From what I can gather, Mr. Gorsuch seems to be a good choice to fill the seat vacated by the death of Antonin Scalia. As a judge of the U.S. 10th District Court of Appeals, he ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby against the ACA gremlins that tried to force them to provide contraceptives for employees. In his acceptance speech this evening, he decried the de facto legislation that progressive judges do from the bench. Conservative Review has other highlights about him.
Many pro-life groups (see here and here for example) express hope for this nominee. Of course he faces a rigorous Senate hearing, particularly in light of some of the Democratic temper tantrums that have been occurring. We need to pray and lobby our senators to confirm him.
Now let me say a word to my #nevertrump friends. If you had your way several months ago, this quality nomination would have remained a far-distant dream of ours. Indeed, can one imagine the scoundrel that Clinton might have nominated, if you had your way? Alright, I didn't merely have a word with you; it's a rebuke but one you earned. I hope you are learning your lessons.
Although I saw the reprint on the website of the Diocese of Green Bay Wisconsin, it is an article published by the Catholic News Service - the official media outlet for the USCCB. Read it, paying attention to the last few paragraphs. Their big concern is the reduced funding that the USCCB might experience, along with USCCB jobs.
Now, once again, guess who's really paying for all this resettlement? One of those funding sources can be found staring at you from your mirror. Your tax dollars are being diverted to the USCCB for the benefit of poorly vetted "refugees" while many of you are struggling to support your own families.
Meanwhile, some so-called "Catholic" leaders scribbled off a letter to President Trump touting the "seamless garment" nonsense as authentic Catholic teaching. With immigration are progressive pet projects such as abolition of death penalty, climate change junk science. Let's look at some of these organizations, shall we?
We examine the web page of Columbian Center for Advocacy and Outreach. Immediately you can see their focus. They address the progressive hot-button issues, while uttering not one peep about baby-murder, euthanasia, evils of homosexual conduct, protection of marriage. Are we surprised?
Then there's Catholic Mobilizing Network. I always find it helpful to browse an organization's board of directors to get an understanding of the mindsets of those running the group. Immediately we see trouble in the presence of Ralph McCloud. Not only has he presided over the diversion of Catholic dollars to anti-God organizations as long-time head of the CCHD, but he was treasurer of the campaign for Wendy "Abortion Barbie" Davis to the Texas legislature. Put his name in the search box at the top of this blog. One of their sponsors is the Congregation of St. Joseph. They too are all about progressive causes, with an unhealthy smattering of new age poison thrown into the mix (see here, scroll all the way down).
Regarding some of the other organizations, just put "Catholic Climate Covenant" and "Leadership Conference of Women Religious" in that search box to see just how far they have wandered from the One True Faith.
If anyone from President Trump's administration is reading this, please be assured that the letter you received and the racket emanating from the USCCB is not rooted in the Catholic faith. Real Catholics are delighted that President Trump is in the White House. Mr. Gorsuch's nomination seems very promising. We thank the president for taking action to control the immigration situation in the United States.
This weekend President Trump signed an executive order to institute vetting for incoming immigrants and refugees. Less than ten countries are of interest, and he has temporarily suspended the admission of those from Syria. Well, while the Messiah Most Miserable is history, the Minions Most Mindless aren't. Don't we all think it rather remarkable that so many of them could be so quickly mobilized to show up at airports and make oafs of themselves? If this seems to have the paw prints of George Soros all over this, that is a reasonable hypothesis. Legal efforts have been launched to block the order, and these lawyers are from groups funded by Soros.
To hear these people carry on, one might think that President Trump is lining immigrants up and having them shot by firing squads. Not to be outdone, the USCCB is jumping on that bandwagon. Here's a "statement" from Cardinal Cupich, in which he blubbers about this "dark moment in U.S. history". Cardinal Cupich knows a thing or two about "dark moments". He certainly caused one when, as bishop of Spokane, he forbade his priests from participating in the 40 Days for Life campaign.
Just so that my readers don't have to rely on second-hand accounts, I make available the full text of the order. Please read it. To the right are some highlights.
The mainstream media is being dishonest. The USCCB and many of our bishops are being dishonest. The latter may well have some, uh, "ulterior motives", shall we say. Over two weeks ago, well before the inauguration, Brigitte Gabriel of Act For America released some information about the handling of refugees in the U.S. under the Obama administration. Pay close attention to her between the 0:32 and 1:47 marks.
Did you catch that? The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Migration and Refugee Service is the largest private refugee resettlement agency in the US. That means lots and lots of $$$$$$ have been flowing into USCCB coffers, and it has been coming from your tax dollars - $82 million in 2014, to be precise. Doesn't this remind us all of the opening of the Mexican border, and how Catholic Charities (particularly the Texas affiliates) made out like bandits with our tax dollars while they were handling those pouring over what was our border with Mexico? Deja vu?
By the way, regarding the point she was making about Saudi Arabia, they do have the capability of handling refugees.
There are several reasons why the progressives aren't interested in pursing the option to the left.
First, the refugees can't vote for the Democrats over there. Second, they cannot serve as the cheap labor to which Ms. Gabriel referred. Third, over there they are less likely to contribute to the collapse of western civilization, a prime goal of the progressives.
I hope this sheds a balanced perspective on the latest snit-fit of the progressives, especially those in high places in the Church hierarchy.
On Tuesday I reported how Cardinal Wuerl sent a letter to priests basically telling them to be derelict in their duties to lead those in mortal sin to repentance. Yesterday Church Militant picked up on another article in the Catholic Standard that reported how Wuerl gave the same message to seminarians in the archdiocese. I think in that address he went a step further in counseling for evil. I quote: "Pastoral dialogue [involves] the development of conscience and also the expression of a level of support or confirmation for the judgment the individual is making about the state of his or her own soul."
Notice the part about "support or confirmation for the judgment.." Well, what if that judgment is objectively wrong? What if that judgment leads to the commission of mortal sin? How can a priest - or any faithful Catholic - support a "judgment" like that? He can't. He must warn the individual of the sinfulness of his/her course of action and in no unambiguous terms call that person to repentance. If the priest refuses to do so, he endangers his own soul owing to his de facto cooperation with the sin of that individual.
Below I post a video detailing the nine ways that Catholics can veer into cooperating with the sin of others. Pay close attention to "number nine", for that is primrose path to hell down which Cardinal Wuerl would usher his priests and seminarians. In doing so, he too seems to be cooperating with mortal sin via "counsel".
Wednesday I posted about the thinly-disguised war that Pope Francis seems to be waging on truth. That is pretty serious considering that Jesus Himself said that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Truth is immutable. It is NOT subject to manipulation by human consciences. Rather, it is the human conscience that must conform and be subject to truth. But, if the proper role of truth is trivialized, then we can see how subjective "judgments" can be regarded as idols.
Pray for our pope and bishops that they come to their senses. Pray for our seminarians and help them become inoculated to the mental and spiritual poison being fed to them in their formative years.
Yesterday I posted how Fra Matthew Festing, Grand Master of the Knights of Malta and by all accounts an exemplary Catholic, was strong-armed by Pope Francis into resigning his position. A day later, Albrecht von Boeselager, the Grand Chancellor who Festing dismissed because he allowed a Malta organization to distribute condoms, was reinstated. Most of us believe that this is yet another attack on Catholic morality. Don't forget what Pope Francis said at the end of the Extraordinary Synod on the Family over a year ago: we faithful Catholics have to "mature". However, there might have been an additional reason to reinstate Boeselager.
Today I saw on Pewsitter a link to a Vatican press release, published last year. It announced the appointment of three new board of director members for the Vatican Bank. one of them is Georg von Boeselager. Yes, he and the disgraced-but-reinstated Condom Chancellor are brothers. If anyone believes this is a coincidence (note the timing of events), they are inexcusably naive.
This sheds some new light - and questions - as to why the pope has literally attempted to seize control of a sovereign state. Whether or not that attempt will hold water I don't know; I don't see how it can. Other bloggers have pointed out that if this attempt stands, then the Vatican would have no rational defense if Italy were to attempt an annexation of the Vatican.
I believe more on this rather sordid matter will be coming to light soon. Stay tuned.
All real humor contains generous amounts of truth. Sometimes it takes humor to get that truth across. So while we pray and offer reparations for sins being committed by the Vatican officials, we can also relate only too well to these videos - at least I can.
Two weeks ago I wondered aloud about the dictatorial streak that was being displayed as he began his meddling in the internal affairs of the Knights of Malta. I had proposed earlier that he was emulating Juan Peron, the infamous dictator who ruled his own native Argentina with an iron fist. It is now becoming evident that what was a minor "streak" is evolving into a full-blown modus operandi. No one who is watching his growing encroachment into the governance of the Knights of Malta can pretend otherwise.
The Knights' Grand Master, Fra Matthew Festing, wascompelled to resign his position (a life-time appointment, by the way) by Pope Francis. Recall that the Festing presided over the ouster of Grand Chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager when the latter was implicated in a scheme to use the KofM's charitable arm to distribute condoms. The Lepanto Institute, headed by Michael Hichborn, produced evidence pointing to Boeselager's guilt. Apparently the latter has friends in high Vatican places. Because Festing resisted the pope's arm-twisting and attempts to meddle in the internal governance of a sovereign state, he was ousted and now some "delegate" will be at the KofM's helm. The Vatican took umbrage that Boeselager's dismissal occurred without "dialogue", but then seems to have given the heave-ho to Festing without "dialogue"; go figure!
But the sordid tale gets worse. After Festing was forced to resign, Boeselager was reinstated into his old position. So the Catholic official who upheld the teachings of the Church was kicked to the curb by Pope Francis while the dissident enabler of anti-life activities was affirmed in his sin. Life Site News also touched on this travesty. Read the comments. One reader asked a very astute question in reaction: "No truth anymore?" To me, the question isn't merely rhetorical; rather it gets to the heart of a lot of the ills with this papacy.
Yesterday I wrote how Pope Francis obscured the concept of objective truth. I believe that is a key theme to so much of his mischief, whether or not it is deliberate on his part. He seems intent on denying the existence of objective truth. Witness how he mocks Catholics who are faithful to the Church's timeless teachings as "rigid", "neo-palegian", etc. With Amoralis Lamentia, we see the none-too-subtle exaltation of subjective "conscience" over the objective truths of God's revealed moral teachings. Truth is timeless and eternal. It is immutable. But those who revel in sin wish to deny that, for truth demands accountability. Eliminate truth, they reason, so that accountability is likewise quashed. I link now to a post written by Billy Graham three years ago that touches on the topic of truth versus lie, good versus evil.
That is why five years ago Father Guarnizo was ejected from my parish. He stood for truth against the politically correct gay agenda and the ever-pandering DC chancery. That is why the pope continues his efforts to marginalize Cardinal Burke (and the other faithful prelates). That is why Fra Festing was ejected from his leadership role, in favor of the unfaithful Boeselager. Rorate Caeli's commentary raises the question of whether or not the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI was obtained in a similar manner. That is a valid question.
We'll see more instances of truth being rejected for oh-so-enticing lies. We need to keep praying, with Rosaries in hand. We need to keep speaking out.
In a message for the World Day of Communications, Pope Francis urged media personnel to tell "good news". Why? The reason is, in his own words, to "work at overcoming that feeling of growing discontent.." (The full text of his address can be read here.) Now what is wrong with that? Plenty! Those in the media have the responsibility of telling the plain truth that is free of spin, be that spin "happy" or "sad". It is NOT the media's job to "overcome feelings" or instill them or to engage in any kind of emotional manipulation whatsoever. Any "spin", be it "happy" or "sad", is a distortion of truth and thus a sin against the Eighth Commandment.
The pope's message gets worse as we read along, for the very concept of truth itself is assailed. He said (I kid you not) "Life is not simply a bare succession of events, but a history, a story waiting to be told through the choice of an interpretative lens that can select and gather the most relevant data. In and of itself, reality has no one clear meaning. Everything depends on the way we look at things, on the lens we use to view them. If we change that lens, reality itself appears different. So how can we begin to “read” reality through the right lens?"
I was going to touch on another related topic in this post, but there's so much to unpack in that gobblygoop quote that the other topic will have to wait for another post. I'll do this in bullet format.
In and of itself, reality has no one clear meaning. What kind of Jesuitical nonsense is that? Reality is truth! It stands on its own, regardless of subjective "interpretation". Jesus declared that "I am the way, the truth and the life". That is reality - but now the pope says what Jesus said has no clear meaning? Well, given that this statement seems to be the pope's mindset, we can see how he justifies Amoralis Lamentia, the "breeding like rabbits" crack and his meddling in the Knights of Malta (that is the other topic to which I alluded earlier)
Everything depends on the way we look at things. That is the warped underpinnings of the permission given to adulterers to receive Holy Communion because "the way they look at things" they aren't steeped in mortal sin. A rude awakening awaits them.
Read reality through the right lens Now wait a minute! He just said that reality has no one clear meaning! So how can there be a "right lens" for reality? He just contradicted himself big-time!
He did say that for Christians the "right lens" is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Frankly I take no comfort in that. What does he think the "right lens" might be for a Muslim? The koran? How about for an atheist? Either the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Truth for all or it isn't the truth at all! Of course the Gospel is the truth that stands on its own.
It would appear that Pope Francis does not believe in objective reality. How then can he believe the truths that Jesus revealed through His Church, truths that are the pinnacle of objective reality?
Long-time readers of this blog will recall the key roles that Pope Francis gave to Cardinal Wuerl during the two synods that were the cover for culminated in Amoralis Lamentia (see here and here). Therefore it is no surprise that the Cardinal is singing the dubious praises of AL, giving great cause for concern for the over-emphasis on the role of subjective "conscience".
In the online version of the Catholic Standard, an article was released today dealing with a letter that the Cardinal sent to archdiocesan priests regarding Amoralis Lamentia. As you read it, note the incorrect exaltation of subjective conscience. Basically what he says is that all priests can do is remind their parishioners of what the Church teaches, but at the end of the day each person will do what he/or she wants based on their "conscience". Completely lacking is any mention of the fact that if these "consciences" run counter to the Teachings of Jesus Christ, then any acquiescence to these "consciences" (in a saner time, they were called "temptations to sin") would be sinful - perhaps mortally sinful.
Note this quote from the Standard: "Our task as pastors of souls is to provide the guidance that we hope will lead the person to more fully grasp the teaching and make a right judgment,” the cardinal wrote. Noting the catechism’s teaching on forming and following one’s conscience, he added that priests “are called to walk with the faithful so that they might grasp, understand and make their own the teaching of the Church… But the person, not the priest, makes the final personal conscientious judgment.”
Do you notice how there's no mention of any remedy when these "final personal judgments" lead to mortal sin? Please note that if a person continues in an action that he/she knows goes counter to the Teachings of Jesus in matters of marriage and sexuality, they already know it's a grave matter and they most likely have deliberated on it. I believe those are the elements of mortal sin. Remedy most certainly is needed in those cases for these people imperil their own souls and those of others (including their accomplices in adultery).
The article ends with a thinly-disguised dig at the four cardinals who issued their dubia. It's not too surprising that Wuerl might do that since he most likely had some hand in the proceedings of the sin-nods, if not the crafting of Amoralis Lamentia itself. However, not all share his opinion. Last month Msgr Charles Pope of the Archdiocese of Washington wrote a piece that appears in the National Catholic Register. In that piece the Msgr stated his support of the dubia and restated clear teaching that de facto adulterers cannot be admitted to Holy Communion, "consciences" notwithstanding.
Faithful Catholics, Msgr Pope is quite correct. Precisely because he's correct and is a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, we need to lift him up in prayer and to make plain to the DC chancery that our eyes are open, lest he be subject to retribution, much like Father Guarnizo was five years ago when he withheld Holy Communion from a practicing lesbian. I've also written before about the harassment being inflicted on the Knights of Malta. Today things there took an ugly turn as we learned that the pope demanded the resignation of the Knight's Grand Master, Fra Matthew Festing. All Festing did was what was required of him in dismissing the condom-dealing official. Might Msgr Pope suffer similar vindictiveness? We must watch and pray.
Yesterday I commented on the "pussy hat" that many deluded women wore to the Women's March. It turns out that the hat was somewhat innocuous compared to some of the get-up that many women wore. To wit:
As I said yesterday, this is a far cry from what I remember the feminist movement of the 1960s to be. Can anyone believe that Susan Anthony, Elizabeth Stanton or any of the other earlier pioneers would have approved of this nonsense?
These gals claim that they want to be respected. Respected for what? There is a degree to which respect must be earned. As you can see, many - maybe most of the women in attendance dressed and acted in ways demonstrating that they have no sense of dignity as human beings, let alone women.
These gals claim that they were concerned with a variety of issues. Climate change, environmentalism, etc-etc, yada-yada was among them. See how they demonstrated their concern for the environment as they departed from the orgy. Great example, right? By the way - I attended a number of Tea Party rallies a few years ago. I can attest that we know better than these progressives. Here's what they left behind.
Well, perhaps George Soros can clean up the mess. It seems that his paw prints are all over this debacle. According to this New York Times article, he has financial ties with about 50 of the "partners" that produced this orgy. Recall that he was also one of Hillary's biggest donors. These progressives like to pretend that the march was a "spontaneous groundswell". Well, when big bucks influence things a bit, I'm sure it can be seen to be "spontaneous". Right!
The presence of Soros influence and cash might be a reason why a pro-life women's organization was given the heave-ho. Initially they were permitted to be a partner, but after some very nasty tweets (and perhaps other financially-based incentives), their status was rescinded. I will now link to a Church Militant piece on the matter. Embedded in that article is an interview with the president of that pro-life organization.
Now I will broach another troubling aspect of yesterday's March to Perdition. These days, it seems that these affairs are never quite complete without some dissident Catholics literally selling their souls by striking hands with demonic forces. Two Catholic institutions of higher learning (?) sent busloads of their students to the march in Minnesota. I thought these schools were supposed to be forming the hearts and minds of students so that they would follow Christ and His Church, helping them towards eternal salvation. Yesterday these schools sacrificed the souls of their students on the idolatrous altar of political correctness. In Chicago, a bunch of Franciscans joined the perverts and pro-aborts in their revelry. I embed a tweet from one of their Franciscan buddies. He denies supporting abortion. Well, be that as it may, they all gave aid and comfort to pro-aborts. Even if they were initially unaware of the nature of the event, they were duty-bound to leave as soon as they did become aware. Since these perverts were so brazen in their conduct, the Franciscans could not have remained oblivious for long. They simply didn't care. Now the tweet.
The orgy is going on as I type this. There are live feeds available and they are quite revelatory. I just finished Madonna spewing forth nonsense and profanity. Then some preacher started praying to "mother-father god"; heaven only knows just what demon(s) were summoned by that incantation. This is not the first such debacle but this one features a new signature fashion fad. It's called the "pussy hat".
I did not attend any of the counter-protests as I was in front of the Spring Street Planned Parenthood. This is in Silver Spring, MD which is just north of the DC-MD border. Spring Street runs east-west. Earlier in the morning we saw quite a few people walking south on both First and Second Streets to the Silver Spring metro to attend the march. I caught a few of these on the video below.
According to Yes magazine, the fad is ostensibly to "make a collective visual statement". That it certainly is doing, but they may be making some Freudian slips with those statements. Even the article's title, "What's Up Pussy Hat?" probably tips their hand a bit. As you can see, the thing features ears that resembles cat ears. But who are we kidding? The term "pussy" is an obvious double entendre and a deliberate one at that, as the term "pussy" is a vulgar term for female genitalia.
I'm old enough to remember when feminists hated being viewed as "sex objects" and that they wanted not to be valued as a sum of sex parts but for their intellect. No more! With gimmick like "pussy hats" they clearly if unconsciously communicate that they believe their identities are to be found as, well, sex objects!
As I say in the video, Betty Friedan must be spinning in her grave. However, unless these women (and their ilk) repent and convert to Christianity, they greatly increase their chances of spending eternity in hell.
Our Lady of Akita warned that bishops would be pitted against bishops. Again Our Lady of Fatima she prophesied that the final battle would revolve around the family. Today we are seeing both these words bear fruit as we see the smoke of Satan issuing forth - with some of it coming from the pope.
Today Catholic Herald published details of an exchange between the pope and some Lutheran pilgrims from Finland. He told them that "the intention of Martin Luther 500 years ago was to renew the Church, not divide her". How he divines such an intention is beyond me. Luther's rebellion spawned many wars, but that's not the worst of it. His errors led countless millions into eternal damnation as souls cut themselves off from the One True Church. Unless there is evidence of Luther's repentance and reversion to the Faith, we have reason to believe he's not in a good place. His life is a lesson to us, true, but it is a lesson in the sorry effects of rebellion, disobedience and deliberate eschewing of the Sacraments.
That being said, why, oh why, is the Vatican commemorating Luther by having its post office issue stamps commemorating him? Can it be because Luther, who was an ordained priest, jettisoned his vows of celibacy and married? Well, if they really want to showcase people in Church history who have made mockeries of marriage, perhaps they should issue stamps commemorating King Henry VIII of England. They could make several of him, showing him with different wives. Maybe they'll want to go back to the time Christ walked the earth and have one commemorating Herod and Herodias. Perhaps I shouldn't be saying these things because I might just give them ideas.
Meanwhile, dissident bishops are becoming more brazen. We heard last week of the scandal being instituted by the bishops of Malta in permitting adulterers to receive Holy Communion to the detriment of their eternal well-being. One of them, Bishop Mario Grech of the Diocese of Gozo, is compounding his disobedience, heaping disgrace upon his miter, by ordering his priests, under pain of suspension, to distribute Holy Communion to known adulterers. This insult to Our Lord Himself has precedence, some of it stemming from my own parish almost five years ago. Recall how the Archdiocese of Washington ejected Father Marcel Guarnizo when Father would not give Holy Communion to a flagrant lesbian. I've no doubt that had Father Guarnizo been incardinated in this diocese, that he would have been suspended.
In contradiction of the bishops of Malta and in standing for the teachings of Jesus Christ, three bishops of Kazakhstan - including Bishop Athanasius Schneider - released a letter urging that we pray for Pope Francis to revoke "guidelines" such as those issued by the Maltese bishops. The letter reiterates that God's teachings on marriage and the Eucharist are sacrosanct and immutable.
The bishops of Malta are again being quite flagrant - so flagrant that they cannot be ignored. If the pope pretends not to notice, I believe we will know where he truly stands on these matters.
Sometimes Crud gets it right. This time is occasioned by the publishing of a commentary by Michael Pakaluk, professor at Catholic University of America. He is troubled by the obvious input of Archbishop Victor Fernandez. He points out that several of the passages in AL, including some from Chapter 8, were lifted almost verbatum from earlier writings done by Fernandez. Apparently the same can be said for some passages from both Evangelii Gaudeum and Laudato Si.
I've written a bit about Fernandez before; see this anthology of posts. For obvious reasons, he could well be nick-named "bishop kissy-mouth". At any rate, Pakaluk delves more into the errors of Fernandez's statements and his misquotes of prior church writings in an attempt to justify the twisted conclusions embedded in Amoris Laetitia. Pakaluk therefore suggests that "Amoris needs to be taken back to the shop" and while they're at it, to address the other ambiguities broached by the dubia. Agreed.
When Laudato Si was being formulated, the Vatican invited many progressive hacks to conduct seminars and conferences in preparation. Jeffrey Sachs, John Schnellnhuber and Naomi Klein come immediately to mind. All of these people are flagrant proponents of "population control". Within a preparatory report for Laudato Si called "Climate Change and the Common Good itself is an unmistakable call for "population control"; see this post for the direct quote. I also link to another post on environmentalism junk science and suggest that you review the videos embedded therein.
In 1968, a left-wing ideologue named Paul Ehrlich released a book called "The Population Bomb". This tome helped the population-control/enviromentalis juggernaut get underway. In this book he advocated mandatory population control. I quote: "we must have population control at home, hopefully through a system of incentives and penalties, but by compulsion of voluntary methods fail. We must use our political power to push other countries into programs which combine agricultural development and population control." The "voluntary methods", of course, include contraception and abortion. As far as "compulsion", we see that in Communist China today with their barbaric forced abortions to enforce their "one child policy". The man is flat-out advocating for big government (a prime progressive goal in and of itself) to engage in gulag-style mass murder of infants that would make both Hitler and Stalin resemble Mother Teresa in comparison. It is not too far-fetched to guess that this man has much blood on his hands and is in grave danger off damnation as he continues to espouse his hell-spawned convictions
Incredibly, though, it seems that the Vatican, far from calling this man to repentance for his advocacy of murder, intends to give to him a forum by which he can continue to promulgate his anti-life and anti-God screeds.
The venue is a conference on "Biological Extinction", sponsored by the Pontifical Academies for the Sciences and Social Sciences, to be held late Feb - early March. The program for this gab-fest is one huge propaganda piece telling the cliche-lie that mankind is ruining Mother Earth and we'd better do something about it yesterday or we'll all die". See the LifeSite link for the program. C-Fam listed a number of bald-faced lies committed by Ehrlich; I wonder how many will be in that paper that Ehrlich presents to that overpopulation hootenany next month.
By the way - who is paying for all these bogus conferences? I'm beginning to think that a boycott of the Peter's Pence collection might be in order..
The Catholic blogosphere is alight with the scandalous statement of the bishops of Malta, erroneously claiming that adulterers can be admitted to Holy Communion. LifeSite News has details of the scandal, with links to the original document AND to the Vatican's L'Osservatore Romano. The latter published the Maltese heresy, giving it an unmistakable aura of approval from the Vatican.
The sections of the Maltese heresy to which LSN refers are paragraphs 9 and 10. Notice how it's peppered with references to Amoralis Lamentia (my name for the AL heresy seems most appropriate in this context). I'm going to unpack this in "bullet format".
"divorced person, living in a new relationship, manages, with informed and enlightened conscience, to acknowledge and believe that he or she are at peace with God, he or she cannot be precluded from participating in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist". That's a mouthful, not to mention a mountain of pure spiritual poison.
"informed and enlightened conscience" In the context of justifying both mortal sin and sacrilege, this phrase is a misnomer. It is God's teachings, as communicated through the Catholic Church in her 2000-year old tradition, that is the only true enlightenment. What the Maltese bishops are calling "informed and enlightened conscience" is one that has been seduced and deformed by progressivism.
"he or she cannot be precluded" These bishops, in addition to thumbing their noses at both Canons 915 and 916, are setting souls, already mired in mortal sin, on the road to sacrilege and (if the situation isn't soon corrected) eternal damnation. They are doing the same for their own souls.
"manages..to acknowledge and believe" Doesn't that sound like a bit of a process involving some effort? It's a tacit admission that it takes some considerable mental gymnastics and convolution to pretend that God's Holy and Immutable Law now allows for mortal sin to continue and for that sin to be compounded by sacrilege.
"There are complex situations where the choice of living as brothers and sisters becomes humanly impossible and gives rise to greater harm." More poison
"complex situations" The only time complexity would arise is if someone did not want to obey the Sixth Commandment. The Ten Commandments are very simply stated. They are not complex at all.
The commandments are simple to understand. But they often are not easy to obey. The words "simple" and "easy" are not synonyms. God's grace is needed to obey the Commandments. God's grace will only be available to those who will submit to His will and who will do what is necessary to obey Him.
"greater harm"? What harm can exist that is greater than the loss of salvation and the condemnation to hell for all eternity? One unrepentant mortal sin will condemn a soul to hell. Adultery is one such sin. These Maltese bishops, by this "guidelines", will numb the consciences of such adulterers so that they have no incentive to take serious stock of their lives. Again, these bishops not only imperil the souls of their flocks, but their own as well.
My previous sentence might just apply to Pope Francis himself if he continues to stonewall the four cardinals and ignore the dubia. He is trifling with the souls of millions of people - perhaps his own, as well.
There is one tiny silver lining in this cloud. I've seen talk in traditional Catholic circles of people wishing to flee to a Catholic land and not fight this sick culture any more. Malta was high on many of their lists. I hope this most recent event has served notice on them that they cannot attempt to run from this fight. We must stand and act like the Church Militant that we are. If we keep running and ceding ground to progressivism and evil, eventually there will be nowhere else to hide.
I lived in Montgomery County MD most of my life so I'm well aware of the liberalism that oozes everywhere. The southern part of the county, close to the DC border, is the worst section of the county. Bethesda is in the middle of that, and that is the scene of one of the latest acts of stupidity.
In Bethesda is a "restaurant" called Community Restaurant and Lounge. Even the name has such a nice progressive ring to it, doesn't it? Well, this dump is raising money for Planned Parenthood by selling a special burger. They are calling this burger "golden showers". That term refers to a particularly disgusting sexual perversion. And how much do they want for this food item with the less-than-appetizing name? A mere $20.00, and I'm sure that's before tax! Look, things around here might be a bit more pricey than in other areas of the country, but..$20 for a food item named after a gross, diseased-filled sexual perversion? Seriously?
Some people have objected to the management on the dump's facebook page. The individual who runs the facebook page simply insulted the complainants. So much for customer relations.
Anyway, please pass on the word to avoid that place like the plague. Not only do we not want our money going to abortionists, but heaven only knows what might be found in the substances they refer to as food.
Let's see now. There was the thinly-disguised manipulation of the two synods on the family during the past two years. There was his dismissal of the Pontifical Academy of Life. There was the heavy-handed treatment meted out to Cardinal Burke and others. There was him flat out telling Cardinal Muller "because I'm the pope" when the latter asked why he was ordered to dismiss three good priests from the CDF.
Now, in the wake of him trying to meddle in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, we see this from Catholic News Service. (HT to Vox Cantoris for alerting us to this). This commission claims their authority relates "to the authority he exercises directly and immediately over all baptized faithful, whether lay or clerical".
There is no such authority, save for matters having to do with Catholic faith and morals. Are we bloggers obliged to submit to "investigations" owing to our concerns regarding Amoris Laetitia? Progressives tend to snoot and carry on about "freedom", but when they assume positions of authority, they quickly abuse their powers; take the "politically correct" speech codes on liberal campuses for example. Also consider the draconian treatment meted out to Father Guarnizo almost five years ago by the Archdiocese of Washington. Progressives, since they really don't adhere to the Faith and to the Author of that Faith, also acknowledge no moral bounds nor restraints upon their whims. Therefore they have no problem arrogating to themselves authority that isn't their's, while at the same time eschewing responsibility that is their's.
We see that happening at the Vatican, all the way to the top. We laity do have rights that clergy do not have; thus we have responsibilities that they may not be able to exercise. Let's do it.
Georgetown University never fails to amaze me for its utter depravity. Yesterday TFP Student Action sounded the alarm regarding the activities of one of its student groups: Medical Students for Choice. Right there we must ask how in bloody-blue hell does a Catholic institution give "student group" status to an outfit that advocates for the murder of babies? But it gets worse.
They were caught conducting seminars on how to conduct "manual vacuum aspirations" - in other words, giving hands-on instructions in how to murder babies. They used fruit to simulate uteri.
I understand from Facebook contacts that Medical Students for Choice is no longer listed on Georgetown's site since this alarm went out. The Archdiocese of Washington played a pivotal role in correcting that scandal. Still, one must wonder MSFC was awarded its status in the first place. I've no doubt that had not TFP Student Action sounded the alarm, that MSFC would still be conducting baby-murder seminars on the Georgetown campus. This exemplifies both the need for each person to be alert and active and the benefit in so doing.
It certainly appears that way, given the statement that he released on Sunday. He is Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He said that a "fraternal correction" regarding Amoris Laetitia is "not possible" because AL poses "no danger to the faith". Edward Pentin, in the National Catholic Register, points out that the CDF lodged a large number of corrections for AL; not one of them was accepted.
Now what else happened at the CDW just a few days prior to that? Recall that on December 26, the pope ordered Cardinal Muller to dismiss three of the priests who were working with the CDW. When the Cardinal succeeded in getting an audience so that he could discuss the matter with the pope, the pope tersely told the cardinal, "I am the pope, I do not need to give reasons for any of my decisions. I have decided that they have to leave, and they have to leave". He then walked out of the room, ending the meeting right then and there. So much for all this "collegiality". It seems reasonable to guess that Cardinal Muller felt the pope's displeasure. One might think of the fear that a mafia underling would feel if his don behaved like that.
Like Mundabor, I strongly suspect that Muller is in "cya" mode: that is, "cover your @ss". While I can understand Muller's "about-face", I can in no way condone it. I had hopes that he was a bright spot in a very dark place, but he has cowed; no John Fisher is he. Maybe he will reconsider; I pray he does. But if he does not, let the four dubia cardinals press forward and do what needs to be done to bring some light and truth to the higher echelons of the Church. Maybe Cardinal Napier can join them with his own dubium.
Are you ready? It's (drum roll and trumpets, please)
NATIONAL IMMIGRATION WEEK!
If you were ignorant of this momentous occasion, I confess so was I! But not all were so oblivious! Certainly the progressives who wear miters aren't. In the Chicago Tribune appears an editorial by Cardinal Cupich, opining that "It's Immigrants Who Have Made America Great". Of course it's a screed for blanket amnesty for law-breakers. Yes, immigrants have played a crucial role - immigrants that have respected the rule of law in the United States and who have earned their way as opposed to those who break laws and expect handouts. As you read that piece, you'll see how Cupich obfuscates the difference between those who are decent law-abiding people and those who aren't.
Cupich went so far as to have two "immigrants" speak from the altar last Sunday. Mahound's Paradise points out that one of these "immigrants who have made America great" is a Muslim who just happens to be a follower of a Muslim cleric whose idea of "jihad for the sake of Allah" includes "smashing skulls and severing limbs". He also approves of Muslim women offering their, uh, "services" to these jihad lunatics. Doesn't that sound like a dandy recipe for "making America great"? This is the kind of spiritual poison that Cupich let into his church. Lest we forget, Cupich wielded much influence at the Synod on the Family at Pope Francis' initiative.
Christopher Manion has some choice words for this politically correct pandering. He points out that the great majority of American bishops do not stand up for central moral issues of our faith, e.g., abortion, homosexual conduct, but they will wax eloquent about amnesty for illegals and other progressive nonsense (global warming, etc). He brought up the example of Cardinal Joseph Tobin defying then-Governor Mike Pence on the matter of enforcing immigration law. Mind you, this is he same Tobin who couldn't be bothered to bestir himself when a Catholic facility in his diocese was being rented out for a "lesbian commitment" debacle, but he could huff and puff in the face of a governor who was simply carrying out his duties of office. Let us recall that both Tobin and Cupich are recent recipients of the "red hat", again at the instigation of Pope Francis.
The USCCB has been busy on other "important" matters. A few days ago, one of their task forces released a report to "root out racism". They developed some recommendations. The first one is to engage in Masses and rosaries. They could have stopped right then and there for the other suggestions seem straight out of some Alinskyian play book. Parishioners should be "trained in intercultural competence"? Brainwashing much? There is also "dialogues on racism and dialogue". Got that? We get to "talk about talking"! But they save the best for last: beef up support for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.
Just put "Catholic Campaign for Human Development" or "CCHD" in the search box at the top left of this blog (by the magnifying glass icon). You'll see a mountain of posts, with links to excellent material, regarding the inimical origins and nature of the CCHD. Support for the CCHD has been dwindling throughout the years because decent Catholics are becoming more aware of the ultimate destinations of the money they contribute to the CCHD. Despite pleas to the USCCB throughout the decades to reform the CCHD, the bishops refuse to address these matters. The CCHD deserves not one red penny in donations.
How much evil these bishops could root out if they simply decided to return to the Catholic faith and being real bishops.
On January 5, Raymond Arroyo hosted on his EWTN show "The World Over" Father Gerald Murray and Robert Royal. In his introduction, he dubbed them the "papal posse". I post it below. While the gentlemen do speak frankly on the troubling aspects of Amoris Laetitia (or as I've dubbed it, Amoralis Lamentia), their tones are very measured and respectable. One of my facebook friends took some umbrage with it, stating that "the papal posse needs a formal correction". Unless she is of the mindset that the pope can never, ever be criticized (not Catholic teaching, by the way), I cannot fathom a reason for her displeasure. At any rate, please watch this and consider the input of these gentlemen.
This past summer, Operation Rescue detected another unlicensed baby-murder place in Maryland. This location is in Bethesda, MD. Southern Montgomery County is one of the most left-wing areas in the state. I can attest that one can almost smell the progressivism as they drive through the place so it is no surprise to me. By the way - in 2009 the Montgomery County Council, being in the back pockets of NARAL, attempted to curtail the free speech rights of pro-life pregnancy centers; I blogged on that quite a bit while that drama was unfolding. They were finally beaten in court. Would those same intrepid champions on the council bat an eyelash over this center? I wouldn't hold my breath!
I now link to the Operation Rescue piece. Embedded in that article is video of the perpetrator, Alan Ross, talking. He mentions a facility in Gaithersburg as well. That dump has closed, but 25+ years ago, I got my start in pro-life activism by praying with other pro-lifers at that place.
Yesterday Father Antonio Spadaro, a close confidant of Pope Francis', released a tweet in which he opined "2+2 in theology can make 5 because it has to do with God and real life people". As Mr. Olson (author of that article) points out, this statement constitutes a direct violation of the law of non-contradiction: that is, truth cannot contradict itself.
I'd urge all to read Mr. Olson's article closely. He points out that Spadaro realized his tweet was going over like a lead balloon and issued another, essentially stepping from the frying pan into the fire: "GOD was made flesh and shows us that he is NOT only a MATHEMATICAL reason but that this original Reason is also LOVE #BenedictXVI" He misquotes the Pope Emeritus who actually said at Auschwitz in 2006: "The God in whom we believe is a God of reason - a reason, to be sure, which is not a kind of cold mathematics of the universe, but is one with love and with goodness." Spadaro set up a false contradiction between "love" and "reason". Pope Benedict XVI, on the other hand, acknowledged that love can transcend reason but never contradict it.
We heard similar blathering from the newly-installed Cardinal Joseph Tobin, who took the reins at the Archdiocese of Newark. He stated, "to believe in Jesus is not acceptance of a doctrine or a moral code, but of a person who lives now and is the source of life". Notice the trick of setting up false dichotomies that seems now to be a perfected art form, starting at the Vatican. The fact is that acceptance of Jesus does entail the acceptance of the doctrines and moral teachings of the Church. If those "doctrines and codes" are not accepted, there is no belief in Jesus. Why? Because those "doctrines and codes" came to us from Jesus Himself. Moreover, they are immutable because the God who bestowed them on us is Himself immutable. Hear the words of Our Lord Himself. I'll link to the Douay-Rheims Bible and invite you to peruse these passages:
John 14: entire chapter
John 15:10
John 16:27
1 John 5:3
2 John 1:6
Notice the emphasis is on obedience, not "experience". Too many Catholics are seduced by emotional experiences, thinking that these "experiences" have great significance. They don't.
Getting back to Mr. Olson's article, we see a quote from Pope Benedict's address at Regensburg in which the Pope Emeritus refutes the errors that Spadaro is evincing. After Benedict gave that address, many too umbrage at the address - including then-Cardinal Bergoglio. By the way - after that "spit in the eye" he gave to the then-sitting pope, now Pope Francis has the nerve to sic his underlings on the four cardinals who delivered their dubia in proper canonical fashion? How does that work?
Some might think my reference to "common core theology" to be a tad flippant. I believe it's quite accurate, and may actually indicate quite a relationship between Spadaro's errors and the deliberate dumbing down of intellectual life that I suspect is the purpose of Common Core. Perhaps that is a reason that too many Catholic educational institutions are adopting Common Core. Perhaps they not only want to glom onto federal funding but they too want to facilitate the dumbing down of Catholic intellectual and moral life - to rob the Catholic in the pew of his/her rightful patrimony in the Faith. Is this part of the "maturation" that we Catholics were supposed to undergo in the wake of the Extraordinary Synod on the Family? It seems that a main purpose of all this "maturation" is to divorce Catholics from their moorings in the immutable teachings of Jesus, as handed down through the Church for these two thousand years, so that we will be easily manipulated by the "god of suprises" puppet as put forth by Pope Francis to cram all manners of heresy in our faces. We cannot let that happen.
Recall from my Christmas Eve post how the pope seems to be meddling in the internal governance of the Order of Malta. Many of us suspected that this was a direct jibe at Cardinal Burke for his prominent role in the issuance of the dubia. Father Z's blog quotes from the Tablet that in turn alleges that Pope Francis did not want the condom-dealing chancellor evicted from his post at the Knights of Malta. Some are snooting and snorting that the Order of Malta defied the pope, not considering that in matters of internal governance the pope has no authority to meddle.
I'll now post a podcast from Lepanto Institute that reveals, among other things, that the alleged communication from the Vatican was issued after Boeslager was removed from his post. Many of us understand that this is a ploy to discredit Cardinal Burke and by extension the dubia.
LifeSiteNews yesterday released a piece by one of its founders, John Henry Weston. In it he states that it is no longer possible to pretend that all is well with this papacy and that the pope is "simply misunderstood". He cites examples of very troubling - and incriminating - episodes that have occurred. A few years ago one of my blogging colleagues penned a piece called "The Pope Francis Little Book Of Insults". Of course this blog has been highlighting a few - the latest one being the post preceding this one.
Some Catholics still refuse to admit the truth. One recently quipped that we "like to dig up some doozies". Well, they are doozies, but we don't have to "dig them up". They spew forth from the Vatican with great frequency and aplomb. They cannot be missed except by those who refuse to see and acknowledge the truth. Ironically, such willful blindness prevents them from intelligently praying for the Church. We must be aware of the dire situation and not be afraid to admit it as such. While we pray for the Church and the pope, we must also work to mitigate the harmful effects of the poison that emanates from the Vatican with the apparent approval (if not initiative) from the pope. Those who deny that harm exists cannot and indeed will not protect those in their charges from spiritual dangers. In addition to praying for the pope and speaking out, let us also pray for those who insist on wearing rose-colored glasses for they may be their own worst enemies.
As we all know, Pope Francis is an Argentine native. It is said that he is sympathetic to "liberation theology", condemned by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. Pope Francis' sympathies to it have been evidenced over the past few years. Last week, Leonardo Boff, a leading proponent of the flawed thought system in the 1980s (and former Franciscan priest), said of Pope Francis "he is one of us". He even indicated that Pope Francis solicited him for input for Laudato Si. Unless Pope Francis explicitly repudiates this, I've no reason to doubt Boff's allegations. Recall that over two years ago, a former Soviet spy claimed that "liberation theology" was a thought system invented by the KGB so that Marxist thought could be insinuated in the thinking and policies of various church bodies. The KGB might well have found a willing ally in Pope Francis.
Liberation theology might not have been the only mental poison that Pope Francis contracted in Argentina. Recall how Juan and Eva Peron had a virtual stranglehold on that country as they nationalized the economy, driving it to ruin. Yes, they did much by hoodwinking much of the populace (like the Obamas managed to do for so long), but some heavy-handedness was also used. Read this wikipedia entry and go to the "opposition and repression" section. Bearing in mind that this wikipedia piece seems somewhat sympathetic to the Perons, even the author cannot ignore the way that Peron opponents were treated and that the Perons did hold both Mussolino and Hitler in some admiration.
We've seen how the pope seems to be emulating the Perons as he expunges from Vatican posts those who differ with him, just as Peron did at various universities and other places. On the day after Christmas, Pope Francis ordered Cardinal Muller to expel three priests from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The order was given without any explanation. Read the article to get a glimpse of the atmosphere of fear that seems to permeate the Vatican.
There is also reason to believe that the pope (or at least his operatives) are behind the ongoing smear campaign against the four dubia cardinals, particularly Cardinal Burke. From EWTN, we read that on Christmas Day, Leonardo Boff (yes, the one mentioned in the first paragraph of this post) mocked Cardinal Burke by calling him "the Donald Trump of the Catholic Church". Come to think of it, that might not be so much of an insult after all, although it was intended as such. At any rate, we do see signs of a coordinated campaign. It's eerily similar to the mainstream media campaign that they undertook before the election to sway the voters towards Hillary. Happily that media campaign was an abysmal failure, but only because people are waking up to the media's lack of credibility.
We bloggers hope to assist in a similar epiphany for Catholics in the pews so that they can understand what is happening in the Church today. We must pray and act, but in order to do either properly, we must understand the true nature and gravity of the events occurring in the Vatican.
