BREAKING - Catholic Relief Service VP In Same Sex Marriage Resigns

Lepanto Institute posted an announcement released by the Catholic Relief Services this afternoon.  Rick Estridge, the Vice President for Overseas Finance at the CRS - and a sodomite in a "same-sex marriage" has resigned his position.  Lepanto has some worthwhile discussion on the matter, as CRS heaped praise upon Estridge as they announced the retirement.

One might ask if CRS's announcement would have sung Estridge's praise had he been a white supremist or involved in drug trafficking. We think not.  Moreover, this resignation would not have taken over a month to have happened.  It would have happened in mid-April when Lepanto first broke the story, at the latest.  Ideally it would have happened much sooner than that, when CRS officials learned of Estridge's perversion and disregard for God's laws concerning marriage.

Please don't take this as a sign that Catholic Relief Services has finally seen the light.  They're in damage-control mode here.  They must have seen a drop in their donations; perhaps the May in-pew collection suffered as a result of their latest scandal.  The number of scandals at Catholic Relief Services is legion, and that number will increase since it's merely an arm of the likewise ill-begotten United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.  These beasts need to be starved; donote not one penny to them.

CRS In Damage Control Mode Now That It Is Known They've Been Harboring A Sodomite

Yesterday the Lepanto Institute broke the news that a Catholic Relief Services Vice President has been in a same-sex faux-marriage for two years.  Many of us joined the effort to shine the light of truth on that squalid situation.  It seems that Rick Estridge has been with CRS for sixteen years and was promoted to his current position two years ago, during the same month that he and his accomplice in mortal sin made a mockery of marriage.

True to typical CRS fashion, their higher-ups are in full-scale damage control mode.  From the National Catholic Register we read this statement from Tom Price, CRS Senior Manager for Communications: "Rick Estridge has served CRS for 16 years and currently holds the position as our vice president of overseas finance. Rick is in a same-sex civil marriage. At this point, we are in deliberations on this matter."

The "damage control" might be backfiring for that statement itself causes red flags to fly.  To wit:

• I stated in my post yesterday that it is unreasonable to believe that CRS higher-ups, from Carolyn Woo up to the board of directors, did not know all along that Estridge was living in a state of objective mortal sin for at least two years, given his public profiles on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter.  As of yesterday, those public profiles were gone as a part of the damage control effort, but prior to that the were available for all to behold.  How can it be that Catholic Relief Services, a self-described adherent to Catholic moral teaching, harbored a sodomite in its midst let alone promoting him?
• Now they are "in deliberations!"  Just how long does it take to be "in deliberation"?  Let's put that question another way: how long would they have to be "in deliberation" if they had discovered that Estridge (or another CRS employee) was a card-carrying member of the Ku Klux Klan?  I'd bet that in that case, the "deliberation" time would have been a lot less than the time that Bishop Bootkowski et al spent in firing Patricia Jannuzzi or the time that the Archdiocese of Washington spent in kicking Father Guarnizo to the curb - and those were lightening-fast "deliberations"!  Mr. Price, why the delay?

Now it could be that they are contemplating the dismissal not only of Estridge but of his superiors who allowed the fetid stench to continue with the blessings of a CRS paycheck.  In fact, they all have betrayed the trust of the Catholic Church.  But I'm sure that's not the case and all we're seeing is a bunch of stone-walling.  The time has long since come to starve this CRS beast.

Synod Off To A Hell Of A Start

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I do mean usage of the word "hell", for that will be the fruit of the proceedings of this synod for some.  Just think!  We're only in the first day!  My friend Carol at "What Did the Pope Really Say?" has an analysis of Pope Francis' homily at the opening Mass.  Read it and pray.

Then we had some of the invited speakers stand before the assembled bishops and celebrate the mortal sin of sodomy being committed by the son of friends.  The Catholic News Service, arm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, gave an account of the blasphemous talk.  Read it and be appalled: appalled that a gathering of bishops would actually sit through a lecture on the "virtue" of affirming a young man in a mortally sinful lifestyle.  Be appalled that (apparently) not one bishop, that is, a successor to the Apostles, would think to rebuke the speakers for celebrating heinous mortal sin.  Every bishop should have stood in outrage and driven that couple from the stage and into a confessional for daring to preach mortal sin to them.

As I was reading this, I thought this might be slop that one might expect to see in the Not-At-All Catholic Reporter or maybe America.  Why?  It portrayed the sin of sodomy and the dereliction of the man's parents in a sympathetic light.  However, this "ode to sodomy" comes to us courtesy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.  We all know this synod is all about changing "pastoral practices".  We are getting an unabashed forecast of how the USCCB plans to change "pastoral practices" in the US.  Two lents ago, we at St. John Neumann in Gaithersburg MD  received an even earlier premonition of the same, when Father Guarnizo was punished for rightfully withholding Holy Communion from a flagrantly practicing lesbian.

Speaking of same-sex perversions, guess what else happened today?  The Supreme Court decided not to hear complaints of several states whose same-sex marriage bans were overturned.  That clears the way for same-sex marriage on the civil fronts - just what the Pirolas were trying to do at the Vatican today.  But of course that's just a coincidence!  Right??

14-Year-Old Marylander Lobbies For Marriage Protection

She identifies herself only as "Sarah".  Thanks to Pewsitter, I found the video on Huffington Post - a veritable bastion of propaganda progressive (click here if you can't see embedded video).  As one might imagine for such a site, the comments are petty and adolescent.  For example, here's one that was posted at 8:57 this evening: "I don't want to be affected by you, kid. You missed your opportunit­y--you could have been born before 1950s and added interracia­l marriage to your list of 'wrong things'.  I vote NO on you: please burn up and blow away--that is MY birthday wish. The world could use one less bigot."

Can't you just feel the luuvvv!  The tollleranssse!  All those goood viibesss!  Yep!  Reading through those comments will make plain the malevolence that inhabits the brains of these so-called "tolerant" progressives.  No wonder the kid didn't give her full name!   (If any of you are reading this, just carry on!  You are making our argument for us!)

"Sarah" is a lot smarter than these commenters - and smarter than the current occupant of the State House.

British Bishop Waffles On Church Teaching

The smoke has scarcely cleared away from Pope Benedict's departure jet and already the lead British bishop is falling all over himself in downplaying the Magisterium's clear proclamations regarding marriage.

From Lifesite News, we read, and I quote, "Attempting to defend the Catholic hierarchy from accusations of being opposed to the homosexualist political agenda around the world, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster hastened to assure the BBC’s Huw Edwards, 'That’s not true.'”  Right off the bat, we see a problem.  Why did the archbishop see a need to "defend the Catholic hierarchy"?  The fact is that the Church is vehemently opposed to the gay political agenda that seeks to distort marriage to its own perverted ends.  Instead of defense, what would have been appropriate is polite but bold acknowledgment that the Church promotes God's will in all areas of human life, and that it's the gays that must apologize to the world for the harm they are inflicting.  Note I said "apologize" instead of "defend", for in reality, the gay agenda is indefensible.

Archbishop Nichols made his remarks during a panel discussion that included a gay Anglican professor and a "catholyc" professor known for her dissent on abortion and marriage.  Why did not the archbishop stand and act like, well, a bishop and call these two on the carpet for their destructive advocacies?  Now when the dissenter "accused" the Church of interfering in British politics concerning sexual morality, the archbishop gave a response so pathetic that it will be unbelievable unless I again quote verbatum: "“It’s not true. The times we interfere most in British politics are either to do with poverty or to do with education. The media is obsessed with certain questions. But if you want to know what we’re really passionate about, it’s about the fight against poverty and the education of young people.”

If ever you wanted prima facae evidence that the so-called "social gospel" is usurping the proper priority that must be given to moral issues of life and sexuality, and that weak bishops are using such advocacy as a cloak for their vaccilations, well voila!!  The gay Anglican and dissenter then responded to the effect of saying to the archbishop, "that was a nice grovveling job!  We know you don't take that Benedict fellow seriously!  You're okie-dokie!"  John Smeaton of the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child rightly deplored the archbishop's remarks as undermining the Pope's call for Christians to defend Christianity in the public square.

So that's in England.  What does that have to do with situations in the US?  Plenty!  How often have you seen on this blog warnings of the damage done by the so-called "social justice" cabal?  Most (not all!) of that bunch are progressives; certainly their leadership is dominated by such. 
 
Two immediate concerns come to mind.

1. The November 2nd elections.  No doubt some of you are receiving "voter guides" from your states' Catholic conferences.  I'd bet that many of them don't differentiate the non-negotiable issues (abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, gay lifestyle) from other issues upon which good people may disagree (death penalty, environmental issues, taxation).  Not all issues are the same.  If a candidate seems right on most of them, but promotes a "pro-choice" platform, he/she is not worthy of a Catholic's vote - even if that candidate dares to call him/herself a Catholic!
2. The in-pew collection for Catholic Campaign for Human Development is almost upon us.  I would urge that you boycott it, as the collection proceeds are usually funnelled to organizations that oppose Church teaching.  Chicago CCHD is exempted from my recommendation here.  As I've explained previously, the Chicago CCHD has taken significant steps to correct its grant-giving process and at this time seem acceptable.

Marylanders! Defend Marriage Against Gansler's Onslaughts!

This past Thursday I posted about Attorney General Gansler's disregard for both marriage and the rule of law in Maryland.  I have been advised that the Maryland Catholic Conference has installed a utility whereby with the click of your mouse, you can send an email to your state senator to support marriage by supporting SB 852.  Please take a moment and do so now.

Catholic Charities Ends Decades of Foster Care in DC

Catholic Charities of Washington DC was forced to end their foster care and adoption program in Washington DC because of the city's onorous requirements that they license same-sex couples.  This, of course, would have been a violation of our core religious beliefs.  Read the account in today's Catholic Standard.

I applaud the Catholic Charities for taking this stand.  We practice charity because we are Catholic - not in spite of our faith.  The Missionary Baptist Ministers' Conference of DC and Vicinity have come out in support of Catholic Charities, stating that faith-based organizations should not be expected to put faith on a back-burner.

Maryland Bishops Rebuke Gansler and His Overreaching Ways

The bishops who oversee Maryland's three diocese have released a press statement rebuking Maryland Attonrney General Douglas Ganssler.  Recall from yesterday's post that Gansler ordered state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages that were recognized in other states.  The bishops correctly take Gansler to task for:

1. His usurpation of the role of the legislature by an imperious, de facto directive to order state agencies to ignore standing Maryland law
2. His abject failure to recognize the true nature of marriage as being between a man and a woman, and marriage's foundational role in human society

The press statement ends with an exhortation to Maryland lawmakers to uphold the true nature of marriage in Maryland law.  It will be up to us as citizens to watch them and to ensure that will happen.  Moreover, as the 2010 elections draw near, it will be up to us to work to elect men and women who will respect natural law.

MD Attorney General "Rules" on Same Sex Marriage

According to MD Attorney General Doug Gansler, Maryland state agencies must recognize same-sex marriage, even though Maryland law recognizes marriage as being between a man and a woman.  One account of this is in the LA Times.  I put the word "rules" in quotes because Gansler is overstepping the constitutional bounds of his office in overriding clearly-written Maryland law.  He opines that "this will ultimately be resolved in the courts."

Notice how he conducted himself as a true liberal demagogue. 

1. He issued his own extra-constitutional "ruling" by imperious, if invalid, verbal fiat
2. He disregarded already-existing state law.  Attorney Generals are supposed to enforce it, not re-write it
3. He makes clear his reliance upon judicial action to override the will of the people.  Don't all left-wingers do that?

Representative Don Dwyer stated that he intends to commence impeachment proceedings against Gansler for overstepping his constitutional bounds and violating his oath of office.  I thank the Lord for courageous men like Don Dwyer.  Now I must ask, "Where, oh where, is the Church in all of this?  Will they speak out?"

Another Georgetown Dissident Priest

As the DC City Council was getting ready to legalize same-sex "marriage" (it's in quotes because same-sex unions are NOT marriage, despite what secular governments say).   Father Joseph Palacios, a Georgetown University sociology professor joined DC Clergy United for a rally in support of the messure.  I refer you to the article and will note below some logical fallacies in some of his statements.

He likens his own homosexual orientation to his Latino ethnicity.  That's flat wrong.  The Magisterium plainly teaches that the homosexual orientation is intrinsically disordered and is sinful if one acts upon it.  Father states that he is celibate.  Be that as it may, he does advocate for the promulgation of the gay lifestyle.  That is inherently sinful.

He also states that he opposes the stance of the Archdiocese of Washington on this whole mess.  That stance?  It's merely to request that individuals and private business owners be free to refuse goods and services related to same-sex "weddings".  As far as I'm concerned, that stance is rather wimpy.  However, even that doesn't pass the rarified muster of this dissident.

However, as they say, "a broken clock is right at least twice a day".  One statement of his merits close examination. He says, "And it actually doesn't help the church accept dollars for its services. i'm of the generation that lived in the church where everything was separate. Now we're so dependent on the government that Catholics don't have to practice charity". 

His last sentence is spot-on correct.  We Catholics are called upon to practice the works of mercy - both corporal and spiritual.  Matthew 24 and 25 seem to indicate that the Catholic who fails to do so may not attain eternal salvation.  The practice of charity cannot be "subcontracted" out, as it were.  It's not sufficient to chuck a few dollars into the collection basket for the Catholic Charities collection and to think that your charitable obligations are satisfied in some sort of surrogate fashion.  Each of us must get off our duffs, roll up our sleeves, step out of our comfort zones and perform these salvific works. 

The collection basket, though, cannot pass us by.  It is we who must financially support the Church's charitable works.  The Church simply must stop collecting monies from the government.  Else, it becomes a de facto participant in socialistic income redistribution, as it becomes just one more piglet attached to some governmental teet.  Such governmental largesse comes with plenty of strings attached, such as discouragement from preachin on matters of life and sexual ethics. 

Of course, before we fill the collection basket, we scrutinize it carefully.  As we saw last month (and the preceding months to that), the CCHD collection continues to funds organizations harmful to the Church and to the Culture of Life.

As a start to cutting the governmental tethers, our bishops must start to discipline the colleges within their boundaries.  That includes Father Palacios and Georgetown University here, Notre Dame in South Bend, etc.