It was Only a Matter of Time: Bishop Schneider Gets the Hobnailed Boot from Church Militant!

Are we surprised when Church Militant (CM) attacks someone who (horrors!) defends the
SSPX? Goodness, there's a bushel full, and now one more, a good and holy bishop, Athanasius Schneider. 

Voris and company recently featured a Catholic World Report article by disgruntled former SSPXer Andrew Bartel. Bartel is not a canon lawyer and has pretty slim credentials to challenge a bishop with a doctorate in theology and patristics. 

According to his profile on Catholic World News:

Andrew Bartel is a lay Dominican of the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus. He lives with his wife and their three children in Montana, where he works as a glazier. He is also pursuing a degree in English and Philosophy.

What the Abortion Industry Fears Most

More and more abortion mill workers are fleeing the grisly business.

The Beginning of the End?

Catholic World Report: A Blockbuster Issue

I'm always behind in my reading which explains why I just finished the February issue of Catholic World Report. What a blockbuster issue! The cover article, "The End of the Bernardin Era," was an analysis by Russell Shaw of the bishops' selection of Archbishop Timothy Dolan over the more liberal (I'd call him a dissenter) Gerald Kicanis of Tucson.

Shaw cuts Bernardin more slack than I would. Bernardin had a talent for articulating the Catholic position on an issue an then saying something like, "I'm sure our Catholic people will give due consideration to this in forming their consciences." He always left plenty of wiggle room for cafeteria Catholics. I find that hard to reconcile with Shaw's description of someone with a "sincere love for the Church." More on target, I thought, was his discussion of Bernardin's seamless garment philosophy which gave politicians the ability to claim pro-life status for opposing capital punishment while backing murder of the unborn. Shaw says, "In the face of pro-lifers' protests, Cardinal Bernardin clarified that the consistent ethic shouldn't be read as backing for moral equivalency, but he is not known to have objected strongly to the abuse." True, but a massive understatement!

Where is the bishops' conference going now? Shaw belives it is moving "away from the soft spoken accomodation of a multitude of points of view that often seemed to typify the Bernardin Era, to an outspoken counter-culturalism." I hope he's right!

An article by Jeff Ziegler, "Thinking with the Church," examined Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul/Minneaplis. In our Autumn newsletter we awarded the archbishop our Lamplighter Award for his vigorous defense of traditional marriage. I enjoyed learning more about this faithful son of the Church.

"The State of NaPro Technology" by Chuck Weber is a fascinating article describing the work of Dr. Thomas Hilgers, founder of the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, Nebraska. I met Dr. Hilgers and his wife Susan when he was fresh out of medical school at a fundraiser in D.C. that they organized for Students for Life. I believe Susan was the president at the time. Eunice Kennedy Shriver was their dinner speaker and Susan was all atwitter at meeting the famous (and only?) pro-life Kennedy. The Hilgers are lonely voices against in vitro fertilization which kills perhaps ten times the number of babies conceived by its "brave new world" process. Hilgers' fertility research, on the other hand is "one-and-a-half to three times more successful than in vitro fertilization at helping infertile couples have children -- at a fraction of the cost," 79% effective in fact. Hilgers methods also successfully treat PMS and post-partum depression, reduce premature births and the incidence of birth defects, successfuly treat chronic pelvic pain, and reduce the hysterectomy rate by 75%.

Last fall the Institute held an international conference in Omaha celebrating its 25 year anniversay. Over 200 Fertility Care Centers around the U.S. use NaProTechnology prviding "the entry point for women and couples who are interested in learning the Creighton Model Fertility Care System."

There's lots more in this issue including an interview with one of my favorite bishops, Robert Vasa, who recently moved from Baker, OR to be the coadjutor bishop of Santa Rosa. He will take over there in 2012 when the current bishops reaches mandatory retirement age. There's another fascinating interview with Fr. Gary Thomas, exorcist for the Diocese of San Jose. We all know the devil is active and this priest fights him directly.

If you don't get Catholic World Report you are missing out. The front of the magazine always gives an overview of what's happening in the Church around the world, focusing on the fact that we really are a "universal" Church with the obligation to pray for our brothers and sisters everywhere. And then there's my favorite columnist, "Diogenes," who always get the "last word" (and the last page) of the magazine.

CWR is well worth the subscription price. Visit their website to see what you're missing.

In the Thick of the Battle

I've almost finished reading the Aug/Sept issue of Catholic World Report. There's an interesting article about new film, Cristiada, being made about Mexico's war against the Church back in the 1920s. Most Catholics have heard of Fr. Miguel Pro, one of its victims, but how many really understand what was going on when an atheistic dictatorship launched an all-out war against Catholicism and killed thousands of priests and religious and Catholic laity.

Coincidentally, I've been reading about the war against the faith in 16th and 17th century England and I recently picked up another book about the Spanish Civil War which also saw thousands of clergy murdered for the faith.

So many wars throughout history have been anti-Christian or specifically anti-Catholic. I think that's why the Lord of the Rings is so powerful. The battle is always the same: good vs. evil, the dark attempting to overcome the light, hatred vs. Christ's command to love, the struggle not to be seduced by "the precious" creatures of the world.

I'm so glad to be Catholic. It makes puzzling it all out so much easier that it would otherwise be. Life is hard, but the faith is a lamp unto our feet. It may only light up our next step, but we are never left alone in the darkness even when the lights are going out all around us.