Cardinal (with Biden and Pelosi) Honor Church Dissident

From The Cardinal Newman Society:

Washington insiders, University of Notre Dame alumni, and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick gathered for a Capitol Hill reception last week to honor Fr. Theodore Hesburgh's 70th anniversary of his ordination. Fr. Hesburgh served as the president of the University between 1952 and 1987. U.S House minority leader Nancy Pelosi invited Fr. Hesburgh to the birthday party/reception in his honor. Vice President Joseph Biden made a surprise appearance. 

“Father Hesburgh brought to this country a new understanding of what a university education should be,” said Cardinal McCarrick, comparing him to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. 

“You’re one of the most powerful unelected officials this nation has ever seen,” said Vice President Biden. "In 1972 I ran for public office as a 29-year-old kid because of your passion for civil rights. You're one of the reasons I've been so proud to be a Catholic." 

Fr. Hesburgh was the principal organizer and signatory of the Land O' Lakes Statement, in which Catholic university presidents declared "true autonomy and academic freedom in the face of authority of whatever kind, lay or clerical." Fr. Hesburgh also served as board member and chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation, devoted to population control. In 2008, Fr. Hesburgh told the Wall Street Journal that he had no objection to female ordination.

Pelosi and Biden played McCarrick for the fool. This pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage joke of a politician orchestrates a "Catholic" bonanza for a rogue Catholic priest, and a Cardinal, a Prince of the Church, arrives to give his stamp of approval. And people wonder why so many faithful Catholics are outraged and disillusioned with their leadership? Any surprise why so many American Catholics go along with the Kennedy/Biden/Pelosi/Kerry brand of Catholicism? Abortion would not be legal in this country if Catholics voted as they should. A majority of Catholics in America are not formed and have no clue about their faith in large part due to pathetic leadership from the top. Some are better at giving mixed signals than in handing on the faith. WHERE IS OUR LEADERSHIP???????? I'm thoroughly disgusted. Is being a Cardinal to these people all about attending VIP cocktail parties, sipping wine and eating caviar with the elites?

Insanity slowly becoming the norm

From the Associated Press:

'Boy or Girl?' Gender a new challenge for schools 

CHICAGO (AP) — From the time they are born, we put our boys in blue beanies and our girls in pink ones. It's a societal norm, an expectation even, that you just are what you are born — a boy or a girl. 

From early on, we divide toys and activities by very distinct gender lines, with superheroes and trucks and muck on one side and princesses and dolls and all things frilly on the other. 

Many children land, enthusiastically, on the expected side. Others dabble in both "girl" and "boy" things. But what if your kid, even from an early age, mostly showed interest in doing opposite-gender things? More importantly, what if they wanted to BE the opposite gender — or a less-defined mix of both? And what if they wanted to test those limits in public places, like school?

Liturgy: Sacred vs. Secular Music

Can you tell the difference?? from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.

Church documents on this subject are so clear...I have to wonder whether most American bishops have just decided to completely ignore them. I recently went to a Mass (novus ordo) where the processional song was so awful I had to excuse myself and wait in the narthex until it was over.

“The more closely a composition for church approaches in its movement, inspiration and savor the Gregorian form, the more sacred and liturgical it becomes; and the more out of harmony it is with that supreme model, the less worthy it is of the temple.” ~Blessed Pope John Paul II

 “An authentic updating of sacred music can take place only in the lineage of the great tradition of the past, of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony.” ~ Pope Benedict XVI

Have any of our bishops (excepting a select few) in the United States come close to saying anything like this? One of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's greatest gifts to the Church was his emphasis on Catholic identity and culture. A huge part of the problem has to do, in my opinion, with the overall, widespread vulgarization of our culture. Bishops and priests, like many in today's society, simply are not inspired by true beauty anymore. Most bishops in the U.S. were reared in the iconoclastic, culturally depraved years of the 1960s, which speaks volumes about their cultural formation. High culture has been relegated to an elitist status that is seen as unappealing to the everyday man more interested in sports, pop-culture and television. Bishops desperately want to be seen as approachable and average Joe-ish, and so they are deeply insecure and nervous about promoting a high culture of beauty that challenges the banal, status quo low culture. They fear being seen as out of touch, and all that nonsense.

What I find interesting and inspiring is that, in the absence of any leadership from the bishops who are running away from high culture, there is a new movement of cultured and educated laity rising to the challenge to fill the void, re-educating Catholics about the necessity of beauty and the arts, in other words, authentic culture.

Catholic and Orthodox Liturgy

As a Catholic, I am embarrassed. Look at Deacon Johnson dance up the aisle with the Gospel at around the 1.30 mark. The sad thing is, look at all the bishops who are there. It's not like this is going on under the radar of the episcopacy. What a disgrace. Where is the reverence? We have a beautiful liturgy too, when offered properly. They've turned this into a show. 

Papal Exorcism?

Sure looks like it. Vatican officials are downplaying the mysterious encounter (don't know why), but I'm not convinced it was simply a customary blessing. Satan is real, and his power is immense.

From the Associated Press:

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Is Pope Francis an exorcist? 

The question has bubbled up ever since Francis laid his hands on the head of a young man in a wheelchair after celebrating Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square. The young man heaved deeply a half-dozen times, shook, then slumped in his wheelchair as Francis prayed over him. 

The television station of the Italian bishops' conference reported Monday that it had surveyed exorcists, who agreed there was "no doubt" that Francis either performed an exorcism or a prayer to free the man from the devil. ... 

'Nation of Slobs'

Weak Shepherds, Weak Flock

Commenting on the stunning decline in Christian affiliation in the U.K., the Telegraph's Damian Thompson takes the leadership of the Anglican and Catholic communities to task for providing ZERO leadership for younger people. I think much of his point can be applied to the U.S. Here's an excerpt:

Take a bow, Anglican and Catholic bishops. I don’t know if the British Humanist Association hands out awards, but you certainly deserve one – a statuette of Polly Toynbee, say, for untiring efforts to water down the Christian message to the point where it’s not worth believing in.

Consider the following story from this week’s Daily Telegraph. A five-year-old boy at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Wimbledon called another pupil’s shoes “gay”. The head, Sarah Crouch, called in Stonewall. Whether she was doing this to protect miniature footwear from homophobic abuse or as part of a wider programme of thought reform is not clear. But we do know that Stonewall conducted a “training day” at the school – with the blessing of the Archbishop of Southwark, Peter Smith, who apparently chose to gloss over the fact that Stonewall is 100 per cent opposed to Catholic teaching on homosexuality. ... 

The internal secularisation of the Churches may be only an element in the collapse of religious belief among young people, but it’s an important one. If RE lessons are all about turning kids into “climate change ambassadors”, no wonder they find it so easy to brush aside the supernatural claims of faith when they grow up.

Picture Perfect

As we gear up for Pentecost...

Fiend Gosnell GUILTY

From CBS News:

(CBS/AP) PHILADELPHIA - Dr. Kermit Gosnell, the 72-year-old abortion doctor accused of murdering four babies after they were allegedly born alive during abortion procedures at his Philadelphia clinic, was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder Monday. 

Gosnell was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a patient who came to him for a later-term abortion procedure.

A small bit of justice today for the unspeakable atrocities Gosnell committed. Possibly facing the death penalty for these crimes, his reckoning has only just begun.

_______

Update: Will face life in prison. Lots of time to reflect in silence and solitude on his deeds.

Mother's Day Question

Is there something unique about mothers? Is there something special that they alone contribute to the life of their children? Most people would answer in the affirmative. But what is the point of celebrating Mother's Day if we can deny children the right to a mother? If two men adopt a child, are we not denying that child the right to those gifts that only a mother, a woman, can provide? The same goes for Father's Day. If you think about it, once we've embraced the redefinition of marriage, why go on celebrating the uniqueness of a mother and father? Why celebrate Mother's Day, Father's Day? Are not these days simply old-fashioned holidays from a bygone era when gender differences actually mattered? We've gone beyond gender. In fact, we could argue that Mother's Day and Father's Day are offensive, sexist, repressive, judgmental, unfair, mean, intolerant.

We can't have it both ways. We can't single out the irreplaceable role that a mother and a father have in the development of their children and, at the same time, deny those children the right to a mother or father with the promotion of gay 'marriage'.

813 Martyrs Canonized Today

Martyrs of Otranto

From the Associated Press:

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis on Sunday gave the Catholic church new saints, including hundreds of 15th-century martyrs who were beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam, as he led his first canonization ceremony Sunday in a packed St. Peter's Square. 

The "Martyrs of Otranto" were 813 Italians who were slain in the southern Italian city in 1480 for defying demands by Turkish invaders who overran the citadel to renounce Christianity. 

Their approval for sainthood was decided upon by Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI, in a decree read at the ceremony in February where the former pontiff announced his retirement. 

Shortly after his election in March, Francis called for more dialogue with Islam, and it was unclear how the granting of sainthood to the martyrs would be received. Islam is a sensitive subject for the church, and Benedict stumbled significantly in his relations with Muslims.

This is a magnificent day for the Church. Over 800 Saints! Let's ask these holy martyrs to pray for the Church in these difficult times.

Just an aside: "Islam is a sensitive subject for the church." Yeah, I wonder why. The audacity of this reporting... Let's review: the story is about how Muslims beheaded over 800 Catholics in their attempt to conquer all of Europe with the sword, and it is Benedict XVI who has a P.R. problem! Incredible. These media people are so predictable.

Democrats in Decline

From Politico:

One of the Democrats’ most veteran strategists warns that the party is “in decline” and “at considerable risk” when President Barack Obama is no longer on the scene. 

“Since Obama was elected President, the Democrats have lost nine governorships, 56 members of the House and two Senate seats,” Doug Sosnik, the political director in Bill Clinton’s White House, writes in a new memo. 

While Republican branding problems get the lion’s share of attention, the Democratic Party’s favorability rating has declined by 15 points since Obama took power. 

A Pew Research Center survey this January showed that the Democratic Party was viewed favorably by 47 percent of Americans, down from 62 percent in Jan. 2009.

I have suspected this for some time. Obama has basically become the Democratic Party. Once he's off the scene, the Dems will be out of gas. They have invested everything in one man. There's no one who can replicate what was a once-in-a-generation phenomenon. Even now, people are getting Obama fatigue. Benghazi will take Hillary out. And Biden? Seriously?

Art and Liturgy

Abortion in the News Again

Is there a link between abortion and sick, evil people? First Kermit Gosnell and now this. From NBC News:

Prosecutor will seek murder charges for terminated pregnancies in kidnap case 

An Ohio prosecutor vowed Thursday to pursue murder charges against the Cleveland kidnapping suspect for terminating the pregnancies of the women he is accused of holding captive for a decade. 

The prosecutor, Timothy McGinty of Cuyahoga County, also said that he would consider seeking the death penalty. 

Meanwhile, new details about a confession the suspect, Ariel Castro, made to police were revealed, including that he admitted that he was a sex addict and “cold blooded,” reported WKYC, Cleveland's NBC affiliate. Also, in a suicide note he wrote in 2004 Castro blamed the girls for their abductions. 

Castro is already charged with four counts of kidnapping — three for the women he is accused of abducting and one for a baby that one of the women bore in captivity.

The details of the Gosnell and Castro cases, especially with regard to the total disregard for life, are simply horrific. I think it's more than a coincidence that two very high-profile, macabre stories in the news recently have involved the murdering of unborn children. If abortion is okay, if Obama celebrates it, why pursue murder charges for the termination of a pregnancy?

Benghazi. We Want the Truth.

Whistleblowers who were present on the day of the terrorist attack are expected to give shocking testimony to Congress today which will contradict the administration's version of what happened. Stay tuned.

More on Otranto

Damian Thompson raises some good points about the 15th century martyrdom of 800 Catholics in Otranto, Italy at the hands of maniacal Muslim invaders. From the Telegraph:

The cathedral of Otranto in southern Italy is decorated with the skulls of 800 Christian townsfolk beheaded by Ottoman soldiers in 1480. A week tomorrow, on Sunday May 12, they will become the skulls of saints, as Pope Francis canonises all of them. In doing so, he will instantly break the record for the pope who has created the most saints. ... 

But the murders really happened, and their significance is immense. The Turks had been sent by Mohammed II, who captured the “second Rome” of Constantinople and planned to do the same to the first. His fleet landed in Otranto, Italy’s easternmost city, and laid siege. The citizens held out for two weeks, allowing the King of Naples to muster his forces. Rome did not fall. 

“All of this took place because of the indifference of the political leaders of Europe to the Ottoman menace,” wrote the conservative Italian senator Alfredo Mantovano in an article about the martyrdoms in 2007. You can guess where his argument was heading. “In Otranto, no one displayed rainbow pacifist flags, nor invoked international resolutions… Today Europe is under attack, not by an institutionally organised Muslim phalanx but by a patchwork of non-governmental organisations of fundamentalist Muslims.” 

Pope Francis desires warm relations with Islam – so, as I say, I wonder how pleased he was to discover this event in his diary. Already the interfaith lobby is squirming, always a fun sight. But, equally, the Church can’t allow the ceremony to be hijacked by rabble-rousers.

Clarence Thomas Nails Barack Obama and Elite Media

First Saints of Francis

Very significant news, from the Catholic Herald:

Pope Francis is preparing to canonise an estimated 800 Italian laymen killed by Ottoman [MUSLIM] soldiers in the 15th century. The canonisation service will be on May 12 in St Peter’s Square and it will be the first carried out by the Pontiff since he was elected in early March. 

The killing of the martyrs by Ottoman troops, who launched a weeks-long siege of Otranto, a small port town at the most eastern tip of southern Italy, took place in 1480. 

When Otranto residents refused to surrender to the Ottoman army, the soldiers were ordered to massacre all males over the age of 15. Many were ordered to convert to Islam or die, but Blessed Antonio Primaldo, a tailor, spoke on the prisoners’ behalf. “We believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God, and for Jesus Christ we are ready to die,” he said, according to Blessed John Paul II, who visited Otranto in 1980 for the 500th anniversary of the martyrs’ deaths. ... 

The skulls and other relics of the martyrs currently adorn the walls around the altar of Otranto Cathedral as a memorial to their sacrifice. According to the archdiocese’s website, popular tradition holds that when the soldiers beheaded Primaldo, his body remained standing even as the combatants tried to push him over. Legend has it that the decapitated man stood until the very last prisoner was killed, at which point Primaldo’s body collapsed next to his dead comrades.

Who can deny the relevance here?

Feminism Out?

From the Washington Times:

Feminism may be dead: 72 percent of Americans say they're not 'feminists' 

It is likely disappointing news for old school bra-burners and Gloria Steinham-inspired activists. 

“Has feminist become a dirty word?”demands a new Economist/YouGov Poll released Wednesday.  

“Feminism is a mixed bag in the eyes of most Americans. Overall, 28 percent consider themselves to be feminists, 72 percent do not,” the findings report. 

Among women, 38 percent consider themselves feminists. And men do not appear to be very liberated these days either: 18 percent “accept the label” for themselves, the poll reports.

Reason enough to raise a glass.