CUA's Single-Sex Dorms: Not Discriminatory

Regarding the frivolous action lodged against Catholic University of America for re-instituting single-sex dorms, the DC Human Rights Commission dismissed that action.  The reasoning is that CUA is not treating the men and women differently in the living situations.  GWU law professor John Banzhaf (who has another nutsu action pending against CUA) was rebuffed.  I guess the Potty Parity Pappa can have himself a Pity Party.

Can A Catholic Be A Liberal?

That was the topic of a talk given by Boston College professor Peter Kreeft to a group of Catholics in Madison Wisconsin this past week.  Here is a piece from the Cardinal Newman Society,which in turn links to an article on the talk in a local Wisconsin newspaper.

The meeting to which the audience member alluded in his question was the 1964 Hyannisport Conclave.  Indeed there were many dissident clergy and theologians who concocted theological - and dare I say, liberal - snake oil gobblygoop to numb the conscience of any Catholic who takes the pro-baby-murder position.  One such renegade cleric was the late Fr Robert Drinan, SJ.  At the time he was dean of Boston College's law school.  (After his wings were finally clipped, he took refuge at DC's own Georgetown University, a CINO school, but I digress).  Some analysis of that smoke-and-mirrors session can be found here, here  and here.

To consider the Kreeft question, we must realize that today "liberal" and "progressive" are considered to be synonyms.  Understanding that these words today mean the embrace of a philosophy and world view that is both anti-life and antithetical to Christianity, the answer to Mr. Kreeft's hypothetical question is a very plan "NO!"

Electronic Chain Letters

Every so often, a well-meaning friend (or other email correspondent) will send me an email such as the one below:

When you receive the e-mail say a Hail Mary and ask for a special favor.
 Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God , pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen.

Please do not break the Novena. Send it to 12 people (including me) who deserve justice, peace, love, health, prosperity and truth. When you are down to nothing, God is up to something.


Actually, many of them are worse than the one above.  They'll promise you "blessings if you send this to your entire address book in the next 5 minutes, and if you don't then you're a faithless apostate".  You get the drift!

These are nothing more than electronic versions of chain letters.  I regret to say that many decent people will unquestioningly obey the admonition and hit that "send" button.  If so, they are unwittingly yielding to superstition and putting their recipients in near occasion of that sin.  These are not exhortations to true prayer.  Rather, they are calls to engage in incantation cleverly disguised as prayer.  I say "incantation" because of the obvious "formula" smell to it; that is, "do x,y and z and God will automatically bless you like a good little vending machine that has had its buttons properly pushed".

Needless to say, I don't forward them at all.  I don't even forward them after removing the superstitious parts, for I don't want to reward the sinful behavior of the originator of the chain-email.  Rather, what I'll do is write a reply to this effect and send it back to the sender, asking them in turn to send it back to whoever sent it to them.

Might I suggest that we all do this?  Of course you could just delete it, but wouldn't it be more helpful to try to eliminate that problem?

Barney Frank Is Retiring! Deo Gratias!

Rep Barney Frank, one of the most left-wing members of Congress for over 30 years, has announced that he is retiring at the end of this term.  He cites a "polarized national climate".  (Translation - people are wising up to his role in the onset of our current financial mess).  You can read about it on numerous sources, but here it is from Politico.

It truly would be lovely to see a real conservative win that seat next November, but I harbor no illusions about Massachusetts.  It's the same kind of liberal looney bin as is Montgomery County MD.  However, I cannot see how Frank's successor can be any worse than he was.

OWS And Dorothy Day

I've read a number of articles lately on the OWS phenonema, and find myself disconcerted that some Catholics are taken up with the hysteria, to varying degrees.

In the National Catholic Register there appeared this piece by Mark Shea.  This is a piece that sounds like it would be found in the Reporter rather than Register, with its chanting of the "social and economic justice is what it's all about" and "rich folks get all the breaks and poor folks get none" mantras.  I quote, "a good working definition of American justice in the present hour is that things which are sins when ordinary people do them are not sins when rich and powerful ones do them."  That is simply incorrect, particularly with abortion.  The fact is that our heathen culture looks upon abortion for the rich and for the poor as being equally laudible.  The defining attributes of American injustice are the ways in which core moral principles are being savaged today, vis-a-vis:

• The murder of children in abortion
• The widespread acceptance of contraception
• The acceptance of euthanasia (even involuntary euthanasia)
• The various forms of abuse of embryoes (cloning, embryonic stem cell research, in vitro fertilization)
• The acceptance and even celebration of homosexual behaviors

Shea's article continues.  I quote, "In the same way, incest, like most other grave crimes and sins, is only a crime and a sin for poor people in the US. When rich and powerful people in big business and government do it ...this is hailed as 'synergy'."  Here he is monkeying around with the definition of incest.  When he uses the term for "poor people", he is using the correct and common meaning as "sexual relations between related indiviudals.  However, for the latter class, he's referring to cronyism between governmental and/or corporate entities.  That's quite clear from the context of  the NCR article.  I too find those latter relationships to be of dubious moral quality, but I wouldn't equate them with the horrible violation of young women.  In short, cronyism and incest are NOT synonyms!

Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood President: "2011 The Most Difficult Year In Our History"

OK, boys and girls!  Grab your hankies and shed a tear, for Cecile Richards is in lamentation over the state of Planned Parenthood in 2011.  To wit:

• Live Action has engaged in video sting actions showing that numerous PP offices routinely cover up evidence of statutory rape of underage girls, giving aid to predators and sex traffickers.
• Nine states have cut off Planned Parenthood funding, depriving them of $61 million of our tax dollars
• Owing to that, they've closed numerous locations
• Abby Johnson started a parade of abortuary workers defecting from the PP ranks and turning pro-life.

Well, golly gee!  We must do something about this state of affairs!  And what must we do?  Why, in 2012, we should do all we can to ensure that 2011 is not their worst year!  And we'll repeat that process until Planned Parenthood has been, once and for all, consigned to the dung heap of infamous history.

Of course we must pray that Richards et al come to conversion and repentance.  Otherwise, if Richards thinks she's in lamentation now, she will really rue her days when she faces her Lord in Judgment.

New Visualization Technologies Open Up Fetal Development

From Yale University we see a new video detailing the growth of a young child from his/her very first moment when the father's sperm met the mother's ovum.  See why Dr Tsiaris said why it's hard not to attribute this process to divinity.

Climategate 2?

It looks like more emails have been disclosed that show the "global warming" - oops!  I mean "cimate change" (my bad!) hysteria to be completely contrived.  Of course the aims are:

1. to induce gullible people to cede to the government more and more control over our lives (dictating the cars we buy, the light bulbs we use)
2. to justify our own stagnation of economy and technology (gotta curb our carbon footprints, you know!)

Of course it's a disgrace when the government latches onto this to advance its own growth of power.  It's even more so when progressives within the Church likewise glom onto this (probably to keep those "faith-based" grants rolling in?).  We'll recall all this to mind when they try to trot out yet another "lenten carbon fast'.

How Catholic Charities Is Prostituting Itself

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".
• Richmond (VA) Catholic Charities took one of their underage clients to get an abortion - with prior knowledge of the bishop!
• Recipients of their "Centennial Medal" awards include Sister Carol Keehan and Fr Theodore Hesburgh.

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.

If You Gave To The CCHD Collection Last Weekend...

I direct this post particularly to readers within the Archdiocese of Baltimore.  If you gave to the CCHD last weekend, you gave to organizations that seek to undermine our society and the Church.  The video below, of the United Workers Association, shows your contribution dollars at work!   (Click here if you can't see embedded video).

Abortion And Witchcraft

Recently Pope Benedict XVI went to Africa.  While in Angola, he denounced the child sacrifice that is practiced by some of the native religions.  Before anyone accuses me of being "anti-African" or other such nonsense, let me state quite plainly that such occurrences abound in these United States, too.  Several years ago, I did sidewalk counseling at the now-closed Hillcrest Women's Surgicenter on Georgia Avenue, just inside the DC line.  Several of the "pro-choice escorts" were quite involved in Wicca; they had no bones about letting us hear of their escapades.  On another occasion, I was in a bookstore.  A headline on a new-agey type of magazine caught my eye; it read "A prayer before abortion".  I bought it just so I could read this "prayer".  It was full of wiccan imagry as this so-called "spiritual" person was about to murder her own child.  Now watch this video below.  Click here if you can't see embedded video.

Ann Barnhardt On Mitt Romney

I like this lady!  She's right - the RINO establishment does seem intent on foisting Romney on us.  However, we don't have to let it happen!  Click here if you cannot see embedded video.

Time To Ban Di-Hydrogen Monoxide!

Somehow I think that if these folks were to circulate this petition amongst the OWS crowd, they'd get lots and lots of signatures!  Click here if you cannot see embedded video.

"Pope" Pelosi Canonizes Charles Rangel!

Let the bells of all the churches ring in jubilation, for "Pope" Pelosi speaketh!!  (Click here if you cannot see embedded video).

Pelosi Whines About Catholics' "Conscience Thing"

I put up two posts last month, detailing Nancy Pelosi's pearls of wisdom.  She opined that we ladies would be dropping dead like flies hither and yon if conscience protections for doctors were enacted in law. He also expressed her abject horror at the thought of Planned Parenthood's tax funding being eliminated (probably because PP would then cut their support to her sorry political career).

Two days ago, she has graced us all with more verbal cow pies in an interview with the Washington Post.  After her snit-fit about Herman Cain referring to her as "Princess Pelosi", she said (among other things) that she would not have said anything different when she said that we'd all be croaking if conscience protections were passed.  After claimng to be a "devout Catholic" (except for minor matters such as her support of baby murder and perversion of marriage, etc), she complains that we have "this conscience thing".  Again, she just can't let go this canard of women dying - probably because she can't remove her feet from her mouth.

"This conscience thing"!!   Gee!!   I wonder if she has one of those??

But wait!  It gets worse!  And I do mean it!
One major point she made during her interview was that she intends to do to "child care" what she did to "health care".  What will it entail?  Well, she'll probably say that we'll have to pass the bill to see what little embedded gremlins emerge from it.  Language in that bill will probably include things like "mandatory", etc.  And of course there will be lots and lots of bureacracies and taxes.

Parents, beware!  Also understand that critical importance of the 2012 elections.  Besides dethroning the Messiah Most Miserable, we must also make sure "pope" Pelosi never becomes the House Speaker ever again!

Exposing "Occupy Wall Street"

My friend at Les Femmes posted about a site exposing the dubious charms of Occupy Wall Street.  Take a look at it here.   Ann Coulter has dubbed this OWS schtick as the "Flea Party", owing to some tiny vermin that are making their presence felt at those sanitation-challenged encampments of theirs.  An alternative name for them might be the "Pee Party", owing to tendencies, common amongst that crowd, to answer nature's call in public venues.

Here's a less-than-delightful video of them, again at the Americans for Prosperity meeting.  This time they're keeping a wheel-chair bound woman from exiting the building   Perhaps we should be grateful that they didn't let her out only to send her careening down the stairs.  Click here if you can't see embedded video.

Has It Been A Long Week?

Enjoy!  Click here if you can't see embedded video.

More CCHD Follies At The Bishops' Meeting!

As if we needed yet more reasons to deny them another penny of our hard-earned money, the CCHD committed some more nonsense.  Well, I suppose they're just being who they are.

From the National Catholic Reporter we read the CCHD bestowed upon Rosibel Mancillas Lopez the Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award at the bishops' meeting in Baltimore on November 14th.  Cutting through the NCR's liberal-code talk, we see that she helps illegal immigrants continue to break US law.  Although this young lady is studying law, she seems to have little appreciation for it - and she seems not to have much grasp of Catholic morality as she thinks she has.  While she talks of "the rights of immigrants", I see absolutely no mention of the immigrants' corresponding obligations to obey the laws of their host country. 

When she complains that "immigrants are stripped of their human dignity just because they were born in a different part of the world", she misstates the matter to the point of being absolutely disingenuous.  It is not a "stripping of human dignity" to insist that they obey the rule of law that is enjoined upon one and all who live and seek to come to this country.

As you read the NCR article, you'll notice that Lopez got her start in a church affiliated with the San Diego Organizing Project.  If you've read any of Stepanie Block's articles, you'll recall that it is a PICO affiliate - in other words, a "community organizing" bunch.  PICO lent its support to the Obamacare bill that is ensconsing abortion into our cultural landscape with our tax dollars.

Further down the article, we read that Lopez was commended by Bishop Soto - the same bishop who wrote that lame excuse for a rebuttal of the American Life League's well-documented report on the current dismal state of affairs at the CCHD.  I dealt with that here. 

By the way - after you read the NCR article, read the comments at the bottom.  They're quite heartening!  Many people are seeing through the smoke and mirrors of the CCHD.

Enough of Lopez.  In an earlier NCR article, you can read how the "CCHD wants to woo back bishops who left the reservation campaign".  As you read this, just imagine a scene from the "godfather" movie, where the old man says "I'll make an offer he can't refuse" or something to that effect - you get the point!  Does that mean there's arm-twisting going on in Baltimore even as I type this post?

FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS GIVE TO CCHD!

BOYCOTT THE CCHD COLLECTION!

At Zuccotti Park, Some OWSers More Equal Than Others

Those who read "1984" by George Orwell understand what this post title means.  Others might learn by watching this.  Click here if you can't see embedded video.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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KKT At Catholic University Last Week

I just learned this today from the Cardinal Newman Society.  Last week the "katholyc" pro-abortion Kathleen Kennedy Townsend gave an address at Catholic University, sponsored by the local College Democrats chapter.

Naturally she agitated for women's ordination and for popular selection of bishops and the pope.  If you didn't think her bloviations could become more nonsensical, well, you're in for a treat!  Here are some of the cow-pies that we "missed" when she became the first Democrat in decades to lose a MD gubernatorial election.

• She bemoaned the fact that it's difficult for her, as a Catholic Democrat, to be able to speak at Catholic institutions - real ones, that is.  Well, no KKT, that's not it at all!  It's because you forfeited all moral credibility by supporting baby-murder
• Speaking of that topic, she tried to dance around it by saying that when Dems are elected, the rates of abortion go down!  (Wait!  There's more!)  "And why is that?", she opines.  Why, "it's because of the safety net ensured by the Democrats' higher taxes!"  What sane person can make up this crap??  At least she admits that higher taxes come from the progressives!
• When asked why Catholics tend to be conservative, she replied that as people become wealthier, they become conservative.  Nonsense!  Her own family is one of considerable means - yet they are among the most flamboyant of liberals.  Another little fact, if you don't mind!  If by "conservative" you mean for a smaller government, it's because we who take our faith seriously understand the inherent tyranny of government grown huge and arrogant and yes, atheistic.

The Cardinal Newman Society did challenge the CUA administration regarding Townsend's appearance on campus.  The administration did some hand-washing, which ended with this sentence: "To more fully develop their moral character and critical thinking skills, our students need to hear and discuss  diverse views, even some with which they disagree."  Well, things aren't quite that simplistic.  To develop their moral and intellectual skills, they need to be taught the unambiguous truths of their Faith.   When folks like Townsend come spouting off "women's ordination" nonsense, they need to understand that such is heresy, not merely a "diverse view".  Now my question is how does the CUA plan to provide antidote for the poison that Townsend was allowed to spew?

More On Bishops Lusting For Government Hand-Outs

I touched on this in my most recent commentary on the Catholic Standard articles.  In a nutshell, I said that if the bishops continue to ask for government monies for this charity or that program, that they will continue to expose the entire Church to secular malevolence.

Today I happened upon a similar post in "A Blog For Dallas Area Catholics".  This blogger states the case more elegantly than I.  He makes the point that monies taken by force of government do not constitute charity.  Moreover, he makes plain that governmental handouts serve only to foster greater dependence on the state.  That is how the Church puts itself at the mercy of an ever-increasing beheamoth.

Only when the bishops learn that they "cannot have their cake and eat it too" will we see the Church strengthen in spiritual integrity and in the respect that it will command.

Charles Rangel - "Frightened" By Clergy's Lack Of Support For Obamanomics

Oh, the poor dear man!  He is so frightened that the clergy aren't jumping onto the Obamanomics bandwagon in droves!  Grab your hankies and shed a tear as you listen to this podcast tell Rangel's tale of woe!

Funny, isn't it?  When the clergy denounce the intrinsic evils of abortion, gay lifestyle, etc, Rangel et al will screech and howl about "separation of church and state" - but will cast all that pretense aside when they want to twist morality to support their socialistic endeavors.  So sorry, Charlie!  You have it exactly ass-backwards and you're no longer getting away with it!

Maryland Catholic Establishment And Religious Liberty

There are some signs that the hierarchy in Maryland may be waking up to the malevolent intentions of progressives towards those who profess Christianity.  The most recent issue of the Catholic Standard seemed to be devoted to this very real threat..  See here for a statement issued by the Maryland bishops.  See here for an interview with Mary Ellen Russell, the Executive Director of the Maryland Catholic Conference regarding this matter.

While I certainly welcome these signs of early awakening here, I still am concerned that the Maryland Catholic establishment is not acknowledging how it exposed its own throat - and ours - to those who seek to marginalize us.  In fact, it still continues to make itself vulnerable to the secular elements.

It's no secret to anyone who reads this blog that I have often decried the regretable tendencies of the various state conferences for seeking government grants for this charity or that cause.  I believe that is one key reason why the Maryland bishops are reluctant to deny Holy Communion (as Canon 915 enjoins them) to prominent pro-abortion politicians because the bishops fear the loss of "text-book money" or some other state grant.  So they allowed themselves to be muzzled - a little here and a little bit there.  Then they're shocked (just shocked!) when the pols tighten the noose just a little bit more.

If the Maryland hierarchy is serious about securing relgious liberty, it simply will have to go "cold turkey" and divest itself immediately of all governmental funding, no matter the level of government from which such funds originate.  Its protestations of the loss of religious liberty will ring hollow as long as the bishops and conferences have their snouts buried in those governmental pig troughs known as "grants".  Let's hope the withdrawal process starts immediately.

Another Catholic Institution Escapes Shame

Siena College, a Franciscan institution in New York, was scheduled to host Widney Brown, a local pro-abortion speaker, to give a talk on campus.  He would have spoken on "The Progress for Human Rights in a Politically Challenged World".  A talk like this from a pro-abortion speaker would not have been worth the spit produced in its utterance.

The group TFP Student Action took the lead on preventing this debacle.  After their online announcement, the campus received approximately 3,000 phone calls and emails urging cancellation of the talk.  Happily, the college president heeded the message.

We congratulate TFP Student Action and those who took the time to raise their voices.  Let's all take encouragement and example from them.

1,000 For Life

December 5, 2011 marks the first anniversary of Leroy Carhart's arrival at the Germantown Reproductive Health Services in Germantown, MD.  He specializes in late-term abortions and has to date murdered over 700 babies in Germantown.

Local pro-life groups are gathering at the corner of Wisteria and Executive Park Circle on Monday December 5th from 8am-10am in a special prayer vigil to commemorate the tragic and brutal murders of these children and to pray for the repentance of Carhart and his staff.  Please come; we'd like to see 1,000 pro-lifers come together in prayer and witness at this place of death.

For further details, click here.

Those "Peaceful" Liberals

Here are just a few DC-area tidbits that the mainstream media won't bother to mention.

On January 24th, during the annual March for Life, Charisse Epsy Glassman, niece of former US Agriculture Secretary Mike Epsy and a candidate for a Virginia school board position, was found guilty of assaulting a pro-lifer with her car.  Glassman was driving out of an ally towards pro-lifers nearby.  One woman stepped in front of the car, shouting at her to slow down so as not to endanger the other prolifers.  Glassman laughed and kept moving until she hit the woman.  The woman suffered back injuries.  While the woman's name was not made public, I do know her.  I trust that Glassman's budding political career has been nipped.

Second, you might remember the video from a few days ago, when OWS types knocked down the stairs an elderly lady who was attending an Americans For Prosperity conference.  The OWS types were blockading the doors.  One of them was what we could call a "mother from hell".  She joined the blockade - and used her children for that purpose.  As of the time the clip below was taken, she has no regrets about endangering her own children.  Watch this.  The woman does not have the sense of a billy goat.



If anyone saw these in the mainstream media, please advise.

Update/Correction On CUA Lawsuit

A few weeks ago I wrote about the situation at Catholic University of America.  Legal action is being taken against CUA, ostensibly in the name of Muslim students.  In that post, I said that the students were whining about the fact that CUA was simply being Catholic.  After receiving this clarification, I now realize that I was being unfair to the students themselves, as they are not particpating in this action.

The real whiner/snivveler is John Banzhaf, a law professor at George Washington University.  For whatever reason, he has an axe to grind against Catholic University - and perhaps the Catholic Faith in general.  At any rate, CUA's Tower shows some Muslim students repudiating Banzhaf's actions.  One went so far as to say that she "would not want to be represented by a person like Banshaf".

Banzhaf has made quite a name for himself, it seems, by flinging lawsuits about as a flower girl at a wedding tosses petals all over the floor.  Why, according to his own website (such an impeccable source!), he's one of the "100 most powerful people in Washington DC".  He has filed suits against tabacco, has taken "fat" to court and is (be seated for this breathtaking revelation), the Father of Potty Parity!  I'm sure that looks impressive on his resume!  So dreaming up a bogus discrimination lawsuit is right up his ally - never mind that the "victims" that he "wants to protect" really don't want his "help".  But too bad!  If a progressive thinks you are a victim who cannot exist without his assistance, why, you're just too ignorant for your own good and you will be "represented in court" anyway!  I hope there's a halfway intelligent judge in DC who can put this man in his place!

Stoplight Resumes!

Stuart Shephard has resumed production of his Stoplight series.  Here's the first one after the hiatus.  (Click here if you cannot see embedded video).

An Abortionist Who Is Having A Sale!

This is a new low in callousness and coarseness.  Abortionist James Pendergraft of Florida is apparently trying to lure women into his Orlando center.  Presumably they aren't meeting their murder quota.  At any rate, here is the text of the "coupon" from their website.

LIMITED TIME SPECIAL!

PRINT THIS PAGE AND BRING IT IN FOR $50 SAVINGS ONLY ON SUNDAYS!

VALID FOR ABORTIONS PERFORMED BY 5/31/12. You must present this page to the receptionist at the time of the abortion ON SUNDAYS ONLY. $50 credit towards cost of abortion. No cash value.

Notice that the coupon will be honored only on Sunday.  Whatever else "keep holy the sabbath" means, it does not mean murdering one's own child that day - or any day for that matter.

In a way, I can understand Pendergraft's need to raise some quick cash.  He has to pay $36 million in damages after a botched abortion.  However, given the botched abortion and the fact that his license was suspended four times earlier, I cannot imagine why he's allowed to practice medicine at all.

Pendergraft does late-term abortions, as does Leroy Carhart in Gernamtown.  Carhart does some of his bloody business on Sundays, too.  I wonder if Carhart will start having "specials".

Rumor Of Papal Call For World Central Bank - Quashed!

Remember that rumored "Papal call for a world central bank"?  Cooler heads have been trying to talk some sense into fevered progressive heads, but the latter just hear what they want to hear.

Of course it was just a white-paper study from Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.  It carried no magiserial authority whatsoever.  Comes now the news that Cardinal Bertone, the Vatican's Secretary of State, has forbidden all offices of the Curia from releasing anything without being reviewed and authorized by the Secretariat of State.  He has repudicated that white paper.  I for one am grateful that the overeager lemmings in the Vatican have had their leashes pulled in.

Progressives, you can stop salivating now!

(HT to Catholic Vote)

Boycott The CCHD Collection!

A number of great articles came across my email today and I was going to post them.  I see that my friend and colleague at Les Femmes beat me to the punch, so I'll just send you over there!  One word about that second article.  The author, Rey Flores, is the former Director of CCHD for the Archdiocese of Chicago.  For having the courage to initiate some real reform of the local granting process, the local liberal cabal orchestrated a campaign to have him fired and to return the local CCHD to its mishandling of donation dollars.  He does write from an insider's perspective and his insights are valuable.

For additional information on the CCHD, visit the Catholic Media Coalition site (on right tool bar) and watch the Vortex's two CIA episodes dealing with the CCHD.

Shame On The Bishops Of Mississippi!

It was announced today that Mississippi Initiative 26 failed to pass in a general vote today.  This measure would have amended the Mississippi Constitution to recognize personhood as beginning at the moment of fertilization. 

It failed by a rather narrow margin - 52% to 48%.  In this New York Times article, we see that among its opponents are the "usual suspects" - NARAL, Planned Parenthood, the ACLU.  That's so typical that it isn't worth the bother to comment.  However, once again National Right to Life disappointed grass-roots pro-life activists.  Sadly, it's no surprise and I learned long ago that National Right to Life is not to be taken seriously in terms of its political courage and resolve (or lack thereof).

However, the Catholic bishops of Mississippi have abysmally disgraced themeselves and their high offices by opposing the Personhood Initiative.  Yes!  The bishops joined ranks with NARAL et al to oppose the measure and thus throw babies under the bus!  It's not strategic, you see?  Their fears of it hindering "efforts to overturn Roe" (Efforts!??!  What efforts??!?!?!) are nothing more than lame excuses for cowardice (and I hope for nothing worse). 

Your Excellencies, if Initiative 26 would have been so harmful to the pro-life cause, don't you think the pro-aborts would have figured that out??  Instead of vociferously opposing the measure, they would have quietly let it pass - if what you said was true.

As noted before, the initiative failed by a thin margin.  Had the Mississippi bishops lent their support to this measure - or at least not opposed it - perhaps Initiative 26 would have passed.  Lame excuses to the contrary, I believe they failed the babies miserably and will answer for that, should they not change course.

And That's How It's Done!

The above is a sentence in Jill Stanek's blog describing the victory won by a dedicated group of pro-life Catholics in their parish.

The parish in question is Our Lady of Fatima Church in Oak Park, Michigan.  There they are misrepresented by U.S. Congressman Ed Rivet.  Throughout his career (including an earlier stint as State Senator), he has voted to foster abortion and euthanasia.  Last summer he headlined a Planned Parenthood fundraiser.  So what did the "social justice" cabal at Our Lady of Fatima do?  They invited Rivet to give a talk on "The Dignity of the Human Person".  One might think that was a macabre joke, given his anti-life history.

The announcement gave only one week's notice, but the faithful Catholics of that parish immediately sprung into action.  They protested to both the pastor and to the Archdiocese of Detroit.  At the same time, they mobilized various groups and made known that they would stage a protest of the event.   Apparently, not wishing to face the music, the parish relented and canceled the appearance.

And that's how it's done!

Let's review some key points.

• Someone was paying attention and noticed what was about to happen, and they sounded the alarm.  In your own churches, do you have a network of people willing to keep their eyes and ears open at all times?  If not, form one!
• The faithful Catholics at that parish were prepared to drop what they had otherwise planned to take action.
• They were prepared to step out of their "comfort zones" and to get out into the streets, if necessary.  Folks, street activism is necessary, and not just for a few of us;  all of us (this means you) need to get off our duffs and on our feet and in the streets.
• In this case, the prospect of a public stink was enough to cause the pastor to see the errors of his ways.  Had he not done so, it appears that the people were intent on following through.  So must we be.

If we're going to take back our Church and our culture from progressive lemmings, we need to have this sort of thing happen over and over again.  That's how it's done!

ACORN Foments "Occupy Wall Street" Debacle

If you've been relying on the mainstream-lame-brain media, you've probably been spoon-fed nonsense about how this OWS thing is a spontaneous uprising of idealistic youngsters.  Of course if you've done some independent research (which is most likely the case if you're reading this), then you'll realize OWS is really quite destructive.  There are enough videos out there, videos created independently of the "New York Times / Washington Post" conglomerate. 

NARAL's "Chocolates For Choice" - Picketed!

Although a small crew of us were there to speak words of righteousness and repentance to NARAL's shindig last night (that both served as blood-feast and fund-raiser), it was enough to hopefully prick a few consciences and to cause them to reconsider their hell-bent paths of life.

Often, when consciences are pricked, anger is a first reaction.  While we hope that this anger engenders subsequent reflection, that isn't always the case.  Suffice it to say that consciences were pricked.  We were also in downtown Rockville which is the seat of Montgomery County government - that is, we were in the heart of one of the top liberal lala lands in the US.

The NARAL folks were a bit miffed that the exposed truth of what they're promoting might cause their chocolates to go sour.  They called the police - the Rockville City Police in this case.  Four officers showe up - one for each of us!  One of the officers had this exchange with one of us.  (Click here if you cannot see embedded video).



Notice that the officers' main point is that "people don't like seeing the signs" (paraphrased, but listen for yourselves).  Well, so what?  Since when is exercise of First Amendment rights grounds for police action?  Then he said that the folks attending the bloodfeast wanted to have a nice evening (again, paraphrased).  That's laughable!  A "nice evening" with chocolates paid with (at least in part) the blood money paid to murder babies!

After claiming that some realty company actually owns Gibbs Street, they told us to cross Beall Avenue or get arrested.  It turns out that was actually advantageous for our purposes, since most of the NARAL attendees were parking there anyway - and walking right by us.  Even after we crossed the street, the cops stuck around.  I suppose the City of Rockville is so crime-free that four officers can just lolly-gag around to keep those dangerous signs and pamphlets away from those who profit from the murder of babies.  Perhaps that's the fault of their dispatch officer; at any rate, the City of Rockville just wasted tax dollars to soothe the consciences of NARAL.

There's hope for the NARAL folks, though.  If Bernard Nathanson, a founder of NARAL, can convert and devote the rest of his life to fighting abortion, then so can anyone of them.

By the way!  Take a look at the webpage announcing the event!  In particular, note the third paragraph, first sentence, where it says, "As in years past, we will feature our famous chocolate martinis and decedent chocolate desserts"    Now note that underlined word.  One might think that was just a careless spelling mistake when they meant to say "decadent".  Consider that the word "decedent" means "dead person".  Might we have an unconscious acknowledgment that this event was a blood-feast?  (NARAL, don't bother changing it now!  Many of us have already cached the page!)

Vortex - "CCHD Should Demand Return Of Grants"

Some folks opine that Michael Voris' Vortex is a tad too hard-hitting: that he's too strident and blunt.  Or, to use their politically-correct lexicon, he's "mean-spirited, unkind, uncharitable".  In this particular episode, I'm of the opinion that he may actually be soft-pedalling the situation a bit.

Donor Death "Not Required" For Organ Donation?

That's what three authors of a paper submitted to the American Journal of Bioethics propose.  See this Lifesite News report.  It's been no secret that "live" donation has been going on for some time now, as organ integrity starts to wane soon after death.  Basically they're saying "let's drop the pretenses.  As long as the donors are beyond suffering (whatever that means) and their integrity is respected". 

I believe they'd anesthesize the "donor" - how nice!  They're that considerate - but when would that pretense fall by the wayside?  And precisely how is the donor's "integrity respected" when the little Frankensteins only see him/her as an organ bank?

The fact that these doctors (using the term loosely) can speak so brazenly of their disrespect for the lives of their organ sources with little outcry of indignation from the populace at large is chilling.  I don't know what is worse: the murderous mindset of these "doctors" or the apathy of the citizenry at large.

Catholic Media Coalition: Boycott The CCHD Collection

The Catholic Media Coalition (of which this blog is a member organization) has released the following statement regarding this year's CCHD collection:

CATHOLIC MEDIA COALITION ENDORSES BOYCOTT OF ANNUAL CCHD COLLECTION

For years the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) has awarded grants to organizations that work against Catholic teaching, particularly with regard to human life and marriage. Not only have donations from generous Catholics in the pew gone to groups that organize and lobby against Church teaching, but they have indirectly, and even directly, helped to elect liberal politicians who advance evil causes.

In view of the recent devastating report from American Life League and ReformCCHDNow which indicates that the problems continue and have even worsened, the Catholic Media Coaltion endorses a boycott of the annual CCHD collection and urges Catholics to give instead to local organizations that serve the poor. Crisis pregnancy centers, Catholic free clinics and food pantries, Catholic shelters and homes for unwed mothers, organizations that serve the third world through clean water and immunization projects are all worthy alternatives to CCHD.

Despite their assurances to the contrary CCHD continues to funnel a large percentage of donations into community organizing groups and coalitions that are hostile to the faith and undermine the family. That is, certainly, no way to help the poor.

Faithful Catholics of MD/DC, Inc adds its "amen" to that statement.
 
Update: the CIA episode to which I linked in yesterday's post is now in youtube format, so here it is.  Again, it's a long one, but only because it contains much worthwhile information.  Click here if you cannot see embedded video.
 

Vortex Weighs In On The Latest CCHD Debacles

Real Catholic TV has released not only a video, posted below, but also has created one of their very informative "Catholic Investigative Agency" expose.  The CIA doesn't appear to be in youtube format at this time, so you'll have to go to it here.

As you listen to the youtube, the article to which Voris refers is this; he reproduced it in pdf format, but that doesn't have the hyperlinked references as does my original version.  Anyway, please watch both and remember:

FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS GIVE TO CCHD!

Click here if you cannot see embedded video.