In their June 27th decision regarding Janus vs AFSCME, the US Supreme Court stated that public sector employees cannot be forced to pay union dues when these unions support political positions with which they don't agree. It seems very simple; the average worker should not be subject to extortion by labor unions in exchange for their jobs. After all - the worker has his/her rights of association, speech, religion, etc, correct?
One would think that the Church would uphold that right - but a few days later, the USCCB bewailed that ruling. "Why", you may ask. The USCCB revealed how they operate. They get a fair amount of $$$ from these unions. If the unions cannot extort it from unwilling workers, well, that means less $$$ for the USCCB. Let's not forget how much the USCCB is in the pockets of their sugar-daddy puppet-string holders.
Bishop Thomas Paprocki remains (so far) the only voice of sanity who reminds his money-grubbing brother bishops of what Rerun Novarum had to say of the legitimate role of labor unions. Too many of them support abortion, sodomy and a whole host of anti-God positions.
John Sweeney, Labor Boss
One of my first forays into activism against the rot in the Church occurred in 2002, when some of us protested the Catholic Charities gala in the Dupont Circle area of Washington DC. Why? Because Cardinal McCarrick (heard about him a lot these days) was the co-chairman of the gala along with his buddy, John Sweeney, then head of AFL-CIO. At the time, AFL-CIO was pushing for labor agreements that would provide for contraceptives, and their web page linked directly to that of NOW. Moreover, we all know of the insidious SEIU; enough has been written on this blog.
When the USCCB goes so far as to issue such releases, they only show what lemmings they are for progressive money bags. I cannot say they undermine their own credibility, for they long since forfeited the last shreds of credibility they once had.
The title of this post should be the title of this flyer to the right, for that is what we are being asked to do. This was enclosed in our parish bulletin today. Because there was no second collection today I realized this in-pew shake-down will happen in the near future. Sure enough, here is the second collection schedule for the Archdiocese of Washington, showing it scheduled for May 13, two weeks from today.
Lepanto Institute, led by Michael Hichborn, has done much research into Catholic Relief Services. Much of that research has been featured in previous posts in this blog on CRS (as well as additional research). Among the many insults to Catholic faith and moral teaching committed by the CRS, we find the following:
the employment of flagrant sodomites in executive positions
the distribution of condoms and abortifacients by CRS staff
the funding and cooperation with other international organizations for the distribution of contraceptives, often against the wishes of local authorities.
Read that flyer very carefully. Notice how most of the language centers around the theme of immigration. Is that because there is really all that much compassion for the immigrant - or might there be other rea$onS? Yes, I used dollar signs deliberately, for the CRS gets quite a bit from the feds to settle immigrants, regardless of legal status. I link now to an article written by Deal Hudson on how CRS and other Catholic organizations have sold their souls for federal dollars. Hudson brings out a good point by stating that those who contribute to CRS give to anti-Catholic outfits twice: once via federal income taxes and again through the donation.
Catholic Relief Services continue to prove why the "CRS" might well stand for "Catholics Riddled with Scandals". They deserve not one red cent of the money of decent Catholics. Please boycott this collection. Say #no2crs. This Lepanto article has a form at the bottom that you can put in your CRS collection on May 13. Readers in other areas should check their second collection schedules as they may vary from place to place. As the collection time draws near, I will be posting reminders. Please pass this along to your email lists and other social media outlets. Thank you.
P.S. - Please check your envelopes. If your envelope gives a different date, please advise via comments. Thank you.
For over a hundred years, the Church has always supported the rights of workers to form unions so that they could bargain more effectively with their employers. Such support was enshrined by Pope Leo XIII in Rerun Novarum. However, today's bishops seem to be somewhat compromised when it comes to the rights of workers not to join a union if that is their preference. They have demonstrated their left-wing proclivities once again with a case that is now before the Supreme Court, Janus vs American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Mark Janus, an Illinois employee brought suit so that he wouldn't have to cough up the mandatory union dues even though he declined to join. He rightly states that such compulsion to pay union dues is a violation of his rights.
Demonstrating their slavish devotion to unions, the USCCB filed an amicus on behalf of AFSCME. To his immense credit, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield publicly disavowed the USCCB's stunt, correctly stating that no such consensus exists among Catholics regarding a matter on which reasonable people can disagree. I thank him for not joining the USCCB's false pretense that compulsory union membership is enjoined by the Magisterium. I suspect the USCCB benefits a bit from union largess as well as that of the feds. How else do we explain the toadying to John Sweeney, former boss of both SEIU and AFL-CIO over the years?
Let's take a look at the latest stunt by Cardinal Cupich of Chicago. A parish within his archdiocese, St. John Cantius, has conducted Mass in the Extraordinary Form and fostered traditional sacred music. Some rather cheap allegations arose concerning the pastor, Father C. Frank Phillips. With no regard to due process, Cupich slapped on him very draconian measures, including the suspension of his priestly faculties. Meanwhile, Father Michael Pfleger is still pastor of St. Sabina's. Remember him? Remember how he threatened to "snuff" the owner of a local gun shop (because he hates violence so much!)? How does Pfleger remain while Phillips gets thrown under the bus? The answer is really quite simple; Pfleger and Cupich have very similar outlooks. Father Phillips on the other hand embraces fidelity to the Magisterium. So as he squashed the priests who participated in 40 Days for Life while he was bishop of Spokane, so too is he punishing Fr Phillips for his love of Tradition.
We will now move onto another dissident prelate who, like Cupich, was made a Cardinal. I refer you to Cardinal Joseph Tobin (not to be confused with the relatively decent Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island). In direct contradiction to a statement made by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, he voiced his opinion that the Church should not attempt to make herself more pure. Well, at least he's honest about that. At a meeting of close confidantes of the pope's at Villanova last week, the cardinal opined that the "church is moving on the question of same-sex couples". Moving where, pray tell? In her two-thousand years of existence, she has always held to the teachings of Jesus Christ on the matter (and by the way - it's NOT "complex"). The only way she could "move" would be away from the truth. That is happening only in the minds of dissidents, progressives and outright heretics. Those last few words describe the attendees at that gabfest.
One last word about Cardinal Tobin. Three years ago, Tobin was an archbishop in Indiana. Within his diocese, a Knights of Columbus council rented their hall to a lesbian couple to celebrate their #mowwidge. I had suggested that all call the chancery and ask Tobin to have the thing cancelled. At the time I was unaware of Tobin's true colors. Needless to say, Tobin did nothing. At first I chalked his inaction to mere apathy. Now I consider the very real possibility that the KofC council caved to the lesbians under his order.
Above I mentioned Bishop Thomas Paprocki as a bishop who is upholding the truth. Another is Cardinal Burke. He too was at a conference, one quite different in tenor than the heretical snake-pit that Cardinal Tobin attended. What he said deserves its own post and that post will follow this.
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.
In the Vortex from last Thursday, Michael Voris touches upon the obvious corruption in the Vatican. Much of that was obvious in how the progressives tried to drive the SinNod last month. Not to be ignored is the corruption that permeated the semi-annual USCCB meeting in Baltimore last week. After this clip, I ask you to read below it.
I'd now like to turn your attention to a column written by Vincent Chiarello that was published in The Remnant on Thursday entitled "Cardinal Ambition: From Wolsey To Wuerl". I had not known all the chequered details of Cardinal Wuerl's career, even though I live in the DC archdiocese. I certainly was aware that as Archbishop of Washington, he is prone to smooch up to rich and powerful "katholyc" dissidents. When Chiarello mentions "Wuerl approved the removal of a priest from a parish for denying Holy Communion to a self-described agitprop Buddhist lesbian", I don't think he's 100% correct. He is referring to Father Marcel Guarnizo and that situation happened in my parish. I wouldn't be surprised if Wuerl not only approved Father Guarnizo's ouster but initiated it.
Now indeed we do find that Cardinal Wuerl's star is rising in the Vatican horizon. Consider that both Archbishop Wuerl and Archbishop Burke were named cardinals at the same time, and that both men have diametrically opposed views to key areas, such as whether Canon 915 will be obeyed or not. It was Pope Benedict XVI who called Burke to Rome and placed him in the Congregation for Bishops and named him Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura. After Pope Francis came on the scene, we see Burke removed from both positions and Wuerl essentially replacing him in the Congregation for Bishops. Moreover, Cardinal Wuerl was one of the six whom Pope Francis unilaterally appointed to help write the interim report for the SinNod. Frank Walker of Pewsitter put up an article regarding Wuerl's concerns for "pastorally applying" the synod. That's his excuse not only for disobeying Canon 915 himself but punishing those who do obey it.
That Vortex ended by saying we smell a rat. Some of us are in very near proximity to them.
I'm beginning to think that Cardinal Dolan and Vice President Biden have a "gaffe competition" going on between them. Or maybe not, as you'll see at the end.
The headline is truly what Cardinal Dolan said of the Obamacare disaster that is unfolding before our very eyes. It's just that teensy thing about the murder of babies that gives them a cause for pause. Sane people have been sounding that clarion call all along, but the progressives in the US hierarchy refuse to accept it. Here's a key principle: when we ascribe to any governmental entity the powers and authority that Obamacare (and socialism) does, those sitting in positions of authority will become giddy and arrogant with their power. They will see themselves as de facto deities and believe they have the prerogatives of the same. In fact, we saw that in the 1970s. It's no accident that Roe versus Wade was handed down after the Welfare State became firmly ensconced as a way of life. Give a governmental entity enormous power and it will assume an enormous appetite for more. Our Founding Fathers were deathly afraid of this scenario happening and sought to put checks and balances within the US Constitution. The progressives in the USCCB worked feverishly with their cohorts outside the Church, using foolish prelates like Cardinal Dolan as their foils for their plots. They succeeded.
Only now does Dolan seem to think something amiss, but still he persists in his denial of the horrible evil that is Obamacare. At least I can only hope it's denial. The cynical - and realistic - side of me believes that Cardinal Dolan knew all along that we'd all be forced to pay for the murders of babies, and is putting on this "bristling" schtick to mollify those of us who have been protesting all along. I believe he's fully culpable for the furtherance of Obamacare via his allowance of the Obama photo-op at the Al Smith Dinner. His connivance in this mess is no less than that of Sister Carol Keehan as she wields her Pen of Perfidy.
Last week I wrote why it's a moral imperative to defund Obamacare in its entirety. The US Bishops are so keen to act on lesser matters such ad immigration, but delight in dragging their feet when it comes to that menace to humanity called Obamacare.
Not to worry! Cardinal Dolan assures us that "efforts are proceeding apace". What he doesn't tell us is that "apace" means "the pace of a snail". And guess what? "Further discussion will take place" at the USCCB meeting in Baltimore this November. Oh, yippee! With all that yap and yammer, all will be sweetness and sunshine once again!
Boys and girls, can we all say, "too little too late"? When the Baltimore meeting convenes, the decision to fund (or hopefully defund) Obamacare will already have occurred. Those November discussions will be akin to the Titanic crew debating on the deck flower arrangements while the ship is sinking. Does it not occur to you that if they're putting this on their November agenda, that they fully expect Obamacare to be in place?
I would say that they're inept and stupid, but that would be too charitable. I'm serious. If Obamacare is funded, the US bishops and their puppet-string pullers will bear moral culpability for every baby that's aborted thanks to Obamacare and every ill person victimized by the death panels. Far too many of them actually yearn for socialized medicine but know that flies in the face of Magisterial teaching. To appease faithful Catholics, they put up this "dumb but lovable little bumpkins" act so that they can pretend that they tried to stop it. We are not falling for it any more, and we will call them out on their duplicity and deceit.
A piece by Terry Jeffrey was posted in today's online edition of Townhall.com. It is entitled, "A Vote to Fund Obamacare Will Fund Deliberate Destruction of Life". He's right. There's no getting around it. He is focused on the bill that Congress must vote upon to fund the US government past September 30th. That funding measure will contain funding for Obamacare and all its immoral ramifications.
I'll quote a succinct sentence of his: "If the bill permits funding for implementation of Obamacare and a member votes for it, that member will be voting to allow the administration to send tax dollars to health care providers who perform abortions." While I'm not a moral theologian by any stretch, I cannot see how such a vote would not constitute formal and material cooperation with grave moral evil. Therefore I cannot see how any faithful Catholic can support Obamacare. To my progressive/liberal readers: don't even try to invoke the Principle of Double Effect; the funneling of tax dollars to fund the murders of countless babies far outweighs any benefit that might come from Obamacare - and such benefits probably don't exist anyway.
No faithful Catholic in Congress can vote for any funding resolution as it currently stands. No other decent Catholic can support it.That means you, Your Eminences and Your Excellencies!
Yes, let's focus on the pathetic stance taken by the US bishops so far. And truly it has been pathetic, wimpy and downright wimpy. All we've heard from them is pleas to be exempted from the HHS contraception mandate (as if the rights of other decent people don't matter). Nowhere have I read that the bishops were calling for the defunding of the Obamacare monstrosity. The tweaks for the bill they did propose amount to putting lipstick on a rattlesnake.
The bishops and priests of this nation have a solemn duty to demand that Obamacare be defunded. If the progressives rattle the saber of "shutting down the government", let that be on their heads. It's way past time that our shepherds found the clarity and courage to cry out "NO!" to the grave moral evil that is called Obamacare.
While they opine that the USCCB needs to reclaim control of the CRS, I believe that the USCCB wishes this state of affairs to exist. It is the USCCB that is the source of the progressive influence into charitable outreaches. The CRS, as well as CCHD, are only the manifestations of the moral rot. They cannot be reformed in my opinion. They must be abolished - as well as the USCCB that controls them.
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.
It didn't even dawn on me until I saw this LifeSiteNews piece that there are bishops overseeing Madagascar who should have had a voice in what transpires within their dioceses. Recall that a few days ago the news came to light that the Catholic Relief Services is distributing abortifacients in that area, and doing so in its own name. Now I could be incorrect on this, but when a Catholic agency takes up action in a given locality, it is at least supposed to notify the local ordinary if not seek his permission. After all, that bishop is answerable to God for the well-being of the souls in his diocese.
The local bishops' names are Archbishop Desire Tsarahazana of Toamasina and Archbishop Odon Razanakolona of Antananarivo. They were not - repeat, NOT - consulted before CRS started distributing its baby-murder tools there. Their Excellencies are understandably and correctly incensed that this would occur.
So much for collegiality among Catholic bishops. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops displays supreme arrogance by allowing - if not outright directing - the CRS to run roughshod over the prerogatives of local bishops, even as they protest the murder of babies within their dioceses committed with complicity of the CRS.
Once more I suggest that the USCCB be abolished. It is a blight upon the entire Roman Catholic Church.
Rather than comply with the immoral HHS mandates? Read the Lifesite News article here (pointed out by my anonymous commenter from Saturday's post). While Bishops Sample, Aquila, Zubic and others stated their willingness to emulate their sainted predecessors, others demurred.
One of those who hemmed and hawed was DC's own Cardinal Wuerl. He hopes for "an agreement" whereby the church can "continue to function as we always have, as a free entity freely exercising our ministry in our country". Of course we can wonder just what kind of "ministry" His Eminence speaks of, when non-church-affiliated businesses are forced to comply with immoral laws on pain of their own harm.
Let me be frank. This is mealy-mouth talk on the part of Cardinal Wuerl (and I suspect Cardinal Dolan as well). They need to stand firm and not look for "agreements" with evil - "agreements" that will impel them to look the other way while private citizens and businesses are having draconian evils thrust in their faces. The bishops wear red for a reason - to remind them that they must be prepared to shed martyrs' blood.
By the way - does part of this "agreement" include the USCCB acting like lap-dog mouth pieces for the blatant gun-grabbing by the Obama cartel? From this action alert, it would seem so! Perhaps some of the Minions Most Mindless of the Messiah Most Miserable headquarter themselves at 3211 4th Street NE.
This year's gabfest is scheduled for Feb 10-13 at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. With John Carr, Ralph McCloud and Mary Wright of Just Faith on the Planning Committee, one can safely assume that the stench of progressivism will drift throughout the meeting halls and workshops.
Among the featured speakers is Mark Shields of PBS. Of course that means his salary is paid in part by you and me via our tax dollars. Therefore, is it any wonder that he complained that "no Republican in the House or Senate for 22 years has voted to increase taxes"? No tax increase, no raise - the poor fella! But that was in December. Now he must be breathing sighs of relief after the GOP capitulation over the "fiscal cliff" deal. In this clip you'll hear him say, "losing their virginity on the issue of tax cuts is an important thing to these Republicans who have not voted to increase taxes...". Actually, the GOP lost their virtue with the fiscal cliff deal, but I digress. I certainly hope that such metaphors will not spew forth from Shields' mouth at this USCCB session. The clip is below the jump break so
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops today issued a statement (of sorts) on the Sandy Hook shootings and what they think are the answers. Well, I don't know if the bishops themselves penned it (although they affixed their names to it) because it has the smell of progressive agendas all over it.
First (after receiving "talking points" from the puppet masters) they launch into gun control. They opine the intent to protect one's loved ones is an honorable one, but simply put, guns are too easily accessible. Let me illustrate the lack of logic by applying it to another filial duty, to wit: the intent to feed one's loved ones is an honorable one, but simply put, food is too easily accessible. The right to self-defense is a necessary component to the right to life itself - but that right is denied when one is deprived of the means to exercising that right.
A number of sensible articles have been written about the Second Amendment. I would suggest that the USCCB puppet masters read them, but I suspect they full well know the truth and are doing their utmost to keep the truth from the Catholic in the pews. Here's one on the gun-control culture. Here's another that addresses the real fundamental cause of violence (and not just violence involving guns):America's Problem Is a Contempt for Life.
The USCCB piece ends with 5 suggestions that they claim will address violence. Notice that 4 out of 5 have to do with gun control - that is, confiscation of guns from everybody including the law-abiding. I've no doubt that the USCCB puppet-masters have been given their talking points from the Democrat money-bags and are obediently doing their bidding, couching their progressivism in a faux-katholyc veneer.
Most telling, of course, is the lack of mention of the complete disrespect of life and morality as discussed by Mr. Bannister's article. Yes the USCCB made some perfunctory remarks about violence in entertainment, but that's it. There was no reference to Mother Teresa's wise words linking abortion and general societal violence. For that matter, there was no mention at all of the most brutal murders of 3000 tiny babies every day. Those murders, of course, bring in buckets of money to Democrat coffers and they're accomplished with surgical weapons that cannot be utilized against any tyrannical thug that may crash down your door.
Yet another reason why I pray that the Vatican abolishes the USCCB.
I post below the jump-break two Vortex videos dealing with the dubious politics and squalid alliances of too many bishops (there are laudable exceptions but they are too few and far between). As he talks, one cannot help but think of the horrible example set by Cardinal McCarrick. Several times I've had occasion to picket events at where he was publicly rubbing elbows and chumming it up with notable pro-aborts: labor-boss John Sweeney, Ted Kennedy and of course Sister Carol Keehan.
With the second video I could not help but recall the disgraceful treatment that the Archdiocese of Washington (led by Cardinal Wuerl) meted out to Father Guarnizo when the latter obeyed Canon 915 in February 2012 at my church (see my Feb/March postings). Is it any wonder that western civilization is heading towards hell in a handbasket?
Today's Vortex, in addition to outlining how not-so-covert 1960s hippies absconded with the term "social justice", comments on the scandals of the CRS that are becoming evident. Click here if you can't see embedded video.
In March of 2011, when asked by some students whether or not he would enforce immigration laws, President Obama pointed out that "America is a nation of laws" and his job as president was to enforce those laws. On that occasion he spoke correctly.
Fast forward to present times. Lo and behold, times do change! Read to the bottom of that last link. This is no surprise; we've come to expect that from the Messiah Most Miserable.
What is disappointing (although not too terribly surprising) is that the USCCB is applauding this about-face of Obama's. I can think of two reasons, both which I think are in play here.
The USCCB and the progressives that infest its halls (yes, Kevin Appleby is one of them) continue to look for ways to promote the liberal agenda.
The USCCB has taken the step of distancing itself from the Obama regime over the HHS mandate. Perhaps by this maneuver they seek to mollify their Democratic moneybags and to let them know that they aren't straying too far from the plantation.
If the bishops expect to be respected (if not loved) by the political powers-that-be, they must stop looking for opportunities to grovel and kiss up to the establishment. How can they, on one hand, insist that Obama respect the Constitution when it comes to the First Amendment while on the other hand they applaud Obama's disrespect of the Constitution when it comes to the presidential responsibility to enforce the nation's laws?
That is the title of an article written by my friend and Catholic Media Coalition colleague, Jim Fritz of Defenders of the Faith (headquartered in West Virginia). Now follows the article...
Many readers will remember the famous quotation from an animal
character named Pogo by cartoonist Walt Kelly back in the 1950s, “We have met
the enemy and they are us.” Set in the
Okefenokee Swamp of the southeastern United States, the strip often engaged in
social and political satire through the adventures of its anthropomorphic funny
animal characters. As stated by one biographer of Kelly, “It perfectly sums up
his attitude towards the foibles of mankind and the nature of the human
condition.” There is no need to sally forth, for it remains true that those
things which make us human are, curiously enough, always close at hand. Resolve
then, that on this very ground, with small flags waving and tinny blast on tiny
trumpets, we shall meet the enemy, and not only may he be ours, but he may be
us.
Perhaps the U,S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has
finally realized that the enemy is the bishops themselves. After decades of the bishops supporting
liberal social policies, they must now realize who the real enemy is. During
the last election, Catholics voted for Obama by 54 percent. The bishops
promoted this by (1) their support of the health care law which is now
resulting in mandates requiring religious employers to pay insurance coverage
of birth control and abortifacients; (2) ignoring canon 915; and, (3) issuing a
ridiculous, incorrect, and totally useless document titled, Forming Consciences for Faithful
Citizenship.
When did this all begin?
The Second Vatican Council (also known as Vatican II) addressed
relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It opened
under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. No one can
really state that Vatican ll caused the decline of the Catholic Church;
however, the fifty years since the end of Vatican ll have been a disaster for
the Church. The number of priests has greatly declined even as the population
has increased. The religious women have had an even greater decrease in numbers
and those who are left have drifted so far from Church teaching they are now
not even recognizable as nuns - especially those who sport business suits and
mannish haircuts. Catholic schools have closed by the hundreds, and many
parents refuse to send their children to those that remain open. Only a handful
of Catholic colleges can really be classified as Catholic. After Notre Dame
awarded an honorary law degree to Barack Obama it was renamed “Notre Shame” by
true Catholics and even some Protestants. There are currently Pro-Homosexual
(Pride) Clubs at 107 Catholic Colleges. Bankruptcies have occurred in eight
dioceses due to the sexual abuse scandal. And the list goes on and on and on.
During a telephone conversation with a caller last week, Rush Limbaugh spoke truth to how the Catholic hierarchy swallowed the socialist koolaid. He echoes a point that this blog, and many others, have been making over the years. I link to the transcript here and encourage its full reading. Here is a key statement of his:"One of the things that I learned was the reason the Catholic Church (all the way back to the days of FDR) got roped into the liberal socialist agenda is that they became convinced that welfare was charity, and churches are big on charity. And they thought that it would sound good for them to support massive government wealth-transfer programs, welfare programs, under the guise that it was charity. So the Catholic Church and its hierarchy in this country slowly but surely migrated to socialism, in terms of its political preferences."
I believe that is true for the majority of Catholics. But there were some nefarious elements who noticed this shift and took full advantage of it - folks like Father Hesbergh, Msgr Jack Egan, etc who saw in this shift the perfect opportunity to use the Church as a tool to advance socialism. I give credit where credit is due - they executed their strategies well. I'm not sure who's to blame more: these not-so-covert socialists or those naive Catholics (who, by the way, forgot all about the principle of subsidiarity) who basically slept while the former had their way.
Limbaugh seems to think that the hierarchy is waking up. I wish I could share his optimism. Some are, but too many show signs of remaining obdurately in the progressive camp. One sad sign emanates from the Archdiocese of Washington. I refer of course, to their disgraceful treatment of Father Marcel Guarnizo, formerly of St John Neumann Church in Gaithersburg, MD. Here is a priest who understood his call to proclaim the truth "in season and out of season". The chancery, in its apology to the lesbian who received Communion sacrilegiously, not only punished a good priest but completely abdicated their own duty to "admonish the sinner" for the sake of her own soul.
Let's look at the Stand for Religious Freedom Rallies, that occurred in at least 140 cities today. If you were relying solely on the website of the USCCB for your information, you would have learned nothing of them. In fact, take a look at their calendar. Do you see any mention of the nation-wide rallies on March 23? Nope! But what do you see on the USCCB calendar for this weekend? Why, it's the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress! According to this Lifesite News report, this year's dissent-fest features a bevvy of speakers who advocate for Obama, gay priests and all manners of sexual vice. That's par for the course for this LA conference; such has been the diet they've been serving for years. So why, oh why, does the USCCB shill for this and remain silent on the Stand for Religious Freedom rallies? Because the progressives who run the USCCB insist on ramrodding it down the path to socialism.
If the bishops are truly starting to get serious about being bishops, they need to dismantle the USCCB. Then they need to rediscover the principle of subsidiarity and start obeying Canon 915.
There's no gainsaying that many in Church leadership positions no longer see the main mission of the Church as being the eternal salvation of souls. Many of these no longer believe in the afterlife. Thus they have set their sights on this earth and find their impetus in "social justice". Of course we must aim to bring about justice, but not at the price of compromising with evil.
Many bishops and priests, wanting to court favor with worldly powers-that-be to fund their pet "social justice" projects, have remained silent in the face of flagrant dissidence. We picketed one such debacle this past Sunday. Most notable is the lack of preaching on the matter of contraception. Click here if you cannot see today's embedded Vortex clip.
