Canon Lawyer Urges Implementation of Canon 915 Against Nancy Pelosi

Ed Peters, the canon lawyer who blogs at In the Light of the Law posted an article on the Feast of the Annunciation urging implementation of Canon 915 against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. For those unfamiliar with Canon 915 it calls for withholding Communion from obstinate public sinners. Calls for, however, as Peters points out is too mild to describe the canon. In fact, he writes that Canon 915 "requires ministers to withhold holy Communion in such cases, this, upon pain of dereliction of their sacred office (1983 CIC 128, 1389)."


Among the bishops are many canon lawyers. Can we hope that some of them will listen to a fellow canonist and urge Nancy's home archbishop, George Niederauer of San Francisco, and Archbishop Donald Wuerl of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. to bar her from Communion? She commits a grave public scandal every time she opens her mouth and it is high time that the sacrilege of her consuming the Body and Blood of Christ be stopped.
 
Some will say it will just give her sympathy vote and make her a martyr. Frankly, that's the world talking. The question is whether, in receiving Communion, she crucifies Christ, scandalizes others and leads them into sin, and jeopardizes her own soul. Those are the issues that really matter.
 
Read the complete blog post here....

Free Speech for Some

Feldblum Appointment Underscores Threat of Homosexual Agenda to Liberty  by Alan Sears

You hear it, in one form or another, every day. For all the fervent debates and spirited arguments and plain old yelling matches we are wont to get into on everything from politics to sports to religion, something deep in the soul of most Americans still holds to our quintessential conviction that “everyone’s entitled to his opinion.”

In our democratic republic, that’s about as democratic as it gets.

Which is why it’s so surprising, sometimes, to learn that not everyone believes this…and why it’s so dangerous when someone who doesn’t moves into a position of powerful government authority.

Consider, for instance, the case of Chai Feldblum, one of a number of President Obama’s recess appointments over the weekend. The President nominated her in September 2009 for a post on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which governs workplace issues across the country. Ms. Feldblum is on record as stating that “private beliefs” that do not affirm homosexual behavior should not be tolerated in American society.

Not public speech, mind you. Not overt, out-front demonstrations or protests or letters to the editor or call-ins to local radio shows. But “private beliefs” should not be tolerated.

In other words, people who don’t have “private beliefs” like Ms. Feldblum does about homosexual behavior should, under the right circumstances, be prosecuted to the limits of the law.

Read complete article here....

For more on Chai Feldblum's background go here....

A Holy Idea for Holy Week

I've been getting lots of emails this week suggesting that everyone pray the rosary on Good Friday between noon and 3:00 p.m. for peace and a restoration of moral values to our communities. Seems like a great idea. Imagine a polyphany (I've got polyphany on my mind this week.) of rosaries in all the varied voices and languages of the word rising to heaven in praise of the Blessed Mother. How can that not be music to the ears of our Lord and Savior.

If you are having a 3:00 p.m. Good Friday service like we are all you have to do is arrive at church twenty minutes early and say the rosary before it begins. Won't the joy of the Resurrection be even greater knowing we are joined in union with our brothers and sisters throughout the world focused in mind and heart on the restoration of our world? Such a desire must be most pleasing to God.

Chastity Bono Petitions Judge to Change Name and Gender

Don't you love the virtual reality culture. A doctor cuts off your breasts and fools around with other parts of your anatomy and then tells a judge, "Abbra-kadabbra, Chastity the woman is now Chaz the man."

If Chastity/Chaz insisted she is Napoleon or Attila the Hun, she would be put in a straightjacket and escorted to the mental ward. But in the politically correct world of "You can be whatever you want to be," Chastity can pretend she is a man and the whole world bows down to her insanity.

Where is the little boy of the fairy tale who says, "The Emperor has no clothes?" It isn't just Chastity who needs a reality check, but the nutcase doctors who go along with this charade. The verdict is still out on the judge who will hear the case on May 6.

Celebrate Life: Claire survived the abortion; her twin died

There's a reason that young people are more pro-life than any other group polled. Many among them are survivors (literally) of abortion. Read Claire's story here. She is one more reason to defend life. Every abortion kills a child. Don't let the abortion lobby convince you of their lies. Abortion doesn't remove a "mass of cells...a blob of protoplasm...or a blood clot." Every abortion kills a person. Some are tinier than others, but all each one needs is time, nourishment, and oxygen to be the newborn, the toddler, the adolescent, the teenager, and the adult God called them to be.

He knits us in our mothers' wombs and we are beautifully, wonderfully made.

Sacred Polyphony: the Sounds of Heaven

I was reading an interesting article in The Wanderer this evening called The Five Greatest Things about Polyphony by Jeffrey Tucker. I'm sort of a musical illiterate. I know what I like. My favorite classical composer is Bach, but I love Verdi's Operas and think Chopin must have had at least two extra fingers on each hand. But I know absolutely nothing about polyphony so I read the article with interest.

Tucker defines polyphony saying it is "music that employs several independent lines of music simultaneously but without using a dominant melody with accomplishment....there is no master/slave relationship." In modern music, he goes on to say, there is a dominant melody and everything else supports it. In polyphony, on the other hand, "no single voice dominates. Each part is important to the creation of the overall effect. You could say that that music is radically democratic, or socialistic, or egalitarian, perhaps individualistic, or orderly like the heavens, or all of the above....In polyphonic music, the angels are the voices." Wow!

At that point I was hooked. I put down the newspaper, hurried to my computer, did a YouTube search on polyphony and began to listen. It is, indeed, beautiful. I can imagine the effect of listening to it in a grand cathedral with terrific acoustics, eyes closed, being lifted on those angels' wings.

But the test is in the hearing. What do you think?

Winter Issue of Les Femmes Newsletter Now Online

To see the latest issue of the Les Femmes newsletter, The Truth, visit the website and click on "Newsletter" on the index. The lead article, Does the State Own the Children?, analyzes the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. This treaty is a serious threat, not only to parental rights, but to the sovereignty of the nation. Fight for liberty.

Celebrate Life and Love: Kelle Hampton's Story

Who does the world define as perfect? The American idol? The cover girls on the magazine rack? The sports heroes and body builders with six packs?

I sat behind a beautiful little girl at Mass last Thursday. It was the feast of the Annunciation when we celebrate the Incarnation of the Savior and recall God's great gift to Mary whom Gabriel calls "full of grace" because she was spared from original sin. I've seen this young one many times before, but don't know her name. She has long blonde hair, blue eyes and a peaches and cream complexion. She also has Downs Syndrome. The innocence and goodness that radiates from this little child almost creates a glow around her.

The tragedy is that our world considers these little ones a curse and about 90 percent of those affected by Downs are murdered before their birth days. So when I see testimonies to these precious children recognizing what gifts from God they are, I want to share them.

Little Nella Cordelia was born in January. Like all parents who dream for their children, her parents had to mourn the loss of their expectations and plans for the dream child and create new ones for the real child. Judging from her mom's website, she recognizes that it will be an exciting journey although different from the one she expected. Visit Kelle Hampton's website to share her beautiful birth story. If you know someone who gets the diagnosis of a handicapped baby in utero, share Kelle's story and assure them that God doesn't make mistakes. Life is hard, but true love makes it a joy.

On the cusp of Holy Week

The day before Palm Sunday is a good time to assess your Lent. How have you done with increasing your prayer, fasting, and almsgiving all meant to draw you to a closer walk with the Lord?

 I don't confess in public so I won't go into my own failures during this season of opportunity, but I'm resolved to take full advantage of Holy Week.

If you haven't been to confession, there's still time in these last few days. You can pack a lot into a short time even if your Lent so far leaves you with head bent, ashamed to look the Savior in the face. And you have plenty of friends to keep you company on the journey. Your guardian angel and patron saints are guides who know the way and they are eager to help if you ask.

And You Think You Have Troubles: Ask Blessed Margaret for Help

I just finished reading Blessed Margaret of Costello by Fr. William Bonniwell, O.P. (for the second time). What a story. Born in 1287 in the papal state of Massa Trabaria in Italy to rich parents of the nobility (I can't call them nobel). Margaret was grossly deformed with one leg shorter than the other, a hunched back, ugly, and blind. Her parents, embarrassed by their daughter, hid her in the castle whenever guests arrived. Although the garrison of soldiers loved the bright little girl with the sunny disposition, she was unloved and unwanted by her parents. (Sound familiar?)

Fortunately, the priest of the castle recognized her great intelligence and began to form her in the faith from an early age. Despite the fact that she knew of her deformities, her parents often told her how ugly she was, Margaret did not grow bitter or angry. Already she reflected a saintly spirit of acceptance.

 

When Margaret was six her parents had a little cell built next to a church in the woods away from the castle.  Only the neighboring serfs and country folk worshiped there, none of their noble friends. They locked her into this tiny prison where she lived until she was 14. War broke out among rival states making it necessary for the women of the castle to move into their town home for security. There Margaret was again locked in, hidden in the cellar where she was instructed never to call out or make her presence known. She was fourteen. The cruelty of her parents would be unthinkable if we didn't live in an abusive culture ourselves.

Six years later when Margaret was 20, her parents heard of miracles occurring in the city of Costello over the mountains. They took their daughter there hoping for a cure. When she remained ugly and deformed they abandoned her. Imgaine, blind and deformed, in a strange town where you knew no one. Margaret was adopted by the outcasts and taught how to beg. And yet she never criticized her parents always defending them.

Margaret's story continues. Her sufferings didn't end with abandonment, but she had become such a holy little victim soul that she cheerfully accepted all and united them to those of Christ. Reading her story stirs the soul to humility. Most of us who grumble and complain about our troubles will never bear even a tenth of what this little unwanted woman endured. She teaches the way of suffering.

The book is available from Tan Books and well worth reading over and over. There's a novena to Blessed Margaret in the back.

Health Care Bill Includes at least $500 Billion in New Taxes

Obama promised not to raise taxes on those making less than $250,000. But that was necessary to get elected and no one should have believed he meant it. We all know Democrats just can't help themselves when it comes to raising taxes. And the health care bill is chock full of new taxes - estimates range from between $500 billion to $1 trillion in fact. Some of the taxes affect those making higher incomes, but at least seven affect everybody no matter how low their income. You thought your taxes were high already? Get ready for the steamroller.

Here's the rundown on some of the new taxes in the health care bill Obama signed this week:

1) Health insurance mandate. Beginning in 2014 (note - after the next presidential election), all legal citizens (what about illegals?) MUST purchase government-approved health insurance or pay 2.5% of their income (or $695) as a penalty. (Section 1501) Ka-ching!

2) Increase in Medicare Payroll tax from 1.45 percent to 2.35 for individuals making $200,000 or married couples making $250,000. Ka-ching!

3) 10% excise tax for indoor tanning services (N.B. Safe tanning beds are the best way to get Vitamin D3 during the winter months to boost the immune system. This will not have just a vanity impact.) Ka-ching!

4) A 40% excise tax on "Cadillac" health care plans on value of the plan over a certain amount. Most of these plans cover union workers and government employees who earn considerably less than $250,000. Increased costs levied on the plans will impact wages and benefits of employees. Ka-ching!

5) The law limits taxpayer deductions for medical expenses raising the threshhold from 7.5% of adjusted gross income to 10%. This will have a big impact on those with high medical expenses. Ka-ching!

6) Businesses with more than 50 employees are mandated to provide health insurance for their employees or pay hefty fines. The cost will be passed on to employees or businesses will reduce numbers to avoid the taxes meaning more job losses. Ka-ching!

7) From 10 percent to 20 percent increased penalty for those under 65 who make early withdrawals from health savings accounts for non-medical reasons. (Section 9004, takes effect next year. So if you have a big non-medical expense that requires borrowing from your medical account, be prepared to pay more.) Ka-ching!

8, 9, 10) New taxes on insurance companies, drug manufacturers, and medical device manufacturers. These expenses will be passed on to consumers in higher costs of everything from drugs to wheel chairs, walkers, prosthetics, and hospital beds.  Ka-ching!

Is it any surprise, in view of the increased tax burden levied by the "health care" bill, that it is being "enforced" by the IRS? Estimates are that 17,000 new agents will be required at a cost of $10 billion over ten years.

Those who supported this monstrosity will no doubt continue to tell us how cheap the new bill is and how we are all going to get better care at a lower price. No wonder the government has worked so hard to dumb down the schools. Selling this snake oil requires a gullible and stupid population. But, of course, they didn't sell it. Most Americans weren't dumb enough to buy the lie. So they had to shove it down our throats.

America hasn't even begun to realize the impact of this bill. It gives Uncle Sam unprecedented power to interfere in our lives from cradle to grave. No wonder Joe Biden called it an "effing big deal."

If you haven't joined the fight for liberty, today is the day to imitate our forefathers and say, "No taxation without representation." The earmarks and bribes used to pass this bill show just who was being represented by these Democrats, and it wasn't the American people.

See below for articles documenting tax increases:

Twelve Taxes in Health Care Law Violate Obama's Promises

Healthy tax increases, not only on wealthy

Deere, Caterpillar: Health-Care Law to Raise Expenses

US House Republicans Say Health Bill Expands IRS Power

Health Bill Extends Wage Tax to Investments

Kathleen Parker Nails Stupak

Columnist Kathleen Parker nailed Stupak as a deceiver in a March 23rd column. Stupak "dropped the baby" at the crucial moment when he could have been a hero, she said. She goes on: "Ultimately, he was weak and overwhelmed by raw political power. History is no stranger to such moments, but this one needs to be understood for what it was. A deception." He knew the executive order was phony and he "Stupaked" health care reform and the pro-life movement.

The final few paragraphs of Parker's article expose Stupak for the coward and hypocrite he is:

Stupak, too, knew that the executive order was merely political cover for him and his pro-life colleagues. He knew it because several members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops explained it to him, according to sources. The only way to prevent public funding for abortion was for his amendment to be added to the Senate bill.

Clearly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the president didn't want that. What they did want was the abortion funding that the Senate bill allowed.

Thus, the health care bill passed because of a mutually understood deception — a pretense masquerading as virtue. No wonder Stupak locked his doors and turned off his phones Sunday, according to several pro-life lobbyists who camped outside his office.

Stupak's fall from grace is a lesson in human frailty. In a matter of hours, he went from representing the majority of Americans who don't want public money spent on abortion to leading the army on the other side. Already he has lost a speaking invitation to the Illinois Catholic Prayer Breakfast next month.  [He also lost a speaking invitation from Catholic Vote and an award from a pro-life group.]

After the Sunday vote, a group of Democrats, including Stupak, gathered in a pub to celebrate. In a biblical moment, New York Rep. Anthony Weiner was spotted planting a big kiss on Stupak's cheek.

To a Catholic man well versed in the Gospel, this is not a comforting gesture.

See the full column at the Chicago Tribune.

School Sends 15-year-old to Planned Parenthood for Abortion in a Cab

Consider: If something goes wrong and the girl goes into cardiac arrest or is hemorrhaging and is taken to the hospital, the hospital will want parental consent for treatment. And, of course, the parents will be responsible for the bill. What kind of people send a 15-year-old for a serious surgical procedure alone? These people are monstrous!

Planned Parenthood doesn't care a hoot for the welfare of children and they are the enemy of parents. I hope this mom sues the school and sues Planned Parenthood as well. But she'd probably lose because this wacko state made it legal for children to choose a major surgical procedure without any input from parents. She needs a good lawyer!

Obama's Health Care Country Club: Private and Exclusive

The Democrats have assured us that the Obama/Pelosi/Reid healthcare plan is the best thing since sliced bread. Everyone will have better health care at a cheaper price than ever before. Thirteen million new folks will be added, no one will be denied care for pre-existing conditions, children will be dependents on their parents' plans until they're 26, and it will be cheaper.

Have you stopped laughing yet?

One thing is very interesting about this wonderful plan that is good enough for the hoi polloi. Congress and the president exempted themselves from it. That's right. This wonderful health plan, this gift from God, this Christmas present in March that will solve everyone's health problems doesn't apply to the president and members of Congress. That's not all. It also doesn't apply to senior staff members, presumably including those who drafted the bill. Hmmm...they know what's in it and want no part of it.

A Washington Times editorial yesterday provided some interesting information:

Last year, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, spearheaded efforts to have all Americans included in the plan, but he ran into heavy opposition from unions representing federal workers - the same unions that were pro-Obamacare stalwarts. In September, the Senate approved a scaled-down amendment that covered members of Congress and their staff. When this provision later emerged from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office, the leadership and committee staff loophole had appeared. A move in December by Mr. Grassley and Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, to close this loophole and to extend the law to senior members of the executive branch - including the president, vice president and Cabinet members - was blocked by Senate Democratic leaders.

Now what exactly do they know about the plan that we don't. If it's so good why are they exempted? The Times put it well when they wrote:

At yesterday's signing ceremony, Mr. Obama said Americans will be "part of a big pool, just like federal employees are part of a big pool. They'll have the same choice of private health insurance that members of Congress get for themselves." But the American people will have a public pool; the executive branch and congressional staffers kept their country-club pool private....The special exemptions slipped into the health care law are another example of how those statists who rule consider themselves a privileged class, imposing burdens on the country that they will not accept themselves....Meanwhile, we await Mr. Obama's explanation why if his "historic" health care law is so great for America, it's not good enough for him and his family.

Your answer, Mr. President? 

(Read the complete Washington Times editorial. )

Thank the Bishops for the Health Care Bill: They Let the Catholic Heretics Flourish

"'All the evil in the world is due to lukewarm Catholics.'...All the evil in the Church is due to lukewarm bishops."

Support Liberty: Sign the Petition Against the Federal Government's Mandate

Attorney General of Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli, filed a lawsuit against the federal government for their unconstitutional mandate on citizens requiring them to purchase health insurance. Ken has also initiated a petition to generate support for his efforts to stop the mandate. Ken's message follows.

Fellow Americans,

On Tuesday, March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law a healthcare bill of historic proportions. That bill includes an individual mandate on Americans that declares that they must buy health insurance or face penalties. This overreaches the authority of Congress under the Commerce Clause and is therefore unconstitutional.

Buying health insurance can be said to be an act in commerce. However, if someone doesn’t buy insurance, they are by definition not engaging in commerce. This legislation greatly oversteps the Commerce Clause.

Please join in Virginia’s fight to overturn the individual mandate on health insurance. I ask that you indicate your support by signing the petition below. Please also forward this to your friends.

Sincerely,
Ken Cuccinelli
Attorney General of Virginia

Read and sign the petition here.

We welcome illegals and offer them everything under the sun, but harrass homeschoolers fleeing persecution!

From World Net Daily, March 22, 2010

Homeschoolers win U.S. asylum, now face deportation

Citing a European court ruling, U.S. immigration authorities are arguing in an appeal that a family that fled Germany and gained asylum in Tennessee claiming their government persecuted them for homeschooling should be returned to their home country....ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency) sought application of the Konrad case in the European Court of Human Rights that 'the public education laws of Germany do not violate basic human rights.' The ruling elaborated that parents had no right to direct the education of their own children because that was a responsibility of the state....

The HSLDA has documented that in 2003 the highest administrative court in Germany ruled in the Konrad case it was allowable for parents who travel, such as circus performers, to homeschool children. But homeschooling was not allowed for reasons of conscience.

The nation's highest criminal court said in the 2006 Paul-Plette case that the government could take custody of children whose parents wanted to homeschool for reasons of conscience.

I wrote about this family, Uwe and Hannelore Romeike and their five children, in the winter issue of the Les Femmes newsletter. To think that after winning asylum they now have to face the Obama immigration team is sickening. It is one more example of U.S. authorities putting court decisions outside the country ahead of U.S. courts. If ICE is allowed to prevail, will the education of children in the U.S. also be considered a "responsibility of the state." The federal government has taken over health care, the banks, large segments of the auto industry. Is the right to control the education of our children next? They will no doubt try to make homeschooling illegal because they want to control the next generation and they can only do that if they control the content of what is taught.

And isn't it ironic that ICE does nothing about the millions of illegals who are burdening our health care system, our schools, and our welfare systme, but will persecute this one homeschooling family. It's just one more example of something rotten in the administration.

Rush Weighs in on the Catholic Bishops Being "Infected with Leftism"

I didn't hear Rush Limbaugh's comment about the Catholic bishops yesterday, but a friend of mine did. Here's the email he sent to Rush:

Dear Rush,

Toward the end of your show on Monday you mentioned the leftism of the Catholic Church. You may be criticized for that but you were 100% correct. I'm a Catholic who has gone to Mass practically every day for the last 35 years so I think I qualify as a bona fide Catholic. I'm absolutely sick with the leftism/socialism of Catholic clergy. You are absolutely right that the Catholic Church, as represented by the United States Catholic Conference (USCC), campaigned for Government-run health care including for illegal aliens and continues to campaign for amnesty for illegal aliens. Anyone who doesn't believe you just has to look at their web site. (http://www.usccb.org/) Stupak's "cave in" was inevitable because of the USCC propaganda.

Bart Stupak: One More Betrayal by a Catholic Politician

If the health care debate has proved anything it's showing clearly that there is no such thing as a pro-life democrat. Oh, they can talk a good game, but when the rubber mets the road they all chose dismembered babies instead of standing up to the Madame DeFarge of Congress, Nancy Pelosi. The only thing she lacks are the knitting needles.

It's hard to imagine that Bart Stupak can actually believe that the executive order promised by Obama will mean a thing. The health bill is the biggest advancement of abortion since Roe v. Wade.

A friend who runs a watchdog group that follows politicians who are members of the Catholic fraternal organization, the Knights of Columbus, just sent me a message saying Bart Stupak is a Knight. This makes his betrayal even more tragic. Think of the image of the Knight, vowed to serve his Lord, in this case Jesus Christ.

Stupak reminds me of Richard Rich in A Man for All Seasons who betrayed Thomas More and perjured himself to gain the office of Attorney General for Wales. The question is what did Stupak get for selling out? One thing at least: two days before the vote Stupak got an FAA grant of $750,000 for three airports in his district. What he lost was his integrity and hopefully his seat come November.

States to Sue Federal Government

The video below describes the ten states planning to sue the federal government over the health care bill. They include Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Texas, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Utah. Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has also announced plans to sue although it isn't known now whether they will join the other states.

According to a CNN press report:

[Attorney General of Florida, Bill] McCollum said the lawsuit would challenge the bill's provision requiring people to purchase health insurance, along with provisions that will force state government to spend more on health care services.

"This is a tax or a penalty on just living, and that's unconstitutional," he said of the mandate to purchase health coverage. "There's no provision in the Constitution of the United States giving Congress the power to do that."

McCollum also said that portions of the bill would force states to spend money they don't have, which he called a violation of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution.

"There's no way we can do what's required in this bill and still provide for education, for foster care, for the incarceration of prisoners, all the other things that are in this bill," he said. (Read the full article here... )

The Washington Times chimed in with an excellent editorial titled Democrats' Death by Suicide which reads in part:

The new system will suffer a tsunami of bad publicity when states sue the federal government over unfunded mandates, when the IRS begins enforcing the aspects of the bill that voters never knew existed, when small businesses start firing employees because they cannot afford the higher costs of the new system, when new and unforeseen costs blow out the already record federal budget deficit, and when seniors begin to feel the impact of Medicare cuts. All of this is what Mr. Obama euphemistically calls "bending the curve" but which seniors will find out is better termed "denial of care." Whether the formal "death panels" will convene before the November elections is still to be determined.

The Democrats flipped off the American people yesterday. Like King George they believe they are too big to lose. But they haven't even begun to feel the anger in this country over their  arrogance and disdain for the people they are called to serve.
 
Suing the government is a good start. Hopefully those with the legal expertise to strategize will think of other avenues to pursue - like recalls of elected officials. 

The Bishops Share the Blame for Obamacare

Bart Stupak wasn't the only betrayor over Obamacare. The Catholic bishops share the blame.

From a blog piece by Pat Archbold at the National Catholic Register:

There is another group that should also take a hard look at their stewardship and and acknowledge their failures, the US Bishops.

Again, while the Bishops have acquitted themselves well through this process recently, they cannot ignore the past.

The hard truth is that for years the Bishops have allied themselves with the pro-abort party in matters related to health-care, and now they claim 11th hour betrayal.

When you hang out with thieves, you shouldn’t be surprised when you get robbed.

Moreover, the Bishops silence for years in the face of pro-abortion Catholic politicians has given aid and comfort to those who seek the death of children. The Bishop’s unwillingness, with some obvious exceptions, to effectively address or discipline pro-abort Catholic politicians allowed for the Democrats to portray the Church as divided on the issue. They have also allowed a culture of dissent to flourish for decades that culminated in the shameful last minute endorsement by a group of radical nuns that seriously hurt the cause of life.

The bishops’ decades long collective silence on these issues allowed for this culture to develop and has resulted in the USCCB being understandably criticized as an extension of the Democrat party (the Democrat party at prayer they say). This is the horrible result of that ungodly alliance. (Read the rest here...http://www.ncregister.com/blog/bishops_share_the_blame )

We would not be in the mess we're in if the bishops had not, as a body, become nothing but shills for Democrat party liberals. That's why the Reform the CCHD (Catholic Campaign for Human Development) movement is so important. The bishops' bureaucracy must be reformed beginning with CCHD. Pray for good bishops to take the lead. It's also high time they implemented Canon Law 915 against Judas Catholics like Nancy Pelosi. There isn't a millstone on earth big enough to match the level of scandal she has inflicted on the Church. That Archbishop Wuerl refuses to discipline her is irresponsible both to protect against her scandal and for the sake of her own soul.

The Revolution is On: The States Are Fighting Back

We lost the battle; the war continues. Time to regroup.
We have our own version of the evil empire right here in Washington, D.C. A truimvirate of Obama-Pelosi-Reid. They make George III look benevolent.  Most of the country opposed this power grab of 16% of the U.S. economy, but that didn't keep the empire from imposing it on us.

Join the revolution. Contact your local legislators and ask them to challenge Congressional action to force citizens under penalty of prison to enter into a forced contract with the federal government. Get involved. As Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Surprise: Bart Stupak Traded Babies Lives for Obama's Empty Piece of Paper

Well, what can you expect from a Democrat? Notice the last three letters of the word.

Is Bart Stupak really so stupid that he believes Obama's executive order means a single thing? Of course not. It just gives him a little cover to play the game. But did Stupak ever intend to let the pro-life issue be the overriding element for his vote? A YouTube video from a town hall in Cheboygan, MI shows exactly where Stupak was going all along. Af the end of the day, he said, if abortion remained in the bill and he had had his say he would vote for it anyway. Hey, that's how government works. Nothing is non-negotiable (except the salary, perks, and privileges of politicians).

Let's face it. Stupak was a fake from the beginning. His amendment had exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. As things stand, there is no way abortion will not be funded by this evil bill. There is no way medical personnel will be protected from being coerced into participating in moral evil. There is no way the elderly will not suffer.

No matter what happens, it's still not over, but evil is having a heyday. Keep your rosary in your hands and never give up. The revolution is just beginning.

"His Bullying and Arrogance Can't Stop"

A friend of mine called from the Capitol yesterday and described the large and enthusiastic crowd opposing the health care bill. It's not over til it's over. Michelle Malkin describes the procedure taking place in Congress today. Phyllis Schlafly describes another cliff-hangar over passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and the opposition's statement that, "Something very powerful was against us, and I don't mean people."


The people of God know what that is. Call on the Lord and He will answer you. If you are a Catholic, pray the rosary today for defeat of the bill. If you aren't Catholic pray in your own tradition or join us in the rosary, a scriptural prayer for everyone.

Fr. Paul Marx, OSB: Rest in Peace, Good and Faithful Servant of God

Pro-life warrior Fr. Paul Marx died today. I first met Fr. Mark in the 1970s when I attended his Marriage and Family Life Workshops at St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, MN. What an experience. Those were opportunities to meet some of the pioneers in Natural Family Planning as well as many laity and religious fighting for the unborn. It was a real encouragement to my own commitment in working for life.

Later on I had other contacts with Fr. Paul when he started Human Life International in a warehouse in Maryland. I went over one day with some friends and he invited us to have lunch in his spartan apartment right there in the warehouse. He gave us a tour of the facility which was a lot different from the current HLI building in Front Royal.

Fr. Marx was one of my heroes. His book, The Death Peddlars and his long article, The Mercy Killers, were two early works that exposed the abortion/euthanasia movement in all their demonic ugliness. Reading his well-researched writings was essential to understand the scope and nature of the culture of death here in the United States.

I have no doubt that this giant for Life was escorted to his Master by Mary, the Mother of God, "terrible (to Satan) as an army dressed in battle array" and a whole army of angels, the guardians of the little unborn babies he worked so hard to save. No doubt Father will continue his powerful work on earth through his intercession in heaven. We need you, Father, please pray for us.

Please pray for Fr. Marx today. None of us, even the holiest, is guaranteed a pass from Purgatory. He was so faithful to us; let us pray faithfully for him. May the Divine Assistance be always with us, and may the souls of the faithful departed, especially Fr. Marx, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

Glinda's Question Rephrased: Are you a good nun or a bad nun?

When Dorothy's house landed on the Wicked Witch of the East and killed her, the residents of Munchkinland had a question and asked Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, to pose it. "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" she asked Dorothy.  A variation of that same question came to mind as I read the opinions of American nuns on the health care bill. "Are you a good nun or a bad nun?"

The answer isn't hard to find. If a group of nuns supports a bill that includes murdering unborn babies, you can be sure they are not only bad nuns, but bad Catholics as well. The murder of the innocent is a crime that cries to heaven for vengeance. And the bill funds abortion so supporting it clearly is bad. Now let's compare the nuns of NETWORK, who support the health care bill, and another group of nuns who oppose it.

The sisters of NETWORK, a liberal lobby group, favor the Senate bill despite the fact that it provides funding for abortion and provides no conscience protection for health care workers. Claiming to represent 59,000 nuns in the U.S., only a few dozen actually signed the statement, including the notorious Sr. Joan Chittister, who is herself pro-abortion. One nun signed twice claiming to represent two different groups. But do the nuns actually speak for all those other sisters?

Sr. Mary Ann Walsh who heads the Media Relations Office of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which has roundly condemned the legislation, said NETWORK "grossly overstated whom they represent." She described the way religious orders work saying, "Many of the endorsers signed on as individual teams - that's nunspeak for saying they represent only themselves, not their membership....It's a way of keeping all heck from breaking out in the convent where opposition to abortion is stronger than what NETWORK says (or doesn't say, since it won't take a position and avoids the issue)."

So the NETWORK letter deliberately lies to imply more support than it actually has. How many really stand with the bad nuns? You would have to poll them to get a decent estimate. But in view of the dearth of vocations in dissenting religious orders, the aging population, and presumably a number who have been silenced by their shrewish sisters (I know some of these), can it be that many?

On the other hand, the head of the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR) who represent orthodox orders that support the teachings of the Church has taken issue with the legislation calling for an "ethically sound" bill which the current one is not.

Which group of nuns supports the teachings of the Church? CMSWR. Which group opposes Church teaching? NETWORK. Which group is pro-life? CMSWR. Which claims to take no position on abortion, but works on every liberal social justice issue including far out environmentalism? NETWORK.

So how can NETWORK, which which claims it doesn't take a position on a central issue of the Catholic faith, presusme represent all the nuns in the orders listed on their letter when they favor a bill that allows federal funding of abortion? They can't. They would have to poll every nun in the orders they claim to represent because they are defying Church teaching. Do most nuns agree with their support of this pro-abortion bill? Probably not.

On the other hand, CMSWR represents 10,000 nuns in orthodox religious orders that support the pope and magisterium. The sisters in those orders are faithful to the teachings of the Church. In fact, most of the orders they represent have an average age of about 26 and the young women entering specifically express their support for orthodoxy. It is more plausible that CMSWR speaks for their sisters on this issue (consistent with Church teaching) than to believe a group of dissident nuns can speak for anyone except themselves.

So the munchkins will have no trouble figuring out which nuns are good and which are bad. They may not even need Glinda's assistance. NETWORK, like the Wicked Witch of the East is clearly bad. They had best keep their eyes on the sky to see if a house is about to fall on them and end their wicked career.

Read more here and here.

One More Reason to Love Texas!

I have four big reasons and ten smaller ones to love the state of Texas. Let me explain. I have two married children there and ten grandchildren (one still in the womb who definitely counts as the littlest treasure in the family).

But I now have another reason to love the state. Texans some common sense, even the education bureaucrats. (In most states describing an "education bureaucrat with common sense" would be an oxymoron.)

According to Phyllis Schlafly's article linked below much of the politically correct nonsense got the axe when the State Board of Education told liberals to stop messing around with social studies curricula. If you care about the future you need to care about what's taught to the children and Texas is taking a stand. Here are just three paragraphs about the Texas reaction to the bogus "separation of church and state" nonsense:

Texas curriculum standards will henceforth accurately describe the U.S. government as a "constitutional republic" rather than as a democracy. The secularists tried to remove reference to the religious basis for the founding of America, but that was voted down.

The Texas Board rejected the anti-Christian crowd's proposal to eliminate the use of B.C. and A.D. for historic dates, as in Before Christ and Anno Domini, and replace them with B.C.E., as in Before the Common Era, and C.E.

The deceptive claim that the United States was founded on a "separation of church and state" gets the ax, and rightfully so. In fact, most of the original thirteen colonies were founded as Christian communities with much overlap between church and state.  

The education standards in Texas are particularly important because the state is the largest textbook purchaser in the country. As Mrs. Schlafly points out, "Publishers can hardly afford to print different versions for other states, so Texas curriculum standards have nationwide influence."

So give a great big Hurrah for Texas!

We just returned from visiting our children there and I took the photo on the right at the welcome center on Rt. 10 coming in from Louisiana. Virginia is my first love, but if I had to identify a rival it's Texas. Like Davey Crockett is reputed to have said after losing his reelection bid to Congress, "Y'all can go to hell; I'm going to Texas." In view of what's going on in Congress these days, Crockett was a prophet.

Now if we could just get Texas to secede, I think I'd really want to head for its wide open spaces.

Texas Kicks Out Liberal Bias From Textbooks

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

I have a fourth grade grandson who absolutely loves Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Last time he came for a visit he shared large portions of it, reading it to us out loud to everyone's great entertainment. So when I saw the other day that a film based on the book had come out I thought it would be fun to go.

After reading a review of it I'm not so sure. The film, it seems, burst a pipe in the potty humour department and it spews forth throughout the film. Hey, if I want to see and smell pee and poop I'll drive over to a sewage treatment plant. Why are movie-makers so enamored of bodily waste?

Take a look at the review for yourself. From what I've heard listening to my grandson read, the book series is cute and funny. Sounds like the movie took a wrong turn. On the other hand, reviewers don't always get it right.

Have you seen it? What do you think?

Anonymous Cowards and Rotten Tomatoes

I've collected quite a bit of anonymous hate mail over the years since I've been publishing the Les Femmes newsletter. My latest issue brought a critical note from the west calling me "sarcastic, bitter, and nasty...without love for my enemies... (and) shrewish." Wow!

It also warned me that I'm in danger of losing my soul. Mind you - this is someone who has never met me (signed himself as "a friend of a friend") and doesn't know one thing about me except what he read in the newsletter. Not only that, but this person sent it anonymously. What courage! But one can presume a pious soul who is close to the Lord because there was a cross at the top with an M (for Mary?) underneath and the writer signed "God Bless." I could almost hear and see him with hands raised over me in blessing saying, "God bless, you sarcastic, bitter, nasty shrew."

The pity is that I might pay attention to a charitable critique. I take criticism seriously when delivered respectfully and I've exchanged mail with critics on many occasions. After two letter exchanges, one actually sent a $100 donation. He still thought I should change my tone, but was supportive of what I was trying to do.

Ironically, the same newsletter that brought the rotten tomato also instigated a signed message (and a donation) saying, "Please accept this small donation to Les Femmes as a humble thank you for the 'Email from Heaven' on fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. It has provided (and is providing) marvelous spiritual food for my soul during this Lenten Season."

Which just goes to show that one man's food is another man's poison. But isn't it interesting that someone who sends an anonymous note filled with pejorative adjectives considers me uncharitable and on the brink of hell. It reminds me of the dozens calling me "judgmental" while engaging in a tirade of judgmental rhetoric. The old double standard at work I guess.

Well, I hope the latest writer is so worried about my soul that he prays for me. I'm happy for any I can get.

The newsletter in question will be on-line soon at the Les Femmes website.

Virginia Patriot Puts Pelosi on Notice about "Improper Purpose" in Applying Article I of Constitution

I picked this picture of Ken Cuccinelli because it reminds me of mild-mannered Clark Kent who is really Superman in disguise. And Ken is acting like the man of steel as he stands up to the forces of evil pushing all kinds of unconstitutional endeavors on the people of Gotham (and Broadway, and Richmond, and Arlington, and Alexandria and Woodstock, and VA Beach, and Roanoke, etc., etc.)

The article below shows just how much grit and gristle operates in this tough-minded patriot.

Go, Ken, go! This effort ties you up with my other favorite politician, Bob Marshall. (I know Bob won't mind.)


From the Washington Post, Virginia Politics, March 17, 2010

Cuccinelli's office confirms Virginia will sue over health care


A spokesman for Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) said this afternoon that Virginia will file suit against the federal government if the Democratic health care reform bill is approved by the U.S. Congress.

Cuccinelli has long said he was examining the legal issues and suggested he would likely file suit. Brian Gottstein, a spokesman for the office, said this afternoon that a lawsuit is now a definite. Gottstein would provide no details of the legal rationale for such a suit, indicating the process is "still being worked out."

Virginia last week became the first state in the country to pass a state bill declaring it illegal for the government to require individuals to purchase health insurance, a key part of bills under consideration on Capitol Hill.

We are also expecting to receive a letter shortly that Cuccinelli is sending to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) warning her that using the so-called "deem and pass" procedure to pass the Senate health reform bill in the House would open the measure to additional constitutional challenges from the states.

UPDATE: We've received a copy of Cuccinelli's letter to Pelosi. In it, he writes: "Should you employ the deem and pass tactic, you expose any act which may pass to yet another constitutional challenge."

The full letter is included after the jump.

March 17, 2010
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
Office of the Speaker H-232
U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C.

Dear Speaker Pelosi:

   I am writing to urge you not to proceed with the Senate Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act under a so-called "deem and pass" rule because such a course of action would raise grave constitutional questions. Based upon media interviews and statements which I have seen, you are considering this approach because it might somehow shield members of Congress from taking a recorded vote on an overwhelmingly unpopular Senate bill. This is an improper purpose under the bicameralism requirements of Article I, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution, one of the purposes of which is to make our representatives fully accountable for their votes. Furthermore, to be validly enacted, the Senate bill would have to be accepted by the House in a form that is word-for-word identical (Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417 (1998)). Should you employ the deem and pass tactic, you expose any act which may pass to yet another constitutional challenge. A bill of this magnitude should not be passed using this maneuver. As the President noted last week, the American people are entitled to an up or down vote.

Sincerely,

Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II
Attorney General of Virginia

The Land of Saints and Scholars: Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Wasps of the United States who were contemporaries of my parents had a great contempt for Ireland. I remember my mother talking about a conversation she had with an acquaintance about the backwards Irish having their "pigs in the kitchen." But in reality Ireland is a country of great learning that was spared the assault of the barbarian invasions and so avoided the darkness during the middle ages. The Irish are poets and story tellers with a rich tradition both oral and written.

Even before St. Patrick, Catholic missionaries had seeded Ireland with Christianity and St. Patrick found a people ready to hear the word of God. Patrick's evangilization inspired the monasteries, great centers of learning, whose ruins pepper the entire land. The pre-Christian culture of Ireland was also steeped in education because it respected men of learning.

The Church in the U.S. reflects the bounty exported from Ireland. When I was a girl I remember Irish immigrant priests, preaching in their lilting brogue, in almost every parish we attended as my dad was  transferred from place to place with the Navy.

I had the blessing of visiting Ireland in the early 90s and remember it most for the warmth of the people and the children, everywhere the children. But even then you could see the seeds of dissolution taking hold with the newspapers discussing homosexuality and pushing for legalization of divorce. I don't think I would want to return to Ireland today to see the devastation inflicted by the European Union, the Irish sex abuse scandals, and the general collapse into moral relativism that plagues most countries.

Let us intercede with St. Patrick to raise up descendents to re-Christianize Ireland and the world.

First Sign of Spring

For me, the first sign of spring isn't the robin bobbing along, but the bluebirds' arrival. I saw my first bluebird yesterday on the side of the house. He stopped to check out the cottage where he and his mate took up residence last year. Hopefully, he'll choose that for his seasonal lodging again.

My daffodils and lilies are also up about six inches and the forsythia buds are swelling and getting ready to pop. It gives my heart a real lift and we certainly need that after this long snowy winter.

We got a little bit of a head start on a three and a half week driving to Texas and back. The magnolias were blooming in Texas and Arkansas when we left to come home and in Athens, Texas we saw an early bird redbud in glorious full bloom. What a welcome sight! There were also some trees with small white blossoms in bloom, Bradford Pears maybe.

The weather was cold when we arrived in Houston. We were only able to shed our jackets the last few days there. Austin was better after it stopped raining and we had a few shirtsleeve days and even a hot two-mile walk the day before we left, a prelude to summer. It raised our anticipation for our beautiful Virginia spring and summer and I have itchy garden fingers.

What's the first sign of spring you look for?

Leftists: the Biggest Racists of All

Actor Tom Hanks recently got some flack for his comments about World War II and U.S. racism against the Japanese. The irony of this leftist commenting on the "racism" of American GIs, who fought against two countries that considered themselves master races, is to ignore the most extensive racism in the U.S. today -- abortion. 

Minority women of child-bearing age represent about 13% of the population. They have 36% of the abortions. Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the nation locates its mills primarily in inner city neighborhoods where the majority of poor minorities live. They target the poor just as Margaret Sanger did with her birth control "clinics" that worked to eliminate those she considered "human weeds:" blacks, irish, jews, the "feeble-minded", etc.

Erma Clardy Craven, a black social worker and civil rights leader, now deceased once observed:

"Several years ago, when 17,000 aborted babies were found in a dumpster outside a pathology laboratory in Los, Angeles, California, some 12-15,000 were observed to be black."

Abortion's history is racist from its inception. Maafa 21 tells the story.

Tom Hanks commented that in the Pacific our soldiers just "killed them all." Abortionists would gladly do the same to black babies today. So who are the real racists? Aren't they the leftists who think the way to help the poor in America and in the third world (people of color) is to kill their children? Spouting social justice and aid to the poor, they bombard them with birth control and abortion kits instead of materials to provide clean water and medication to fight diarrhea, a major killer in underdeveloped nations. It makes sense for racists. Aborting and contracepting these folks out of existence will keep them off the liberals' doorsteps.

Blasphemous Stations of the Cross Scrubbed from Bishops' Website

Another Great Charity to Support: Divine Mercy Care

Want to make every charity dollar count: to support the unborn, help mothers in crisis have a real option for life, encourage compassionate health care that serves the whole person?  Support Divine Mercy Care which operates the Tepeyac Family Center. This revolutionary approach to women's health care is the yeast in the loaf. Doctors from around the country call Dr. John Bruchalski to see how they can imitate the wonderful things happening at Tepeyac. They work with a number of pregnancy help centers to give women real choices both they and their babies can live with. Visit their websites and add them to your list of worthy charities.


Divine Mercy Care Gala 2009 from Divine Mercy Care on Vimeo.

Accused Priests vs. Accused Bishops: the Double Standard

I received an email today from Opus Bono Sacerdotii, a group that assists priests accused of sexual abuse, with a sad story from an accused priest. Here's a portion of what the priest wrote:

I had a surprise visit to my Parish office by two Officials from the Chancery, the Vicar for Priests and a Canon Lawyer (who happens to be a classmate of mine). They asked to see me privately and I was extremely nervous because of their attitude and demeanor. When the three of us were alone, they proceeded to tell me that a “credible allegation of sexual abuse” was made against me and that I had an hour to pack a bag and to come with them. Few details were given to me when I asked.

They mentioned a name which I never heard of before and that this “victim” was deceased. His widow and attorney came to the Diocese to bring this supposed abuse to their attention. This was to have occurred some thirty years ago.... I discovered later that the Diocese had already sent out a “Fax Blast” concerning my removal. After the press and media extensively exposed my ‘credible allegation of sexual abuse’ for two days, I found myself living in a hellish nightmare. After some two or three weeks later, the same two Officials called me to another meeting and informed me that another “victim” came forth after the public disclosure to make a second allegation against me. (And I had thought that life could not have possibly gotten any worse.)
As God as my witness, I swear as I swore on a Bible before the Diocesan Officials, these allegations are totally and completely untrue. My mind and my soul are bruised, beaten and trampled down. My parishioners are most supportive but I am not permitted to visit them and I cannot afford to call them by telephone.... I suffer panic attacks, acute anxiety and severe depression. Worst of all, there is nobody that can really understand or share this onerous burden that I bear.
I am in financial ruin ‘to put the icing on the cake’. I have exhausted my life savings trying to pay monthly expenses....

Even when the day for my exoneration and restoration does come, I have already seen the future. There is none. Two weeks ago a fellow priest of our Diocese was accused of sexual misconduct which allegedly occurred forty years prior, was exonerated and was officially assigned to serve ‘in restricted ministry’ at a convent motherhouse. When the media got hold of his new assignment, the public outcry that a ‘priest, accused of credible sexual abuse’ would be assigned to an area which had schools and day-care centers nearby, our bishop, bowing to “public pressure and shepherdly concern” reversed and revoked his Official assignment the very next day, not even twenty-four hours had elapsed.
Now I have abandoned all hope. I do not know where to turn for help, for someone who understands. I am ashamed. I am alone....

Consider the treatment of this priest, presumed guilty from a thirty year old allegation. And what exactly constitutes a "credible allegation?" If he's guilty where is the proof? Apparently the accusation constituted proof for this bishop. What recourse does the priest have?

Now consider the case of an accused bishop. This comes from a 2003 three webpage from SNAP:

San Diego – Bishop Robert Brom was accused of coercing a student into a sexual relationship at a seminary in Minnesota, where he once was rector and later headed the Diocese of Duluth. Church officials acknowledged multiple settlements to seminarians as a result of abuse allegations involving other members of the hierarchy and priests but deny the validity of the claims. Brom paid a confidential settlement (reported to be $85,000.00) to his accuser, who agreed to retract his claim against Brom. Brom has stated the pay out was "minimal insurance" to help his accuser of getting on with his life. The deal was reached in 1993 but didn't become public until this spring. Bishop Brom continues to deny wrongdoing and remains on the job.

SNAP isn't the only recorder of Brom's sexual abuse. In her book The Rite of Sodomy, researcher Randy Engel, quotes from a nuisance lawsuit the diocese of San Diego filed against investigative reporter Robert Kumpel of San Diego News Notes.

In his sworn statement of March 12, 2002, [Mark] Brooks [a seminarian dismissed for blowing the whistle on homosexuality at St. Francis Seminary in San Diego and Bishop Brom in particular] mentioned publicly for the first time that he had spoken by phone with a former seminarian from Immaculate Heart Seminary in Winona named Jeffrey Maras, who confirmed that while Bishop of Duluth, Brom had coerced him into a four-year sexual relationship. Maras told Brooks that he could identify Brom from the markings on his privates. Maras, desperately in need of money, agreed to enter into a confidential financial settlement with Brom in exchange for a fraudulent 'retraction letter' that he was forced to write as a condtion for receing financial compensation from the bishop. (Rite of Sodomy p. 857-58)

Engel reports another affirmation of Brom's sex abuse quoting Msgr. Michael Higgins, a former canon lawyer from the Diocese of San Diego who operates the group, Justice for Priests and Deacons. In an April 22, 1999 letter to Pope John Paul II, Msgr. Higgins wrote. "It is a matter of public record...that the Bishop of San Diego, Robert Brom, has himself been charged with grave sexual behavior and has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars of diocesan funds in attorneys' fees and damages to escape the consequences of that miisconduct...and was given a promotion to the Diocese of San Diego when the full extent of his digsuting and immoral behavior was already known."

So let's get this straight. A priest is accused and is immediately suspended, everyone in the known world is notified of the allegation, and the priest is hung out to dry. He is presumed guilty and must prove his innocence, paying for his defense himself. On the other hand, a bishop is accused, keeps the accusation secret, pays out tens of thousands in hush money to his accuser from diocesan funds, not to mention countless bucks to lawyers and public relations folks, and continues on the job.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

When the bishops developed their sex abuse policy in Dallas in 2002 they excused themselves from its coverage. No "one strike and you're out" policy for the bishops. How many innocent priests have been caught up in spurious accusations? Certainly there are plenty of guilty men, and most bishops covered up for them and moved them around from one diocese to another. But how many priests with one twenty or thirty-year-old allegation are victims of a witch hunt? How many have been presumed guilty with little evidence from a so-called "credible allegation" who, even when exonerated, are deep-sixed by their bishops because of public outcry?

The situation is beyond shameful and is one more scandal against the bishops of the United States, most of whom are experts illusionists with their smoke and mirrors. Perhaps the most shocking thing is the way they cover for one another and scapegoat the priests under them and even the laity through their sex abuse and safe-touch policies. It is all about protecting the bishops and the assets. As for their souls, they apparently don't come into the equation.

Dutch want voluntary euthanasia for those over 70

A Dutch euthanasia organization has collected over 100,000 signatures on a petition urging that those over 70 be able to select death for no reason or any reason. Those who are "tired of living," they insist, should be able to choose a lethal injection to end their lives. The group is working for legislation that permits euthanasia on demand beginning at age 70.

Anyone with an ounce of common sense realizes this is just the beginning. Abortion started with several decades of lobbying for the hard cases of rape, incest, and life of the mother. Euthanasia began with the sick and the suffering and the handicapped. Now the pricetag is being lowered to include those over 70 who are "tired of living." Euthanasia on demand is the next frontier for the culture of death. The "Right to Die" group in Holland has been promoting changes in the law to allow healthy people to request death since 1973. They recommend a plan that would allow non-medical licensed technicians to administer lethal injections to fulfill the wishes of those requesting death.

Of course those promoting euthanasia on demand insist it will be voluntary with safeguards to protect the depressed or those being pressured. But just as coerced abortion is a very real problem, coerced euthanasia won't be far behind. How many family members tired of caring for an elderly parent will pressure them to select the needle? How many elderly in situations of abuse or neglect will be desperate enough to prefer death than living in misery? And then there are the financial incentives. Why wait for mom and dad to go naturally while the inheritance is shrinking?

Statistics from the NCEA (National Coalition on Elder Abuse) indicate that, "According to the best available estimates, between 1 and 2 million Americans age 65 or older have been injured, exploited, or otherwise mistreated by someone on whom they depended for care or protection." Will those abusive caregivers have qualms about hastening the end of someone considered a burden?

Pro-lifers predicted after Roe v. Wade that euthanasia was the inevitable result. The murder of the innocent has been taking place now for years with euthanasia by neglect of handicapped newborns and deliberate dehydration of others like Terri Schiavo, Hugh Finn, and Nancy Cruzon. Only the disputed cases go public. Many die quietly with the unanimous consent of the family.

Countries that have legalized euthanasia have, so far, limited it to those suffering from terminal diseases. But the push is on to expand the killing to healthy adults. Once governments allow it, there is no reason to believe the injections won't soon extend to anyone of any age who wants to die or is coerced to request it. The apocalyptic fourth horseman is in the saddle and riding hard in the Netherlands. How long before he crosses the border into the rest of the world?

"When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, 'Come!' I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth." Revelation 6:7-8