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Is Our Catholic Bishops Catholic?
You Wouldn’t Know It
From The People They Hire!
Thanks for PewSitter with an excellent article revealing the outright disgusting and scandalous actions of the USCCB’s Socials Justice Committee.
God grant us courageous Bishops willing to stand up to the USCCB liberal undercurrent.
Washington, DC – February 4, 2010 – Already embroiled in an abortion scandal, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops will host a line-up of progressive leaders – including prominent pro-abortion activists – to their “Catholic Social Gathering” in Washington, D.C., Feb. 7-10.
The announced USCCB “gathering” conference comes on the heels of revelations the USCCB has long standing ties to the radically pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage group Center for Community Change. New evidence continues to emerge that the CCC is only a small part of a larger collaboration with organizations that promote abortion and homosexual rights agendas.
Presenting at the Social Gathering will be:
-Fr. Thomas Reese, who was forced to resign as editor of America Magazine by the Vatican for his refusal to stop publishing articles which question church orthodoxy on issues like contraception, human embryonic stem-cell research, same-sex marriage, homosexual priests, mandatory clerical celibacy, and whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be given communion
-Diana Hayes, professor of systematic theology at Georgetown University and noted speaker for Call to Action, the “Catholic” dissident group. Hayes is a homosexuality activist who wrote a book espousing liberation theology, calls for women’s ordination and promotes same-sex “marriage.”
- Page six of the official “Catholic Social Gathering” program gives a schedule for the Catholic Labor Network Gathering. USCCB exec John Carr is scheduled to join Paul Booth on a panel discussion. Paul Booth and his wife Heather Booth (another prominent pro-abortion activist with ties to the National Organization for Women, who helped organize a group called “JANE” in 1965 which helped young women obtain illegal abortions) founded the Midwest Academy a training institute for progressive activists.
-Paul Booth and his wife have served as host committee members for the National Organization for Women’s Intrepid Awards Gala.
-Currently Paul Booth is executive assistant to the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The AFSCME endorsed the pro-abortion March for Freedom of Choice, held in Washington, D.C. in 2004.
These speakers were invited by the USCCB.
“Looking at this speaker lineup, one wonders if USCCB staff is thinking clearly about Catholic Social Teaching. Why are those who represent openly anti-life and pro-homosexualist organizations treated as experts in the field of peace and justice by Catholics who should know better?” asked Michael Hichborn, American Life League’s lead researcher into the USCCB.
And The Dance
With The Devil!
Honestly, the last place I ever imagined seeing my face was on the big screen at the Sundance Film Festival. I actually appeared in a documentary film last week called “12th  and Delaware” which attempted to show the struggle between life and death in the real-life scenarios of abortion-minded women. The name of the film derives from the street names on an ordinary corner in Ft. Pierce, FL where extraordinary things happen every day. On one side of the street is a death camp (i.e., an abortion mill) and on the other side is a center of life, the Pregnancy Care Center (PCC), which I helped found in 1999. I still serve on the Board of the PCC, and my greatest privilege is listening to the first-hand accounts of the miracles that happen there everyday. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of babies have been spared from a violent death at that abortion mill – and their mothers spared the agony of suffering from an abortion because of the work of Pregnancy Care Center.
The film did not win any Sundance honors or Academy nominations, but then again, the greenie avatars that frequent these rarified environments were not likely to be thrilled with a subject that most of them just want to go away. After all, abortion is an ugly business and even the most avid abortionists and left-wing radicals don’t want to draw too much attention to it.
We agreed to do the documentary for the purposes of telling the story of the heroic work of crisis pregnancy centers all over the world. As in all dealings with those who favor abortion, however, a cloud of deceit blanketed the film project right from the very beginning even though the directors came dressed as “objective” reporters. They promised us that the film was to center solely on the ministry and good work of the Pregnancy Care Center, but they began secretly filming at the abortuary across the street in order to get a “balanced” perspective, and of course they did not tell us of it until the movie actually premiered. Since the abortion center and its workers knew from the beginning that the PCC was being filmed, their responses, attitudes and actions were of course well-constructed to present a Hollywood-type view of abortionists as compassionate helpers of women. In one scene, for example, the abortion clinic owner, whose name is – appropriately – Candace Dye, hastily decides on camera to give one of her clients a $50.00 discount on her abortion. Can you imagine an abortionist giving away her profits? Now that is genuine acting.
Despite the mendacity of the pro-abortion media, the story of the heroism of the women who work in pregnancy care centers needed to be told. The extraordinary commitment of the women in the crisis pregnancy ministry undoubtedly makes them the unsung heroes of the pro-life movement. Best of all, the film highlights the uniquely creative and positive response of the movement that loves both the woman and the baby but does not make a single cent helping them. No one in the abortion business can say that – something else curiously left out of the film!
Anne Lotierzo, the director of the Pregnancy Care Center was the protagonist of the story and could not have given a better example of the profound zeal for the welfare of the abortion-minded women and their babies that is typical of pregnancy center directors. She told me once about a young woman who came into the PCC in error, thinking it was the abortion clinic where she had an appointment to abort that very morning. When Anne told her it was not, she began to sob. Through her tears she looked up and cried,
“I was up all night talking to God. I haven’t lived a good life, I have ignored Him but I knew He would listen. I said, ‘God, give me a sign, just give me just one sign that you want this baby!’ This is it, this is the sign.”
The young woman went on to make a complete change of life, returned home to another state into the loving embrace of her parents who were thrilled with their new grandson.
By the way, I forgot to tell you about my scenes in the film. The filmmakers came to a pro-life Mass and talk I did in IL last year and filmed me giving my main stump speech about the role of the devil in the grisly abortion business. I can only imagine the faces of the movie industry big-wigs when they were forced to listen to one of my homilies at Sundance! Come to think of it, maybe that’s why the documentary didn’t win any awards: the people in the rabidly pro-abortion movie industry don’t like anyone saying bad things about their boss.
Sincerely,
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International
What Are We To Do About Dissenting Catholic Publications?
Fr. Ray Blake has had his share dealing with the Tabloid, a “Catholic” newspaper, supported by most Priest in Britain. He even goes over his thoughts on the topic below.
If the bishops are going to give a sign that they take the Pope seriously then we should expect a certain pruning in the newspapers and periodicals at the back of our churches, we should also expect complaints about dissent to be taken seriously and investigated.
If the full saving message of Christ is to be presented effectively and convincingly to the world, the Catholic community in your country needs to speak with a united voice. This requires not only you, the Bishops, but also priests, teachers, catechists, writers – in short all who are engaged in the task of communicating the Gospel – to be attentive to the promptings of the Spirit, who guides the whole Church into the truth, gathers her into unity and inspires her with missionary zeal.
 Fr. Blake Is Shocked At Tabloid's Content If The Tablet or any other newspaper or magazine doesn’t do this, then it should not be made available for sale at the back of our churches, nor be given privileged interviews and information and certainly not be the medium through which bishops or even the Nuncio expresses his views.
Being Balanced Doesn’t Permit Dissent
In a social milieu that encourages the expression of a variety of opinions on every question that arises, it is important to recognize dissent for what it is, and not to mistake it for a mature contribution to a balanced and wide-ranging debate. It is the truth revealed through Scripture and Tradition and articulated by the Church’s Magisterium that sets us free.
Fr. Blake’s full article here.
My Dear People,
You Are the Greatest Impediment
to Miraculous Healings
 Do miracles still happen today? Were miracles in the past just events that took place in the Sacred Scriptures? What constitutes a real miracle? Yes, miracles still do occur today. This is most evident in the life of the Church when “saints” are canonized. Certified miracles are necessary in the process of verifying our accepted list of men and women saints.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus our Divine Physician, was teaching in the synagogue. Jesus, the Divine Messiah, desired to work miracles among His people. He always healed after He instructed His Disciples. But because the Israelites hearts were hardened and closed, He could work no miracles for them. The greatest impediment to miracles and healings, is ourselves. WE are the main obstacle to God healing us, to God working miracles among us. Our minds cannot be closed. Our hearts need to be softened and opened. Otherwise, like in Jesus’ day, NO miracles can take place. Just as Jesus left their presence and went on to another place, so too will Jesus move forth from us to work miracles in other places. Expect miracles… Pray for discernment, and watch the power of God move among us TODAY!
Entrusting you to the care of Our Lady,
Fr. Mark Bozada
May we put our love for God and for one another into action through our stewardship gifts of time, talent and treasure.
Fidelity to the Gospel
Frees You With The Truth
London, England (CNN) — A furor has erupted in Britain over comments by the pope seen as critical of a new law the Roman Catholic church fears will force it to accept homosexuals into its ranks.
 In remarks to 35 British and Welsh Catholic bishops during a visit to the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI urged them to challenge what he said were attempts to restrict religious freedoms.
“Your country is well known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society,” the pope said, according to the Vatican Information Service.
“Yet, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs.”
The Catholic News Service said pope’s comments were a direct assault on a new Equality Bill under debate in the British Parliament that the Catholic clergy say will expose them to prosecution if they reject priesthood candidates on the basis of sexual orientation.
The upper House of Lords has amended the legislation to exempt priests or ministers, but both the Roman Catholic Church and Church of England say it still affects other clerical staff and have called for a return to the status quo.
Pope Benedict, who is due to visit the UK this year, urged the bishops to uphold religious principles and press their case with “national debate through respectful dialogue with other elements in society,” CNS reported.
“When so many of the population claim to be Christian, how could anyone dispute the Gospel’s right to be heard?” he said.
“Fidelity to the Gospel in no way restricts the freedom of others — on the contrary, it serves their freedom by offering them the truth,” he said.
Britain’s conservative Daily Telegraph newspaper described the comments, which come ahead of a general election that could unseat the ruling Labour Party, as a “strongly worded intervention in British politics.”
Gavin D’Costa, a professor in Catholic Theology at the UK’s University of Bristol said the pope was more likely to be airing the concerns of his bishops than wading in with direct criticism of British political policy.
“He is speaking about a theme, about how the state and religion relate and whether the state has a right to interfere with the running of religious groups,” he told CNN.
Who Decides
Who Burdens Society?
The report from the Daily Telegraph tells us that three out of four British people don’t think you should be prosecuted for killing your loved ones. The euphemism they use is ‘Assisted Suicide”…and they make fun of Americans for calling “the toilet” the ‘bathroom’???
Anyhow, why should we be surprised that secularists, either in Britain or the USA, (for we have proponents of euthanasia here too) should be in favor of mercy killing? It’s not too difficult to figure out: if you don’t believe in God or life after death; if you believe that when you die there is nothing at all, no heaven, no hell, just zilch, nada, zip, then mercy killing makes perfect sense. Put the sick person out of their misery. Oh, and by the way, you’ll save a pile of dough too because it’s expensive to treat all those sick people.
For that matter, if you don’t believe in God, heaven, hell and all that stuff, and mercy killing is okay, then what’s wrong with screening fetuses in order to abort the unfit? (whoops, I forgot we already do that) If there is only the zero after death, then why not eliminate the mentally unfit, the disabled and the elderly?
While we’re at it, isn’t our society loaded with other people who are also a terrible burden? They may not be physically disabled or mentally ill, but what about all the underclass who refuse to get a job, soak up welfare payments which they spend on booze and ciggies and drugs. They do nothing but breed more dimwit freeloaders. The eugenicists and social engineers would herd them off to a nice quiet place in the country and put them to sleep too.
Let’s not forget all those people who are deviant in their thoughts. What about those who engage in hate crimes and thought crimes? Aren’t they even more dangerous than the indigent and mentally unfit? They are a kind of terrorist. Shouldn’t they be eliminated too for the health and safety of us all?
Start with mercy killing and you’ll end with Auschwitz.
Father Dwight Longenecker
The way of Life and the Way of Death
Therefore, Choose Life.
 The Benedictine makes a vow to conversion of life. Conversion means ’transformation’, so this is not just what we think of as a once and done conversion experience. Instead, conversion of Life means conversion of one’s whole life. That means not one whiff of sulfur, not one sordid thought, not one mean action or sweet private lust will be allowed to remain. All of it must be purged. All the wood, hay and stubble will be burnt away. And, if it is my whole life which must be converted, then I also long and pray for the whole of LIFE to be converted–in other words not just my world, but the whole world. St Paul says the whole world groans for redemption as a woman in childbirth.
What we fail to realize is that the conversion of the whole of LIFE depends on the conversion of my life. A saint participates not only in their own salvation, but the salvation of the whole world. If we could only have eyes to see the eternal effects of that one action of self sacrifice, that one decision to obey, that one gracious act in the lives of others. If we could only see the final outcome we would be astounded at how the conversion of our one solitary life reverberates down the ages and for all time.
 If we are pursuing true conversion of life we are entering an eternally upward spiral in which we participate in a life that is greater and more graced and abundant than we could ever imagine. If we do not seek constant and complete conversion then we are on a downward spiral into the dark nothingness and the eternal sorrow of our solitary selves. We must be on one path or the other. Although our lives often seem gray and ambiguous we must decide today at this very moment which path we will follow. If it is for life and for the conversion of life, then let us run on the path, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love.
Father Dwight Longenecker
A Culture of Death
“Can Only Produce Violence and Death
and in the End Destroy Itself!”
Archbishop Raymond Burke stands firm and attacks the evils of abortion, homosexual unions, embryonic stem cell, euthanasia…
Read this edited homily proclaimed by our beloved Archbishop Burke given at the annual Red Mass, Diocese of Phoenix in St. Mary’s Basilica. Full homily here.
 Archbishop Burke Portrait More and more, we witness the violation of the most fundamental norms of divine natural law in the policies and laws of our nation, and in the judgments given by her courts. Justice founded on obedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, first of all, must safeguard and defend the inviolability of innocent human life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death, and the integrity of the faithful and indissoluble union of man and woman in marriage through which spouses, in cooperation with God, create and nurture new human life. At the same time, the law more and more dares to force those with the sacred trust of caring for the health of their brothers and sisters to violate the most sacred tenets of their consciences, and to force individuals and institutions to cooperate in egregious violations of the natural moral law. The reality of the situation is cloaked in a false garment of justice, for example, the direct taking of human life at its very earliest stages of development and the direct abortion of infants in their mother’s wombs is justified as the research necessary to find cures for dread diseases or as necessary for “reproductive health,” and the violation of the integrity of the marital union is justified as the practice of tolerance.
The Evils We Face
The present situation of our nation is the source of our deepest concern as we pray for the ministers of justice. In our nation, the lives of millions of our unborn brothers and sisters have been and continue to be legally destroyed through embryonic stem-cell research and procured abortion; the lives of those who have the first title to our respect and care – the seriously ill, those with special needs and the advanced in years – are increasingly viewed as a burden to be eliminated from society; our laws presume to redefine marriage and the family, the first cell of the life of our society, in defiance of the law of nature; and the freedom of conscience is denied to individuals, even taxpayers in general, and to institutions by policies and laws which force cooperation in acts which are always and everywhere evil.
Evil Fruits Are Evidence
We see before our eyes the evil fruits of life in a society which pretends to take the place of God in making its laws and in giving its judgments, in a society in which those in power decide what is right and just, according to their desires and convenience, even at the cost of perpetrating the gravest harm upon their neighbor. We see before our eyes the evil fruits of life in a society in which a right conscience no longer guides those who make laws and give judgments, in which those in power no longer have “God alone before their eyes.” In such a society, the administration of justice is no longer a participation in the justice of God, an obedient response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, but a façade cloaking our own selfishness and refusal to give our lives for the sake of the good of all our brothers and sisters. It is the kind of society which we, as Americans, have rightly deplored and against which we have so often fought at the greatest human and material cost to our nation. It is a society which is abandoning its Judaeo-Christian foundations, the fundamental obedience to God’s law which safeguards the common good, and is embracing a totalitarianism which masks itself as the “hope,” the “future,” of our nation. Reason and faith teaches us that such a society can only produce violence and death and in the end destroy itself.
Don’t Lose Hope
The situation of our nation, profoundly disturbing as it is, cannot be for us a cause of discouragement, let alone abandonment of the ministry of the justice which comes from  God and, therefore, serves the good of all without boundary or condition. Uniting ourselves to Christ in His Eucharistic Sacrifice, we accept not only our portion of His suffering for the sake of justice but are also filled with confidence in His victory over sin and the forces of evil. Praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the ministers of justice in our society from the glorious pierced Heart of Jesus, His Eucharistic Heart, we must be completely realistic about what the prompting of the Holy Spirit will demand of them in our time. At the same time, we must be confident that the Holy Spirit will give them the wisdom and courage to declare what is just and right on behalf of their brothers and sisters. If we are tempted by doubts of faith, we should contemplate again the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of our brother in the Communion of Saints, Saint Thomas More. Even as the Holy Spirit inspired and strengthened Saint Thomas More to be true to his conscience, not only for the sake of the salvation of his own soul but for the good of the people he had been called to serve, even so the Holy Spirit will produce the same holiness of life in our ministers of justice, so that they will be able to declare at all times: “I am the king’s good servant, and God’s first.”
My brothers and sisters who are the ministers of justice, all of us depend upon you to speak what is just and right on our behalf and on behalf of all our brothers and sisters, especially those whose lives are in any way threatened. Conscious of the heavy burden which you carry, especially in the present situation of our nation, we beg God, today, to pour forth upon you in abundance the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that you, in Christ, will judge “[n]ot by appearance … nor by hearsay” but with the justice which has its foundation in obedience to the law of God. We thank God for your presence with us today, as we offer the Sacrifice of the Mass, giving thanks to God for your service on behalf of us all and petitioning an abundance of God’s grace for the fulfillment of your most fundamental and noble service of us all. In a special way, we pray that you may never give way to discouragement or to the abandonment of the demands of your conscience, but may enjoy always the comfort and strength of the Holy Spirit dwelling within your souls.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, abode of justice and love, have mercy on us.
O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mirror of Justice, pray for us.
Saint Thomas More, pray for us.
The Simple Truth,
If You Do Not Believe In Satan,
Then You Will Not Believe In God!
Read this edited version revealed by Archbishop Charles Chaput to the Fifth Symposium Rome: Priests and Laity on Mission. Full Version Here
 Satan Tempting Jesus It is very odd that in the wake of the bloodiest century in history – a century when tens of millions of human beings were shot, starved, gassed and incinerated with superhuman ingenuity – even many religious leaders are embarrassed to talk about the devil. In fact, it is more than odd. It is revealing. Mass murder and exquisitely organized cruelty are not just really big “mental health” problems. They are sins that cry out to heaven for justice, and they carry the fingerprints of an Intelligence who is personal, gifted, calculating and powerful.
The devil is only unbelievable if we imagine him as the black monster of medieval paintings, or think The Inferno is intended as a literal road map to hell. Satan was very real for Jesus. He was very real for Paul and the other great saints throughout history. And he is profoundly formidable. If we want a sense of the grandeur of the Fallen Angel before he fell, the violated genius of who Satan really is, we can take a hint from the Rilke poem The Angels:
. . . when they spread their wings
they waken a great wind through the land:
as though with his broad sculptor-hands
God was turning
the leaves of the dark book of the Beginning.
This is the kind of Being – once glorious, but then consumed by his own pride — who is now the Enemy of humanity. This is the Pure Spirit who betrayed his own greatness. This is the Intellect who hates the Incarnation because through it, God invites creatures of clay like you and me to take part in God’s own divinity. There is nothing sympathetic about Satan; only tragedy and loss and enduring, brilliant anger.
In 1929 the philosopher Raissa Maritain wrote.
“Lucifer has cast the strong though invisible net of illusion upon us. He makes one love the passing moment above eternity, uncertainty above truth. He persuades us that we can only love creatures by making Gods of them. He lulls us to sleep (and he interprets our dreams); he makes us work. Then does the spirit of man brood over stagnant waters. Not the least of the devil’s victories is to have convinced artists and poets that he is their necessary, inevitable collaborator and the guardian of their greatness. Grant him that, and soon you will grant him that Christianity is unpracticable. Thus does he reign in this world.”
If we do not believe in the devil, sooner or later we will not believe in God. We cannot cut Lucifer out of the ecology of salvation. Satan is not God’s equal. He is a created being subject to God and already, by the measure of eternity, defeated. Nonetheless, he is the first author of pride and rebellion, and the great seducer of man. Without him the Incarnation and Redemption do not make sense, and the cross is meaningless. Satan is real. There is no way around this simple truth.
We live in an age that imagines itself as post-modern and post-Christian. It is a time defined by noise, urgency, action, utility and a hunger for practical results. But there is nothing really new about any of this. I think St. Paul would find our age rather familiar. For all of the rhetoric about “hope and change” in our politics, our urgencies hide a deep unease about the future; a kind of well-manicured selfishness and despair.
The Emptiness Hurts
The world around us has a hole in its heart, and the emptiness hurts. Only God can fill it. In our baptism, God called each of us here today to be his agents in that work. Like St. Paul, we need to be “doers of the word, and not hearers only” (Jas 1:22). We prove what we really believe by our willingness, or our refusal, to act on what we claim to believe.
You Are Being Called
We have an obligation as Catholics to study and understand the world around us. We have a duty not just to penetrate and engage it, but to convert it to Jesus Christ. That work belongs to all of us equally: clergy, laity and religious. We are missionaries. That is our primary vocation; it is hardwired into our identity as Christians. God calls each of us to different forms of service in his Church. But we are all equal in baptism. And we all share the same mission of bringing the Gospel to the world, and bringing the world to the Gospel.
The Real Issue is a Crisis of Faith
Our real issue is a crisis of faith. Do we believe in God or not? Are we on fire with a love for Jesus Christ, or not? Because if we are not, nothing else matters. If we are, then everything we need in order to do God’s work will follow, because he never abandons his people.
God calls us to leave here today and make disciples of all nations. But he calls us first to love him. If we do that, and do it zealously, with all our hearts – the rest will follow.
Archbishop Charles Chaput
St. Thomas Aquinas pray for us and our Priest.
And Lead Your People
We are in the middle of the Year for Priests in which it is hoped we will all see a strong re-affirmation of Christ-like models of priesthood. Thanks to Pope Benedict we may just exit that age of sell-out clerics like Fr. John Jenkins of Notre Dame and come back to some sanity in priestly leadership. As an indication of how bad clerical hypocrisy gets, Fr. Jenkins presided over the arrest of Catholic pro-life protesters on campus and has consistently refused to ask the authorities to drop the charges. Some may spend a year in jail due to his “leadership” on this issue. Jenkins followed this by an announcement that he will attend the March  for Life in Washington this year – a shameless two-faced gesture not lost on any of us who know what it means to be pro-life. We expect more from priests. In the new era of the priesthood, we need to get away from the flimsy, politically-motivated, “empty sutanes” (i.e., cassocks) and look to those who are providing the kind of priestly leadership that really brings souls to Christ.
Thankfully examples of good priests are becoming more readily available these days. One of these guys is Fr. James Farfaglia who is a new member of HLI’s Board of Directors and pastor of St. Helen’s Parish in Corpus Christi, TX. Father has written a book that is second to none in calling men to holiness and accountability for their marriages and their faith. The book is called Man to Man: A Real Priest Speaks to Real Men About Marriage, Sexuality and Family Life. Father James is a very strong priest, and his writing reflects that. His no-nonsense explanations of our fundamental commitments to God and others are a refreshing re-statement of how we are supposed to live – and thrive – in a world hostile to our basic values. Father has spent his priestly life ministering to people in real-life situations, so his pastoral judgment is tried and true.
Please continue to pray for your priests, and commend us to Our Lady; more than anything, pray for a total renewal of the priesthood and hierarchy so that we may be able to stand strong against the evils of the day and meet the severe challenges of the days to come.
Sincerely,
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International
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