Liberal sisters to be reigned in. Finallly!

According to Life Site News and Rocco Palmo the Vatican's effort to gain control over renegade American sisters who deny Church doctrine and morality is not a result of the three year Apostolic Visitation.

Citing "serious doctrinal problems" found over the course of afour-year study of the umbrella-group representing the majority of the US' communities of nuns, the Holy See has announced a thoroughgoing shake-up of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), naming Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle as its delegate to conduct an overhaul of the group.
Among other concerns raised in an eight-page summary of the doctrinal inquest released today, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith cited addresses at LCWR conferences that, it said, manifested a "rejection of faith," protests of church teaching on homosexuality and the ordination of women by officers of the group, and a "prevalence of certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith" in some of the conference's events.

This is very welcome by orthodox Catholics who have bemoaned the practices of these nuns for years.
A Case Study in the Wreckage of American Catholics by Liberal Teaching Nuns
 Take my friend Marie. Raised in a strict Catholic home of five children who prayed the Rosary every night, with a mother whose only outside work was playing the organ at Mass in the local parish, Marie was a devout, pro-life Catholic, thanks to her parent's heroic sacrifice to send all five children to their parish school.

I met Marie in a convent school on Long Island discussing how she picketed Bill Baird's abortion mill. Together we began the school's first Pro-life Club,  and went to the March for Life in 1978. We both chose Catholic colleges, me, traditional St Anselm College, where I continued to grow in my faith, thanks to the Benedictine's motto, "faith seeking understanding". Marie chose the liberal College of New Rochelle which is run by sisters who made her into a social justice only Catholic.Marie traveled to the Bowery site of the Catholic Worker Movement's mission run by Dorothy Day. She attended mock 'weddings' of lesbians officiated by sisters. She began to experiment apologetically with premarital sex. She graduated school to run a shelter for undocumented immigrants in Texas, marrying one of them (whose Mexican wife and children attended the ceremony) to give him papers. To this day, she is unmarried, and a pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage political agitator in the Haight district of San Francisco. Her law degree is unused because, as bright as she is, she was never organized enough to pass the bar, her counselors told her to blame it on her mother.
She won't remain in contact with me because I am too traditional. My views have never changed, but she doesn't see how far she has moved to the left. Last time I called her, her answering machine has a message that she was attending a gay pride parade in San Francisco.
I followed the path of social justice in becoming a social worker, then a teacher of minority students, but thank fully my moral and spiritual foundations were more or less intact, thanks to good doctrine taught at St Anselm.
Marie's parents only fault was trusting the liberal nuns at CNR with the soul of their innocent, devout Catholic daughter. Their other daughter became a fire breathing anti-Catholic Evangelical who thinks her parents are going to hell for belonging to the Whore of Babylon (the Catholic Church) and a son who attends Latin Mass with the Society of St Pius X. So, two of five children of good Catholic parents remained in the Church. Thankfully, the son who attends Mass at St Pius X Chapel may soon be returned to the fold by another recent action of our wise and gentle Holy Father, according to Vatican Radio. He has raised five children who are homeschooled by their devout mother, but he has contempt for the leadership of the Catholic Church.
I love this family, and pray for their healing and reunion in the Church. The parents are brokenhearted victims of liberal nuns.
Dissenting sisters sowed seeds of rebellion in their students. They supported abortion and illicit sexual relationships. They taught me how to use and obtain contraception in high school, telling me "ignore the old man in Rome on contraception".
On the day before the 2004 election a liberal sister who is the Hispanic apostolate leader on Long Island handed out paper in Mass with abortion support John Kerry's photo on the cover.
The list goes on and on. It is a spiritual act of mercy to correct these sisters before they are responsible for more souls being lost, because Our Lord said "it would be better to tie a millstone around their neck and be cast into the sea than to corrupt one of my little ones".
May God give these sisters the humility they need to accept correction and regain their original charism, the one which made religious sisters one of the most powerful forces for good in America. One notoriously rebellious sister has spoken out in a way which bodes ill for the outcome of the corrective measure;

Despite the lack of official comment, a former LCWR president -- and quite possibly the body's most celebrated member -- Benedictine Sister of Erie Joan Chittister told the National Catholic Reporter that "When you set out to reform a people, a group, who have done nothing wrong, you have to have an intention, a motivation that is not only not morally based, but actually immoral.

The truth about the Catholic vote

Excellent article on American Catholic from David Hartline,  which I hope the Democratic strategists never read.

The divide between the truth of the election results and the punditry of the mainstream media is seemingly growing every major primary election night. Perhaps none more than the recent Super Tuesday results, especially those of Ohio. How could it possibly be that Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania Senator won the youth vote, all voters under 44, and the married women vote? If one listens to the mainstream media, especially that of NBC, MSNBC and the New York Times one would think the only people voting for Rick Santorum would be rust belt pre-Vatican II ordained Catholic priests, and an amalgamation of southern characters such as Jed Clampett, Mr. Haney, as well as some assorted extras from the set of Deliverance.However, the true exit poll results tell us something quite different.

Hartline goes on to give an in-depth analysis of what is the Catholic vote, why it's not monolithic, and how it got that way. And how its changing for the better, thanks to the youth. He describes his youth as a pro-life Democrat, working for the presidential campaign of pro-life Jesse Jackson. You heard me right. Jackson was pro-life until he ran for president.
 At a pro-life pancake breakfast on Long Island, former friend of Rev Jackson and frequent guest on EWTN, Delores Bernadette Grier, told how Jesse who was himself nearly aborted as a baby, was a pro-life activist with the Archdiocese of New York,and  convinced her to become active in the pro-life movement. She said he was told he had to be pro-abortion in order to run for the presidency and gave in.
So many Catholics followed suit, in order to be accepted by the wider culture, and have the luxuries they craved, they used birth control and voted pro-abortion. They are the Cathoiics who voted for Obama and like,  Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, are cultural Catholics from the Coast.
They have no clue that there is a large, vibrant John Paul II generation just now coming of age to vote. Its been said that home-schoolers are Rick's secret army, and even here in Eastern CT we are organizing for him, and praying for him. Rick knows, I think he intentionally chose Steubenville, OH for his speech on Super Tuesday, since it is the home of JPII Catholic bastion, Franciscan University.  I bet he has a lot of support there.At the end of the month, I will be taking my daughter Gabbi for her interview and campus visit, and will investigate the Santorumentum in that school.

 John Kerry, another cultural Catholic found this out the hard way in 2004 during a campaign rally there. Catholic Evangelist Scott Hahn's son led half of t he student body to the rally carrying signs reading, "You can't be Catholic and Pro-abortion!".
I pray that such a surprise awaits our president on a November eve, when we deliver a win to President Rick Santorum.
Read the entire article here. 

The end of the liberal experiment

Fr Robert Baron on Sen Edward Kennedy

The Great Kennedy and why Teddy wasn't

Read Ross Douthat's excellent Op-ED in the NYTimes about the one difference which separated the Catholic liberalism of the famous siblings.
This one difference which made one into a Catholic hero meriting accolades from the Pope at her death, and the other who has elicted little than perfunctory remarks and prayers from the Vatican.
"What separated them was abortion.
Along with her husband, Sargent Shriver, Eunice belonged to America’s dwindling population of outspoken pro-life liberals. Like her church, she saw a continuity, rather than a contradiction, between championing the poor, the marginalized and the oppressed and protecting unborn human life.
Her brother took a different path. Not at first: In 1971, in a letter to a voter that abortion opponents would have many opportunities to quote, he declared that “wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized — the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old.” But like many other Catholic liberals, from Joseph Biden to Dennis Kucinich, he moved leftward with his party, becoming a down-the-line supporter of abortion rights, with a voting record that brooked no compromise on the issue."
Why did Teddy break ranks with his Church? Possibly because of his presidential ambitions. Judie Brown was on Catholic Radio International saying that Teddy signed on to the Human Life Amendment in 1974. By 1980 when he ran for the Democratic nomination for president, he had changed his tune on abortion.
He lost on both accounts. May God have mercy on him.
Read the entire Op-Ed here.

Kennedy was no friend of Rome

Mother Rose Kennedy is reported to have dreamed that Edward would become a priest. His was a life of privilege and opportunity recklessly squandered. Even Time-CNN recognizes the reason Kennedy alienated himself from the Catholic Church.

"Edward Kennedy, it can be said, was not cut out for the priestly life. His first marriage, to former model Virginia Joan Bennett, ended in divorce in 1982, with the marriage annulled by the Roman Rota more than a decade later. And there are the infamous episodes in his life that showed a man not quite in control of his demons.l(understatement of the year; Chappaquiddick drowning death of Mary Jo Kopechne, Kennedy Smith rape trial, public reputation for drunkenness) But ultimately, beyond his personal travails, Kennedy's relationship with the Church hierarchy was destined for conflict because of politics. The Senator became both the face and the engine of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party that has long led the battle for abortion rights, stem-cell research and gay marriage, all of which Catholic doctrine strictly forbids."

Truer words were never spoken; Kennedy became the antithesis of the Catholic politician, fighting against the most central beliefs of the Church. The sad thing is, with his last name, he didn't have to compromise himself the way he did to stay in office. He could have remained true to the Church; after all he lived in one of the most Catholic states in the nation.
John Henry Westen remembers his abortion legacy and publicly wonders if his funeral will cause grave scandal to the Church.
"What example will this give to Catholics and the rest of the world looking in? It will surely belie the Catholic teachings on the sanctity of life and sexuality. "Surely," they will say, "if one of the most vociferous proponents of abortion and homosexuality in politics is so feted in the Church, the Church cannot possibly regard abortion as murder." Would anyone so honor one who so advocated what the church officially considers an "unspeakable crime"?

He of course, is referring to the fact that President Obama will be delivering the eulogy. Will this be another Notre Dame scandal?
HT Life Site News.

Read the entire story at Time.com.


Fr Raymond de Souza talks about missed opportunities here at NC Register blog.
"The public legacy of the Senate’s greatest liberal and the last lion of his pride is a matter for public judgment. During his 47 years in the Senate, he was the most prominent Catholic Democrat in America. Many critics considered him a better Democrat than Catholic. Yet the tragedy of Ted Kennedy is that had he been more faithful to the public implications of his Catholicism, he may have been a more successful leader of the Democratic Party. The culture wars have not been electorally kind to the Democratic Party, and there is perhaps no person more responsible for the culture wars than Ted Kennedy himself."
Strong words but necessary. We can never imagine what the Kennedy name could have done to advance the Culture of Life in America because this flawed man let his youthful sins drag his entire adult career into the pits of the Culture of Death. That's how the Enemy works; he gets a good person to do something bad (ie leave a young woman to drown to cover your drunken mistake) then he whispers in your ear for the rest of your life, "well you did that, this isn't any worse" about the next worse sin, and the next and the next. Before you know it you have a reputation as a drunk, womanizing extremely liberal senator who is undefeatable in the Senate.
It's a long, slippery slope with Satan pushing you all the way down.
Had Teddy made a heartfelt confession instead of listening to advisers, he might have turned his life around then. Had he served time in jail like any other citizen would for Chappaquiddick, he might have had true repentance. But he got away with murder and then became complicit in the murders of millions of unborn children.
If you have power, you must be extraordinarily vigilant to remain pure and blameless, precisely because you are a target of the enemy who seeks to destroy the earth with our help.

May God have mercy on Edward Kennedy for letting his weakness drag him down to cooperating with evil in his Senate career.

For Nancy Pelosi: A Primer on the Church Teaching on Abortion

By Judie Brown
Judie received the following question in her email:
Why have the Catholic bishops not instructed the appropriate dioceses and parishes to refuse to administer the Holy Eucharist to politicians and candidates who openly espouse a woman's right to receive an abortion? I find this refusal to act very cowardly and hypocritical. I don't believe that the church [sic] can hide behind the excuse that their tax free status prohibits them from acting because this is a matter of morals and is independent of politics. The failure to act causes me to question the validity of the church of which I have been a member for 70 years.
This is perhaps the $64-million-dollar question of the decade, if not the century. And I wish I had a simple answer to provide, but I don’t. So I would like to start with some basic Church teaching that might help us agree that there are some Catholic bishops who simply don’t see things as clearly as people like me.
The Catholic Church teaches that the act of abortion is an intrinsically evil act, a direct attack on God and, therefore, a mortal sin. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states,
Since the first century, the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:
You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.
God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.
A mortal sin is to be judged as mortal according to the following criteria set forth in the Catechism:
For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent."
Further, the Catechism states,
Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God's law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.
By deductive reasoning, we can therefore know that those who are intentionally supporting the grave sin of abortion either politically, financially or otherwise in the public sphere, while claiming to be Catholic, can be guilty not only of scandal but also in serious danger of so gravely offending God that, unless they repent, they will be damned. That is not a personal opinion of mine; it happens to be a truth taught by the Catholic Church. Why else would the sacrament of penance exist?
Therefore, the Catholic bishops have a moral responsibility to be loving and charitable toward those errant souls by not only refusing them the body and blood of Christ, but explaining the reasons why they have no other choice. To deny Holy Communion to such people is act of love toward the public sinner and an act of protection for Christ’s body and blood. Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) made that point perfectly clear in his 2004 memo entitled "Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion: General Principles". Archbishop Raymond Burke recently made the same statement, explaining that it is proper to deny Communion to such people "until they have reformed their lives."
Therefore, I have to answer the fellow who wrote to me by suggesting to him the following:
If a bishop knowingly avoids the obvious and does not teach his flock these facts from the Catechism and acts as if he does not believe in them by failing to explain
how we are evaluate political candidates and
why he is obligated to enforce Church law and deny Holy Communion to public advocates of abortion who claim to be Catholic,
then that bishop is at fault. We need to pray for him, exhort him to teach the truth and ask the Lord to make him bold in these tragic and treacherous times. If lay people like us fail to do so, then we too are too timid to defend the truths of the Catholic faith.
Whether or not a person is going to hell is not for any of us to decide. But it is for each of us to know and understand the truth and spread it to all those with whom we have influence. In the case of a bishop, this responsibility is enormous, but it is also part of his job description.
As far as questioning the validity of the Catholic Church is concerned, I would ask you to join me in praying for the man who wrote to me. He does not see the difference between the Church, which is the bride of Christ, and the mortal human beings who are bishops in need of guts. Let us not question Christ; rather let us question those who for whatever reason offend Him by their silence and acquiescence.
Let us not judge those bishops, but encourage them to be bold. The hour is late, and Catholics need leadership, not political pandering. Abortion is an act of murder, and the bishops have the obligation to tell it like it is. That’s a fact!
Judie Brown is president of American Life League and a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

1968 the year that we are still recovering from

On the fortieth anniversary of Humanae Vitae, I have been asked to reflect on one event of that year, the doctrinal dissent among some priests and theologians in an American archdiocese on the occasion of its publication. It is not an easy or welcome task. But since it may help some followers of Jesus to live what Pope Paul VI called a more “disciplined” life (HV 21), I will explore that event.
The summer of 1968 is a record of God’s hottest hour. The memories are not forgotten; they are painful. They remain vivid like a tornado in the plains of Colorado. They inhabit the whirlwind where God’s wrath dwells. In 1968, something terrible happened in the Church. Within the ministerial priesthood, ruptures developed everywhere among friends which never healed. And the wounds continue to affect the whole Church. The dissent, together with the leaders’ manipulation of the anger they fomented, became a supreme test. It changed fundamental relationships within the Church. It was a Peirasmòs for many.
Read the entire article here. This is a long, but fascinating and important read in order to understand how the Church suffered since the 60's.
HT California Catholic Daily and NOR

Save Our Lady of Lourdes Parish

For decades on Long Island, there has been a sanctuary from the ravages of "the Spirit of Vatican II", a place where respect for the Magesterium takes precedence over liturgical fads, a place where Catholic traditions such as Eucharistic and Marian devotion have flourished, and children are nutured in the faith.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Massapequa Park, is a parish which many have centered their lives around on Long Island, which has been in a spiritual desert for my entire lifetime, whose closing Catholic schools, declining religious orders, and errant retreat houses have caused many faithful Catholics pain.
A new pastor, is under the guise of 'inclusion' and the phrase, "we're all Catholics" is undermining some of Our Lady of Lourdes Massapequa Park's decades old traditions. I have been to the wonderful monthly Holy Hours at OLL, and have many friends there. Parishioners at OLL have always been close to the heart of the Church in all matters, desiring only to remain faithful to the Holy Father. It is painful to see the tranquility of the parish threatened by a new pastor who feels he needs to correct the theology of some of the holiest souls on Long Island, without consulting them.
To understand this crisis, go to their website, Save OLL MP and hear from them directly.

Obama Catholics Blast Bill Donohue, Blame Conservatives for Failing to End Abortion [UPDATED]

Does the term "Obama Catholics" grate on you too?
Here's what Pro Ecclesia's Jay Anderson has to say, at the audacity of Obama Catholics blaming conservatives for not ending abortion in three decades.
"I once again marvel at the chutzpah of people who can, with a straight face, chide conservatives and Republicans for failing to end the very scourge that these Obama Catholics and the candidates they support have fought tooth and nail to protect."
Well stated, as usual, Jay!
Read his entire post here.

Is Liberal Catholicism on the ropes?

He may not have been thinking about it at the time, but Pope Benedict, in the course of his recent U.S. visit may have dealt a knockout blow to the liberal American Catholicism that has challenged Rome since the early 1960s. He did so by speaking frankly and forcefully of his "deep shame" during his meeting with victims of the Church's sex-abuse scandal. By demonstrating that he "gets" this most visceral of issues, the pontiff may have successfully mollified a good many alienated believers — and in the process, neutralized the last great rallying point for what was once a feisty and optimistic style of progressivism.
HT Time
If Pope Benedict wasn't thinking about it, which I doubt, Someone else was.
This is another way of saying that Voice of the Faithful just lost their reason to rant. They were all too old for that kind of anger anyway, it set off their blood presure, bless their hearts.

Obama's Catholic supporters

Here is a list of supporters of Barack Obama's candidacy for president, with their faith-based reasons. Several Catholics who need a catechism lesson are on the list, and a Catholic priest.

Fr. Pfleger, just what part of infanticide don't you understand?!

Lifesite News explains:
“I think Barack Obama is in a class of his own,” he said.As an Illinois Senator Obama had the unstinting approval of the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council for his dependable support of pro-abortion legislation.
Now, after a short two years in the U.S. Senate, Obama has earned 100% ratings from pro-abortion groups across the board, including NARAL Pro-Choice America and the National Organization for Women.In 2002 he voted against a bill to protect or offer medical care to babies that survive botched abortions. Prior to that he opposed an Illinois State ban on partial-birth abortion, and refused his vote to a bill mandating internet pornography filters in schools.
Dr Alveeda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, says "The fight against abortion is a new frontier in the civil rights movement," she said, according to an article in the Mississippi Daily Journal.
"My uncle often said that we don't follow through," King added. "He said that we admonish black women not to abort their babies but we don't show them how to care for them, don't give them options for life."
King bemoaned the number of black leaders today who embrace abortion.
The newspaper said King told the audience that African-American political leaders sold out their pro-life views for support from abortion advocates and other political groups for promoting civil rights.
"We didn't understand how dramatically abortion was affecting our community," she said. "The tradeoff between concentrating too much on other social issues and ignoring abortion has been a deadly tradeoff."
HT LifeNews.com
Obama can't help the poor if he's in favor of killing them before and after they are born!
HT Sultan Knish

Raymond Arroyo on the Motu Proprio

"While drafting the decree that would return the old Latin mass to Catholic altars around the world, Pope Benedict XVI rightly predicted that reaction to his directive would range from "joyful acceptance to harsh opposition." But what he did not anticipate was the reaction of pundits and not a few clerics who have tried to dismiss the decree as a curiosity--a nonevent that is likely to have little effect beyond a few "ultraconservative" throwbacks. David Gibson, the author of "The Coming Catholic Church," says that the announcement is "much ado about nothing," and French Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard says that he doesn't "see a tsunami coming." But there is much more at play here than satiating the liturgical appetites of a few traditionalists. "
Opinion Journal.com
Bishop Ricard should take a look at my sitemeter, which is climbing like a tsunami. Last night, I sent Michael Brown from Spirit Daily a link from my post about the Latin Mass database on Lumen Gentleman, and my readership has quintupled, and it's only noon!

Father Zuhlsdorf interprets the news reports

Just in case you are getting a headache (like me) reading the various reports from liberal columnists about the decline of Vatican II reforms, Fr. Z offers his witty, intelligent commentary (or what the reporters are really saying) between the lines.

Creative Minority Report: Motu Proprio Signals a New 'Dark Ages' - A Catholic Blog: Religion, Politics, Current Events, Humor, and more.

Creative Minority Report: Motu Proprio Signals a New 'Dark Ages' - A Catholic Blog: Religion, Politics, Current Events, Humor, and more.

C'mon, excommunicate me!

Frances Kissling, the now retired President of Catholics for a Free Choice taunts bishops who have failed to inform her of her excommunication for her outspoken support of abortion all these years, along with Kennedy, Cuomo et al. Is there no bishop out there to comply with her request?!

Judie Brown's Hard Hitting new Book, "Saving Those Damned Catholics", is Not a Play on Words

"Saving Those Damned Catholics outlines the logic behind the most controversial teachings in the Church today, and exposes the arguments put forth by priests and bishops who clearly do not agree with some of these teachings themselves. Astounding as it may seem, there are reasons why federal funding has become more important than protecting innocent life; why popularity among the most liberal of politicians has trumped Pope Benedict XVI’s call to be good shepherds and, indeed, to be counter-cultural. There are reasons why homosexuals are still in the seminaries; and there are reasons why the vast majority of Catholics use birth control and condone abortion. "says the review.
I think the current crisis in this immoral society, this Culture of Death is due to lack of leadership in the American Catholic Church. If the Church leadership had the strength of the Polish clergy, traitors notwithstanding, abortion would be illegal in this country today, and the disabled elderly would not need to fear for their lives. Families would be intact, and seminaries would be full of dedicated young men. This has been a difficult 40 years in the desert for the Church, but I believe we are turning the corner. The old guard still resists, however, believing in the faded promise of the liberal revolution, like the grizzled old communist professors in Ivy League schools, with ancient busts of Lenin on their desks, still quoting Marx.
May Almighty God have mercy on them. Pray for them.