to "move on" and "encourage one another".  Cardinal Wuerl's letter to the priests (see below) indicates that the Pope has sent "a significant sum of money" there - money that will run out.  While in Jordan, His Holiness thanked that country for welcoming Syrian refugees, then went on a tirade that laid the onus of the massacre on "arms dealers".  With all due respect to His Holiness, he's all wet on that one.  Those Muslims engaged in jihad are squarely to blame, not "arms dealers".  I don't believe "arms dealers" are supplying the knives that the jihadist monsters use to behead babies nor the scaffolding on which they hang and crucify Christians.  But I digress.

Manion goes on to ask why the US bishops aren't as solicitous for the welfare of these mid-east refuges as they are for the free passage, amnesty and perks for the illegals coming across our southern border.  The fact is that many if not most of these "children" coming across our borders are teen-aged boys - many of them with gang-related tattoos all over their bodies.  "Fleeing gang violence"?  No, they're bringing gang violence, often by recruiting other members in the retention centers.  Whatever else they are, they are not helpless refugees, as are those fleeing for their lives in the mid-east.

Manion ends by asking "that our bishops will focus their efforts on the Iraqi Christians. Ask them to join us in urging our government to welcome them as the legitimate refugees they really are."  Sadly, I don't think that will happen.  The US bishops are too much in the back pockets of the feds.

In this week's edition of the Catholic Standard, there was a goodly bit of focus on the mid-east situation.  Truth be told, how could they ignore that elephant in the living room?  In it was published a letter from Cardinal Wuerl to his priests stating that prayers and Masses should be offered.  Clearly these are needed, but where are the suggestions for practical assistance?  Would His Eminence had been so ethereal if the topic at hand was the illegal immigrants?  I think not!

The bishops will follow the dictates of the Obama regime as much as they can without forfeiting too much of their moral capital.  The Obamanistas, in turn, have shown a disturbing partiality to Muslim leaders and positions.  It may well be that they share the jihadist ambition for the destruction of Christianity in the mid-east; heaven knows they certainly are trying to marginalize Christians in this country.  As long as the US bishops insist on prostituting themselves by accepting and even soliciting governmental grants, they will slavishly follow the lead of the Messiah Most Miserable.  We may safely assume that our borders will not be porous to those from the mid-east AND we may also assume that no federal grant money will be made available to Catholic Charities to accept mid-east refugees.

We must pray for our bishops, even as we boycott every "social justice" appeal for money that they put out.  At this time, their concept of "social justice" comes at the direction of the progressives in power.

Disobedience To God's Laws Regarding Sex Leads To Violence And Pain

About 15 years ago I stumbled upon some tape series recorded by the late Father John Hardon, S.J.  He gave great talks about a variety of Catholic topics and expounded on Church teaching thoroughly.  One of those tape series is called "Catholic Sexual Morality".  I highly recommend this (and the other series of talks) that can be obtained through lifeeternal.org.

EWTN has a snippet of a talk that the late Jesuit gave a few years before his death.  I'll quote a piece of it now: "This professor told us that on many nights, the prisoners were so starved that they were unable to sleep, and so they would talk all night long. One of the subjects they probed was what made the Nazis so cruel. For months, he said, they discussed what could possibly make one human being SQ cruel to another, and finally they found the answer: Every single one of the guards was a sex pervert; there were no exceptions. The relationship between chastity — whose foundation is charity — and justice toward others, is a relationship of cause and effect. Every sexually perverse society becomes a society of murderers. There is no doubt about it."

What do we see now?  Mayhem in Missouri, newborns being left to die by their mothers, fathers brutally murdering their own babies (latest excuse - the infant boy peed on the dad while the diaper was being changed), "knock-out games", etc, etc.  Because we as a nation departed from God and His laws regarding sexuality and marriage, we as a nation have become a pack of murderous perverts and barbarians.

Live Action exposed Planned Parenthood openly advocating violent sexual perversions.  The fact that they believe the young girl is underage only exacerbates an already-horrible atrocity.  As you watch (and please don't let children watch with you), you'll hear this so-called "counselor" tell the young lady that it's perfectly fine to reduce herself to the status of a toy to satisfy the boyfriend's violent perverted fetishes.  How is this different from telling the girl to be a slave/wife to some jihadist animal who would subject her to Sharia law with its whippings, acid burns, etc?  Oh, it's "consensual"?  And what if she no longer "consents" while the boyfriend is riled up in a perverted frenzy?  Too bad, because he'll just carry it out and injure her, maybe even kill her.

But Planned Parenthood doesn't care.  Most likely they'll wind up pregnant and they'll come straight to Planned Parenthood to have their unborn child murdered.

If you want to stop this madness, please frequent the Sacraments and pray the Rosary.  Get yourselves in front of abortion centers and offer Christian witness.  Do NOT give to second collections that go towards CCHD and CRS (more about the latter later).  Now the video.

Border Control - Or Lack Thereof

James O'Keefe is the young fellow who masterminded the sting of the Baltimore ACORN office a few years back and he has been dong these stings ever since.  Take a look.  As you do, recall that some of the 9-11 terrorists were said to have come into the country via the southern border.

From The Ecumenicide Department - Was Tony Palmer Treated Badly?

On July 20, a few weeks ago, Anglican-Evangelical "bishop" Tony Palmer was killed in a motorcycle accident.  He and Pope Francis were apparently good friends, with the Pope going so far as to erroneously call him a "brother bishop".  Palmer was involved in the meeting about which I wrote earler; here are some additional pictures.  Note Kenneth Copeland praying over His Holiness.

The Novus Ordo Watch article to which I linked ends with a prayer that Palmer had a last-minute conversion to the One True Faith, a prayer that we should all echo.  What is quite tragic is that at one point, Palmer had wanted to convert to the Roman Catholic Church - but the Pope advised him not to convert, giving the lame excuse of needing "bridge-builders".  The scandal!  Palmer had wanted the fullness of Christian truth and the sacraments - and the Chief Shepherd dissuaded him!  The Chief Shepherd drove a seeking sheep out of the pasture!   Regardless of what the motivation might have been, Palmer was treated badly.  His legitimate spiritual interests were not given due regard.

Now comes the news that the Holy Father directed a Catholic church in England to celebrate a requiem Mass for Palmer as they would for a Catholic bishop.  This is insane!  I'm sure Palmer was a decent, good person - as evidenced by his frustrated desire to be received into the One True Church.  But he wasn't Catholic, let alone a Catholic bishop!  That requiem Mass was simply inappropriate.

I didn't coin the term "ecumenicide".  However, I use it for it describes the spiritual death that results when false "ecumenism" is exalted at the expense of the truth of the Roman Catholic Church.

New Catholic Outreaches - Due Diligence Required

Let me preface this post by saying that I'm a former member of Mother of God Community (MOG) in Gaithersburg, MD.  I was a member for most of my young adulthood, up till the mid 1990s.  It is part of a larger movement called the "Catholic charismatic renewal".

Some may recall the scrutiny by the Archdiocese of Washington that MOG underwent as evidence mounted that MOG was engaged in thought-reform.  In fact, many other similar groups throughout the country were undergoing similar scrutinies as they too were discovered to be engaging in thought-reform.  In 1997, the Washington Post magazine did a two-part series on MOG.  I normally do not endorse much by the Washington Post, but based on my own first-hand experience, I'd have to say the Post's treatment was fair, even kind to MOG.

Shortly thereafter, I ended my own affiliation with MOG.  Whether or not MOG, as a group, retains cultish characteristics, I've no way of knowing.  I remain friends with many current MOG members.

I began to read many works about thought-reform in general, to get an idea of the dynamics to which I had been subjected.  I read works by Robert Jay Lifton and Margaret Singer (not to be confused with Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger) and others found in the Cultic Studies Journal website.  The information found in those works - and my own experiences - cause me to be rather vigilant to what I recognize as "warning signs" when I come across various organizations.  The organizations may well not be cults, but I've learned to trust my instincts and do some "due diligence" - bringing me to the topic of this post.

Pro-Abortion Escorts - On The Job Training!

The pro-choice clinic escorts (hereinafter referred to as "deathscorts") in the MD/DC/NoVA area are organized under the umbrella of the "Washington Area Clinic Defense Task Force".  They wear their orange vests (I believe they call them "identifiers").  As you can see from the website, they have two-hour training sessions for new recruits from time to time.  I would assume that each of the trainees are given copies of the WACDTF Goals and Guidelines, also downloadable from their website.  I suggest you have that open in another browser window as we continue in this post.

Dear WACDTF neophytes!  A two-hour training session is simply not long enough to touch upon all the situations you might encounter!  While I might be what is called an "anti" in deathscort parlance, I do wish to be of assistance to you.  Therefore, as opportunity presents itself, I will be posting "action shots" so that you may understand what may really be expected of you, be those expectations ever so unspoken!

WACDTF site leader - emulating Bush!

Today at the Spring Street Planned Parenthood (Silver Spring, MD), we saw a goodly number of deathscorts who appeared to be new to us.  It appears that your site leader gave you a demonstration of the "chest block"!  So that all of you might recall the technique, I post it below so that you can review at your leisure.  Note the aplomb with which the site leader imposed herself in the personal spaces of the antis - several times.  I realize that there might have been some chagrin as the black-shirted "anti" actually managed to give to the boyfriend some pro-life literature, however you can't be successful in blocking the truth every time.  But I digress!  You might wish to be very, very careful if you employ this tactic; one wrong move by half an inch could mean assault/battery charges being levied against you.  Now please consult the WACDTF goals and guidelines in your other browser window; do you see this tactic being mentioned?  Odd - I don't!  You might wish to avoid it in its entirety - but what is being expected of you?

Now the video!  Learn your lessons!

Very Good Reason To Say #no2cchd This Weekend

If you are having difficulty selecting one of the various ills of the CCHD to include on your donation refusal note, may I suggest one?  The reason's name is Ralph McCloud.  He is the current director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.  He held that position when he was campaign treasurer for Texas' Wendy Davis, aka "Abortion Barbie".  Although he was closely associated with her during their several years together in Texas politics - and took a prominent role in her campaign against a pro-life incumbent - he claims not to have known anything of her pro-abortion proclivities.  Either the man is 1) lying through his teeth, or 2) is so utterly oblivious to his surroundings that he has no business occupying a position of responsibility at the CCHD.

He also sits on the board of Interfaith Worker Justice.  Isn't it odd how his bio there is completely scrubbed of any mention of Wendy Davis?  They needn't have bothered.  This group was founded by a number of community organizers, including Alinskyian disciple Msgr Jack Egan (founder of the CCHD) and Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany.  Bishop Hubbard also sits on the IWJ board.  For a run-down on the mess he made in Albany, check this out.

What sane person would trust their donation dollars to McCloud?

This Weekend - Say #no2cchd In The Archdiocese Of Washington

In the Archdiocese of Washington, the second collection this weekend will be for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD).  This blog and others have detailed how the CCHD has funneled money to pro-abortion and sodomite-supporting organizations.  Have they improved?  Well, we don't know; their grantee report from last year seems to be, uh, "unavailable".

Instead of money, drop a note in the basket explaining why you'll be diverting your donation dollars elsewhere.

Say #no2cchd!

Strange Papal Treatment Of Two Priests

We all know of the shameful treatment that has been meted out on the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.  Under Pope Benedict XVI, this traditional order was celebrating the Latin Mass and had a stellar number of vocations.  That changed when the order was basically quashed for reasons that are spurious at best.  Moreover, one of the now-elderly founders, Father Stefano Manelli, has been exiled to an out-of-the-way place and essentially placed under "house arrest".  He was even forbidden to leave the place on his 81st birthday to visit his parents' graves and celebrate Mass.  By all accounts Father Manelli is an exemplary priest.  All this is being done with approval from the highest offices of the Vatican.

On the other hand we have the case of Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, a progressive priest who just had his 29-year suspension lifted by Pope Francis.  This is a priest who has called Ronald Reagan a butcher while singing the praises of Daniel Ortega and the Sandanistas, and of Fidel Castro, one of the most brutal of the modern dictators.  He also espouses liberation theology.  He held public office and was suspended by Pope John Paul II when he refused to step down from public office.  There is no record of him recanting his public disobedience.

So here we have it: a backwards set of priorities when it comes to the pope dealing with his priests-sons.  He leaves to languish in exile a faithful priest while lifting the suspension of a priest who is most likely still a very progressive priest.  We all can see what is wrong with this picture.  Why does His Holiness not see it?

Maryland Bishops' Wrong-Headed Letter On Immigration Situation

Last week's Catholic Standard contained a letter released by Maryland bishops on the crisis brought on.

by the increased masses crossing our southern borders.  A few days later the Gazette published an article penned by Blair Lee IV entitled "By Heart or By Head"

Lee raises concerns that citizens of Maryland and of the US at large are raising.  Other concerns involve the real nature of the immigrant population that is now bombarding the borders.  Not all are children; many are gang members posing as children - or in many cases not bothering to disguise themselves.  Oh, technically they may be minors, but many of the 16-year olds are gang members and are actively recruiting for the gangs from fellow immigrants.  Read this account of jihadists and people infected by ebola coming through our all-too-porous southern border.

A good Catholic will consider the plight of these people (assuming they truly are desperate, which many of them really aren't).  However, he/she will prioritize his/her concerns.  The needs of his/her family will come first.  That obligation binds on them by virtue of the Fourth Commandment.  An extension of that will be to place as priority the needs of his/her fellow citizens.  Note: I said "needs", not "preferences".  Regrettably, when we do so, we are judged to be xenophobes, racists and all sorts of unsavory epithets.

It is even more unacceptable when that attitude emanates from our bishops.  Nowhere in that propaganda piece published by the Standard is there any validation of our concerns.  The bishops carry on as though the priorities of good Catholic people were of no account.

Whatever else one might think of the bishops' letter, it is NOT magisterial teaching.  At most, they are delivering their prudential judgment with which we are liberty to disagree.  As you might suspect, I certainly do disagree with it.  Here are some facts to consider as you ponder this question.  I've mentioned before that the bishops may well be complicit in the crime of human trafficking, and they've received some nice-sized federal grants for it.

Lee opines that liberals may be allowing their heart to overrule their heads.  In the bishops' case, I hope that's true, and not that the wallet overrules everything else.

Archdiocese Of Washington! Say #no2cchd

This weekend is the putrefying collection: the second collection will be for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.  It was announced this past weekend at my church and this time they did not try to obfuscate its name (although it remains so un-cleverly disguised on the ADW site).

I've written much on the matter in the past, as have several of my Catholic Media Coalition colleagues. I invite you to study their work as well; see here and here.

Do not drop one red cent into that basket.  Instead you may wish to write a note explaining why the CCHD is not worthy of Catholic donations.  Please share this post, please send it to facebook and tweet it (using the above hashtag).  Let's keep Catholic money from flowing into progressive coffers.

The Pope's 500-Day Anniversary Interview - Regurgitating Desiderata

Yes, I know it's a little dated, since this interview happened last week.  As I read it, I wonder if it was necessary that it happened at all.  From Zenit, we read that Pope Francis gave a "10-point plan for happiness".  I won't rehash the whole list here; please have the interview open in another window so you can refer to it as you read this piece.

As you read it, you'll notice that there is no real reference to the One True Faith.  Anyone can "live and let live".  The question is, should they?  Should that be their attitude as they see family members wallowing in mortal sin?  The closest he comes to the Faith is his fifth point about "sharing Sundays with family"; but even then, there's no mention of attending Mass on that day.  Where does respect for the Third Commandment come into the picture?

I dunno!  Coming from the Pope - or any ordained, for that matter - I might expect some real "points from happiness".  Dare I propose some below?

• If you haven't been to Confession in a while, get there asap.  Prepare beforehand by examining your conscience.  Some basic measures would include the Ten Commandments and the Precepts of the Church.
• Go to Mass on Sundays (to omit Mass on Sundays without good cause is a mortal sin).  If you're in a state of grace and have fasted properly, receive Holy Communion.
• Learn the tenets of Catholicism.  For starters, I might suggest the Baltimore Catechism, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other decent books (This Is The Faith by Canon Francis Ripley is excellent).
• Pray the Rosary and wear a scapular.
• Examine your conscience nightly and make an Act of Contrition.  Remember any faults for your next Confession (especially if they're serious).

I could go on and on, but you get the point.  There will be no real happiness unless one knows, loves and serves God.  The best way to accomplish these is in the Catholic Church.  

Truth be told, when I read these, I was reminded of a song that was popular in the 1970s called Desiderata.  Here are the lyrics.  There isn't any difference between this humanist thing and what the pope pronounced last week.  Oh, there is one small difference; Desiderata mentions the word "God" once; that's one more occurrence of the word than what I saw in the pope's tome.

Those Attempting To Whitewash Papal Gaffes Fall Flat On Their Faces

There's no other way I could have stated that headline.  The very attempts to whitewash papal gaffes and to silence concerned Catholics are inherently lacking in logic and common sense; those attempting to do so only succeed in throwing eggs on their own faces.  One of them is Michael Voris.  Generally I support his work whole-heartedly (I've the Vortexes on this blog to prove it), but this is the third time he's attempted to stifle well-founded criticisms of this blog and others.  The other is Father Dwight Longenecker of the patheos blog "Standing on My Head".  Normally I do not link to patheos blogs, but I will make an exception in this case; I think his logical flaws will be too glaring to miss.

First, let's look at yesterday's Vortex.  The gist of what Voris seems to be saying is that the pope's miscues are of no consequence and thus should not be criticized.  He says that the real culprits are the bishops, for they have frequently disobeyed the previous pontiffs' pronouncements.  He uses as examples the stonewalling on the part of so many bishops regarding the Latin Mass, and their refusal to obey Canon 915.  I fail to detect, however, any mention of an orthodox pronouncement of Pope Francis', that the bishops refuse to obey.

Voris also fails to mention how the pope's own questionable examples have lent de facto permission for the bishops to dissent.  A big "case in point" is the washing of women's feet during the Holy Thursday services.  That also is a violation of Canon Law.  While it is true that this edict has been flagrantly disobeyed in dioceses, including the Archdiocese of Washington by Cardinal Wuerl himself, the previous pontiffs have always adhered to the law in their own celebrations of Holy Thursday.  Not so Pope Francis!  During the two Lents that he has now sat in Peter's chair, he washed the feet of women during the Holy Thursday services - with great aplomb, I might add.  Just how would Voris suggest we raise objections to these bishops, when they are merely following the scandalous example of the Holy Father?  These situations continue to increase.

I also need to - once again - rebut a canard that he has been bandying about in these attempts to dissuade us from voicing our concerns.  He seems to think - or claims to believe - that if we bring these matters to attention, then we will drive otherwise good Catholics into sedevacantists sects or other nonsense.  Such a statement seems to indicate a condescending attitude towards those Catholics - most likely converts.  I assure all concerned that these Catholics are not oblivious bumpkins.  They can see what is happening.  What we hope to do is to assure them that they aren't incorrect in their perception of trouble, and that they don't have to leave the Church as they correctly infer that things are amiss with some of the pope's informal words.  We remind them that these erroneous statements do not constitute Church teaching and thus the Church is still true and need not be abandoned.  Voris is correct in stating that our comments have no impact on Rome (more's the pity), but we write more for the Church at large.


Now let's look at Father Longnecker's post.  He is calling conservative Catholics the "new cafeteria Catholics" because we question the sayings and doings of Pope Francis with the liberals who disobeyed (still do) solemnly proclaimed dogma and the Church's teachings on faith and morals.  Read the comments to the post.  Many of the readers correctly understand the comparison to be an "apples to oranges" comparison.  Of course Longenecker is unable to cite one example of where conservative Catholics have disregarded any defined teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.  At most, all he can cite is differences in prudential judgment and our objections to off-the-cuff remarks that do cast doubt on the Holy Father's opinions of Church dogma; take his recent apology to evangelicals for "suppressing the growth of their communities", for example.

Ignored facts, false comparisons, etc are what Voris and Longnecker resort to, as they try to contort all logic and good sense in defending the indefensible in what the Holy Father is doing/saying.  I don't know what - or who - impels them to tilt their spears at windmills, but they should cease as they are accomplishing worse than nothing.

More From The Ecumenicide Department, Courtesy Of The Pope

The Italian blog Chiesa published a piece today entitled "The Strange Silences Of A Very Talkative Pope".  I'd suggest you read it.  There are many curious facts stated therein.  Like many of my blogging colleagues are doing today, I'll focus on one very bizarre statement, since it strikes right at the heart of Our Lord's command to make disciples of all nations.  That command binds on all baptized/confirmed Catholics, but especially on those endowed with the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

The statement is this, uttered by the Holy Father as he explained his reasons for visiting his Protestant friends in Caserta.  "To extend the apologies of the Catholic Church for the damage that has been done to them by obstructing the growth of their communities.”  My goodness!  This is a statement -curious if not heretical - that needs some serious unpacking!

• The "communities" mentioned in that quote are in fact Protestant churches, churches not in communion with Rome.  By and large they reject most of the Sacraments, which are (among other things) primary channels for sanctifying grace - without which no one gets to heaven.
• How would these "mean ole Catholics" have been "obstructing the growth of these communities"?  Does it take too much imagination that Catholics would have been doing this "obstruction" by bringing wayward Protestants into the Roman Catholic Church which is the One True Church?  That's what we're supposed to do - to bring them to the fullness of truth.  One of the Spiritual Works of Mercy is to "instruct the ignorant".
• If any apologies are required along these lines, the Church should be apologizing to Protestants for not being zealous and dedicated to offering them the fullness of Truth that can be found only within the Roman Catholic Church.  They are floundering about with no Sacraments.  If, for example, they fall into mortal sin and don't avail themselves of Confession, they really think "sole fide" will save them.  Will it?  That's quite a crap shoot, with someone's eternal destination at stake.
• Recall yesterday's post, where the Holy Father is quoted as saying he's not interested in converting evangelicals to Catholicism.  He said "there are so many doctrines we'll never agree on...let's be about showing the love of Jesus".  The doctrines of the Catholic Church are the teachings of Jesus Christ Himself.  Any attempt to trivialize the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church will be rejection of the authentic love of Jesus in favor of a cheap, shallow, sentimental counterfeit of the same.

Many of these Protestant denominations reared their ugly heads during what is erroneously called the "reformation".  Either that or they are break-offs of the original Protestants.  The Church, to retrieve the Protestants into the One True Church, held the Council of Trent and instituted what can be called the Counter Reformation.  Many Catholic orders arose to assist in this effort to reclaim these Protestants.  One of these orders was the Society of Jesus - Jesuits!  Is it not a supreme irony that a Jesuit pope is now contradicting St Ignatius Loyola?  St Francis Xavier, who preached the Gospel to India?  The North American martyrs, who preached to the Indians in New York and Canada?  They must be spinning in their graves.  Let us ask their intercession for their brother Jesuit.