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.

Church Hierarchy Feeling Some Much-Needed Financial Pain

Please go to the website of Our Parish Times and examine the January 2020 edition.  On the front page, left side is an article by Msgr John Enz ler entitled "Is Our Anger Hurting Those Most In Need?"  As you read it, you'll see that it's not much more than a cheap attempt to lay guilt trips on faithful Catholics who are making their disappointment known in the only language the Church hierarchy understands - money.  Well, obviously we are having an impact in that area.  That is why we see this backlash from Ensler, who no doubt scribbled this screed at the behest of higher-ups in the Church. 

Not only does Enzler dance around the problems that we are addressing (other than token lip service), but he is actually downright dishonest about the use of our donations.  Nowhere in his diatribe do I see acknowledged the fact that a portion of our donations to our parishes is assessed by the Archdiocese and then paid to the chancery.  Moreover, as I noted last week, the Archdiocese in turn forks over a portion of those assessments to the USCCB.  In his article, Enzler quotes the late Tip O'Neill who said "all politics is local".  If that is the case, Msgr Enzler, why shouldn't donations stay local as well?

If the DC chancery is really concerned about the financial well-being of their parishes, they would announce ways that parishioners could donate without any money being siphoned up the chain of command.  Perhaps they might cease their own contributions to the USCCB.  Perhaps the bishops as a whole stop having their semi-annual meetings in swanky hotels; a retreat center would be more in conformity with their sacerdotal offices, anyway.

In the meantime, I would suggest that faithful Catholics do all they can to keep their money from funding corrupt chanceries and the USCCB.  Now we do have the precept of the Church that says we must support the work of the Church.  But it is not the work of the Church to shield predators from justice or to glom onto progressive causes as though they are equivalent to the salvation of souls.  There are traditional orders to be supported.  There are local charities and pro-life efforts that operate on shoe-string budgets.  There are local food banks and soup kitchens that need help.  Truth-telling Catholic sites such as LifeSiteNews and Lepanto Institute need assistance.  This is a non-exhaustive list of organizations that will put your donation dollars to worthy use.

Maybe Enzler might want to think of the real mission of the Church.  Then he might write of himself and his cronies, "Is Our Dereliction of Duty Condemning the Souls in Our Care to Hell?"

Msgr John Enzler - Making Allowances For Some Abortions?

Msgr John Enzler is CEO of Catholic Charities.  He's a former pastor of Blessed Sacrament parish in Washington DC (Chevy Chase neighborhood).  He writes regularly for Our Parish Times.

Unfortunately his leanings are quite progressive.  We've had occasion to comment on the evidence in the past.  In this latest issue of Our Parish Times he wrote a column entitled "Celebrating Life, Equality and Education".  Regrettably it is much worse than the usual progressive screed.  Please go to page 16 of that pdf.  In one paragraph he wrote glowingly of the March for Life.  However, he started the next paragraph by saying "I take a pastoral view of this issue".  Uh-oh!  There's that word "pastoral"!  We know now that it has ominous undertones, thanks to the way Pope Francis has used that word to camouflage all sorts of dissidence and heresy.  Msgr Enzler merely followed suit.  Here is the rest of Enzler's "pastoral view".  To wit: "Let’s start by admitting it’s wrong and admitting that abortion is in fact taking the life of an innocent baby. At the same time, let us as a Church be welcoming to all who may be considering or have had abortions. We don’t condone it, but we need to meet them where they are, recognizing that people are forced to make decisions in all kinds of circumstances. While we don’t agree with the decision, they still need to be welcomed and loved in our Church as part of God’s family."  Shall we unpack all this "pastoral" double-talk?

Let's do this "bullet style".

• The phrase "at the same time" sets the stage for the treatment of a pro-abortion mentality as being equivalent to reverence for life.
• "we don't condone it, but we need to meet them where they are"  It sounds nice, but "where they are" is literally hell-bound.  Where is the acknowledgment that the Church must immediately call such people away from abortion to immediate repentance?
• "people are forced to make decisions" Wrong.  No amount of "force" can ever justify a choice for an intrinsically grave evil such as abortion.  Enzler doesn't acknowledge that those "decisions" are impermissible.  What does that say about his own beliefs regarding abortion?
• "while we don't agree with the decision" It's not a mere difference of opinion.  Abortion is a mortal sin against God's commands.  Where is the truly pastoral concern?  Where are the Spiritual Works of Rebuking the Sinner, Instructing the Ignorant?
• "they still need to be welcomed" If one has committed the sin of abortion, they will find this welcome as they enter the confessional and confess this (and all other) mortal sin.  No other "welcome" will do.

If the topic of Enzler's article was "racism" as opposed to "abortion", would he be evincing such moral relativism?  Of course not!  But consider what was written of him in my previous posts.  We see that at the very best, he is less concerned about the murders of 3500 babies daily than he is about amnesty for border-crashers, etc.  Of course there are big bucks to be had from the latter.  The tiny babies?  Not so much!

I've been blogging on such mess for several years now.  Still I find it difficult to believe that a Catholic priest could vomit forth such pablum.  Consider that he's CEO of Catholic Charities.  Does he occupy this position despite his position - or because of it?  I suspect the latter.  This, and other problems with Catholic Charities, makes it an organization not worthy of one penny from faithful Catholics.

DC Archdiocese Personnel Donating To Pro-Death Politicians

Father Charles Antonicelli is pastor of Annunciation Catholic Church on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington DC.  Opensecrets.org reveals that he donated hundreds of dollars to Hillary Clinton during the last presidential election.

Last year I wrote of other anti-life donations made by individuals who hold, or recently held, positions of prominence within the Archdiocese of Washington.  Regarding Chuck Short, I wonder why he is allowed to have a column at all in Our Parish Times since his donations suggest complete lack of moral credibility.

By the way.. Regarding Kathleen Matthews, my colleague at the Archdiocse of Washington Catholic blog informs us that Kathleen Matthews is now state chair for the Maryland Democratic Party.

How are these individuals allowed to retain their positions and remain in the good graces of the DC chancery?  Yes, that question was rhetorical for the chancery is of the same mind in many respects as these pro-abortion Catholics.

Catholic Charities CEO (And Other Social Justice Leaders) - Donating To Pro-Abortion Candidates

Let's look at Catholic Charities as a whole.  We see the majority of contributions going towards pro-abort candidates (there are a few pockets of sanity in that list).  Most notably, we see that Msgr John Enzler, president and CEO of Catholic Charities, gave $250 to pro-abortion John Delaney last November and Kathleen Matthews a few months prior.  In addition to being pro-abortion herself, Matthews is the wife of Chris Matthews.

There's more to this Enzler-Matthews situation than meets they eye.  Let me recall some history.  Msgr John Enzler was pastor of Blessed Sacrament in DC.  It sits on the south side of Western Avenue.  On the north side is Chevy Chase MD.  I think it was in the very early part of 2012 that he left Blessed Sacrament to take the reins of Catholic Charities.  In February, despite our many pleas, Chris Matthews did a book-signing at Blessed Sacrament.  The timing of the event was such that caused us to believe that the invitation to Matthews occurred while Enzler was still at Blessed Sacrament.  At any rate, we were there when Matthews appeared and we protested quite unmistakably.  See here for some reports on that.  So now we can see what appears to be a rather cozy relationship between the CEO of Catholic Charities and a prominent pro-abortion "katholyc" couple.

Looking at Just Faith, we see that the little that was contributed went to Barack Obama and John Kerry.  Put the word "Jesuit" in the employer box and you'll see that most of their recipients are pro-aborts, with a few pockets of sanity sprinkled throughout.

There are a number of people named "Charles Short" on this page, but the one of interest is in Rockville, MD.  Currently Special Assistant to the County Executive, he was a director of social concerns for the Archdiocese of Washington.  He recently gave money to pro-abortion Chris Van Hollen as the latter runs for the Senate seat being vacated by Barbara Mikulski.

Let's look at contributions from those who draw paychecks from Catholic University of America.  Stephen Schneck is the Director of the Institute for Policy And Catholic Studies at CUA - at least he was at one time.  In addition to his many other lapses of judgment, he has seen fit to donate solely to pro-abortion politicians.  Why on earth was he ever put in a position where he could corrupt young Catholic minds?

Until very recently, Barbara Early was an associate professor of social work at Catholic University of America.  As you can see at this link, she contributed a total of $1500 to Obama/Biden and four months ago to Clinton/Kaine.  Leah Wortham, a law professor, has contributed thousands to Obama/Biden throughout the years. Eric Jenkins, another professor, gave $2000 to John Kerry.

These people are so-called "movers and shakers" in the "social justice" crowd within the US hierarchy.  As we see where they literally put their money, we get a clear indication regarding their not-so-hidden socialistic and anti-God mindsets.  Their "social justice" is not Catholic by any stretch of the imagination.