The Suing "Priest"

This program is from RealCatholicTV.com

LifeSiteNews

also relevant..

Some Good and Some Bad Prolife News - Canada

First the good news : The Liberal motion to include 'contraception' in the overseas funding of maternal care - was defeated 144 votes to 138. The deciding votes (as the Conservatives voted against, and the Bloq and NDP voted for) came from prolife Liberal MPs. So Canada does in fact have some Liberal prolifers. Good News!


The Bad News, is that the 'Catholic' charity Development and Peace, fresh from their slandering of Campaign Life Coalition and LifeSite News, are moving forward with their betrayal of Catholic social teaching :

D&P's “young adult solidarity trip” aims to provide the young adults with “a personal experience of the reality of people in the Global South” and to help them “gain a perspective on what ‘development’ looks like on the ground by meeting a number of D&P Partners.”

The ten young adults, five anglophone and five francophone, will work with FDC as well as the Center for Environmental Concern-Philippines and Urban Poor Associates. Applications for the three-week trip, open to D&P supporters aged 18-35, were due last week.

D&P's website lists FDC as a partner and links to the group's website, where evidence of FDC's abortion advocacy is readily available.

A search of their site for the word 'abortion' yields two articles. The second article, 'Women’s groups urge lawmakers to pass Reproductive Health Bill', from September 21, 2008, identifies FDC as part of a 50-group coalition promoting the Philippines' Reproductive Health Bill 5043. The article notes that the coalition “stressed that it is a woman’s right to have control over and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to her sexual and reproductive health, free of coercion, discrimination and violence.”

According to the coalition, “The RH Bill makes it the responsibility of the state to protect the right to choose, not to make decisions for individuals. Women’s right to choose is a basic part of exercising control over their lives. The Bill provides for women to be informed and to services that will ensure women’s ability to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights.”

Bonus points, if you spot the obvious parallels between these stories and the US healthcare story. (Hint: It has to do with Catholics)

Not The Only Idiot In Britain

Tony Blair believes that the Pope's 'attitude' towards homosexuality is a 'generational' issue. Who is responsible for this man's RCIA? His wife?!

LifeSiteNews:

... In separate media venues this week, former British Prime Minister and his wife have attacked Pope Benedict XIV and the Catholic teaching on homosexuality and the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS.

In an interview with Attitude, a homosexual magazine, Tony Blair said that Pope Benedict's objection to homosexual behaviour is a "generational" issue and that any change in Catholic teaching on the matter is resisted by Church leaders because of "fear" among religious leaders of changing with the times...

WHY DID HE BOTHER BECOMING A CATHOLIC? Really, what was the point ?


As Blair points out in the article, he is surrounded by 'Catholics' who do not believe church teachings on contraception, homosexuality or abortion. One of those 'Catholics' is his wife, Cherie Blair, vocal dissident and supporter of Planned Parenthood. Britain appears to be full of 'Catholics' with no idea of the meaning of BEING Catholic.

The new Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, has his hands full!

William Daley, "Chicago Catholic" , Embarrassed (Oh Woe!)

Father John Zuhlsdorf comments on Daley's 'bad catholic' response to Catholic outrage over honouring the dishonorable at Notre Dame. He points out the false premises and corrupt thinking of a man who is more 'Chicago' than he is a Christian. That does not a 'good Catholic' make!

...A main talking point clutched by Catholics who are trying to defend the invitation by Notre Shame to Pres. Obama is that disapprobation of the invitation is really political.

That is because the defenders of the invitation are long-habituated to reducing what are really questions of faith and reason to politics.

With that in mind, let’s see what a long-time Chicago Democrat politician, not coincidentally named "Daley", brother of the current Mayor of Chicago, Pres. Clinton’s Secretary of Commerce, chairman of Vice-Pres. Gore’s campaign, supporter of Pres. Obama, the Loyola University educated William M. Daley has to say.

He is the ultimate Catholic Democrat/Obama insider....

Father Z goes on to take Daley's 'complaint' apart - line by line. A great read!

"Christendom vs Notre Dame"

There is a difference between 'marketing' Catholic and BEING Catholic

NCRegister:

The University of Notre Dame’s 2009 commencement speaker: President Barack Obama, one of the most powerful proponents of abortion in the history of the American Republic.

The recipient of Christendom College’s Pro Deo et Patria Medal for Distinguished Service to God and Country, to be awarded at Christendom’s 2009 commencement: Priests for Life founder Father Frank Pavone, one of the most dedicated defenders of unborn human life in the history of the American Republic....

One wins 'prestige' in the domain of the enemy, the other wins Heaven. What is the best use of my 'college dollars', in influencng the adult life of my children?

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Notre Dame Scandal Outrages Alumni *UPDATE*

PEWSITTER

“It is beyond sinful that a University dedicated to the Mother of God, in whose womb the salvation of the world became incarnate, would give a platform to the biggest enemy of life in the womb this country has ever seen.”
(Michael Voris ND '83)

"This is a direct slap in the face to all who venerate the Mother of God. To be honoring a man who continues to do everything in his power to destroy the fundamental essence of motherhood through abortion, shows just how far the University has lost its moral bearings."(Marc Brammer, ND Class of ’74 and MBA’76)


*UPDATE*
Well known faithful Catholics weigh in at an NRO Symposium, including:

George Weigel

...It’s bad for Notre Dame, bad for Catholic moral witness in America, and bad for the bishops who are trying to mount a defense against the Obama administration’s assault on the conscience rights of Catholic health-care professionals...

James Schall S.J.

...The accepting of the honor to the president evidently meets his purposes. The awarding it seems to meet the purposes of the university. Some say that it is a perfect fit. Others suspect that both parties, in accepting and giving such honors, manage to demean each other in what each is, in truth, expected to stand for....

Candace De Russy

...President Obama has zealously moved in his first weeks in office to carry out the most radical anti-life, un-Christian agenda of any American president. Among other actions antithetical to the teachings of the Catholic Church, he has increased federal funding for abortions across the world.
For Notre Dame to give President Obama its highest honor is blatantly to break faith and trust with all the Catholic faithful, the U.S. bishops who have expressly spoken against such Catholic institutional awards, and generations of Catholic parents and students who have relied on the university to stand by its hallowed purpose....

Richard Garnett(law prof ND)

...Notre Dame has clouded what should be clear, and deeply disappointed not just her usual critics, but also those of us who want very much for her to succeed....

Patrick Lee

....This is not a mere theoretical disagreement. This act of promoting a virulently pro-abortion politician will cost lives — the lives of many unborn. And it will harm young men and women by obscuring the ugly truth about abortion....

Ralph McInerny(phil.prof. ND)

....Administrators are hugging themselves with delight at this massive publicity coup. The national championship in football has eluded Notre Dame for many years, but when the president dribbles onto the stage at the great event, the hall will erupt in ecstatic applause; the president, Father Jenkins, will wring his hand; and a final nail will be driven into the coffin of a once-great Catholic university. No one will note nor long remember what Barack Obama says on the occasion. Who listens to commencement addresses? But the Lady atop the golden dome, recalling the flight into Egypt, will exhibit one of her many titles: She who weeps.

Patrick J. Reilly

....Beyond the matter of propriety, Catholics rightly suspect betrayal by a Catholic institution. With all of the possible honorees who could have been selected, Notre Dame chose the individual who is today the most dangerous proponent of the Culture of Death in the United States. For centuries, faithful Christians persevered under the persecution of emperors, kings, and Communists; but in the Land of the Free, so-called Catholic intellectuals freely honor those who are responsible for great evil. We have been betrayed.

Paul Kengor

...This invitation is, of course, an outrage. Notre Dame is not asking Obama to compromise his convictions. Notre Dame is asking the Church to compromise its convictions.
It boils down to the abortion issue: The late, great Pope John Paul II, along with the Magisterium (the teaching body of the Church), the cardinals, and American bishops, ordered Catholic colleges not to extend platforms to pro-choice speakers. And Obama is not even your run-of-the-mill “pro-choicer.” He is, flatly, the most radical supporter of abortion ever to occupy the White House...

R.R.Reno

...What was the leadership at Notre Dame thinking? In May the university will give Mary Ann Glendon the Laetare Medal, its highest honor. Glendon has heroically devoted a great deal of her life to defending innocent life. And then Barack Obama — a man who has devoted a great deal of his life to representing elite liberal and anti-Catholic moral views about sex, marriage, and reproduction — enjoys the spotlight. It’s an insult to Glendon.
The complacent leaders of Catholic institutions need to wake up. Many of the richest and most powerful people in our country are utterly and aggressively opposed to traditional Catholic moral principles. Notre Dame can’t pretend that the elite’s fondest hope isn’t for the death of the pro-life movement. And Notre Dame also can’t pretend that giving Obama the podium on commencement day doesn’t create the illusion that his abortion policies are somehow okay.
Alumni and donors need to wake up too....

Fr. George Rutler

This is a highly cynical act, contemptuous of the Church’s prophetic voice in civil society and wagering that there will be no retribution. If a midwestern school seeks attention by granting Mr. Obama an honorary doctorate in law, the next logical step would be to grant Judas Iscariot posthumously an honorary doctorate in business administration.

CHECK OUT Notre Dame Scandal for ACTION

Sebelius A Troubling Choice - Bishop Naumann

Bishop Naumann directly addresses the serious threat to individual rights, of having a radical abortion supporter to head up HHS and health reform.


The Leaven:

...The protection of conscience rights for individuals and institutions is extremely important. The Obama administration has already expressed a desire to rescind the policies of the Bush administration to strengthen conscience protection for health care workers and providers. President Obama, when he was Senator Obama, co-sponsored the so-called Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) that was introduced in the previous Congress. That version of FOCA would have, among other things, forced health care providers to cooperate in abortion. Regretfully, Governor Sebelius throughout her political career has been associated with and supported by Planned Parenthood, NOW, NARAL and others advocating for abortion to be considered a “health care right.”...
...The appointment of Governor Sebelius as the secretary of HHS concerns me on many levels. With her history of support for legalized abortion and embryonic stem-cell research, it is troubling the important influence that she will have on shaping health care policies for our nation. Having elected President Obama with his own record of support for legalized abortion, our nation should not be surprised by his appointment of a secretary for HHS who shares his views. Though many people voted for President Obama not because of his support for legalized abortion, but despite it, voters in effect gave him the ability to appoint individuals who share his anti-life views to his Cabinet and, even more troubling, to the courts.....

In this excellent address, Bishop Naumann highlights all the battlefronts that President Obama has already sent his Generals to. In the Culture of Death war against human life, General Sebelius is well suited for the job.

The continued dissolution of American society by a nihilistic President and his minions will be ugly. And as Bishop Naumann points out, hardly a surprise.

What's to be done?

Keep doing what we are doing.
Educate the ignorant.
Hope for change.
Pray that as few people as possible get sucked into the vortex of evil.
Trust in God.





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"Were Nancy Pelosi And Benedict XVI At The Same Meeting?"

George Weigel wonders about the contrast in press releases between the pontiff and the senator.

From the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi:

"It is with great joy that my husband, Paul, and I met with His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, today. In our conversation, I had the opportunity to praise the Church’s leadership in fighting poverty, hunger, and global warming, as well as the Holy Father’s dedication to religious freedom and his upcoming trip and message to Israel. I was proud to show His Holiness a photograph of my family’s papal visit in the 1950s, as well as a recent picture of our children and grandchildren."

From the Press Office of the Holy See:

"Following the General Audience, the Holy Father briefly greeted Mrs. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, together with her entourage. His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church’s consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception until natural death, which enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists, and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of development"...

...her office’s statement on today’s meeting makes it clear something else was afoot: that Pelosi....was trying to recruit Benedict XVI (“Joseph Ratzinger, D., Bavaria”?) to Team Nancy....

...His Holiness wasn’t buying it.

He told Pelosi, politely but unmistakably, that her relentlessly pro-abortion politics put her in serious difficulties as a Catholic, which was his obligation as a pastor. He also underscored — for Pelosi, Joe Biden, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Barbara Mikulski, Rose DeLauro, Kathleen Sebelius, and everyone else — that the Church’s opposition to the taking of innocent human life, at any stage of the human journey, is not some weird Catholic hocus-pocus; it’s a first principle of justice than can be known by reason. It is a “requirement of the natural moral law” — that is, the moral truths we can know by thinking about what is right and what is wrong — to defend the inviolability of innocent human life. You don’t have to believe in papal primacy to know that; you don’t have do believe in seven sacraments, or the episcopal structure of the Church, or the divinity of Christ, to know that. You don’t even have to believe in God to know that. You only have to be a morally serious human being, willing to work through a moral argument — which, of course, means being the kind of person who understands that moral truth cannot be reduced to questions of feminist political correctness or partisan political advantage...

A think a 'rogue's gallery' of prominent dissident 'Catholics' who push anti-Catholic dogma is in order. The above names would an obvious beginning...

Pelosi And The Pope

Nancy Pelosi, the prominent US Senator, well known by Catholics as a dissident at best, has visited the Pope this week. It couldn't have been too much fun to be publicly rebuked by the Pope, for things she repeatedly tells us are not a contradiction to her claim of being an 'ardent Catholic'.

LifeSiteNews:

...The Vatican Press Office released a note this morning detailing part of the conversation which Pope Benedict XVI had with Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The note reads: "His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church's consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death which enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development."

Vatican insiders stressed to LifeSiteNews.com that such releases are always phrased in diplomatic language and thus the correction of the Speaker who describes herself as a "faithful Catholic," despite her abortion advocacy, should be taken as a firm rebuke....

They also declined to give her a photo opportunity.

Meanwhile, at home the media hacks are falling all over themselves to ignore reality. Practically shedding tears, telling tales of Pelosi's youthful Catholic practices, they present her well known differences with authentic Catholicism as though they were typical of Catholic worship. As though Catholics had a catechetical menu off of which they could CHOOSE from opposing options. As if there were no Truth.

There is Truth.

Nancy Pelosi wouldn't know Truth , if it refused to get its picture taken with her.

Florida Has Problems...

LifeSiteNews:

Just days after the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI has ordered an apostolic visitation of all non-contemplative women’s religious orders in the United States, LifeSiteNews has learned that a notorious Catholic dissenter, known for her promotion of goddess-worship and “eco-spirituality,” is scheduled to speak at the Miami Archdiocese’s Saint Thomas University...

Announced in the diocesan bulletin no less! Miami is in trouble, and its not the only diocese in Florida to have a Bishop that at the very least is seen to be supportive of dissenters to the faith. We have travelled through Florida twice a year for several years, and I have yet to find a parish I'd like to return to! Each visit to a Catholic church has been at least saddening, sometimes shocking in its liturgical abuses and warping of Catholic theology. Dissent.

Although we(G.Cayman) are closer geographically to Miami, I am ever so grateful that our 'missio' parish is 'attached' to Detroit!

*disclaimer* I know that there are many faithful Catholics and Catholic clergy in Florida. I pray for their perseverance. If anyone wants to send me some suggestions of faithful parishes in Tampa, Orlando, and north on the I95, I'd be grateful!

Post Modern Economics a la Pelosi *UPDATE*

UPDATE
Seems like the contraception element of the 'stimulus' may be dropped.
We'll see.




"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me

...line them up to the left please. READY...AIM...FIRE!!



I would call this sardonic humour, if not for how vey sad and shameful this really is.

Scott Ott:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told ABC News’ George Stephanapolous Sunday that the Democrat’s economic stimulus bill, containing hundreds of millions of dollars for “family planning” services for the poor, will make real cuts in the number of low-income people, thereby saving taxpayer dollars, and increasing average income for everyone.

“Poor people are a luxury we just can’t afford,’ said Rep. Pelosi, “They cost us a lot of money to maintain; what with food stamps, housing and health care. So if we can rapidly reduce the number of poor people through contraception and abortion, that’s a net gain for federal and state budgets, and a fast track to economic recovery. Every poor baby prevented is like money in the bank.”.....

Less than a week in power, and the Democrats cannot seem to pace themselves. They're going to run through all the social engineering strategies in the first month! Eugenics, euthanasia, gay marriage, abortion, human experimentation .... aren't the groups most affected by these moves also the ones that are most likely to vote Democrat?

I don't get the 'kill off our demographic' strategy. Are there really enough rich atheist secular humanist post modern nihilists in the country to keep these guys in power...? Really?!



On a serious note, I think Nancy Pelosi is in desperate and urgent need of prayers. Her time could expire any moment, as with all of us, and she seems ill prepared to meet her Maker. Thanks to real Christians (as opposed to faux catholics), who most assuredly have had her in their prayers for quite a while. By God's grace, even the most obvious lost cause can be redeemed.

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Audacity of Pope

Comments at Curt Jester, on Doug Kmiec's latest utterings:

(Clayton)I attended the talk as well, but haven't blogged about it yet. The presentation was intellectually disappointing and morally disturbing.

I don't doubt (Kmiec's) sincerity, but I do believe he has deceived himself, and it's sobering to think of the way he may have caused others to stumble.

He spent the first ten minutes praising the Vincentian Fathers (who hosted the event) by telling friendly stories about their community, the priest after whom the lecture series was named, etc.

The he talked about how he first met Barack, and how he had challenged him on several occasions about the life issues, but from there it devolved into a personal testimony about Barack's greatness. He had three stories, each of which I found not only unimpressive, but actually unsettling. One story had to do with Barack's response to some evangelical asking him if he thought Jesus was the way, the truth, and the life. Barack shook his head and said no. When asked for clarification, Barack said, "I would say that Jesus is MY way, but not THE way" and went on to say that he couldn't fathom that his mother, a virtuous non-believer, would not be going to heaven. Kmiec was quite taken by this response to the "fundamentalist."

Kmiec is, quite literally, an apostle for Barack. And he gave the impression that those who disagree with Barack just don't understand him, while he, as an eyewitness, can testify on his behalf....


....In response to a question, he did say that if Pope Benedict were to clarify his note about "proportionate reasons," and told him that he (Kmiec) had interpreted it wrongly, he would recant his position. But why should he require such a thing? I wish he demanded as much of Barack as he seems to demand of Benedict.

We all wish that Clayton. We all do!

"The Church Is Not Burger King!"

Diane at Te Deum has quite a bit to say about the scandal of pride filled dissidents following their 'conscience' over the teachings of the Magisterium:

...Is it any wonder why this group is often indifferent towards the Blessed Mother or holds her in disdain? She is the new Eve who rejected pride in humble obedience to the will of God for her.

The defiant attitude we see belongs to the "either/or" crowd - the one that tries to pit peace and justice against humility and obedience; and the Iraq war against abortion. Mother Teresa proved that peace and justice worked right along side humility and obedience (and perhaps that is why she is held in disdain by some in this group). And, you can't compare nearly 50,000,000 lives of the unborn lost to several thousand in the Iraq war. All lives are valuable and the 50 million can't be ignored.

I have also found the propensity running high among them for using the priest scandal as an excuse to set aside authentic dialogue and reason. At the very least, the priest scandal is used to divert attention away from the subject at hand.

Folks, there can only be one true North, where the compass points. One cannot go south and proclaim that it is north because he wants it to be so. Catholics need to understand that we rely on a compass to tell us where North is and that compass is the Catholic Church. Otherwise, we would have some people going East and want to proclaim it as North, while others are going West or South and want those to be proclaimed as North.

Jesus Christ is Truth. There can't be different versions of the truth any more than there could be different types of Jesus to pick and choose from. But, that is what some are trying to do - to treat the Church like Burger King where you can, "have it your way"....

(You Go Girl!)

Catholic Presence

That's our girl, showing her 'bi-partisan' spirit! I'm guessing that Pelosi won't actually fit in too well with Obama's chosen image (the 'chosen' image), and they'll have to get someone less , um, like a pitbull with lipstick. Its hard to see her usefulness in a Democrat gov't. And no, she doesn't lend any credible Catholic presence at all. Even less than the smattering of Kennedy's, or Joe Biden.

Canada has been plagued for decades with the same pseudo-Catholic presence, and we're already where Obama wants to be .... unrestricted abortion in a socialist state. America, the default Canada. How sad.

I listened to Martin Luther King the lll on Fox this morning. They missed a great opportunity to ask him what his father would have thought of Obama's push for unrestricted abortion as the solution to the 'poverty problem'. King said that both candidates had mentioned the 'middle class', but that his father's primary concern had been the poor. He also said that while he realized that a black president was a big deal for some, he had had confidence that it was already possible. Before Obama. He did not endorse Obama's presidency directly, although he was being interviewed as if that was a 'given'. (These morning guys!) Too bad they didn't have him there with his cousin Alveda King, who has been very outspoken about King Jr.'s strong 'prolife' values, and has been campaigning tirelessly to end the genocide of blacks in America through abortion.
(see Obama Is Not King)