My blogging colleagues at Les Femmes wrote a little song to commemorate the wreckage that the pope is making of Tradition and the Faith. They suggested doing the hokey-pokey for a warm-up. To assist in their efforts, I have concocted a few lyrics of my own to assist in their efforts. So here it is, to the tune of "Do The Hokey-Pokey".
You bring the crystals in,
You throw the Rosary out
You take God’s teachings and
You turn them inside out
You do the Pachamama and you throw your soul in hell
That’s what it’s all about.
You bring the idols in
Take the tabernacle out
Sing heretical songs
And you dance and prance about
You do the Pachamama and you throw your soul in hell
Before we look at the main problem here, let's start with a general examination of the December 19th issue of the Catholic Sub-Standard.
In addition to the deficiencies observed by my blogging colleague A Washington DC
Catholic, others caught my eye. On page 4 of the paper edition appears an article written by Msgr John Enzler entitled "Rejoicing in Jesus' Humble Birth" In it the usual canards are to be found, particularly the one about Him being homeless. Note to Msgr Enzler, the pope, etc: the Holy Family was not , repeat NOT, homeless. They traveled to Bethlehem to register for tax purposes. In fact, much of the population was traveling for the same reason. That is why there was no room in the inns, for the rooms were occupied by fellow travelers. So much for that politically-correct codswallop.
The other one, one that the progressives seem to think is obligatory to trot out, is that they were refugees. Of course they are doing so to justify those crashing through our borders in disregard for legitiate immigration laws. While they were indeed fleeing Herod at the direction of an angel, in no way did they flout immigration law. Moreover, after a short while, they returned to their native place.
Another gaffe can be found on page 19 in the short blurbs of saints on the calendar for January. I cannot find this on an online version. Anyway, regarding St Raymond of Penafort, the Standard erroneously states that he was the second master general after St Dominic. In fact, the second master general was Blessed Jordan of Saxony. St Raymond was the third master general. Might the ordinary lay person know that? Most likely not. However, one should be able to expect that the authors and editors of a Catholic publication would check these facts before publishing these kinds of bloopers.
But now for the real point of this post. On page 20 of the paper edition, and here from the online edition, we read that Sr Mary Berchmans Hannan, former head of Georgetown Visitation, has been honored with a campus building named after her. Archbishop Gregory attended the dedication and there was a big photo-op of the two of them. The bloviation in her honor included snippets such as claiming that "everything she has done has been directed to honor God". Oh really? Let me jog some memories of events of this past May! In brief, Sister announced that the alumni magazine would be polluted by the announcement of same-sex shack-ups. Whatever the reasons, by praise of perversion she has embroiled the entire Visitation institution in mortal sin. Some alumni did publish an open letter to protest Sister's horrendous decision. However, one doesn't detect a peep of that mortal sin in the Standard's overly-glowy accolades for Berchmans. She should have been tossed out on her ear after that stunt. But of course our current prelate, friend of Fortunate Families, probably finds in her a kindred spirit - and it's not the Holy Spirit.
A Christmas concert at the Vatican a few weeks ago featured a tutorial in how to participate in pachamama idol worship. Yes, this idol-worship session was sponsored by the Congregation for Catholic Education. That congregation's name is clearly a misnomer. Both Gloria TV and Church Militant have accounts of the sacrilege. They have translations but even with my limited knowledge of Latin-based languages, I can detect "mother earth" (madre terra). What is particularly galling is how the prelates in the audience follow along like good little sheep dogs and cross their arms over their breasts to "feel the heart of mother earth". Is that a liturgical gesture? Well yes, but not Catholic. Look to the right to see who uses that gesture in their ceremonies. Did any of them, just one, keep their hands at their sides?
Doesn't this strike you as flagrant prostelyzation? Gasp! I thought that was forbidden in this new enlightened age of the "god of surprises". But I guess that prohibition only applies to the actual fulfillment of Christ's commission to proclaim the Gospel.
But of course this wasn't prostelyzation you see? This is just a part of what Pope Francis said when he said that church must "adapt" lest it become "irrelevant". He states that "the faith in Europe and much of the west...is often derided, denied, marginalized and ridiculed". That's true, but his antics are a big reason why that's the case. He is constantly undermining her teachings instead of upholding them while he yaps about "climate change" and other nonsense. What else would he expect the world to do?
He also points the finger (again!) at faithful Catholics who uphold Jesus' teachings. I suppose one of them would be Dr Josef Seifert who has stated that if what the pope teaches is in contradiction to perennial Church teaching, then we have a solemn duty not to obey it. Take note well. Obviously this prohibition would mean that we don't obey cues to assume idolatrous worship practices or allow for disregard of the Church's moral teachings. It also means that we are NOT permitted to shill for the abolition of the death penalty nor for de facto open borders.
A few days ago, while writing about some curmudgeonly "rad-trads", I forgot to mention one of the most egregious - and sinful - things that have spewed out of the mouths of some of them. As a rule, they attend Mass in the Extraordinary Form, often making great sacrifices to do so. I too will attend those Masses, but not exclusively. I understand the impetus, for often at the NO masses, there are attitudes that are way too casual; sometimes it gets worse than that.
However, some take it to sinful extremes. I was in another facebook discussion with some of them. They stated that because the NO mass was so bastardized by Vatican II, it cannot be considered a valid Mass. Therefore, according to them, if one cannot attend an EF mass, one no longer has the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. For their "authority", they cite this from the SSPX website. I've often wondered how SSPX could be considered at variance from the Magisterium. My question has been answered.
Ladies and gentlemen, what the SSPX, or at least its website editor, is advocating is a mortal sin against the Third Commandment. Unless the priest deviates from the language of the Sacramentary, the consecration, and thus the rest of Mass is to be considered valid. No one may elect not to attend Mass simply because abuses are occurring therein. Might I suggest that such absenteeism is its own abuse? The Third Commandment binds under mortal sin. Father So-And-So from the SSPX has no authority whatsoever to excuse attendance at Mass, be that Mass ever so unpalatable.
The word "excuse" brings me to another point. Excuse, or defense of evil done, is one of the nine ways of cooperating with mortal sin. So is "counsel", such as that evidenced in the SSPX screed. On the face of things, it seems that this SSPX priest needs to recant and get to confession asap.
Now let's look at what some Austrilian bishops are doing. They have in fact advocated sin against the First Commandment by falsely stating that Catholics can also be Freemasons. Besides the fact that Freemasonry is a major player in the desconstruction of our Church, they advocate false beliefs that are antithetical to Christianity. In that last link is a video going into more detail about Freemasonry. These bishops are also cooperating with mortal sin, thus incurring guilt attached to that sin.
So what might be the difference between the SSPX and these Austrilian bishops? Probably not that much. One the one hand, mortal sin against the Third Commandment is being touted; on the other hand, it's mortal sin against the First Commandment. Both have the potential of damning a soul to hell. Both agencies are being duped by the devil into doing his work. Satan wants Catholics to leave the Church, and he doesn't care whether they exit "stage left" or "stage right". Let's be wary of either tendency.
There might be some smidgeon of truth to that. After all, gang-rape sodomy is, among other things, inhospitable to the poor victim. You won't find that practice suggested in Emily Post's Rules of Etiquette - at least not in original versions of that work.
But enough of the snark. Let's get serious about this matter for indeed we now see that the Vatican is being more blatant about its attempts to normalize the mortal sin of homosexual behavior. LifeSiteNews has quotes from the book yammering on about a "new and more adequate understanding of the human person". Somehow through that talk one can hear the serpent saying "did God really tell you to...", instilling doubt in God's eternal commands.
In other related news, we learned that Cardinal Burke rebuked the bishops for their silence regarding the Netflix film depicting Jesus as gay and for the equally blasphemous picture of Jesus outside the art museam. How are all these things related? In one word, sodomy.
The book, the film and the picture all are ordered to the normalization of homosexual perversion. That normalization is being deliberately done - by higherups in the Vatican, and yes, even the pope himself. Seven years ago at my parish, Father Guarnizo was not ejected because he wasn't "pastoral" to the lesbian presenting herself for Communion. He was ejected for not coddling homosexual perversions. In light of recent revelations about both McCarrick and Wuerl, do we not see those facts in a new light?
I've written in the past about some strange things I've noticed about those who identify themselves as Catholics faithful to the magisterium but who hold themselves aloof from other faithful Catholics. For lack of a better term, I'll call them either "rad trads" or (probably more accurately) curmudgeons. I've described some of their characteristics in earlier posts: disdain for democracy, poo-pooing any votes for anyone less than a saint, condescension towards those of us active within politics or speaking in the public arena, etc.
I've tried for some time to understand just what might be the driving force behind their beliefs and behavior and realize that the answer isn't really that complicated. To wit:
Quite a few are lazy - and quite pompous about it. They justify their laziness to themselves by imperiously proclaiming that the actions that they eschew (voting, boycotts, prolife activism, etc) are at best a waste of their oh-so-precious time and at worst a compromise of the One True Faith. In other words, pride comes into play as they mock us from their insular conclaves.
Yep! Why else would they put down the efforts of other Catholics, pretending that those efforts aren't good enough? Why else would they mock President Trump non-stop without uttering a peep about those Democrats who are openly against God, life, family, human freedom, etc? They mock our efforts to justify their own unwillingness to get off their duffs and do something.
I've even heard one of them mock pro-life action as "prolifeism" as though our efforts constituted a form of idolatry against the One True Faith. Their big beef is that many of us in the pro-life movement work alongside non-Catholics. Well, so what? When they get off their rears and join the effort, maybe they will have some room to talk - that is, if they don't learn to appreciate the contributions of non-Catholic people. To paraphrase one pro-life leader, I like what some non-Catholics are doing better than what some "rad-trads" aren't doing.
I recently was involved in a facebook discussion with some of these individuals, with the topic revolving around the intentions of some Catholics to boycott Netflix because of their portrayal of Jesus as a homosexual pervert. The boycott effort was - of course - belittled by these "rad-trads". Here's an interesting snippet.
Two of them are conversing here. Now why on earth to they pretend that we hold boycotts to be sacraments, of all things?
Here's another, with them dismissing the right and responsibility to vote. Again, they like to bandy the word "sacrament" around, using it as a perjorative. The one guy is calling the act of voting "material cooperation in evil". On the contrary, I've explained my belief in previous posts why I believe the disdain of voting to be its own evil.
As I write this, news comes to us that the House just voted to impeach President Trump on very specious pretenses. It is reasonable to believe that the absent Catholic vote in 2018 is largely to blame for putting the Dems back in control of the House. Shall we now pray that the GOP in the Senate has the wisdom and courage to do the right thing?
Moreover, in 2020 elections will be upon us. We've already suffered through enough Democrat debates to know that whoever is the victor will usher in baby slaughter, gay agendas, transgenders, you name it. We will have to get involved (if we aren't already). When we hear our very confused rad-trads spout their non-voting crap, well, let's recall that "rebuke the sinner" is a Spiritual Work of Mercy.
For reasons that I cannot fathom, Texas hospitals seem all too eager to murder their patients instead of helping them achieve healing. The latest "case-in-point" revolves around Baby Tinslee Lewis, who was born prematurely and has spent her 10 months at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth. She has had many operations to repair heart defects, lung disease, etc. Now the hospital has determined that she is beyond "saving" and intend to take her off life support. The child's family is opposing this intended de facto murder of their child. Note that this controversy doesn't revolve around medical difficulties as much as it does some arbitrary determination of "quality of life".
As of this writing, this child is benefitting from a reprieve, but that will soon come to an end unless justice intervenes. Many amicus briefs have been filed from both sides. The hospital's intention to play God and destroy the child is receiving some surprising and troubling support. The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops has filed their brief in support of the murder of Tinslee Lewis. Other faux "pro-life" organizations supporting the hospital's intent to murder are the Texas Alliance for Life and the Texans for Life Coalition. On the other hand, standing by the beleagured family are Texas Right to Life, National Right to Life and Concerned Women for America.
The members of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, at least those who are responsible for issuing that amicus brief, bear great moral culpability for the child's murder (if she isn't saved). As bishops, they should be well aware of the dangers of cooperating with mortal sin. That link I just posted deals with such cooperation from the standpoint of Catholic moral theology. Towards the middle of that page, notice the nine ways listed by which a person (or organization) can commit with evil. Notice the words "counsel" and "approval". Both of them are clearly present in the action of filing that amicus. Also notice that this cooperation is formal; one cannot get much more formal than a court document. We also conclude that this cooperation is proximate and material, owing to the moral weight that the TCCB lends to this murderous enterprise.
Here is the website for the TCCB. Contact them and remind them that as they laud the impending murder of this child, they increase their chances for eternal damnation.
Apparently that is what we can surmise, thanks to the Wall Street Journal and their piece "Vatican Uses Donations For The Poor To Plug Its Budget Deficit". Only 10% of the funds collected in the annual "Peter's Pence" collection actually goes to "charities". The great bulk is being used to cover the deficit in the Vatican's "administrative budget". To be honest, I'm not too sure about the appropriate spending of that 10%.
Enterprise Dear to the Pontiff's Heart
The LifeSiteNews piece says that "the money is ostensibly used to support charitable enterprises dear to the pontiff's heart". Given what has been going on, with all these "climate change" synods and meetings with Sachs, Moon and some of the other one-world leftists, we can look askance on just what is meant by "enterprises dear to the pontiff's heart". But it gets worse.
Last week it was revealed that Peter Pence funds went to finance a biographical movie about Elton John, the openly gay performer who mocks marriage to boot. The flick has an explicit gay sex scene in it. Ladies and gentlemen, if you contributed to the Peter's Pence collection recently, you just helped to fund gay porn! Isn't that just...special??
Fellow Catholics, we have the responsibility to be judicious about our charitable giving. Gone are the days when we could just drop money in the collection basket and trust that it would be put to good use. Most likely those days never really existed. Please cease all those donations. I'd suggest donating to a solid religious order, a local food bank, local pro-life pregnancy center, etc.
This performance was held at the Washington Hebrew Congregation. Several years ago this ho-down happened in the main nave of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. That's right! Idolatry occurred inside the National Shrine as Muslims and Hindus sang prayers to their false deities/demons. I got wind of this just a few days before it was to occur (so no time to organize a protest) and I went to see how bad it could get. It got pretty bad. In fact, the Hindu dancing girls were even more scantily clad then than what you see in the Standard's photo. I left in the middle of it as I could stomach no more. Pachamama had nothing on the National Shrine..
Besides the flagrant idolatry, we see that the Interfaith Council of Washington is controlled by Democrats. Case in point: Rabbi Gerry Serotta, its current executive director, has contributed to something called Actblue, an online donor portal for Democrat candidates. Looking at the Catholics on its Board of Directors, we see one Anthony Quainton, who contributed to Chris Van Hollen as he ran against the prolife Kathy Szeliga.
To sum up - in one issue the Standard trumpeted two very questionable organizations - The Interfaith Council of Washington and Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. With just a little internet research I was able to learn just how inimical to the Faith they really are - and I'm not a professional journalist. Does the Catholic Standard employ any real journalists, or are they just parrots for the DC chancery swamp? Of course this question is purely rhetorical.
In this piece I will post a number of youtube videos. For considerations of space, I'll do so below the jump break.
More information has come out regarding the "mysterious" (ahem!) bishops who requested that the beatification of Venerable Fulton Sheen be put on hold. Just pause a moment. Why would these bishops wish to remain anonymous? Obvious answer. They know that they are acting out of pure spite for Sheen and his defense of the Faith; they, on the other hand, seek to reduce the Faith to a bunch of "social justice warrior" hogwash, and even that is a veneer for the establishment of a one-world government. One of the four videos will show Archbishop Sheen railing against false compassion, especially that shown to criminals and homosexuals. Yes, Sheen specified the latter. For the high crime and misdemeanor of excoriating the coddling of homosexuals - many of whom are in the higher echelons of Church hierarchy - his memory must be besmirched for he stings their consciences.
I'll link to an article by George Neumayr. I believe he is correct in opining that the Dolan-Cupich bunch really aren't interested in a delay for the sake of an AG report, but they want his cause abolished in its entirety.
The videos will follow after a brief synopsis and the jump break.
The first video is of the World Over. The relevant portion occurs near the beginning, while Raymond Arroyo interviews Phil Lawler. Arroyo is the one who divulges names.
The second one is an interview between Taylor Marshall and Chritine Niles. The first 33 minutes are devoted to a biographical sketch of Niles. The discussion of the Sheen situation starts at the 33:00 mark.
The third and last video is of the Archbishop, where he rebukes the false compassion and the recipients of the same.
The current Catholic Standard features some sisters telling their vocation story. One such story is from Sister Aine O'Connor, one of the five leaders of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. That name caught my eye for over ten years ago, I led a picket against them in Silver Spring. They were hosting a Call to Action meeting to discuss some sort of dissidence.
Here is the website of Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. Right there you can see that they are "social justice warriors" and there is not one of them in habit. Here is the list of their social concerns; notice how the E in "earth" is capitalized, like it's a proper noun/name? It's just a list of all the progressive talking points. Go to the "resources" menu, then to "social justice advocacy", then click on "earth community and mercy consciousness". You'll be gobsmacked with talk of "new catholicity", "unmaking and remaking of the western mind", and a smattering of gobblygoop by Teilhard de Chardin. Then there's "widening our circle of mercy". In this so-called "prayer service", six page of it, the word "God" is mentioned twice in this entire idolatrous groveling before "mother earth".
Take a look at their version of the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. Church tradition recognizes seven of each. They've appended an extra one to each. Their additions are at the bottom of their lists. I think it rather telling that they didn't deuvlge their edition of Sacred Tradition.
As with most progressive katholyc organizations, these women have forged some troubling alliances as you can see here. Women's Alliance for Theology Ethics,and Religion can be shortened to "Water". Scroll on down their main page. They advertize for an "Advent liturgy for Catholic Lesbian/queer women". Charming. Going further down we see that they work with Dignity and Women's Ordination Conference. They are headquartered in Silver Spring MD, just blocks from the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. Isn't that convenient?
Then there's Amnesty International. Here we see that they champion both baby-slaughter and the "gay-lifestyle" perversions.
If the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas has no problems with these positions espoused by their partners, then we can safely say that they embrace those dissident positions themselves. So why are they touted in the Catholic Standard?
Sadly, some are calling this day "punch a heretic" day. I don't have time just now to explain all the ways this is wrong. Suffice it to say that this flippancy is a slap in the face to the memory of St Nicolas.
Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen famously said that if anyone was to save the Church, it would be laity as opposed to clerics and religious. The conduct of certain prelates, as they try to derail his beatification, only prove his point. I'm a little late in reporting on this so I won't reinvent the wheel that others have made. I'll post now a vortex that summarizes the situation.
Now just in case you wonder what about Sheen's preaching that might rankle the USCCB, that is, Underhanded Syndicate of Corrupt Cowardly Bishops, this clip of one of the Archbishop's talks might provide a clue. Pay particular attention around the 16:22 mark and following. He likens the "social justice" thrust of the hierarchy to one of the three temptations that Satan posed to Jesus.
Or how about this one regarding "nice" people, such as the "Church of nice"?
Please recall that she is the lesbian judge in Michigan who was denied Holy Communion by Father Scott Nolan for publicly living in sin with another woman. Since that incident, she has been on a rampage to have Father ousted from his parish. Fortunately Bishop David Walkowiak is supporting his priest.
Many have rightly suggested that both Father and His Excellency should be congratulated and thanked. I concur and have done so. I also applied the Spiritual Work of Mercy known as "rebuking the sinner" to the errant judge. I got the fax number from the contact information for the courthouse in which she works. To that number I sent the letter below.
Begin letter:
Ms. Smolenski, I read of your situation with Father Nolan. As a Catholic who strives to live by the moral precepts of the Church, I concur with Father. Perhaps we can look at the situation from another vantage point. I presume that as a lawyer, you are a member of the Michigan State Bar. That association undoubtedly has standards and ideals to which you and other lawyers are expected to adhere. The rights and privileges of that association were not automatically granted to you; you had to qualify to be admitted and must conduct yourself in a manner deemed worthy by your association to retain membership with all its attendant advantages.
Parallels con be derived when it comes to the Church. The reception of Holy Communion entails allegiance to the Church's moral standards, including those of marriage and the use of procreative powers. Deliberate and obstinate flouting of those prescriptions is grounds for denial of Holy Communion. That denial is actually for your benefit, as reception of Holy Communion while you pretend to be married to another woman would only cause you to incur the guilt of receiving Our Lord in a sacrilegious manner, its own mortal sin.
Ms. Smolenski, neither you nor I can dictate to the Church who has a "right" to receive Holy Communion. Yes, we are all sinners. Jesus Christ welcomes all sinners - to repent and turn from their sins, not to wallow in them and expect to be celebrated for them. We are called to repent via the Sacrament of Confession and then to amend our lives. As your fellow Catholic I strongly urge you cease this lifestyle and return to Jesus Christ and His Church - on His terms, not yours.
You may ask what business do I have in saying these things to you. Well, it is you who chose to publicize this matter, not I. Apparently neither did Father choose to publicize this; he approached you via a private phone call - per your recollection. Father Nolan, as an ordained priest of Jesus Christ, cannot and will not acquiese to your demands that your sinful lifestyle be accepted as being in conformity with Church teaching. The words of Jesus will not change. I for one am grateful to Father for upholding the teachings of the Church.
Ms. Smolenski, please be advised that this letter is an open letter, to be publicized on the internet. Any replies will likewise be publicized; that includes replies from anyone else as well. Thank you for your time.
Actually, this "penance service" is rather old and comes to us, courtesy of Earth First (a rather destructive bunch). It seems that their errors are being used as sanctimonious cloaks to mask "one-world-government" agendas of the progressives, from Soros right over to the pope. So here it is, coming to a Church near you!
Father Scott Nolan of St Stephen parish in the Diocese of Grand Rapids (MI) denied Holy Communion to an openly lesbian judge. The judge's name is Sara Smolenski and she is the chief judge of the Kent County District Court; she and her accomplice in perversion are pretending that they are "married" with the help of civil courts. Fr. Nolan advised her in private that she was living a sinful lifestyle. Still, she presented herself for Holy Communion. Father, in obedience to Canon 915, denied her Communion. Immediately Smolenski took to mainstream media to pout about the matter and to gin up opposition to Father Nolan simply because the latter acted like an actual Catholic priest.
Long-time readers of this blog will realize why this story immediately caught my eye. Over seven years ago in my own parish, just as Lent 2012 was getting underway, Father Guarnizo likewise denied Holy Communion to another flaming lesbian. One just has to go into this blog's archives circa March 2012 to get an idea of the situation. The mainstream media likewise jumped all over that story and it even caught international attention. The two situations are similar in many respects, but differ in one key, striking manner.
Reading through Fr Guarnizo's story, one will see that the Archdiocese of Washington acted immediately to evict Fr Guarnizo from the Archdiocese. I've no doubt that they would have suspended him as a priest, had it not been for the fact that he's incardinated in another diocese. While the situation was unfolding, I thought that the chancery's actions were simply the result of cowardice and wanting to toady to the politically correct and powerful. At the time, McCarrick was still a cardinal and bishop emeritus of the DC archdioecese, and Wuerl held the helm. Over the past few years, we've come to understand that McCarrick was himself a serial gay predator and that Wuerl was covering for him. Those revelations shine quite a different light on their attitude towards Fr Guarnizo. I think they ousted him because his presence and actions seared their own sick and guilty consciences.
Father Nolan is blessed to have the support of his bishop, Bishop David Walkowiak. He released a statement saying that Father Nolan acted correctly. He stated that while the Church accepts its members, that it expects of its members adherence to the Church's teachings. He did so by quoting (of all things) Amoris Laetitia.
NEEDED ACTIONS
Here is the contact information for the parish. Please call and/or email Father to express support. You can bet your bottom dollar that the gay nazis are out in force against him, just as they drew their long knives against Father Guarnizo seven years ago. Here is the diocese's contact information, along with their statement regarding Father Nolan. Thank Bishop Walkowiak for supporting his priest.
In addition to voicing support for both Father Nolan and Bishop Walkowiak, there is other action that we as the Church Militant must take. It seems that this broad Smolenski has had her long knives pointed at Father Nolan previously. From LifeSiteNews we read that she tried to get Father ousted as chaplain for the Catholic Lawyers' Association of Western Michigan. When those in mortal sin refuse to repent of said sins, they hate with a passion anyone who dares to suggest that they need to repent. They think that by hurting the truth-tellers that they can justify their filth and perversion. Witness how the murderers of St Stephen the First Martyr covered their ears as he spoke.
Here is the website for the district courthouse in which she sits as judge. I for one think it highly unethical that she is using her public position as a platform from which she can launch her attacks against a Catholic priest who was acting according to his responsibilities. Of course be polite but also be firm. For her own good, we cannot allow her attacks to go on without any rebuke to her.
A few months ago the pope announced that he was changing the catechism to declare the death penalty to be inherently immoral. I wrote some pieces to explain why his attempt is itself the evil of heresy. I needn't rehash them; see here and here.
From the Vatican News website we read that the pope is planning to add yet two other sins: the use of nuclear weapons and the possession of nuclear weapons. Well, I for one am glad that these are sins that I won't have to confess. I, like all the other Great Unwashed, simply can't run over to the hardware store and stock up on those things. I know Home Depot doesn't carry them. But enough of the well-deserved sarcasm.
Of course he bloviated in Japan. Now if he said those things while wagging his finger under the nose of Kim Jong-Un or Xi Jinping, then I might be impressed. The fact is, as long as the bad guys have them, we need to have them too. That balance of power is necessary to discourage nuclear attacks. That's common sense. But progressive folk seem to be bereft of common sense. Either that or they really want to force western civilization into a subservient position. Given other recent actions of this Vatican, I believe it's the latter.
I anticipate that soon we'll hear that the use and possession of plastic straws is sinful, warranting its own addition to the catechism.
A few days ago while in Bangkok, the pope called for an "integral humanism", a "cooperation between religions". Why? Because he's concerned about "our common home". Notice a few things:
The sole focus on the world of the "here and now", with no mention whatsover of eternal realities such as the Last Four Things
Not one mention of Jesus Christ and the need to conversion to the One True Faith
Religious indifferentism, treating all religions as though they are equal in importance and value. That is utterly false since the Roman Catholic Church has been entrusted with the Sacraments and the Deposit of Faith.
Lastly there is that word "humanism". The Gloria article states that the meaning of the term "integral humanism" is unclear. I think it's meaning is frighteningly clear. Moreover, I think the pope knows its meaning too. For starters, let's look at the American Humanist Association. At the top left of the main page, look at its tagline: "Good Without God". The astute reader will look at that tagline and realize the inherent problem. That is, without God, who or what defines what is good? It has a subpage that offers various definitions of humanism. Among them is one proffered by the Humanist Society of Western New York. Notice the second sentence. According to them, humanists believe that this is the only life of which we have knowledge and that we "owe it to ourselves" to make it the best life for ourselves and others with whom we share "this fragile planet". With that last sentence in mind, does that not shed some light on the pope's complete silence regarding God and eternal life?
Several months ago, Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego spoke on similar themes at the World Meeting of Popular Movements. My blogging colleague at Cal-Catholic.com published some exerpts that deserve some special emphasis, owing to their inimical content. McElroy yapped and yammered about "our common home" (buzz term alert!) He also stated that the US economy "must be contained within a big government juridical structure" for "wealth is a common heritage". This is socialism, rooted in the same atheistic foundations as humanism. Here is a brief synopsis detailing why socialism is sinful. Here's a list of previous popes condemning socialism.
All this and more is just part and parcel of the progressive/masonic attempt to establish a one-world government devoid of God, a secular utopia if you will. Both the Roman Catholic Church and the United States stand as clear obstacles to that establishment and thus the progressives strive to undermine the Church and the US. In this current pope they have a willing accomplice. That is not the case for the United States - for now.
Last week's abysmal mess of a "bishops' meeting" in Baltimore should have given you ample reason to boycott any national collection by the USCCB. In fact, reasons to boycott the CCHD collection have always proliferated. Yet now even more scandal is brought to light.
In the clip below, Michael Hichborn of Lepanto Institute reveals his latest findings regarding abuse of Catholic donations. You will notice towards the end that he admits the possibility that the bishops aren't merely lovable bumpkins who are naive regarding the usage of the CCHD money. Many of them are in fact in cahoots with the leftists who want to tear down the Faith and western civilization. I have seen it too often in the Archdiocese of Washington. As a sidewalk counselor in this area, I now have reason to believe that the chancery has been working to undermine our efforts on the sidewalks over the years; consider who the prelates have been and the myriad of scandals surrounding them. But I digress.
This is a long clip but well worth your time in watching it. Around the 1:15:00 mark, Hichborn and Marshall discuss ways in which we can take action - and yes, they involve leaving our comfort zones.
Most dioceses will have their collections this coming weekend. This collection should be boycotted completely. As part of acting proactively, I'd suggest going to this post and printing off the envelope stuffer at the bottom. Sign it and put that in your envelope in lieu of money. Here are other posts to read. This report goes more into the sordid origins of the CCHD.
Through Eugenio Scalfari (again!), the pope stated his wish that the United States would give up its national sovereignity and submit to a one-world government. It's for our own good, of course! Lest anyone think that this is another bogus quote (and the Scalfari quotes have yet to be proven bogus), recall that the pope is on record as saying on September 11 that "we must obey international institutions" and "that is why the United Nations was created".
I post below a Vortex on the matter, but below that will have additional comments.
Is the United States perfect? By no means. But then what civic government ever was? I think it's highly ironic that the US is being attacked by all kinds of unbalanced people from both extremes. I dealt with the right-wing version of this nonsense this past Sunday. Given all the alternatives that currently exist, the US model is superor to them all. At the very least, the US stands as a safeguard against the one-world malevolence being spewed by leftists. The US stands in peril because of its embrace of baby-slaughter and sexual perversions - one reason among many why we must pray our Rosaries. We pray them not only for the US but for civilization at large and for our poor Church that is being ill-served by progressives within the papacy and high eschelons of power.
Six days ago, it was announced that 100 Catholic clergy and scholars have signed a petition that calls Pope Francis to repentance for facilitating the pachamama worship in various Churches in Rome. The list of signatories is growing.
Could that be a reason why the pope has compared conservatives to nazis? This happened at a meeting of the International Association of Penal Law. He laid into capitalism (but said nothing of socialism, if you'll notice), "ecological sins", the death penalty and so on. By the way - for an excellent treatment of capital punishment, see what the late Fr John Hardon had to say on the matter.
Speaking of "ecological sins", he is contemplating the addition of those faux-sins to the catechism. He calls them "sins against our common home". As several theologians have pointed out, one can sin only against God and those created in His image and likeness. This isn't just sloppy theology, I suspect he is engaging in erroneous personification of the planet, and perhaps seguing into deification of the same. Additionally, no one can simply proclaim the existence of a new set of "sins". Either a given action was always a sin or it isn't now. The earth was given to us by God for our usage, and we must be careful stewards of the earth, both to honor God and to preserve it for the use of other persons. The earth, as an impersonal entity, has no inherent claim on the solicitude of man for its own sake.
Perhaps the statement of that previous paragraph (and others uttered by many faithful Catholics) is why the pope is now railing against us. He is trying to cow us into silence. We cannot let that happen.
As promised yesterday, I post below the video of Mr. Tschugguel's talk given in Virginia this past Tuesday. I made some preliminary remarks, and my blogging colleagues at Les Femmes, who also attended, issued their commentary.
Both Chriss and I, in our commentaries, mentioned that the establishment of a masonic "new world order" is the aim of progressives and their allies who have infiltrated our church, and even the papacy. We saw this in the reports coming from the USCCB meeting in Baltimore this week. The papal nuncio, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, ordered the US bishops to not only get themselves in line with the "magisterium of Pope Francis" but to ensure that we laity, we the Great Unwashed, fall lock-step in line.
The Les Femmes bloggers made mention of a favorite buzz-term of progressive Catholics: "social sin". They are correct in their treatment of it. One of the unspoken tenets of social sin is that personal sins, such as sins of the flesh, do not matter in their world view; neither do their resultant actions, especially the murder of babies. They flat-out contradict Our Lady of Fatima, who told the children that more souls go to hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reasons, but I digress.
A resolution was discussed Tuesday to emphasize the preeminince of pro-life voting in the bishops' voters' guide for the 2020 elections. Cardinal Cupich called for a downplaying of that resolution and was backed by Archbishop Gomez (newly elected USCCB president) and Bishop McElroy. They claimed that the downplaying was more in line with the "magisterium of Pope Francis". They are factually correct about that. Read the account here and watch the video; that such a matter was debated is its own disgrace. The bishops voted and the stronger, more direct language was maintained. However, 1/3 of the bishops, that is, 69 bishops, voted in support of Cupich's proposal. As you can see in the article, they voted to emphasize the "social sin" hooey over actual truth.
One thing that must be emphasized that as this "magisterium of Pope Francis" makes its ugly presence felt, that we must be prepared to resist it when it does. We must be prepared not to let abominations into our churches, be they idols, clowns, liturgical dancers, heresy from the pulpit. Of course we will pay some hefty costs. Are we prepared?
Last evening, November 12, I was fortunate to attend a presentation given by Alexander Tschugguel. He is, of course, the young man who cleansed that church in Rome that had been polluted by the pachamama idols. His talk was hosted by the Washington Bureau of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property.
Tschugguel explained his reasons for his actions and went into more of the underpinnings behind the Amazon Synod. In brief, the synod was a step in the establishment of a one-world government that is, among other things, completely antithetical to Jesus Christ and His One True Church. They are advancing their causes under the covers of environmentalism and borderless societies. James Bascom, an official of the local TFP, made similar points in his remarks following Tschugguel's.
I recorded these two presentations and am in the midst of processing that footage. I should be able to post the video by tomorrow. The video was cut short simply because my camcorder battery was exhausted, but I believe the salient points were captured. Please watch the entire thing. What is discussed there is not just an interesting story of occurrences in Europe, but will have major impacts on your own parish. At this very moment, the US bishops are conducting their semi-annnual meeting in Baltimore, and they are being strong-armed into implementing the pope's progressive goals. Of course a goodly percentage of the bishops are on board with him anyway. I will have more on that tomorrow when I publish the video.
As part of my efforts to glean and report on events vital to the Church, I peruse Facebook. On it I encounter all sorts of people from the truly concerned fathful Catholic to clueless and obstinate people. Those people are what we call the "far left" and "far right". For the purpose of this post, I'll focus on the latter, for I think their spewings can cause the most confusion among other faithful Catholics who are trying to sort through the mess made by progressives throughout the years.
Every once in a while these "rad trads" will spew nonsense that hearkens to Catholic-sounding stuff that isn't really Catholic. For instance, they often will rail against free speech, claiming that "error has no rights". From then they will segue into the evils of the United States Constitution, particularly the First Amendment. They claim that the First Amendment is how the United States government gives approval for pornography and religious errors.
Let's look at the First Amendment. I'll quote it here, as it isn't too long.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
So where, oh where, is all this express allowance for pornography and the such? I don't see it. The Founding Fathers never insinuated that all speech is moral. They simply stated that it is not the role of Federal Government to decide those matters. The first 10 amendments are collectively known asa the Bill of Rights. Their primary function is to place limits on the powers of the Federal Government. That's it.
This same First Amendment means that these "rad trads" can spew such nonsense against their government, and not fear any reprisal. I'm sure that they take their free speech rights for granted. I'm also sure that this irony escapes them.
Then they'll whine on about the Constitution not being founded on Catholic principles. Well, of course it wasn't because Catholics have always been a minority in this country. Admittedly I would like to see more Catholicism in the Constitution. However, there is a way to fix that, and that is by amendment to the Constitution - a process put in place by those "evil" founding fathers. But that entails getting involved in US political processes, and here again is where "rad trads" engage in massive mental disconnects.
There are a few of them who actually hold to something called the "divine right of kings". Believing that ordinary citizens should have no say, they will rail against the heresy of Americanism. Yes, that actually is a heresy, but not what they think it is. They will cite Pope Leo XIII's letter to Cardinal Gibbons in 1899 titled Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae as their authority. Ok. I linked to it. Let's take a look at it. Leo is cautioning the US bishops against several specific matters:
The underlying principle of these new opinions is that, in order to more easily attract those who differ from her, the Church should shape her teachings more in accord with the spirit of the age and relax some of her ancient severity and make some concessions to new opinions. Many think that these concessions should be made not only in regard to ways of living, but even in regard to doctrines which belong to the deposit of the faith.
the confounding of license with liberty, the passion for discussing and pouring contempt upon any possible subject, the assumed right to hold whatever opinions one pleases upon any subject and to set them forth in print to the world, have so wrapped minds in darkness that there is now a greater need of the Church’s teaching office than ever before, lest people become unmindful both of conscience and of duty
From this disregard of the – angelical virtues, erroneously styled passive, the step was a short one to a contempt of the religious life which has in some degree taken hold of minds. That such a value is generally held by the upholders of new views, we infer from certain statements concerning the vows which religious orders take. They say vows are alien to the spirit of our times, in that they limit the bounds of human liberty; that they are more suitable to weak than ›o strong minds; that so far from making for human perfection and the good of human organization
Read the letter for yourselves. I see no indication that the pope was condemning our system of government outright (by the way, it is a constitutional republic, not a democracy). In fact he remained totally neutral on it as a system of civil government. He did NOT yap and yammer about the "divine right of kings".
One favorite bone of contention is about elections, and the fact that often very flawed men are running for the same office. In a given election, both candidates may support intrinsic evils, but to widely varying extents. Regardless of these facts, they simply refuse to vote, to participate in that election whatsoever. They claim that they cannot support evil, no matter how much "evil" is involved. They fail - or refuse to - acknowledge that a vote is not always about advocacy but can be simply damage control. I thought that such obstinacy was simply being simplistic, but the ferocity and bombastic stances that they take cause me to suspect that a good deal of virtue-signalling may be occuring. The most recent "case in point" was the 2016 presidential election between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton. I've written much in the past to illustrate that it was a moral evil to deny Trump one's vote; I needn't rehash it all now as you can go to this collection of my previous posts.
I will now post a video done by Michael Matt of the Remnant TV. He points out that after this Amazon Synod, the masks are coming off the progressives in the Vatican - and that includes the pope. They are attempting to implement the Sustainable Develop goals of the United Nations, a dream of theirs for quite a while. They knew that they had some formidable obstacles that stood in the way of their "one world rule" goal. One of them was the Catholic Church so they worked for years to subvert it. This synod is a clear sign that they have the pope on their side. Another obstacle to them is the United States under the leadership of Donald Trump. They are now working to undermine him, as he is succeeding in his goals of strengthening the USA against its outside adversaries, making it less likely that the USA will swallow the "one world rule" mantra. That is why the progressive USCCB recently lamented Trump's decision to pull the US out of that insidious Paris Agreement. They aim to derail Trump's work.
Obviously they will want to defeat Trump in the 2020 elections. The progresives will pull no stops to do so. The real question is, will these #nevertrump "rad-trads" be able to see past their egotistic virtue-signaling, or will they be willing dupes of the progressives as they seek to remove one of their few obstacles to global dominance? Now the video follows..
Bishop Athanasius Schneider, who earlier extolled the heroism of Alexander Tschuguell and his friends for purging the Church of the heinous pachamama idols, has suggested that faithful Catholics everywhere pray the following prayer.
I reproduce the bishop's prayer below for your own prayerful use.
“Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, receive through the hands of the Immaculate Mother of God and Ever Virgin Mary from our contrite heart a sincere act of reparation for the acts of worship of wooden idols and symbols during the Synod for the Amazon, which occurred in Rome, the Eternal City, the heart of the Catholic world. Pour out in the heart of Our Holy Father Pope Francis, of the Cardinals, of the Bishops, of priests and lay faithful, your Spirit, who will expel the darkness of their minds, so that they might recognize the impiety of such acts, which offended your Divine majesty and offer to you public and private acts of reparation. Pour out in all members of the Church the light of the fullness and beauty of the Catholic Faith. Enkindle in them the burning zeal of bringing the salvation of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, to all men, especially the people in the Amazon region, who still are enslaved in the service of feeble material and perishable things, as the deaf and mute symbols and idols of “mother earth.” Enkindle the light of faith in those persons, especially in the persons of the Amazonian tribes who do not yet possess the liberty of the children of God, and who do not have the unspeakable happiness of knowing Jesus Christ and having in Him a participation in the life of your Divine nature. Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are the one true God, besides Whom there is no other god and no salvation, have mercy on your Church. Look especially upon the tears and contrite and humble sighs of the little ones in the Church. Look upon the tears and prayers of the little children, of the adolescents, of young men and young women, of the fathers and mothers of families and also of the true Christian heroes, who in their zeal for your glory and in their love for Mother Church threw into the water the symbols of abomination which defiled her. Have mercy on us: spare us, O Lord, parce Domine, parce Domine! Have mercy on us: Kyrie eleison! Amen.”
Please join me next Tuesday, November 12 (Sorrowful Mysteries) and next Wednesday, November 13 (Glorious Mysteries) to pray the Rosary outside the Marriott Waterfront Hotel where Bishops from across America will be having their Annual Fall Meeting.
Our intention is to honor Our Lady of America who, according to reliable sources, appeared numerous times to Sister Mildred Mary Neuzil in Rome City, Indiana. On September 26, 1956, Our Lady appeared to Sister Mildred holding a scale Model of the Shrine of The Immaculate Conception, then under construction in Washington, D.C. It was completed in 1959. Her request was that her sons and daughters dedicate themselves to living lives of Purity.
Her specific request was that her statue as she appeared to Sister Mildred be processed into the Shrine where it could be properly venerated. If that request was fulfilled, our Beloved America would become a Role Model for Purity around the World. Also, the miracles that would follow in America would exceed those of Fatima and Lourdes combined!
So please join myself, other PRO-LIFERS, and Catholic Media Coalition members both days, Tuesday and Wednesday, at 12:40 pm on the water front side of the Marriott Waterfront Hotel, 700 Aliceanna Street, Baltimore 21202.
On Wednesday, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas will tentatively lead us. We are trying to have another prominent Catholic Leader lead the Rosary on Tuesday. Come both days if you possibly can!
A few days ago, Taylor Marshall interviewed George Neumayr. A week or two prior to that interview, Neumayr attended a talk given by Fr. James Martin and was able, in a "q&a" session, to make Martin publicly squirm.
Many interesting things are said in the video below. I call your attention to remarks made at the 17:00 mark and at the 40:37 mark. Both men are remarking how the pope's tinkering with the Church's perennial teaching on the death penalty paved the way for other more recent insults to tradtion. I made the exact same point in several of my earlier posts over a year ago, particularly this oneand this one.
Then at the 39:57 mark, Neumayr states that we have to be willing to confront error head-on as he did with Martin. Gone are the days when we could just do with writing letters to ask prelates not to honor heretics, almost groveling in the process. We must be willing to make the evil-coddlers uncomfortable in their toadying. I'll most likely have more on that in a future post.
LifeSiteNews, with help of some of its Spanish-speaking staff, has translated the final Amazon synod document into English. We find it odd that the Vatican never published a complete English version although it did for the other major languages. Why? Well, you might be staring at one of the "reasons" right now! But I digress! Shall we resume?
LifeSiteNews has it right here and it links to a pdf version. I'd suggest you download that for safekeeping, if you get my drift. I've started to read this thing. The bulk of it is not much more than an apologetic screed for ecowhackoism and by extension, pantheism and one-world government. If one actually believed that crock, they might believe that the Amazon was a virtual "garden of eden" before the big bad western "colonizers" came along and stopped their human sacrifices, uh, worship.
You have to slog through quite a bit of pabulum before getting to overt heresy. That begins at paragraph 95 and continues through paragraph 103. This last paragraph is a non-too-subtle attempt to insinuate the idea of "female deacons" (that is in quotes because it's an oxymoron).
I'll end this post with a few questions, and you can answer in the comments section. Tell me the paragraphs in which the necessity for the sacraments and turning from personal sin is mentioned. Where is heaven and/or hell mentioned?
This first picture is meant to commemorate the pope's upcoming visit to Thailand. The second commemorated the World Youth Day of 2019.
Doesn't it seem like in both instances that Christian symbols are being devoured by monsters? The Barque of Peter by a sea monster? The Crucifix by a serpent?
First, a little background regarding how the Human Rights Campaign and I have crossed swords over the years. In Montgomery County MD, I fought several pushes to advance the gay-nazi agenda: gay #mowwidge, allowing perverts to come into women's rest rooms, etc. After Father Guarnizo denied Holy Communion to the lesbian, they were instrumental in having him expelled from the Archdiocese of Washington. They were, and still are, major players in cramming the gay codswallop down our throats.
Today LifeSiteNews revealed that one of HRC's cofounders, Terry Bean, is in trouble for committing statutory rape on a 15-year old boy. Beam and his lawyer attempted to bribe the boy into silence. Somehow the Portland police learned of the scheme and now Beam is once again under fire.
The LifeSiteNews article states that the HRC removed Bean's name from their online lists of leaders in 2014, when the initial charges were filed. Be that as it may, once something appears on the internet, it really never goes away. That is because web crawlers are constantly copying pages and archiving them. One such archive page is "web(dot)archive(dot)org". It truly is a handy little site and the telling page is here. Moreover, the wikipedia page for Beam plainly states that Bean co-founded HRC.
Surprised? I'm not. Organizations founded with the purpose of promoting grave evils are often established and/or run by people embroiled in those evils themselves.
This young man from Austria is founder of the St Boniface Institute. He has now released a video to explain why he and a friend felt compelled to rid the Catholic Church of pagan, idolatrous filth. Please go to that website to see that video that contains his statement on the episode.
You can also donate to the St Boniface Institute. In fact, if anyone is looking for a more worthy recipient of your November donation dollars than the CCHD, I'd highly recommend them. Caveat - this website, being Austrian, accepts only Euros; here's a converter you might use and others exist.
So far, the faithful Catholic media outlets that have interviewed Tschugguel include LifeSiteNewsand ChurchMilitant. I hope there are more - more people like Tschugguel.
And they are cropping up. This past Sunday in the Archdiocese of Mexico City, Father Hugo Valdemar burned an effigy of the pachamama and offered prayers of reparation for the sins of idolatry. Here is the LifeSiteNews article and I'll post this video now.
These topics are discussed with Robert Royal and Fr Gerald Murray (the Papal Posse) and then with Bishop Athanasius Schneider. Please watch in its entirety.
Bishop Erwin Krautler claimed that the pachamama idols can "be integrated into our liturgy". GloriaTV then caught him in flagrant double-speak. Recall that Krautler is the bishop who states that he never baptized a single Amazon native and doesn't plan ever to do so - in direct disobedience to Jesus Christ.
I believe Krautler when he said he never baptized anyone. I also understand that he will try to insinuate all sorts of blasphemies into Holy Mass. Consider my post from Monday the 28th and the video of the Mass. At the 53:04 mark you can see the plant being carried in. One might ask why was the video camera focused so much on it; was the operator of the recorder privy to the plot to besmirch the altar, and this focus was a bit of a gloat?
I'm bringing all this up for I believe there will be attempts to sneak some idolatry into our Masses. It probably isn't imminent, but they will wait some time so that the memories of the pachamama statues will fade. Then we might not tend to be alert to these dangers. Will we prove them right?
Back to the video, as you watch the procession, you'll notice that the plant is the last "gift" to ascend to the altar - as though the bread and wine were mere "opening acts", so to speak (around the 55:00 mark). At the 55:41 mark, the pope accepts the plant from the woman. As far as I can tell, the plant was the only gift that the pope himself handled. He handed it to an acolyte who them placed it on the altar. At the 56:19 mark, the focus is on the plant - not the bread, not the wine, but the plant! Don't tell me that this whole Mass, complete with recording, was not an orchestrated attempt to do covert homage to the pachamama demon! The presence of any plant on an altar is a violation of GIRM, but this is rank idolatry to boot. This is an abomination brought into God's holy church.
Ladies and gentlemen, we must be alert in the following months - particularly if you are in a locale that tends towards the progressive mindset. We are going to have to consider our response if we see similar debacles unfold before our very eyes. It is best that we plan now so as to be prepared, rather than be caught unawares.
Preface: Bishop Francis Malooly of the Diocese of Wilmington in Delaware is Joe Biden's bishop. It has been his duty all along to deny Holy Communion to the wayward Joe Biden, who resides in Delaware. To date he has refused to do so. When news reached him about Father Morley's denial of Holy Communion to Biden when the latter attended Mass in his church, Malooly's own dereliction of duty stunk in contrast. Accordingly, Malooly released his snit-fit in the Catholic Dialog, the official propaganda news outlet of the Wilmington diocese. Read it for yourselves here. Below is my open-letter response to the bishop.
OPEN LETTER TO BISHOP MALOOLY
Your Excellency, the Catholic Dialog printed a statement issued by your chancery offices, presumably with your approval if not at your request.
Bishop Malooly has consistently refrained from politicizing the Eucharist, and will continue to do so. His preference, as with most bishops, is to interact with politicians individually who disagree with significant church teachings.
Please study Canon 915 very carefully. Its directives to ministers of Holy Communion are clear; if someone obstinately persisting in grave, manifest sin presents him/herself for Holy Communion, he/she is to be denied Holy Communion. That denial is not an option for the minister. It is the minister's solemn obligation to do so. Should you persist in direct disobedience to Canon 915 under the guise of "refraining from politicizing the Eucharist", you place your own soul in grave danger, as well as the soul of the one making the sacrilegious Communion with your cooperation.
In 2008, you stated that you thought that you "would get more mileage out of a conversation" with people like Biden. During these intervening nine years, just how much "mileage" did you get? The answer to that question is painfully obvious: zero-zip-nada, absolutely zilch.
So why do you (and other of like mind) continue down that primrose path? Are you simply afraid of powerful politicians like Biden? Do you hope to curry favors from him? Do you simply not care? Or maybe the answer is some combination of those three factors? I can't say and quite frankly it doesn't matter. Whatever the reasons, you disobey not only Canon 915 but Jesus Christ Himself.
Your Excellency, obedience to Canon Law isn't "politicizing" anything. It is your duty as shepherd of the souls of Wilmington Catholics, including Joe Biden. For the sake of all, dispense with all pretenses and obey Canon 915.
END OF OPEN LETTER
Ladies and gentlemen, in my post regarding Father Morley, I urged you all to support him by dropping notes of thanks to him and his bishop. Now I must ask that you offer words of correction and even rebuke to Bishop Malooly. Last week's episode in South Carolina might not have happened if Bishop Malooly had acted when he should. The diocesan site is here.
Allegedly the pachamama idols were fished out of the Tiber, with nary a scratch on them! Amazing, when you consider that the things would have floated miles away before the Vatican got wind of the heist! C'mon! Does anyone really believe that the authorities took the time and trouble to fish some cheap baubles out of the Tiber? They had to have had more of the things in stock, and that is what we saw.
Come to think of it, to make that many replicas of pachamama, they would have had to (gasp!) kill lots of trees, right? For shame! The poor ole' earth must have cried and bled a storm when those trees were cut down! Talk about ecological sins! In fact, this leaked video gives the inside story on what happened behind Vatican walls when the gang heard the idols were missing. But I digress!
In his groveling apology, the pope hinted that the idols might appear at the closing Mass in St Peter's Bascilica. That was enough for some cardinals to state that if the statues appeared, they wouldn't participate. It appears the pope did an end-run around them, for a potted plant was processed at the Offertory and placed on the altar - in direct violation of the GIRM. My blogging colleage, Vox Cantoris, goes more into detail of this more covert idolatry.
Below is a video of the Mass. Watch for yourselves.
Some wonder now what the decent cardinals will do. I think the more relevant question is what will we do? That is a serious question to ponder as we pray our Rosaries for Holy Mother Church.
