Hate Crimes Directed At ADW Churches On Christmas Eve - Why No Mention Of This In The Catholic Standard?

At two Christmas Eve Masses in St Mary's County in Maryland, an obviously imbalanced man disrupted two masses.  The guy's name is Thomas Campbell Bolling Von Goetz, aged 58 years.  At Holy Angels Church in Avenue MD, the 5pm Mass, he dropped an onion in the aisle.  When  a parishioner followed him after that, he pelted the parishioner with tangerines.

At the midnight Mass at St Francis Xavier in Leonardtown, he poured whiskey in a holy water font.  After a bit of a tussle, parishioners subdued him and held him until sheriff's deputies arrived.  Kudos to the parishioners who took proper action and who didn't just cower in their pews.

I just looked on the Catholic Standard web site.  They were quite efficient in reporting the death of former President Jimmie Carter, that just happened today - God have mercy on Carter's soul.  However, I found nary a peep of Goetz's rampage and attacks on those two churches within the Archdiocese of Washington.

Had these sorts of attacks been directed at a synagogue or mosque, I daresay that the Standard would have issued voluminous tomes to denounce these hate crimes, and rightly so.  Then why, oh why, do we hear crickets coming from them when our own Churches, and the Catholics within them, are similarly attacked?  These incidents are all over the secular media, rendering the Standard's silence at best, inexcusably silly, and at worst, highly suspect.  I think the latter is the case.

Catholic Standard Watch: Shilling For Democrats On The Sly

On page 5 of the Catholic Standard's October 17 issue, (here, in the online edition) we find a letter written by Cardinal Gregory that deals with the upcoming elections.  While there are truths to be found therein, we also are none too surprised to see "seamless-garment" (hereafter called "seamless garbage") nonsense embedded in it.

We are pleased that Gregory made mention of the need for Maryland citizens to cast a "no" vote for Ballot Question 1, although his reasons are deficient.  We thnk that deficiency is by design.  He made no mention of the enshrining into the MD constitution the de facto disenfranchising of parental rights when it comes to making healthcare decisions for their children.  He made no mention that the proposed amendment would allow minor chidren to commence "sex changes" despite parental objections, nor even abut the fact that this amendment would pave the way for state-coerced abortions.  His omission of the gay-agenda aspects of this "reproductive freedom amendment" is highly suspect, and I will elaborate on that in this post.

Earlier in that same letter, Gregory said, "the Church does not tell you how to vote."  Oh, really?  Then what was the pastor and staff of St Thomas More doing in their distribution of Harris shirts, going so far as to announce it from the pulpit after a Sunday Mass?  I reported that a few weeks ago. 

Right after his remarks on Question 1 comes the seamless-garbage pabulum.  I quote "instead of a sole focus on access to abortion, it is necessary to advocate for comprehensive solutions.." etc.  

On page 3 of that same issue (here in the online edition), Cindy Wooden of the Catholic News Service (media outreach of the USCCB) seemed to offer some commentary on Gregory's letter, taking some liberties to embellish it a bit.  She quotes him as saying "that umbrella is wide enough to also include the dignity of people who are seeking entry into our country as immigrants."  That's odd!  I did word searches on Gregory's letter and did not find the words "immigrant" or "umbrella" therein!  Hmm!  For that matter, he didn't mention "capital punishment" either.  At best, this is sloppy journalism.  But what can one expect from the USCCB?

A few paragraphs up, I said that I'd elaborate on the complete lack of mention the gay-pandering aspects of the proposed MD amendment on the part of the MD bishops.  I shall now do so.  Please refer to my first linked article about St Thomas More.  Embedded in that post is a memo to the MD priests issued by Jenny Kraska, Executive Director for the Maryland Conference of Catholic Bishops.  Among other things, Kraska ordered the priests not to use materials produced by Health Not Harm MD.  Here is HNH's website.  Please peruse it.  You will see that their treatment of the amendment is far more comprehensive than that of the MCC.  Furthermore, they urge good people to educate their fellow citizens about the amendment, whereas there is no encouragement of outreach in the MCC's site.  Now why, oh why, does the MCC omit any mention of the gay agenda behind the proposed "Reproductive Freedom Amendment "?

Consider the previous actions of both Cardinal Gregory and Archbishop Lori regarding gay infestation in the Church.  In August, dissident gay-pandering Father James Martin SJ held a gay-gab-fest at Georgetown University.  Cardinal Gregory offered a Mass that was part of this debacle.  The Standard actually published Gregory's screed homily.  As you can see, this blather would have done the Washington Blade proud.

A few months prior to that, I attended the annual Archdiocese of Baltimore Social Ministry Convocation.  I detailed my experience in three posts between April and May of this year.  Chief among the delightful (?) presentations was the spectacle of Catholics being lectured to by a practicing gay dude.  One of Baltimore's auxiliary bishops was there at the close.  This debacle happened under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Baltimore Office of Life, Justice and Peace (what a mouthful!).  Its director, Erin Younkins, was in attendance and had been part of the planning committee, as she had done in previous years.  Archbishop Lori knew what was going to happen and allowed it.

The escapades described in the preceding two paragraphs are just the latest.  It doesn't take too much intellectual strain to understand why the Maryland bishops are loathe to oppose their gay-agenda pals, even if it means soft-pedalling the fight against the amendment and allowing abortion the mutilation of minors to be enshrined in the Maryland Constitution.

Not to be outdone, Msgr John Enzler, Catholic Charities affiliate, penned an article on page 6 of that same issue, and here in the online edition.  The poor guy is confused, you see?  He states, "navigating the party platforms and candidate's stances on various issues like immigration, abortion, death penalty and more can become quite confusing and contradictory."  Notice that abortion is just another issue, not treated as the deliberate act of murder that it is.  Also notice that we don't even see abortion listed as the first issue.  But consider that this is coming from someone whose political priorities are terribly askew from Catholic morality, as evidenced here.  Later on, he says, "my guiding principle when voting is to consider what would Jesus say, and what would He want me to do?...It doesn't mean that everyone will come to the same conclusion."  Full stop!  Yes, it does, unless we are to hold the blasphemous belief that Jesus has a split-personality disorder.  But that's the kind of nonsense uttered by someone who supports pro-abortion candidates over pro-life candidates.  With this kind of nonsensical thinking, Cathollics of weak minds, and very likely weak morals, could feel themselves quite assured as they cast votes for Kamala Harris.

I humbly present (again) factors for consideration when casting your votes.

Catholic Standard - Competing With The Washington Blade?

HT - Canon 212

The Catholic Standard, media mouthpiece for the Archdiocese of Washington, sunk to a new low in its support of depravity.  It doesn't matter that the depravity originates from the Archbishop of Washington himself.  Those who run the Standard are Catholics and owe their allegiances first to Our Lord Jesus Christ.  I wish I could say that I am shocked, but sadly I am not.

Cardinal Gregory offered that Mass at the perversion celebration at Georgetown last Saturday, and the Standard has the unmitigated gall to publish it.  I suggest you read it simply so that you can learn to work your way through word-salads such as the sorry excuse for a homily that Gregory spewed forth.  There are multiple mentions of the words "unity", "dialogue", "inclusive", and of course, "synodality".

An important aside for the Standard staff - Don't bother to try to remove that page from your website.  By now, the bots have copied the page and its contents.  Once something is released to the internet, it stays there.  

Other words were noticeably absent: words such as "sin", "repentance", "chastity", "Confession".  Of course he praised the attendees for wanting to pursue those dubious goals.  Perhaps Cardinal Gregory forgot that the Church always welcomes the repentant sinner as he/she approaches through the doors of the Confessional.  There is no dialogue with sin and its practitioners, not now and not at God's Judgment throne.  God speaks, we obey.  Period.  God does not accept our sin, and it's high time Cardinal Gregory and his ilk stop preaching that spiritual poison.  Now it's even being spread via the Catholic Standard.

We are pleased that the young men of TFP Student Action were outside the gates of Georgetown this past Saturday to protest this conference and the blaspheming of Holy Mass.  Here are some pictures of their prayer effort.

Catholic Standard And Catholic Review Repeat Our Sunday Visitor Inaccuracies Regarding Bishop Strickland

Both the Catholic Standard and Catholic Review use the same article from Our Sunday Visitor as they relay the news of Bishop Strickland's ouster.  OSV acknowledges that the Vatican has not yet given any official reason for Strickland's ouster, but it does point out a tweet that Strickland wrote last May stating that the Pope is "undermining the deposit of faith". 

All Strickland did was call a spade a spade.  Let's look back at some of the antics coming forth from this Vatican, shall we?

• A few weeks ago, he signed a document that allows gays and transgender perverts to be godparents at baptism
• While Strickland was stripped of his diocese, the German bishops who declared their intention to "bless" gay unions remain untouched.
• There is the colossal pachamama debacle during which this filthy idol was worshipped in the Vatican Garden, in the pope's presence.  Later that week, he placed a pachamama plant on the altar during Mass - a direct violation of GIRM and an act of idolatry.
• There is that insidious footnote in Amoris Laetitia, stating that de facto adulterers may receive Holy Communion while continuing their mortally sinful lifestyles
• He declared the death penalty to be inherently evil, directly contradicting 2000 year old Church teaching. 

This list could go on and on, but these will suffice to demonstrate that yes indeed, the pope is undermining the deposit of faith.

As for this October 31 address in question, LifeSiteNews diligently recorded the entire thing and published it for our reading.  Here it is.  Please read it.  Some reading the OSV article might get the erroneous impression that Strickland is calling the pope a "usurper".  In an interview with the Pillar Catholic, Strickland plainly states that such is not his view.  Rather, he was reading a letter from a friend to illustrate the confusion that this pope is undeniably causing.  He states that the pope is neglecting to clear up confusion by not answering the dubia and not issuing plain statements of belief.

Further on down the OSV article, we read that "the letter outright attacked Pope Francis' validity as the successor of St. Peter...Bishop Strickland said the letter's words were challenging but did not dispute the allegations."

I find great fault with the reporting of Our Sunday Visitor in this matter.  They utterly failed - whether by neglect or intent, I do not know - to take into account Strickland's subsequent exchange with the Pillar, during which Strickland acknowledges Francis's papacy.  OSV's sloppiness could lead the unsuspecting reader to believe that Strickland doubts the validity of Francis' papacy.  The OSV has a duty, in my opinion, to correct their reporting.  Moreover, The Catholic Standard and Catholic Review. have a duty to acknowledge their own sloppiness in their blind repetition of the OSV error without doing any "due diligence" verification themselves.

Here are more details about these matters from the Lepanto Institute.

It Will Be A Sin-Nod For Sodomy If Cardinal Gregory's Words Are Any Indication

The dreaded anticipated "Synod on Synodality" will start next week and it promises to be a blight upon Holy Mother Church.  First, take a look at the complete list of delegates to this gab-fest, courtesy of the National Catholic Register.  Cardinal Gregory appears towards the bottom of the list, in the section entitled "members nominated by Pope Francis".  In other words, he holds no position in the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, but Francis wants him there anyway.  Others who are so esteemed (?) by Francis include Cardinal Cupich, Father James Martin, and Cardinal McElroy.  I see that Cardinal Muller is also in that list.  That list was created before Muller publicly supported Bishop Strickland, so we'll see what his fate there will be, but I digress.

Now look at this article, penned by Gregory, that appeared on page 5 of the September 14th issue of the Catholic Standard.  (Note: Should this link be "broken", please advise.  I have the printed version and would be more than happy to upload pictures of that.)  Pay close attention to the last sentence of the second paragraph.  You will see that Gregory, in his use of the term "sexual orientation", likens the intrinsically disordered orientation of same-sex and other perverted attraction to innate and benign characteristics such as ethnicity, language, etc.

This mention of "sexual orientation" is no accident, no Freudian slip.  Recall that when Gregory first come to Washington DC, he participated in a "Theology on Tap" session during which he sang the praises of Fortunate Families, a gay-coddling cabal.

Since then, Gregory has been relatively quiet regarding the gay agenda.  But now, on the cusp of this Sin-Nod for Sodomy, he's making noises as though he is once again shilling for sexual perversion.  This article was no blooper, no slip of the tongue.  It is a shot across the bow, a harbinger of things to come, particularly from this Sin-Nod.  And that is just what this gab-fest will: a nod towards the sins of sodomy and other perversions of not only morals but the One True Faith as well.

Please be praying your Rosaries and be studying the Faith on your own, for you'll get no real guidance, neither from the Vatican nor any of the chanceries from which these Sin-Nod delegates hail.  Also please do not contribute to any in-pew collection for Bishop's appeals nor for the Peter's Pence collections.  Direct any such donations to those organizations that uphold the Traditional Catholic teachings on faith and morals.

Catholic Standard Watch - Celebrating Pronoun Confusion At Stone Ridge In Bethesda

The latest issue of the Catholic Standard is out, and they are celebrating a "Stone Ridge legend".  That "legend" is Sister Anne Dyer, a longtime former principal of the school.  She gave the commencement address on June 8, exhorting the graduates to "reflect the goals of Sacred Heart education in their lives".  She and the staff are of the order known as the Society of the Sacred Heart.

Doesn't that sound like a lovely goal to which the graduates should aspire?  Not so fast.  Sister Dyer was headmistress when a number of us tried to get canceled their choice of commencement speaker - Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who was at that time Lieutenant Governor of Maryland.  Like most of the Kennedys, she is a rabid pro-abort.  We returned next year to picket Sandra Day O'Connor, then-retired Supreme Court Justice, who made her pro-abortion proclivities well known, too.  Since then, they kept their choices of commencement speakers under wraps, leading me to suspect that they too held positions contrary to Church teachings.

Getting back to the June 8 address, Sr. Dyer said that the five goals of a Sacred Heart education are "faith, intellect, social action, community and growth".  However, she later let loose with a doozy regarding the transgender pronoun gobblygoop, contradicting all those lovely goals that she had enumerated.  I'm going to copy and paste it straight from the Standard web page.

The first question Sister Dyer posed to the graduates was, “How do you identify?”

She said that when asked that question today, people might be thinking, “What are my pronouns?”

“That’s only a little bit of who you are… It doesn’t matter what your pronouns are.  That’s who you are. God loves you that way, and I love you that way,” she said.

End quote.  Yes she really said that.  FULL STOP!  If her students are graduating, thinking that they don't need to conform with God's design for them as women, she and her staff have done an abysmal job when it comes to Catholic education.  If the students were hoodwinked into believing that they can monkey around with their genders, those five goals of Sacred Heart education were flushed down the toilet by these Sacred Heart sisters.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is but one example of the spiritual, moral and intellectual malaise that now grips Holy Mother Church.

Interfaith Dialog - For What?

On May 17th per the Catholic Standard, the Embassy of Argentina hosted an "interfaith dialog of religious leaders".  Cardinal Gregory was there, along with Jews, Muslims and several pagan leaders.  The Hindu woman said "what pope Francis is trying to tell us is please come together, work together, be together", then "when people come together, we can do a lot of great things".

What "great things"?  Things that only have to do with temporal matters?  The Church was instituted to save souls by bringing them to obedience to the Faith through the Sacraments.  Read that article closely.  You'll see no hint of that.  What is not said is just as important as what is said.  The complete lack of focus on the conversion of these people reeks of religious indifferentism on the part of Catholic hierarchy.

They yammer about the "human disaster of bigotry..anti-semitism, islamophobia, bigotry".  That's nice, but what about bigotry against Christians, Catholics in particular?    The three previous posts in this blog give indications of how pervasive this is - or is this gathering considering us to be the proverbial n1qq@r$ of the new age?  Side note- I must engage in this misspelling to get past the electronic censors.  People are more upset with the description of reality than reality itself.

Anyway, the whole thing is a useless tome to the heresy of indifferentism.  Of course the non-Catholics don't know that, but our prelates, including Francis and Cardinal Gregory, do.  For that, and the souls being led astray and denied truth needed for their salvation, these feckless leaders will have much to answer.

Catholic Standard Slobbers Over Another Celebrity

Harry Belafonte, a noted singer and actor, recently passed away.  The Standard wrote a glowing piece about him, probably not suspecting just how much they revealed.  His claim to fame, as far as they are concerned, is that he was a famous Catholic - or at least a baptized Catholic.

The Standard's headline called him a "singer-activist".  Well, he certainly was an activist.  He labored for racial equality, noble in and of itself.  However, he was a communist sympathizer, honoring the spies Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and being buddy-buddy with Cuban thug-dictator Fidel Castro.  He had the gall to compare Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice as "house slaves", drawing well-deserved rebukes from the both of them.  In 2013 he was a grand marshal of New York City's pride parade and an honorary cochairman of the Women's March on Washington (i.e., a pro-abortion extravaganza) in 2017.

Probably the most damning "endorsement" is to be found in that Standard article.  Father Michael Pfleger of Chicago, yes him, called Belafonte "a hero and a friend who helped shape him".  Shaped him?  Shaped him into a possible murderous rabble-rouser who called for a gun shop owner to be snuffed?  I'm sad to say that I believe Pfleger's assessment.  Why in heaven's name would the Standard's editors think that Pfleger's praise of Belafonte should be a ringing endorsement of his character - unless of course many of the Standard's staff think the same way as does Pfleger?

Just remember - the Catholic Standard is the official news outlet for the Archdiocese of Washington!

Catholic Standard Slobbers Up To Two Dissident Religious

Sister Jeannine Gramick is co-founder of the gay-pandering New Ways Ministry.  They call themselves "catholic" although they were disavowed by previous DC prelates.  They favor sodomy and the mockery of the Sacrament of Matrimony.  In 2000 both the Vatican and her own order (School Sisters of Notre Dame) ordered her to silence.  She thumbed her nose at them and kept right on yapping.  Both she and her dissident bunch are located in Prince George's County, MD.

Father Thomas Reese, SJ, likewise favors "gay rights".  He was an editor for the "America" Jesuit rag.  That publication was so egregious that when Pope Benedict XVI ascended to the papal throne, one of his first acts was to oust Reese from his position.  At present, he is a columnist for America and the other dissident rag, National Catholic Reporter.  He currently lives in DC, maybe Georgetown.

So what, besides being two dissident religious who make jokes of their vows and who reside in the MD/DC area, do these two have in common?  Why, they are both being lauded by the Catholic Standard for celebrating their 60th anniversaries!  They are listed on pages 22 and 23 of the February 17th paper edition.  I could not find it online (if someone else can find it, please post the link in the comment section).

If these two had spent those 60 years in actual service to the Church, looking to their own eternal salvation and those of others, it would be appropriate to celebrate their milestones in a Catholic newspaper.  But they've done just the opposite.  They've undermined Catholic teaching to the eternal detriment of souls, and to date, they are unrepentant.  Not one word of the flamboyant dissidence of either one is so much as mentioned.  Just what did the editorial staff of the Catholic Standard think they were accomplishing?  Well, it turns out that Gramick is best buds, or "pen pals", with the pope.  And both Reese and the pope are Jesuits.  Hmmm...

Pro-Abort Mark Shriver Named As President Of DC Area Catholic School

Mark Shriver, the pro-abortion ex-politician, has been named as President of Don Bosco Christo Rey School in Takoma Park, MD.  This appointment was announced and presumably made by both the Archdiocese of Washington and the eastern province of the Salesians.  The Catholic Substandard article to which I linked reports that Cardinal Gregory slobbered his praises of Shriver, saying among other things that Shriver is "dedicated to serving...children".  Well, yes, provided that they have escaped the clutches of abortion.  Most glaring for its omission is any mention whatsoever for Shriver's facilitation of abortion while in the MD House of Delegates and the fact that he ran for US Congress on a solid pro-abortion ticket.

One wonders just what kind of education those poor students will get.  Will they be allowed to have a pro-life club that will actually be involved in the struggle to save babies from being murdered in their mothers' wombs?  Will they discuss politics through the prism of "social justice warriors"?  And what might happen, should those students stumble across the history of Shriver's pro-abortion activities?  By no means will true Catholic education flourish at that school with a pro-abort at the helm.  Cardinal Gregory knows that.  We can only presume that he doesn't care.  After all, Shriver is a dyed-in-the-wool progressive.  Whether he knows it or not, Shriver will serve to further the Great Reset and the New World Order.  He is in an excellent position to corrupt many Catholic young people to that demented way of thinking.

But wait!  The Catholic Substandard had more enthusiastic slobbering to do all over Shriver.  The latter wrote a book, you  see, called "10 Hidden Heroes".  The editor of the Standard, Mark Zimmerman, penned the book review himself.  Except for his own parents, Shriver seems rather coy about who these "heroes" are.  The website isn't much help, either.  However, are some of these truly stalwart people considered heroes in this book?

• The faithful Catholics who kneel to receive Holy Communion on the tongue while others (including the minister!) mock them?
• The parents standing up at school board meetings to protest critical race theory in the schools, sexually explicit reading materials being thrust on their children, the insipid mask mandates
• The good people who may lose their livelihoods because they won't be de facto cannibals in accepting the abortion-tainted vaccines
• The ever-growing number of parents homeschooling their children rather than turning them over to godless schools (some ostensibly Catholic)
• The Catholics who drive many miles each Sunday to attend a Traditional Latin Mass rather than the clown Mass at their own parishes
• The pro-life people who spend hours in front of abortion mills praying in reparation for the baby-slaughter and trying to extend true help to desparate mothers?

Sadly, I think we know the answer to that.  I strongly suspect the "heroes" in this book will all tow a politically correct line or not be considered as "heroes".

Anyway, if the Catholic Sub-standard were at all concerned with the mission of the Church, that is, to save souls, it would evince some concern for Shriver's soul and those belonging to the students that stand to be scandalized by the placing of a pro-abort in authority over Catholic students.  The Archdiocese of Washington has yet another reason for shame.

Wilton Gregory, First African American Cardinal - His Claim To Fame

 As of today, Archbishop Wilton Gregory is now a cardinal.  As prince of the church, he will vote in the next papal enclave, if he hasn't attained the age of 80 years before then.  I realize it is an unpleasant thought, but it is what it is.

The latest issue of the Catholic Standard is devoted to this coronation, crowing about the new cardinal.  Of course they have to point out Gregory's race.  So much for putting race behind us!  In this issue appears an interview between Gregory and Mark Zimmerman, editor of the Standard.   The article indicates that the interview is about Gregory's race as much as his achievements.  When asked about the racial unrest and violence that plagued many Democrat-run cities this past summer, Gregory had this to say: Well first of all, I am sorry when those protests go violent or destructive, but I understand the frustration that energizes them.."  Please take note of two things:

1. Gregory did not condemn the violence directly as being inherently sinful, stating that the ends do not justify criminal means (the ends themselves, being Marxist-engineered, are debatable themselves).  People were killed, including black police officers.  I suppose Gregory doesn't think their black lives matter?
2. Actually, the second point will require its own paragraph instead of a mere bullet point. So...

Notice how he was so quick to interject that "but", as though he is trying to minimize the guilt of the perpetrators of the violence.  Just suppose he was asked about some rogue activists who blew up abortion mills or shot abortionists.  Do you suppose he would have soft-pedalled those acts of violence as he did the riots last summer?  Of course not!  He would have condemned outright those acts of violence, without any jibber-jabber about the "frustration that energized them", and he would have been correct.  He is engaging in unconscionable double-standards here.  Why didn't Zimmerman call him out, as any decent journalist should have?  I digress.

So the Standard is waxing all giddy about the "first African American Cardinal". Hmmm..  I remember when another black cardinal gave a commencement address at Georgetown many years ago.  This was Cardinal Arinze.  He, however, spoke like an actual Prince of the Church, extolling the Church's teachings on life, marriage, sexuality, family life.  For his fidelity to the Magisterium, he was treated shamefully by Georgetown faculty, many of them walking out on his address.  So, in Washington DC, a prelate must tow the progressive talking points in order to be accepted by the powers that be.  Gregory excels at parroting the progressive spin, so they adore him.

The swamp known as the DC chancery remains as fetid as it always has.  Keep withholding your contribution dollars from the chancery, but keep praying for their repentance.

Time Is Running Out. Eek. Eek.

 That is what the pope told some of his fellow envirowhackos last week.  This happened at a TEDx Countdown on Climate Change.  The conference happened virtually so at least the attendants didn't make flaming hypocrites of themselves by flying in on their gas-guzzling private jets to kvetch about climate change, carbon footprint, yada-yada.

The bunch convened to present "cutting-edge science" and (are you ready for this?) "moments of wonder and inspiration".  This eminently-qualified cadre of (ahem!) experts include such luminaries as (from the Standard article) "scientists, climate activists, actors, singers, poets, politicians and comedians" (Emphasis mine).  Excluse me, but just what in hades do entertainers know about real science?  Have any of the Hollywood wonks ever worked a real job in their lives?  Why on earth should anyone listen to entertainers more than they would the grocery store clerk or the trash man?

At any rate, we are supposed to "act urgently" and to "rethink many things about the economy" because time is running out, you see?  This is nothing more than a cheap ploy for socialism.  

If the pope were really concerned that "time is running out", might he not put some emphasis on getting people to convert to the One True Faith, leaving behind all manners of sin - especially those mortal sins against life and God's plan for sexuality and family life? That's where he should be spending the bulk of his energies, not on this progressive, one-world-order nonsense.

Catholic Standard Watch - Progressive Catholics Diss Trump's Appearance At March For Life

Here is the article in question.  Please note that it is a Catholic News Service piece; thus it is most likely published at the unction of the USCCB.  First, we see quoted one John Gehring, Catholic program director of Faith in Public Life.  One would never know from this puff piece that FPL is funded by George Soros.  John Gehring is not fit to be quoted in any Catholic publication.  His complaints about the President are no doubt guided by his own progressive leanings (not to mention Soros and the USCCB).

Next to whine is Father Dauses, pastor of St Andrew by the Bay in Annapolis.  He is quoted as saying he was "really, really conflicted attending" the March.  Were the babies a high priority for him?  That is a fair question, in light of the "social justice" page from his parish's website.  This group, in working with other nearby "faith communities", identified "6 priorities".  Notice what is not a priority.

These two progressives are simply using the president's presence as a feeble excuse for their own disregard of unborn children.  At least the article quoted Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, who made plain that the murder of thousands of babies daily trumps all other issues in scope and importance.  As long as our clergy remain on the dole from progressive sugar daddies, they will be morally compromised and will likely have difficulty at their particular judgments.

Archbishop Gregory Honors Gay-Enabling Religious

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.

Catholic Standard Commits Ecumenicide

Again from the current issue of the Catholic (sub)Standard we see an account of the 40th annual concert of the Interfaith Council of  Metropolitan Washington.  Browse through the article and notice that not only were there performances by Catholics and some Protestant groups, but also of Muslims and Hindus.

Beholding ICMW idolary

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.

Why Does The Catholic Standard Insist On Fawning All Over Pro-Aborts?

This past Saturday I opened the latest issue of the Catholic Standard (official publication of the Archdiocese of Washington).  I was happy to see that there was at least mention of the assisted suicide bill - even if it was stuffed inside as opposed to the front page.  Alas, as I proceeded through the paper, I saw behavior that is too typical of this propaganda mouthpiece.

The headline for this travesty reads "For Sister Carol Keehan, Faith And Health Care Go Together".  It's not much more than a shill piece extolling the Obama Hell-Care bill.  The author, who happens to be the wife of the Standard's editor,   Of Keehan, Carol Zimmerman says she "worked hard behind the scenes to help craft the language of the Affordable Care Act passed by President Barack Obama.."  I suspect that sentence is objectively correct.  Obama thanked her and said "We would not have gotten the Affordable Health Care Act done had it not been for her."  Again, that is objectively true; that is to her great shame and I pray that is not to her eternal damnation.  She still has time to repent for her role in the advancement of socialized medicine and worse, further entrenching into our social fabric the slaughter of babies and the introduction of death panels.  The article even makes mention of her Pen of Perfidy.

She had no apologies for those evils or for forcing other religious communities to fund contraception, such as the Little Sisters of the Poor.  The latter had to go to court several times to rid themselves of that onerous mandate. She did complain about faithful Catholics who rebuked her, saying that "people screamed at her, picketed events that she attended.."  I am happy to remind readers that in 2010, shortly after her betrayal, she gave the commencement address for Gonzaga High School in DC.  We were there to greet and rebuke her.  I will repost the video after we discuss the Standard's second slobber-fest.

This article was written by the Catholic News Service.  I cannot seem to locate it on the online version, but it did appear in print, on page 13 of the March 7th edition.  It's entitled, "Dingell, Longest Serving Member Of Congress, Recalled At Funeral As Doer".  He was a "doer", all right, but was what he did moral and in line with common decency, let alone Catholic morality?  The answer is a resounding "no".  This article admits that he facilitated legalized baby-murder.  But other than that teensy little detail, the US bishops and he saw eye to eye; of course that included the Obama Hell-Care Bill that I mentioned in relation to Sr Keehan just a few paragraphs up.

He had two funeral Masses: one at Church of the Divine Child in Dearborn, MI and the second at Holy Trinity Church near Georgetown University.  I understand from Church Militant that Catholics were outraged that he was receiving a public funeral.  I'm assuming that most of those Catholics were addressing the Dearborn debacle.  As for Holy Trinity?  Well, it's a Jesuit-run parish and is the same that gave Joe Biden a standing ovation during Mass just after he and Obama were elected to office, so need I say more?

I still am trying to figure out a reason why the Standard wasted so much news print over those two.  Whatever the reason, they once again insulted faithful Catholics by lauding the "praises" of those who betrayed the Church, the babies and ultimately Jesus Christ.

Now here's the video of our protest of Keehan at Gonzaga,  McCarrick was there and he too got an earful; watch all the way to the end.  This exemplifies how we must rebuke them, for the bishops are just going to pat them on the back.

Dissidence-Fomenting Jesuit Euologized In Catholic Standard

My colleague at An Archdiocese of Washington DC Catholic raised his eyebrows at a eulogy printed in the current Catholic Standard for Father Charles Currie.  Let's take a close look, shall we?

Here's a line from that online Standard link: "This work also led him to be a cofounder of the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice".  So who was the other founder of this "teach-in"?  We learn that from the Georgetown Voice.  He was ex-Father Bob Holstein.  He passed away about 16 years ago; here is his obituary.  He left the priesthood in 1967 because he thought the Church was "not progressive".  According to the obituary, he was involved in the Democrat Party and "liberal causes" for the remainder of his life.  He counted among friends California's Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown.

The two men were involved in the Ignatian Solidarity Network.  Also involved, or at least accepting awards for them were dissidents such as:

• Father James Martin
• Sister Helen Prejean
• Father Greg Boyle
• Sister Carol Keehan of the Pen of Perfidy

I suppose this could go on and on, but you get my point.  We should, of course, pray for Father Currie's eternal repose and that God have mercy on his soul.  He should not be eulogized in a Catholic newspaper.

Catholic Standard Goes Into Damage Control Mode

Just a little reminder.  Many years ago, the Standard had a "letters to the editor" section; a fair number of mine were printed.  However, as soon as ex-cardinal McCarrick announced his intentions to hold Canon 915 in disregard, that section disappeared from the paper and remains gone today.  Inside contacts indicate that the Standard was flooded with letters decrying McCarrick's nose-thumbing at the Blessed Sacrament and received orders from "on high" not to publish one of them.  That silence was a key motivation behind my start of the website and this blog.

Therefore it is no surprise that the Standard is in full "damage control" mode in the wake of the PA report.  As you read the Standard piece, notice a few things:

• Pennsylvania released the report today.  The Standard article is dated today.  So are we to believe that the Standard staff had time to study the report, write the article and upload it to their site on the same day that the report was released?  Or was this sorry excuse of a rebuttal crafted ahead of the report's release?
• I fail to detect any specific examples of inaccuracies regarding Wuerl that are allegedly in the report.  We see just a bunch of blather about "standards" etc.

In this same Standard issue is a letter that the Cardinal sent to his priests - again, the same smoke and mirrors.

Such speed!  Such alacrity!  The Standard is most prompt with its damage control, even if it's rather inept.  However, they cannot be faulted, for no one can defend the indefensible and still claim to have an ounce of intelligence and integrity.

I wonder if the Standard will bring back its "letters to the editor" feature.  Just kidding!

ADW Choir Sings Backup For Gay Performer

From time to time I do not receive my copy of the Catholic Standard in the mail, and I strongly suspect that's by design.  As soon as I pick up a copy from a church lobby I see the reason why my delivery was sabotogued.  That happened today; it only took about 20 seconds to deduce the reason.  First some background.

Barry Manilow is a singer who has been popular since the 1970s.  Recently he announced that not only was he gay, but he considers himself "married" to his accomplice in sodomy.

On page 9 of the Standard's print copy, and here online, we read that the choir from Saint Columba Church in Oxon Hill sang backup for Manilow when he performed at MGM National Harbor Theater on July 24 & 25.  Apparently when he goes to his different venues to perform, he invites local choirs to sing with him.

Several choir members gave reasons why they thought this idea was so wonderful: "bring awareness of the church", "something out there bigger than they are".  In striking hands with someone who is in fact living in objective mortal sin, they render moot all the lofty ideals that they enunciated.  Would it not have been better for them to decline the invitation politely by stating that their partnership with him would have signaled to the world tacit approval of his deviant lifestyle?  Might not preference for Christ's moral teachings over fleeting fame have been more of a powerful witness to the Church?

Instead this choir disgraced themselves for a mere moment of fame.  The Standard is likewise to be ashamed of itself (once again) for crowing giddily about this moral compromise of this choir.  I cannot imagine either this choir nor the Standard taking such stances had it been a white supremist outfit asking for the choir's singing abilities at some event of their's.  They would have been indignant at the idea, and rightly so.  So why the compromise in regards to Manilow?

Dissident Sr Helen Prejean In The Catholic Standard

Sister Helen Prejean, author of "Dead Man Walking" (a tome against capital punishment) was featured in the February 23rd issue of the Catholic Standard.  This particular piece is only found in the paper edition, not online.

Apparently her book was made into an opera and she gave a presentation on it at the Washington National Cathedral.  This presentation that included a panel of leaders of various religions was sponsored by "Catholic Mobilization Network To End The Death Penalty".  Isn't that a mouthful?  While we can be grateful that this gabfest didn't occur in a Catholic facility, we can wonder why the Standard staff saw fit to devote an entire page to it.

Sister claims to be opposed to abortion, but other problems abound as evidenced here.  At the 2008 Democratic Interfaith Gathering, she said “And in the Christian tradition, there are those who say God allowed or even willed his own son, Jesus, to be sacrificed and killed on the cross in payment for our sins!  And when we kill criminals we have chaplains in death houses!  And when we kill criminals for their crimes God accepts their death in payment for their sins so they can go to heaven!  What kind of god do we believe in?!  What kind of father would demand the death of a son?  Is this a god?  Or is it an ogre, a monster, created by our own violent impulses?  We project so this is God who wants vengeance, like we want vengeance.  Truly there are contradictory images of God in the Bible.  On which one will we model our lives?"  She blasphemed against God the Father and the Crucifixion.

She "officiated" at the wedding of Susan Sarandon's daughter.  Only clergy do that.  Does this point to dissidence regarding women and the priesthood?  It would appear so.  She also seems to condone the normalization of homosexual perversions in society.  I state all of this to demonstrate that Sister Helen Prejean has not one shred of credibility whatsoever to lecture Catholics on anything, let alone moral issues.

Several years ago, Judie Brown of American Life League touched upon Sister's seeming indifference to the murders of tiny children.  There does seem to be a lack of proportion in Sister's mind when it comes to the importance of both abortion and capital punishment in comparison to each other.  I've blogged about the matter in the past and now link to those posts.  In the first post in that anthology, I highlighted some statistics showing that for every convicted criminal executed there were 42,000 babies legally murdered.  In the third post I pointed out that the effort to eliminate all capital punishment might well be an act of disobedience to God Himself for it was He who charged civil governments with that responsibility.

Some might be understandably befuddled as to why so many of those who seek to abolish capital punishment actually applaud the murders of tiny infants.  I was among that number until the answer dawned upon me almost instantaneously.  The repugnance that pro-aborts feel towards capital punishment actually stems from both guilt and fear.  In a saner time, these same pro-aborts, precisely because of their support, if not cooperation with and even commission of the crime of baby-murder, would themselves be eligible for the death penalty.  As it is, they are in grave danger of damnation unless they repent.

What I still fail to understand is how any reliable Catholic news outlet could devote an entire page of newsprint to someone who deviates from Catholc morality.  This article is just the latest example of why the Catholic Standard connot be considered a reliable Catholic news source.  Regrettably we'll see new reasons in the not-too-distant future.