Baltimore Archbishop: Catholic Voters Can’t Vote for a Candidate Who Stands for an Intrinsic Evil

This has been stated time and time again. Nevertheless, it bears repeating.

“This is a big moment for Catholic voters to step back from their party affiliation,” Baltimore archbishop William E. Lori tells me from the Knights of Columbus annual convention in Anaheim, Calif.

For Catholic voters in November, Lori advises, “The question to ask is this: Are any of the candidates of either party, or independents, standing for something that is intrinsically evil, evil no matter what the circumstances? If that’s the case, a Catholic, regardless of his party affiliation, shouldn’t be voting for such a person.”
. . .
“Is it consistent to profess our beliefs in church on Sunday, and then during the week to promote business practices or medical procedures contrary to those beliefs?” the pope, perhaps prophetically, asked during his 2008 visit to Washington, D.C.

...“If we are going to transform the culture from within, which we are called to do, and defend our basic freedoms,” it will be primarily the role of the laity, Lori tells me.

“The bishops are teachers,” he said, but political leadership “really needs to come from the laity as citizens and mothers and fathers and voters.”

When it comes to election advice for Catholics: “The reality is we are defending something that transcends party. The defense of religious liberty,” he said, “should not be a Democratic or Republican issue.” For a Catholic voter, this should be “fundamental, as people of faith.”...

More here

Is it possible to see some PUBLIC EXCOMMUNICATIONS of those "Catholics" who publicly and obstinately defy the Church and her shepherds?

For example, Archbishop Lori could address the scandal occurring from the words and actions of former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend who is promoting same-sex "marriage" and is urging Catholics to uphold Maryland's same-sex "marriage" law at the polls. She is pushing Catholics to oppose Church teaching.

Dr Edward Peters: Cuomo’s concubinage and holy Communion

Dr Peters writes:

Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, and Sandra Lee, a television celebrity, live in what is known technically as public concubinage.

The fact that both Cuomo and Lee are divorced renders the concubinage adulterous on both sides as well.

Read the about the modern canonical implications of concubinage here.

Cardinal Burke: Authentic Catholic universities help resist ‘secular dictatorship'

The authentically Catholic university helps students resist “secularist dictatorship” by keeping Jesus Christ at the center of its mission and by exposing the moral bankruptcy of contemporary culture, Cardinal Raymond Burke said Dec. 4...

In a lengthy discussion of the nature of Catholic higher education, he said that a Catholic university faithful to its identity will help students give an account of their faith and help them resist “the secularist dictatorship which would exclude all religious discourse from the professions and from public life in general.”...

Cardinal Burke lamented the fall of many American Catholic colleges and universities that have become “Catholic in name only.”...

On the issues of creating curricula and hiring professors, Cardinal Burke advised “special care,” noting the poor religious formation of many young Catholics.

“Given the religious illiteracy which marks our time and in fidelity to the seriousness with which university studies should be undertaken, there is really no place for engaging in speculative theology and certainly no time to waste on superficial and tendentious theological writings of the time,” the cardinal contended...

Much more here from Catholic News Agency (CNA).

Rather timely considering the plans SLU has for a speaker

SLU Students Invite Controversial "Theologian" to Speak

The question is "Will Bishop Carlson stop it"?

The Post Dispatch states that:

Students at St. Louis University have invited....Todd Salzman, chairman of the theology department at Creighton University in Omaha, to give the keynote speech at its 6th annual Undergraduate Marriage and Dating Conference in April.

The problem is that Salzman has espoused views in his book, "The Sexual Person: Toward a Renewed Catholic Anthropology," which are contrary to the teaching of the Church. The book was co-authored by Creighton emeritus theology professor Michael Lawler, and published by Georgetown University Press in 2008.

Of course, it appears that every dissenting "Catholic" praised the book and we only need to imagine why.

The Post continues:

After "The Sexual Person" was published, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committee on doctrine began examining the Creighton professors' conclusions.

In September [of 2010], the committee of nine bishops issued a 24-page statement on the "Inadequacies in the Theological Methodology and Conclusions" of "The Sexual Person." The authors, it said, "reach erroneous conclusions on a whole range of issues, including the morality of pre-marital sex, contraception and artificial insemination."

There we have it! It really is a no brainer these days.

But let's look a bit closer at what the bishops discovered. From the 'Conclusion' of the 24 page report (PDF found here), we read [all bolding mine]:

Professors Lawler and Salzman present their book as a quaestio disputata, as an examination of a disputed question in the way of the medieval universities(4). The scholarly disputations of the Middle Ages, however, took place in a framework provided by Catholic faith, requiring a recognition of the authority of Sacred Scriptures and authoritative Church teaching and a knowledge and appreciation for the Catholic theological tradition. The authors of The Sexual Person, by contrast, base their arguments on a methodology that marks a radical departure from the Catholic theological tradition.

Consequently, it is not surprising that they reach a whole range of conclusions that are contrary to Catholic teaching. The Committee on Doctrine wishes to make it clear that neither the methodology of The Sexual Person nor the conclusions that depart from authoritative Church teaching constitute authentic expressions of Catholic theology. Moreover, such conclusions, clearly in contradiction to the authentic teaching of the Church, cannot provide a true norm for moral action and in fact are harmful to one's moral and spiritual life...

That such people as this "theologian" be invited to speak at a presumably Catholic institution of learning is a scandal.

The invitation should be withdrawn, saving SLU the embarassment of having Bishop Carlson nix the whole affair.

Post-Dispatch link here

Former BOD Chairman of St Stanislaus Sentenced to 1 Year

Brothers in tow company scandal get same sentence: 1 year, 1 day
From the Post Dispatch:

The brothers and owners of a towing and parking lot company each were sentenced to one year and one day in prison today for tax evasion.

A federal judge ordered William Bialczak to an additional two years of supervised release and a fine of $100,000....

The judge also ordered William Bialczak to make restitution of $370,185 to the Internal Revenue Service, although that money will be taken out of the $500,000 the government seized when it raided the towing company in August 2008.

...William Bialczak will serve his prison term first...

The Post-Dispatch article is here.

For previous posts regarding the excommunicated Bialczak, click here.

A special HT to Eugene B for the updates!

Archbishop Nienstedt Refuses Communion to Dissidents

At today's Noon Mass, a statement was read over the intercom prior to ommunion by the Archdiocese's Communication's Director one Dennis McGrath. This Sunday was Vocation Sunday and the Archdiocese has more students studying for the priesthood than it's had for thirty years, but Archbishop was not present.

The statement was to the effect that only baptised Catholics who are disposed to receive Communion and in agreement with the entirety Church's teaching may receive Communion, and specifically, that Rainbow Sashers may not receive Holy Communion, but they were invited to remove their sashes.

The approach he's taken to this situation matches the description of him given by the Star and Tribune as "cool and collected."...

More here

And another report here

CCHD - Same as it ever was?

USCCB “Review and Renewal of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development” betrays utter lack of reform

I've downloaded and read the CCHD “Review and Renewal of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development as Accepted and Affirmed by the USCCB Administrative Committee,” – promulgated on September 15, 2010 – and can only cry in absolute frustration, that nothing has changed. The new, improved CCHD is still all about funding Alinskyian organizing (organizing based on the organizational theories of the late, great Saul Alinsky)….which is still all about progressive politics…which is still all about killing babies...

Continued here at Orate Fratres

I, personally, would have a difficult time EVER contributing to this cause (agenda) of the USCCB until such time as it is thoroughly cleansed of those responsible for its rot and decay.

St. Stanislaus Lawsuit filed in St. Clair County

From the Belleview News Democrat:

St. Stanislaus lawsuit filed in St. Clair County alleges law firm used a 'spy'

A St. Louis-based law firm with an office in Belleville planted a spy and encouraged the former attorney for a rebel parish fighting the Archdiocese of St. Louis over property to violate, "...every relevant ethical duty and breached virtually every rule in the Rules of Professional Conduct," according to a lawsuit filed in St. Clair County.

Lawyers for the archdiocese planted the spy and caused a former lawyer for St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in St. Louis to turn against his ex-clients in the archdiocese' efforts to regain control of a church and its property, according to the lawsuit.

Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale "violated every relevant ethical duty and breached virtually every rule in the Rules of Professional Conduct" when it enlisted Roger Krasnicki, the former attorney for St. Stanislaus Church, stated a complaint in the Oct. 15 lawsuit filed by Thomas Q. Keefe Jr. of Belleville....

Read more here

Archbishop Burke's Epic Speech

The recent speech given by Archbishop Raymond Burke continues to send shockwaves through the Catholic world. More than a few bishops must be feeling very uncomfortable.

Vatican Archbishop Burke: Public Repentance is Required for Pro-Abort Politicians

October 12, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Speaking at the Human Life International World Prayer Congress Saturday, Archbishop Raymond Burke received sustained applause when he noted that Catholic politicians who support abortion are required to repent publicly.

Speaking to pro-life leaders from 45 nations, the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura (the highest Vatican court) also noted that those who recognize the scandal caused by such public, dissident Catholics assist the Church in repairing a serious breach, but are nevertheless often ridiculed for it...

Archbishop Burke stressed that “both bishops and the faithful” must be obedient to the Magisterium...“If the shepherd is not obedient the flock easily gives way to confusion and error.”

Burke, who is also a member of the Congregation for Bishops added: “A most tragic example of the lack of obedience of faith, also on the part of certain Bishops, was the response of many to the Encyclical Letter Humanae vitae of Pope Paul VI, published on July 25, 1968. The confusion which resulted has led many Catholics into habits of sin in what pertains to the procreation and education of human life.”...

The Vatican prelate [also stated]:

Lying or failing to tell the truth, however, is never a sign of charity. A unity which is not founded on the truth of the moral law is not the unity of the Church. The Church’s unity is founded on speaking the truth with love.

The person who experiences scandal at public actions of Catholics, which are gravely contrary to the moral law, not only does not destroy unity but invites the Church to repair what is clearly a serious breach in Her life.

Were he not to experience scandal at the public support of attacks on human life and the family, his conscience would be uninformed or dulled about the most sacred realities.

More here.

(Read the complete talk here) [PDF}.

[Hat tip to Penny for the link!]

Dr Edward Peters: Dissection of baloney journalism

Dr Peters writes:

Care to see just how many errors one AFP article on “women priests” can contain? Check it out my Dissection of baloney journalism, here.

It’s got me seeing red!

Priest is excommunicated over 'ordination' of woman

[Bishop Thomas Olmsted], the bishop of Phoenix has excommunicated another priest.

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...

Pray for the conversion of the heretics who repudiate Christ and His Church.

More here.

When will this witch be excommunicated?

Pelosi Statement on Marriage Equality Ruling

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement on the ruling announced today by U.S. District Court Judge Walker in the case of Perry v. Schwarzenegger:

“I am extremely encouraged by the ruling today, which found that Proposition 8 violated both the due process and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Proposition 8 has taken away individual rights and freedoms, and is a stain upon the California Constitution.

“We must continue to fight against discriminatory marriage amendments and work toward the day when all American families are treated equally."

Does her bishop, like Chairman MaObama, lacking the 'cajones' to do his duty?

The Archdiocese of New York is refusing to answer questions about an incriminating internet video

Sex, Lies & Videotape

Archbishop Carlson: Abortion Supporters Are Excommunicated, Should Not Receive Communion

ST. LOUIS, Missouri, July 8, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a new column, Archbishop Robert Carlson takes to task those who argue that abortion is simply a political issue, pointing out that it is also a serious moral issue. He also makes clear that one cannot be a good Catholic and be "pro-choice."

"People who are casual about the sin of abortion and who choose to view it as a political issue rather than the serious moral issue that it is are guilty of violating the Fifth Commandment," he writes.

Human life is sacred, according to the archbishop, because "from its beginning until its natural end, it involves the creative action of God."

"God alone is the Lord of life," he states. "No one has the right to end arbitrarily what God has begun, and sustained, through the gift of His love."

For this reason, he writes, "since the first century, the Church has addressed the moral evil of abortion and the killing of a defenseless baby in the womb."

"You cannot be 'pro-choice' (pro-abortion) and remain a Catholic in good standing," he says. "That's why the Church asks those who maintain this position not to receive holy Communion.

"We are not being mean or judgmental, we are simply acknowledging the fact that such a stance is objectively and seriously sinful and is radically inconsistent with the Christian way of life."...

More here

'Planned Parenthood' president thanks dissenting "nun" for pro-abortion health care deform

Planned Parenthood head thanks religious sisters for ‘critical support’ of health care bill

Washington D.C., Mar 27, 2010 / 07:28 am (CNA).- Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards has praised the Catholic religious sisters who endorsed the Senate health care bill, claiming they deserve gratitude for making “a critical demonstration of support” for a bill that significantly increased coverage of “reproductive health care.”

Writing for the Huffington Post Wednesday in her capacity as president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Richards claimed that it was Catholic nuns who “most importantly broke with the bishops and the Vatican to announce their support for health care reform.”

“This brave and important move, demonstrating that they cared as much about the health care of families in America as they did about church hierarchy, was a critical demonstration of support.”

The group NETWORK claimed in a March 17 letter to the House of Representatives that it represented 59,000 women religious across the U.S. It urged members of Congress to support the bill....

Apostates and heretics - the whole lot! It's yet another in a LONG LIST of SCANDALS which generally remain unaddressed by US BISHOPS. The fact that these schismatic malcontents have yet to be disciplined is even more of a scandal to faithful Catholics.

Pray that our bishops and priests be graced with zeal and courage to do what they should do in addressing schism and heresy among those who claim to be "Catholic" yet continually pervert the Truth who is Jesus, Himself!

Article here.

US Catholic Bishops contributed to "Health Care Reform" Debacle

From a thoroughly Catholic perspective, the health care reform debate wasn’t nearly as simple as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops made it out to be, as though preventing public funding of abortion and negotiating conscience clauses was enough to render Obamacare worthy of Catholic support.

This, however, is exactly the stance taken by the USCCB from the very outset, and it only opened the door for those difference-making pro-life legislators to take comfort in the promise of an executive order restricting federal funding of abortion and to justify voting “yes.”...

This article on Catholic Exchange highlights the faulty way in which the USCCB approached the health care reform debate, and their socialist tilt toward policy in general.

More here

Stupak Stripped of "Defender of Life" Award

From the Susan B. Anthony List:

Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund Pledges to Drive Out Pro-life Betrayers in November

WASHINGTON, DC - In response to Rep. Bart Stupak's announcement that he and other self-labeled "pro-life" Democrats will vote in favor of Healthcare reform legislation with the addition of an Executive Order from the White House to address concerns about abortion funding, Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund President Marjorie Dannenfelser offered the following statement:

"This Wednesday night is our third annual Campaign for Life Gala, where we were planning to honor Congressman Stupak for his efforts to keep abortion-funding out of health care reform-We will no longer be doing so. By accepting this deal from the most pro-abortion President in American history, Stupak has not only failed to stand strong for unborn children, but also for his constituents and pro-life voters across the country."

"Let me be clear: any representative, including Rep. Stupak, who votes for this healthcare bill can no longer call themselves 'pro-life.' The Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund will not endorse, or support in any capacity, any Member of Congress who votes for this bill in any future election. Now through Election Day 2010, these representatives will learn that votes have consequences. The SBA List Candidate Fund will work tirelessly to help defeat Members who support this legislation and make sure their constituents know exactly how they voted. We will actively seek out true pro-life candidates to oppose Members who vote 'yes' on this bill, whether it be in general or primary elections. For these Members, it will be a quick downhill slide to defeat in November."

"The executive order on abortion funding does absolutely nothing to fix the problems presented by the health care reform bill that the House will vote on this evening. The very idea should offend all pro-life Members of Congress. An executive order can be rescinded at any time at the President's whim, and the courts could and have a history of trumping executive orders. Most importantly, pro-abortion Representatives have admitted the executive order is meaningless."

Last night, Rep. DeGette told The Huffington Post, "If there was an executive order saying they weren't going to use federal funds in the bill to pay for abortions that would be fine with me."

Today, Rep. Wasserman Schultz admitted to Fox News' Megyn Kelly that "an executive order cannot change the law."

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops pointed out today that "only a change in the law enacted by Congress, not an executive order, can begin to address this very serious problem in the legislation."

The Susan B. Anthony List has been leading the fight against abortion funding in health care reform for over a year, spending nearly $2 million on a grassroots campaign of targeted television and radio ads, 1.3 million automated calls, 70,000 patch-through constituent calls, 1.2 million letters and petitions to Congress, two media and grassroots tours in pro-life Democratic districts, television ads in six districts and comprehensive polling in 20 pro-life Democratic districts.

The Susan B. Anthony List is a nationwide network of Americans, over 280,000 residing in all 50 states, dedicated to mobilizing, advancing, and representing pro-life women in politics. Its connected Candidate Fund increases the percentage of pro-life women in the political process.

###

Source

NRLC Statement on Stupak "Deal"

STATEMENT BY THE NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE COMMITTEE ON ABORTION "DEAL" ON HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION

WASHINGTON -- (Sunday, March 21, 2010, 6 PM EDT) -- In response to today's announcement regarding an agreement between Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mi.) and President Obama on the pending health care bill (H.R. 3590), the following statement was issued by the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of right-to-life organizations in the 50 states:

The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) remains strongly opposed to the Senate-passed health bill (H.R. 3590). A lawmaker who votes for this bill is voting to require federal agencies to subsidize and administer health plans that will pay for elective abortion, and voting to undermine longstanding pro-life policies in other ways as well. Pro-life citizens nationwide know that this is a pro-abortion bill. Pro-life citizens know, and they will be reminded again and again, which lawmakers deserve their gratitude for voting against this pro-abortion legislation.

The executive order promised by President Obama was issued for political effect. It changes nothing. It does not correct any of the serious pro-abortion provisions in the bill. The president cannot amend a bill by issuing an order, and the federal courts will enforce what the law says.

To elaborate: The order does not truly correct any of the seven objectionable pro-abortion provisions described in NRLC's March 19 letter to the House of Representatives, which is posted here: www.nrlc.org/AHC/NRLCToHouseOnHealthBill.pdf.

Regarding Community Health Centers (CHCs), NRLC has documented the problem created by H.R. 3590 here: www.nrlc.org/AHC/NRLCMemoCommHealth.html.

Prof. Robert Destro, a professor of law and former dean of the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America, and an expert on abortion-related litigation, has sent lawmakers a letter explaining why the bill opens the door to direct federal funding of abortion in Community Health Centers: www.nrlc.org/ahc/DestroLetterToStupakOnCommHealthCenters.pdf.

Prof. Destro clearly explains why it is the statutory language that will govern.

Regarding the new program to provide tax credits to purchase private insurance, the executive order merely tinkers with the formalities of a bookkeeping scheme under which federal subsidies will pay for plans that cover elective abortion -- a break from the longstanding principles of the Hyde Amendment.

The order does nothing at all to mitigate the other abortion-related problems described in the NRLC letter, dealing with bill provisions that create dangerous regulatory mandate authorities, revise Indian health programs, and create pools of directly appropriated funds that are not covered by existing restrictions on funding of abortion. Nor can the order correct the omission from the pending legislation of the necessary conscience-protection language that had been included in House-passed health care legislation last November (the "Weldon language").

For additional information regarding the abortion-related components of the legislation, and NRLC's assessment of the gravity of these issues, please refer to the March 19 letter linked above, and other materials posted on the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org/AHC/Index.html.

For interviews on this issue, please call the NRLC Communications Department at (202) 626-8825.

Isn't Stupak supposed to be Catholic? Where's HIS bishop and when do we see the anti-life "Catholic" politicians receive an interdict under Canon 915?

NEW ABORTION SCANDAL at Catholic College

From America Needs Fatima:

Ask this Catholic college to take Planned Parenthood off its web site - sign your protest here

The University of Detroit Mercy - a Catholic institution - lists Planned Parenthood on its web site under "Career & Professional Resources." Another pro-abortion group called the National Organization for Women (NOW) is also listed.

SIGN THIS E-PROTEST to get these listings removed

-- Fact #1:

Further investigation shows that Dr. Jane Schaberg, Professor of Religious Studies at the same university is a member of NOW and the dissident group Catholics for Free Choice.
Hard to believe. But it gets worse.

-- Fact #2:

Referred to as a "feminist biblical scholar," Prof. Schaberg authored a blasphemous book, first published in 1987, titled: The Illegitimacy of Jesus: A Feminist Theological Interpretation of the Infancy Narratives. The offensive work argues that Jesus was not conceived by the Holy Spirit, but most likely the offspring of a r a p e.

-- Fact #3:

On page 95, the book states: "…Mary, in the tradition Luke inherited, experienced a disaster worse than barrenness: sexual violation."

As far as I know, Prof. Schaberg has not publicly retracted this opinion. Her book is still available online through Amazon. Yet, she continues teaching religious studies.

Your instant protest message will go directly to Fr. Gerard L. Stockhausen, S.J., the president of the University of Detroit Mercy, urging him to remove every mention of Planned Parenthood from the university's web site.

I'd like to mention our recent victory at Rosemont College. Yes. In fact, Planned Parenthood was DELETED from the college website in less than 24-hours after we launched our protest.

A second victory is possible.

Will you help me ramp up this protest?

Let's delete Planned Parenthood - right now - here

And to give this peaceful effort much more impact, help me spread the word by forwarding this message to your pro-life friends (or even your entire address book).

With God's help, the truth will triumph.

Sincerely in Jesu et Maria
Robert E. Ritchie
America Needs Fatima
www.ANF.org