Bishop Finn's Alleged Crimes Magnified While Real Predators Roam Free

Edit: while the New York Times, and quite a few other leftist media publications are going after Bishop Finn for allegedly failing to report child sexual abuse, and clucking their tongues sanctimoniously about clericalism and the Church's need to change, or even gloating a bit, like at the supposedly Catholic publication which can be counted to regularly to distort the teachings of the Church it claims to represent, there are other stories, far more damning, which get swept under the rug and conveniently ignored. Apparently, this faux Catholic magazine is calling for Bishop Finn's resignation. Why don't they resign from Catholic journalism? I daresay they haven't written an authentically Catholic story since 1968. As one semi-popular clerical blogger points out:

I don’t remember seeing National catholic Reporter‘s editorials demanding the resignation of Archbp. Rembert Weakland or Card. Mahony. They were into some truly deep problems, but there was no high dudgeon from NCR about them.

Bp. Finn got what we can only describe as a hand-slapping by a court. He received suspended probation the record of which is then to be expunged from his record. If what Finn did was truly a massive crime, would the court have done this?

We strongly suspect that the situation in the US is similar to Germany's where public figures, even clergy in the Catholic Church who are Old Liberals, are protected by the media umbrella.  Bishop Finn is no Liberal and was in the process of reforming his Diocese, which made not a few people unhappy. Meanwhile, the anti-clerical New York Times and their witting and unwitting allies strike up a chorus of "sadness" and despair about the sex-abuse scandal which is spiraling out of control ... Never mind that your children are safer with Catholic priests in Catholic schools than they are anywhere else in today's parsimonious culture.

Meanwhile, a US government official has been smiled upon and no one, especially not those who are attacking +Finn, think to comment on that obvious double standard, but there are many others besides.

Those calling for the resignation of Bishop Finn when there are actual examples of cover-up and corruption, need help.

Remember Obama's Safe Sex With Kids Czar, Kevin Jennings? This is from an editorial about the Buggery Czar himself:

The media is trying to keep this story in the closet, but it’s important not to wink at all the serious problems surrounding President Obama’s controversial “safe schools czar,” Kevin Jennings.

Mr. Jennings is the moral malefactor who gave a speech about how he merely advised a 15-year-old high-school sophomore who was having sex with an older man that, “I hope you knew to use a condom.” He knew the boy had met the adult in a bus-station restroom. Mr. Jennings also expressed admiration for Harry Hay, a notorious and extremely prominent supporter of the North American Man Boy Love Association. “One of the people that’s always inspired me is Harry Hay,” he said. Despite numerous requests to the Obama administration and Mr. Jennings, we have not received any answers to inquiries about these troubling issues.

Now revelations have surfaced that Mr. Jennings not only thought there was nothing wrong with boys having sex with older men (or girls having sex with older women), but he also played a role in promoting such relationships.

Indeed, most of the Liberals pointing their fingers at Bishop Finn have probably heard of St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, where more than ten sexual predators roam free "under restriction". The obvious disconnect stems partly from the fact that people still trust their Leftist media outlets, and follow the glaring spotlight focused on Bishop Finn and arouse all of their anti-clerical impulses. Meanwhile, in other Diocese under Liberal prelates, homosexual predators roam free.

Even smut novelist Father Andrew Greeley knows there are sexual predators in the Chicago area and claims to know who they are but he's not talking, either. Should he be arrested for protecting sexual predators as well? This from Brian Hehir Exposed turned out to be a revealing citation:

According to his girlfriend, Pellegrini had had a homosexual relationship with a Chicago priest and was part of a secret clerical “Boys Club” that not only included homosexual assignations, but also ritualistic, occult worship and the sexual abuse of young boys garnered from low income ethnic families in the city. Pellegrini’s girlfriend told the police that Frank had told her that he wanted out of the Club and had scheduled a meeting with Chancery officials on the matter shortly before his death.

Two young private Chicago investigators, Bill Callaghan and Hank Adema, were hired to look into the Pellegrini murder. They were able to confirm the existence of a clerical homosexual/pederast ring operating out of the Archdiocese of Chicago. It appeared that the alleged homosexual ring they had uncovered was the same one mentioned by Father Andrew Greeley in the paperback version of Furthermore! Memories of a Parish Priest written in 1999.

One of the puzzling mysteries surrounding the murder involved Cardinal Bernardin. According to the police who were present at the crime scene, shortly after Pellegrini’s body was discovered, Cardinal Bernardin arrived at the murdered man’s home to quiz the officers about the killing. The cardinal told police that he did not know the murdered man. This raises the obvious question of how he learned of the killing so quickly and of what special interest was Pellegrini to him since he did not know the victim. The Pellegrini case was reopened in the early 1990s, but to date, the crime remains unsolved and Father Greeley remains silent.

More soon....

Anniversary of the Battle of Vienna 1683

Edit: awakened by the Austrian Empire's conflict with a Hungarian Protestant, Imre Thokoly, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet IV chose to intervene on his behalf and promised him the lands of the Hapsburgs for his assistance in conquering these his greatest enemies.  Meanwhile, the French not only refused to send help, but attacked Hapsburg possessions in Alsace at the same time.

The great victory which ensued on September 11th and 12th, under the leadership of the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold and thanks to the generous outpouring of support from the Polish King and his people, is largely unsung in the American Republic, and even most American Catholics are woefully ignorant of it.

Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I 1683

Photo, from Chesterton and Friends, blog...

A nice historical summary, here...

Fans of Conservative Catholic Blogs Sack US Catholic Poll on Vatican II

We're Avid US Catholic Readers!

Edit: because a large number of non-subscribers participated in a US "Catholic" poll about Vatican II, the results were not quite what the editors were looking for, we think. The difference was striking.  It seems that several popular Catholic blogs encouraged their readers to vote, and US Catholic decided not to include some 1650 votes in their final analysis as to whether or not Vatican II was a  success.  Of course, according to the 350 readers who were formed by US Catholic, the Church was in great shape and, ironically, a lot bigger than it would have been otherwise.  (No small thanks to US Catholic)

It didn't take long to figure out who at least one conservative blog was.

It reminds one of accounts of how the Japanese high command would use wargames to plan out their military exercises during WW II not so much as objective attempts to assess the relative capabilities of both sides, including logistics problems, but was primarily conceived of as a propaganda tool to build consensus among the naval commanders. High Command aimed to skew results in the course of play even, to reflect the most hopeful outcome.

US Catholic skews its own poll results to obtain an unrealistic appraisal of Vatican II by chopping non-subscribers out of the results.

Interestingly, US Catholic's results show that most of its readers were born before 1950, since most of them were attending High School when Vatican II took place in 1962 - 1965.

Obviously, there is a lot more enthusiasm for Vatican II among the older readership of the moribund US Catholic than there is among the presumably younger, conservative 1650 or so blog readers who participated in the poll with humorous results.

Which points to another thing.  It seems that conservative Catholics are not only more fervent and certain of victory, but more numerous as well.

While US Catholic faithfully acknowledged the participation of non-subscribers and the polarity which exists in the Church, it continued its article considering the results only of its readers as if the poll numbers reflected the overall perception of Catholic participants who took the poll in the first place. It was somewhat confusing if not blatantly dishonest.

Actually, what we assume are the subscriber poll numbers show a blissful ignorance of the actual situation of the Church after Vatican II, as well as a buoyant expectation of the future, despite all indicators to the contrary.

Another significant change since 2005 is the way U.S. Catholic conducts its reader surveys. Once collected only through questionnaires mailed to subscribers, the admittedly unscientific survey is now open to anyone who wishes to respond at uscatholic.org. More than 2,000 Catholics took the survey, about 350 of whom are subscribers to the magazine. Many responses, however, came after conservative Catholic bloggers encouraged their readers to complete the survey.

When non-subscribers are included, the number who think Vatican II is “the best thing that’s happened to the church in centuries” dips from 74 percent to 37 percent. Among subscribers, 81 percent think the church needs to go farther or get back on track with the reforms. But among all respondents, 52 percent say the church went too far.

The divide among respondents reflects a growing polarity in the church—one that was predicted and feared by U.S. Catholic readers in 2005. But both groups share a knowledge of and passion for the church. Eighty-six percent of subscribers and website visitors have read at least one document from Vatican II. Only a handful of respondents said Vatican II was “ancient history” or had no opinion of it.

Link to US Catholic....

Breaking: Expect More Speculation About No Deal with Rome

Edit: the hostility of Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller has been somewhat blunted the last time he spoke. Now that the smoke has cleared, Bishop Fellay continues to press on the issue of +Muller's insupportable assertion that Vatican II is "infallible" in all of its contents. Here is the article from Catholic Family News.

From Father Couture:
"A deal with modernist Rome?" 

“Bishop Fellay said recently, in many public conferences in Australia, that nothing new would happen for the SSPX under the present pope. And if we consider the appointment last June of the German Archbishop Müller at the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – he considers Vatican II as infallible - the present situation is going to continue as it is for many more years.”

- From “An Appeal to our Korean Faithful” - Sept 8. 2012
(From Father Daniel Couture, SSPX – District Superior of Asia)

Taken from SSPX Asia webpage: http://www.sspxasia.com/

See PDF links below:

An Appeal to the Korean Faithful from Fr Couture

Letter from Bishop Tissier de Mallerais to the faithful of Korea Sept. 8, 2012
•  actual fax letter •  typed letter 

From Bishop Tissier de Mallerais about a recent interview with Fr. Chazal 
•  – Important clarification   actual fax letter •  typed letter 

Note: These links were posted today (Sept. 8) on the SSPX Asia website. What is of special interest is the publication of the letters wherein Bishop Tissier de Mallerais openly says he opposes under the present circumstances an accord with today's Vatican, that Father Coutre uses the term "Modernist Rome", and that he quotes Bishop Fellay saying nothing new [in the way of an accord] will happen for the SSPX under Benedict XVI. And please note, this is no rumor, but comes from the official website of the SSPX in Asia. - JV

Also from Father Couture's letter:
"1. Our Holy Faith 
"We profess as we have always done to maintain the Catholic Faith in line with the famous Declaration of Archbishop Lefebvre, in 1974:

"'We hold firmly with all our heart and with all our mind to Catholic Rome, Guardian of the Catholic Faith and of the traditions necessary to the maintenance of this
faith, to the eternal Rome, mistress of wisdom and truth. We refuse on the other hand, and have always refused, to follow the Rome of Neo-Modernist and Neo-Protestant tendencies, which became clearly manifest during the Second Vatican Council, and after the Council, in all the reforms which issued from it. …'

"This is what we are, and, by the grace of God, what we will remain."




- Catholic Family News is a monthly print journal (the vast majority of which is in print only, not on line). Click here to subscribe

Kinsey Belonged Then to the Pederasts We Fight Today

"Representatives of the homosexual movement and especially men who are boy lovers, should know and appreciate Kinsey's work."  by Dr. Judith A. Reisman.

(kreuz.net)  In the year of 1989 the US 'National Research Council' decided that the social scientist "to divide time roughly before and after Alfred Kinsey (+1956)."

To date at the writing of this essay the film association of  "20th Century Fox" is planning an all-encompassing film about the life of Kinsey.

The sexual revolutionary from Indiana should be idealized by Tom Hanks or Harrison Ford.

On the 23rd of April 2000 the 'New York Times' celebrated the fact that the University of Indiana had brought forth a man, "who had brought about the sexual revolution."

The Initiator of the Sexual Revolution

On the 17th of April 2000 Scott McLemee wrote in the periodical 'Salon':  "Kinsey's influence on society ran deep and continuously.  His influence was independent of the sales of his books."

Kinsey's influence has involved in itself the destructive consequences in the Sexual Revolution:

"The history of sexuality in America calls in two large, distinct but clearly defined periods.  The first period was the puritanical and Victorian age."

This era of probition ended on January 4 1948:  "On the following day Professor Alfred C. Kinsey of the University of Indiana published his book "The Sexual Behavior of the Human Male".  It generated an earthquake.

A Pioneer of Child Sexual Abuse

Since 1948 Kinsey has significantly influenced conceptions in the USA about sex and love.

The 'North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) -- appealed to Kinsey.

It was the world's largest pederast and pedophile organization.

Everyone, in the modern setting who understands "sexual orientation", must "acknowledge Kinsey's work"  -- explained the association in 1981.

Kinsey's work belonged to the already implied struggle against the limiting of sexuality between adults and children and minor youths.

"Members of the homosexual movement and especially men, who love boys should acknowledge and value Kinsey's work".

And: "Kinsey represented then what we are fighting against today."

The author is a communications expert, author and president of the 'Institute for Media Education' in Sacramento, California. She has been an advisor to American justice, education and health authorities.

Link to kreuz.net....

Parish Association of Overath: Criticis Are Mowed Down Mercilessly

Pastor Hermann-Josef Frisch is a narcissistic destroyer of the Faith.  For that reason ‘Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger’ as a virgin martyr.

(kreuz.net) When it so happens that Old Liberal clergy are to be defended, the media bosses are transformed into hyenas.

An example for this is offered by the newspaper the ‘Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger’[Cologne's newspaper] yesterday.

With the fatality of a kamikaze the paper jumped into the breech for the secular priest Hermann-Josef Frisch (65).

A Pastor for His Fan-Community 

Fr. Frisch is the current pastor in the 27,000 population community of Overath -- 25 kilometers east of Cologne.

At the cost of the faith the Zeitgeist-priest organized around himself a "fan-club" -- as even the ‘Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger’ itself described it.


Fr. Frisch is a notorious Liturgical abuser.

Naturally he doesn't pray in his New Mass for the Pope.

Critics Are Put in the Pillory

Finally it was the last straw for Overather Catholics. They informed Cologne's Cardinal Meisner.

Actually Fr. Frisch knew how to help. He engaged the media bosses -- who are much more powerful in the Church than a helpless Cardinal.

Over the ‘Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger' he put one of his many critics -- he is described in the article as "Hartmut G." -- in the media pillory.

In the parish everyone knows who that is. Hartmut G. is a local entrepreneur.

Revenge Against Catholics

Currently the powerful media is organizing an actual witch hunt against Overather Catholics.

A craftsman, who had filed a complaint against the Old Liberal ideologues, even demanded service contracts from the parish.

The naturally didn't criticize the pastor's revenge.

Pastor Frisch Refuses Dialogue

Pastor Frisch has an unbridled hatred to this day for his critics.

He even refuses to speak with Hartmut G. even though there is a maintenance agreement with the Archdiocese of Cologne.

"It is almost as if one wanted to talk with the Taliban about the Koran" -- seethed the Zeitgeist-priest with racist undertones.

The proposal of the Cardinal, to have a change of venue, has been refused in any case by Fr. Frisch.

For that reason the Zeitgeist-prist will begin a sabbatical at the end of September
Link to orignal...

Swiss Pass Minaret Ban

 

In the beginning of April, the administrative tribunal of the canton of Bern concluded that a minaret is a symbolic structure that does not fit within the communal guidelines. It also put the opposers in the right, and forbade the construction of a 6 meter high minaret on the Islamic Cultural Center of Langenthal, in the canton of Bern.

On April 27, Daniel Kettiger—a lawyer for the Muslim community Xhamia and Langenthalit—specified in his statement that the community had promised to abandon the construction of the minaret if it did not fit within the framework of the local layout and if the judiciary authorities confirmed it.

The committee for the movement “Stopp Minarett Langenthal” cheered the decision of the Islamic community, which had obtained a building permit before the anti-minaret voting in November of 2009. For the committee, it marked the gratification of a six year struggle. In its statement, the committee emphasized the fact that a minaret is an Islamic symbol of political power. (Sources: apic/ats—DICI #259 of 10/08/12)

Link to... 

When I think of Catholics, That's When I Get My Gun

More Anarchist than Son of the Church

Edit: picked this beautiful and very descriptive photo of Mark Shea, up from Est Quod Est, and while Father Peter West has called off the blogwar, we feel no need to do so, especially as we fully expect not to be disappointed that Mr. Shea will continue doing what he's done in the past, at some point, if not presently.

He just can't help himself.

We also fully expect a full-out attack from Patheos bloggers demanding the resignation of the conservative bishop Finn, coming to a theater near you.  [NOTE: I would not include Australia Incognita among them, but strongly disagree with their take on the abuse "crisis", which is a media generated blitz on the Catholic Church resembling other such campaigns.]

I think you can count on patheos bloggers to do three things when it comes to sex abuse:

1. They confirm that it is a "Catholic" problem.

2. They confirm the hysteria surrounding it by overreacting to certain priests and laity who've committed these crimes.

3. Typically ignore the magnitude of the problem when the abuse happens, as it most often does, outside of prescribed targets.  (While the Nazi government focused on the problem of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, it was unwilling to address its own problems with it.)

Top Tips for the Faithful!

Indeed, the uncritical comments regarding Bishop Finn in this blog who won't challenge the presentation of the "facts" is breathtaking. Considering that prelates far more deserving of this kind of treatment escape without even a critical appraisal from the various media organs indicates that there is a real problem with people, as if they can't think between compartments, individuals and situations, or maintain the same principles all the time as if they were mentally diseased.

One commenting in the above mentioned blog post suggests, quite accurately, that Opus Dei won't take this sitting down.  They have hoards of attorneys at their disposal.  I hope they rake anyone attempting to instrumentalize this event in the service of propagandists alien to the Catholic Church over the coals.

Bishop Finn Found Guilty on One Charge and Double Standards

Edit: Basic fact of the matter is that Father Ratigan, while having a problem with pornography, was determined not to be a threat to children by his psychiatrist.
Unfortunately, after his attempted suicide and being returned to light duty, Ratigan proved unwilling or incapable of following the orders prescribed for him, and Msgr Murphy then reported Ratigan to police as Kansas City Star reports:

Ratigan attempted suicide just after the diocese learned of the troubling pictures on his computer in December 2010. He later was sent for a mental evaluation, after which Finn reassigned him to an Independence mission house and ordered him to stay away from children, computers and cameras. Murphy reported Ratigan to police in May 2011 after he repeatedly violated those orders.

While the bishop attempted to save and protect one of his priests, forces outside and possibly within the Church saw this as an opportunity to publicly humiliate and even procure a resignation of one of the more conservative prelates in the Church today, who's been making an effort to clean up his Archdiocese.

This will also provide excellent leverage, as the Star states, quoting lawyer Dan Ross says of this case, “It’s great leverage for a settlement, as well as direct evidence,”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (CNS) -- Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph was convicted Sept. 6 of one count of failing to report suspected child abuse and acquitted on another count in a brief bench trial.

Jackson County Circuit Judge John M. Torrence issued the verdict and quickly set and suspended a sentence of two years' probation. The charges carried a possible maximum sentence of one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

In a courtroom statement following the verdict, Bishop Finn said he truly regretted and was sorry for the hurt the events caused.

Link to US Catholic.... Also, some whistle blowing, where the professional victim, Jesse Jackson is accused of having homosexual relationships and sexual harassment. Apparently, not all religious figures are equal. This from Lifesite: Tommy Bennett, who worked as Jackson’s personal travel assistant at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit for nearly half-a-million dollars with the Illinois Department of Human Rights in 2010. Bennett further alleges Jackson revealed having a homosexual relationship with one of his teachers and that he was forced to facilitate Jackson’s affairs with several women, including Fox News commentator Tamara Holder, and to clean up afterward. He claims he was discriminated against by Jackson’s employees, then wrongfully terminated.

"Throw All That Baroque Junk Away!"

Edit: Neoconservative bloggers in the United States aren't the only people who ruthlessly and demoniacally attack Catholic priests.  It's behavior you'd expect from the Bolsheviks, but well-paid Catholic apologists, well... At least these people are more clearly aligned with the enemy and that's at  least a tiny consolation.

Everything which isn't hammered into place by the fake holy "We are all lovey --dovey, dovey", is brutally opposed by the Old Liberal.

Baroque Vestments Belong,
in Museums  © caribb, Flickr, CC 

(kreuz.net)  A chaplain in a south German Diocese was invited by parish members to dinner.

Unbeknownst to him, the meal became a show trial that lasted over two hours.

Only no religion

His hosts were an Old Liberal clique, who had sworn to play the Neoconservative chaplain like a violin.

His liturgies are too solemn and too rote  --  they told him.

There are too many ministers.  The constant chanting is too much.

The length of the Liturgy on Sunday is unbearable.  Upon the timid objection of the chaplain, that he had never seen his hosts there, it was explained to him that the mere existence of such things is enough to reject them.

In generaly he has -- like the others -- kindly worn the alb and is to throw away his vestments and all of that "baroque dreck".

Priests Alone Are Serene

With the interjection of the chaplain, if one had with regards to the subject, theologically or even in human terms to criticize him with, the answer was:  "We just can't stand you and that's enough already."

This incident shows three things:

1. The modernistic limitations, to crucify priests, sinks to new lows.

2. In the meantime even harmless Neoconservative priests are attacked, who have represented no definitive Catholic positions.

3.  Everything which isn't hammered into place by the fake holy "We are all lovey --dovey, dovey", is brutally opposed by the Old Liberal.

Conclusion:  One priest after another withdraws with inner resignation.

They can't expect anything from the Pope or from the Bishops.

Link to kreuz.net....

Luxury Bus Nun "Uncomfortable" With Catholicism

No Habit, No Faith

Edit:  We reported earlier on a group of nuns who were wasting a lot of money to campaign for Democrats, using money for their luxury bus that could have been used to feed the poor.

Despite protesting that their reputation for being less than Catholic, and have “have opted for ways that take them outside communion with Christ in the Catholic Church,” as Cardinal Rode said, these nuns continue to confirm everything they are accused of. Not only is this nun pro-abortion, but she's "uncomfortable" with being Catholic, and the Devil hates holy water too.

Sister Campbell, who revealed in a June talk that she is uncomfortable calling herself pro-life, also said that her support of President Barack Obama’s healthcare program is part of her “pro-life stance.”

“We all share responsibility to ensure that this vital health care reform law is properly implemented and that all governors expand Medicaid coverage,” she said. “This is part of my pro-life stance and the right thing to do.”

Sister Campbell attracted national media attention early this summer when she organized a “Nuns on the Bus” tour to protest the Ryan budget plan. She and the Network lobby have been prominent in their support of liberal social programs, including the Obama administration's health-care reform. In June, a Charlotte newspaper reported that in an appearance there Sister Campbell had "scorned the US bishops for their continued opposition to the health insurance law."

Catholic Culture's full article, here....

H/t: AC

Dissident Priest Attacks Archbishop's Defense of Marriage

Edit: we'd reported earlier that Father Mark Tegeder, who is the pastor of a dissident parish in Minneapolis, Minnesota, just couldn't shut up about the Archbishop's work to defend marriage. Despite threats from the Archdiocese he keep his mouth closed, the Civil Rights priest believes he's on a quest.

Archbishop Nienstedt's been taking on the decadent Monastery of St. John's Abbey, demanding that Father Bob Pierson not speak in his Diocese, but what will become of Zen Garden Tegeder?

He says he's "uncomfortable", but apparently he's not uncomfortable enough. Traditionalist Catholic priests have been suspended and sent packing without their benefits, without anything more than unemployment for merely saying things that are Catholic but unpoular.

What will happen when a priest attempts to capture a popular, but morally depraved, movement but utters something uncatholic? Here's the article from "Princeton Eagle"

“Interestingly, though, we have also seen a sharp decline in the amount of politicking in churches (and all places of worship) over the last five years or so, which suggests that clergy have recognized the danger in mixing too much Caesar in place of God,” Campbell said in the email.

Minnesota pastors and religious leaders, while in general not dismissive of the idea that churches can be sullied through political activity, appraise the risks differently.

“I think we’re all uncomfortable,” Pastor Tegeder said.

But churches have always reacted to events in society, he said.

Martin Luther King, the great civil rights leader, came out of the African-American Baptist church.

He witnessed or presided at thousands of marriages, explained Tegeder, and it’s the commitment, not the sexes, that’s sacred.

Mark Shea Makes Sincere Apology to Father West?

Edit: We'd like to thank Spirit Daily, Pewsitter, Catholic Culture, Culture Wars and many others especially the intelligent commentators, who helped bring this to public attention

Just recently, Father West greeted some changes in Mark Shea's, (if not his future conduct) posts and accepted an offer of peace.

Word to the wise, even a semi-Pelagian who's liberal with the laurels of eternal salvation can bump up against the Neo-Republican agenda with impunity. He was chastened, but not for the right reasons in our opinion. Stay tuned for round 2, or 3. To be sure, he'll be stomping on other Conservative or Conservative-lite priests and figures in future.

Father West wrote the following on Facebook, today:

Mark Shea has revised his article on Perry Lorenzo and removed an offensive post about John Corapi. While Mark and I continue to have serious disagreements, they are on matters related to prudential judgments not the Catholic faith. I consider Mark to be a faithful Catholic. While I'm sure we will disagree in the future, I pledge to be more measured in my criticism. I thank Steven D. Greydanus for acting as an intermediary. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5, 9)

The Disintegration of the West's Political and Religious Institutions

Edit: Keeping with a central theme this week often touching upon questionable patheos blogs, we thought it would be instructive to post the following video which was posted by two other bloggers known here. This is via North Face via the Bones that Crush.

It's especially interesting in light of recent praise from Deacon's Bench and James Martin SJ (A frequent source of problematic and erroneous opinions), celebrating Thomas Merton, who was himself a card carrying Communist Party member, and who is substanially problematic for many other reasons as well, considering his interest in being a public intellectual which often clashed with his apparent religious vocation as a solitary and Trappist.

Some years back, I wrote a piece for Catholic Digest on “Thomas Merton’s New York.” The story was a pilgrimage, of sorts, visiting some of the landmarks of Merton’s life that are still standing in Manhattan.

In the short video below, Fr. James Martin takes us to two of those landmarks: the church were Merton was baptized and the rowhouse in Greenwich Village where he lived. At the end, Fr. Martin quips that he credits his vocation to four people: the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit and Thomas Merton.

The unfortunate demoralization of the West continues through such conflicted, inconsistent and frankly deceptive individuals. As one reader observes:

Merton's legacy lives on in the Thomas Merton Award which has been awarded since 1972 to such luminaries as Miguel D'Escoto, Howard Zinn, Ron Dellums, Angela Davis, Daniel Berrigan and Noam Chomsky.

Professional Lay Catholics Accuse Catholic Priest of Slander But Offer No Proof

Edit: over the past few days, a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, who is a Vice President of Missions for the organization Human Life International, founded by Father Paul Marx OSB, has been taking a familiar internet apostle, Mark Shea, to task for engaging in character assassination, legitimizing homosexual attitudes and  being deceitful.  Now it seems that some professional lay Catholics have gotten Church authorities involved.

What's also very bad is that some of his supporters are accusing Father West of slandering Mark Shea.  Of course, they refuse to give proof of this. Elizabeth Scalia, Steven D. Greydanus, and George Lower have persistently and maliciously, accused Father Peter West of Human Life International of slandering Mark Shea. I've asked all of them repeatedly for proof indicating that, and they have steadfastly refused to answer and instead make personal attackes.

Any normal Catholic employer would be eager to deal with such insulting behavior immediately. Justice might best be served if all of them were summarily sent to pack up their desks and go home with a little severance pay.

When the Communications Director asked Father West and Mark Shea to cease their public disputation, here's what Mark Shea wrote disingenuously in return:

"Thank you, Fr. Peter, for breaking off your campaign of defamation, rash judgment and calumny against me. I hope you will consider my request that you go back and restore my good name with the readers you have poisoned against me instead of merely leaving what you have said and suggested about me to linger in the air. I bear you no ill will and am still reeling from this unwarranted and unprovoked attack."

This is statement from the Archdiocesan Communications Director, asking Father Peter West to cease his statements and handle his disagreement with Mark Shea privately:

FatherPeter West and Mark Shea, I respectfully request that you both make a sincere attempt to discuss your differences one to one, verbally or in writing, rather than continue as you have been. Judging from the communications our office is receiving, this contretemps is causing no little disquiet among a number of the faithful. At the least, please endeavour to communicate publicly in measured tones on this matter so as to avoid causing unnecessary confusion and distress. I thank you for you consideration.

Best,
Mike Donohue 
Director of Communications
Office of Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Diocese of Arlington
The person the Communications Director should be talking to privately and not publicly on Facebook, is Mr. Shea, maybe a meeting involving a pink slip?

We'd also like to ask if Mark Shea plans on apologizing to Father Frank Pavone for slandering him?

Grand Orient Mason Praises Departed Old Liberal Cardinal

Edit:  The Grand Orient Masonic Lodge is a symbol of the most vicious anti-Catholicism.  Their goal to eliminate the Catholic Church persists to this day, and their leader hails a man who in many of his public statements and actions, reflected their aims. These two men weren't just cordial acquaintances, but close associates and even collaborators with a common cause.    This is a Google translation from Cerca Nel Sito:

"A man of dialogue and deep culture, which has been able to speak to young people and was always open to discussion and change. A strong spirituality, great expression of the church-Word, that is, the 'kerygma' that is beyond structure and Convention " . Gustavo Raffi, Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Italy, looking back at the Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, who died today at the age of 85 years. 

 "He believed in ecumenism and dialogue with civil society and with other religions starting from 'Judaism - Raffi continues - and will be missed by believers and non-believers his great humanity and an example of a reflection that addressed the major themes of human life. every occasion - said the Grand Master - has always been able to look at the other eyes, looking along the truth " .

Rome, the Villa Vascello August 31, 2012

  Link to original...

H/t: T.A.

Bishop Builds Cathedral of Our Lady of Fatima in Far East

Edit: Veritas vos Liberavit has cited something Vladimir Putin recently said that:

"Nothing is more important in society than the moral principles that form its foundation, nothing. Everything else is secondary"

It's in the back drop of Putin's great program of moral restoration of the country, that he's seeking to not only reinvent the Russian State's relationship to the Church, but is actually keeping his promises in contrast to what's happening further west, where the Church and its believers are increasingly falling under systematic and pervasive persecution. While others are buying outlandish space age designs and passing them off as worthy Catholic edifices, others are not only building in stone, but restoring the Faith. As if to underscore these hopeful circumstances, another restorationist is as work in his Diocese of Karaganda in Kazakhstan, Bishop Athanasius Schneider is, as if by miracle, building a Cathedral devoted to Our Lady of Fatima as we would say, in the ruins of the Soviet Imperium, as reported by Rorate Caeli:

What is the historical and spiritual meaning of the construction of this Cathedral at Karaganda?

Bp. Schneider: The first reason was this: to have a cathedral in a more dignified and visible place. Because the diocese of Karaganda used up to now a building that had still been built at the time of persecution, and this building is in the outskirts of the town and not exteriorly recognizable as a church.

A cathedral in a more central place, built in an unmistakeably Catholic tradition, that is, in the Neogothic style, will be a silent, yet also potent, sign and means of evangelization in a world in which Catholics are about 1% or 2% of the population, in which the majority of the inhabitants are Muslims, and where there is a strong Orthodox minority. Moreover, a considerable part of the population does not belong to any religion, they are people who search God.< br/>...

The historical and spiritual meaning also has this dimension: the new Cathedral is a sacred place for the remembrance of the countless victims of the Communist regime, since there was around Karaganda one of the largest and most terrible concentration camps - of the Gulag - in which people belonging to 100 different ethnicities suffered. At the same time, the new Cathedral will also be a shrine for prayer of expiation for the crimes of the Atheistic and Communist regime.

Priest Discovers the Ancient Mass: "Here, Far Away From Europe, The Youth Are Attracted To It"

(Costa Rica)  The September edition of the Spanish monthly Una Voce reported about the priest Jose Pablo de Jesus Rodriguez Tamayo of Costa Rica.  It told of the priest and his attachment to the traditional form of the Roman Rite.  Rodriguez Tamayo was ordained as a priest in 1979 and is a Superior of Opus Cordi Eucharistici an Association of the Faithful by Diocesan Law.

For the priest of the Archdiocese of San Jose in Costa Rica the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum is a great grace and a fortune, in any even it's not a problem as some insist.  He was excited and took up the invitation of Pope Benedict XVI. The more he celebrated the Mass, the more he realized the riches of the ancient Mass and decided in short order to only celebrate Holy Mass in the classical form of the Roman Rite.

In time Don Jose began also to pray his breviary in the Old Rite.  He insists that the youth in "this part of the world,  far from Europe", are drawn to the traditional Liturgy, which gives them a certainty that conveys the Catholic Liturgy and the truths of the Faith in its integrity.

An effect of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 is that even more priests and laity can offer the traditional Mass and receive its spiritual treasures.

The complete interview of Don Jose Pablo Jesus Rodriguez Tamayo is published on the blog of Una Voce, Costa Rica.   The interview is held by Daniel Arturo Varga de La Mata (President of Una Voce, Costa Rica) and Javier Luis Candalario Dieguze (President of Una Voce Cuba).

Opus Cordis Eucharistici, founded in 1982, is a confluence of promoting Eucharistic adoration and consciousness of the real presence of Jesus Christ in  the most holy sacrament of the altar.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Una Voce/Una Voce Costa Rica

Link to Katholisches...

USCCB Retires Evil Counselor John Carr

“I’m just so used to John being our leader,” Rabbi David Saperstein, the Reform Jewish movement’s longtime D.C. representative, said last week after describing what he called Carr’s role in convincing a major senator of the impact of climate change on the world’s poor. Carr, it turned out, wasn’t actually at that meeting. But that’s the way it is with Carr — he’s been so influential for so long that sometimes Hill faith lobbyists just assume his involvement in key events. -California Catholic Daily

Edit: after a generation of influencing the Catholic Church, helping to run it into the ground, he's retiring early, at 62'.

We shouldn't have to look too far to find reasons for why this man's influence has been destructive.  He established the debate supporting Obamacare in the first place, and then tried to play a rearguard action against Obama when what anyone with any sense knew would happen, that he was going to expect Catholic institutions to fund birth control.

He came under fire for being responsible for supporting homosexuality and abortion through the CCHD, and he was a polarizing figure, giving the impression that a Catholic could disagree about Catholic doctrines regarding abortion and homosexuality and yet still remain Catholic.  Maybe someone in charge is finally listening to those who've identified this man's corrosive policies and active promotion of moral evil?

Carr, whose work with the CCC goes back at least as far as 1983, was hired by the USCCB in 1987 as the next secretary for social development and world peace.  Annual reports from the CCC reveal that Carr was on the CCC’s board of directors in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, serving on the executive committee from 1999-2001.  Given his cozy relationship with the CCC, it’s no wonder the CCHD never responded to our concern over grantee membership with this radical group.

Many readers over at California Catholic Daily are relieved he's going, but who will replace him?  Will it be someone who lives and breathes the Catholic Faith, or one who is bent on continuing the American Church's downward spiral into social irrelevance?

Archbishop Nienstedt Puts Pressure on Lavender Basilica

Edit: In the past, the Lavender Basilica has been resisting the Archbishop's initiatives, keeping an ambiguous presence at Minneapolis' depraved Gay Pride Festival and fostering an atmosphere of disobedience to the Archbishop and opposition to the Catholic Church's teachings on a variety of issues. On Friday, there was a giant puff piece giving a lot of attention to some of the usual suspects on the subject of the Defense of Marriage Act that is up for a vote in the state of Minnesota in the anti-Catholic 'MinnPost'.   There is some resistance from 17 parishes in the Archdiocese, the most dissident and substantial is the Basilica of St. Mary's, to the Archbishop's initiative, but there is also a loss of nerve.

There is a presence on Facebook of "Catholics" who say "No" , which has a list of parishes resisting the Archbishop, but it only boasts about five hundred souls, many coming from the Lavender Basilica of St. Mary's, which is the Archdiocese's Co-Cathedral.  Yet even at this place, the pressure is increasing and there was a flier included in this week's church bulletin, complained one of the Basilica's parishioners on the Facebook group:

Another dissident is Father Bob Pierson whom the Archbishop doesn't want teaching in the Archdiocese any longer and is keeping his mouth shut for now, except that the Tribune did cite him.

Archbishop Nienstedt is still remaining firm on the issue.  He's getting one of the most dissident parishes to get the message out and others will soon be following in their continued efforts to get the message out.  His statement for the MinnPoste was as follows:

“But the reality is that marriage is not ours to redefine, just as another human life is not ours to take,” the archbishop continues. “God is both the author of life and the author of marriage. It is this most fundamental understanding of the natural order that animates who we are as Catholics. ... It is also why we fight to defend God’s plan for marriage, because his providence is as clear for what marriage is as it is for the dignity of each human life. ...

At present, the Archdiocese has given $1 million to defend marriage, something which should be encouraging to local conservative protestants and conservatives in general who don't want to see society further eroded by such legislation.

There's also no word from the noxious Father Mike Tegeder.  He's not even mentioned in this article.

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