The Crisis is Much Bigger than the Sex Abuse and Cover Up! It's a Crisis of Fatherhood!

The sex abuse crisis in the Church has focused the spotlight on the evil of what is primarily the homosexual infiltration of the priesthood. Of course there are priests who violate chastity with women, but the overwhelming problem, as evidence continually shows, is ordination of same-sex attracted men, not pedophiles who prey on very young children, but ephebophiles who prey on adolescent boys and young male adults.

But there's more to the crisis than that and an article at First Things by a good priest in our diocese, Fr. Jerry Pokorsky, targeted it. The crisis in the Church is one of the failure of fatherhood. Father writes:

List of Bishops Callling for Investigations and Action: It's Growing by the Day!

Time for a serious investigation and a cleansing in the Church starting with McCarrick's
 pew mates Joseph Tobin and Blase Cupich, and of course Donald Wuerl wherever he is!

I'm not sure who put together this list, but it's growing by the day. And who is NOT on it is as interesting as who IS. Many bishops are calling for an investigation and are praising the integrity of Archbishop Vigano. Although, frankly, just coming out with a statement supporting an investigation is no proof of orthodoxy and fidelity. For example, Bishop Soto has been a cover-up agent in the Sacramento Diocese as well as giving aid and comfort to pro-abortion politicians. On the other hand he told a "gay" conference in 2008 that homosexual relations are sinful. Some participants walked out. Bishop Konderla is another puzzle. After taking over in Tulsa he threw out the  Daughters of Mary, Mother of Israel’s Hope, a traditional order of nuns. Intolerance for the traditional liturgy in consecrated life is hard to understand. At the same time, Konderla has been a strong advocate for babies in the womb. Sometimes it's hard to sort out the players. Orthodoxy is the great test. Cafeteria bishops have a credibility problem. Anyway, I pass this on. Some of these statements are powerful. Bishop Morlino, Bishop Paprocki, Bishop Olmstead, and Bishop Vasa are among my favorite bishops and, of course, the great Bishop Schneider -- but sadly he is not one of our U.S. bishops. Let's pray one day he'll be ours because we call him Il Papa!

Bishop Bransfield and the Strategy of Silence: Nothing to see here, folks, move along!

Good job, Mike. Focus on the silence strategy.
And use your influence to shut up  all those
loud-mouthed bishops calling for investigations.
Get your lawyer on it. He knows how to do it!

My husband is from Wheeling so what happens in the Diocese of Wheeling Charleston always catches my eye. After 48 years of marriage and countless visits to Warwood, the suburb that nurtured my husband and his faith, the area holds a special place in my heart. I can't count the number of Masses, marriages, baptisms, etc. we attended at Corpus Christi. If I close my eyes I can walk up the aisle to "our spot" in the nave and watch the priest come out of the sacristy for daily Mass. I walk out the back of the church and see the park across the street and the "new" church hall on the corner where we attended many festivities and parish events. Down the street I can see the old men's home where Larry's dad spent the last years of his life.

What happens to the Church family in Wheeling, which includes many of Larry's family, my dear in-laws, matters a lot to me. So I was interested to read the email I received below about a meeting in Wheeling held a few days ago to discuss the abuse crisis with concerned laity.

Bishops Like This Explain the Mess We're In! For Shame, Bishop Cunningham and Bishop Carlson!

Is this how Bishop Cunningham sees
7-year-old boys?

NY Bishop Rape Shames Abuse Victims: Boys Are ‘Culpable’ For Their Actions At 7 Years Old

Bishop Robert Cunningham is pathetic.

I have several seven-year-old grandchildren or close to that age. They are innocent, trusting, and good. Oh...they're typical kids who sometimes disobey, lie, and talk back or leave messes wherever they go, but they have clean eyes -- unlike some of our bishops. 

No one has introduced them into downright evil. No one has groomed them for pederasty. A bishop who can make a statement like this is truly a man with a sick mind.

CANCEL THE YOUTH SYNOD! BISHOPS "HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CREDIBILITY!"

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia,
a bishop with some common sense!

Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia has called for cancellation of the Youth Synod scheduled for October. Thank God for a voice of reason! At a recent conference he said, “I have written the Holy Father and called on him to cancel the upcoming synod on young people. Right now, the bishops would have absolutely no credibility in addressing this topic!"

What an understatement! Not only that, but it's become clearer and clearer that the agenda for these events is to undermine Church's teaching on a whole panoply of issues. Journalist Edward Pentin who reported on the two synods on the family in 2014-2015 pointed that out at the alternative meeting in Dublin last week during the World Meeting on the Family. (What sad times we live in when orthodox Catholics have to stage alternative meetings to address the dissent and error of the "official" events.) Here's part of what he said in his talk:

Truth in the Church These Days is Stranger Than Fiction! The Vigano Adventure....

God bless and protect Archbishop Vigano!

Read the blurb on the novel's dust cover:

"A tale of corruption set in Rome and the United States where Vatican figures conspire with American cardinals jostling for positions of power and influence. Lust and greed thrive in Vatican corridors as men in Roman collars victimize the innocent. Can a few honest men save the Church? Will the courageous archbishop speak out in time to halt the scandal and prevent more innocent victims from abuse?...."

Well, you get the idea. My head is spinning and I wonder more and more if all the tales in Malachi Martin's Windswept House were absolutely true including the satanic ritual in the basement with "Agnes" who was raped by the Cardinal Bernardin character thinly disguised.

Words, Words Words: Semantic Gymnastics and the Liars' Lexicon

Word, words, words! They can be used to tell the truth and they can be used to lie. How do you use
words? That's a good question for our bishops, don't you think?

Some make words mean whatever they say they mean - like Humpty Dumpty in Alice and Wonderland. So child rape and abuse become "horseplay," "boundary violations," and "inappropriate behavior." Their word manipulation reminds me of Screwtape advising his "nephew" Wormwood. I can just hear the bishop's conversation with the diocesan lawyer, safe-touch coordinator, and communications director.

Bishop: We need a strategy for shifting the conversation away from homosexuality.
Lawyer: Keep talking about all the procedures in place for protecting children and how successful they are. We have the volunteers signing agreements making them mandatory reporters. If there's an incident we can blame it on them.
Com. Director: I'll stress the problem of clericalism with the press and emphasize how heroic your response has been to the crisis.

A Letter to God -- "Help me, Lord, during these very dark days."

A priest friend sent me a letter to God this morning written by a self-described "lover of God begging for healing." That is something we certainly need so I want to share it. [See below.] I thought her comment about the "glitter and gold, the luxurious cars and mansions" points to a major problem in the episcopacy so I hotlinked to a CNN article about diocesan mansions. How many people in the pew, the sons and daughters of these spiritual "fathers," live like that?

The Bible tells us that "love of money is the root of all evils" and there is plenty of evidence in the episcopacy proving some bishops are "material" boys. I thought of that yesterday on the feast of Pope St. Pius X, the son of peasants, who once said he was born poor, lived poor, and would die poor. That is certainly not the lifestyle of many of our bishops, like Bishop Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston. He could be described as one of our own "bishops of bling" here in the U.S. He scandalized many of the flock when he arrived in 2004 (including several of my husband's siblings who live in the diocese) with his "renovations" to the bishop's house. Here's what I wrote about him in 2012 when he was named in an abuse trial: