Pope Condemns Calumny: Victims of Persecution by the Sanhedrin Yesterday and Today

Protomartyr

Edit: in today’s address, the Holy Father addresses one of the first victims of the Sanhedrin’s persecution of Catholics, St. Stephen, protomartyr and the sin of calumny, as if he could be addressing the false accusations of anti-Semitism. It’s interesting that there are many who wring their hands over these allegations, when a Christian is martyred every five to ten minutes for his faith, where Muslims are baptized in secrecy. Indeed, it’s very hard not to take the Holy Father’s words in any but the most encouraging ways. Here they are from Zenit:

[Zenit]Drawing from the First Reading account of Stephen, the first martyr, being dragged before the Sanhedrin, Pope Francis today strongly condemned the sin of calumny.

At his customary morning Mass in Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Holy Father noted that Stephen was accused of "false witness," and that his enemies chose "the path of calumny.”

Vatican Radio reported on the Holy Father's homily, noting that Francis described calumny as worse than sin and a direct expression of Satan.

"We are all sinners; all of us. We all commit sins. But calumny is something else. It is of course a sin, too, but it is something more. Calumny aims to destroy the work of God, and calumny comes from a very evil thing: it is born of hatred. And hate is the work of Satan. Calumny destroys the work of God in people, in their souls. Calumny uses lies to get ahead. And let us be in no doubt, eh?: Where there is calumny, there is Satan himself," he said.

Link to Zenit…

 It’s persecution like this which not only brings to mind martyrs of the past, the very first martyrs who fell victim to the Sanhedrin, but those martyrs of the recent past:



And it so happens that even the leadership of the Church raises a hand against its own champions, in order to shame them and destroy them if possible in an autolesionistic festering. How obedient and eager to serve Roman Catholic Faithful was back in 1997 when Father Paul Marx was unjustly accused of hating Jews:

We reject in the strongest possible terms any suggestion that HLI is anti-Semitic. The allegations of "bigotry" and "anti-Semitism," made by members of the chancery staff and by the news media against HLI are serious and defamatory.

We are deeply saddened that Archbishop Harry Flynn has reneged on his previous commitment to HLI and to Father Paul Marx to celebrate the opening Mass of our international conference of pro-life leaders.

We hold Archbishop Flynn in highest regard. Even as recently as February 24, 1997, we received a warm letter of welcome from him, which included high praise for Fr. Marx. Therefore, we wholeheartedly believe that his actions today are out of character and that he has been ill-advised and ill-served by members of his staff.

Furthermore, we deplore the manner in which this matter has been handled. Since November, we have repeatedly contacted the chancery to request a meeting between the Archbishop and any one of the members of our Board of Directors, all Catholic priests. These requests were repeatedly denied.

Then, upon receipt of false, inflammatory and defamatory information about HLI, rather than communicate directly with our office, the chancery communicated with us through the media, with a story that appeared in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on Holy Thursday, casting aspersions on the integrity of Fr. Marx and HLI. This news report went statewide. Continuously, our requests to speak with the Archbishop have been denied.

At the same time however, it is evident that a "dialogue" has been conducted between members of the chancery bureaucracy and groups that oppose HLI and the pro-life cause. It is emphatically clear that such groups have an agenda of their own which has nothing to do with "interfaith cooperation." Has ecumenism come to mean abandoning one's own to the lies and calumny of the pro-abortion opposition?

One only need to examine the past — the HLI 1995 World Conference in Montreal for example — to see the well-orchestrated campaign against HLI, which has as its genesis a 1994 report about HLI by Planned Parenthood.

The charge of anti-Semitism is a smokescreen to hide the real agenda of the Culture of Death that HLI meets at World Conferences: Planned Parenthood, the Fight the Right Coalition, Refuse and Resist, Love and Rage, radical feminists, radical gay activists and anarchists.

The Archbishop has been deceived.

PRO-LIFE RABBI REFUTES HLI's JEWISH CRITICS

Front Royal, VA — Rabbi Yehuda Levin, Jewish Advisor to Human Life International expressed his extreme dismay at allegations of anti-Semitism made by the American Jewish Congress against HLI Founder and Chairman, Father Paul Marx.

"I've been involved with Father Marx in furthering protection for unborn Jewish babies in Israel and North America for more than ten years. Father Marx is providing seed money to mobilize public support for Jewish pro-life efforts. What kind of Anti-Semite does this?" said Levin.

Rabbi Levin pointed out the close working relationship that Fr. Marx has with other Jewish leaders such as Midge Dector, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Norman Kurland and Dr. Judith Reisman. He also noted that for the past two years Fr. Marx has spearheaded interfaith cooperation with the Jewish community by signing the Judeo Christian Pro-Life Alliance, a document that binds both groups to work on behalf of the unborn of all faiths: Jewish, Christian or Muslim.

"I agree with my Jewish colleague Midge Dector, former contributing editor to Commentary magazine, that 'the charge of anti-Semitism has become, alas, a sinfully cheapened currency, and we feel that it is long since time to put a stop to its...tendentious circulation.'"

"Many secular Jews tend to be overwhelmingly liberal, even supporting abortion on demand. Why else would B'nai Brith or the American Jewish Congress or other such organizations not take a stand on saving the lives of pre-born babies, Jewish or non-Jewish" Levin added.

Rabbi Levin concluded with an invitation to members of the American Jewish Congress to join Human Life International's efforts to protect unborn Jewish babies and support their mothers.

Link to source at Roman Catholic Faithful…

 Image taken from here...

St. Catherine and St. Thomas universities celebrate Archbishop Flynn's 50th ordination anniversary

Friday, June 4, 2010

Love, laughter and laudations fill­ed Archbishop Harry Flynn’s gol­den jubilee celebration of his or­dination to the priesthood.

flynn.reception.jpg
Applause greets Archbishop Harry Flynn, center, flanked by St. Catherine University president Sister Andrea Lee, IHM, and University of St. Thomas president Father Dennis Dease, as he joins the gathering for dinner in Henrietta Schmoll Rauenhorst Hall to celebrate his 50th jubilee on May 26. Rebecca Zenefski, courtesy of St. Catherine University

Liturgical dancers praised God as they moved to the beat of African, Spanish and Irish rhythms during the opening Mass May 26 in Our Lady of Victory Chapel at St. Cath­e­rine University, which plan­ned and sponsored the celebration with the University of St. Thomas.

Led by the angelic voice of Mary True, St. Catherine’s liturgy and music director, the accompanying choir members and instrumentalists in­c­lu­ded students, alums, Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, composers David Haas and Father Jan Michael Jon­cas, a St. Thomas professor.

During the homily, Father Dennis Dease, St. Thomas president, cited three traits that come to his mind when speaking about Archbishop Flynn: “a man of prayer, a great preacher and a caring and courageous shepherd.”

His prayer life shows in “his charity toward all and his joyful de­mea­n­or,” he said. When preaching, the archbishop never tires of sharing Jesus’ message that “each and every one of us is genuinely and profoundly loved by God.”

Caring shepherd

Father Dease added that Arch­bish­op Flynn, while serving as bishop in Lafay­ette, La., and then as archbishop of St. Paul and Min­nea­polis, was a courageous and caring shepherd who faced the challenges of racism, capital punishment and sexual abuse.

“He has never backed down when he knew what the Gospel demanded,” he said. Addressing Arch­bish­op Flynn, he added, “You have said that the church must speak for the disenfranchised, or we are not doing what Christ wants.”

Father Dease closed the homily with an Irish proverb and blessing that promp­ted joyous laughter: “If your dog is fat, you aren’t getting enough exercise. May your dog be forever lean and fit and may you be always robust in reminding us that God loves each and every one of us and we need to embrace that love.”

The celebration continued with a dinner in Coeur de Catherine for about 300 people, as musicians played Irish tunes in honor of the archbishop’s heri­tage and guests shared stories about the man they came to honor.

Laura Nelson, a 2009 St. Kate’s alum who served as acolyte for the Mass, said she has never met a man like Archbishop Flynn, who is so interested in others.

“He does remember every face, every name, every story,” she said. “He’s only met me five or six times . . . and I walked in today and he said, ‘Hello Laura, it’s so nice to see you again, and how is your sister Sarah? She’s a student here right?’”

Premier Banks executive vice president Andrew Nath and his wife, Katie, said they respect the archbishop’s work and pastoral care for the archdiocese.

Katie said, “When I think of him, I think of the title of his [former column] in The Catholic Spirit, ‘Come Lord Jesus.’ It reminds us of what we need at the core of ourselves.”

Sister Andrea Lee, president of St. Catherine University, brought tears to many eyes as she took the podium to praise Archbishop Flynn’s leadership of both universities and his personal kindness to herself and her adopted son, Lahens Lee-St. Fleur, who was a principal liturgical dancer at the earlier Mass.

“Among many personal stories I could share, consider a tired archbishop,” she said. “That morning, home from a long trip and sleepless night, not only confirming my son that even­ing, but shopping and cooking and serving us and my son’s young family. Putting down . . . a resplendent feast, including a small homemade dish of mac and cheese, remembering, as he did, that a finicky 4-year-old would, tonight, be seated at the archbishop’s table.”

Sister Andrea — a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary — said most of what she knows about picking her battles she learned from Arch­bish­op Flynn.

He is an entertaining storyteller who laughs heartily at his own jokes, she added. He can cook for 15 people and still relax and have a drink with his guests.

“We could solve the financial problems of the archdiocese, as well as those of St. Thomas and St. Kate’s, if we could only get him his own show on the food network,” she quipped.

In honor of his 50th anniversary of ordination, both St. Kate’s and St. Thomas will designate a Flynn Scho­lar, a Catholic high school graduate with high academic ability and significant fi­nan­cial need to receive a full financial scholarship.

When the archbishop finally had an opportunity to speak, he said he wondered what Sister Andrea and Father Dease might do for his 25th anni­versary as a bishop, which he will celebrate in 2011.

“You have another year to get ready,” he said to raucous laughter.

He reminisced about how he was a “bigoted New Yorker,” who refused to join the Franciscan order with three of his high school classmates because “they can send you anywhere.” So he became a diocesan priest in Albany, N.Y.

All three classmates never left New York, while Archbishop Flynn was sent to Mount St. Mary’s Se­mi­nary in Maryland, then back to Al­bany, then to Louisiana as bishop and to Minnesota as archbishop.

“We look at the hand of God in our lives and I was able to say to a gathering [of priests] that Arch­bishop [John] Nienstedt hosted after I retired: ‘I’ve fallen in love with all of you and . . . I know you have fallen in love with me,” Archbishop Flynn said.

“I can say that about God’s wonderful people, those at St. Cath­e­rine’s, those at St. Thomas, the wonderful Sisters of St. Joseph, I have been united with the Heart of Mary Sisters and I have fallen in love with all of you.” Catholic Spirit

h/t: Stella Borealis