It looks like it’s not just insurers that suddenly want to get out of the health care business. Three Catholic hospitals in Pennsylvania are now on the market, and the hospital management is telling the local media that Obamacare is a major reason why the facilities are being unloaded:Continued here
[Bishop Thomas Olmsted], the bishop of Phoenix has excommunicated another priest.Pray for the conversion of the heretics who repudiate Christ and His Church.
The Rev. Vernon Meyer, who had submitted his resignation to the bishop earlier this summer, becomes at least the fifth priest to be ousted from the church under Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted. He was not defrocked, which is a separate penalty...
Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, who serves as chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, has approved a proposal by diocesan Catholic Charities to distribute free needles to drug abusers in the hope of preventing the spread of AIDS.Some no longer contribute to so-called "Catholic" charities anymore. Too many "Catholic" charities are anything but Catholic. Like most progressives/liberals, they have a misguided, erroneous, and harmful understanding of charity.“I understand there will be questions, but this is common sense,” said Sister Maureen Joyce, CEO of Catholic Charities. “I strongly believe in this. It will save lives.”
“From a theological standpoint, we're not being faithful to our mission if we don't reach out to people addicted to drugs, too,” Sister Joyce added.
An $83,000 van filled with syringes will be parked in two neighborhoods and serve as the focal point of Catholic Charities’ needle distribution efforts.
“This is a proven method used around the country, but there has been a huge gap in this area that nobody was stepping up to fill,” said Angela Keller, executive director of AIDS services for Catholic Charities, whose web site links to the Capital District Gay and Lesbian Community Council, whose mission is “to promote the well being of all gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer identified people and those affected by discrimination based on gender identity and expression.”
In a 2003 address, Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, then president of the Pontifical Council of the Family, urged abstinence from drugs to prevent the spread of AIDS. In doing so, he cited a 1987 statement of the bishops of the United States:Even earlier, the bishops of the United States of America affirmed in their 1987 statement: “abstinence outside of marriage and fidelity within marriage as well as the avoidance of intravenous drug abuse are the only morally correct and medically sure ways to prevent the spread of AIDS” …During its 2007-8 fiscal year, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany, Inc., received $17,973,859 in government grants $3,875,773 in direct public support (i.e., contributions, gifts, and grants), and $474,538 in indirect public support, according to its tax return. It also received $16,358,929 in program service revenue, including government contracts. Other revenue sources such as special events and investment income brought total revenue to $40,093,321...
Prof. Lino Ciccone adds: “Therefore a true and effective prevention is above all the set of initiatives that aim at putting an end to whatever promotes sexual laxity, presented as a triumph of liberty and civilization – similar to what is being done to help youth not to fall into the slavery of drugs or to free them from them. In other words: true prevention takes place only through a serious educational effort. An education free from equivocations and widespread reductive concepts, which leads to the discovery, or rediscovery, of the values of sexuality and a correct scale of values in human life.
“Any other option that excludes such ways, or worse, that implies an ulterior push towards sexual promiscuity and/or the use of drugs, is anything but prevention, and to promote the same is tragically deceitful.”
He was so freaked out by what he saw, he stayed for 4 days. One night in his hotel, in 30 minutes he hammered this out.We've just witnessed the largest generational theft in our history with the passage of the Obama/Pelosi/Reid Pork package.
For the 4 days he was here, he was a guest in-studio at WYCD and all he could talk about was how America was being destroyed - and the hard working people who made this country had a noose around their neck and the government was putting it there by forcing everyone to bailout all these [criminals who caused the mess].....and he called it what it is: FRAUD!
He said those people who are responsible for the destruction of America's strength, its ability to produce something that everyone wanted, it's hard-working people - are now the very people that those hard-working people are being forced to bailout - he said, 'Why should hard-working Americans bailout these criminals?!'
The following is a letter from Archbishop Burke to Members of the Marian Catechist Apostolate:
22 January 2009—Day of Penance for Violations to the Dignity of the Human Person
Dear Members of the Marian Catechist Apostolate,
Today is the 36th Anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's infamous decision in the cases Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, by which the highest court of our nation took away the safeguard of the most fundamental of all rights, the right to life, from the most vulnerable members of the human family, the unborn. Rightly, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has, for some time, designated this day as a Day of Penance for Violations to the Dignity of the Human Person, and of Prayer for the Full Restoration of the Legal Guarantee of the Right to Life. January 22nd is to be observed "as a particular day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life" (General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 373).
The legacy of the just-mentioned decisions has been an unconscionable decline in the respect for all human life. By now, you are familiar with the latest and most heinous anti-life legislation the people of the United States of America are facing: the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). The passage of FOCA would lift all restrictions on procured abortion, force taxpayers to participate in the funding of procured abortions; revoke all informed consent, parental notification and conscience protection laws; and force even Catholic hospitals to perform abortions, which clearly would necessitate the closing of Catholic hospitals. I ask you to pray for the defeat of FOCA and to do all you can to work against its passage, while also working to protect existing pro-life legislation. For more information on how to become involved, please visit the USCCB website at www.usccb.org/prolife.
In a special way, I address you, the members of the Marian Catechist Apostolate, on this Day of Penance. Reflecting on the circumstances in society which give rise to the necessity of a Day of Penance for Violations to the Dignity of the Human Person, I am deeply conscious of the much needed service of the Marian Catechist Apostolate in the renewal of society. I take the occasion of this most sad anniversary for our nation, to encourage you to redouble your efforts to grow in personal holiness and knowledge of the Catholic Faith, that you may always be equipped to share generously and courageously the richness of the Faith with others, for the transformation of society.
I enclose for you a helpful tool for evangelization, a copy of the Marian Catechist Apostolate brochure. The revised brochure introduces the Apostolate and its Founder, the Servant of God Father John A. Hardon, S.J., to those who may not know the Apostolate. It can be used as a resource for those whom you meet who have a sincere desire to grow in holiness and to know the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church. Please contact Mrs. Theresa Knothe, National Coordinator of the Apostolate, if you would like to order more brochures for your apostolic work.
In closing, I invite you to join me at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin for the Consecration of Marian Catechists to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the weekend of August 7th – 9th of 2009. Please join me today and always in calling upon the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe for the transformation of the culture of death into a civilization of divine love and life.
Invoking God's blessing upon you and your home, I am
Yours devotedly in Christ,
(Most Rev.) Raymond L Burke
Archbishop Emeritus of Saint Louis
Prefect, Apostolic Signatura of the Supreme Tribunal
Please prayerfully consider His Excellency's words as we continue to pray for the conversion of those who embrace the hedonistic culture of death and ask Our Lord for His mercy in these trying times. And please remember Archbishop Burke in your prayers.
Source.It seemed San Francisco's Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church [MHR] had found the perfect balance between the teachings of the church and gay and lesbian parishioners - at least until Proposition 8, the state initiative to ban same-sex marriage, made the ballot.Homosexuals married? And Catholic? Sure they are!!! Not!
[MHR] embraces all comers "regardless of their background, gender, gender identity, race, social status, or sexual orientation." The Rev. Donal Godfrey, who wrote a book on the church called "Gays and Grays," said roughly two-thirds of the Holy Redeemer parishioners are gay or lesbian. And not only are many of the same-sex couples married, some of their children have been baptized in the church....
"It is really out of right field," said Matt Dorsey, a member of the Holy Redeemer Parish Council. "I would expect this from Karl Rove, but not from the spiritual leader of (several hundred thousand) Catholics."...Preaching the truth and the natural moral law is always difficult in the midst of pagans, heathens, and reprobates. The Church is not here to confirm people in their sins, as deviant as they may be, but to call them to the truth of Christ, to repentance, to conversion, to follow Him so that they might enjoy eternity with Him.
"I have talked to him [Niederauer] personally many times," said Roz Gallo, who in July married her longtime partner, Catherine Cunningham, and has been a Holy Redeemer member for 21 years. "I find him to be an intellectual and reasoned man. He's in a very difficult position."
...the reality is that church leaders get their marching orders from what Mulcahey calls "a fax machine in the Vatican," and taking a stand against the hierarchy is a no-win situation.Taking a stand against the Church (and Christ) and for the intrinsic evil of homosexuality is a losing situation - and if unrepented, it's for all eternity...but some, blinded by their sinful perversions, seem to prefer the pains of hell rather than the glory of heaven...
By Stephanie BlockThe problems are manifest and deeply rooted:
For nearly forty years, The Wanderer has followed the Catholic Campaign for Human Development's funding of radical, left-wing political organizations, many of them carrying the brand of Saul Alinsky. The Wanderer also covered the first Call to Action conference - the months of "hearings" leading up to it, its orchestrated structure and contrived demands - and our reporters commented on the Alinskyian nature of it, not merely in its tactics but in its outcomes. In hindsight, we can see that organized dissent in the Church was a product of organized parishes, filled with Alinskyian-trained laity.
The Catholic Campaign for Human Development is responsible for that. [my emphasis]
It is also responsible, in some part, for the fact that forty years later, we have a virulently pro-abortion, pro-homosexual presidential candidate whose principle political training has been in Alinskyian organizing. While he - Barak Obama - was lead organizer in Chicago for the Developing Communities Project, it received a $40,000 Catholic Campaign for Human Development grant in 1985 and a $33,000 grant in 1986.
While he was in Chicago Obama was trained by the top Alinskyian organizers. One mentor was the ex-Jesuit, Greg Galuzzo, lead organizer for Gamaliel....
....millions of dollars of Catholic money over the last four decades going into Alinskyian community organizing....
Relatively little from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development collection goes to "help the poor." .... [Even though Catholics were led to believe that they were "helping the poor"]
...The Catholics involved in the extensive trainings these networks offer are not catechized in Catholic principles of social activism or political analysis but in Marxist analysis and praxis.....
Catholics trained in Alinskyian thought become confused about the comparative moral weight of the issues they encounter in the public arena. They also become confused about the legitimate authority of the Church....It is not authentic "Catholic Action" for Catholics to engage in such Alinskyian-trained "community organizing." It is antithetical to true social justice and Catholic teaching.
Even the politically naïve are fascinated by the pejorative dismissal of Obama as a "community organizer" and his campaign's rebuttal that to disrespect community organizers is to disrespect Catholic Action.
After 40 years of funding the bad guys, it's time to stop.NB: In the epigraph of his book, Rules for Radicals, Alinsky notes
__________________
"Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins -- or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom -- Lucifer." [Source]
America Needs Fatima is spiritually countering same-gender “marriage,” abortionMore here.
and other immoral "customs" with its 2008 Rosary Rallies. Human efforts to solve America ’s problems are failing. We must turn to God for REAL solutions.
The goal is 3,000+ Rosary Rallies in the Public Square. The event is set for 12 noon on October 11, the Saturday closest to October 13, the day of the Fatima Miracle of the Sun in 1917. To prepare for these rallies, which are peaceful small gatherings of people in local communities who pray the rosary, ANF is looking for volunteer Rally Captains. Each Captain organizes friends and other members of their communities. America Needs Fatima provides support materials and special prayer banners for each of the 3,000 different communities.
This coming Saturday October 11th at 12 o'clock noon Rain or Shine near the front entrance of St. Francis de Sales Oratory
Could it be that public sins require public reparation?
Public Rosaries in History that God answered:
1. Lepanto
2. At the end of WWII Communist troops occupied Vienna, Austria. They refused to leave. Yet after massive public Rosary processions, the Communist invaders left.
3. Large scale public Rosaries were likewise credited for foiling a Communist takeover in Brazil in 1964.
If the Rosary saved these countries it can save America!
"The Rosary will be a very powerful armor against hell: it will destroy vice, deliver from sin and dispel heresy."The campaign at St. Francis de Sales will be one of almost 3,500 rosary campaigns across our country. Your generous participation in this historic campaign will hasten God's victory, attract blessings on America, and surely strengthen every participant!
---Our Lady to St. Dominic
Please spread the word and forward this email to your friends, neighbors and family.
For directions or questions please call;
Mrs. Anne Zivnuska 314-997-3307, or
Mr. Mark Serafino 573-459-5531
On October 29, 1992, Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira granted an interview to the Brazilian newspaper, O Globo, about the problem of homosexuality and its threat to the family. We reproduce the interview for the benefit of our readers.An interview very well worth reading.
Q. What is your opinion about the increase of homosexuality in Brazilian society? Do you believe it harms family integrity?
The effect of homosexuality on the family in Brazil is the same as everywhere else.
Since the homosexual relationship is sterile by definition, it is destructive of the family; it is the opposite of the family, and the number one enemy of the family....Homosexuality is completely contrary to the natural order and therefore contrary to the family.....
Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented on the latest developments to surface regarding the pledge made by Paul Z. Myers, a professor at the University of Minnesota, to desecrate the Eucharist:This man doesn't appears to be "normal." Only a fool mocks the Almighty as this.
“Myers was quoted yesterday saying, ‘I have to do something. I’m not going to just let this disappear.’ [Last Friday it was reported that he had acquired a Host.] He continued, ‘Something will be done. It won’t be gross. It won’t be totally tasteless, but yeah, I’ll do something that shows this cracker has no power....’
“The biology professor made it clear that he would never disrespect Islam the way he does Catholicism. When asked about those who abuse the Koran, for example, he said such an act was analogous to desecrating a graveyard. ‘That’s completely different,’ he said. ‘I don’t favor [that idea].’ But when it comes to the Body of Christ, he opines, ‘The cracker is completely different...’He may deny it, but the consecrated Host, is completely different...From the above and previous comments attributed to this man, we can only pray that his family and friends obtain for him the pschological help it seems he so desparately needs. He appears consumed with hatred and hostility toward the truth...There's something wrong with this man. Some make think he could even benefit from an exorcism. I would tend to agree.
"all those things are to be believed with divine and Catholic faith which are contained in the written or orally transmitted word of God, and which the Church, either by a solemn judgment or by her ordinary and universal magisterium, proposes for belief as having been divinely revealed." (Vatican Council I.)Can you recognize truths which are divine and Catholic faith?
Many of us have been concerned about Father Corapi and his health. The rumors were indeed true, but thanks to Father Corapi's Weekly Wisdom program,Please remember him in your prayers!, he addressed the whole health issue on his 29 March program. For non-subscribers, here is an overview.
Bottom line, Father Corapi has a parathyroid tumor and will be going back to the Mayo Clinic next week for surgery. It's a very rare (1:167,000 men get it) tumor, which 98% of the time not cancerous. The good news is they ruled out lymphoma, which is what they thought he had. He goes through great detail explaining and extolling the Mayo Clinic, his tests, and our obligation to keep our bodies as healthy as we can. He also said for the past 7 months he was too sick to get out bed 70% of the time; intense exhaustion with flu-like symptoms (a result of the excess calcium this type of tumor causes, in addition to osteoporosis). Surgery is the only cure.
As you might suspect, he turned his experience into a redemptive suffering lecture, reminding us that God's true power comes via our weakness. He also touched on what I've seen more and more recently especially among strong Catholics close to Mary and who offer their sufferings and that is the obvious - how much the world right now needs the help of redemption from the souls willing and able to offer it back to Christ via Mary, united to the cross. I'm sure most of us figured out it was pretty obvious that God needed Father Corapi's suffering especially during Holy Week.
He talked in fairly great detail about his week of tests; including the anxiety for his family, about maybe "checking out," i.e., having cancer, etc. With his humor, he joked about the benefit and happiness of dying (except for the pain to his family), rather than having to endure and see the face of a certain US Presidential candidate. He quite seriously said death would be better than having to endure this gentleman for the next four years, should he become president. Yikes!
Anyway, please spread the world to keep the Padre in your prayers. His favorite prayer is the Memorare, which is what he asked be prayed for him when he was first admitted to the Mayo Clinic. He wrapped up his segment with the profound words from his thesis on redemptive suffering: To be set at the foot of the cross is to be set at the pinnacle of all human possibilities.
For some months I have been researching and writing an article on euthanasia in canon law. I hoped against hope that it might remain an academic exercise, but (to judge from, say, this report on the practice of euthanasia in Belgium) the speed with which the Western, specifically Christian, protection of innocent life is collapsing suggests that one of my projected canonical recommendations deserves an earlier hearing than appearance in a peer-reviewed journal can afford.Read why here: http://www.canonlaw.info/2008/03/proposal-impose-excommunication-for.html
Simply put, I recommend that euthanasia be made an excommunicable offense under the 1983 Code of Canon Law.
...California Catholic Daily presents an interview with Wynette Sills, a veteran sidewalk counselor and co-director of the 40 Days for Life Campaign in Sacramento. Wynette is a Catholic wife and mother of three. She and her husband, Ed, are organic farmers north of Sacramento....One of the comments which stood out as an example of something for which we all should strive, is this:
Does the intensity of this kind of campaign take a toll on you?Sacrifice...Persevering through prayer...Recalling Our Lord's suffering and death for our salvation...
Our whole family experiences a sacrifice in service to Him with regards to this Sidewalk Ministry, particularly prior to and during these "40 Day" periods. Yet, we persevere through prayer, knowing all that Christ sacrificed for our sake.
THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS
Megan pulled a three-ring binder out of her bag and showed me a photograph of herself and her husband. Young-they're both 21-with big smiles on their faces and obviously wildly in love. "That's what he looked like," she said with a somber face, "He was such a cutie-pie?always buying me little stuffed animals and writing the most thoughtful notes the entire time he was in Iraq." Then she showed me the photo of her husband receiving the Purple Heart on Wednesday from President Bush at Bethesda Naval Medical Center. As President Bush pinned the medal on Mike, he lay unconscious in the ICU, having suffered a traumatic brain injury caused by a piece of shrapnel that pierced his temple.
"This is my Mike now," she said, rubbing her eyes. He is completely blind and to alleviate a terrible cranial pressure build-up, doctors had to remove the front of his skull. Since being wounded several months ago, Mike has never regained consciousness and suffers from terrible seizures. "That's my guy," she repeated, before she went on to tell me about how they met and fell in love.
For whatever reason, I kept thinking about the fact that some person somewhere carefully assembled the IED that would eventually maim Mike and many others. They are often packed with nails, hunks of lead and screws to cause maxim human suffering. When they explode, the contents rip through flesh and bones, shattering countless dreams in the process.
How to comprehend this level of evil and the physical and emotional agony it causes? This young woman and her husband should be out buying their first Christmas tree together, going to parties, raising a glass to their future. When I asked what she was doing for the holiday she said, "I'll be here with Mike. I would never want him to be alone on Christmas." They had been married for about three months when Mike was wounded.
In these days before Christmas, Megan and other military wives and moms gave me a precious gift. They reminded me that true love requires sacrifice-sometimes seemingly unbearable, heart-wrenching sacrifice. They are living out their love in big and small ways. Many have moved thousands of miles to relocate to the hospitals where their husbands, wives, sons, and daughters are being treated. This takes an enormous emotional and financial toll, yet they do it for love. When they are not at the hospital bedsides of their wounded warriors, they sit for hours a day in waiting rooms across the United States, hoping for good news-or at least no more bad news. They pray with each other, cry with each other, and yes, even manage to laugh with each other as they hope for a day when they can return to "normal life." Yet for the families of our most seriously injured troops, they know they will have to get used to a "new normal," much different from the life they knew before.
As we are about to celebrate Christmas spending time with our families and friends, let us all do our best to live up to the true spirit of this season-and make it a time filled with love, faith, gratitude, hope, charity, and, yes - let's try for some peace on earth. Let us remember the military families and our wounded heroes who will spend this Christmas at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Brooke Army Medical Center, Bethesda Naval Medical Center and other medical facilities across the nation. As we rush around stressed out because we "haven't found the perfect gift" for so-and-so, these families hope and pray for gifts that cannot be wrapped up: a hand that squeezes back, a smile, the first step on a new prosthesis, or a positive medical report.
They need our prayers and support at Christmas and every day. Please give what you can to any of the wonderful organizations that support our bravest and their families.
Merry Christmas.
State Rep. Randy Terrill questions the motivation for the support of illegal immigrants.This newest article is here.
The chief author of the state's new immigration law took issue Wednesday with a leading Oklahoma clergyman who called the law unjust and immoral.
Roman Catholic Bishop Ed ward J. Slattery of the Tulsa Diocese this week blasted House Bill 1804 in a 22-page pastoral letter, only his second such letter in 14 years as a bishop....
Terrill said HB 1804 does not criminalize help given to illegal immigrants for purely humanitarian, charitable or religious purposes....
HB 1804 cuts off public assistance to illegal immigrants, and so it threatens the work of Catholic Charities.
"Some in the Catholic hierarchy confuse private charity with public charity," Terrill said. "I'm curious what he (the bishop) finds immoral or unjust. It's neither righteous nor just to provide tax money to illegal aliens; it's just plain wrong. The state shouldn't be in the business of subsidizing illegal aliens. If the church wants to do that, fine, but it shouldn't be using taxpayer money...."
"Through the merits of Christ's Death, the faithful are restored to grace and can thus make reparation to the justice of God for their own offences against Him. By virtue of the Communion of the Saints, they can also make satisfaction and reparation for the sins of others...In the same spirit of prayer and reparation as the 2,000 plus Public Square Rosary Rallies, the American TFP calls upon all to join with thousands of others in this crusade of prayers..."So requests for prayer are now "hatred? Soon, considering the path our once Christian country is heading, this may indeed be the case.
I have read and re-read the article at The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (link here), yet I find find no hatred in it. Just as one might call himself whatever he fancies himself to be despite the objective reality that he is not what he claims, so too will such a person make other claims which are unfounded and baseless.I continue to be shocked and amazed at the depth of the hatred being spewed by the Fundamentalist Catholic Community. I am not making fun of or trying to emulate in a negative way the Catholic Nun. I am a Nun. I serve my Community through charity and education. I minister to the sick. What I wear and what I call myself is, quite frankly, none of your business. If you take issue with the fact that I call myself a Nun all I can tell you is that this is America and this is a free country. If you don't like the way I look or the fact that I am gay, I suggest you look further into your scriptures for the Lord's word regarding love and acceptance. Whether or not you approve of me and what I do is in no way going to stop me from doing it. I have answered a call to service. It is not only my honor to serve my Community, it is my privilege.
Sincerely,
Sister Roma
The Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence., Inc.
Catholic nuns forced to relocate get temporary housingCardinal Mahony should have sold the "Taj Mahony" to raise money and left the sisters alone.
The Associated Press
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—It's a case of nuns helping nuns.
Three Roman Catholic nuns who were going to be displaced from their convent because the building would be sold to help cover church abuse settlement costs have been offered a temporary home by an order of Episcopal nuns.
The Sisters of Bethany will move around Thanksgiving to St. Mary's Retreat House, an Episcopal center near the Santa Barbara Mission. The center is a ministry of the Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity, an order based in Wisconsin....
The Catholic nuns received a letter in August from the Los Angeles Archdiocese telling them they had until Dec. 31 to move out. The convent would be sold to help pay for the $660 million settlement between the archdiocese and clergy sex abuse victims, the letter said.
The letter offered no recourse for the nuns.
