Who Does The Pope Call When Bishops Disgrace The Church?

The scandals have been erupting at a rapid pace this week.  It's almost as if progressive bishops were vying with Planned Parenthood for the "outrage of the month award".  We read that in Germany, a flaming lesbian is running a Church daycare.  This is in the wake of weakened policies of the German Catholic Conference, chaired by Cardinal Reinhard Marx.  In fact, the debacle is occurring in his diocese.  He is one of the pope's top nine advisers.

Stateside, in the Archdiocese of Newark (NJ) an openly gay priest will be assigned to two parishes.  He was fired from Seton Hall University for posting a tweet sympathetic to gay #mowwidge.  As you look at this article from ChurchMilitant.tv, notice Father Warren Hall's picture.  He's not in clerics, but in the context of the picture it is a blessing for he does appear to be "flipping the bird".  How he came to be assigned to parishes, where he can spew forth his spiritual and moral poison, is beyond me.  Better for everyone - Father included - had he been reassigned to a monastery to spend a good chunk of time in prayer and reparation for his public embrace of mortal sin.

I mentioned the Planned Parenthood videos.  How have some of our, uh, "intrepid" bishops reacted?  Well, there's this from Archbishop Blaise Cupich of Chicago.  It starts out well enough but soon segues into "seamless garment" pabulum.  Ladies and gentlemen, can we agree that immigration concerns don't amount to a hill of beans in comparison to the butchery and sale of babies?  Apparently the good archbishop seems to be befuddled by that obvious distinction.

But at least Cupich made a statement, lame and silly that it is.  From the Archdiocese of Washington we hear crickets.  Oh, the Catholic Standard had a rather paltry blurb deep in the inside of the rag speaking of the impending Congressional investigation, but that's it.  That blurb is dwarfed by the "walk with Francis" hoopla.  By the way, if they really want to "walk" in service of the Church, why not promote some "walking" and prayer in front of the several abortion mills within the Archdiocese of Washington?

We saw that Bishop Farrell of Dallas, Texas seems to be suffering from the same confusion about the immigration issue as does Cardinal Dolan.  Both seem hell-bent on obfuscating the difference between those here legally, that is, respecting our rule of law, versus illegally, in defiance of our laws.  Why, a cynical person (ahen!) might be tempted to believe that Farrell and Dolan are receiving and spouting talking points furnished by some progressive sugar-daddy, since they sound so very similar!  But we know that's just pure coincidence, right?   Right?  (cough!)  The Archdiocese of Atlanta is taking the immigration nonsense a step further.  It is giving refuge to an illegal immigrant who cut her legally-ordered monitor bracelet from her ankle.  Lord only knows how many other criminals they are harboring.

Ladies and gentlemen, there are solid bishops out there.  I will touch on them in another post.  Suffice it to say for now that the clerics mentioned above (and many more) are making fools of themselves and casting dishonor upon Holy Mother Church.

Regrettably the pope is not helping much.  He seems to recognize the Church's utter lack of moral credibility in the eyes of the world, but what he proposes as a solution will only worsen the problem.

He has asked some prominent individuals to assist in improving the Church's image in the media, forgetting that the Church, being the Bride of Christ, is not to be concerned with worldly image but rather pleasing and being obedient to Jesus Christ.  Didn't Our Lord say that the world would hate us, that is, the Church, as much as it hated Him?

So who are these individuals?  Well, they include Oprah Winfrey, Matt Damon, and Ari Emmanuel: three of the people who are least qualified to counsel Catholic clergy on matters of Church "image".  I must admit when I first saw this news, I thought it was a spoof; sadly it isn't.

Winfrey has made no secret of her new-age dalliances, going so far as to announce the founding of her own "church".  Steeped in deadly spiritual error as she obviously is, she has absolutely no credibility to assist the Bride of Christ in anything.  She is in deep need of repentance herself.  Does the Church now literally take cues from someone under the influence of Satan?

Then there's Ari Emmanuel.  Besides being a prominent Hollywood agent, he's the brother of Rahm Emmanuel, mayor of Chicago and Obama-buddy.  Of all the Hollywood agents, why was this one picked?  On the other hand, should the pope reinstate the fish-on-Friday discipline, Emmanuel might prove to be helpful since his brother Rahm knows how to get his hands on lots of fish.

The pope's priorities are woefully misplaced.  The Church is not about "image".  It is about preaching the truth of Jesus Christ and saving souls from hell.  We know from Our Lord Himself that Satan wields power in this world; therefore, to seek a favorable "image" from worldly institutions is to coddle favor with minions of the devil.  Let our clergy (right up to the pope) start obeying Our Lord by proclaiming His Truth in its entirety and administering the Sacraments.  Period.