HLI Releases Statement on Fr. Euteneuer

PRESS RELEASE: 2.2.11: HLI Releases Additional Information on the Resignation of Rev. Euteneuer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: February 2, 2011
CONTACT: Stephen Phelan 540-622-5270 – SPhelan@hli.org – www.hli.org

Human Life International Releases Additional Information on the Resignation of Rev. Euteneuer

FRONT ROYAL, VA – The HLI Board of Directors, in response to a public statement by Rev. Thomas Euteneuer, issues this further statement and clarification:
In August 2010, HLI received allegations of inappropriate conduct by Rev. Euteneuer involving a young adult woman, which occurred within the context of his exorcism ministry. The Board immediately commenced an inquiry into the allegations, and Rev. Euteneuer admitted inappropriate conduct. At that time, Bishop Gerald Barbarito recalled Rev. Euteneuer to the Diocese of Palm Beach, and HLI sought and received Rev. Euteneuer’s resignation.

Since the time of Rev. Euteneuer's resignation, the Board subsequently learned of additional allegations in connection with his exorcism ministry. As Rev. Euteneuer no longer serves as president of HLI, we are not especially endowed with the competence or authority to investigate, evaluate, or act on these additional allegations, but they have been submitted to the proper ecclesiastical authorities.

HLI received certain assurances that Rev. Euteneuer was no longer engaged in public ministry and therefore, until this time, in our efforts to observe Catholic teaching, we have avoided comment (beyond our original statement). This decision was based on all the teachings of the Church but in particular the Catechism’s instructions as follows:
“Charity and respect for the truth should dictate the response to every request for information or communication. The good and safety of others, respect for privacy, and the common good are sufficient reasons for being silent about what ought not be known or for making use of a discreet language. The duty to avoid scandal often commands strict discretion. No one is bound to reveal the truth to someone who does not have the right to know it.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2489. Emphasis in the original.)

Although it is for the Diocese of Palm Beach and the proper ecclesiastical authorities to address the matters referenced in Rev. Euteneuer’s statement, we ask that the HLI family continue to pray for all those involved. HLI has not been, and will not be, deterred in its fundamental mission as pro-life missionaries to the world, and we likewise ask for the prayers of all that support HLI’s work that this critical mission will never be undermined.

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Human Life International: Pro-Life Missionaries to the World

Founded in 1981, HLI is the world’s largest international pro-life organization and has affiliates and associates in over 100 countries on six continents. http://www.hli.org/
Human Life International - 4 Family Life Lane - Front Royal, VA 22630 U.S.A. - Phone: 800-549-5433 - Fax: 540-622-6247 - E-Mail: hli@hli.org

Copyright © 2010 Human Life International, Inc. All rights reserved.

Stop the Speculation About Fr. Tom Euteneuer

In the scene in Hamlet where the young prince has just communicated with the ghost of his father,  he is reluctant to confide in his friends about what the ghost said and what he has seen. He makes Horatio and Marcellus swear that when they see him put on an "antic disposition" they will never "with arms encumbered thus, or this headshake, or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase, as 'Well, well, we know,' or 'We could an if we would,' or 'If we list to speak,' or 'There be, an if they might,' or such ambiguous giving out, to note that you know aught of me. This not to do....swear!"

It is just such "doubtful phrases" and "ambiguous giving out" that is roiling around the internet about Fr. Tom Euteneuer, the former director of Human Life International who departed suddenly a few months ago. Jenn Giroux has written a timely article at Renew America urging people to stop the speculation. "Maybe, just maybe," she says,  "we don't need to know the whole story." I agree.

The character in Hamlet who has to know everything and be at the center of every intrigue is Polonius, an "opinionated donkey," according to my 16-year-old granddaughter. He ends up dead, stabbed by Hamlet in a case of mistaken identity while he's eavesdropping behind the tapestry in Gertrude's bedroom. Sometimes curiosity really does "kill the cat," or the donkey in this case.

Let's all just swear off idle speculation about Fr. Euteneuer. How many of us really have a need to know after all?

What would Mary read?

Dymphna posted this lovely picture of Mary on the feast day of St. Joachim and Ann. It got me thinking about a Facebook discussion on the Twilight series that grew out of my oldest daughter posting Fr. Euteneuer's critical article, Vampire Logic. Father is no fan of the series. In fact, he says, " I don't hesitate to tell people that I am totally disgusted with the new fad sweeping over our youth culture these days." He has a lot of good reasons and I recommend you read them.

I admit I haven't seen any of the films, but I did read the first book after I found it on the bedside table in my granddaughter's room when we visited last year. It was basically a weird teen romance with a lot of heavy breathing and a "hero" who sleeps with his girlfriend but never has sex with her for fear he might be overcome and kill her. She, on the other hand, thinks being turned into a vampire is worth it so she can live with her lover forever even though vampires have no souls. I got tired of the heavy breathing and Bella being continuously overcome in Edward's presence. Frankly, the book is boring. Maybe the sequels are more interesting, although why a bunch of moms are swooning over this teen series is beyond me and I completely agree with Fr. Euteneuer's criticism. 

Evil symbols, like dragons, serpents, and vampires etc. are powerful. Think of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. There is no confusion about evil being evil. The dragon, the ringwraiths, the goblins, the trolls...all the creatures of the dark and dank arouse terror.

But now we have this remaking of the vampire into (I can't help laughing) a vegetarian who no longer has to fear the dark. He shines in the light like diamonds. Of course, from a farmer's point of view these "vegetarians" would be about as welcome as a coyote or a wolf. But a vampire heartthrob? I've seen the trailers for the movies and the posters. The guys playing the vampires look metrosexual and certainly not very manly. I wonder if that's part of their appeal.They are so empathetic with women, they're like soulmates.No need to work at a real male-female relationship that takes effort if you have a vampire around. On the other hand, the vampire can be the ultimate "bad boy," part of whose appeal is his lack of respectibility in normal society. Sort of a James Dean with fangs.

Pardon me for throwing cold water on this. (All the adult women swooning over Edward Cullen, particularly Catholic moms, could use a cold shower.) But I do have one question. What would Mary think?

What's your soul worth, Nancy?

Nancy Pelosi meets with Pope Benedict XVI tomorrow with a U.S. delegation. This is the kind of photo op that pro-abortion Catholics love. "See, world, I'm shaking hands with the pope demonstrating that I really am an 'ardent Catholic.'"

So what are real Catholics to think? I offer this from California Catholic Daily:

"Fr. Tom Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, told LifeSiteNews.com that HLI will be briefing the Vatican 'so they are aware of her dismal record on life issues.'

"'It is our hope that the Holy Father will not grant the floundering Speaker of the House what she surely wants and expects, a quick and valuable photo-op, but will rather give her a stern lecture on contraception and abortion and let her know that her eternal salvation is in danger,' said Fr. Euteneuer. 'Further, this would be the perfect opportunity to formally excommunicate the Speaker, as she has done everything a public official possibly can to declare her lack of communion with the Holy Father and the Roman Catholic Church on every conceivable issue.'"

A little fasting and prayer is in order for this heretical Catholic. I feel a special concern for Nancy Pelosi for two reasons. We not only share the same Alma Mater, Trinity College in Washington, D.C., but we also share a birthday (I'm younger) the day after a Marian feast day. So I ask the Blessed Mother's intercession for her wayward daughter. God doesn't want the destruction of any of his children no matter how malicious they are in their evil doings. Is Pelosi malicious? I have to believe that someone publicly corrected so often by bishops knows what she's doing. No one can be that stupid. So, Nancy, please repent. To paraphrase St. Thomas More - It profits a woman not to trade her soul for the whole world -- but for Speaker of the House and the Democratic party? When the gavel drops on the last day what will be your eternal judgment?

Please pray for Nancy and the party of evil...and while you're at it pray for all the stupid Republicans who abandoned conservative principles long ago. Then work for the restoration of Constitutional principles. Have you read the Constitution today?

Abortion and Rosemary's Baby

A QUOTE FROM FR. THOMAS EUTENEUR:

Abortion is a demonic industry.
Abortion is the sacrifice of innocent blood to the devil.
The clinics are like temples.
The doctors are like priests.
the medical table is the altar.
It's a ritualized sacrifice.

They have dogma called choice,
a hierarchy called Planned Parenthood,
and guardian angels in the form of police guards
that will arrest you if you try to stop them.

Abortionists have called abortion their sacrament.

Abortion is a spiritual evil.
If we are to beat it, we can't just fight it in the political realm.
It derives its power from below.

TO CONFRONT A FORCE THIS STRONG, YOU NEED A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF PRAYER.

Abortion is the inversion of goodness and truth. The novel, Rosemary's Baby, on screen with Mia Farrow as Rosemary, tells the story of the demon's birth. Everything is a reverse of the Nativity story. The child is a human demon conceived in violence by Satan. The "angels" are a coven of witches/warlocks whose ordinariness is like that of the drab little clerk Adolph Eichmann who sent millions of Jews to their death. Rosemary, innocent of the evil plot, is caught up in its effects like the innocent in every age. Her husband, unlike the just Joseph, is grasping and self-centered, an unjust man to the core. He's made a pact with the devil offering his wife as a sacrifice, like so many men who coerce their wives or girlfriends into making the bloody abortion sacrifice. After the demon's birth three men in black come bearing gifts. The book and movie are eerie in their portrayal of evil as the inversion of good.

It is an ancient story. Evil always mimics good; that's one of its hallmarks. Why? Because, as St. Thomas Aquinas tells us, people never choose evil directly. They choose a good so they can rationalize their sinful behavior. Women going into Planned Parenthood don't choose the baby's bloody corpse; they choose their education, or their job, or their reputation. They choose their trip to Fort Lauderdale on spring break with a trim body that will look good in a bikini. They choose "freedom."

Pro-lifers need to strip the lid off the garbage pit and expose the stinking truth. That's why the pictures of the tiny victims are so necessary. They uncover the self-delusion that kills - not only the babies, but the peace of mind of their parents.

Pray the rosary every day for an end to abortion and the release of this country from the grips of the Culture of Death. Our Lady help of Christians, pray for us.