From the Good Grief File: With "Friends" like the Catholic Bishops, Who Needs Enemies?

Didn't you know: Minnie Mouse is transgender?

Disney's new Mickey Ears celebrate "Gay Pride." One more reason for Walt to roll over in his grave!

If Disney celebrating sodomy in the secular culture isn't bad enough, the World Meeting of Families being held in Ireland in August features Fr. James Martin, S.J. as one of its keynote speakers. And the pope will be there giving a great photo op for the homosexual message.

Using One of Alinsky's Rules on the "Progressives" in the Church

The video below is hilarious. My only criticism is that they move a little too fast to read some of the "translations." As I'm posting it the video has only 84 views. Can we make it go viral?

Saul Alinsky was a brilliant tactician. Anyone who's read his Rules for Radicals has to recognize that his rules work. Some are immoral. (He believed the end justifies the means and would use just about any means to achieve his goals.) But without accepting the evil in his rule book, one can certainly borrow his morally neutral means. And humor is a big one.

Rule 5: Ridicule is man's most potent weapon

I once gave a pro-life slide presentation in a classroom with some parents present. One gentleman gave me a hard time, but at the end of the presentation said he hoped he hadn't been too hard on me and that I wasn't upset. (You know, sensitive women and all that.) Without even thinking I replied, "Hey I'm used to it, I have teenagers.") Everybody laughed except him. I wasn't trying to make fun of him; I was saying what I really felt, but the result was definitely a gift from the Holy Spirit.

I hope you'll share this video on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and send it to your email lists. Let's poke a little fun at the progressives who tried to hijack the Extraordinary Synod on the Family. It will be good for their humility.



(Hat tip to Carol at The Tenth Crusade. I saw it on her blog first.)

Moynihan vs. Magister: Which Vatican Watcher Would You Trust?

I read Inside the Vatican and its editor's "Moynihan Letters," but I was so put off by one of them this past week that I won't be giving quite so much credence to Moynihan's views in the future. He seems to me to be outfitted in rose-colored glasses with a message sweat shirt that reads "The Pope is Always Right and I'm His Cheerleader!" 

What made me reassess Moynihan? His opinions on the Extraordinary Synod and his almost breathless acceptance of Kasper et al's statements that nobody is trying to change doctrine on marriage. What! Here's a section from his November 14th letter titled Francis Has His Hand On The Tiller — And He Will Not Change Doctrine:

I attended a round-table the other evening, on November 11... at which Cardinal Walter Kasper spoke. Kasper, just back in Rome after a trip to the United States, was joined by Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, one of the leading canon lawyers in the Church, and now President of the Vatican's most important canon law office, the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts...The two discussed the October Synod on the Family for an hour and a half....

So...After the Extraordinary Synod, What's Next?

This is the lead article from the latest issue of the Les Femmes newsletter which isn't posted at the website yet. I'd be happy to have your comments. What impact do you think the Pope's visit to the U.S. next September will have on the Synod, if any?

After the Synod, What's Next?

The Extraordinary Synod on the Family is over and its participants home from the wars. Some orthodox bishops are reportedly shell-shocked seeing how deeply their brothers dissent from Church teaching on the indissolubility of marriage. Despite secrecy surrounding activities in the synod hall, controversy and contentious disagreement among the bishops spilled over, especially after the interim report, Relatio Post Disceptationem,[i] was released which the media saw before the bishops did.

It's Finally Official ---

Good-bye to Cardinal Burke...hello to French Archbishop Dominique Mamberti,

Some statements from Cardinal Burke as he prepares to take up his new assignment to Malta. (Interview with Edward Pentin):

[The cardinal] said he “often heard” prelates at last month’s two-week Synod on the Family in Rome say that because the culture has changed “so radically,” the Church “cannot teach as we had in the past.” But Burke responded by saying such a view betrays a “loss of hope in Jesus Christ, Who alone is the salvation of the world.” He acknowledged that the culture is “very corrupt” but added that doesn’t mean “we go chasing after it, but rather bring to the culture that which will save it and be full of hope.”

The Pope is Infallible; What does that Mean?

The 2014 Synod and Vatican I by Robert de Mattei 

See Mattei's brief bio at the end of the article excerpts below: 

The constitution, Pastor Aeternus, establishes with clarity the conditions of pontifical infallibility.

A Modern Athanasius to Defend the Church against all Heresies

"A second Daniel, a Daniel [come to Judgment]!"

 Gratiano, The Merchant of Venice 

In an interview with Izabella Parowicz of Polonia Christiana Magazine, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana, Kazakhstan, dropped this bombshell:

This is the first time in Church history that such a heterodox text was actually published as a document of an official meeting of Catholic bishops under the guidance of a pope, even though the text only had a preliminary character...this agenda reflects the corrupt and pagan main stream morality of our time, which is being imposed globally by means of political pressure and through the almost all-powerful official mass media, which are loyal to the principles of the world gender ideology party. Such a synod document, even if only preliminary, is a real shame and an indication to the extent the spirit of the anti-Christian world has already penetrated such important levels of the life of the Church. This document will remain for the future generations and for the historians a black mark which has stained the honour of the Apostolic See.

Wow! No equivocation there! And who's to blame?

Good Questions, Pat!

The Price of Papal Popularity

From the article:

In his beatification of Paul VI on Sunday (October 19th), Pope Francis celebrated change. “God is not afraid of new things,” he said, “we are making every effort to adapt ways and methods … to the changing conditions of society.” 

But among the social changes since Vatican II and Paul VI have been the West’s embrace of no-fault divorce, limitless promiscuity, abortion on demand and same-sex marriage. 

Should the church “adapt” to these changes in society? 

Should the church accommodate itself to a culture as decadent as ours? Or should the church stand against it and speak moral truth to cultural and political power, as the early martyrs did to Rome? 

Pope Francis is hugely popular. But his worldly popularity has not come without cost to the church he leads and the truths he is sworn to uphold. 

“Who am I to judge?” says the pope. But wasn’t that always part of the job description? And if not thee, Your Holiness, who?

Gay in Christ Conference at Notre Dame -- Troublesome Questions

Notre Dame is hosting a conference -- Gay in Christ -- featuring Catholics who identify as "gay" but embrace celibacy and the teachings of the Church on marriage and chastity.

Notre Dame’s ‘Gay in Christ’ Conference Aims for Fidelity, But Speakers Embrace ‘Gay Identity’

Troublesome questions keep popping into my head as I read about it:

Deja Vu: Back in Mr. Reilly's Moral Theology Class

When I read the following article at Vatican Radio about the pope's homily today (linked below) I got chills -- not good chills I'm afraid -- the kind you get on Halloween (which it happens to be) when someone "walks on your grave." The pope's homily took me back to 1966 and Mr. Reilly's Moral Theology class where we studied Joseph Fletcher's Situation Ethics, Harvey Cox's Secular City and an entire panoply of authors promoting moral relativism. I don't recall studying Thomas Aquinas or the Fathers of the Church. Mr. Reilly was a modern Catholic. The message I got from the class was that, "There is only one law, the law of love." And then we read in Fletcher's book about how loving it was for the mother in the wagon train to smother her crying infant so the Indians wouldn't find them and kill them all.

The Final Synod Document on the Family with the Tally of Votes

If you haven't read the final document from the Extraordinary Synod on the Family and noted the vote tally on each paragraph you can find it here in English.  Every paragraph received a majority vote of the Synod Fathers. The three controversial paragraphs did not receive the necessary 2/3rd vote, but Pope Francis called for them to be included in the final document along with the vote numbers.

Why? I've been trying to figure out what possible purpose could be served except to send the message that the question is still open on whether the divorced and remarried without annulment can receive Communion as well as the controversial items relating to homosexuality and cohabitation. I can't help thinking that the pope called for the vote tallies because it allowed Kasper and co. to publicly proclaim that the majority of cardinals favored those paragraphs and to imply that change is just a question of time. What other construction can be put on that "unprecedented" action? Can anyone think of one? I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with an alternative other than the continued manipulation of the Synod and its outcome.

What do you think? What next?

You can also find the individual working group reports here. 

Full Text of Cardinal Burke Interview on the Synod with BuzzFeedNews

The media has widely reported that Cardinal Burke accused the pope of "harming the Church." He did not actually say that. Loose-lipped reporters can cause a lot of confusion and, let's face it, the Vatican these days doesn't need any help in that department. 

The Interview

Here's the relevant portion of the interview and what Cardinal Burke actually said:

BFN: I know you don’t have a lot of time, so why don’t we just dive in. I’ve seen your comments suggesting that [the Extraordinary Synod on the Family] was being manipulated. Can you say a little bit more about that, and who is doing the manipulating? 

CB: Since the presentation of Cardinal Kasper in February to the extraordinary consistory of cardinals, there’s been a consistent repetition of [Kasper’s] position that is trying to weaken the church’s teaching and practice with regard to the indissolubility of marriage. This has just been consistent, casting the synod — which was to be on the family, directed in a positive way on family life — suggesting that the main purpose of the synod would be to permit those who are in irregular unions to receive the sacraments of penance and holy communion, which is not possible. If someone is bound to a prior marriage which has not been declared null, and is living as husband or wife with someone else. That’s a public state of sin and therefore the person cannot receive holy communion or go to the sacrament of penance until the matter is resolved. 

But that’s been — all along this keeps coming back, and I see more clearly than ever that that’s how the synod is. And certainly the media has picked up on this — very much so. 

BFN: To the question of how that’s being done, presumably the pope was the one who asked Cardinal Kasper to frame the synod. Are you saying that [the pope] is the one who is manipulating these proceedings? 

CB: The pope has never said openly what his position is on the matter and people conjecture that because of the fact that he asked Cardinal Kasper — who was well known to have these views for many, many years — to speak to the cardinals and has permitted Cardinal Kasper to publish his presentation in five different languages and to travel around advancing his position on the matter, and then even recently to publicly claim that he’s speaking for the pope and there’s no correction of this. 

I can’t speak for the pope and I can’t say what his position is on this, but the lack of clarity about the matter has certainly done a lot of harm.

"Lack of clarity!" A far cry from Jesus who attracted the masses because he "spoke with authority." Today we are bogged down in a muddled mess of confusion. Keep praying for Holy Mother Church and for all our shepherds.

Hey What? You the Think the Synod on the Family Will Change Church Doctrine?

In my imagination I was sitting on the steps of St. Peters reflecting on the Extraordinary Synod of the Family and its final report. Into my musings walked a charming young lady, thoroughly modern Catholic Millie, who stopped to chat and express how thrilled she was with the outcome of the Synod. She is looking forward to the Church changing its teachings and entering the modern world. We sat on the steps of St. Peters sharing the following exchange.

Millie: (Bubbling over with joy and enthusiasm) Oh, aren't you delighted about the Extraordinary Synod on the Family? It gives me such hope that I'll finally be able to go back to Communion. My first husband and I were so young when we got married. We had no idea of the seriousness of what we were doing. And I just hate not being able to go up to Communion with my children.

Please, Michael, Say it Ain't So?

I have a lot of regard for Michael Voris which made me even more disappointed with this apology which seems misguided to me. You can be in full communion with the Church, respect the papacy, and still criticize the wrong actions of a pope. Of course we are called to respect, pray for, and love the pope as he says. But criticizing the pope's actions is not the same thing as undermining love for the Church or denying that Pope Francis is the duly elected pope. To say otherwise seems to me to be an error.

So what if others have used the pope's scandalous situation to gleefully malign him? Wrong as that is, it seems to me to be irrelevant and a red herring with regard to legitimate questioning of papal actions.

Thank God for the "Conservative Uprising!"

Two thumbs up for Michael Voris and Church Militant TV and their excellent coverage of the Synod. And yes, we do "care about the Church" and resent the way the secular media "spin stories." God bless all the faithful Catholic members of the press who helped create the orthodox (a better term) uprising. May Jesus Christ be praised, now and forever. Down with modernism, up with fidelity to Christ and the unchanging doctrine of the faith.

Moynihan Letter -- Interesting Evaluation of the Synod

This is long, so if you want a quick read, I've highlighted in red what struck me most. I ran the entire letter because it's not up on the Inside the Vatican website yet. But I recommend you sign up for these letters which are always insightful about what's happening in the Church. I also recommend the magazine which is well worth the subscriptiong price. As you read this, praise God for the African and Polish bishops who seem to have their heads on straighter than most of the Americans and the Germans.

October 20, 2014, Monday — Light from the East

The leadership of the Roman Catholic Church has just spent two weeks considering fundamental questions about the nature and purpose of marriage and the family.

"I've Never Known a Synod so Obviously Steered from the Top."

I'm offering my rosary today for Edward Pentin. Thank God for an honest journalist. He proves the term doesn't have to be an oxymoron.

And It's a Wrap -- Mike Voris Summarizes the Last Day of the Synod

Read Pope Francis' closing speech here. Read the final synod document here.

Well, things ended up better than they started with a little push back from orthodox Catholics. Let us pledge ourselves to pray continuously this year for the Ordinary Synod that will take place next October. All for the greater honor and glory of God.

Frankly, I'm relieved it's over for now. Watching the war within the Church is exhausting.

Burke Confirms the Rumors...

...he's out at the Apostolic Signatura. 

"Oh what a tangled web we weave...

...when first we practice to deceive." (Sir Walter Scott)

Evidence of an Engineered Synod

Please, let's all join in praying the prayers at the end of the article -- for the Synod and for our own families.