Bishops In Bed With Progressives

For over a hundred years, the Church has always supported the rights of workers to form unions so that they could bargain more effectively with their employers.  Such support was enshrined by Pope Leo XIII in Rerun Novarum.  However, today's bishops seem to be somewhat compromised when it comes to the rights of workers not to join a union if that is their preference.  They have demonstrated their left-wing proclivities once again with a case that is now before the Supreme Court, Janus vs American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.  Mark Janus, an Illinois employee brought suit so that he wouldn't have to cough up the mandatory union dues even though he declined to join.  He rightly states that such compulsion to pay union dues is a violation of his rights.

Demonstrating their slavish devotion to unions, the USCCB filed an amicus on behalf of AFSCME.  To his immense credit, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield publicly disavowed the USCCB's stunt, correctly stating that no such consensus exists among Catholics regarding a matter on which reasonable people can disagree.  I thank him for not joining the USCCB's false pretense that compulsory union membership is enjoined by the Magisterium.  I suspect the USCCB benefits a bit from union largess as well as that of the feds.  How else do we explain the toadying to John Sweeney, former boss of both SEIU and AFL-CIO over the years?

Let's take a look at the latest stunt by Cardinal Cupich of Chicago.  A parish within his archdiocese, St. John Cantius, has conducted Mass in the Extraordinary Form and fostered traditional sacred music.  Some rather cheap allegations arose concerning the pastor, Father C. Frank Phillips.  With no regard to due process, Cupich slapped on him very draconian measures, including the suspension of his priestly faculties.  Meanwhile, Father Michael Pfleger is still pastor of St. Sabina's.  Remember him?  Remember how he threatened to "snuff" the owner of a local gun shop (because he hates violence so much!)?  How does Pfleger remain while Phillips gets thrown under the bus?  The answer is really quite simple; Pfleger and Cupich have very similar outlooks.  Father Phillips on the other hand embraces fidelity to the Magisterium.  So as he squashed the priests who participated in 40 Days for Life while he was bishop of Spokane, so too is he punishing Fr Phillips for his love of Tradition.

We will now move onto another dissident prelate who, like Cupich, was made a Cardinal.  I refer you to Cardinal Joseph Tobin (not to be confused with the relatively decent Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island).  In direct contradiction to a statement made by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, he voiced his opinion that the Church should not attempt to make herself more pure.  Well, at least he's honest about that.  At a meeting of close confidantes of the pope's at Villanova last week, the cardinal opined that the "church is moving on the question of same-sex couples".  Moving where, pray tell?  In her two-thousand years of existence, she has always held to the teachings of Jesus Christ on the matter (and by the way - it's NOT "complex").  The only way she could "move" would be away from the truth.  That is happening only in the minds of dissidents, progressives and outright heretics.  Those last few words describe the attendees at that gabfest.

One last word about Cardinal Tobin.  Three years ago, Tobin was an archbishop in Indiana.  Within his diocese, a Knights of Columbus council rented their hall to a lesbian couple to celebrate their #mowwidge.  I had suggested that all call the chancery and ask Tobin to have the thing cancelled.  At the time I was unaware of Tobin's true colors.  Needless to say, Tobin did nothing.  At first I chalked his inaction to mere apathy.  Now I consider the very real possibility that the KofC council caved to the lesbians under his order.

Above I mentioned Bishop Thomas Paprocki as a bishop who is upholding the truth.  Another is Cardinal Burke.  He too was at a conference, one quite different in tenor than the heretical snake-pit that Cardinal Tobin attended.  What he said deserves its own post and that post will follow this.

Indiana Knights Of Columbus Council To Rent Hall To Lesbians - ACTION NEEDED

Today's Pewsitter pointed to a ThinkProgress article that revealed an impending scandal in which a Knights of Columbus council in Madison Indiana plans to participate.  It seems that a lesbian couple approached KofC Council #934 last September and solicited their ballroom for their debauchery celebration (I refuse to call it a "wedding reception") to be held on April 18, 2015.  The couple did render a deposit at that time.

At first, I found it hard to believe since ThinkProgress is unabashedly progressive.  Because they alluded to a Facebook page operated by the KoC council, I called it up.  Regrettably the ThinkProgress article is factually correct, as corroborated by the KofC Facebook page.  See the sorry spectacle here, the two posts dated yesterday.  (UPDATE - Council #934 removed their page from public view.  See this post for some of the posts/comments that were archived.)   As you read through the comments, you'll see plenty of gay activist trolls vomiting forth their mental and spiritual poison.  I congratulate and applaud those commenters who are upholding Church teaching thereon.  Oh, by the way!  Should those two posts "mysteriously disappear" or the Facebook page cease to be public, please advise for I saved screen shots of those posts with their comments (to date).

A few days ago the Council contacted the couple and stated that they could not rent their facilities to them as this celebration contradicted church teaching, and that the deposit would be refunded.  Apparently an uproar ensued, no doubt ginned up by gay activists.  The council's response?  In conduct unbecoming of Catholics, they caved.  As of now, they will allow the reception to occur on their premises.  Moreover, the council says they won't charge a fee at all, owing to the "confusion".

There is confusion - moral confusion,  that is.

• First, when they were first approached by the lesbians, why did the council accept the deposit as though they should seriously consider the matter?  No consideration was needed as they were being asked to cooperate with mortal sin.  The couple's request - and deposit - should have been immediately refused.
• Does this council understand that formal and material cooperation with mortal sin is itself a mortal sin?
• Where is the KofC chaplain in all this?  Is he complicit in this sinful conduct?  I speak here of the conduct of the KofC council here.
• The council plans to let the couple use the hall with no charge.  That means that every dues-paying member of that council is subsidizing this celebration of perversion against their will.

We need to take action to stop this travesty.  Some can be done by anyone regardless of location.  Here are suggested steps.

• Contact the Grand Knight of that council.  His information can be found here.  The address of the council is here.
• This council is located within the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, headed by Archbishop Joseph Tobin.  His contact information is here.  Please ask him to have this thing cancelled. 
• I'm sure this has occurred to members of that council who are rightly disappointed with their leadership.  They may wish to withdraw from that council and affiliate themselves with another if their leaders don't abide by their Catholic faith.
• Perhaps other Knights, particularly those in leadership roles, may wish to discuss with their brother knights in council 934 the errors of their ways.

This thing is still 3.5 months away - plenty of time to prevent profanation of Catholic property IF we act now.  We hold these two very confused young women in prayer that they'll see the error of their lifestyle.  But even if they don't, there's no valid reason for the Knights of Columbus Council 934 of Madison Indiana to cooperate formally and materially with their mortal sin.