Why New Catholic Media Does What It Does

The Mic'd Up below explains why we do what we do.  This blog, for example, started in large part because the Catholic Standard - being the archdiocesan mouthpiece that it is - refused to tell the truth about the chicanery occurring in the DC chancery and some of the parishes.

Father Snyder - Utterly Unqualified To Rebuke Faithful Catholics Who Oppose Illegal Immigration

Those of us who raise voices of concern regarding the influx of "children" (many of them young adults posing as kids) are engaging in "hate talk" - that is, according to Father Larry Snyder, head of Catholic Charities.  Father Snyder, precisely because he is head of Catholic Charities, lacks all moral credibility to rebuke us.  Oh he may try, and no one begrudges his First Amendment rights here, but the fact is that his rants carry not one iota of Magisterial import; in fact it may be quite the opposite.

Recall that yesterday I posted a video by Michael Hichborn of American Life League detailing all the ways that progressive "social justice" arms of the USCCB act to undermine Church moral teaching.  At the 3:22 mark, Hichborn starts an expose of Catholic Charites; at 4:17 he segues into an expose of Father Snyder himself and all the harm he's caused.  Hichborn alludes to a dossier that was composed about Father Snyder.  Here it is.

Lest anyone think that Catholic Charities is acting and speaking out of the goodness of their little hearts, consider the governmental funding that various Catholic Charities received for the express purpose of preparing for this de facto invasion.  I'll summarize the data from the article.

• CC of Galveston: $15.5 million from the HHS
• CC of Fort Worth: $350 thousand from DHS
• CC of Dallas: $823 thousand from DHS

Doing a little quick math, we see that the Catholic Charities offices in Texas received close to $17 million in grants.  Of course those grants ultimately came from the pockets of the US taxpayers - many of whom Father Snyder disingenuously accuses of engaging in "hate talk".  Perhaps he considers "hate talk" anything that might cause the flow of federal funds to stop?

Please share this far and wide.  Father Snyder has no moral credibility whatsoever.  His "hate talk" diatribe is worthy only of derision.  Pray for the man, though.  He needs it.

Open Letter To Bishop Peter Jugis

The following is an open letter to Bishop Jugis that I just sent to the Charlotte chancery.  By the way - here's a commentary by American Life League on the abysmal treatment being meted out to Sister.

________________________________________________________________________

I am a lifelong Catholic who embraces ALL the Church’s teachings, including those on life, sexuality and marriage.   While I understand from friends that you have a reputation of being similarly oriented – and because of that understanding – I am disappointed by the statement that you released on April 9^th. 

While it was very nice that you expressed “support” for the staff, faculty, students and parents of the school, you omitted one key person in your support – Sister Jane Dominic Laurel.  That omission was glaringly obvious; a reasonable person could conclude that omission to be capitulation to those students and parents who took umbrage at Sister’s clear proclamation of Catholic truth.

While you are shocked at the reports you heard of the “lack of charity and respect” at the parents’ meeting, did you consider the underlying root of that rancor?  The parents took umbrage with Sister’s clear teaching – no, not Sister’s teaching, but the teaching of the Catholic Church as faithfully and accurately rendered by Sister.  When dissidents are presented with the unabridged truths of the Faith and have no disposition to conform to the truths taught by Jesus Christ, they will hurl bile and venom at the faithful souls who “preach the Gospel in season and out of season”.  Such was the mindset of those who crucified Our Lord and Savior and who have been shedding the blood of Christians ever since.  We all need to get used to it and not chase after some vaporous illusion of “charity and respect”.

Some opined to me that the motive behind your statement may have been to pacify certain noisy individuals and quiet things down.  If that was the case, may I suggest that motive is not at all valid?  If you really want to address the root cause of the snit-fits pitched by the parents and their children, please consider immediate remedial catechism from the pulpits of your parishes (or some other form of instruction in the Faith).  Otherwise these parents will persist in beliefs and perhaps conduct that will only increase their chances of eternal damnation AND they will continue to lead their own children down that same hideous path.  Let’s be clear; such preaching may well occasion additional rancor on the parts of those who will remain obdurate in their disobedience.  So what?  That’s simply part of the price that we must all bear when proclaiming the truth to a hostile world.  That proclamation of truth may well lead others may be led to repentance.  That won’t happen unless all hear unambiguous truth.  Let us harbor no illusion that real peace will be restored by smiles and happy-talk.  Real peace will only happen when people accept Catholic truth and conform their lives to the same. 

I appreciate that David Hains expressed his support of Sister Jane.  But such support should have been reinforced by the one entrusted with the miter, crosier, pectoral cross and ring of the Bishop’s office.  Your unfortunate statement of April 9^th only served to further undermine a faithful teacher of Catholic truth.  In all justice – not only to Sister but to all those associated with the school – please amend that statement immediately, with no delay “because of Holy Week”.  Thank you.

Faithful Catholics! Remove Your Rose-Colored Glasses IMMEDIATELY!!!

These past few days have seen much discussion about the change of personnel at the Congregation for Bishops at the Vatican.  This blog has commented on it during that time.  It's no secret that I see this move as a detriment to the well-being of the Church. But I am also troubled to see some incredible naivete among faithful Catholics.

The Dolan Diagnosis Is Online And Here

First, please take some time to review another open letter to Cardinal Dolan, this one written by Hugh Brown, son of ALL president Judie Brown.  Then, if you missed Wednesday's Mic'd Up Show, you can watch the video (full version) below, where Michael Voris and Judie Brown discuss the latest cesspool created by Cardinal Dolan during his "Meet The Press" interview.

American Life League Releases Report On CRS Grants

American Life League released today a report on various grants issued by the Catholic Relief Services during the year 2012.  It is quite well-researched; I urge its study.  Judie Brown, on the American Life League website, issued more comments about the state of affairs at the CRS.

In related news, the National Catholic Register commented about the latest CRS scandals.  In their article, they commented on an interview that they conducted with Dr. William Marshner, moral theologian at Christendom College.  In that interview, Dr. Marshner appears to exonerate CRS a bit.  However, in a subsequent interview with LifeSiteNews, Dr. Marshner stated that at the time of his Register interview,  he did not realize how integral is the distribution of contraception and abortifacients to the work of Population Services International.  He stated that if he were asked again that he would defer to the wishes of the local bishops and he agreed that PSI should have received no CRS funds.

In the video below, Michael Hichborn highlights the ALL report.  He draws some comparisons between CCHD and CRS.  I will opine that he gives CCHD and by extension, the USCCB, way too much credit for cleaning up their act.  They are indeed putting forth token efforts, but that's due only to the increased scrutiny under which the CCHD has found itself - in large part due to the herculean efforts of Hichborn and others.

I've stated this before and will keep on repeating it.  Not only should the CCHD and CRS be defunded, but the entire USCCB should be abolished and swept into the dung heap of infamous history.

Now CRS Plays The Hypocrite

AKA Printing and Mailing operates out of Frederickburg, VA.  It is owned and operated by Hugh Brown, son of American Life League's president Judie Brown.  During the past four years, Catholic Relief Services had used AKA's services, paying them over $7 million during that time.

Comes now the news that last September, Bishop Gerald Kicanas, board chair of CRS, ended the contractual relationship with AKA because of ALL's critique of CRS's aiding and abetting the pro-abortion activities of its partners.  No one denies that CRS has the right to select its own vendors, but this incident illustrates how far CRS has sunk in the hole of duplicity.  Consider that AKA Printing and American Life League are two separate entities that happen to be run by different members of the same family.  There is no corporate relationship between the two, nor is there commingling of funds.  Yet CRS has discontinued its relationship with one on basis of the actions of the other.  Contrast that with its own relationships with CORE and PSI.  Obviously there is commingling of funds donated by CRS with funds designated for the promotion of abortion and contraception.  By what mental gymnastics does CRS justify such contradictory behavior in itself?

Bishop Kicanas' actions as CRS board chair are rather reminiscent of the actions of a previous CRS board chair, himself a bishop.  I speak of the despicable conduct of St Petersburg Bishop Robert Lynch and his callous treatment of the Schindler family as Terri Schindler Schiavo was being murdered in his diocese.  Recall that while Lynch offered no opposition to Michael Schiavo's murder of his wife, he forbade his priests from speaking out and from offering the Schindlers any spiritual support.  Granted Lynch was not acting in his capacity as a CRS official, but the same progressive brain-rot is evident.  This is all about attempting to punish those who proclaim truth - even if it means retaliation against family members.

More Pro-Life Leaders Weigh In On The CRS Scandals

I needn't rehash what they say here.  Rather, I link to the words of Randy Engel of U.S. Coalition for Life and Rob Gaspar of the American Life League.  Ms Engel calls for a boycott of the CRS collection next year.  I'll take it a step further and say that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (that oversees both CRS and CCHD) should be unceremoniously scrapped and its rubble swept into a dung heap.  I suspect that will be in the distant future; for now I'll settle for the boycott.

Catholic Relief Services Scandals Continue Unabated

It seems that CRS could easily stand for "Catholicism Riddled with Scandals".  I've done a number of posts over the years- click here.  On the post dated 8/16/12, look below the Vortex video.  There I mentioned that CRS was caught giving $5.3 million to CARE, an outfit that distributes contraception and abortifacients to women in developing countries and lobbies for abortion in those countries.  I also mentioned that John Rivera, then Communications Director for CRS, made himself appear to be a lying fool.


In that list of previous posts, you'll see one dated May 31, 2011.  If you looked at that within the past two years, you might have noticed that the ALL youtube was taken down and the link to the LifesiteNews article broken.  These have been restored, and an American Life League post sheds some light as to the removal and subsequent restorations of those links.  If you look at the bottom, it seems that ALL was snookered by a deliberate misquote of Matt 18: 15-17, that is applicable to private and personal disputes, not public scandals.  I credit them for learning and acknowledging the duplicity of the CRS leadership.  (I also credit them for the graphic at the right!)

But there's a reason why the CRS went through all that "damage control" effort.  They had no intention whatsoever of ceasing donations to CARE.  LifeSiteNews reports that in 2012, CRS donated $13.8 million to the same abortfacient-spewing CARE.  Think of it - that's an increase of over 250%!

Is this a reason why Ken Hackett, immediate past president of CRS (having been president for 40 years) has come into favorable light with the Messiah Most Miserable himself?  We do know that Obama rewards his lackeys well.  He has done so by appointing Hackett to be ambassador to the Vatican.  Read this ALL article for more on this scandal and consider that Hackett has been at the helm of CRS for 40 years.

It's way past time to abolish Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Campaign for Human Development.  The latter two can be addressed by abolishing the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.  At the very least, please cease all donations to these entities immediately.

Michael Hichborn Responds To Faith(less) In Public Life

I've written in the past about Faith in Public Life.  My latest post on them had to do with their attempt to discredit Michael Hichborn of American Life League and the Reform CCHD Now Coalition (of which this blog is a proud member).

Today Mr. Hichborn released his rebuttal of FIPL, calling them out on some, uh, "inaccuracies" (to put it delicately) in their "damage control" attempt.  I link to it here and suggest its study and promulgation.

Planned Parenthood, Gosnell, Carhart - There Is No Difference

Well, there might be some difference in how much of our tax dollars they get, but if the Messiah Most Miserable has his way, all the pigs will feed equally at the federal teets.   Those who work in the baby-killing industry, and even those who support it in any way, will have their hearts and minds perverted until they too become cold and calloused to all decency.

CCHD = Clueless Catholics in Hard Denial

Well, maybe the denizens that skulk through the halls of the USCCB aren't all that clueless, but they're hoping that the majority of Catholics in the pews are.  After years of our complaints and bringing evidence of corruption before them and the Catholic populace, the collection dollars for the CCHD are starting to dry up a bit.

So what do the CCHD folks do?  They play "shoot the messenger".  The Reform CCHD Now Coalition released a well-documented report on the CCHD's 2011-2012 grant recipients.  The national CCHD office sent a memo to its field offices deriding and dismissing the work done by the Coalition and American Life League.  As you read it, you will notice that they offer no specific errors or rebuttals.  Why not?  Most likely because they cannot!  Perhaps they think that if they huff and puff enough, they'll be believed.

The CCHD is Alinskyian in its roots.  With that in mind, what else can you expect from them?  Again, please do not feed this onerous beast at the collection basket.

Holy Father: "Social Justice" Must Shape Up

That is the gist of the Motu Proprio that Pope Benedict XVI recently released.  I link to it now and suggest that all read it carefully.  It's not long, but it is full of sorely-needed directives.  Look at the very first paragraph.  The Holy Father makes clear that charitable works cannot be separated from the proclamation of God's truth) all of God's truth such as salvation versus damnation, the sanctity of life, the proper use of sexuality, etc) and the sacraments.  In other words, you have all three, or you have none.

Here are other salient points:

Special Vortex On Latest CCHD Scandals

In this special report, Michael Voris interviews Michael Hichborn and Rob Gaspar of American Life League.  The latter two have discovered that the scandals of CCHD grants have actually increased this year - something quite different from the party line that has been fed to us.  The report itself is over 2000 pages long; links to it can be found at the ReformCCHDNow site.  On the bright side, this report is a few hundred pages shorter than the Obamacare legislation, but I digress!

As you watch this report and look at the material yourselves, realize that all this played a large part in Obama's victory last week.  If you have donated to the CCHD in recent years, you have inadvertently donated to organizations that favor abortion, gay rights, socialism - all positions assumed by the Obama progressive cartel.  We might safely assume that some of your donations have been diverted into Democratic coffers.  Toward the end of the clip, Hichborn makes a salient point: we will not win the culture war if we have elements in the Church that are funneling resources to nefarious groups.

Click here if you cannot see embedded video.  And of course, do NOT contribute to any collection for the CCHD.

Cdl Dolan Snubbed Judie Brown But Dined With Obama

There are times when I think I heard it all, when it comes to priorities of some prelates which can only be called "whacked out".  Those times generally don't last too long for I invariably am taken aback by new whoppers (ht - Pewsitter).  That happened again as I read Judie Brown's blog piece today.

Judie Brown, as most in the pro-life community know, is founder and president of American Life League, a leading Catholic and pro-life organization.  In her article today, she relates how then-bishop Timothy Dolan backed out on an invitation by Pro-Life Wisconsin to give the invocation at their annual banquet in 2009.  Why did he do that?  Because Ms. Brown was to be the keynote speaker.

ALL Releases Report On 2011-2012 CCHD Grant Recipients

On Saturday October 13, Michael Hichborn of American Life League was a guest on blog-talk radio.  During that interview he announced the upcoming release of ALL's latest report on the CCHD grantees.  He highlighted some of the more blatant violations of CCHD guidelines by several grantees.  You can listen to the program here.

American Life League has just published its latest report on the CCHD grantees on the Reform CCHD Now site.  On that main page you'll notice bar graphs to the right.  Note that during these past few years the total number of grantees has been decreasing.  Conversely though, note that the number of grantees in violation of CCHD guidelines has been increasing.

On the main page, click on the "Reports on Grantees" tab.  You'll see an introduction, the main report itself and a moral theologian's review of the report.  The theologian is Dr. William Marshner of Christendom College.  The main report lists the problematic grantees; the names are hyperlinked to take you to the appropriate detail.

A rather troubling DC-are grantee is Empower DC.  Hichborn talked a bit of this one on the radio program. As you look at the "problem" section at the top of the page, please note that EmpowerDC itself took these anti-life positions; they weren't merely partners with other organizations that did so (although that itself would have been problematic to say the least).  In his theologian's report, Dr Marshner stated that the act of granting funds to EmpowerDC placed CCHD - and thus the Church itself - in a position of formally cooperating with grave moral evil.  But there's more!

On July 17th I did a blog piece on EmpowerDC and its utter unworthiness of receiving CCHD funds and found even more unsavory alliances.  I was surprised by what I discovered in doing my research: that EmpowerDC and St Augustine Catholic Church in DC use the same street address.  If you listen closely to the radio program, you'll hear that Hichborn wasn't aware of that unsavory fact.  Now consider - without the knowledge of the shared address, Dr. Marshner concluded that the donation of money to EmpowerDC placed the Church in formal cooperation with grave moral evil.  Now we know that not only did the Church contribute $50k to this anti-life bunch, but they lent use of a Church address to the same.  Might they also have lent office space, staff etc to them?  What that means, ladies and gentlemen, is that the degree of formal cooperation is even more profound than originally realized.

Within the next day or two I will be posting more on this.  Of course I reiterate my clarion call to abolish the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.  All November collections to CCHD should be boycotted.

Cardinal Dolan, Where Are You?

That is the title of a piece written by Jim Fritz regarding the colossal error of judgment shown by Cardinal Dolan in allowing the Messiah Most Miserable to attend the Al Smith Dinner next month in New York.  In addition to being a colleague in the Catholic Media Coalition, Jim and I spent many hours sidewalk-counseling in front of the (now-defunct) Hillcrest Women's Surgi-Center on Georgia Avenue, just south of the MD-DC line.  It was one of the first abortuaries in DC, and we were both privileged to be there at its demise.

While I give His Eminence much credit for handing to the Democrats a thinly-veneered and much-needed rebuke vis-a-vis his closing benediction, I believe that Cardinal Dolan contradicts that benediction by allowing Obama a Catholic venue at which to preen and posture just before the election.

When I first read the title to Jim's article, I immediately noticed its similarity to that of one of the early 1960s sitcoms - Car 54, Where Are You?  That show depicted the misadventures of two bumbling New York City cops.  If Jim intended to show a parallel between the New York City cops and the New York City Cardinal, I think we all understand it.

Inviting Scandal To The Al Smith Dinner

American Life League's Michael Hichborn hits the nail on the head.  Click here if you can't see embedded video.

Progressives Pout Over CCHD Funding Cessations

My friend and colleague Stephanie Block has posted an excellent article at Spero Forum picking apart the utter lack of logic displayed by US Catholic's editor Bryan Cones in his screed against American Life League, Reform CCHD Now (of which we're a proud member) and the rest of us "right-wing pressure groups".

I need not rehash Ms Block's work here; please go and read for yourselves.  I will, however, elaborate on two points.  I quote from her article..

• My favorite bit in the Cones’ article, however, is his canard that “these witch hunts” – complaints about CCHD misappropriations of Catholic money to groups that support un-Catholic positions – are all about…sex!  Who would have imagined!  “More and more it appears that Catholics in general are so obsessed with issues of sexuality that we can't even feed the poor or shelter immigrants anymore.  This crack has been thrown at pro-lifers for decades and says a great deal about the speaker (or writer).  Abortion, of course, isn’t an “issue of sexuality” – it’s an issue of personhood and civil rights.  Same-sex marriage isn’t an “issue of sexuality,” either – it’s an issue of covenantal partnership for ends that can’t be achieved in same-sex relationships.  To reduce these issues to “sexuality” betrays that not only does the writer not understand Catholic teaching but that he is himself trapped in a Freudian construct that understands everything in sexual terms. What Peter says about Paul says more about Peter than it does about Paul.

So what is being said about "Peter" - that is, Bryan Cones?  Here's a brief biographical sketch about Cones.  So he was a high school teacher.  Even as a high school teacher he was doing quite a bit of writing.  For instance, he wrote one of several brief chapters in a book entitled "Young and Catholic in America".  I believe it's the tenth.  Here's the link, detailing a conversation he had with some students.  Read the whole thing.  He admits to being gay himself and does not accept the Church's teaching that the homosexual inclination is intrinsically disordered.  What I find particularly disturbing (although not too surprising) is the approving attitudes he meets along the way: from his bishop, pastors, etc.  At the time Cones was talking to his bishop, he did not receive from his bishop the shepherding that he needed; in other words, Cones was done a gross disservice by his bishops and later mentors.  However, Cones is not without fault here.  He knew the Church's teaching enough to dissent from it willingly.  And this, dear readers, is the history and the mental paradigm of an editor of US Catholic magazine.  Does this not explain some of the tenor behind US Catholic - when one of its leaders is living at serious variance with the Church?

Now let's look at "guilt by association".  I think we've illustrated what triggers the knee-jerk usage by Comes of that phrase.  He thinks gay unions are just fine and dandy. However, when a group like American Life League come along and point out the simple truth that homosexual relations are mortally sinful then the defense mechanism spring into action and the "guilt by association" phrases start flying.  No, Mr Comes, it's just your guilt - so why not do yourself (and your partner) a favor, break off the sinful relationship and go to Confession?  Speaking of charity and mercy, let's recognize what the Spiritual Works of Mercy (such as "admonish the sinner") are.

We find the phrase "guilt by association" in another article similar to Cones' in viewpoint and tenor.  The author writes that "Companeros decided against severing ties with CIRC, deciding that its membership in the organization was more important than giving in to CCHD's demands."  OK, that's fine.  They made a decision.  Implicit in all this whining and kvetching is a presumption that Companeros is entitled to the largess of Catholic donations without stipulation.  Not so.  The Church has not only the right but the duty to ensure that its monies are used in accordance with Church teaching.  

The article goes on to announce a new website called "withcharityforall", ostensibly to compensate for Companeros' very avoidable budget shortfall.  I freely acknowledge their right to collect these monies, provided that they are very honest with their donors as to the exact planned usage of the funds (something that CCHD has yet to learn).  At least it won't be Church money.

The site was founded by Catholics United.  As mentioned before on this blog, on that organization's board of directors is James Salt.  Read about his history here.  If there is any true "guilt by association", James Salt bears it in spades.  His resume includes "overseeing the Kansas Democratic Party's faith outreach efforts including messaging work for Governor Sebelius.."  Yep!  He helped further the career of Kathleen Sebelius, which landed her in her current position as Secretary of HHS.  Of course she used that position to foment the onerous mandate which hangs over all our heads.

Now they screech that the Catholic-donation gravy train is pulling into the station.  This train stop is long overdue.

Two Blog Posts Regarding Father Guarnizo's Situation

Catholics online are coming to Father Guarnizo's defense - both against the venomous progressive sites that act as water-boys for the gays, and against the feckless bureaucrats of the DC chancery.

V for Victory has an excellent piece entitled "The Persecution of Father Guarnizo".  In it, she states why she believes that the analysis provided by canon lawyer Ed Peters is remiss in considering key facts.  Read for yourselves.

I also commend to your reading the opinion of Judie Brown, president of American Life League, on this matter.  I join her in denouncing the regrettable "apology" issued by Bishop Knestout (with the approval, if not direction, of Cardinal Wuerl).

I will soon release my analysis (for what it's worth) of the very flawed "apology".