White House Appoints Father Reese To Religious Freedom Commission - Fox To The Hen House

Apparently I missed this two weeks ago, but the White House appointed to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Father Thomas Reese, the Jesuit who's been at Georgetown ever since Pope Benedict XVI fired him from America magazine (ht - NotAtAll Catholic Reporter).  Follow the link on Reese's name to see just why the White House would think that Reese would represent them well.  He may well have not been their first choice, but Father Robert Drinan has already passed and gone to his eternal reward (whatever that might be).

One might wonder if Reese obtained permission from his Jesuit superiors to accept this position from the Messiah Most Miserable.  Knowing the sorry spiritual condition of the Jesuits, though, his superiors probably approved heartily (assuming he bothered to ask).

I anticipate that Reese will do a stellar job selling the Catholic Church down the river, just like Ken Hackett did at the Vatican.

Can A Catholic Be A Liberal?

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

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

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

St Ignatius of Loyola

Today is the feastday of the founder of the Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits.  If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know the problems that too many Jesuits have posed for the Church recently - from the drag show at Santa Clara University to the pro-abortion Sister Carol Keehan giving the commencement at Gonzaga High.  To get a sampling, just type the word "Jesuit" in the upper left-hand box next to the "magnifying glass" icon and click the icon.

One crucial Jesuit debacle I never touched upon involved Father Robert Drinan.  Many of us remember him as the priest who served in the US House of Representatives in defiance of his order (who of course demured to discipline him) and who supported, and voted for, the Freedom of Choice Act.  See Catholic Culture's account of the mess.  After all was said and done with that debacle, Drinan spent his final years at (bet'cha can't guess!) Georgetown University.  When he passed away several years ago, he was given a lavish public Catholic funeral - much like his protege, Ted Kennedy.

That's right - protege.  It seems that Father Drinan played a key role in goading the Kennedys into adopting a pro-abortion position in their political careers.  Read this account of their Hyannisport Meeting.  This one priest seems to have been instrumental in launching one of the deadliest pro-abortion political careers in Washington, DC - that of Ted Kennedy.  No doubt he had his nefarious influence on others.

Getting back to Saint Ignatius, let us ask him and his saintly spiritual sons to pray for their wayward order.  Particularly invoke St Francis Xavier and St Aloysius Gonzaga, as institutions named for them have been particularly besmirched.