Gay Seminarian Pipeline From South America

As you listen to this, keep in the back of your mind the USCCB's unceasing shilling for 1) amnesty for border-crashers and 2) open border.  Might this offer a glimpse as to another potential motive for their stances?  Makes sense to me!  The perverts in the chanceries wouldn't want anything to prevent the growth of their "stables" now, would they?

Dreamer Advocates Are Dupes For Alinskyites And Blasphemers

From Catholic News Agency, we read that yesterday about 100 protesters - many of them religious - engaged in a "Catholic Day of Action with Dreamers" at the Russell Senate Office Building.  Approximately 40 of them engaged in civil disobedience, prompting their arrests.  According to the article, it was "an event planned by Catholic social advocacy groups".  Really?  And who might these be?  Two of them are from the "usual gang of suspects".  Reading on, we find that they are:

• PICO - They are one of several "community organizing" rackets operating under the philosophy and methodology of Saul Alinsky.  Much has been written about them; among their many harmful pet causes is - or was - the promotion of Obamacare.
• Faith in Public Life - a leftwing front organization funded by George Soros
• More progressive groups (many featured on this blog) are listed here and here.

The third is something called the DC Catholic Coalition.  Since I hadn't heard of them before reading this article, I decided a search was in order so I googled the name.  I came up with a facebook page belonging to something called "Catholic Coalition".  The memes on the page of this ostensibly "Catholic" organization leave something to be desired - like basic morality, for one.  Here is one, and I regret the offense to sensibilities.  However, we need to see the mentality behind the leaders of this "Catholic Day of Action with Dreamers".

The blasphemy is obvious.  There are more on that page, and some of those are worse than the one to the right.

That is the only link I saw to something entitled "Catholic Coalition".  If the DC Catholic Coalition is not affiliated with this facebook one, please provide proof, along with members' names.  I believe these are one and the same.  Even if they aren't, the PICO and the FPL affiliations by themselves show that the leadership of this "dreamer" sit-in do not adhere to the True Faith.  These squalid associations are typical of those who glom onto "seamless garbage" idiology.  The Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen once quipped that Judas was the "patron saint of social justice".  He was right and time again we see this played out.  We faithful Catholics will continue to expose their lunacy.

USCCB = Underlings of Soros Conducting Communist Business

That does seem to be the order of business at the USCCB meeting that opened in Baltimore yesterday.  They opened their meeting by asking President-Elect Trump, in oh-so-thinly-veiled language, to adopt a policy of blanket amnesty to illegal immigrants.  This, of course, is right out of the progressive marching orders.  As pointed out in the anthology of previous posts, there is plenty of money to be had with regards to illegal immigration (hopefully Trump will shut off that cash spigot).  The bishops are doing the bidding of their puppet-masters; that's why they've put their bid for amnesty front and center.

When a sane, faithful Catholic thinks of issues for which the bishops might petition for governmental action, one thinks of intrinsic evils that pollute our culture.  These evils include:

• The wholes-scale murder of helpless babies, aka, abortion
• The growing threat of euthanasia
• The enshrinement of homosexual perversions as societal norms that no one may question
• The marginalization of Christians who live out their faith in their businesses

I don't know where the meeting is happening, just that it is in Baltimore.  Would someone who knows please advise via comments?  Perhaps someone in the vicinity can go and lodge a protest there.

One thing we can all do to send the USCCB a message is to boycott the CCHD collection this coming weekend.

Is The Vatican Shilling For Illegal Immigrants?

Last Thursday many of us watched the Messiah Most Miserable spit upon the United States Constitution as he attempted to usurp legislative powers to grant amnesty to illegal aliens in this country.  It is not my purpose to analyze the sludge that oozed from his mouth but to dwell on a concurrent event.

That event is the World Congress on the Pastoral Care of Migrants.  I believe it started November 19th.  Am I the only one who thinks it to be quite a coincidence that this meeting is concurrent with Obama's nonsense?

Let's take a gander at some of the Pope's remarks during this Congress; "When encountering migrants, it is important to adopt an integrated perspective, capable of valuing their potential rather than seeing them only as a problem to be confronted and resolved. The authentic right to development regards every person and all people, viewed integrally. This demands that all people be guaranteed a minimal level of participation in the life of the human community. How much more necessary must this be in the case of the Christian community, where no one is a stranger and, therefore, everyone is worthy of being welcomed and supported”  I agree - when the immigrants come here legally.  If not, they are disrespecting our laws.  If they come here illegally, they are the ones who make themselves strangers.  Again - notice that we see no distinction between law-abiding immigrants and those who flout our rule of law?  I find that lack of distinction, particularly among progressive Catholics, to be patently dishonest.

Earlier in the address he said that the Church "is a mother without limits and without borders".  Well, ok - but the Church is not a nation in the political and temporal sense.  I certainly hope that no one tries to draw a false analogy and try to adapt that principle to nations.

As I said, I don't think the timing of these two events "just happened".  Most likely the White House glommed onto this Congress since the latter would have required a long time to plan.  But I certainly expect to see more cooperation, uh, "coincidences" in the future.

US Bishops Push For Amnesty - Part And Parcel Of Larger Corruption?

The US bishops seem to have interpreted last week's elections as a referendum (in part) on the Obamanista regime's attempt to grant large-scale amnesty and loosen our borders.  To be fair, they are correct in understanding that most people of common sense understand these policies to be crippling to the US and helpful to no one in the long run.

They - that is, the leadership of the bishops - are in a tizzy over this development.  As you might recall, they've been caught accepting millions of dollars (through grants to Catholic Charities) for the express purpose of absorbing the millions; see this link.  If those big ole' GOP meanies get their way, why, that spigot might be stopped!  Note: "spigot" in this context means millions of our tax dollars flowing into corrupt Catholic Charities coffers.

Therefore, in complete disregard for the will of the American citizens - you know, the ones whose wallets are being raided for these Catholic Charities grants - the bishops, from their meeting in Baltimore, are urging that we support the Messiah Most Miserable in this latest power grab.  Here are details from Huffington Post.  I know, some of you are going to dismiss that link as liberal wishful thinking.  Would that were true - but they're right as you can see from this USCCB-controlled site.

But might there be another motive besides the filthy lucre?  Might someone in high places in the Vatican have a stake in allowing the influx of Central Americans, including Hondurans, into the US?  The "Hondurans" reference might give you a hint of my theory.  It wouldn't surprise me a bit to learn that Cardinal Maradiaga of Honduras might be pulling a lot of strings to get the US bishops to screech for de facto open borders.

Does he have the influence?  He most certainly does.  As the acknowledged leader of the group of eight cardinals selected to advise the pope, he has the pope's ear and consequently many churchmen might be inclined to pay him quite a bit of deference.  If you read a bit of that article, you'll notice that one goal of their's is to give more power to the various bishops' conferences; at this time, they have no canonical authority over their member bishops.  Of course this would include the USCCB.

This leader of the Council of Cardinals has shown himself to be a counselor for evil in the various dealings that he has.  He is president of Caritas International.  This organization sits on the International Council of the World Social Forum.  In other words, Caritas has an active role in setting goals and priorities for the World Social Forum.  Among the goals and priorities of the World Social Forum is the promotion of abortion and homosexuality: two anti-life realities that are completely contrary to Christ and the teaching of His Church.  Please read this report by American Life League and watch the related video.

The Tablet has an article about the bishops' debate regarding Holy Communion for divorced/remarried - that is, adulterous - Catholics.  Cardinal Kasper led the way, but Maradiaga was right beside him.  Cardinal Burke stood for the Church's teaching as it has stood for nearly 2000 years; last week he received persecution from his brother bishops in high places and yes, the pope.  Remember - Maradiaga has the pope's ear.  In his piece entitled "Burke And Another Translation Error", Robert Royal rightly includes Maradiaga in a list of "unreliable counselors" to the pope.

I have here an anthology of posts dealing with Maradiaga: Caritas (discussed above), his envirowhackoism, and his push to get the US to assimilate Hondurans into the US.  He seems to be working in concert with the Honduran president to ship as many of their problematic citizenry into the US as possible.  See here and here.

So this gang of eight wants the conferences to have more power?  Let us pray that they - at least the USCCB and its state counterparts - are abolished.  This bunch is trying to amass power for itself, as its push for amnesty illustrates.

Apostate Bishops And Amnesty For Illegal Immigrants

When waffling/politician bishops stick their noses into issues such as immigration, gun-control, minimum wage, etc they often find themselves in squalid associations with pro-abortion politicians.  Perhaps "find themselves in" is not an accurate phrase.  The phrase "actively seek out" probably describes their mindsets much more accurately - particularly if they hanker after the perks that come with rubbing elbows with the worldly rich and powerful who flout God's laws.

Such was the case last Friday with Cardinal Dolan, as he teamed up with rabidly pro-abortion and pro-sodomite Chuck Schumer to shill for amnesty for illegal immigrants.  Ignore the obviously left-wing bias of the Irish Central as you read the account of their joint photo-op at the Statue of Liberty.  Notice one key concept in one statement of Cardinal Dolan's; it's a concept that seems to have gone over his head.  Here's the statement.  "I would not be here if my great-grandfather Patrick Dolan was turned away in 1852.
I'm a pastor and every great religion welcomes the immigrant. It is fundamental and moral.."

Like Cardinal Dolan, I am primarily of Irish descent.  I would imagine his great-grandfather arrived here by way of Ellis Island, as did most of my ancestors.  My ancestors arrived at Ellis Island, respecting the laws of their new host nation and quite prepared to comply with immigration policies at that time; I presume that was the case with the Cardinal's great-grandfather.  They did not come skulking across the border for they knew such actions were inherently criminal and immoral.

To the right I have posted a very helpful chart to explain to Dolan and his progressive donors friends just exactly why we oppose amnesty for those here illegally.  I don't think they care; in fact, they do their utmost to obfuscate the issues to make people of common sense out to be hateful xenophobes (as exemplified in the Irish Central article).  More and more people are waking up; see this account of citizens of a southern California town who didn't want their hometown used as a haven for busloads of these people.

There's no doubt in my mind that these progressives simply see illegal aliens as those who will be dependent on them for everything - and who will vote them into power.  Nancy Pelosi has been shilling for amnesty for some time now, although not as fervently as she shilled for Obamacare and unrestrained baby-murder.  Recently Sarah Palin demonstrated her ability to pin Pelosi down, stating that Pelosi is more interested in illegal aliens than in unborn children.

I wonder if the latter statement can be said of Cardinal Dolan and so many of the progressive "social justice" USCCB-types within the Catholic hierarchy?  Given the amount of effort spent on each issue, I'd have to opine "YES".

The Role Of Situation Ethics In The Border Mass And Singing Priest Debacles

Now that some of the dust - and emotions - have (hopefully) calmed after the revelation of Father Kelly's performance two weeks ago, I think it bears revisiting.  There are underlying moral principles at play, and we cannot ignore them for the sake of maintaining a facade of peace.  A "peace" that cannot bear some rigorous examination of situations and underlying principles is not true peace.

Father Ray Kelly is the priest in Ireland who violated Mass rubrics by putting on a singing performance during a Nuptial Mass two weeks ago.  In discussions regarding his actions, I've seen undercurrents of a "situation ethics" mindset in the remarks of faithful Catholics.  I've also seen it as we've discussed the "border Mass" on April 2, done by some bishops as part of their ongoing shilling for amnesty for people in this country illegally.  Needless to say I'm greatly concerned.

Let's define "situation ethics".  In this Christian-oriented site, we see that "situation ethics" was pioneered by an Episcopal priest in the early 1900s.  He also happened to be an advocate for euthanasia and for Planned Parenthood - small wonder.  The site does an excellent job in demonstrating the logical fallacies of situation ethics.  In a nutshell, situation ethics is a notion that decision-making should be based on the particulars of a given situation and not upon fixed law (such as Mass rubrics as defined by the GIRM, the Ten Commandments, etc).

I was involved in a closed discussion during the Triduum weekend with faithful Catholics regarding the Father Kelly matter.  More than a few seemed to buy the notion that the rubrics, generated by the Roman Catholic Church, can be suspended for the sake of a "happy moment".  It was mentioned that "at least there were no dancers or clowns".  Now see the problem?  If the rubrics of Mass can be suspended at will, what's the difference between priests singing versus puppets galloping down the aisles?  Without objective principles that govern the Mass, those embellishments become a mere matter of personal taste, don't they?  Once we jettison a principle for one circumstance, it can never be invoked for another circumstance for in that first act of disregard we would have shown our own disrespect for that principle.

I've also seen "situation ethics" ethos in other discussions.  One very public discussion is on Jill Stanek's site.  Granted, Jill and many of her site assistants aren't Catholic.  I'm just appalled at how they think they're knowledgeable enough to tell Catholics what their attitudes toward Church authority should be.  Some of the commenters - Catholics - tried to explain the role of Church authority in our Mass.  But again too many Catholics were all too willing to turn a blind eye "because the song made people happy" or some other similar excuse.

I also had a Facebook discussion on the matter.  Of course there was my original post on this matter.  Take a look at those comments and you'll notice that most of those supporting Father's disobedience voice their own flippant attitudes towards the Magisterium.

I think we also saw the situation ethics mental poison at play during the "border Mass" on April 2.  Please read the link to refresh your memories about that event.  I link now to an article that explains why that was a violation of Canon Law regarding Mass.  Situation ethics has corroded even the thinking of many of our bishops.

Some might ask why I continue to harp on what they might consider "minor matters".  Folks, it's very simple.  The underlying moral principles of any situation can never be regarded as "minor".  If we refuse to examine rigorously these principles behind our thinking when it comes to so-called "minor matters", we risk crippling our ability to deal properly with matters that aren't so "minor".  I'm no expert in that regard, but I do know enough to realize the damage done when we don't attempt rigorous, thorough thinking that applies Christ's Commandments and Church law appropriately.

Amnesty-Hawking Bishops Exploit Holy Mass

Last Tuesday, April 2, several bishops decided to hold a Mass at the Mexican border.  I wrote a bit about that farcical abuse of Holy Mass on March 30 - no need to rehash what I already wrote.  Let me, however link to this article from New American, written yesterday.  At the bottom are some words of common sense from Arizona State Senator Al Melvin.  He believes (and I absolutely agree) that the bishops' little stunt, a thinly-disguised attempt to pander to progressives in power will only add to the chaos that's already there.   I'm sure most reasonable people have noticed that the bishops have uttered not one peep to the Mexican authorities to urge them to improve the economy so that Mexicans do not feel they have no where else but the US to obtain jobs.  Now why, oh why, is that?  Cloward-Piven anyone?

I almost forgot!  Tomorrow we'll see the onslaught of amnesty rallies nationwide to protest deportation.  They don't want one more lawbreaker deported!  Got that?  And of course the timing of these rallies, mere days after the Mass is just a coincidence!  No puppet-string pullers here!  Nope!  (of course I'm being just a tad sarcastic).

We need to stand up to these progressives - and not be afraid to take these pandering bishops to task for selling the citizens of this country down the river.

Bishops - From Scandalous To Heroic

First, we'll get the scandals out of the way.  That way, this post can end on an upbeat note.

Rorate Caeli has broken the news that in Argentina, two lesbians will have their "daughter" baptized in the Cathedral of Cordova.  They received the authorization of Archbishop Carlos Nanez.  On that same day, the two lesbians will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Ponder all this for a second.  The Sacrament of Confirmation confers grace to live out the Christian life in a more committed fashion.  The confirmandi vow to do so.  But their perverted lifestyles already render such vows an abysmal lie.  They are now in a state of mortal sin.  No sacramental grace can accrue to them and they most likely will be committing sacrilege by presenting themselves for Confirmation.  Regarding the baptism, one condition for baptism of children is that the parents promise to raise the child in the Faith.  They will, in fact, be raising the child to embrace the mortal sin of homosexual relations.  In other words, they may well be facilitators for that child's damnation, barring some intervention in that poor child's life.  Now consider that all this is occurring with the authorization, if not blessing, of Archbishop Nanez!  Is he a bishop or cowering politician??

The second piece of episcopal nonsense is brought to us courtesy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (so what else is new?).  They are calling us to pray and fast - for what they consider to be immigration reform.  Of course that clarions call would be for a pet project of progressives - not for anything mundane like - I dunno - maybe the slaughter of 3,500 babies every day via abortion, the attacks on marriage, Obamacare being crammed down our throats..those sorts of boring things.

This coming Tuesday bishops from all over the country will be gathering at Nogales AZ to offer Mass for those immigrants who died while trying to enter the United States illegally.  In other news, we see that amnesty rallies will be occurring all over the country this coming weekend.  But of course the Mass and these rallies are totally unrelated; we know - we just know in the depths of our li'l naive hearts that there is no coordination going on between these progressive groups!  No-sir-eee!  Ahem!

Enough with the bad.  Now for some good news (for a change).

In July of 2011, Father Jerry Zawada, a Franciscan Friar in Milwaukee WI "concelebrated" a Mass.  The word "concelebrated" is in quotes for the other "celebrant" is a woman pretending to be "ordained" by some "woman priest" bunch.  The Vatican, specifically the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has spoken.  Father Zawada is no longer permitted to function as a priest, and he must retire to a monastery run by his order to spend the remainder of his life in prayer and penance.  At this time, Zawada appears to be defiant.  It remains to see what further action will be necessary, but the Vatican is showing healthy resolve here.

More good news!  The Not-At-All Catholic Reporter snivvels reports that Oakland (CA) Bishop Michael Barber has changed the leadership of Holy Spirit Parish, which serves the campus of University of CA at Berkeley.  The poor little progressive "community" (you mean it isn't a parish?) is "angry and mystified".  While they all grab some hankies and shed some tears, let's look more closely, shall we?  It appears that the bishop wants "new direction" and some of this "community" don't understand.  Why, it has all these delightful little accouterments:

• LGTB groups (In other words, a gay "matchmaking" service)
• Dance ministry
• Taize prayer
• Just Faith
• membership in Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action - a member of the Alinskyian PICO network 

All five of these are signs of a parish headed straight towards progressive hell.  God bless Bishop Barber for his courage in standing up to the progressive lemmings that are so prevalent in Berkeley.

And now for our last courageous bishop - at least for this post.  Madison (WI) Bishop Robert Morlino has reaffirmed canon law that states that at the Holy Thursday service, only men may have their feet washed by the priest (it is permissible to omit that washing altogether).  This is significant in light of the fact that Pope Francis himself broke that law when he washed the feet of some Muslim women during Holy Thursday services last year.  It was anticipated that the Pope's actions might spur similar disregard for Canon Law on the part of prelates and priests.  That appears not to be the case in Madison.

USCCB Immigration Pandering - Ulterior Motives Exposed

Brad Miner of The Catholic Thing wrote a piece entitled "Why the Catholic Bishops Are Wrong on Immigration."  I'd suggest that all read it.  I'd suggest a small but significant change in the title; change "Catholic Bishops" to "USCCB Bureaucrats and Administrators" as it is the latter who actually call the shots at the USCCB while hiding behind the robes of the bishops.  Among other things, he points out the USCCB has far more permissive attitudes towards illegal aliens coming from our southern borders than they harbor for immigrants hailing from other areas of the world.

Dexter Duggan of the Wanderer took what Miner wrote and placed it in context with the immigration battle as it looms in Congress today.  His article is reproduced in Angelqueen.org.  Let me sum that up.  The US Senate has already come up with its excuse of an "immigration reform" bill.  Led by Harry Reid and enabled by the "Gang of Eight (now including Marco Rubio)", this bill does nothing in terms of securing the southern border and dealing with the illegal aliens who are already here.  They understand that a similar bill does not have a snowball's chance in hell of ever getting passed.  Thus the progressives, from Obama on down, are trying a different strategy.  They just want the House to pass some sort of immigration bill.  Once this bill is passed, it will go to joint conference along with the Senate version.  It is in this conference that the progressives plan to strip all border control provisions from the House bill and then ram this joint bill through both Houses again.  Defenders of sovereignty understand that the best alternative would be to keep the House from bringing any "immigration bill" to the floor.

Now, in the minds and dreams of the progressives, enters the USCCB with its push to lobby the House of Representatives to pass "immigration reform".  Recall that right now the progressives aren't too particular on the particulars, as it were.  Their sights are set on the joint-conference version of the bill, but the House must pass a bill as a precursory step.  Notice that all the pressure is being put on the House of Representatives.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why the Messiah Most Miserable and his Minions Most Mindless (particularly those in the USCCB, and I do mean you, Kevin Appleby!) are going "full press" on this matter.  Let me now refer you to Father Z's blog; pay attention to his quote from Apostolos Suos, that reminds us that the USCCB does not speak with Magisterial authority, pretensions to the contrary.

I suppose both the USCCB and the Obama regime consider this arrangement a "win-win" proposition.  From the USCCB perspective:

• They ingratiate themselves with the regime, gaining access to money and some political leverage
• They think they gain new Catholics in the pews - except that many of them join protestant sects upon arrival

From the regime's perspective:

• This, coupled with opposition to voter id requirements, gains them a whole new voting block - and just in time for the 2014 elections!  How convenient!
• More demand will be put on American society for social services, etc, granting the regime prime opportunities to implement Cloward-Piven and an whole host of other Alinskyian tactics to bring about their socialist utopia.
• Pro-abort and pro-sodomy pols get to appear in a positive light by championing "compassion" and even win some photo-ops (Think of Obama at the Al Smith Dinner just before the election.)

So there you have it!  The Obama regime needs the House of Representatives to pass some sort of "comprehensive immigration reform" bill, so they send out marching orders to their adoring puppets, including Appleby et al in the USCCB.  Right away, they snap to attention, cry out "Yessuh, Massuh!", and waste no time doing the regime's imperial bidding!

Don't believe me?  Well, to my readers in Montgomery County MD, you probably picked up the latest Our Parish Times (for August 2013) with your bulletins after today's Mass.  Go to page 32 and look at that big gray box on the bottom right.  What do you suppose that is?  Notice that none of those "bullet points" says one thing about securing our national borders.  Notice the term "undocumented persons" instead of making plain that these folks are willfully breaking our laws.  If, for some reason you were pulled over by a police officer but left your license at home, would you get away with claiming to be an "undocumented driver"?  I expect to see similar drivel in the next issue of the Catholic Standard.  Since this is a national campaign, this sort of thing will most likely start popping up everywhere.

Some deluded souls at the USCCB no doubt think they are being "compassionate".  They are, in fact playing into the hands of progressives who want nothing more than to eviscerate this country so that atheism and socialism may prevail.  Will we let that occur?  Contrary to the whining of the USCCB puppets, I'm suggesting that you lobby your Representative to sit tight on any "comprehensive immigration" bill until we can get some intelligent people in both Houses after the 2014 elections.

Vortex: Blindness About Obama

Using Bishop Tobin's announcement of his party affiliation change as an introduction, Michael Voris rebukes the US bishops for their blindness towards Obama's hell-spawned policies.  I'll take it a step further.  It's not "blindness".  The bishops aren't complete fools.  They most likely are jettisoning their sacred duties because they want to keep the government grants flowing into their various coffers.  I will also give Bishop Tobin some additional credit.  Recall that it was he who was verbally abused by Chris Matthews because he (being Patrick Kennedy's bishop) actually sat Kennedy down and read him the Riot Act, so to speak.

As you watch this Vortex, please keep in mind the bishops' planned push for amnesty for illegal aliens.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if they showed the same drive and initiative for unborn babies?

Will The US Bishops Profane The Birth Of Our Lady???

First, I'll present today's Vortex in which Michael Voris comments on the abysmal state of today's Catholic Church.  He lays the blame for the deplorable state of affairs squarely on the shoulders of the bishops for failing (as a whole) to be the shepherds that they were ordained to be.  Now listen closely between 5:55 and 6:12.  He is chiding the bishops for urging their congregations to jump on bandwagons for liberal causes and other matters about which good people can disagree while neglecting the spiritual and eternal matters that should be their primary concern.

When Voris uttered those words, might he have had in mind news of the latest nonsense emanating from the USCCB?  I'll elaborate on that after the Vortex video.



First, ht to Pewsitter for alerting me to the latest crap that will ooze from the USCCB.  It's about "comprehensive immigration reform", folks!  The bishops are launching an all-out effort to press Congress for amnesty for those who've broken our laws.  Breitbart News opines that this effort seems to be garnering more emphasis than did the actions against the Obamacare contraceptive mandate.  In that article Rep Dan Lipinski (one of the few remaining Democrats who is truly Catholic) remarked - correctly - that immigration is a matter of prudential judgment about which the Magisterium does NOT speak authoritatively as it does with matters such as abortion and euthanasia.

The Washington Times reports that this lobbying effort for amnesty will come from the pulpits.  Interesting?  Does that mean that People for the American Way and the ACLU will soon start protesting that effort as they squawk about "keeping the Church out of politics"?  Of course not!  After all, the USCCB is taking its cues straight from the Messiah Most Miserable himself.

So we should hear these less-than-spiritual homilies beginning on September 8.  If that date seems to stand out, it's for good reason.  September 8 is the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  While I don't think that liturgy uproots the regular Sunday liturgy, I would think that it deserves a mention.  How on earth can the bishops even think of giving that short shrift in favor of a matter that is merely in the realm of prudential judgment?

Many good Catholics, owing to our fidelity to the Magisterium, take exception with the position espoused by the USCCB.  Bear in mind that the USCCB has no inherent canonical authority in and of itself.  Should the Maryland dioceses participate in this ill-advised lobbying push, we will undertake efforts to advise Catholics that good people can - and perhaps - should disagree.

I echo Voris's suggestion that the bishops occupy themselves with spiritual matters, for indeed when Catholics believe that immigration and abortion are equally weighty matters, then their knowledge of Catholic morality is sorely lacking.