Head of USCCB Grovels Before Obama

Most of us heard the news that in the "eleventh hour" before the HHS contraception mandate was set to bare its teeth against Catholic agencies, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor blocked the Obama cartel from enforcing that mandate against agencies using the Christian Brothers Employee Benefits Trust.  Among the orders who were spared was the Little Sisters of the Poor.  It is nothing short of miraculous that Sotomayor, an Obama appointee and pro-abortion person would stand against the demagogue who placed her in that post.   Some opine that Sotomayor is remembering that she's Catholic.  While that would indeed be lovely, I think the cause is something more mundane - she is remembering that her function is to uphold the United States Constitution, with its all-important checks and balances and limits of power.

Sadly this point seems to be lost on Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, president of the USCCB.  In the wake of Sotomayor's action, he is "requesting" that Obama temporarily exempt religious institutions from the contraception/abortifacient mandate.  According to the United States Constitution, the President of the United States is charged with enforcing laws that have been enacted by Congress and signed by him.  He does not have sole discretion about what laws get enforced and what laws don't get enforced.  He is not a dictator, as much as Obama pictures himself to be.  In placing this wrong-headed petition before Obama, the Archbishop is tacitly (and hopefully unwittingly) affirming this unconstitutional view of presidential authority.

But the problems with the Archbishop's request are even more fundamental.  There is no denying that Obamacare would not have been law of the land had it not been for the support of Catholics in high places and even that of the USCCB.  That's right.  The USCCB came out in support of Obamacare, minus the obvious abortion provisions.  They failed to acknowledge two facts: 1) the inherent antipathy any socialized medical system will have for God and life and 2) the Messiah Most Mindless would lie through his teeth to garner any kind of support and then stab his supporters in the back.

If Archbishop Kurtz truly seeks to protect the Church against the overreach of Obamacare, he will first have to acknowledge the pivotal role that the USCCB played in bringing about this disaster on the entire country.  He and his brother bishops will have to repent of their role and their readiness to sell their souls to the progressives in power to obtain a few measly crumbs of considerations and concessions.  They will then be obliged, as a body, to oppose Obamacare in its entirety and bring all their resources to bear on the utter annihilation of the Obamacare menace.

That groveling letter will earn no concessions for the Church - at least none that really matter.  It shows a complete lack of regard for those Catholics who do not work in Church-affiliated enterprises.  It asks for an exercise of authority outside the bounds of the United States Constitution and shows complete cowardice in the face of a de facto tyrant.  It's time for the bishops to face up to reality and start acting like men of God as opposed to wimps.

Catholic Standard Report on Red Mass - Useless At Best

Today's edition arrived, with a picture of Archbishop Wuerl and Chief Justice Roberts taking the bulk of the front page. The article was a disappointment, but that disappointment is no surprise at all. Of course there is a picture of Justice Sonia Sotomayor schmoozing it up with the clergy - the same clergy that had ignored the plight of a faithful Catholic being denied her canonical right to attend Mass. It was quite nauseating to read that Sotomayor received a standing ovation at the brunch after the Mass.

I cannot say that the pro-life presence outside was completely ignored. The article took a good page and half. So how much of that space did our efforts merit in the editorial eyes? Two sentences! Count them! Two entire sentences!

Now one might think that it would be somewhat difficult to distort our message in only two sentences, but the Standard managed to accomplish that stellar feat. According to the Standard, we used pictures of "aborted fetuses". Do you notice the acquesence to pro-abortion language here? The word "fetus", although it means "little one" in Latin, has been used by pro-abortionists to de-humanize the tiny unborn child. Mark Zimmerman wrote this article. As an editor, he really should know better that he must be precise with language. Mr. Zimmerman, what we showed was pictures of murdered babies - plain and simple!

He also misrepresented the message that we were conveying. What he omitted was that we were exhorting the clergy to fulfill their obligations under Canon 915, in addition to urging pro-abortion politicians not to go to Communion. In omitting our exhortation to the clergy, Mr. Zimmerman tacitly (hopefully inadvertently) implies that Canon 915 binds on the laity. Not so. Canon 915 binds upon the minister of Holy Communion.

Now just take a guess as to how much space was devoted to the abysmal treatment that Ms. McKee suffered at the hands of Cathedral personnel. Not one word did Mr. Zimmerman write about the sorry behavior of the Cathedral! I might add that the clergy's behavior during that episode was less than exemplary. Ms McKee is known to Bishop Gonzales. In the video, she can be heard pleading to him by name for assistance. If my camcorder's microphone picked it up while she was facing away from it, surely the bishops heard her calling as she was facing them. How can this be ignored?

Perhaps you too are disgusted with this sorry excuse for reporting. Perhaps you'd like to make your disappointment known. As most of us know, the Standard ceased publishing "letters to the editor" around the time that Cardinal McCarrick made clear that he would disregard Canon 915 (but of course, that's just a coincidence - right?). Therefore, I remind you that you can comment on this posting, and other postings. The conditions to the right do apply. As soon as I review for these conditions, I'll release them for viewing.