Well, well, well -- The USCCB is suing the Trump Administration because they cut off the gravy train!

You will never hear the term "illegal alien" from the U.S. bishops. Every law breaker violating our borders is a poor "refugee" and we must "welcome the stranger." But don't expect them to be welcomed into the bishops residence or the chancery. 

Hear the Screaming? It's the Nuns on the Bus!

They just knew that Pope Francis was going to:

• approve of contraception
• affirm homosexual "marriage"
• ordain women
• make celibacy optional
• approve of divorce 

It's such a surprise to find out he's (horrors!) actually Catholic!

Vatican reaffirms need for reform in LCWR

The Running Nun Tells Why LCWR Doesn't Represent Her!

Go, Sister, go! One of the running nuns keeps the pace in the 2011 Labor Day 5K.

Sr. Mary Rose Reddy, founder of the Running Nuns, could run circles around the silly nuns on the bus who would never dirty their hands doing the difficult work of Sr. Reddy's congregation. (Besides somebody has to hobnob with members of Congress and march for the wetlands.) Sr. Reddy is apparently sick of LCWR attacking the Vatican and pretending to represent her. But I'll let her speak for herself:

Sister Mary Rose Reddy “We Do Not Feel at All Represented by the LCWR” 

What did the Holy See actually say to the LCWR?

by Sister Mary Rose Reddy DMML:

Recently the Office of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith issued a statement entitled, Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. (All quotations are taken directly from this 8 page document). Many people in the United States have mistakenly regarded this document as disparaging to women religious. Actually the contrary is true; the document praises the legitimate contributions of women religious over the years: “The Holy See acknowledges with gratitude the great contribution of women Religious to the Church in the United States as seen particularly in the many schools, hospitals, and institutions of support for the poor which have been founded and staffed by Religious over the years.”

At the same time as the Holy See praises these legitimate accomplishments it rightfully criticizes destructive aberrations in authentic religious life that have developed in and through the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). (The LCWR was founded at the encouragement of the Vatican in 1956 to be the official representative body of women religious in the United States). Here are some of the LCWR errors which this document from the Vatican addresses:

1. There has been “a diminution of the fundamental Christological center and focus of religious consecration which leads, in turn, to a loss of a ‘constant and lively sense of the Church’ among some Religious.”

2. Speakers have been allowed to promote destructive teachings such as

Levada Interview Puts Nuns on Notice

John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter, in an exclusive interview, quizzed Cardinal William Levada of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith about what would happen if the LCWR remains intransigent in their refusal to cooperate with the Vatican. It's interesting on several accounts. 

First of all, everybody knows that the Reporter, aka "the fishwrap" by orthodox Catholics, is the paper of the dissenters. Several of them, including Sr. Joan Chittister, write for NCR. So by interviewing with John Allen, Cardinal Levada guaranteed the unfaithful nuns would get the message and the warning that they are walking on thin ice. Here it is by the way:

NCR: LCWR has said it's considering its response. What happens if they say, "We won't go along with this"?
I mentioned to the sisters today that we shouldn't look at this primarily from the angle of who's in charge here, what's the authority, and so forth. We should start with the issues, and how we can come to an understanding about the issues and the needs. There's a great deal of subsidiarity in the church, and religious communities are a classic example.
Of course, if you look at the church as a hierarchical structure -- whether you see that as benign, or something else -- ultimately, the pope is the superior. If he says, "Sisters, I want you to do this, I want you to take a look at these things, and so forth," that's what I hope will be the outcome.
I suppose if the sisters said, "OK, we're not cooperating with this," we can't force them to cooperate. What we can do, and what we'd have to do, is say to them, "We will substitute a functioning group for yours," if it comes to that.
NCR: What would such a "functioning group" look like?
Good question. I hope it would look like a conference that focuses on the priorities of religious life, the life of holiness, which is the fundamental call of all of us in the church, and the good that can come through the apostolic works that many of these orders are committed to and the prayers that others are committed to. I would like to see religious as champions of the mission of Jesus Christ in the church and the world.
NCR: So if the response is not satisfactory, the result could be decertification of LCWR?
It could be. We only have so much information, and what we've outlined is based on the information we have received. But as I mentioned to the sisters, if one or more parts of that is not correctly perceived, they will tell the bishop delegates, and that won't be a problem....

NCR: What's to prevent LCWR from making this decision for you, by deciding to reincorporate under civil law and cutting their ties with the official church?
I suppose nothing, assuming they could satisfy civil law concerns and pay for it. The Holy See, however, isn't going to give its patronage to it.

Secondly, along with the warning, Levada reiterated that the action is being taken solely against the LCWR and not the religious orders associated with them.  He also indicated the unfortunate situation of the nuns lack of cooperation when he answered this question:

NCR: What would count for you, in the short term, as evidence that the LCWR is moving in the right direction?
Enter into a sincere, cordial and open dialogue with the delegate that has been named, Archbishop Sartain. That certainly has not happened so far.

Not only has it not happened, but the dissenting nuns have already made it clear nobody, especially those old men in Rome, can tell them what to do. Having pointed that out, Levada ended the interview discussing obedience.

NCR: Is there any other point you would like to make?
I'd like to say a word about obedience. In the church, the pope is the superior, ultimately, and obedience has been an integral part of the evangelical counsels and of religious life from the beginning. This process is also an invitation to obedience for the sisters in LCWR as representatives of their groups. They call their own sisters to obedience when they need to, and that's an appeal I would want to make to them now, to look at this as a deeper living out of their own vowed life and the vow of obedience.

So Levada established in the interview that 1) the assessment has indicated serious problems related to  LCWR and its denial of truths taught by the Church; 2) the nuns so far are obstinate in their refusal to cooperate with the assessment; 3) if they take the action some have threatened of reincorporating under civil law, they will be replaced with a group that WILL cooperate.

The question now is who will blink first? Obviously, if the nuns win on this, dissent will get a big green light. (It is a fact of human nature that if you reward a behavior, you get more of it.)  If, on the other hand, there is a serious crackdown, it will send a strong message that dissent to fundamental Church teachings will not be permitted. Obviously, from the point of view of the faith, the crackdown is essential. As Jesus taught, a house divided against itself cannot stand. What's happening to the LCWR is long overdue. We are in de facto schism in the U.S. and the LCWR has been among the leaders fomenting it following in the footsteps of Martin Luther. The only thing that can save whatever faith still exists in the U.S. is to defend the truth vigorously. Let's pray the Vatican doesn't back away from the battle with the neo-protestant nuns who are being supported, among others, by the gay Catholic priests' blog. Check it out. There's an old saying that you can know people by the company they keep. In view of LCWR's connections with active homosexuals, dissenters, new-agers, proponents of women's ordination, etc.....well, it certainly doesn't testify to their orthodoxy. Conversion of the LCWR seems unlikely so, frankly, it will warm many orthodox hearts if the LCWR goes belly up.

Full interview here.

No School Bus for These Nuns who Love the Poor so Much!

The nuns have taken to the road in their latest PR move to gain supporters and attack the bad old men at the Vatican who have dared to criticize their dissent. And they are singing the same old song about how much they care about poverty. Yes, they talk a lot about poverty, but, hey, not for them. They are travelling in style:

Their bus — of a type usually reserved for rock stars and their roadies (the driver dropped Dolly Parton’s name) — will also be taking the plain-clothed nuns to congressional offices in each state they pass through.

Want to see what the inside of a rock star tour bus looks like? Go here for a gallery of photos. Is that what the inside of the sisters' bus looks like? They sure didn't borrow a school bus did they, these champions of the poor? And how much is their political tour to attack the Ryan budget costing? Who's paying for it don't you wonder?

The sisters of NETWORK are liberal lobbyists. And this is all about, not the poor, but using the poor to promote Obama's reelection.

There are certainly nuns who are heroic and live to serve the poor and the downtrodden. Don't mistake these privileged women power brokers for them.

Rebellion in the Church: The Assault from Within!

In one of the most poignant moments in the Gospel Jesus asks, "When the Son of Man returns, will he find any faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8) Many times since the Resurrection, we hear that question echoed in the events of history: the Arian heresy of the 4th century that denied the divinity of Chist, the Albigensian heresy of the 12th century that postulated two equal forces, one for good - the other for evil, battling for supremacy, the Protestant Revolution of the 16th century disputing papal authority and rejecting most of the sacraments. The difference from today is that, in all those earlier cases the heretics left the fold to found their own sects. But today, the heretics stay in the Church and have no intention of leaving, set instead, on reforming Christ's bride in their own human image.

The most recent chapter in the rebellion is the dissident nuns' response to the Vatican crackdown of the LCWR (Leadership Conference of Women Religious), an action that is long overdo. I'm not going to rehash here what I've already written. You can see past blog posts about the radical nuns here. The fact is, however, that these fundamentally protestant rebels are entrenching and lining up their allies.

Moles, Groundhogs, and Termites: More on the LCWR

If you live out in the country you know what a nuisance ground hogs and moles can be. If you live anywhere in the south you know all about termites and watch out for signs your home might be infested. All these pests undermine the integrity of buildings and land and create hazards for farm animals as well. They are the perfect metaphor for the internal enemies of the Church. Any Catholic with an ounce of awareness knows there are groundhogs, moles, and termites in the Church undermining the faith. And among the worst are the members of the LCWR (Leadership Conference of Women Religious) distorting what it means both to be a Catholic woman and a consecrated religious. Since the CDF (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) exposed problems in the organization a few months ago and called for reform, the dissidents have been busy lining up supporters and painting themselves as victims of the mean old misogynist males at the Vatican. They've outlined their immediate strategy in a position paper that rejects the reforms and outlines their strategy for the dispute with Rome. It ends with an interesting statement:

Created in 1956, LCWR has a history of being at the forefront of change and renewal in the US Catholic church as well as acting as a strong advocate for social justice in society.

Let's take this apart. First of all, there is no such thing as a "US Catholic church." (Note the small c for "church"). There is only the Holy Roman Catholic Church founded by Jesus Christ on the rock of Peter whose successor is Pope Benedict XVI. By using this phrase, LCWR has already declared its separateness from Rome, the same thing that happened in the 19th century with the heresy of Americanism. Americanism basically declared the situation unique in the U.S. and emphasized individualism thereby undermining Church authority. John F. Kennedy's speech in Houston in 1960 where he declared his independence from the Church was a prime example of Americanism. It's been echoed by other Catholic politicians like Ted Kennedy, Mario Cuomo, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, and John Kerry. But not only politicians promote the mindset. Priests and religious who use personal conscience to undermine Church doctrine (Cardinal Joseph Bernardin was an expert in this department.) also illustrate the infection of Americanism. A particularly insidious example is the healthcare debate. Waving the flag of independence, Sr. Carol Keehan of the Catholic Health Association, defied the USCCB (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) and  was so instrumental in passing Obamacare the president invited her to the signing and she received one of the pens. LCWR honored her for it. So LCWR immediately places itself among those thumbing their noses at Church authority proclaiming by their actions that the U.S. "church" is different and the hierarchy have no right to exercise authority here.

But what does LCWR mean when it says since 1956 their organization  has been at the "forefront of change and renewal?" Change for change's sake is typical of the modernist heresy which is characterized by a break from the past. All tradition is suspect and novelty is pursued for its own sake. That attitude of rejecting the past is certainly reflected in the history of LCWR, it's speakers and its positions. Donna Steichen outlined numerous heretical activities of the group in her 1996 book Ungodly Rage: The Hidden Face of Catholic Feminism. The '70s marked a radical departure by the LCWR from traditional charity (the works of mercy) to espousing women's rights including the Equal Rights Amendment, female ordination, women's empowerment, goddess worship, and a decidedly non-Catholic approach to "social justice." In 1986, LCWR held a "think tank" which issued papers written by teams that summarized LCWR's principles. Steichen says the essays:

 disclose a desperately uncertain religious vision, only tenuously related to the "symbol" of Jesus Christ, which looks to a feminist version of "liberation" for the world's earthly salvation. The notes and reading lists constitute a coprehensive bibliography in feminist theology.

But the extremism of LCWR isn't just historical. If people want to see how loopy the LCWR continues to be, they have merely to look at the keynote speaker scheduled for LCWR's 2012 August meeting. Barbara Marx Hubbard's address is titled Mystery Unfolding: Speaking in the Evolutionary Now.  Hubbard teaches a program called Agents of Conscious Evolution the purpose of which is to transform individuals to:

become a powerful catalyst of conscious evolution and play a role in one of the most exciting events ever envisioned: a planetary Birth Day on December 22, 2012. This day will help us shift beyond fearful separation toward a global sense of oneness, symbolically marking the start of a new era in human development....This intense and often emotional drama has one powerful solution: our conscious evolution as a species. We have within us extraordinary creative potentials that have yet to be massively unleashed, leading to wide-scale cooperation, innovation, sustainability and peace. The solutions are available; it is only the human software that needs an upgrade.

This says it all as far as LCWR is involved. Jesus' new covenant wasn't enough, but we need to "evolve" through a new age course in "conscious evolution" that makes us "co-creators" of the "next stage for humanity" to be welcomed on December 22, 2012. Hubbard's program is the same type of new age nonsense promoted by Marianne Williamson, Echhart Tolle, and Oprah Winfrey.  In fact, Hubbard participated with Williamson and Tolle last February in the Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment. Take a look at Hubbard's video below and then read the description of her course on the website.  Hubbard has a background as a liberal and at the 1984 Democratic Convention, 204 delegates placed her name in token nomination for Vice President. (Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro were on the ticket that year.) Hubbard is also a proponent of population control and has frequently written about it in her books. Her initial work with conscious evolution was funded by the Rockefellers. Reading what she says about herself is eye-opening and it is clear that she is as far from Catholic teaching as one can be. She believes Eve was correct in disobeying God to seek knowledge and describes hearing an "inner voice" that told her, "I will not let you die." (Do you hear the hissing?) That the LCWR would invite this woman to keynote their annual meeting epitomizes their misguided activities over the past forty years. They are unregenerate in their dissent and scandal.



TO BE CONTINUED....

Another Thought for the Day

Perhaps this should be titled "God's joke for the day."

The average age of the nuns who are members of the dissent-ridden LCWR (Leadership Conference of Women Religious) is...drum roll...74. Something tells me dissent doesn't have much of a future! As further evidence, the religious orders headed by the dissenter-superiors have few, if any, new vocations. After all, vocation is all about responding to God's call. Why would God call anyone through these false shepherdesses? Praise God for all the faithful sisters serving throughout the country and the world!

And now the contrast in pictures:

This:

And this:

And  this:

Compared to this:

And this:

And this:

ARE YOU LAUGHING? GOD DEFINITELY HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR!

More on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious

Author Says Women's Conference should return to Authentic Religious Life

Amen to that! Here's an excerpt:

In the early 1960s, the Second Vatican Council called on religious orders to renew and update themselves, removing “outdated” rules and customs so as to engage the modern world.
For example, many religious orders were continuing the custom of waking up at dawn and going to bed at twilight, she said. This rule was left over from a time before electricity was in use, and it is now unnecessary and outdated.
But while the council called for renewal by returning to the orders’ original founding ideas and adapting them to modern times, many people misinterpreted this call and instead proceeded to “totally throw off some of the essentials of religious life,” she said.
The result was an abandonment of central elements of religious life, such as living and praying in community, serving in a corporate apostolate and wearing some type of distinctive religious garb, she explained.
Carey said that after Vatican II, members of many religious orders began to live in apartments and find their own jobs, separate from a corporate apostolate such as teaching or care for the sick.
In addition, they threw off the “loyalty and faithfulness to the Church” as well as the “deference to the hierarchy” that had previously characterized religious life.
The changes were so drastic that they caused some women to leave the LCWR, Carey said. These women formed another group, which eventually became an alternative superiors’ conference known as the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious.
This more traditional group, which requires its members to adhere to the essentials of religious life as understood by the Church, is attracting the bulk of young vocations today, she noted.

Vatican Reins in Renegade Nuns

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) is calling for reform of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the association of radical nuns who promote dissent in the Church. In a "doctrinal assessment" released today. LCWR is critiqued and found wanting in three areas: addresses at the LCWR Assemblies, their policy of "corporate dissent," and their "radical feminism." Among other things, the assessment found LCWR promoting "positive error" in talks given at their conferences, exacerbated by "silence and inaction of the LCWR in the face of such error."

The two-page mandate for implementing the doctrinal assessment includes the following:

1) "To revise LCWR Statutes to ensure greater clarity about the scope of the mission and responsibilities of this conference of major superiors" subject to approval by the Holy See.
2) "To review LCWR plans and programs, including General Assemblies and publications, to ensure... [they] accord with Church teachings and discipline." Speakers at major programs are henceforth "subject to approval" and certain materials must be revised and reformed.
3) "To create new LCWR programs for member Congregations...that provides (sic) a deepened understanding of the Church's doctrine of the faith."
4) "To review and offer guidance in the application of liturgical norms and texts." For example giving a "place of priority in LCWR events to the Holy Eucharist and Liturgy of the Hours.
5) "To review LCWR links with affiliated organizations, e.g., Network and Resource Center for Religious Life." 

The mandate is for a period of up to five years "as deemed necessary."

All I can say is, "IT'S ABOUT TIME!" Donna Steichen summarized all the abuses of the LCWR mentioned in the doctrinal assessment in her book Ungodly Rage published in 1992. It's only taken twenty years for the men in the Church to come to the same conclusions as this godly prophet. In the meantime, think of all the damage done to the people under the influence of these dissenters.

On the other hand, better late than never. So read the full report and rejoice. The coven of witches running the LCWR is being called out. Do you think they'll obey or rally their followers to withdraw to a moonlit grove in the woods to commune with Sophia? After all, many of these women claim that the priesthood is outdated and unnecessary, their function replaced by the community. Of course, that's not what Jesus taught, but what radical feminist nun ever let a little problem like what Jesus taght get in her way? Pray that the nuns change their tune and sing a song of humility and obedience to Peter's successor. If not, sayonara, old babes, we'll pray for your salvation.