Bsp. Tobin’s consistent teaching on pro-abortion Catholic politicians: Giuliani, Kennedy, Kerry, Leahy, Pelosi, Biden, Reed, and Kennedy (again…)

A little help here brother bishops…

From POLITICO:

The same bishop who is denying Communion to Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) claims he avoids politics — but he first made a national splash two years ago by comparing Rudy Giuliani to Pontius Pilate.

Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin wrote an op-ed in the Rhode Island Catholic attacking Giuliani in May 2007, the same year he allegedly wrote a letter to Kennedy informing the pro-choice Democrat he was not a “good practicing Catholic” because of the positions he has taken as a public official.

In the column — which was a public response to Giuliani’s invitation to a Providence fundraiser for his presidential campaign — Tobin wrote that he had no interest in politics, yet proceeded to call out many prominent Catholic politicians by name.

The article:

My R.S.V.P. to Rudy Giuliani

Bishop Thomas J. Tobin

5.31.07

I probably would have written this article anyhow, so distressed was I. But then I received an invitation to attend a fundraising luncheon for presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, and that absolutely confirmed my decision. The fundraiser is scheduled for Providence next week. For $500 I could attend a reception with the former New York City Mayor. For $1,500 I could attend a reception with a photo op. The first thought that came to my mind is that I’m not charging enough for my Confirmation photos!

Nevertheless, and more to the point, I have no idea why I received an invitation to Giuliani’s fundraiser. I don’t know the Mayor; I’ve never met him. I try to avoid partisan politics. Heck, I’m not even a Republican. But most of all, I would never support a candidate who supports legalized abortion.

Rudy’s public proclamations on abortion are pathetic and confusing. Even worse, they’re hypocritical.

Now this is what we get from Rudy as he attempted to explain his ambiguous position on abortion in a speech at Houston Baptist College earlier this month: “Here are the two strong beliefs that I have, here are the two pillars of my thinking . . . One is, I believe abortion is wrong. I think it is morally wrong . . . The second pillar that guides my thinking . . . where [people of good faith] come to different conclusions about this, about something so very, very personal, I believe you have to respect their viewpoint. You give them a level of choice here . . . I’ve always believed both of these things.”

What? This drivel from the man who received high marks, and properly so, for his clear vision and personal courage in healing New York City, and by extension, the nation, after the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11.

Rudy mentions the two pillars of his position. But you know what happens if you sit on a stool with two legs? Yep, it collapses. And so does Rudy’s position and along with it his integrity and reputation.

Rudy’s explanation is a classic expression of the position on abortion we’ve heard from weak-kneed politicians so frequently in recent years: “I’m personally opposed to but don’t want to impose my views on other people.” The incongruity of that position has been exposed many times now. As I’ve asked previously, would we let any politician get away with the same pathetic cop-out on other issues: “I’m personally opposed to . . . racial discrimination, sexual abuse, prostitution, drug abuse, polygamy, incest . . . but don’t want to impose my beliefs on others?”

Why is it that when I hear someone explaining this position I think of sad figure of Pontius Pilate in the Gospels who personally found no guilt in Jesus but for fear of the crowd washed his hands of the whole affair and handed Jesus over to be crucified. I can just hear Pilate saying, “You know, I’m personally opposed to crucifixion but don’t want to impose my belief on others.”

Okay, let’s ask Mayor Giuliani to think about his position for a minute.

Hey Rudy, you say that you believe abortion is morally wrong. Why do you say that Rudy, why do you believe that abortion is wrong? Is abortion the killing of an innocent child? Is it an offense against human dignity? Is it a cruel and violent act? Does it harm the woman who has the abortion? And if your answer to any of these questions is yes, Rudy, why would you permit people to . . . kill an innocent child, offend human dignity, commit a cruel and violent act or do harm to the mother? This is the name of choice? Huh?

Rudy’s preposterous position is compounded by the fact that he professes to be a Catholic. As Catholics we are called, indeed required, to be pro-life, to cherish and protect human life as a precious gift of God from the moment of conception until the time of natural death. As a leader, as public official, Rudy Giuliani has a special obligation in that regard.

In The Gospel of Life Pope John Paul made the obligation to defend human life very explicit: “This task is the particular responsibility of civil leaders . . . No one can ever renounce this responsibility, especially when he or she has a legislative or decision-making mandate.” (#90) And more recently, the Bishops of the United States wrote: “If a Catholic in his or her personal or professional life were knowingly and obstinately to repudiate [the Church’s] definitive teaching on moral issues, he or she would seriously diminish his or her communion with the Church.” (Happy Are Those Who Are Called to His Supper, p. 11)

Rudy’s defection from the Catholic Faith on this moral issue is not unique, of course. Catholic politicians of both parties, nationwide, have followed a similar path in abandoning the Faith for the sake of political expediency: Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Pat Leahy, Nancy Pelosi, and Joe Biden come quickly to mind. And on a local level of course, Congressman Patrick Kennedy and Senator Jack Reed. How these intelligent men and women will someday stand before the judgment seat of God and explain why they legitimized the death of countless innocent children in the sin of abortion is beyond me. (“But God, really, I was personally opposed to it but just couldn’t do anything about it.”)

Oh well, as you can see by now, I won’t be attending the fundraiser for Rudy Giuliani. If Rudy wants to see me he’ll have to arrange an appointment at my office. We’ll talk about his position on abortion. And if he wants a photo it will cost him $1,500 as a donation for the pro-life work of the Church.

(Video) Matthews Despicable Rant: Apologize, now.

“But we beseech you, brethren, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work.”

(St. Paul, 1 Thess. 5:12-13) 

From the Catholic League:

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the way MSNBC host Chris Matthews handled his interview with Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin last night on “Hardball”:

We were deluged with phone calls, faxes and e-mails after what happened yesterday on “Hardball.” After watching the first portion of the interview between Chris Matthews and Bishop Tobin, I wondered what all the fuss was all about: Chris was just being his usual aggressive self. But it didn’t take long before Matthews literally spun out of control.

Matthews proceeded with an extended and quite insulting lecture. He had absolutely no interest in a discussion on the question of the morality and legality of abortion—all he wanted to do was to make the bishop sit there and listen to his rant. Indeed, his tirade was simply over-the-top.

No non-Catholic would ever treat a bishop this way. But too many liberal Catholics, especially Irish Catholics, think they are exempt from the same standards of civility that apply to others. They are flatly wrong.

I was on MSNBC twice yesterday on this same subject and was treated with respect both times. Ed Schultz, who can be quite tough, was totally respectful, and I’m a lay person. Chris could learn a thing or two from Ed, who not only does not insult his guests, he actually gives them a chance to respond.

Contact executive producer John Reiss: hardball@msnbc.com

END OF POST

Our Allegiance to the Crown of Thorns

‘God can sometimes seem to be absent and incapable of stopping evil. But in the most mysterious way God the Father has revealed his almighty power in the voluntary humiliation and Resurrection of his Son, by which he conquered evil. Christ crucified is thus “the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men”.

Catechism of the Catholic Church , 272

Feast of Christ the King…

Homily for Mass at Birmingham University Catholic Chaplaincy:

‘A Personal Manifesto for Catholics of the UK’

Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue, Emeritus Bishop of Lancaster

Bishop O'Donoghue

Today the Catholic Church throughout the world celebrates one of the great solemnities of the Lord, the Feast of Christ the King. The Church in England and Wales has also chosen this day to celebrate Youth Day, and it is an honour that I have been invited to be with you, the Catholic students of Birmingham University, on this doubly important day.

A first impression about this feast of Christ the King could be that it is an anachronism, a reference to something that is out-of-date and remote to our lives in the 21st century.  The age of monarchy is long gone, replaced by democratic government.  Though we have a constitutional monarchy in this country, the monarch’s role has been reduced to a ceremonial role, with all political and legislative power concentrated in Parliament.

But even though the age of human Kings has passed into history, the image of Christ the King still has the power to inspire and motivate us.

In Dachau Concentration Camp there is a memorial that was built to honour the memory of the 200,000 prisoners imprisoned there during the Nazis’ reign of terror. This memorial is called the Chapel of the Mortal Agony of Christ, and it contains two powerful works of art. 

The first is a piece of black metal work suspended above the camp – an enormous crown of thorns.  The second is a sculpture of Jesus wearing the infamous camp uniform of striped jacket and trousers.  And on his head he also wears a crown of thorns.

To my mind these two pieces of art, set in the context of Dachau Concentration Camp, reveal the true nature of Jesus’ kingship, and the reason why Christ the King remains an important symbol for everyone here today.

What does the Crown of Thorns symbolise?  To understand this we have to turn to what Holy Scripture tells us.  In today’s reading from the Gospel of St John we hear the dialogue between Pontius Pilate and Jesus, between human power and divine power.

Pilate is the Prefect of the Roman Province of Judaea, and is the representative of Caesar, the king of the Roman Empire .  Under questioning from this agent of worldly power Jesus reveals part of his true identity, He is a King, but his kingdom is not of this world.

Though the peasants, prostitutes and outcasts of Galilee could glimpse the kingship and power of Jesus, those associated with worldly power either saw him as a perplexing enigma, a dangerous subversive or a misguided fool.

The Crown of Thorns represents worldly power’s mockery of Jesus ‘the fool’.  It also represents the soldier’s judgement that Jesus was sub-human, a thing with no rights over which they had the power of life and death.  To worldly power the Crown of Thorns is the sign of Jesus’ powerlessness and weakness.

But from the Christian perspective – which is God’s perspective – the Crown of Thorns represents the mystery of God’s apparent powerlessness.  As the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it:

‘God can sometimes seem to be absent and incapable of stopping evil.  But in the most mysterious way God the Father has revealed his almighty power in the voluntary humiliation and Resurrection of his Son, by which he conquered evil.  Christ crucified is thus “the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men”.‘  (CCC, 272).

From this perspective, the Crown of Thorns represents the love and transforming power of God appearing under the guise of weakness and humiliation.

The full force of the Roman Empire came down and appeared to crush, humiliate and kill Jesus on the Cross, but within less than 300 years the Roman Emperor would be a Christian, and the Church – the sacrament of the Kingdom of God – would have spread throughout the Empire.

In the 20^th century, both Nazism and Soviet and Maoist Communism have sought to oppress and destroy the Church, but the Crown of Thorns has survived and outlasted both the Swastika and the Hammer and Sickle.

Now it is our turn to take the Crown of Thorns as our symbol of resistance to worldly power.  Some of the worst expressions of this harmful worldly power we face are shown in the treatment of the weakest members of our society – the unborn, the old,  the sick and disabled. 

Since the passing of Abortion Act in 1967 the Church’s upholding of morality in this country has been defeated time and time again.  This country has rejected the right to life of unborn human beings; it has rejected the rights of embryonic human beings to be protected from experiments; it has rejected the rights of children to be brought up in heterosexual marriages, and, now it is in the process of gradually rejecting the rights of the sick, disabled and mentally ill to life.

Before this onslaught against the dignity and rights of human beings, the Church appears to be powerless and weak.  We are mocked by many politicians, journalists, and scientists as misguided, superstitious, fools and dangerous fundamentalists. 

Therefore, my advice to you, as Catholic students, during these times is to remember the truth and power of Jesus’ Crown of Thorns.  It is the sign of our resistance to all worldly power that seeks to oppress, that seeks to reduce human beings to being sub-human, to be things with no rights over which they had the power of life and death.

Through our allegiance to the Crown of Thorns we announce to the world that Jesus’ love for the vulnerable reigns in our minds and hearts; that through our powerlessness and weakness – accepted in faith – God’s almighty power will work through us to transform the world.

Amen.

SOURCE: H/T (w/Thanksgiving) Catholic Mom of 10 Militant

END OF POST

Rep. Patrick Kennedy chooses abortion over Communion…

Sunday, Solemnity of Christ the King…

From the Providence Journal:

WASHINGTON — Providence Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has forbidden Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy to receive the Roman Catholic sacrament of Holy Communion because of his advocacy of abortion rights, the Rhode Island Democrat said Friday.

“The bishop instructed me not to take Communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion,” Kennedy said in a telephone interview.

Kennedy said the bishop had explained the penalty by telling him “that I am not a good practicing Catholic because of the positions that I’ve taken as a public official,” particularly on abortion. He declined to say when or how Bishop Tobin told him not to take the sacrament. And he declined to say whether he has obeyed the bishop’s injunction.

Bishop Tobin, through a spokesman, declined to address the question of whether he had told Kennedy not to receive Communion. But the bishop’s office moved quickly to cast doubt on Kennedy’s related assertion about instructions to the priests of Rhode Island.

“Bishop Tobin has never addressed matters relative to public officials receiving Holy Communion with pastors of the diocese,” spokesman Michael K. Guilfoyle said in an e-mailed statement.

This latest exchange between Bishop Tobin and Kennedy, the only remaining public official in the nation’s most prominent Catholic family, escalates their heated public debate over how the eight-term congressman’s work for abortion rights bears on his standing in the church.

Their dispute comes against the backdrop of the national debate about whether U.S. taxpayers should subsidize abortions in the new health-care system that President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress have labored for months to create.

The episode adds another volatile element to a highly emotional dispute that has complicated Mr. Obama’s pursuit of his top legislative priority.

For Catholics, the debate could scarcely be more visceral. The church holds that abortion is a taking of human life that is intrinsically evil. Exclusion from the Holy Eucharist — bread that the faithful believe to have been transformed into the body of Christ — is a rare and serious penalty to impose on any Catholic.

Over the past few weeks, Kennedy and Bishop Tobin have shown glimpses of their dealings in piecemeal fashion, revealing only a sketchy picture of the congressman’s status as a member of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence.

In an October interview about the opposition of the nation’s bishops to any health-care overhaul that did not include a strict ban on federal subsidies for abortion, Kennedy called into question the “pro-life” credentials of the churchmen. Health care for millions of uninsured is at stake, he said. Bishop Tobin shot back with a sharply worded statement, noting that the bishops are staunch and longtime supporters of reforming the health-care system. He said, however, that the bishops will not support a health-care bill that fails to include a ban on taxpayer subsidy of the procedure.

The exchange, via open letters and interviews, has continued, with Bishop Tobin pointedly suggesting that “obstinate” opposition to church doctrine on abortion should cause a Catholic public official to reconsider his membership in the church.

On Friday, in response to questions from a reporter, Kennedy asserted that Bishop Tobin had told him not to receive Communion. But like the bishop, Kennedy withheld key details about their discussions.

Asked how he reacted as a Catholic, Kennedy would say only that he has “personal feelings of disappointment” about the matter, but he declined to elaborate.

For his part, the bishop declined to be interviewed. Spokesman Guilfoyle said in an e-mail: “Bishop Tobin has nothing more to add to the current discussion for the time being. Any previous correspondence or conversations between the Bishop and the congressman is still considered private at this time.”

While the teachings of the church and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops are clear on abortion, there is much disagreement on the issue of whether Catholic legislators should be penalized for action contrary to the doctrine.

“The vast majority of bishops don’t want people denied Communion” over the abortion issue, said Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuit scholar at the Woodstock Theological Center in Washington. “But the problem is, every time an individual bishop does it — especially if the public official has a high-profile name like Kennedy — it’s going to make headlines across the country and every bishop is going to suffer because of it,” Father Reese said.

Because every bishop has wide latitude in his own diocese, the controversy between Kennedy and Bishop Tobin is likely to be greeted with silence from other bishops — even if most would disagree with action to deny Communion to a Catholic legislator, according to Father Reese.

“We don’t comment on the individual actions of bishops because they are authoritative in their own dioceses,” said Deirdre McQuade, of the bishops conference, when asked about the exchanges between Kennedy and Bishop Tobin.

For the policy of the bishops conference, McQuade referred to a 2006 writing on how a Catholic maintains his or her worthiness to take Communion. If a Catholic were “knowingly and obstinately to repudiate … definitive teaching on moral issues,” the document says in part, then receiving Communion “would not accord with the nature of the Eucharistic celebration, so that he or she should refrain.”

Orders by bishops to deny Communion to Catholic public officials are very unusual but not unprecedented. In 2003, another prominent Catholic Democrat with a mixed voting record on abortion, Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin, was admonished not to take Communion in his congressional district by Bishop Raymond Burke of LaCrosse.

Spokeswoman McQuade said the bishops conference could not give a count of how many times bishops have actually denied Communion to government officials. But a review of news accounts of the past two decades suggests that public impositions of the penalty are very uncommon. These are among the high-profile instances in contemporaneous news stories: a Sacramento bishop told Gray Davis not to take Communion when he was Democratic governor of California in 2003; in 2004, then-Gov. James McGreevey, of New Jersey, complied with the admonitions of three of the state’s bishops that he not take Communion.

Scholar Reese said the bishops have debated in previous years the issue of whether they should step beyond such appeals to the individual Catholic’s conscience. The context for the debate was the 2004 presidential candidacy of Sen. John F. Kerry, a Catholic Democrat from Massachusetts who supports abortion rights. Father Reese said fewer than 20 bishops supported a policy of denying Communion to such officials.

Early in that presidential campaign, Burke, who had become archbishop of St. Louis, told reporters that if Kerry were to approach him at a Mass in Missouri, “I would have to admonish him not to present himself for Communion.”

Last month, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Burke to the Vatican’s Congregation of Bishops, a powerful body that helps the pontiff to select the world’s bishops. He also sits on the highest court of Catholic canon law.

According to the National Catholic Reporter, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston, once urged Catholic officials who support abortion rights to refrain from Communion. But the newspaper said Cardinal O’Malley did not order Boston priests to deny them the sacrament. Kerry and the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (Patrick Kennedy’s father and another supporter of abortion rights) both received Communion at Cardinal O’Malley’s installation as archbishop in 2003.

In 2004, a large majority of bishops “tried to persuade the minority not to do this — using Communion as a weapon,” Father Reese said, but the conference could not come to a consensus view on the issue.

Father Reese stressed that withholding Communion is not as grave a penalty as excommunication, which separates a Catholic from all the sacraments. If a bishop denies Communion to a Catholic, he or she “is still a Catholic,” Father Reese said. Indeed, he said “it would take a canon lawyer” to say whether a Catholic denied Communion in his own diocese would be free to receive Communion elsewhere.

With reports from Journal Staff Writer Karen Lee Ziner.

END OF POST

Solemnity — Christ the King

 11.22.09

Tiziano Vecelli, a.k.a. Titian

Reading 1

Dn 7:13-14

As the visions during the night continued, I saw one like a Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; when he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 93:1, 1-2, 5

R. (1a) The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.

The LORD is king, in splendor robed;

robed is the LORD and girt about with strength.

R. The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.

And he has made the world firm,

not to be moved.

Your throne stands firm from of old;

from everlasting you are, O LORD.

R. The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.

Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed;

holiness befits your house,

O LORD, for length of days.

R. The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.

Reading II

Rv 1:5-8

Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. All the peoples of the earth will lament him.

Yes. Amen.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, ” says the Lord God, “the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.”

Gospel

Jn 18:33b-37

Pilate said to Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”

So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?”

Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

END OF POST

The Holy Gospel: 11.20.09

Luke 19: 41-48

41 And when he drew near, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying:

42 If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are for thy peace: but now they are hidden from thy eyes.

43 For the days shall come upon thee; and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side,

44 And beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee: and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation.

45 And entering into the temple, he began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought,

46 Saying to them: It is written: My house is the house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves.

47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. And the chief priests, and the Scribes, and the rulers of the people sought to destroy him:

48 And they found not what to do to him. For all the people heard him attentively.

SOURCE

END OF POST

The story behind the near riots at UCLA today…

“When I am president, I will make college affordable for every American. Period.”

Remember as you watch, 66% of the students below voted for Obama in the last election…

And UC Santa Cruz…

END OF POST

Oregon cat dies from H1N1 virus — First feline death in country…

Lebanon, Oregon

From the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association:

Oregon Cat Positive for H1N1 Virus Has Died

On November 4, 2009, a 10-year-old male cat was brought to Animal Clinic in Lebanon, Oregon with labored breathing. A member of the family had been sick with influenza-like illness approximately one week earlier.

On initial examination, the cat’s temperature was 101.7 F. There was no coughing or sneezing and its respiration was rapid and shallow. Radiographs were taken and revealed results consistent with pneumonia.

On November 5, 2009, the cat’s respiratory rate worsened. The cat was admitted and treated with oxygen and medication.

On November 7, 2009, the cat died. It was later confirmed that the cat was positive for pandemic H1N1 by Oregon State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

It is believed that this is the first feline H1N1 fatality. It is the third confirmed case of a cat with H1N1. In addition to this case, there have been cases of confirmed H1N1 infection in cats in Iowa and Utah. Both cats recovered.

A Nebraska ferret with the virus died last month. Four Oregon ferrets tested positive and have recovered.

Three other cats in the Oregon household also became ill with different degrees of sneezing and coughing. None of them had an elevated temperature. Nasal swab samples were collected and yielded no other positive results for H1N1.

Transmission

In these cases it is believed that the cats caught the virus from humans in their households who were sick with influenza-like symptoms. If you or other members of your household are ill with influenza-like symptoms, wash your hands, use alcohol-based hand cleaners, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you sneeze, and avoiding touching your cat’s eyes, nose and mouth.

Dr. Emilio DeBess, Oregon State Public Health Veterinarian, cautions owners and veterinarians that it may be possible for cats to transmit this virus to humans. Coughing and sneezing can spread the virus which can remain infectious for about a week outside the body. Thoroughly wash your hands when handling sick pets or when you are sick.

Symptoms

Despite the unfortunate outcome in the Oregon case, cat owners should not panic. The number of confirmed cases of H1N1 infection in cats is quite small compared to the US cat population.

Watch your cat for symptoms and seek veterinary care if your cat shows signs of respiratory illness.

Symptoms include coughing, sneezing, lethargy, or conjunctivitis (swelling and redness of the membranes around the eyes).

In these instances, your cat should be examined by your veterinarian, especially if there is a recent history of influenza-like illness in the household.

Treatment

As with people, treatment is supportive, which means treating the symptoms and letting the virus run its course. If a diagnosis of respiratory illness is made, your veterinarian can suggest medications and treatment to make your cat more comfortable.

END OF POST

Bishops Settle World Series Wager (pics)

2009 USCCB Fall General Assembly 

Archbishop Dolan (Yankees) vs. Cardinal Rigali (Phillies) 

Pre-Series chatter: Bagels vs. Tastykakes…

“These two long-time friends spoke on Tuesday evening (before the series began) to settle the terms of the bet. If the Phillies win, Archbishop Dolan will ship a dozen bagels to the City of Brotherly Love; if the Yankees prevail, Cardinal Rigali will send a box of Tastykakes to the Big Apple.”

The churchmen exchanged the usual jocularities, with Rigali expressing “great esteem for Archbishop Dolan” but adding: “We have the cream cheese ready for the bagels that I know will be arriving shortly after the Repeat in the City of Brotherly and Sisterly love.”

(“Sisterly” love? An oddly inclusive usage coming from Rigali, a member of the Catholic committee charged with producing new and literal — and decidedly non-PC — Mass translations that will arrive soon to a parish near you.)

Dolan in turn called Rigali “one of my closest and dearest friends” but then adding: “I know he has exquisite taste in most matters. I just wish he had better taste in baseball teams.”

H/T David Gibson

Post-Series humble kake…

Archbishop Tim Dolan of New York and Cardinal Rigali meet to settle a wager on the outcome of the World Series.

The terms of the wager were simple. If the Phillies won, Dolan would present Rigali with a box of bagels. If the Yankees won, Rigali would bring Dolan a box of tastykakes.

So Cardinal Rigali graciously presented — and Archbishop Dolan gleefully received — the tastykakes, which he made available to everyone.

Cardinal Rigali also presented Archbishop Dolan with a Phillies jersey …

… which Archbishop Dolan promptly inverted as a signal of distress.

Dolan also presented Rigali with a 2009 World Series champs jersey …

… which Rigali never did hold up for the camera.

Bishop Tod Brown (Angels) and Cardinal Roger Mahoney (Dodgers) were nowhere in sight…

SOURCE – USCCB FALL MEETING

END OF POST

Alinsky Groups, Child Porn Convict, Socialist Tied to CCHD Funding

2009 CCHD Boycott

Found in my combox this morning: A Free Republic Exclusive…

The annual CCHD (Catholic Campaign For Human Development) collection will be held in churches this coming weekend-November 21 and 22.

This is the same group that was giving money for years to the Saul Alinsky-style group called ACORN before ending its relationship with the controversial group.

After much criticism for its leftwing funding, the CCHD has supposedly tightened up their standards. Unfortunately these new standards are not working because the CCHD is still funding groups that:

-Have a registered sex offender (child porn) on the staff
-Are working to change laws so you can not refuse to rent to convicted criminals
-Have an admitted socialist and friend of Code Pink member Jodie Evans as Executive Director.
-Have direct ties to Alinsky’s “Industrial Areas Foundation”

Step by step evidence with links:

The “Baltimore Catholic Campaign For Human Development”‘s website list grants awarded in 2009

Under “National Grants”, the last group listed is:

Out for Justice / Alternative Directions – Baltimore
“A second year CCHD organizing grant will enable this project to continue to address and empower largely unrepresented persons inside and outside the prison system, with special attention on reentry into society. Contact: Mary J. Davis, 2505 N. Charles St. Baltimore 21218 Phone : 410-889-5092

The listed address for this group is also the employment address of Jay Sherr, according to the Sex Offender Registry of Maryland.

Now check out the photo on the Alternative Directions “Our Staff” Page Yep, there he is. The child pornographer himself is on their staff!

Out for Justice states on its website its 2009 priority issues. #3 was ending unjust housing discrimination described this way: “it is within the right of the landlord to ask about the criminal background of an individual and deny housing based on that background” This is something that Out For Justice wants to end. They want sex offenders and criminals like Mr. Sherr to be able to live in your private rental unit… and the Catholic Church is funding this effort!?

I really don’t want money from my church collection paying a child pornographer’s salary. I really don’t want money from my church collection to fund efforts to change the law so sex offenders like Mr. Sherr can live near me or my children.

Another group that received money from CCHD under “National Grants”

3. 45,000 – Save Middle East Action Committee (SMEAC) “This 5th year community organizing grant continues to give voice to displaced home owners and renters, seeking new and alternative housing in the technological park/redevelopment areas, adjacent to Johns Hopkins Hospital facilities in east Baltimore. Contact: Nathan Sooy, Executive Director“

Nathan Sooy has a long history as a community organizer and is a member of “Democratic GAIN”-a professional association for individuals and organizations that work in Democratic and Progressive politics.

From his social profile at the leftwing Huffington Post, we learn CODE PINK’s Jodie Evans is a friend. More on Jodie Evans here and here

. On a post at Mother Jones, Mr. Sooy wrote: “I believe that the GOP will use these racial statements by Wright to sink Obama if he becomes the Democratic nominee. And I think that they will be successful. I take great sorrow in that.”…and later writes…. “So, on April 22nd I am going to vote for Hillary Clinton for President.”
March 21, 2008 – 10:29am Post on Mother Jones

Mr. Sooy doesn’t just post at leftwing blogs, here at Andrew Brietbart’s Big Government (go to 4th comment by “Vetbill” and click on “1 reply” to see Mr. Sooy’s post) he brags about being a community organizer in the Alinsky tradition and defends socialists:

“As a thirty year community organizer in the Alinsky tradition I say quite clearly – SO WHAT? Democratic Socialists of America is the American version of the Labor Party in England. And as to the fact that there are democratic socialists among rank and file Democrats – I say quite clearly – DUH! The Democratic Party has had a social democratic (democratic socialist) faction since the days of Franklin Roosevelt. “

Another Alinsky group getting funding from the CCHD in 2009 was #4 under “National Grants”: P.A.T.H. (People Acting Together in Howard) According to its website P.A.T.H. is a part of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF)- a Chicago based community organizing network established in 1940 by…Saul Alinsky.

Word of questionable donations by the CCHD is once again spreading, causing Bishop Loveerde Of Arlington Virginia to notify his priests not to add any negative commentary to their announcement of this second collection:

“I am aware of the serious concerns about the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) collection. After much research and consultation, I have decided to authorize the collection again this year. Attached is a letter explaining my decision that you can make available to your parishioners. It will also run in the Herald next week. I expect that this collection will be taken up in our parishes the weekend of November 21-22 without any negative commentary. Please announce this collection as you would any other second collection.”

The CCHD has released a carefully worded statement trying to defend itself against charges it was funding groups that went against Catholic teaching. It claims that “CCHD funds will not be used to support any application which is sponsored or promoted by an organization whose primary or substantial thrust is contrary to Catholic teaching”. So as long as its not primary or substantial, groups can be against the church and still get funding from the CCHD?

In the last two defense examples the CCHD listed in the above document, it admits they were giving funds to two groups that had to be canceled in San Francisco. It also admits it has temporarily suspended funding to a group in Portland and a group in Philadelphia in order to conduct more research. This is in addition to its previous suspension of money for ACORN mentioned above. All of these admissions and changes were due to people doing the research the CCHD did not or would not do.

This is not an attack on the Catholic Church. I am Catholic. I want my fellow Catholics to know where their money is going. Mine is going to the “Little Sisters Of The Poor” this coming weekend. Please don’t hold back your donations for the poor, just redirect them to a more worthwhile charity.

Please also go over the list of CCHD funding recipients for your archdiocese and research them.