Shedding The Shackles Of Denial - Faithful Catholics Finding Their Voices

As we all know by now, the pope let loose with a statement regarding contraception that can only be classified as heresy.  This happened on one of his now-infamous plane interviews this past Thursday.  There are still Catholics who insist that the pope caused no harm.  Here are their arguments and my refutations in "bullet form".

• "less than 25% of Catholics really know what the Church teaches or even cares, what the Pope says or doesn’t say isn’t going to matter one bit" This is an actual quote from a recent exchange regarding the contraception heresy matter.  Now is this supposed to be comforting to be told that no one cares what the vicar of Christ says?  What really does that say about the crap coming from the pope's mouth?  And by the way, I hold that the world isn't entirely oblivious to papal sayings when those words tickle their ears with justifications for their mortal sins.  In that case the world is all too quick to glom onto the errors; therein lies the scandal.
• "It's becoming obvious that he doesn't fully grasp his international role, where a casual comment is elevated in importance."  While that would be nice to believe, we must realize that if he doesn't understand the gravity of the papal office then he's an absolute moron.  I might concede that point if we were talking about some 20-year old kid whose Catholic education was thoroughly dumbed down by the "spirit of Vatican II" but NOT in the case of someone who was educated before Vatican II AND who went through seminary and rose to become a cardinal.  No, Pope Francis has been "around the block" a few too many times for us to really believe that he doesn't appreciate the weight of his office.
• Then we have the folks on Facebook who sniff "if you criticize the pope I'm going to unfriend you, so there!"  Well, they can go ahead and do that if they can't handle the facts as they present themselves.

But many are waking up and smelling the coffee - and saying so publicly.  I salute them.  In an article that she wrote a few days ago, Jenn Giroux said that "this week was the straw that broke this faithful Catholic's silence".  World Net Daily's columnist Barbara Simpson weighed in, as did the blogger Non Veni Pacem who writes why he/she will no longer consider his/her anger against the pope's misdeeds as matter for confession.  LifeSiteNews has quotes from other Catholics and pro-life leaders who are rightly appalled at the pope's utterance of heresy.

Now many of you are aware that Michael Voris has, in the past, taken to task some of us who've voiced our criticisms of the pope's bloopers.  I've had to contradict him in response.  However, it seems that the heresy uttered by the pope is so blatant that he cannot ignore it.  In today's Vortex he all but says the pope committed heresy.  By the way - I did download this so it won't disappear as did the video from the synod.  I'm going to expound on the video beforehand, again in bullet format.

• At the 2:24 mark, Voris directly refutes the notion that "the Holy Spirit selects the pope".
• At 3:09, he begins a litany of popes who were true reprobates.  I'm surprised he neglected to mention Alexander VI.
• At 5:20 he states the obvious truth that "men in the office of the pope can be wrong".
• At 5:49 he asks "Why should reporters even be allowed to pop questions at the pope?  Any pope?  Always a bad idea."  The short obvious answer to the first question is because this pope says so - and even invites the questions.  We agree that it's a bad idea.  Most of the previous popes did as well, and that is why they gave few (if any) interviews.  So perhaps that first question should be phrased "Why does this pope invite these interviews on a regular basis?"
• At 6:04 Voris says that what the pope says about climate change, etc has no magisterial weight.  That is something that most educated Catholics understand.  However, progressive clergy, bishops' conferences, etc actively promulgate the hoax that everything coming from the mouth of Pope Francis is of Divine inspiration.  Therein lies the reason why many faithful Catholic bloggers MUST take issue with this pope's ever-increasing errors and now heresies.  Perhaps now Voris can admit that we play a vital role.
• At 6:30 Voris says "Jorge Bergolio can easily misspeak, especially if he's conflating his thoughts with what amounts to a hypothetical theological discussion point about nuns in the congo which no one can find any actual evidence of .."  True enough, but when he speaks while wearing those papal robes, he is not just some ordinary guy on the plane running his mouth.  Were that the case, the reporters wouldn't be one bit interested in what he has to say.
• At 7:16 we hear "we must suffer as He did, even if that suffering comes at the hands of His shepherds."  But we do not suffer in silence, lest others be led astray.
• He continues, "It is absurd to think that the men who are popes are perfect in their understanding, thoughts and so forth."  Most of us aren't asking for perfection from our pontiffs.  But is it too much to expect that our popes not constantly insult the devotions of faithful Catholics, not embrace progressivism and not utter heresies against basic Catholic morality?
• At 7:35 he correctly says that "it has become..a cult of the pope, driven by media, which turns it into a feeding frenzy from every side.."  Every side?  I can see it from the progressive side.  However, many of us must call out the errors for the express purpose of disarming the "cult" aspect of the matter and to keep objective truth in front of the world's eyes.  Those who incessantly try to excuse the pope's errors, minimize them, or stifle our attempts to refute errors are just as responsible for the "cult" problem as are the media.
• The "danger of the media driven papacy" can be controlled and even diffused.  The primary responsibility for that lies with the pope himself, with his Vatican staff.  That brings us back to a question asked here and elsewhere: "Why does the pope see fit to grant these impromptu interviews?"
• At 8:31 he brings up the example of Pope Benedict's interview, when the condom remark was taken out of context.  Yes, Pope Benedict made a mistake when granting that interview.  Now here's the really important point.  Pope Benedict XVI never repeated that "papal interview: error!  "Popes make mistakes!"  Yes, but if they keep making the same mistakes repeatedly, with devastating consequences, it's quite fair for us to ask why.
• "Private thoughts that are wrong.." cease to be private when they are spoken before reporters who will literally broadcast these thoughts to millions.  I do congratulate Voris for acknowledging those remarks of the pope as being "wrong".
• "For the first 1900 years we were spared.  From here on out, we're on notice".  True enough; for the first 1900 years the errors could not be widely promulgated.  Now they can be, and thus faithful Catholics must contradict those errors as they occur.

Kudos to Michael Voris for acknowledging that the pope's remarks on this latest plane interview were decidedly off the mark.  But let us not trivialize the damage potential that they do have.

From The #Rosicagate Department - Father Rosica Interviews Bernie Sanders

Highly-placed Father Thomas Rosica is once again making news for all the wrong reasons.  Vox Cantoris reveals that Rosica, on his Salt and Light network, interviewed Bernie Sanders, Democratic candidate for the US presidency.

In his post, Vox mentioned that Sanders dabbled in porn writing.  I googled that and sure enough, he did precisely that in the 1970s.  I wonder if that topic was broached in the Rosica interview?  Has anyone seen or heard of this as Sanders conducts his campaign?  Probably not and I take a dim view of that omission.

Ladies and gentlemen, our governmental system is that of a constitutional republic bound by rule of law.  That said, the moral character of our elected officials really matters.  We elect human beings, with their own sets of principles and convictions.  It behooves us to know whom we are electing to high office.  If Sanders' porn dalliance matters little to the voters, that says more about the voters than it does Sanders.

Getting back to Rosica himself, do you think he'll be interviewing the other US candidates?  Me neither!

#no$2crs - Not In The Rice Bowl Nor In The Second Collection

About eight days ago I posted a suggestion for faithful Catholics regarding the Operation Rice Bowl campaign conducted by the Catholic Relief Service during Lent.  It is one of their biggest fundraisers; regrettably CRS has seen fit to divert millions of these dollars to organizations that distribute contraceptives and abortifacients.  In some cases, CRS personnel have been caught committing the mortal sins themselves.  I hope many of you are implementing that suggestion.

Today the USCCB announced that the second collection to be taken during the weekend of March 5-6, Laetare Sunday, will be for CRS.  That will be the case in most parishes.  For the Archdiocese of Washington, the CRS collection will occur during the weekend of May 14-15.  Please check your local calendars to ascertain when that collection will be held in your parishes.

In my post regarding the CRS, I suggested putting in that "rice bowl" a flyer created by Lepanto Institute.  That same flyer would do nicely for use in your CRS envelope in lieu of money.

Baltimore's Bishop Madden Said What??!!?!

Three months ago, I wrote of St. Matthew's Church in Baltimore Maryland.  It is a Catholic parish that has been taken over by gay activists, with the cooperation of its pastor, Father Joseph Muth.  More troubling is the apparent approval of Auxiliary Bishop Denis Madden and the willful silence of Archbishop William Lori.  The Baltimore chancery has been contacted about this matter numerous times; none of us who did so received the courtesy of a reply.

Defend Life is a Catholic pro-life organization that is based in Baltimore.  They publish a bi-monthly newsletter.  The Jan-Feb issue came out a few days ago and has an expose on the moral rot that has infested St. Matthew's.  It also details the depths of depravity to which Bishop Madden seems to have sunk in his support of the gay infestation at that church.  The article is here and you can read the first few lines to get an impression as to how low the bishop has allowed himself to fall.

The bishop is reported to have congratulated two women for engaging in acts that will most likely condemn them to hell for all eternity.  The author of the article made plain throughout the article that they attempted to contact the chancery for clarification on this matter.  As before, the chancery has not given the author any reply.  I agree that "silence implies consent".  At any rate, the bishop did exactly the opposite of what a real successor of the apostles would do, e.g., explain to the women that they are endangering their souls, that they should break off the sinful relationship and get to confession immediately.  If these women die unrepentant, Bishop Madden will have these souls to his charge.

I am again urging that we all contact the Baltimore chancery and politely but firmly demand that they take corrective measures lest the goings-on at this parish facilitate eternal damnation for hundreds of poor souls.

Spirits Of 1930 Lambeth Conference And Eugenics In Yesterday's Papal Interview

Many people think that Roman Catholics (and maybe a smattering of evangelical denominations) are retrograde neanderthals when it comes to allowance for contraception.  Well, let's face it.  Our Lord entrusted to the One True Church His infallible teachings.  One of those teachings is that sexual activity is to be conducted by one biologically-born man and one biologically-born woman united in faithful matrimony and open to the generation of children.  Any deviance from that constitutes grave matter for mortal sin.

Until 1930, all protestant denominations adhered to that Christian teaching.  But during that year, the Lambeth Conference (of the Anglican denomination) occurred.  They passed a resolution allowing for limited usage of contraceptives.  Thus the fissure opened, allowing floodgates of immorality and leading to the plagues of baby-murder, all manners of perversion and all their attendant evils.

Please refer to my post from yesterday.  Today, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi (who was on that plane) confirmed that yes indeed, the pope was saying that contraception usage could be allowed "in cases of emergency".  Here is Lombardi's exact quotes via LifeSiteNews (again, Lombardi was there).  As you read these quotes, recall that Casti Connubii calls contraception "intrinsically vicious".  (Aside - I'd suggest reading this encyclical, along with Huamae Vitae and Evangelium Vitae, all available on the Vatican website)

"The contraceptive or condom, in particular cases of emergency or gravity, could be the object of discernment in a serious case of conscience. This is what the Pope said."  And  “the possibility of taking recourse to contraception or condoms in cases of emergency or special situations. He is not saying that this possibility is accepted without discernment, indeed, he said clearly that it can be considered in cases of special urgency."

The pope's spokesman made very plain that the pope's intentions were right in line with the 1930 Lambeth Conference.  However, this time the demonic disorientation is not coming from a heretical sect but from a successor of Peter.  Already I'm hearing of misguided people justifying contraceptive sex because "the pope says it's ok".  Such scenarios will only multiply, owing to the horrid scandal that the pope is now posing for deluded people.

But let's examine another troubling aspect to this debacle.  The pope uttered his dissidence from Church teaching when asked about pregnant women exposed to the zika virus.  It is in that context that he said "avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil".  So what would he propose to be a more overwhelming evil in that context, if not the birth of babies with microcephaly?  So this "serious case of conscience" could be ordered to preventing the existence of sick babies.  This is eugenics, ladies and gentlemen!  I link now to a post in which I put the Maafa 21 video.  Watch that and see how the eugenics movement has been spreading its vile poison with advocates such as Margaret Sanger.  Do we now see that bile oozing from the Vatican?  The short answer is "yes".

Not only must we pray, but we must call out error so that others aren't led astray.

From The Flighty Interview Department - Pope Francis Slandered Donald Trump And More

While returning to Rome from Mexico earlier today, the pope gave yet another disgraceful interview.  Rorate Caeli has the full text of the interview.

When asked about Donald Trump's proposals to curb illegal immigration (Note - The word "illegal" was not mentioned in today's conversation.  That omission, both on the part of the reporters and pope, is utterly disingenuous.), the pope remarked that Trump is not Christian because of his policies.  Ladies and gentlemen, his meaning is clear for he was asked about Trump by name.  My!  Whatever happened to "who am I to judge"?  Or is that phrase reserved only for those who engage in mortal sin that is applauded by progressives?

Those questions are not merely rhetorical.  When was the last time Pope Francis denounced any of the Democratic candidates as being "not Christian" owing to their support of baby-murder, gay perversion of marriage, etc?  For that matter, when did he openly upbraid Obama for ensconcing the funding of abortion in his Obamacare hell-care bill?  I didn't think so.  As evidenced by his chiding of those who adhere to Catholic tradition over the years, the pope is merely continuing his trend of rebuking those holding to common sense if not the Faith handed to us by Jesus Christ.

Ladies and gentlemen, every decent Catholic knows that nations have not only the right but the morally-binding duty to control their borders for the sake of their citizens who have first claim on their solicitude.  In an anthology of posts here, I've linked to a number of sites giving authentic Catholic teaching on the matter, including Summa Theologica.  Quite frankly, it is Trump who seems to be of like mind with the Angelic Doctor as opposed to Pope Francis.  By the way - look at Vatican City via Google Earth.  Yes, it is surrounded by (gasp!) a wall!

Moving down a few paragraphs, the pope is asked about "abortion" and "avoiding pregnancy" for those exposed to the zika virus as a means of settling for the "lesser of two evils".  The pope rightly threw out abortion as a "lesser of two evils", calling it a crime.  He then spoke of "avoiding pregnancy", citing Pope Paul VI's permitting of the use of contraceptives to nuns who were raped.

This is the first I heard that any pope condoned the use of contraceptives for any reason.  I frankly find that difficult to believe.  Most, if not all, contraceptives have abortifacient qualities; that is, they cause the death of the newly-conceived child.  That is why the Church specifies that the only means of spacing children is periodic abstinence during a woman's fertile period.  The pope, by introducing contraceptives into that plane conversation, left an erroneous impression that the usage of contraceptives is now morally permissible.  It is not, by any stretch of the imagination.  Now did the pope mean to leave that impression?  If we say "no", then we must conclude that he's a dunderhead who has no idea what he's saying.  However, after three years, there can be no more room for doubt.  He knows what he's doing and saying.  This bodes ill for Holy Mother Church.

By the way - his trip to Mexico raised some eyebrows.  Rather than rehash it here, I'll link to Catholic World Report.  Read the comments.  They give evidence that many people are waking up and realizing that there is a menace in the Vatican.  Pray for our pope and Church.  Keep your eyes open and rose-colored glasses off your faces; and help others remove their blinders.

Maryland School Officials Cower Before A Muslim Student Making Bomb Threats

At Chesapeake Middle School in Pasadena, MD (Anne Arundel County), a muslim student made a bomb threat.  Now remember; this is the state of Maryland where any hint of threat is taken very, very seriously!  Prior examples of their unceasing vigilance include:

• Giving a two-day suspension to a seven-year-old after he bit his pop-tart into the shape of a gun - in Baltimore
• In Calvert County, when a five-year-old brought a cap gun to school, he was subjected to a two-hour interrogation.  His parents were not notified.  He was suspended for the rest of the year.
• In Montgomery County, another six-year-old was suspended after he pointed his finger at another child and said "pow".
• In Talbot County, two other six-year-olds were suspended for the "high crime and misdemeanor" of playing cops and robbers
• In Owings Maryland (Calvert County) an eleven-year-old was overheard on the school bus talking about guns.  That conversation occasioned a questioning by a sheriff's deputy who then wanted to search his family home.

Now one might think that if the state of Maryland is so scrupulous as to hammer little boys who even talk about weapons, that they might be even more concerned about an older boy talking of bombs.  Nope!  Read that first article again!  They are sitting on their hands, not raising their voices, doing absolutely nothing!  Why?  Because the "bomb-threat" kid is muslim!  They are a protected class of individuals per the politically-correct, progressive cabal.  The Maryland school officials can bully five-year-olds but they behave like spineless wimps in the face of a muslim adolescent.

When the Maryland elections next roll around, we need to vote out the whole lot of them.  In the meantime, if little boys want to play "cops and robbers", I'd suggest they voice the phrase "allahu akbar" when the grouses come to hound them.  If that muslim phrase is difficult for them to pronounce, perhaps they can substitute the phrase "hello snackbar"; that should get the point across and send the school officials running with tails between legs.

Father Guarnizo On Troublesome Rubio Donors

Father Marcel Guarnizo has released an article in today's issue of Townhall.com, entitled "The Rubio-Singer Molotov Cocktail For Conservatives".  He details the donations made to the Rubio campaign by one Paul Singer, founder and CEO of Elliott Management Corporation.  As you read Father's article and the links, you'll get an idea of what Singer's true agenda is: the furtherance of the gay agenda.  It does appear that Singer has spread his "influence" far and wide.   Sill, as the old adage goes, "he who has the gold, rules".

Please read and circulate this.

Missionary Mish-Mash

I speak of these "missionaries of mercy".  Last April, Pope Francis said that these priests were going to be mobilized to facilitate the jubilee of mercy somehow.  Actually there is no sin that your ordinary parish priest cannot absolve.  I believe at one time abortion was reserved for the bishop, but most bishops have given their priests faculties to absolve that.

Hilary White is a Catholic writer/blogger.  You'll often see her writings at LifeSiteNews and I have linked to her on occasion.  A few days ago she put out an excellent analysis of the real conundrum that will be caused by these missionaries.  I needn't rehash her points here; I urge you to read her, along with my April piece, to see why we and others think that this stunt with the missionaries will actually serve to undermine the importance of Confession and real repentance in the eyes of Catholics.  In her piece, she posted a video that is an excerpt of one produced by Chris Ferrara and Michael Matt.  I'm posting the entire thing below for what they say is of vital importance.  Before the video I will voice some concerns about one of these "missionaries of mercy".

About thirteen years ago, Steve Brady of Roman Catholic Faithful issued a call to several Catholic bishops to block the priestly ordination of one Patrick Baikauskas to the priesthood and to have him expelled from the Order of Preachers (Dominicans).  He was divorced from his wife and was a gay activist, who lived with his accomplice in mortal sodomite sin until the latter died of AIDS.  Brady's plea fell on deaf ears.  Baikauskas was ordained and eventually became pastor of St Thomas Aquinas Church in West Lafayette IN.  During his time there, the parish participated in a local "gay pride" event, showing that Baikauskas was still quite the gay-rights advocate.  Judie Brown of American Life League took the Archdiocese of Lafayette to task for this, 

Yes, this gay-activist priest is a "missionary of mercy".  One wonders what business he has being a priest, let alone someone invested with special faculties.  God help the poor soul afflicted with same-sex attraction who seeks him out for guidance in living chastely according to the Church's teachings.  This begs the question "how are these priests vetted"?  Why was he selected despite his own obvious struggles with intrinsically disordered inclinations?  Or..was he selected because of them??  What abut the other "missionaries"?  I'm not suggesting that they're all to be avoided, but we see obvious causes for concern here.

How Faithful Catholics Can Do Operation Rice Bowl - #no$2crs

Today is the first Sunday of Lent.  On this day, the ubiquitous cardboard "rice bowls" from Catholic Relief Servcies are in all Church lobbies to be picked up by unsuspecting parishioners.  I say "unsuspecting" because many, if not most, of these parishioners have no idea that CRS is funding the distribution of contraception, abortifacients and "population control" propaganda to the people whom they are ostensibly assisting.

The Lepanto Institute has done stellar work in exposing the malevolence of the Catholic Relief Services.  They recently published a piece outlining some of their most egregious violations of Catholic moral teachings.  In that post, Hichborn published a slip that can be used during CRS collection times.  Please keep that page open; I'll return to it in a minute.

Hichborn didn't include every wrong of the CRS in his litany; others can be found here (and this is most likely not exhaustive either).  Let me highlight a few other "lowlights" from CRS's checkered record.

• Thanks to Lepanto, we learned that a CRS vice president was "married" to his accomplice in the mortal sin of sodomy.  The man made no secret of it, blasting it all over his twitter page.  It was only after public scrutiny was brought to bear on the situation that the man resigned.
• In 2005, while Terri Schiavo was being deliberately starved to death in the Diocese of St Petersburg Florida, the local bishop, Robert Lynch gave thinly-veiled approval to her murderous husband to have his way with her.  At the time, Bishop Lynch was chairman of the board of CRS.  That brings us to the third "bullet".
• The pro-euthanasia crowd in Florida was being heavily funded by George Soros during the struggle for Terri's life.  If you read the link from the second bullet, you'll see that Soros was also funding CRS (along with other progrssive "katholyc" organizations).
• Please read my anthology of prior posts and follow the links to learn more of CRS.  Clearly they are utterly unworthy of one penny from faithful Catholics.

So how do we faithful Catholics do Operation Rice Bowl?  First, we give them not one red cent.  As Lepanto stated in that first link, there will be more information released; I'll notify you as it becomes available.  So here are the steps to our Operation Rice Bowl.

1. Pick up one of those "rice bowls" from your church lobby and assemble it.
2. At the bottom of the Lepanto article is a note that you can use to let CRS know why you'll not contribute.
3. Place that note in your now-assembled "rice bowl".  I intend to sign mine, but that's optional.
4. When your parish announces that it's time to return the rice bowls to church, please do so.  Yours will have the note and no money.

Like most progressive "katholyc" organizations, the only language CRS seems to understand is that of $ka-ching$.  Well, let's speak it and encourage all faithful Catholics to do the same.  Give the money that you would have donated to CRS to a worthy organization, such as your local pro-life pregnancy center.  Please spread the word on your own social media cites and among your contacts.