Read the Catholic Standard announcement here. Oh, it all sounds nice and rosy, with all lightness and sweetness. But is it? Consider that now they will operate under the dubious auspices of Catholic Charities.
We've written a good bit of about Catholic Charities in the past - some of it in the recent past. Read below..
In August of 2010, an agency of the Arlington Catholic Charities was giving assistance to an illegal immigrant who had been arrested on drunk driving charges. That ended only when the man, again drunk, was in an auto accident that caused the death of a nun in the other car.
Sister Carol Keehan (need I remind anyone of her treachery?) sits on the board of Catholic Charities USA. At the Catholic Charities Centennial Gathering last September, she was awarded a "Centennial Medal". Check out the link for the Obama-philes amongst the honorees.
Three years ago, an employee of the Richmond (VA) Catholic Charities took an underage client of Catholic Charites to get an abortion - with the prior knowledge of the bishop.
Catholic Charities USA operates on a $4.2 billion budget. About 67% of that is from federal grants. Do you think that there might be just a few little strings attached to all that loot (which, by the way, comes from the wallets of already-strapped taxpayers)?
That's quite a dismal picture - and these are just the problems of which I'm aware. Now consider that a pro-life ministry is being placed under the thumb of this left-wing group that is obviously beholden to the feds. What's going to happen the next time another Keehan or Hesburgh is wined and dined at a CC function? Will the good people who currently work in the pro-life offices be forced to attend, smile and clap for these pro-abortion dissidents/heretics when the latter receive awards and accolades? Will they be able to speak out forcefully against pro-abortion and anti-morality legislation? I think we know the sad answers to those questions; they'll either muzzle themelves or lose their jobs.
To my fellow Catholic pro-life activists within the Archdiocese of Washington, I suggest strongly that you look for avenues of pro-life endeavor that are independent of your parishes. The parishes must necessarily answer to the powers-that-be; now that will ultimately be Catholic Charities. I'm not necessarily saying that you should separate entirely, but you certainly should not confine your activism to parochial or arcdiocesan initiated projects. Be prepared to walk away if need be.
The Standard piece is set forth as a happy announcement of change for the pro-life activities of the archdiocese. "Happy announcement"? Try "obituary".
Previous postings on this blog detailed the moral quandry in which the DC Catholic Charities found itself when the DC City Council made plain to them that faith-based organizations will not be exempt from the requirement to offer benefits to same-sex partners of employees. At first, the DC Catholic Charities appeared to be taking a principled stance by stating they'd have to cease services in DC. Right on cue, various council members called them meanies for trying to adhere to who they were. The DC Catholic Charities squirmed.
Today's Catholic Standard revealed the less-than-stellar solution at which DC Catholic Charities arrived. They're throwing their own employees under the bus.
As of March 1st, DC Catholic Charities is no longer offering spousal employee benefits. Employees who already had them at that date are permitted to keep them (Gee! Isn't that swell?), but now no one can elect spousal coverage should they entertain silly ideas such as getting married in the future.
According to a Washington Post article, this decision came from Archbishop Wuerl himself. Now why, oh why, does the Catholic Standard make no mention of that teensy detail? He made much talk about "just wage", but at the end of the day, this is still about placating the DC government at the expense of the employees.
In the words of Edward Orzechowski, Catholic Charities president, "The challenge for us was how to comply with the new same-sex marriage law requirements, and continue our partnership with the District of Columbia in serving the poor and vulnerable, and remaining true to the teachings of our faith." Got that? In order to please the powers-that-be and to not be considered "meanies", Catholic Charities is committing gross injustice against its own employees. Since when does that constitute "the teachings of our faith"?
Organizations such as Catholic Charities tout how they're advocates of "social justice". Many of them favor "Obamacare" in the mistaken belief that such will effect universal health coverage. Yet these same Catholic entities, when they wish to kiss up to malevolent politicians, turn around and block that same coverage to their own employees! Go figure!
Years ago, when the New York Catholic hospitals were to be coerced into providing abortions, John Cardinal O'Connor stood them down to a man. He said that he'd close each and every hospital before that happened. The New York bosses knew O'Connor was a man of courage and integrity; they backed down. It would have been far better if Catholic Charities had done the same and maintained its integrity: not only towards the city, but also towards its employees. Like too many Catholic institutions today, they are playing the cowards.
We should bear this in mind at the next Catholc Charities collection in the pews.
President Trump announced that he was going to enforce our immigration laws and not allow the border-crashing criminals to get away with their crimes. Imagine that! The president of the United States actually fulfilling his constitutionally-appointed duties. However, progressive organizations carrying the name "Catholic" in their names understand that their incomes will dry up in the process. To be specific, they will be expelled from the Federal teats (that is, our tax dollars) since "immigration processing" is a major reason for them receiving Federal grants.
Faithful Catholics have documented many times how Catholic Charities branches, particularly those located near the southern border, receive billions of federal dollars (that originate as withholdings from our paychecks). That link details other evils committed by Catholic Charities over the years: needle exchange programs, driving young girls to abortion appointments, trafficking of children.
Well, Catholic Charities got wind of the newly-invigorated enforcement, as ICE and other agencies started snatching up illegals for deportation. They released the video below, showing that they are entirely complicit in the de facto breaking and entering that these guys (and yes, it's mostly young males) have been doing, all on the federal (i.e., your) dime. Observe. A little translation: this woman says "undocumented"; that means "here illegally". I doubt that she would call a burglar breaking into her home "an undocumented house guest".
So here you have it - a Catholic organization telling criminals how to evade the law. President Trump was having none of that. He made clear that any such organization who aided and abetted criminals could not reasonably expect the government to fund them. Catholic Charities was literally slapping the hand that fed them and they expected that hand to keep on doling out the cash. Had that hand been Biden's, that might have happened.. Wait! Scratch that! Biden would never have started to enforce the border at all!
Right on cue, the Maryland Catholic Conference ordered the parishes to email all their parishioners some very disingenuous blather regarding immigration. The text is on their site. You will notice immediately that there is no distinction between legal immigration and illegal immigration. The lack of distinction is so egregious that we can call it deliberate deception - a lie.
President Trump, to his immense credit, announced the defunding of not only Catholic Charities, but any NGO that facilitated the breaking of immigration law. Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary, mentioned Catholic Charities by name when queried by a reporter about the matter. This screen shot from a Facebook page lists some others.
It says that Catholic Charities will soon be bankrupt. Perhaps the creator of that meme was simply being facetious, but we all know that a significant part of Catholic Charities' budget does come from federal grants. In-pew collections? Well, they haven't received a penny from me in several decades, and I cannot imagine one informed and decent purpose funding their mischief. If Catholic Charities does go bankrupt, all I will say is "good riddance".
A friend of mine brought this article to my attention. Although it's eleven years old, it is still quite informative regarding the sorry state of affairs in Catholic Charities. The author makes plain that a century ago, Catholic social teaching emphasized personal morality as key to bettering one's life situation. Indeed, many social indicators even today show that the greatest predictor of poverty for a person is a childhood that lacks the person's biological mother and father being married.
The lure of easy money from the government induced Catholic Charities to voluntarily silence its moral voice. During the 1960s it placed itself under the influence of progressive Alinskyite influences. During their 1972 annual meeting, Catholic Charities formalized the abandonment of any emphasis on personal morality and responsibility.
Anyone who's been reading this blog for some time knows of the myriad of problems with Catholic Charities:
They contracted with a gay rights activist to engage in lobbying on their behalf.
Arlington Catholic Charities gave assistance to an illegal alien who was arrested on drunk driving charges. Such assistance only ended after he "drank and drove" again, killing a person in the other car.
Albany Catholic Charites spearheaded a "needle-exchange" program - not treatment, but a "change of needles".
Catholic Charities currently receives over 60% of its income in government grants and subsidies. From this fact and those stated above, we see that Catholic Charities has been neutered of its soul - and I think irreparably.
Before we delve into the topic as stated in the title of this piece, let's look at DC Catholic Charities in general.
This evening I had been taking a look at the website of DC Catholic Charities because I hadn't done so in a while. Noting prior problems with Catholic Charities as a whole, I believe it behooves us to keep tabs on them. One of the key indicators of the direction that a given organization will take is the composition of its leadership and the mindsets of the individuals in leadership. So let's take a look at the Board of Directors of DC Catholic Charities.
We see that its chairman is Robert Trone. Because my district's mis-representative is David Trone, I thought it worth a close examination. Robert Trone is co-owner of a winery called Total Wine and More. The other co-owner is (you guessed it!) David Trone. From David's website, you can see his positions on marriage and baby-slaughter are at complete loggerheads with authentic morality and decency. Now some might object that David's views don't necessarily reflect Robert's. Ok. Let's do some examination there. Recalling that a person's politics is simply the person's beliefs and commitments as lived in the public arena, we can examine his/her political donations (which are public record) on the website of the Federal Elections Commission. When I put in Robert Trone's name we see that he has contributed to Demorats from Obama to John Delaney. I thought it odd that Robert Trone didn't contribute to his brother's campaign, but I see that Catholic Charities vice chair, Kevin Virostek did. Interesting.
Scott Brickman, Debbi Jarvis, John Veihmeyer - all board members of Catholic Charities - contributed heavily to Democrats. Oh, a few might have thrown some crumbs to RINO candidates, but they have ponied over a lot more to pro-aborts. Patricia McGuire is also president of Trinity University/ naturally she would have made multiple contributions to Hillary Clinton's campaign. Featured frequently in these lists are contributions to John Delaney and David Trone.
As I perused this site, I wished I had done so a week or two ago, for I see that they are having their fundraising gala next week. But wait! Isn't that a lenten Friday? No problemo! Right there you see that attendees (who will be expected to kick over mucho buckos) are dispensed from the observance, provided they perform some other penance - like hefty contributions to Catholic Charities? Or perhaps this crowd doesn't really care about Lent! If they did, could they not have scheduled their little "evening of dinner and dancing" outside of Lent?
Now look who the co-chairs are? They are all either pro-abortion Democrats and/or they have contributed to the campaigns of pro-abortion Democrats. This profanation of lent will most likely net thousands and thousands of dollars. Since the leadership of Catholic Charities DC is being so blase about the lenten observance, does anyone really think that they will scrupulously apply Catholic moral principles in the spending of all that money? Consider their pathetic history before answering that question.
Cardinal Robert Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, reminded us all that Catholic charitable efforts must go beyond "social justice and proclaim the totality of the Gospel.
Now why might Catholic Charities need that reminder? Might it be because Catholic Charities USA retained the Sheridan Group to "start a new national conversation on poverty and opportunity"? Between April 2010 and April 2011, Catholic Charities paid Sheridan almost a half million dollars for lobbying and advocacy.
And what is wrong with that? Well, the Sheridan Group is owned by Tom Sheridan, who is a gay rights activist and gay himself. This we learn from the Washington Blade. You won't see that in the Catholic Standard! It's rather telling that the Blade is more forthcoming than the Standard, but I digress. If Catholic Charities were truly interested in proclaiming the totality of the Gospel, they would not have in a prominent position one who openly defies Catholic moral teaching in such manner.
This situation is just the latest such mess of which I'm aware. Recall that Sister Carol Keehan is on the board of directors of Catholic Charities. And who can forget the fiasco with the Catholic Charities of Richmond, when one of their employees drove one of their clients to an abortion appointment - with prior knowledge of the bishop of Richmond?
Here we have yet another reason to scuttle Catholic Charities.
Two very related articles are making their way through the internet this week, both regarding the shipment by the Federal government of unattended undocumented alien children. I cannot call them "illegal aliens" for many of them are not of age to be culpable of border crashing. The feds are, though.
Judicial Watch, through a FOIA request, obtained a 16-page document from the HHS Department revealing that planes originating in San Diego were depositing these kids in multiple cities. This is orchestrated by the Biden administration but has probably been going on for a long time. Now consider that these kids are being deposited in some refuge centers - no homes, no families. What is the nature of these "refuge centers"? What do the feds intend for these kids? Is it at all possible that this is sheer, unabashed human trafficking, with the aim of exploiting these kids?
About the same time, this article from the New York Post is making its way through the web. They state that several so-called "charities", including Catholic Charities, are receiving millions of dollars (our tax dollars, that is) to facilitate this illegal border crashing. This is no surprise.
Over the years, this blog and other outlets have been disclosing the gross misbehaviors of Catholic Charities, especially with regards to illegal aliens. Here we read an account from 14 years ago, when an employee of Catholic Charities of Richmond (VA) took a female client of theirs, an underage alien, with the prior knowledge of the local bishop, for an abortion. In 2010, Catholic Charities of Arlington covered up the fact that an illegal alien whom they were aiding and abetting engaged in drinking-and-driving (not the first offense) and caused an auto accident that killed someone in the other car. The feds had their hand in it, too, for he was about to be deported but was released on his own recognizance.
At one time, I thought these isolated incidents were anomalies. I was enlightened otherwise when the truth was revealed how Catholic Charities, particularly in those locales near the southern border, were being granted millions of dollars (again, our tax dollars). Of course, some of those "immigrants" were muslim terrrorists (read all the links). Some of that government funding has been coming from HHS, mentioned in the second paragraph of this post as coordinating all the dispersal of immigrant children hither and yon.
Again, what is their "end-game" for these children? What in hell do they plan to do with, and to, them? I just do not trust them to have the children's best interests at heart. Quite the opposite may well be the case. If these children are slated to be exploited, the bishops, through Catholic Charities, will be part and parcel, and just as guilty of such crimes.
The above is the title of a pamphlet included in our parish bulletin today. It, along with a talk from a CC supporter, is a push for donations. I'm sure they do good work, and at least one good friend of mine was adopted through Catholic Charities. However, that was fifty-some years ago. Since then Catholic Charities has shown itself prone to embroiling itself with all sorts of squalid affairs.
The presentation today dwelt on only the positive aspects of Catholic Charities. However that is an inadequate response to the question, "do you know Catholic Charities". I'd like to present some posts I've done over the years that might show some different and very important aspects to Catholic Charities. Please read before donating so that your decision might be fully informed.
Catholic Charities, like Catholic Relief Services and the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, may not be a worthy recipient of your donation dollars.
Complicit Clergy produced the expose that is below. Truth be told, it is no surprise that Catholic Charities is all on board with human trafficking, including the rapes of women and children, the usage of children to portray an image of families coming across the border. Apparently the children are being used multiple times, being drugged so as not to react with fright to total strangers holding them.
After you watch this video, please read the anthology of posts that I did about Catholic Charities over the years. You'll see that Catholic Charities has collected millions of tax dollars to "resettle" border-crashers (by the way, "tax dollars" means your dollars extorted by the feds). Now one wonders if they might be receiving funding from other sources such as drug and prostitution cartels.
One of my first forays into picketing faux-katholycs was a picket of a DC Catholic Charities Gala that featured pro-abort AFL-CIO leader John Sweeney and now Mr McCarrick as co-chairs. Many of the "katholycs" entering into the swanky affair gave us the finger and utilized language that would have done the town drunks proud.
Not only is Catholic Charities involved in scandalous, if not criminal activity, but Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Campaign for Human Development are as well. I won't say they are compromised, as though their original purposes were noble. Rather, I will say that the undermining of Catholic faith IS their original purpose. Give them not one red cent of your hard-earned money and encourage others to do the same. Many truly worthwhile charities exist that would be more worthy recipients of your contributions.
During the past two days I linked to stories detailing how the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and Catholic Charities are serving anti-life agendas. Unfortunately the accounts of their misuse of Catholic money continue to accumulate, and the Catholic Relief Services seems to be following suit.
The Lepanto Institute recently exposed the production by Catholic Relief Services of a sex-education program in Rwanda. It promotes the usage of abortifacients, contraceptives, masturbation and homosexuality. The program is called "My Changing Body" and it is produced in partnership with Georgetown University's Institute for Reproductive Health. Ostensibly Georgetown used to be Catholic, but it too has jettisoned all authentic Catholicism from its life and is Catholic in name only. The Lepanto site links to their full report on "My Changing Body"and has screenshots of some of the material used by that program. It is immoral, anti-life - and funded with Catholic donations.
The Lepanto Institute learned something brand-new about the CCHD this week. We know from many years of their misbehaviors that they've funded all sorts of anti-life and socialistic ventures, but apparently "community organizing" has taken a new turn - marijuana farms! This is occurring in California (of course!). The California Center for Cooperative Development received $50k to start some "medical marijuana cooperatives". Next we hear they'll be starting some avant-garde opium dens or safe-haven needle exchange projects - oh wait! - Catholic Charities beat them to it several years ago!
Speaking of Catholic Charities, they have a new president - Sister Donna Markham. She worked for a while at Georgetown University (there's that name again!) and then became prioress of the Adrian Dominicans. Under her less-than-illustrious leadership, this order joined the Catholic Health Association and helped ramrod through Obamacare, in direct opposition to the bishops. She's been associated with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, serving a term as its president. When the Vatican launched its investigation into the LCWR, she waxed both arrogant and indignant at the Church for so doing. Such is Catholic Charities' leadership.
I do want to highlight a few things about CCHD's ongoing linkage to Alinskyian community organizing. It is alive and well; one must remember that CCHD was founded with the express purpose of funding socialistic and atheistic endeavors with the contribution dollars of unwitting Catholics. My colleague Stephanie Block has done much work in exposing these "community organizing" outfits for the menaces that they are. In this piece she exposes the linkage between the Industrial Areas Foundation with illegal immigration. Recall that a few days ago I exposed the misdeeds of Action In Montgomery. AIM was front-and-center with the left-wing as they were shilling for the DREAM Act a year or two ago in Maryland. AIM is an IAF affiliate. In her next piece detailing the Senate campaign of rabid pro-abort Loretta Sanchez and IAF's support for her, Stephanie details how Sanchez's supporters relied on the votes of newly-naturalized aliens to defeat pro-life Bob Dornan for the US Congress.
Many Catholics are unaware (or they won't accept) that their contributions to Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services and/or Catholic Campaign for Human Development actually serve to undermine the Church and facilitate death and destruction, both spiritually and physically. It's time to say #no2cchd, #no3crs and #no2cathcharities.
In the January 14th edition of the Catholic Standard, Msgr John Enzler (CEO of Catholic Charities of of the Archdiocese of Washington) had a piece entitled "Living The Works Of Mercy"; the online version is here. It is ostensibly a "self-evaluation" to detail how he's implementing the Corporal Works of Mercy. Something about the recitation of the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy struck me odd. Therefore I looked up the Corporal Works of Mercy online; see here and here.
As I compared Enzler's list with the other two, I noticed a small but significant difference. The work known as "shelter the homeless" was swapped for "welcome the stranger". These two are not equivalent. The second reveals the agenda of allowing indiscriminate immigration. When one considers the millions of dollars that Catholic Charities has received from the federal government (which in turn are derived from our tax dollars), one can see that the CEO of a Catholic Charities office might - just might - have a vested interest in insinuating the idea into Catholic minds that the facilitation of indiscriminate amnesty is a teaching of the Catholic Church. It's not - not by a long stretch. I link now to a commentary on the thoughts of St Thomas Aquinas on immigration. Bear in mind that this commentary does cite the appropriate passage in Summa Theologica.
I'm having trouble believing that this tweeking of the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy on the part of Enzler was inadvertent. He did get all the others right, and they're even listed in the traditional order. That the CEO of Catholic Charities would dare to misstate one of the Corporal Works of Mercy reeks to high heaven. At least once a year there is an in-pew collection for Catholic Charities. I haven't contributed in years due to its many shenanigans - this being merely the latest.
Catholic Charities USA selected its new President and Chief Executive Officer. Her name is Kerry Alys Robinson. Judging from that write-up, it appears that she will help propel Catholic Charities down to its progressive abys. She is replacing Sister Donna Markam, who will soon retire. She hails from the Leadership Roundtable, which is fraught with its own left-wing influences. She was a member of the national committee for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, about which I and other Catholic bloggers have written copiously.
Let's look at some of her new colleagues at Catholic Charities USA. There's Keith Styles, the Executive Vice President, General Council and Chief Operating Officer. He has quite the record for political contributions, donating regularly to ActBlue and to "Hillary for America" in 2016. John Kerry received $1,000.00 when he ran in 2004.
Bill Gangluff, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, a graduate of Notre Dame, also contributed frequenly to ActBlue.
All in all, we have ample reason to believe that Catholic Charities will continue to champion left-wing ideologies, and they'll most likely continue to facilitate the crashing of our southern borders. Catholic Charities remains another "catholicized" slush fund that doesn't deserve our collection dollars.
Let's look at Catholic Charities as a whole. We see the majority of contributions going towards pro-abort candidates (there are a few pockets of sanity in that list). Most notably, we see that Msgr John Enzler, president and CEO of Catholic Charities, gave $250 to pro-abortion John Delaney last November and Kathleen Matthews a few months prior. In addition to being pro-abortion herself, Matthews is the wife of Chris Matthews.
There's more to this Enzler-Matthews situation than meets they eye. Let me recall some history. Msgr John Enzler was pastor of Blessed Sacrament in DC. It sits on the south side of Western Avenue. On the north side is Chevy Chase MD. I think it was in the very early part of 2012 that he left Blessed Sacrament to take the reins of Catholic Charities. In February, despite our many pleas, Chris Matthews did a book-signing at Blessed Sacrament. The timing of the event was such that caused us to believe that the invitation to Matthews occurred while Enzler was still at Blessed Sacrament. At any rate, we were there when Matthews appeared and we protested quite unmistakably. See here for some reports on that. So now we can see what appears to be a rather cozy relationship between the CEO of Catholic Charities and a prominent pro-abortion "katholyc" couple.
Looking at Just Faith, we see that the little that was contributed went to Barack Obama and John Kerry. Put the word "Jesuit" in the employer box and you'll see that most of their recipients are pro-aborts, with a few pockets of sanity sprinkled throughout.
There are a number of people named "Charles Short" on this page, but the one of interest is in Rockville, MD. Currently Special Assistant to the County Executive, he was a director of social concerns for the Archdiocese of Washington. He recently gave money to pro-abortion Chris Van Hollen as the latter runs for the Senate seat being vacated by Barbara Mikulski.
Let's look at contributions from those who draw paychecks from Catholic University of America. Stephen Schneck is the Director of the Institute for Policy And Catholic Studies at CUA - at least he was at one time. In addition to his many other lapses of judgment, he has seen fit to donate solely to pro-abortion politicians. Why on earth was he ever put in a position where he could corrupt young Catholic minds?
Until very recently, Barbara Early was an associate professor of social work at Catholic University of America. As you can see at this link, she contributed a total of $1500 to Obama/Biden and four months ago to Clinton/Kaine. Leah Wortham, a law professor, has contributed thousands to Obama/Biden throughout the years. Eric Jenkins, another professor, gave $2000 to John Kerry.
These people are so-called "movers and shakers" in the "social justice" crowd within the US hierarchy. As we see where they literally put their money, we get a clear indication regarding their not-so-hidden socialistic and anti-God mindsets. Their "social justice" is not Catholic by any stretch of the imagination.
Just how many "Centennial Medals" is Catholic Charities going to bestow (at great waste of money)? Last September they held a "Centennial Gatherings" in Washington DC. As I said in August, their personage of honor was none other than Sister Carol Keehan; she received one of those baubles. She had also been awarded the Pen of Perfidy by the Messiah Most Miserable for her pivotal role in forcing the "Obamanation" of Obamacare down our throats. There were other unsavory people there who were wined and dined, as that post makes clear.
Well, in Alexandria Virginia they gave another "Centennial Medal" away - this time to Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame. Father Larry Snyder said of Fr. Hesburgh, "few are of his caliber." To that we reply, "we wish that were true."
What are some of the not-so-stellar accomplishments of Father Hesburgh?
He gave Msgr Jack Egan a place and resources with which to originate the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. Recall that Msgr Egan was a follower of Saul Alinsky
He was a major driving force behind the creation and promulgation of the destructive Land O'Lakes Statement. This statement explicitly claimed that Catholic institutions of higher learning owed no allegiance nor submission to the Teaching Majesterium of the Church.
Right there you have two ways in which Father Hesburgh helped to introduce progressive poison into the Church. No doubt he is a darling to many of the thinly-disguised socialists running amok in high places - probably to Obama himself. Now given the not-so-secret dependence that Catholic Charities has on federal largesse, it's not all that difficult to see why Catholic Charities is kissing up to Hesburgh.
Perhaps we need to promote a boycott of the in-pew Catholic Charities collection, as well as the CCHD collection.
In today's edition of the Catholic Standard we read of a panel discussion by three so-called Catholic women "leaders", moderated by John Car, that occurred at Georgetown University. They were offering advice on leadership. Given who these women are, one would do well to listen to their advice and do the exact opposite.
Now one might wonder why I'm pointing fingers at the Catholic Standard since it was Georgetown University that hosted this gab-fest. It's quite simple. The article is written by Mark Zimmerman, editor of the Standard, and he disingenuously omits key details about these women - details that would make plain to everyone that these gals aren't qualified to advise children in tying their shoelaces much less Catholic leaders in how to lead. But not to worry! I and others have already supplied many of these details. I'll recap below:
Sister Carol Keehan - Withouther shilling for Obamacare in 2010, that deadly piece of legislation might never have been passed. As a result, religious sisters are compelled to fund contraception and thousands (if not millions) of babies will have Keehan to thank for their murders. Besides that, she's got quite a rap sheet. FYI, when Keehan gave the commencement address at Gonzaga's commencement in June 2010, we were there!
Carolyn Woo - She is president of the scandal-ridden Catholic Relief Services. The Lepanto Institute has exposed much corruption within the organization, such as their direct involvement in the distribution of abortifacients and of retaining as one of their vice presidents a man who is in a same-sex marriage (and quite unabashed about it). No truly Catholic organization wants to emulate this woman's habits.
Sister Donna Markham - See this. She too jumped on the Obamacare bandwagon in 2010. She also did a stint as president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. When the Vatican launched its investigation into the LCWR, well, let's just say she had a lapse in memory when it came to her religious vows.
John Carr - He comes with his most unimpressive baggage pertaining to his promotion of progressivism while occupying positions within the USCCB.
See, Mark? This information was not that hard to find; and I think you know that! Now the million-dollar questions are, "Why did you not report that? What is the agenda? Who is dictating the contents of these articles?"
Much of what was uttered at that meeting was pure drivel and a good bit of that was a feeble attempt at "damage control" to try to dismiss the evidence of their malfeasances as reported by this blog and discovered by Lepanto, Church Militant and other organizations.
I will focus on one key admission by Markham as she pouted over the chastisement that Catholic Charities received for accepting government funding. She mentioned that they receive approximately 64% of their budget from government grants. Now what are the sources of these "government grants"? Hint - stare into the mirror and you'll see one source, albeit an unwilling one. It comes from our tax dollars. Ladies and gentlemen, when they accept these tax dollars, they accept money that has been extorted from each and every one of us. The feds have no authority under the US Constitution to engage in this de facto wealth redistribution; they also have no basis in morality to do so, either. In accepting such funds, Catholic Charities benefits from such extortion and can be said to be contributing to the wrong-doing of the feds.
It can also be said that Catholic Charities is accepting bribes from the feds. Might this be why they are so quick to jump on board with every progressive effort in which the feds engage? In the past, Catholic Charities has been known to: allow an employee to take a client for an abortion appointment, conduct "needle exchange programs", take millions of dollars to facilitate illegal immigration, smooching up to pro-aborts in high places, etc.
The Baltimore Catechism teaches us that Jesus Christ founded the Church to help people get to heaven. Therefore the chief purpose of every endeavor of the Church must be oriented to that end. Not once in that article did I see the word "heaven" mentioned. Other words that I failed to notice include "soul", "hell", "sacrament", "eternal life". You get the drift.
This panel presented a picture on how NOT to lead any Church endeavor.
Those of us who raise voices of concern regarding the influx of "children" (many of them young adults posing as kids) are engaging in "hate talk" - that is, according to Father Larry Snyder, head of Catholic Charities. Father Snyder, precisely because he is head of Catholic Charities, lacks all moral credibility to rebuke us. Oh he may try, and no one begrudges his First Amendment rights here, but the fact is that his rants carry not one iota of Magisterial import; in fact it may be quite the opposite.
Recall that yesterday I posted a video by Michael Hichborn of American Life League detailing all the ways that progressive "social justice" arms of the USCCB act to undermine Church moral teaching. At the 3:22 mark, Hichborn starts an expose of Catholic Charites; at 4:17 he segues into an expose of Father Snyder himself and all the harm he's caused. Hichborn alludes to a dossier that was composed about Father Snyder. Here it is.
Lest anyone think that Catholic Charities is acting and speaking out of the goodness of their little hearts, consider the governmental funding that various Catholic Charities received for the express purpose of preparing for this de facto invasion. I'll summarize the data from the article.
CC of Galveston: $15.5 million from the HHS
CC of Fort Worth: $350 thousand from DHS
CC of Dallas: $823 thousand from DHS
Doing a little quick math, we see that the Catholic Charities offices in Texas received close to $17 million in grants. Of course those grants ultimately came from the pockets of the US taxpayers - many of whom Father Snyder disingenuously accuses of engaging in "hate talk". Perhaps he considers "hate talk" anything that might cause the flow of federal funds to stop?
Please share this far and wide. Father Snyder has no moral credibility whatsoever. His "hate talk" diatribe is worthy only of derision. Pray for the man, though. He needs it.
Aleteia published a piece today by Steve Weatherbe entitled "Bishops React to Obama's Executive Order on Hiring Discrimination". The article offers commentary on the USCCB's reaction of July 21 to Obama's action. It's worth noting that one of the two authors is Archbishop Lori of Baltimore - who just applied for a federal grant to finance his aiding and abetting of illegal aliens.
He too seems to see through the smoke and mirrors that the USCCB is throwing up in the wake of this order. They know that the federal funding spigot is about to be closed. He quotes a statement by Michael Sean Winters of the Not-At-All Catholic Reporter: "Call me foolish, but I find it astonishing that a statement signed by an archbishop and a bishop on behalf of other bishops fails to mention God, makes no reference to the Bible, and is so utterly devoid of pastoral sensibility. This is the work of a lawyer, not a bishop."
Ladies and gentlemen, I believe this is the first time that I find myself in agreement with Winters. They are not acting as successors to the Apostles. Another "case in point" many years ago was the so-called "child-protection policies" crafted to ostensibly deal with the clergy sex-abuse scandal. In the one found on the Archdiocese of Washington's site, not one mention of the words "sin" and "repentance" could be found. They act like politicians, lawyers, insurance agents, social workers - anything but Catholic bishops!
Weatherbe also points out the reaction of Father Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities. Apparently, Father is quite pleased with the executive order as it stands. Now bear in mind that 67% of Catholic Charities' budget is funded by the US government. A reasonable person might assume that Fr. Snyder would be concerned that his funding would be significantly reduced. But he's not! Why could that be? I can think of only two reasons:
Father Snyder is hopelessly naive in thinking that federal dollars don't come with strings, OR
Father Snyder has no intentions of running counter to the "directives" to admit actively gay people into Catholic Charities circles. They pulled out of gay adoptions, but that was largely at the orders of individual bishops. Who can forget the lobbying firm, owned by an openly gay man, that they retained in 2011? I'm also posting a video below in which Sister Jeannine Grammick of New Ways praises Catholic Charities for being gay-friendly; regrettably, she's probably correct.
Guess which of the two I think is most likely the case? Do we think it will be different for Catholic Relief Services or the Catholic Campaign for Human Development? I certainly don't: especially when they're playing "henchman" for the Obama cartel's Central American human trafficking.
Next month the Archdiocese of Washington will have a second collection for the "Catholic Communications and Human Development Campaign". It'll be during the weekend of Aug 9 - 10. This is the third year, I believe, that they combined the CCHD collection with that of the Catholic Communications Campaign so that the name of the CCHD collection could be disguised. As a further step in the deception, the ADW moved the CCHD collection from November to August. The CCHD collection had come under well-deserved scrutiny and probably shrunk as a result. They can't fool us.
I am urging a boycott of the second collection during the weekend of August 9-10 in the Archdiocese of Washington. It is the CCHD collection. Those of you in other dioceses should check to see when your CCHD collection will occur and boycott that. Most are still in November, but some diocese have moved the collection. At any rate, just say #no2cchd. Now the video. It's from last year, but quite relevant today.
Catholic Charities of the USA is a dues-paying member of Coalition on Human Needs. CCUSA Senior Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, Lecreda Cobbs, sits on CHN's board as a representative of CCUSA.
From LifesiteNews and American Life League we learn that Coalition on Human Needs fought against federal funding cuts for Planned Parenthood and Title X family planning in 2011. I refer you to the LifesiteNews link for further details.
I will highlight this. CCUSA disavows accountability for CHN's advocacy of abortion. Rubbish. Catholic Charities isn't just a low-level member organization. It sits on CHN's board of directors; that entails a high level of accountability. And even if CCUSA wasn't on the board of directors, CHN's actions in championing the largest baby-killing chain in existence should have warranted Catholic Charities' immediate resignation of membership and cessation of all relationship.
I've moved beyond asking for reform of Catholic Charities. It needs to be abolished as it has become so entangled with governmental monies as to be irreparably corrupted, as I've documented in the past.
Last week I congratulated the Archdiocese of Washington for holding firm against the tyranny of the DC City Council in trying to ramrod gay lifestyle acceptance upon those who serve the DC area. I received the following email today from the Archdiocese that gave an update on this standoff. I now quote it.
(begin email) Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Recent news reports have mistakenly claimed that the Archdiocese of Washington and its social services arm, Catholic Charities, are threatening to cease providing social services in the District of Columbia if the proposed bill to legalize same sex marriage is passed.
Catholic Charities is not threatening to end its services if a same sex marriage bill passes. Catholic Charities is vowing to continue its services even if a same sex marriage bill passes. However, the bill, as it now reads, will diminish the resources we have to do so. Why is that so? Because without a meaningful religious exemption in the bill, Catholic Charities and other similar religious providers will become ineligible for contracts, grants and licenses to continue those services.
What we have said to the Council is this: While we are opposed to redefining marriage in the District of Columbia, if the Council moves forward to do so, we respectfully request that religious individuals and organizations be afforded protection from restrictions on their deeply held religious beliefs and that the Council preserve the ability of Catholic Charities and other providers to continue to serve the growing and unmet needs of the poor and most vulnerable residents of the District of Columbia.
Additional information, including testimony, press releases and other material, is available at www.marriagemattersdc.org.
Sincerely in Christ, Most Reverend Barry C. Knestout Auxiliary Bishop of Washington Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia (end quote)
So it seems that the Archdiocese will continue to provide services to the best of its abilities, given that it cannot expect any financial aid or even legal permissions to do so. That's fine. As long as the Archdiocese holds firm and stays true to the One True Faith, I'm sure that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself will bless the various ministries. We as a Church don't need funny money with all sorts of immoral strings attached!
In the face of Obama's scheme to import 10,000 Syrian refuges into the United States, there has been much confusion on the part of Catholics regarding what the United States, as a nation, should do. Some have opined that we should admit them indiscriminately, prefacing their remarks with "Jesus would welcome the stranger" and "what would Jesus do". Implicit in their invocation of Jesus' name is that they imagine He would not consider the impact such decisions might have on others. For instance, they direct these platitudes at governmental officials, urging them to base their policies on a rather simplistic impressions of Our Lord's will. They fail to consider that governmental officials have as their FIRST priorities the welfare of their citizens. They have a moral duty to do all they can to protect them from real threats. And yes, evidence pours in that the Syrians are posing a threat to their host countries. The attacks on France last week should serve as a stark lesson to us.
Suppose, for example, there was a neighborhood that was plagued by a series of house invasions that occurred when the robbers burst into homes when doors had been opened to them. A father of a family heard a knock at the door at night. He calls through the door, asking the visitors what they want, and they stated they needed help and wished to be admitted into the home. Knowing the neighborhood situation, would the father be wise to believe the visitors? Of course not. "But Jesus would welcome the stranger", our good-hearted but weak-thinking friends might chime. I for one beg to differ. Would He not approve of the father's solicitude for his family, a solicitude that is enjoined on him by the Sacrament of Matrimony and the Fourth Commandment? Just as the father of a family have to abide by his God-given priorities, so do those in civil authority. Their FIRST responsibilities are to their citizens and constituents. This is NOT rocket science! Taylor Marshall wrote a piece that is an excellent treatment of this issue, drawing on Aquinas extensively.
Too many Catholic officials, carrying on like aging hippies with stars in their eyes, steadfastly refuse to acknowledge the truth and cling to their romantized notions of the "poor immigrants" with themselves as their noble saviors. In the midst of their semi-annual meeting in Baltimore, the US bishops pompously announce their calls for de facto open borders while chiding the governors who are following the maxims of Aquinas. Not to be outdone by the USCCB, the Maryland Catholic Conference put forth this laughable press release as it appears in the Catholic Standard. A little aside. Today I did not receive my issue in the mail. I think it's fascinating that my delivery is either missed or late when one of these whoppers is published in the paper. But I digress!
Anyway, there is the typical call for "compassion" (selective compassion, since non-muslims aren't allowed admittance). The MCC goes on to tout the praises (?) of the Catholic Relief Services, saying that they have "a rich history of serving potential refuges in their native land". Really? CRS has been caught red-handed distributing condoms and abortifacients in Africa - not merely funding said distribution, but CRS personnel themselves distributing these tools of mortal sin. They retained a "same-sex married" man as a vice president, knowing of his immoral lifestyle. Read here for a whole litany of their horrid endeavors and search the Lepanto Institute for more details. Here's a snapshot of their income statement for the fiscal year ended 9/30/2014. Notice that almost half their funding came from governmental grants: that is, our tax dollars! I suppose that's the "rich" part of their history.
Then the MCC crows about Catholic Charities. Yes - same Catholic Charities that:
Catholic Charities is one of the groups charged by the Obama cartel to help "settle" the Syrians as they invade arrive here. There's most likely more than altruistic motivation for them to do so. Recall last summer when it was discovered that the feds had extended to Catholic Charities offices in Texas over $17 million in grants to take in refugees. Wanna bet they're getting a nice chunk of change now? Again, that's our tax dollars. Just as they botched the three incidents listed above, they botched big-time this past week.
The Catholic Charities in Louisiana helped settle one such individual - and then lost track of him. Governor Jindal insisted that Obama give him info on those that are being shipped to his state; he probably knows better than to hold his breath waiting. But the story gets more interesting! Lo and behold, the Louisiana government learned that this refugee had gone to Washington DC. Now consider:
He is supposedly a poor destitute refugee. Yet he has the wherewithal to get off the boat and hightail it to Washington DC. It sounds like he had some direction and resources to make the trip. The distance between LA and DC is approximately 1100 miles. How did he afford the transportation and other travel expenses?
Recall from earlier in this post that ISIS made threats against the White House. Did this "poor refugee" come up here to participate? Was he ordered to do so?
I've received word that the House of Representatives voted today (by a veto-proof majority) to put a pause on Obama's scheme to import these refugees. Let us pray that the Senate jumps on board. Speaking of the House, I don't know if Trey Gowdy is Catholic or not, but he seems to have an inate grasp of Aquinas' thinking on immigration.
I'll end this rather long post with a video by Ann Corcoran detailing her research on refugee resettlement.
