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.

Cardinal Gregory To Join Forces With Dissident And Blasphemer Sr Helen Prejean To Whine About Capital Punishment

Yes, I said "blasphemer".  What else do you call someone who said that God the Father is a "monster, an ogre" for "demanding the death of a son (Jesus)"?  That and her other serious deviations from Church teaching are detailed here.  I would ask how Cardinal Gregory could dignify someone like that, but considering how he sang the praises of "Fortunate Families" during his first "theology on tap" session, I realize that he and Prejean are cut from the same cloth.

Anyway, this online gabfest is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, February 1st.  I'm sure it will be a real hoot.  It's a shame it isn't happening in the evening, for some insomniacs might find it helps them fall asleep.

When the time comes around for the "archdiocesan appeal", please consider that this is just one more reason not to give them a penny.

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.

Who's Not Speaking For Baby #CharlieGard ?

Earlier today we heard that a Vatican-owned hospital (Bambino Gesu) offered to care for Baby Charlie Gard and that President Trump also offered assistance to him.  We pray that the hard hearts in England's National Health Service will turn from their murderous intents and at least let this baby go from their clutches.

From whom have we not heard yet?  Quite a few.

• This so-called "Convocation of Catholic Leaders" in Orlando has not uttered one peep although they are ostensibly interested in the "challenges" facing the Church today.  If a hardened murderer was soon to be executed, you could bet your bottom dollar that the wailing and gnashing of teeth from that hotel could be heard the world over.  But when an innocent infant is being murdered by socialized medicine (one of their darling causes), they utter not one peep.
• Speaking of "executions", death-penalty opponent Sr. Helen Prejean is another progressive who has been abysmally silent regarding a truly unjust execution.  I've searched both her Facebook and Twitter pages and cannot find not even the mention of #CharlieGard 's name.
• Similarly the "Catholic Mobilizing Network To End the Use of the Death Penalty" (isn't that a mouthful?) also has nothing to say about this tiny, innocent victim of execution imposed by socialists.

We will continue to pray that #CharlieGard 's life will be spared.  In the meantime, the entities listed in the bulleted points have forfeited all moral credibility.  Truth be told, they accomplished that quite some time ago, but now such lack of credibility is one again made manifest.

Commencement Catastrophes

In a few months, high school and college seniors will be receiving diplomas during ceremonies where they will listen to speakers.  We would hope that at Catholic institutions that those speakers would be people who exemplify fidelity to Church teaching in their lives and words.  Sadly that has not always been the case during these past few decades.  I and others have often stood in protest at commencements where the speakers scandalized students and others, simply by being honored despite (or maybe because of) their publicly sinful conduct.

That trend still continues.  During these past two years, commencements often were canceled due to covid-related concerns, but now they are ramping up, as are the appearances of dissidents.  The Archdiocese of Baltimore, via the Catholic Review, just announced two such speakers about to poison the minds of the graduates.

The first is Sister Helen Prejean, who will address graduates of Notre Dame of Maryland University on May 22 at the Baltimore Convention Center.  She will be delivering her address virtually, but the plug needs to be pulled on that public address system when she speaks.  I have written quite a bit on her over the years.  Her heretical position on the death penalty is NOT her only problem.  I am considering a picket of that event, urging attendees to walk out during her prattling.

Then there's Anisya Thomas Fritz.  She is a bit of an entrepreneur.  There's nothing wrong with that, but she has other questionable associations.  According to her Linkedin page, she is a founder and current chair of something called Georgetown Ambassadors for Women, Peace, Security.  Any group that gives out "Hillary Clinton awards" is questionable, at best.  Then I googled that group and discovered who's on the board.  Ms. Fritz is, of course, but so is someone else named Tricia Hoefling.  Her bio blurb quite plainly states that "she is an outspoken advocate for reproductive rights" and counts as an "accomplishment" the establishment of two abortuaries.  Mind you, this is right on the website of Georgetown University, an ostensibly Catholic institution, but then again, it's Georgetown.  Anyway, we know a lot about people by the company they keep.  If she was a founder of that group, would she not have had some input regarding the composition of the board?  Can Ms. Fritz be that much of an exemplar of Catholicism? 

Fritz will be speaking at the commencement of Loyola University on May 14th at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore at 11am.  That's a Sunday morning.  Just when do the Loyola administration think that attendees will be able to attend Sunday Mass that day?  Or don't they care?  What's even more peculiar is that the Review staff didn't pick up on that.  On second thought, maybe not.

The fact that these scandals are happening is bad enough.  That they are lauded in an archdiocesan newspaper is itself bona fide evidence of the corruption that exists within Church hierarchy.  As I said earlier, I am contemplating a picket of the Notre Dame fiasco.  We've done it before, many times.  I link now to a picket that some of us conducted when Sr. Carol Keehan of the Pen of Perfidy spoke at Gonzaga High 12 years ago.  Watch the video to the end.  We need to rebuke the sinner.