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Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Fr. Tom Collins describes how the USCCB Acts Like the Liberal Democrat Party...

Disgraced Cardinal Wuerl addresses the conference
in November.  They still listen to this man?
Are the bishops serious about clergy sex abuse?
Sure doesn't look like it!
Editor's comment....The bishops' buraucracy enables abortion, contraception, gender ideology, and other moral evils through their "charities," particularly the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (disguised under other names in some dioceses), Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services, etc. All these "charities" which do some good work also contribute to abject moral evils. You can't give to them without contributing to the evil. So with one hand you offer help and with the other slap the face of Christ. But, hey, supporting liberal politics keeps the federal tax dollars flowing into the bishops' coffers. So accepting a "little" sin is the price one pays to keep the money flowing! Thirty pieces of silver anyone?

Many bishops are good little Democrats who have no problem excoriating orthodox Catholics for taking prudential positions on illegal migration, global warming, the environment, etc. with which they disagree. "Open borders!" they shout while they lock the doors of our churches and lock their houses, chanceries, and cars. "You peons go ahead and pay the billions in education, health care, and welfare caused by invaders breaking our laws. No problem for us. Just keep dropping those envelopes in the collection basket so we can live like princes!" Fr. Collins identifies the problem with the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops). What we need next is advice on how a faithful Catholic in the pew should respond. 

For several decades now, it the USCCB has, de facto, regularly been giving a “free pass” to a number of dangerous political, societal and psychological trends, among them are:
  • The obfuscation of facts about the immigration crisis, so as to provides propaganda cover for coyotes, drug dealers and others, who use innocent women and children as human shields to cover their nefarious activities; 
  • The obfuscation of the brutal facts about abortion by providing Democrat leaders the cover of a “seamless garment”, which both diminishes the seriousness of abortion and allows Catholic politicians who promote it with a “lesser of two evils”rationale, whereby they can both justify their pro-abortion stand as part of a “social justice” agenda and receive glowing accolades from Church leaders for their “diligence and “compassion”;
  • The slanderous use of the charge of “racist” by secular progressives against any whodare to question or oppose any part of their agenda, even though that agenda includes support for Planned Parenthood’s genocidal policies against the African-Americancommunity (cf., documentary at maafa21.com);
  • The degradation and desecration of our youth through government-sponsored “family life curricula”, whereby children are instructed to develop “positive and non-judgmental” attitudes toward such moral perversions as contraception, abortion, fornication, sodomy, masturbation, cunnilingus and marital infidelity;
  • The promotion of “compassion” and “tolerance” for couples, who are merely living together and for those in homosexual relationships, thus undermining a consistent call for all to take seriously the sacred demands of the virtue of chastity;
  • The continuing protection of certain high ranking clergy, guilty of the sexual abuse of minors, even after the fear of the lawsuit supplanted the fear of the Lord in so many dioceses, and now necessitating sweeping investigations of personnel files in a number of dioceses;
  • The promotion of moral ambiguity by validating the “lived experience” of strong emotional/ hormonal drives as more credible than the absolute truths supporting objective moral standards (When did we last hear references to the reality of concupiscence?);
  • The desecration of the Mass and the Eucharistic Christ by liturgical innovations and “pastoral considerations”, which prohibit the “harsh” proclamation of the reality andthe seriousness of the sin of sacrilege;
  • The capitulation to comfort, convenience and complacency by changing the dates forsome solemnities, by eliminating the obligation to participate at Mass on other major solemnities and by dispensing from Friday Lenten abstinence on St. Patrick’s Day.
  • The insistence that the purpose of the liturgy is to make people feel good about themselves,rather than help all Catholics to hold themselves accountable to the whole truth of God (eg., If it is OK to receive Holy Communion after deliberately violating the Third Commandment, why is it not likewise OK to receive Holy Communion after deliberately violating any of the other Commandments?).
Sadly, for too long leaders at the USCCB have chosen to overlook two basic truths. First, the fact that character formation is organic and holistic, and does not merely engage parts of a person’s life. Second, virtue cannot be attained by capitulation to falsehood, perversion, cowardice or laziness. For too long now, those Catholics, who have sought to loyally live out the whole truth of God, have been treated in a way reminiscent of David’s treatment of his loyal soldier, Urriah the Hittite. If, by humble and contrite receptivity to God’s gracious mercy, current trends are not reversed, America may soon witness the degradation of several dioceses to the status of titular sees. [Editor's note: A "titular see" is one that no longer functions, sometimes referred to as a "dead diocese."]

20 comments:

  1. Why do you say Cardinal Wuerl is disgraced? He has been fighting sex abuse in the Church since the 1980’s. This is from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

    “When sex abuse cases did arise in the Diocese of Pittsburgh — the first just a few months after he became bishop — Cardinal Wuerl met face-to-face with victims, led the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to create guidelines for accountability and prevention of future abuse, launched a Diocesan Review Board to address accusations, and risked his future in church leadership by fighting an order from the Vatican’s highest court to reinstate the Rev. Anthony Cipolla after he was accused of molestation. Earlier this summer Cardinal Wuerl — he was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 2010 — proposed that the conference instate a panel to investigate rumors of sexual misconduct by its own members.”

    You can read the whole article here.

    https://www.post-gazette.com/news/faith-religion/2018/08/27/cardinal-donald-Wuerl-pittsburgh-bishop-child-sex-abuse-catholic-church/stories/201808250009

    Yes, there were allegations made against him in the PA Grand Jury Report, but these actions were done at a time when this was the procedure of the Church. And no, Cardinal Wuerl is not perfect. But that is a far cry from being disgraced. He has done many, many positive things on behalf of sex abuse victims.

    You need to check your facts before making accusations against Church hierarchy.

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  2. "how a faithful Catholic in the pew should respond. "
    If attending March for life, skip Wuerl at youth event, Lipinski on mall, head over to usccb (metro stop: Brookland CUA) to demand preaching of humanae vitae.

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  3. Well, Unknown, I've been following Wuerl's career for years.

    I laughed when I read your statement that Wuerl "risked his future i church leadership...." What a joke! You don't kill the goose that lays the golden egg. And McCarrick, Wuerl, Cupich, etc. are all part of the money talks wing of the U.S. church. And even now, the pope is covering for him and doing everything he can to keep Wuerl in power. That's why so many of us are ANGRY, righteously so.

    The grand jury report isn't the only thing out there about Wuerl. He was being exposed decades before the report. Those folks are Johnny-come-latelies. Problem was -- the laity were asleep and nobody listened.

    Just out of curiosity do you personally know or have you ever worked for Donald Wuerl?

    Anybody who absolves the cover up of child molesters because it was done "at a time when this was the procedure of the Church" can't be trusted, hence I don't trust your comments, especially since you write anonymously. You could be anybody -- including Cardinal Wuerl. Every time I hear someone excuse the bishops who covered up and moved abusers around, as a mom and grandma I want to throw up!

    You provided one article to excuse Wuerl. Here's a whole website of articles that show his culpability over DECADES!

    http://www.donaldwuerl.com/

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  4. I do not know nor have I ever met Cardinal Wuerl. I have no personal connections to him. I have never lived in any of his dioceses. The only dog I have in this race is the search for truth, which I am seeing very little from those who are attacking Wuerl.

    I looked at the website you linked to, but it seems to be very hateful with a definite agenda, which is to destroy Cardinal Wuerl. I do not see an objective search for truth. The article I linked to gives both sides of the story, something the hateful site does not. If you are familiar with that site, maybe you can point me to something that is actually objective and not just hurling accusations.

    The Pittsburgh Post article says that Cardinal Wuerl exposed 32 abusive priests, and that is before so much became public in Boston. Wuerl was working in a culture at the time that did not expose priests. He was definitely going against the grain. He put himself out to dry by going after an abusive priest who had been reinstated by the Vatican,

    Wuerl was not perfect. He was operating in a system that we now know did not do near enough for the victims, far too often favoring the perpetrators. That had to be exposed and changed. The abuse rate has dropped significantly since 2001 when so much came to light and the bishops met in Dallas. One of those fighting for the changes in Dallas was Cardinal Wuerl.

    You say you have been following Wuerl’s career for years, and that he was “exposed” decades before the PA report. Can you give specifics?

    Thank you.

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  5. Just in case you are interested, here is an article from 2003 detailing the various ways Wuerl fought against sex abuse in the Church.

    http://old.post-gazette.com/localnews/20030615wuerl0615p2.asp

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  6. Why did you not post my last comment? Unless and until you do that, you have no credibility. I hope you will prove me wrong.

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  7. I apologize, I see that you did print that comment.

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  8. I'll take a look at your article and here's one for you about Wuerl who allowed several priests to continue to function and even went to bat for them. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cnn-catches-cardinal-wuerl-in-lies-over-sexual-abuse-cover-up

    When Wuerl moved to Pittsburgh he was well known to be an enabler of the gay community. Dignity was allowed to have Masses which went on for EIGHT YEARS after he became bishop. And this was after he was auxiliary in Seattle ordered to sever the ties between Dignity and the Archdiocese as ordered by Cardinal Ratzinger. So it would be a little hard to justify his enabling of the gay community in Pittsburgh out of ignorance.

    I'm interested in the truth too and Cardinal Wuerl has been an enabler of evil for decades. His refusal to deal with champions of abortion who happen to be people of power and influence is well known. John Kerry (There's a photo online at https://www.traditioninaction.org/RevolutionPhotos/A166rcPapalNuncioKerry.htma) rabid pro-abortion politician received Communion at his installation Mass in D.C.Wuerl also was known to stop and shake hands with the powerful polls like Kennedy and Kerry during entrance and recessional processions at Mass. He is one of the princes of the Church who loves the life of luxury and power and the pleasures it brings.

    You portray Wuerl as quick to act, but Pittsburgh was on of the last dioceses to halt the Dignity Masses. In view of the connection between homosexuality and clergy sex abuse, I think it's hard to make a solid case for Wuerl's being vigilant with regard to homosexual priest abusers. The number of dissenters allowed to speak in Pittsburgh under Wuerl include some of the most egregious dissenters in the Church: Fr. Robert Nugent, St. Jeannine Gramick, Rosemary Ruether, Monical Hellwig (deceased), and a host of others.

    By the way, Ann Rodgers Melnick and the Post Gazette ran many fawning articles about Wuerl over the years. She appeared to be his personal cheerleader. I take her absolution of Wuerl with a grain of salt.

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  9. I'll take a look at your article and here's one for you about Wuerl who allowed several priests to continue to function and even went to bat for them in Pittsburgh. He appears to have been selective about who got the boot. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cnn-catches-cardinal-wuerl-in-lies-over-sexual-abuse-cover-up

    Wuerl was well known to be an enabler of the gay community in Pittsburgh. The local Dignity chapter was allowed to have Masses which went on for EIGHT YEARS after he became bishop. And this was after he was auxiliary in Seattle where by order of Cardinal Ratzinger he was told to sever the ties between Dignity and the Archdiocese. So it would be a little hard to justify his enabling of the gay community in Pittsburgh out of ignorance.

    I'm interested in the truth too and Cardinal Wuerl has been an enabler of evil for decades. His refusal to deal with champions of abortion who happen to be people of power and influence is well known. John Kerry, a rabid pro-abortion politician received Communion at Wuerl's installation Mass in D.C.(There's a photo online at https://www.traditioninaction.org/RevolutionPhotos/A166rcPapalNuncioKerry.htm)

    Wuerl also was known to stop and shake hands with powerful pols like Kennedy and Kerry during entrance and recessional processions at Mass, a clear scandal to the faithful.

    You portray Wuerl as quick to act, but Pittsburgh was one of the last dioceses in the country to halt the Dignity Masses. In view of the connection between homosexuality and clergy sex abuse, I think it's hard to make a solid case for Wuerl's being vigilant with regard to homosexual priest abusers. The number of dissenters allowed to speak in Pittsburgh under Wuerl include some of the most egregious in the Church: Fr. Robert Nugent (deceased), St. Jeannine Gramick, Rosemary Ruether, Monical Hellwig (deceased), and a host of others.

    Wuerl is no hero. He disgraced himself years ago. And don't get me started on his sex ed program in Pittsburgh!

    By the way, Ann Rodgers Melnick and the Post Gazette ran many fawning articles about Wuerl over the years. She appeared to be his personal cheerleader. I take her absolution of Wuerl with a grain of salt.

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  10. Do you have sources for your statements above? Just as you say you put no credibility in the Post Gazette, I give no credibility to Lifesitnews, I have often found discrepancies and outright lies in their reporting.

    I do note that you do not give any sources that refute the statements made in the articles I linked to, and that you are now changing the subject to Wuerl’s actions with regard to homosexuals. That is a different argument about which I know very little, so I cannot comment.

    It seems we are at a stand off since we cannot accept each other’s sources. However, the second article I gave you was from 2003,which was long before Wuerl was accused of any malfeasance and was therefore not written as any kind of defense. Here is another article, this one from a Johnstown PA paper, in which the present bishop of Pittsbugh discussed working with Wuerl on sex abuse cases. As you can see, the present bishop says Wuerl did not have complete information on at least one of the priests whom he is accused of covering up, and that is why he did not take further action. Bishop Zubik has only good things to say about Wuerl and seems genuinely distressed about the way in which he and Wuerl have been accused.

    https://www.tribdem.com/news/pittsburgh-bishop-expresses-sorrow-supports-wuerl-vows-action/article_670f40b9-7ac0-567d-a648-c883687b7143.html

    I link to one more article, this one from 2014, again before Wuerl was accused and therefore not a defense, from the Washington Times. I note in particular how Wuerl is described:

    “Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, a longtime advocate for victims of pedophile priests,”

    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/13/cardinal-donald-wuerl-hits-un-report-on-catholic-s/

    I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to comment. There is such tremendous conflict and anger among Catholics in our time, and it is important to find the truth behind all the rhetoric.

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  11. Dear Unknown,

    “Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, a longtime advocate for victims of pedophile priests,”
    Not so fast !I know and knew all involved .
    I suggest you read Pt 1 and Pt 2 from a real Catholic investigative journalist.
    http://www.newengelpublishing.com/sex-abuse-case-against-father-anthony-j-cipolla/

    Background . I spoke directly with Fr A Cipolla at the private lunch mentioned by Mrs Engel in her report above, having been requested to do so by a pastor at a church where he showed up asking for a job teaching religion to parish children. I questioned Cipolla about Wuerl. Cipolla had threatened to expose the then Bishop Wuerl to the Congregation of the Clergy years earlier due to conflict between the two over a private for profit shrine Cipolla was making money from while a priest in the Pittsburgh Diocese. They had a long running feud and Cipolla's pederast past was NOT at the heart of it UNTIL Wuerl could use it to his advantage.

    Cipolla had molested two little boys in the seventies and the police complaint the mother made was credible WITH evidence.
    At that time the then Bishop Leonard and Diocesan lawyers bullied her into expunging her complaint promising to keep him away from children in the future. Later a Tim Bendig, long time victim of the same priest went public and it made the News. The original victim's mother was alerted and traveled to Pittsburgh to support the case for the latest victim ,Bendig. The Bishop now was Wuerl and he used the new evidence to take to the Vatican to defrock his long time nemesis ,Cipolla.
    Thus, he effectively killed two birds with one stone posing as a victim advocate.
    Cardinal Wuerl is a master politician as is his friend Cardinal Dolan. He knows how to use the media to his advantage.
    After having lunch with Cipolla I gave the pastor my impression of Cipolla advising him to keep him away from any children and our pastor showed him the door.
    Wuerl is NO friend to Catholic families.
    https://www.newsweek.com/donald-wuerl-sexual-abuse-catholic-church-rape-priest-archdiocese-grand-jury-1076455

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  12. Unknown, I only have so much time for this and I think elpine flower says it all. You are free to believe Wuerl. I don't. As for "changing the subject" homosexuality IS the subject. Covering up and enabling homosexuality is exactly why so many young people and seminarians were abused.

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  13. I find it fascinating that you take the word of someone who does not identity himself and gives a story with no supporting sources other than hiis/her own statements. No, I don’t identify myself either, but I am not giving my own unsubstantiated version. I am giving you links to legitimate news sources.

    It seems you are not really in search of the truth, but only want to push your own agenda, which seems to be taking down Church hierarchy at any cost.

    I quote from the 2003 story from Bendig himself:

    "If you're looking for a bishop who is going to oust these priests, he is the man for you," said Tim Bendig, 34, whose 1988 civil lawsuit led to Wuerl's fight in the Vatican for the right to remove predators.

    I hope you let go of your own vendetta and find your way back to Truth.

    I will not be surprised if you do not publish this comment.

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  14. Maybe Unknown will appreciate this article just set to me by someone who has been locking horns with Wuerl since his son was shot in the had on a Pittsburgh Diocesan school bus who then killed himself. The shooter is believed to have been victimized by a priest at the time.
    Wuerl continually lies, what more is there to say?

    "Wuerl himself was forced to retire early in the fall due to his alleged mishandling of clergy sexual misconduct when he was bishop of Pittsburgh, and his replacement is rumored to be named in coming weeks. A Pennsylvania grand jury report detailing extensive clergy abuse and coverup in the state --mostly from decades ago --and criticizing Wuerl for not doing more has heaped fuel on the belief that the Catholic Church hasn’t reformed itself at its highest levels."
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/2019/01/10/b542cbba-1513-11e9-803c-4ef28312c8b9_story.html?utm_term=.2cd7fde3e0cb

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  15. Ann Rogers the former religion editor for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette who wrote such glowing and amorous account of Donald "The Lavenbder Don" Wuerl is now the communications director for the Pittsburgh Diocese. She is a non-Catholic and a divorce. This is how the cover-up of clergy sex abuse continues.

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  16. Unknown -- my goodness!

    I'm not sure who you're talking about? The website author who names himself? The LifesiteNews article with a named author? There are a number of articles from "legitimate news sources" listed here that you choose to dismiss.

    Do you really think you are the only one interested in the truth? Maybe your "agenda" has blinded you. I have no "vendetta" against anyone. I do, however, want bishops who covered up abuse and enabled on-going abuse to be removed because they have shown how unfit they are for office. There is plenty of evidence against Cardinal Wuerl which you choose to ignore. You're free to do that. But it seems arrogant to me to attack others who see things in a different light.

    And as far as comments are concerned, I'm not afraid to post any from people with whom I disagree and only censor those who use profanity and nasty ad hominem attacks. Your ad hominem makes you less credible, but since you didn't call me a name, I let it pass

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  17. Elpine Flower knew I was talking about him/her.

    Notice that the Post article referred to by Elpine says the allegations of abuse are “alleged”, not proven true.

    I do not know why Wuerl did not reveal in 2018 that he knew about McCarrick in 2004. I do know that to make that public would make the Vatican look bad for not acting on it. But one thing is clear - Wuerl did not try to cover for McCarrick. He immediately reported this to the Vatican:

    “Robert Ciolek, a former priest who reached a settlement with the church in 2005 after accusing clerics including McCarrick, told The Post he recently learned that the Pittsburgh Diocese has a file that shows that Wuerl was aware of his allegations against McCarrick. The file includes documentation that Wuerl, who was bishop of Pittsburgh at the time, shared the information with then-Vatican ambassador Gabriel Montalvo.”

    McCarrick was not under Wuerl’s juridisction. McCarrick was already a Cardinal and therefore only the Pope could discipline him. Bishops can only discipline priests. The Pope at that time was JPII. Wuerl did the only thing he had the authority to do - report it to the Vatican.

    Why didn’t JPII do anything? We don’t know. But that is not on Wuerl.

    Thank you once again for allowing me to comment.

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  18. FOR the UNKNOWING UNKNOWN

    http://stumblingblock.org/?p=13268

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  19. Unknown , Note what PA AG says about the cardinal

    “It is unacceptable that then-Bishop Wuerl ... oversaw and participated in the systematic cover-up that he did when leading the Pittsburgh Diocese and that he is now able to retire seemingly with no consequences for his actions,” Shapiro said. “We can’t rely on the church to fix itself.”

    https://www.apnews.com/81227a866459425b8353d40081c4a95f

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  20. Unknowing.........

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=39&v=gKik5bDUst4

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