Fr. Corapi on the Evils of Socialism

via email:

At a time when it surely seems that capitalism has run amuck and poised the world on the edge of economic ruin, the temptation is very strong for the pendulum to swing too far left into the failed and immoral territory of socialism. Historically pure socialism has never worked, philosophically it cannot work, and morally it is inherently evil (because it undermines the right of private property ownership, an inherent human right) and hence should not be given a chance to work.

The response might be that what we have at the moment isn’t pure socialism. The problem is that the moment is incredibly fluid and the direction toward a more radical form of socialism under way with frightening speed. Unless, of course, you believe the politicians and their appointees whose stock-in-trade has become lies, deception, and self-interest.

The common error is to think that socialism helps the poor and disenfranchised. As Pope Leo XIII pointed out as long ago as 1891 in his Encyclical “Rerum Novarum”, socialism does not help the poor. Rather, it reduces everyone to the same lowest common denominator of poverty and misery, while at the same time drying up the very sources of capital.

I recently prepared a half hour video presentation for the “Fullness of Truth” conference in Corpus Christi, Texas that speaks of the Church’s social teaching relative to socialism. This is a brief synthesis of some of the problems we face economically and how socialism is not the answer to these problems.

We are making this half hour DVD available to our customers free with a regular purchase of $50.00 or more for a limited time only.

God Bless You
Fr. John Corapi
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More here

St. Mary's Protest - First Amendment Under Assault

St. Mary's College in Moraga, California shuts off debate to protect "reputation" of domestic terrorist Bill Ayers.

Every day seems like "News of the Weird" day

Colorado Gov. Ritter Signs Transgender Bill

... On Thursday, Ritter signed Senate Bill 200 which expands "ant-discrimination" law to cover sexual orientation, meaning not only homosexuality or bisexuality, but also "transgender status or another person's perception thereof."

... A major criticism of the bill by conservatives is that it appears to allow men who self-identify as "transgender" a legal right to demand to be able to user women's bathrooms, health club showers, bathhouses, and any other "public accomodation".

Importantly, the bill does not define "transgender".

...In other words, not only is there no legal definition for transgender, but there isn't even a solid dictionary definition for a court to rely on. Instead, transgender status is a matter of self-identification, rendering such a claim to be nearly impossible to prove or disprove....

And this governor is considered by some to be a faithful Roman Catholic?

at Human Events.

Nothing New Here...

The Telegraph posts an article about Hans Kung which is nothing more than a rehash of his constant complaints...

Pope Benedict attacked by Catholic Church’s most senior theologians

One of the Catholic Church’s most senior theologians, and former mentor to Pope

Benedict XVI, has launched a stinging attack on the Vatican.
Father Hans Küng, 80, a Swiss priest and professor at Tübingen university said it was a “tragedy” for the Catholic Church that Rome had failed to follow the path of liberalisation set out by the Vatican II council in 1965.

I'm not certain than any faithful Catholic would dare suggest that Kung is one of the Church's "most senior theologians" unless he was referring to his 'age' - it certainly isn't doctrinal fidelity.

And where did Vatican 2 establish a "path of liberalisation"? This is what can happen when one fails to read, with the mind of the Church, the documents of any council. It's no different, really, than reading Scripture. He who reads the Scriptures after dismissing the Church's (or the Fathers') understanding can easily succumb to error or erroneous interpretations - as evidenced by the thousands upon thousands of 'Sola Scriptura' denominations. Kung seems to be no different in this regard.

...In an interview with La Repubblica, however, he said: “Rome continues to block every sort of renewal, and is blocking any ecumenical unification with the protestant and orthodox churches. This pope has made serious mistakes.”

Kung, a pope in his own mind - we need to pray for him and for those who minds and hearts have been infected by his dissent, pride and rebellion.

“Legal jujitsu” - California Supreme Court

“I cannot join the majority’s holding that the California Constitution gives same-sex couples a right to marry. In reaching this decision, I believe, the majority violates the separation of powers, and thereby commits profound error....”

In his dissent, Baxter wrote that he agreed with the court’s majority that “‘from the beginning of California statehood, the legal institution of civil marriage has been understood to refer to a relationship between a man and a woman.’” He noted he also agreed that Proposition 22, the “initiative statute, adopted by popular vote of 61.4 percent and thus immune from unilateral repeal by the Legislature,” invalidates both same-sex marriages “consummated elsewhere” and those “contracted under that name in the state.”

Baxter, however, criticized the majority for relying “heavily on the Legislature’s adoption of progressive civil rights protections for gays and lesbians to find a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. In effect, the majority gives the Legislature indirectly power that body does not directly possess to amend the Constitution and repeal an initiative statute....”

Quiet Encounter: When Benedict XVI Met Cardinal Dulles

By Father Raymond J. De Souza
Register Correspondent

NEW YORK — Amid the great public spectacles of his visit to America, Pope Benedict XVI made time for a private, poignant encounter with Cardinal Avery Dulles, SJ, on April 19 at New York’s St. Joseph’s Seminary.

Cardinal Dulles, suffering the effects of post-polio syndrome, now lives in the Jesuit infirmary at Fordham University. As his muscles atrophy, he is no longer able to walk and is unable to speak. He was therefore unable to participate in the papal events alongside the other cardinals.

Instead, the Holy Father decided to meet him privately as a gesture of esteem and affection....

I had no idea that Cardinal Dulles was in such poor health...

The Holy Father's Address to Catholic College Educators

Can be read here:

Abandon your beliefs and submit to your masters

Pharmacist loses appeal in birth control pill case

Former Barron resident Neil T. Noesen lost a court battle last week to clear sanctions against him in a 2002 case where he declined to fill a birth control prescription because of his religious beliefs.

Noesen was disciplined by Wisconsin's Pharmacy Examining Board for his actions, and he was required to attend ethics classes in order to keep his professional license....

An "ethics" class? - one can only imagine what sort of "ethics" would be proposed for his "re-educational process" by which the state demands that he reliquish his conscience and beliefs to the will of the state. State sponsored tyranny - May God help us!

Dr. Peter Kreeft: "We are living in a spiritual Hiroshima"

From CatholicCitizens.org - Notes By Joe Wemhoff -The Annual Parish Respect Life Coordinator Conference, Archdiocese of Chicago

Dr. Peter Kreeft (pronounced "kreft") is a professor of philosophy at Boston College. He is an orthodox Roman Catholic, who has written over 45 books, and who contributes regularly to various Christian publications. Dr. Kreeft is one of the most eloquent voices for the Faith in America. This summary of Dr. Kreeft's remarks was prepared on March 9, 2008, by Joseph A. Wemhoff, from memory and from extensive notes taken during the talk. Dr. Kreeft has his own website at www.peterkreeft.com.

[...]

The term "Culture War" is simply a euphemism for the conflict between Christ and the Antichrist, with the stakes being the fate of the universe.

Sadly, today, the Antichrist controls all of the formal and informal means of education and information in America, including the media, news reporting, publishing, music, movies (Hollywood), etc. Today, pornography generates more revenue in America than any other industry except gambling.

...The Christian religion is now in decline, and the Antichrist is now winning...Most people today "feel;" they no longer "think."

We are living in a "spiritual Hiroshima." The Catholic Church is full of psychobabble. Our bishops have all the courage and behavior of rabbits. Since Vatican II, three-quarters of our nuns are gone. Sunday Mass attendance has declined from 75% to 25%. Belief in the Real Presence has dropped from nearly 100% to about 30%. The Catholic Church has lost the power to arrest the decline of our culture.

Properly said, ours is not a "Culture of Death," but a "Culture of Murder." There is the murder of marriage (divorce). There is the murder of the unborn (abortion). There is the murder of reason by militant feminists and by militant homosexuals. The cloning of humans promises to turn the "I am" of God into the "it is" of humanism. Science is promising eternal life by working to eliminate from humankind the "age and die" gene, which supposedly is not found in non-sexual species and in cancer cells....

So what do we do? Dr Kreeft reminds us of what the Church has always taught: Prayer, the sacrament of confession, and the Holy Eucharist....

Much more can be found in this enlightening report here.

Rome university audience applauds Pope's text

Rome, Jan. 17, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) chose not to visit La Sapienza university on January 17, as originally scheduled, because "the prerequisites for a dignified and tranquil reception were not present," Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone (bio - news) explained in a letter to the school's rector.
[...]
The Pope's lecture was read at the convocation that the Pontiff had been invited to address. [The full text of the papal address is available on the CWN site.]....

Maintain a Vigilant Awareness of the Truth

This is too good not to share.

VATICAN CITY, 17 JAN 2008 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., yesterday sent a letter to the rector of Rome's "La Sapienza" University, explaining the reasons for which the Pope will not participate in today's ceremony for the inauguration of that institution's academic year.

In his letter the Cardinal writes: "As, unfortunately, the prerequisites for a dignified and tranquil welcome were not present, because of an initiative by a decidedly minority group of professors and students, it was judged opportune to postpone the scheduled visit in order to remove any pretext for demonstrations which would have been unfortunate for everyone concerned".

Nonetheless, the letter continues, given that the majority of professors and students wished to hear "a culturally meaningful word, whence to draw stimuli for their own journey in search of truth, the Holy Father has instructed that the text he prepared for the occasion be sent to you".

In his discourse, which was read out at the end of this morning's ceremony, Benedict XVI recalls the lecture he delivered at Regensburg in September 2006, during the course of his apostolic trip to Germany. On that occasion, he writes, "I spoke as Pope but, above all, as a former professor of what used to be my own university. ... However, I was invited to 'La Sapienza', the ancient university of Rome, as Bishop of Rome, and as such I must speak.

"Of course", he adds, "'La Sapienza' was once the university of the Pope, but today it is a lay university enjoying that autonomy which, on the basis of the principles on which they were founded, has always been part of the nature of universities, which must be exclusively bound by the authority of the truth".

"The Pope is first and foremost the Bishop of Rome and as such, by virtue of his succession from the Apostle Peter, has an episcopal responsibility towards the entire Catholic Church", writes the Pope. "But the community which the bishop has in his care, be it large or small, lives in the world; its conditions, its progress, its example and its word inevitably influence all the rest of the human community".

"The Pope speaks as the representative of a community of believers, ... as a representative of a community that contains within itself a wealth of ethical knowledge and experiences which are important for all humankind. In this way he speaks as a representative of ethical reason".

Benedict XVI asks himself: "What is the university? What is its task?" Then he goes on: "The true, intimate, origin of the university lies in the longing for knowledge which is inherent to mankind. Humans want to know what it is that surrounds them. They want truth".

"Truth is never just theoretical. ... Truth means more than knowing. Knowledge of truth has as its goal knowledge of good. ... What is the good that makes us true? The truth makes us good, and goodness is truth. This is the optimism that lives in Christian faith, because [that faith] has been granted the vision of the 'Logos', creative Reason which in the incarnation of God was revealed as Good, as Goodness itself".

In this context, the Holy Father presents the example of medieval universities in which, he notes, faculties of philosophy and theology "were entrusted with searching for the truth about man in its entirety and, alongside that, with the task of ensuring that awareness of truth remained high". Then, quoting a formula used at the Council of Chalcedon to describe Christology, Benedict XVI affirms that theology and philosophy must co-exist "without confusion and without separation.

"Without confusion", he adds, "means that each of the two disciplines must conserve its own identity. Philosophy must remain a real search for reason, with its own inherent freedoms and responsibilities", while theology "must continue to draw from that wealth of knowledge which it did not invent itself ... and which, since it can never be totally consumed by reflection, always provides fresh stimulus for thought".

"Without separation", he explains, means that "philosophy does not start afresh from zero each time in the mind of the thinker, but is part of the great dialogue of historical wisdom", in which "it must not close itself to what religions - and in particular the Christian faith - have received and donated to humanity as signs along its journey".

"Much of what theology and faith say", Pope Benedict observes, "can be absorbed only within the context of faith itself and therefore cannot be presented as a requirement to those people for whom this faith remains inaccessible. Yet at the same time it is true that the message of Christian faith ... is a purifying force for reason, ... an encouragement towards truth, and therefore a force against the pressures of power and interest groups".

The Holy Father also refers to modern times in which "new dimensions of knowledge" have opened up, represented in universities in two main areas: "the natural sciences, ... and the historical and human sciences". He also notes with satisfaction how "the recognition of the rights and the dignity of man" has increased.

However, despite this, "the danger of falling into inhumanity can never be completely eliminated", in particular "the danger facing the Western world ... is that man today, precisely because of the immensity of his knowledge and power, surrenders before the question of truth. ... This means that, in the end, reason gives way before the pressure of other interests and the lure of efficiency, and is forced to recognise this as the ultimate criterion".

"There is a danger", the Pope observes, "that philosophy, no longer feeling itself capable of playing its true role, may degenerate into positivism; that theology with its message to reason, may be confined to the private sphere of a particular group, large or small as it may be".

In closing his discourse, the Benedict XVI asks: "What does the Pope have to do or to say to the university?" And he answers: "Certainly he must not seek to impose on others, in an authoritarian way, a faith which can only be given in freedom.

"Over and above his ministry as a pastor in the Church and on the basis of the intrinsic nature of such pastoral ministry", the Pope concludes, "it his job to maintain high the awareness of truth, inviting reason ever and anew to seek truth, goodness, God and, on this journey, encouraging it to notice the valuable lights
that have arisen during the history of the Christian faith".

AC/TRUTH/LA SAPIENZAVIS 080117 (1100)

Source: VIS here.

ITV's Number 1 Person of the Year is Francis Beckwith

Inside the Vatican has again chosen 10 men and women as it's "Top Ten People of the Year." Profiles of each of the 10 will be published in the upcoming January issue of Inside the Vatican. Meanwhile, we will publish the profiles day by day in these email newsflashes, and on our website.

Our Number 1 Person of the Year is Francis Beckwith, a brilliant young American philosopher who has just published a profound and eloquent defense of the Christian teaching in defense of life and in opposition to legalized abortion. Here is a brief profile of Beckwith. -- The Editor

This is well worth taking time to read...

Prospects for peace and rumours of war: Religion and democracy in the years ahead

A great article by His Emminence, Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney

Even its most ardent opponents now concede grudgingly that religion is not about to whither away anytime soon. One hundred and perhaps two hundred years ago, there were hopes that this might come to pass, at least among the educated in the West. These hopes have died hard and for some it seems the disappointment is bitter indeed. Authors such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, among others, are very angry about it; like Jonah in the Old Testament, "angry enough to die". Jonah was angry because God relented and chose not to smite Nineveh (Jon. 4:1-11). Atheist anger is a condition of its own, and several explanations have been mooted. Our atheist friends evince any number of reasons to be angry with religion, and particularly with Christianity, but there is a disproportion to it all which makes one wary. Why be angry at an absence? It leads me to wonder if some atheists are angry with God precisely because – by their lights – he does not exist. It is, after all, not unheard of for children to grow up angry at a father who is remote, absent, or unknown. And the alternatives are Creative Intelligence – that is, God – or blind chance. It would be infuriating to concede that Christ, the Buddha, Aristotle, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Newton, Beethoven and Einstein are pointless froth in a heartless universe...

Continued here

Excellent Q&A at Ignatius Insight with Fr. James Schall, S.J.

Many have come to enjoy the insights and commentaries of Fr Schall and this article is exceptionally good.

This past Monday, October 8th, Fr. James V. Schall, S.J., professor of political philosophy at Georgetown and a regular contributor to Ignatius Insight, paid a visit to the University of North Dakota to take part in an honors program entitled "People You Should Meet."

The students invite someone to come to the campus in conjunction with a reading of the books of the person invited. The students read the following books by Fr. Schall: Another Sort of Learning, On the Unseriousness of Human Affairs, A Students' Guide to Liberal Learning, and the Sum Total of Human Happiness. On this basis, the students were invited to submit brief questions to the author on the occasion of his visit. There were 31 questions and responses...

Read them here:
Part 1

Part 2

What to do about perverts in public office?

This morning, the Thomas More Law Center informs us of this sickening perversion in Montgomery County:

Montgomery County Public Schools Say Yes to Anal Sex, Homosexuality, Bisexuality, and Transvestitism

ANN ARBOR, MI – A public school district’s program promoting anal sex, homosexuality, bisexuality, and transvestitism as normal sexual variations was recently approved by the Maryland State Board of Education despite strenuous opposition from several pro-family groups. Montgomery County Public School’s controversial sexuality curriculum for eighth and tenth grade students is the result of pressure by homosexual advocacy groups.

In response, the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, announced today that it will assist the pro-family groups in their appeal of the Education Board’s decision to the Montgomery County Circuit Court. The Law Center will be assisted by Maryland attorney John R. Garza who has been involved in the curriculum fight for several years.

Any board member who would approve of such filth is guilty of malfeasance, at the very least. The promotion of deviant and dangerous sexual acts by these sick perverts is criminal - or it use to be, before society became enlightened with the wonders and beauty of moral depravity.

Are there so few parents to fight these clowns? Do parents no longer care for the emotional, physical, and mental welfare of their children to stop these reprobates? Apparently, this type of "abuse" of children - this full frontal assault on healthy, wholesome, and moralliving, eternal truths of life - is permissible if sanctioned by a renegade, out-of-conrtrol government bureaucracy composed of mental defectives and degenerates.

I'm not certain if it's just me, but it seems that Satan and his accomplices are working overtime these days. How many are familiar with the recent LifeSiteNews article, German Government Publication Promotes Incestuous Pedophilia as Healthy Sex Ed?

BERLIN, July 30, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Booklets from a subsidiary of the German government's Ministry for Family Affairs encourage parents to sexually massage their children as young as 1 to 3 years of age.

Unless this perversion and moral depravity and decay is stopped and society returns to a proper moral order and its Judeo-Christian roots, it is doomed. Perhaps, we need to pray much more and offer reparations for the grotesque evil which is enveloping the world.

TMLC article here.

Amnesty International: What Part of Murder Don’t You Understand?

Father Tom Euteneuer’s Spirit & Life Column:

Abortion is murder. It is not a human right. An unwanted pregnancy for an unmarried woman, especially as a result of rape or incest or in a war zone, is a very difficult thing, but with enough love, care and effort it can be turned into a beautiful thing, no matter what the circumstances. Abortion can never be turned into a good thing. The pro-life movement says, “Why not love them both?”, but all efforts are taken to drown out the voice of reason...

Schizophrenic Faith?

Or maybe it's really no real faith, at all? Now, before I'm lambasted for jumping to conclusions, what would you think after reading this headline?

"I am both Muslim and Christian"

Why, the possibilities are darn near endless, I am both:
a man and a woman,
a animal and a plant,
the coffee cup and the coffee,
the chicken and the egg,
the day and the night...ad infinitum.

Shortly after noon on Fridays, the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding ties on a black headscarf, preparing to pray with her Muslim group on First Hill.

On Sunday mornings, Redding puts on the white collar of an Episcopal priest.

She does both, she says, because she's Christian and Muslim.

Confused? Probably not as much as Ann Holmes Redding is...

Her announcement has provoked surprise and bewilderment in many, raising an obvious question: How can someone be both a Christian and a Muslim?

How indeed? But where there's a will (albeit, disturbed and incoherent), there's a way!

...religious scholars are mixed: Some say that, depending on how one interprets the tenets of the two faiths, it is, indeed, possible to be both.

Psycho-babble morphing into theo-babble - perverting the normal understanding of "All things are possible with God..."

Is this an example of what the educational system has done? Check the philosophical acumen Redding displays...Profound!

Redding, who will begin teaching the New Testament as a visiting assistant professor at Seattle University this fall, has a different analogy: "I am both Muslim and Christian, just like I'm both an American of African descent and a woman. I'm 100 percent both."

You too can be both a Mohammedan and a Christian - it's as easy as saying to yourself that you're an American with blonde hair and a human! There! See how easy it is?

***Updated, LRS 12:15***
[It might be well worth noting that Seattle University is "one of 28 Jesuit universities in the United States and more than 100 around the world." (Source) So why, some might ask, would a "Catholic" university hire someone like this? Some have stated that it (the university) may have run out of apostate Jesuits to teach the class - and that might be a good thing. Nonetheless, this should prompt all of us to pray for this Jesuit institution and for this woman who apparently has quite a number of "issues."]

Redding's bishop, the Rt. Rev. Vincent Warner, says he accepts Redding as an Episcopal priest and a Muslim, and that he finds the interfaith possibilities exciting.

Is it really any wonder why the Episcopal church is in such disarray?

When one thinks about it, is it really any different than saying "I'm Catholic and Pro-Choice", or "I'm a devout Catholic and I support embryonic stem cell research." ? The two positions are completely opposed to each other, irreconcilable - at least, until such a time as pigs fly.

Pope to Help Alice von Hildebrand Share Her Husband's Work

NEW ROCHELLE - The life story of Catholic philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand cries out for a movie script, even if he is virtually unknown outside of the ivory halls of seminaries and universities.

But the profile of this courageous and prolific intellectual, perhaps the first German figure to publicly oppose the Nazis, is about to get a boost.

Von Hildebrand's widow, Alice, a renowned philosopher in her own right, has enlisted the help of a notable von Hildebrand fan as she seeks to have many of her husband's works translated into English and published for a new audience.

This fan, a German philosopher himself, lives in Rome these days and has something of a worldwide audience.
. . .
[Pope] Benedict XVI has already personally secured a grant for the translation of von Hildebrand's writings. And he has promised to write a letter of general support - a papal stamp of approval - for Alice von Hildebrand's goals.

Peter Kreeft: A Refutation of Moral Relativism

Introduction
Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day defined a good society as one that makes it easy for you to be good. Correlatively, a free society is one that makes it easy to be free. To be free, and to live freely, is to live spiritually, because only spirit is free—matter is not. To live spiritually is to live morally. The two essential properties of spirit that distinguish it from matter are intellect and will—the capacity for knowledge and moral choice. The ideals of truth and goodness. The most radical threat to living morally today is the loss of moral principles.

Moral practice has always been difficult for fallen humanity, but at least there was always the lighthouse of moral principles, no matter how stormy the sea of moral practice got. But today, with the majority of our mind-molders, in formal education, or informal education—that is, media—the light is gone. Morality is a fog of feelings. That is why to them, as Chesterton said, "Morality is always dreadfully complicated to a man who has lost all his principles." Principles mean moral absolutes. Unchanging rocks beneath the changing waves of feelings and practices. Moral relativism is a philosophy that denies moral absolutes. That thought to me is the prime suspect—public enemy number one. The philosophy that has extinguished the light in the minds of our teachers, and then their students, and eventually, if not reversed, will extinguish our whole civilization. Therefore, I want not just to present a strong case against moral relativism, but to refute it, to unmask it, to strip it naked, to humiliate it, to shame it, to give it the wallop it deserves, as they say in Texas, America's good neighbor to the south.

An excellent article by one of the most lucid and understandable philosophers of our times...