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Of, By and For The Cause of Wickedness in the Name of "Love"
Conciliar churches have been emptied of their parishioners.
Only between twenty-five and conciliar percent of Catholics attached to the structures of the counterfeit church of conciliarism bother to attend their Protestant and Judeo-Masonic Novus Ordo liturgical service every weekend.
Many conciliar church buildings and other properties have been sold because of the loss of parishioners wrought by the doctrinal and liturgical revolutions of conciliarism.
Other conciliar church buildings and properties have been sold to help to pay off the nearly $2.5 billion in settlements that have been awarded to victims of "episcopal" and presbyteral abuse.
Only thirty percent of Catholics in the conciliar structures believe in the Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament (leaving aside the fact that Our Lord is not present in the Novus Ordo church buildings).
The beliefs of Catholics in the conciliar structures on moral issues are very similar to those of non-Catholics. For example, a Pew Forum poll on abortion that was released eight months ago indicated that those who identify themselves as Catholics in the United States of America are evenly divided on the surgical execution of preborn babies in their mothers’ wombs. Forty-eighty percent of Catholics support the daily slaughter of the preborn while forty-seven percent oppose it (see Pew Forum on Religion and Society). Yes, yes, the “new evangelization” at work. Yes, yes, yes.
The empirical data concerning the bankruptcy of a false religion, conciliarism, speaks very clearly.
This empirical data, however, matters not to the lords of the counterfeit church of conciliarism in the United States of America, who, much like the conciliar revolutionaries discussed over eleven years ago in Offending God Every Day), are steeped in their world of apostasy and betrayal and abject unreality.
The unreality is such that the apparatchiks who served on an administrative committee of the United States Conference of "Catholic" "Bishops" (then named the United States “Catholic” Conference of the National Conference of “Catholic" Bishops”) took the time to write a “pastoral letter” about the all-important, urgent, vital issue of how Catholic parents should react upon learning that their adolescent or grown child has discovered that he has an predilection for the commission of perverse acts against nature in violation of the Sixth and Ninth Commandments.
The pastoral letter, Always Our Children, was issued on September 10, 1997, without the full approval, it should be noted, of the body of conciliar “bishops” in the United States of America. Its text, however, showed that the bureaucrats in what I call the “ce-ment palace” (the headquarters of the USCCB), to paraphrase the fictional Jed Clampett's references to the swimming pool in the backyard of his Beverly Hills, California, mansion (“ce-ment pond”), on Fourth Street in Washington, District of Columbia, near the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and The Catholic University of America, were propagandists in behalf of the agenda of the lavender crowd, contending falsely that human beings can base their very identities" on an inclination to commit perverse sins against nature. Sinful inclinations of any sort, perverse or natural, are not the basis of human self-identification, a little fact lost on the apostates at the United States Conference of “Catholic” “Bishops” who live in an insular, incestuous, self-perpetuating world of Modernism and statism and moral relativism.
It occurred to me after completing my previous commentary, Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Jorge Mario Bergoglio's the Biggest Clerical Bully of Them All, that the entire Bergoglian agenda to advance the mainstreaming of sodomy and the absurdity of basing human self-identification on a proclivity to commit perverse sins against nature for taking the remnants of a failed religious sect, the counterfeit church of conciliarism, deeper and deeper into the abyss was spelled out very clearly in the following passages from Always Our Children:
We call on all Christians and citizens of good will to confront their own fears about homosexuality and to curb the humor and discrimination that offend homosexual persons. We understand that having a homosexual orientation brings with it enough anxiety, pain and issues related to self-acceptance without society bringing additional prejudicial treatment. (Human Sexuality: A Catholic Perspective for Education and Lifelong Learning, 1991, p. 55)
Pastoral Recommendations
With a view toward overcoming the isolation that you or your son or daughter may be experiencing, we offer these recommendations to you as well as to priests and pastoral ministers.
To Parents:
- Accept and love yourselves as parents in order to accept and love your son or daughter. Do not blame yourselves for a homosexual orientation in your child.
- Do everything possible to continue demonstrating love for your child. However, accepting his or her homosexual orientation does not have to include approving of all related attitudes and behavioral choices. In fact, you may need to challenge certain aspects of a lifestyle that you find objectionable.
- Urge your son or daughter to stay joined to the Catholic faith community. If they have left the Church, urge them to return and be reconciled to the community, especially through the sacrament of penance.
- Recommend that your son or daughter find a spiritual director/mentor to offer guidance in prayer and in leading a chaste and virtuous life.
- Seek help for yourself, perhaps in the form of counseling or spiritual direction, as you strive for understanding, acceptance, and inner peace. Also, consider joining a parents' support group or participating in a retreat designed for Catholic parents of homosexual children. Other people have traveled the same road as you but may have journeyed even further. They can share effective ways of handling delicate family situations such as how to tell family members and friends about your child, how to explain homosexuality to younger children, and how to relate to your son or daughter's friends in a Christian way.
- Reach out in love and service to other parents struggling with a son or daughter's homosexuality. Contact your parish about organizing a parents' support group. Your diocesan family ministry office, Catholic Charities, or a special diocesan ministry to gay and lesbian persons may be able to offer assistance.
- As you take advantage of opportunities for education and support, remember that you can only change yourself; you can only be responsible for your own beliefs and actions, not those of your adult children.
- Put your faith completely in God, who is more powerful, more compassionate, and more forgiving than we are or ever could be.
To Church Ministers:
- Be available to parents and families who ask for your pastoral help, spiritual guidance, and prayer.
- Welcome homosexual persons into the faith community, and seek out those on the margins. Avoid stereotyping and condemning. Strive first to listen. Do not presume that all homosexual persons are sexually active.
- Learn more about homosexuality and church teaching so your preaching, teaching, and counseling will be informed and effective.
- When speaking publicly, use the words "homosexual," "gay," and "lesbian" in honest and accurate ways.
- Maintain a list of agencies, community groups, and counselors or other experts to whom you can refer homosexual persons or their parents and family members when they ask you for specialized assistance. Recommend agencies that operate in a manner consistent with Catholic teaching.
- Help to establish or promote support groups for parents and family members.
- Learn about HIV/AIDS so you will be more informed and compassionate in your ministry. Include prayers in the liturgy for those living with HIV/AIDS, their caregivers, those who have died, and their families, companions, and friends. A special Mass for healing and anointing of the sick might be connected with World AIDS Awareness Day (December 1) or with a local AIDS awareness program.
Conclusion
For St. Paul love is the greatest of spiritual gifts. St. John considers love to be the most certain sign of God's presence. Jesus proposes it as the basis of his two great commandments, which fulfill all the law and the prophets.
Love, too, is the continuing story of every family's life. Love can be shared, nurtured, rejected, and sometimes lost. To follow Christ's way of love is the challenge before every family today. Your family now has an added opportunity to share love and to accept love. Our church communities are likewise called to an exemplary standard of love and justice. Our homosexual sisters and brothers—indeed, all people—are summoned into responsible ways of loving.
To our homosexual brothers and sisters we offer a concluding word. This message has been an outstretched hand to your parents and families inviting them to accept God's grace present in their lives now and to trust in the unfailing mercy of Jesus our Lord. Now we stretch out our hands and invite you to do the same. We are called to become one body, one spirit in Christ. We need one another if we are to " . . . grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body's growth and builds itself up in love" (Eph 4:15-16).
Though at times you may feel discouraged, hurt, or angry, do not walk away from your families, from the Christian community, from all those who love you. In you God's love is revealed. You are always our children. (http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/homosexuality/always-our-children.cfm.)
This was a very clever piece of work as its issuance was based on the delusional premise that Catholic families were being torn apart over the children's "discovery" of thei predilections towards perversity. In other words, the apostates who wrote the manifesto to herald a "crisis" that they had manufactured, and to the minimal extent to which division within Catholic families on this "discovery" twenty years ago was caused in large part by explicit programs pertaining to the Sixth and Ninth Commandments that favored the agenda of the homosexual collective and actually served as a means to recruit the young to identify themselves on the basis of a tendency to commit sins against nature (see the appendix for a Mothers Watch report from 1996 on the program sanctioned by the then conciliar "bishop" of Pittsburgh, Donald Wuerl.)
It is interesting that the American apostates referred to Saint Paul the Apostle, who denounced the behavior for which they expressed such “compassion” and acceptance” as follows in his Epistle to the Romans:
For this cause God delivered them up to shameful affections. For their women have changed the natural use into that use which is against nature. And, in like manner, the men also, leaving the natural use of the women, have burned in their lusts one towards another, men with men working that which is filthy, and receiving in themselves the recompense which was due to their error. And as they liked not to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them up to a reprobate sense, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all iniquity, malice, fornication, avarice, wickedness, full of envy, murder, contention, deceit, malignity, whisperers, Detractors, hateful to God, contumelious, proud, haughty, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, foolish, dissolute, without affection, without fidelity, without mercy. Who, having known the justice of God, did not understand that they who do such things, are worthy of death; and not only they that do them, but they also that consent to them that do them. (Romans 1: 18-32.)
Was Saint Paul the Apostle wrong?
Was the Apostle to the Gentiles, who had presided over the stoning of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr and who was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians there when Our Blessed Lord and Saviour converted him, a Jew, to the true Faith, writing on his own authority or that of God Himself?
Do those engaged in unnatural vice receive in their own bodies the just recompense for their perversity?
Mind you, those are just a few questions.
Although there were gratuitous references in Always Our Children to living virtuously and chastely, the entire document was premised upon the absolutely false assertion that human beings are born with a proclivity to be attracted to people of the same gender. Wrong. Homosexual attraction in itself, although not a sin, is unnatural and aberrant as it goes against the very nature of man. Homosexual behavior is acquired, not innate, something that has been demonstrated empirically by Dr. Joseph Nicolosi:
Eight major studies of identical twins in Australia, the U.S., and Scandinavia during the last two decades all arrive at the same conclusion: gays were not born that way. “At best genetics is a minor factor,” says Dr. Neil Whitehead, PhD. Whitehead worked for the New Zealand government as a scientific researcher for 24 years, then spent four years working for the United Nations and International Atomic Energy Agency. Most recently, he serves as a consultant to Japanese universities about the effects of radiation exposure. His PhD is in biochemistry and statistics.
Identical twins have the same genes or DNA. They are nurtured in equal prenatal conditions. If homosexuality is caused by genetics or prenatal conditions and one twin is gay, the co-twin should also be gay. “Because they have identical DNA, it ought to be 100%,” Dr. Whitehead notes. But the studies reveal something else. “If an identical twin has same-sex attraction the chances the co-twin has it are only about 11% for men and 14% for women.”
Because identical twins are always genetically identical, homosexuality cannot be genetically dictated. “No-one is born gay,” he notes. “The predominant things that create homosexuality in one identical twin and not in the other have to be post-birth factors.” (Born That Way?)
One will see, therefore, the Bergoglian revolution in the spread of the homosexualist agenda did not just “happen.” No, it was being spear-headed by his like-minded apostates in North America and Europe. Always My Children was a blueprint of the perverse agenda that Bergoglio is pushing with such determination, force and speed.
Most of the conciliar revolutionaries do not accept truth in the natural order any more than they accept it in the supernatural order, and they have worked just as hard to propagandize in behalf of the homosexual collective and to break down a child’s natural resistance to impurity and indecency as they have done to overturn any notion of dogmatic certainty.
Indeed, the upcoming “youth synod” that the false “pope” is hosting next month is all about relativizing moral truth to the point that all matters of moral theology—but especially those pertaining to the Sixth and Ninth Commandment—will be synonymous with the utilitarianism, pragmatism, rationalism and subjectivism of situation ethics.
Seemingly emboldened by Father Carlo Maria Vigano’s testimony, the Argentine Apostate is hurriedly appointing
VATICAN CITY, September 18, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Several bishops accused by Archbishop Viganò of having protected clerical sexual abusers of the young will be at October’s Synod on Youth.
Although most of the bishops at the Synod will have been elected by their national bishops’ conference as their representatives, some of them will be there at Pope Francis’s special invitation. These include Cardinals Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey and Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, both of whom were mentioned in Viganò’s testimony. Viganò, the former Apostolic Nuncio to the U.S., wrote that they were both recommended to Pope Francis for promotion by Cardinals Theodore McCarrick, Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, and Donald Wuerl.
McCarrick has since resigned from the College of Cardinals following a “credible allegation” that he sexually abused a teenage boy in New York. Former priests and seminarians then came forward saying McCarrick had harassed them for years. His predation was apparently an open secret amongst Church leadership for years, yet he still was able to climb the ecclesial ladder. Maradiaga has been implicated in a homosexual scandal in a seminary in his native Honduras. Wuerl, in response to widespread criticism of his handling of clerical sex abuse cases in Pennsylvania, has been discussing his resignation as Archbishop of Washington with Pope Francis.
Others mentioned in the Vatican whistleblower’s testimony, like Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life, will be part of the Synod by virtue of their current posts. Farrell, who is a close friend McCarrick’s, hasrepeatedly denied being informed of the ex-cardinal’s sexual predation on vulnerable young men. Farrell and McCarrick lived together for six years.
Other papal appointees include Cardinals Reinhard Marx of Munich, currently under fire for a perceived mishandling of the German Church’s clerical sexual abuse crisis, and Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the revamped Pontifical Academy for Life, whom Viganò named as a member of the Vatican’s “homosexual current in favor of subverting Catholic doctrine on homosexuality.”
Paglia famously commissioned a homoerotic mural in which he is featured. Marx has been part of the push to allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion.
The American bishops appointed by their own Bishops’ Conference to attend the Youth Synod are less controversial: Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles. Bishop Barron, formerly the rector of Chicago’s Mundelein Seminary, is known to millions of Catholics around the world for his books, films, and “Word on Fire” website. He has also suggested, sometimes in more nuanced ways than others, that hell is probably empty.
DiNardo, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, met with Pope Francis last week about the McCarrick debacle. Last week, the news that DiNardo is accused of mishandling a sex abuse case in his own diocese also emerged.
Gomez was also at the meeting with Pope Francis. The Vatican released a photo of the Pope and the U.S. prelates smiling at that meeting.
Besides the invited voting members, Pope Francis also named dozens of “collaborators” and “observers” to the Synod, including adult women and youngsters. Among the young people named as “observers” are two Canadians connected with Fr. Thomas Rosica’s “Salt + Light” television station, Emilie Callan and Julian Paparella. Callan is Salt + Light’s “official ambassador,” and Paparella has spent five summers as an intern at the television studio. Paparella has also served as an intern with the Vatican diplomatic corps in New York, thanks to Rosica’s patronage.
In 2017 Salt + Light presented a “special televised event” about the upcoming Youth Synod, with Callan, Paparella, and Cardinal Kevin Farrell as hosts.
Following the McCarrick scandal, Viganò’s testimony of cover-up at the highest levels in the Church, the grand jury report about decades of clerical sexual abuse and cover-up in Pennsylvania, some Catholics have called for the Youth Synod to be cancelled. Chief among them are Philadelphia’s Archbishop Chaput and Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas.
This August, Chaput told an audience at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary that he had asked Pope Francis to cancel the Synod.
“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,” he said.
Nevertheless, the Youth Synod is still scheduled to take place in Vatican City between October 3 and 26. (http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-invites-cardinals-implicated-in-sex-abuse-cover-up-to-youth-synod.)
It’s full-speed ahead for Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s revolution against Catholic Faith, Worship and Morals as he plots with his other Jacobin/Bolshevik co-conspirators to debase everything that smacks of anything authentically Catholic. This is why he appoints, promotes and protects his comrades who have, like himself, protected clerical abusers and mocks and demonizes anyone within his own ranks who exposes the network of corruption and deceit that has been woven into the very fabric of the conciliar revolution. Everything about the counterfeit church of conciliarism in general and Jorge’s upcoming “youth synod” makes a mockery of these words about impurity that were written by the Patron Saint of Moral Theologians, Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
The man who indulges in impurity is like a person labouring under the dropsy. The latter is so much tormented by thirst, that the more he drinks the more thirsty he becomes. Such, too, is the nature of the accursed vice of impurity; it is never satiated. "As," says St. Thomas of Villanova, “the more the dropsical man abounds in moisture, the more he thirsts; so, too, is it with the waves of eternal pleasures." I will speak Today of the vice of impurity, and will show, in the first point, the delusion of those who say that this vice is but a small evil; and, in the second, the delusion of those who say, that God takes pity on this sin, and that he does not punish it.
First Point. Delusion of those who say that sins against purity are not a great evil.
1. The unchaste, then, say that sins contrary to purity are but a small evil. Like “the so wallowing in the mire" ("Sus lota in volutabro luti” 2 Pet. ii. 22) , they are immersed in their own filth, so that they do not see the malice of their actions; and therefore they neither feel nor abhor the stench of their impurities, which excite disgust and horror in all others. Can you, who say that the vice of impurity is but a small evil can you, I ask, deny that it is a mortal sin? If you deny it, you are a heretic; for as St. Paul says: "Do not err. Neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, etc., shall possess the kingdom of God." (1 or. vi. 9.) It is a mortal sin; it cannot be a small evil. It is more sinful than theft, or detraction, or the violation of the fast. How then can you say that it is not a great evil? Perhaps mortal sin appears to you to be a small evil? Is it a small evil to despise the grace of God, to turn your back upon him, and to lose his friendship, for a transitory, beastly pleasure? (Saint Alphonsus de Ligouri, Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost. The entirety of this sermon can be found in Appendix A below.)
Jorge Mario Bergoglio does deny the immensity of the sin of impurity. Moreover, he even denies that sins of impurity are mortal in nature, not that he believes anyone even commits a Mortal Sin, well, with the exception of perhaps harming the Amazon Rainforest. He is a heretic. Period. And Bishop Bernard Fellay wants a place in what he himself once called within my own hearing on November 7, 2004, in Ridgefield, Connecticut, the “conciliar zoo.” Oh well, this will be tackled in the next commentary to be posted on this site.
Saint Alphonsus went on to state:
2. St. Thomas teaches, that mortal sin, because it is an insult offered to an infinite God, contains a certain infinitude of malice. "A sin committed against God has a certain infinitude, on account of the infinitude of the Divine Majesty." (S. Thom., 3, p., q. 1, art. 2, ad. 2.) Is mortal sin a small evil? It is so great an evil, that if all the angels and all the saints, the apostles, martyrs, and even the Mother of God, offered all their merits to atone for a single mortal sin, the oblation would not be sufficient. No; for that atonement or satisfaction would be finite; but the debt contracted by mortal sin is infinite, on account of the infinite Majesty of God which has been offended. The hatred which God bears to sins against purity is great beyond measure. If a lady find her plate soiled she is disgusted, and cannot eat. Now, with what disgust and indignation must God, who isPurity itself, behold the filthy impurities by which his law is violated? He loves purity with an infinite love; and consequently he has an infinite hatred for the sensuality which the lewd, voluptuous man calls a small evil. Even the devils who held a high rank in heaven before their fall disdain to tempt men to sins of the flesh.
3. St. Thomas says (lib. 5, de Erud. Princ., c. li.), that Lucifer, who is supposed to have been the devil that tempted Jesus Christ in the desert, tempted him to commit other sins, but scorned to tempt him to offend against chastity. Is this sin a small evil? Is it, then, a small evil to see a man endowed with a rational soul, and enriched with so many divine graces, bring himself by the sin of impurity to the level of a brute?” Fornication and pleasure," says St. Jerome,” pervert the understanding, and change men into beasts." (In Oseam., c. iv.) In the voluptuous and unchaste are literally verified the words of David;” And man, when he was in honour, did not understand: he is compared to senseless beasts, and is become like to them." (Ps. xlviii. 13.) St. Jerome says, that there is nothing more vile or degrading than to allow oneself to be conquered by the flesh. ” Nihil vilius quam vinci a carne." Is it a small evil to forget God, and to banish him from the soul, for the sake of giving the body a vile satisfaction, of which, when it is over, you feel ashamed? Of this the Lord complains by the Prophet Ezechiel;” Thus saith the Lord God: Because thou hast forgotten me, and has cast me off behind thy back” (xxiii. 35.) St. Thomas says, that by every vice, but particularly by the vice of impurity, men are removed far from God. “Per luxuriant maxime recedit a Deo." (In Job cap. xxxi.)
4. Moreover, sins of impurity, on account of their great number, are an immense evil. A blasphemer does not always blaspheme, but only when he is drunk or provoked to anger. The assassin, whose trade is to murder others, does not, at the most, commit more than eight or ten homicides. But the unchaste are guilty of an unceasing torrent of sins, by thoughts, by words, by looks, by complacencies, and by touches; so that, when they go to confession they find it impossible to tell the number of the sins they have committed against purity. Even in their sleep the devil represents to them obscene objects, that, on awakening, they may take delight in them; and because they are made the slaves of the enemy, they obey and consent to his suggestions; for it is easy to contract a habit of this sin. To other sins, such as blasphemy, detraction, and murder, men are not prone; but to this vice nature inclines them. Hence St. Thomas says, that there is no sinner so ready to offend God as the votary of lust is, on every occasion that occurs to him.” Nullus ad Dei contemptum promptior." The sin of impurity brings in its train the sins of defamation, of theft, hatred, and of boasting of its own filthy abominations. Besides, it ordinarily involves the malice of scandal. Other sins, such as blasphemy, perjury, and murder, excite horror in those who witness them; but this sin excites and draws others, who are flesh, to commit it, or, at least, to commit it with less horror. (Saint Alphonsus de Ligouri, Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost. The entirety of this sermon can be found in Appendix A below.)
This describes the Argentine Apostate with exacting specificity. So does the rest of Saint Alphonsus de Liguori’s sermon.
It is interesting that Bergoglio has appointed the egregious Reinhard Marx, the conciliar “archbishop” of Munich and Freising, to serve at the “youth synod” next month as Mr. Marx, who is neither a priest nor a bishop, has been particularly outspoken in his support of unrepentant sinners as he has condemned those who believe that issues of morality are matters of black and white. This is what he said in 2014 prior to the “extraordinary synod” on the family that year:
Two issues at the present synod are divorced and remarried Catholics and gay Catholics, especially those in relationships. Do you have opportunities to listen directly to these Catholics in your present ministry?
I have been a priest for 35 years. This problem is not new. I have the impression that we have a lot of work to do in the theological field, not only related to the question of divorce, but also the theology of marriage. I am astonished that some can say, “Everything is clear” on this topic. Things are not clear. It is not about church doctrine being determined by modern times. It is a question of aggiornamento, to say it in a way that the people can understand, and to always adapt our doctrine to the Gospel, to theology, in order to find in a new way the sense of what Jesus said, the meaning of the tradition of the church and of theology and so on. There is a lot to do. (America magazine interview with Revolutionary Marx.)
Reinhard Marx had noted in the same thing in a lecture he gave at Stanford University on January 15, 2015:
In his Stanford lecture, Cardinal Marx said, “I had a discussion with some of the students,” before the lecture, who asked him, “‘Cardinal is it true that the younger people are more traditional?’ And that’s true.”
“But that is not dangerous,” he said. “I have no problem with tradition. But we have also the tendencies that the people want to be clear in their positions. Black and white populism is growing in Europe. And that is the beginning, perhaps, of populism, of terrorism, that’s clear.”
“The atmosphere of reducing the complexity of the world, to give simple answers, to give black and white answers, is growing, and I think that is very dangerous,” the cardinal said.
Asked a question about what is in store in the Church for “transgender” or “other individuals that are not formally considered within the ethical frameworks that are currently in place” in the Catholic Church, Marx responded, “I think the main point in the Gospel is not the ethical point.”
“The centre of the message is, ‘Heaven is open. Look, heaven is open. You have free entrance. Come. That is the first sermon of Jesus…Convert yourself and be confident to the Gospel. To the good news. And from this, we are celebrating. That’s the main topic. We are celebrating this in our Eucharists, and in our gatherings.”
“But the very special point in the New Testament is that Jesus is not saying, ‘When you are good to God, God is good to you.’ No!” Marx said, “God is giving his love to you. Come. Be embraced by the Lord, and then you will live in a different way.” (Marx Hits Young Traditionalists Who Want to be Clear in Their Positions.)
Before dealing with Reinhard Marx’s disparagement of clarity, something that is a hallmark of the Modernist mind, of course, perhaps it is good to recall the reason that he believe that the center of the Gospel message is that everyone has “free entrance” into Heaven. Commissar Marx believes this because he does not believe in Hell or Purgatory:
(Munich) The Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, has proclaimed Christianity without hell and purgatory, only with more paradise, so to speak, a Christian spa. Cardinal Marx belongs to the eight-member Cardinal advisory which Pope Francis appointed on 13 April to advise him on the management of the Church. Cardinal Marx represents Europe. Marx is also the Chairman of the Commission of the Bishops 'Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) and in the spring of 2014 a contender for the presidency of the German Bishops' Conference.
Cardinal Reinhard Marx held a spiritual talk on 9 November in Erding, Bavaria, a spiritual talk on "Resurrection". Here, the Cardinal tried to explain the Christian doctrine of resurrection: "Every person is a unique, eternal thought of God, who must be thought of to the end and can not disintegrate into nothingness." And further: "If God wanted everyone from all eternity and love, you everything can't be over in death".
But then the Cardinal faltered. The Christian belief in the resurrection depends, says Archbishop Marx, "that we believe God is possible." God's existence only as a "possibility"? As the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising himself puts it, the Cardinal continued by saying, if you trust the words of Christ, "Then the hope is justified that our death opens a gate to something indestructible."
Today, said the Cardinal, many have a "cramped relationship" to death and the belief in the resurrection has become "weak". "We need to see everything, to touch everything, to understand it." The Church must oppose to that "strong rites and symbols" laying out the coffin in the church, such as at a Requiem for a deceased. Children also should not deter you from confrontation with death, for example, the sight of a deceased person, but must enable them to encounter them and accompany them in this. "Therefore, the Church, and we can witness to that, that at death a change takes place and we are not before a cold nothingness," Marx said. The practice of the Church must make the hope of the resurrection visible, reports the Archbishop.
The resurrection says the Cardinal, that God gives us the assurance that He will transform and lead us with His help to the end, "but without moralizing and without a hell of torture, imprisonment and a burning oven". The Church caused this with pictures like that of purgatory and hell, fear of death. Not only that, the Church must "repent" for this scaremongering images that a malicious invention will be obvious to Catholics, Cardinal Marx. In the Cardinal's words, "and for that we need to repent." And you wonder where the Cardinal actually lives. After half a century of the abolition of the sign of hell, the problem is not the belief that there is a hell, but that many Christians no longer believe in the existence of hell and purgatory.
Finally, the Cardinal proffered a logical conclusion to universal salvation: Because Jesus went about not to enumerate sins, but to pledge every man to healing and salvation. "The Church must completely drive out fear," emphasized Cardinal Marx. To imagine what would come after death, the person needs images, "but this must be images of confidence, hope, images and help to continue on, even if they can not give us a definitive answer." What the Archbishop did was give the impression that the Church has not allowed in its two thousand year history, a great show to salvation, redemption and salvation of souls. (Commissar Marx Corrects Our Lord and Abolishes Hell and Purgatory. See also Jorge Says Party Hearty, part two.)
In other words, Reinhard Marx believes in universal salvation. He is a true son of the late "new theologian," Father Hans Urs von Balthsar, by way of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, whose influence he noted when claiming that the doctrine and the worship of what he thinks is the Catholic Church cannot be locked up in a "musem" and must be open to "novelty" at all times:
“According to the Prelate, Benedict XVI is a theologian who ‘has never stopped being curious about and admiring everything God made.’ in the same way, he stressed, man must continue to discover the Gospel as the novelty by antonomasia: ‘The traditionalists venerate the old, they are guardians of a museum. We must not, however, guard the richness in a museum; we must not look for a restoration, but instead for a rebirth, for a renewal of the faith and Catholic life, a renewal of the Church as a whole and of each individual.’ The Catholic faith is ‘the greatest adventure of the human spirit, but it is also demanding and wants to take us farther.’” (As found at: Reinhard Marx's Museum. See also Let's Look At Life Outside Of The "Museum").
Another recently appointed member of the “youth synod” is the notorious supporter of “palliative care” and who more or less winked at the execution of Charlie Gard last year in England, who has told us very openly that a “new church” arose from the “Second” Vatican Council, a comment that he made to support the “beatification” of the late Oscar Romero, whom Paglia contended two years ago was murdered by those who “wanted to strike the Church that flowed from the ‘Second’ Vatican Council”:
“He was killed at the altar,” Archbishop Paglia said, instead of when he was an easier target at home or on the street. “Through him, they wanted to strike the Church that flowed from the Second Vatican Council." (Romero To Be "Beatified" Soon.)
Whether or not he realized it, “Archbishop” Vincenzo Paglia made quite a statement by stating that his church is one that flowed from the “Second” Vatican Council and not the Wounded Side of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as Blood and Water flowed forth out from the cardiac sac surrounding His Most Sacred Heart. As a conciliar presbyter noted to me in an e-mail in 2004, the “Second” Vatican Council represented what he termed was an “ecclesiogensis,” that is, the springing forth of a new church that had little to do with the one that preceded it.
This is indeed quite correct. What has flowed forth from the “Second” Vatican Council and the “magisterium” of the conciliar “popes” has been nothing other than a polluted stream of apostasy that originated from the poisoned wells of Modernity and Modernism. Countless hundreds of millions of people have been poisoned by it enough to have had their minds poisoned against any mention of the “old faith,” especially as expressed and protected in the Immemorial Mass of Tradition.
Those who think that the conciliar revolutionaries are now saying anything “new” are deceiving themselves. The only thing that has happened is that the cloud of paradox and contradiction that surrounded Ratzinger and the mystique of personality that surrounded Wojytla have been stripped away, leaving Jorge free to show the revolution for what it has always been and was meant to do from its inception: an attack on the very nature of dogmatic truth that has opened the way for the coronation of “personal conscience” as the single determinant of the moral liceity of human choices. Those who are either steeped in sin themselves or have become accessories to the sins of others, if only by flattery, need to deny the objective nature of dogmatic and moral truth in order to open the path to the acceptance of all immorality, including deviancy and murder itself, in the name of “accompaniment.”
Interestingly, a man who is a kindred spirit of the recent appointees to Jorge’s “youth synod,” Theodore Edgar McCarrick, turns out to have played an important behind-the-scenes role in arranging the twisted sellout of faithful Catholics in Red China. Those who make war upon dogmatic and moral truth in general and those, in particular, whose own lives are witnesses to a rebellion against the Sixth and Ninth Commandments, will not consider such evils as Communism as intrinsically wrong as what is “right” for one culture cannot be consider so for another.
Here is a report about McCarrick’s role in helping the sell out the underground church in Red China that was written six days before the news of the “provisional” agreement between the reds in the conciliar Vatican and the reds in Beijing was announced:
Following reports that the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China could be about to sign an agreement on the appointment of bishops in the country, attention has turned to the role of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick in fostering Vatican-China relations over the last two decades.
Over 20 years, Archbishop McCarrick travelled to China on at least eight occasions, sometimes staying in a state-controlled Beijing seminary, often serving as an unofficial bridge between the Vatican and Chinese government-appointed bishops until 2016.
Prior to allegations of sexual abuse and harassment becoming public this summer, the former cardinal had been an outspoken proponent of a deal between Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Church under Pope Francis, according to Chinese reports.
“I see a lot of things happening that would really open many doors because President Xi and his government are concerned about things that Pope Francis is concerned about,” McCarrick told The Global Times, in an exclusive interview in Feb. 2016.
The interview quoted McCarrick as saying that the similarities between Pope Francis and Xi Jinping could be “a special gift for the world.”
The state-approved Chinese newspaper also reported that McCarrick traveled to China in Feb. 2016 — “a trip in which the cardinal said he would visit some ‘old friends.’”
“His previous visits included meetings with Wang Zuo’an, head of the State Administration for Religious Affairs and late bishop Fu Tieshan, former president of Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China (BCCCC), an organization not recognized by the Holy See,” The Global Times reported.
In June 2014, David Gibson reported in the Washington Post that McCarrick had traveled to China “in the past year” for “sensitive talks on religious freedom.”
This detail aligns, in part, with the 11-page “testimony” of former apostolic nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò. Viganò recounted a meeting with McCarrick in June 2013, during which Vigano claims he was told by McCarrick, “The pope received me yesterday, tomorrow I am going to China.”
McCarrick was hosted by the Beijing seminary during at least two trips to China, according to a 2006 State Department document made available via Wikileaks.
The vice-rector of a Communist-approved seminary, Fr. Shu-Jie Chen, described twice hosting McCarrick in an account found in a cable from Christopher Sandrolini, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See.
Chen described himself as “king” of the seminary, saying that he “could do what he wanted within its walls.”
Sandrolini also noted that the vice rector “downplayed persecution of the underground Church,” calling the underground church “uneducated” and “elderly.” He said that Chen seemed “unconcerned” that “evangelization was not an option for official religious personnel.
A cable from U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Francis Rooney in March 2006 noted that Archbishop Claudio Celli, who was at that time the Holy See’s principal China negotiator, insisted that McCarrick was not in a position to negotiate with China and that his visits to China were “unofficial.”
There appears to be a gap between McCarrick’s trips to China between 2006 and 2013, though McCarrick’s influence was still active.
In 2009, the archbishop had a message relayed to a friend in China through Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the House of Representatives. Pelosi conveyed McCarrick’s greetings to Bishop Aloysius Jin of Shanghai, formerly a leading Chinese Jesuit.
“She [Pelosi] relayed Cardinal McCarrick’s good wishes to Bishop Jin. Bishop Jin said he and Cardinal McCarrick had exchanged visits, beginning when the latter was Bishop of Newark,” the State Department cable reads.
During McCarrick’s time as Archbishop of Newark, Aloysius Jin Luxian was not recognized as a bishop by the Vatican. He was ordained a coadjutor bishop of Shanghai without papal approval in 1985, his position was not recognized by the Vatican until 2004. Bishop Jin died in 2013.
A 2007 article in The Atlantic described the close friendship between McCarrick and Jin, and how McCarrick claimed to have relayed messages from the Chinese government-appointed bishop to the pope in the 1990s.
Both the State Department and Chinese media recorded a 1998 visit to China by Archbishop McCarrick. On that trip he was one of three American clerics to visit China to discuss religious freedom, meeting with Bishop Michael Fu Tieshan, vice-chairman of the Chinese Communist Party’s Standing Committee of the Chinese National People’s Congress.
Fu was made a bishop by Beijing 1979 without approval of the pope.
Chinese media reported that McCarrick paid a visit to the National Seminary in Beijing in 1998.
In Aug. 2, 2003, the South China Morning Post reported that McCarrick “spent three days in Beijing earlier this week on what was ostensibly a private visit.”
McCarrick was “the first cardinal from a western country to visit the mainland since relations between China and the Vatican turned frosty after a dispute over canonisation in October 2000,” the article continued.
In a Dec. 2003 State Department cable, U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Jim Nicholson wrote that Vatican Office Director for China Monsignor Gianfranco Rota-Graziosi “did not expect concrete improvement stemming from the informal trip last summer of Washington Cardinal McCarrick to China.”
On Sept. 14, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Holy See could be about to enter a deal with China which would include the recognition of seven illicitly consecrated bishops serving in the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association – a state-sponsored form of Catholicism whose leaders are chosen by Communist authorities.
Reports of the Holy See and Chinese government working towards a formal agreement on the appointment of bishops have been circulating since January, 2018. At the same time, China has launched an increasing crackdown on religious practice in the country, demolishing churches and harassing worshippers. (http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2018/09/17/archbishop-mccarricks-unofficial-role-in-vatican-china-relations/.)
Oh, yes, there are similarities between Xi Jinping and Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Each is a dictator. Each uses Stalinist methods to govern. Each fosters a cult of personality. Each hates criticism and uses whatever means necessary to impose an agenda alien to truth and thus alien to both the temporal and, much more important, the spiritual good of man. Power is what matters to the atheist Xi Jinping. Power and sensual pleasure are what matters to Jorge Mario Bergoglio and his band of spiritual robber barons.
What more can be said at this point?
Those who praise false religions and who blaspheme God by acts of omission and commission are killers of souls. It is only logical for them to be friends of those who kill bodies.
A false church with false doctrines, false and sacramentally barren liturgical rites and false pastoral practices has helped to devastate one formerly Catholic country after another. This devastation was long in the planning by the adversary, and it has taken over fifty years of careful propagation to prepare the way for what is only the logical public manifestation of what was intended all along: the overthrow of the Catholic Faith in favor of a naturalistic “religion of man” and its “nuanced” option in favor of death.
Jorge has made it impossible for believing Catholics who are still attached to the structures of their false church to “appeal to Rome” about sch travesties as the “youth synod” and its “episcopal” delegates as the “pope” is in charge of the whole process, and he is sending a message loudly and clearly: There is no getting the conciliar toothpaste back in the tube. This is simply the convergence of the forces of Modernity in the world and of Modernism in the counterfeit church of conciliarism.
Our Lady promised Jacinta and Francisco Marto and Lucia dos Santos that her Immaculate Heart would triumph in the end. We must do our part to bring this about by praying for a restoration of a true pope on the Throne of Saint Peter as we seek to console the good God, Who is so grieved by our sins and those of the world, by praying as many Rosaries each day as our state-in-life permits and by making more sacrifices for the conversion of sinners, offering up the tribulations of the moment to Him as the consecrated slaves of His Co-Eternal, Co-Equal Divine Son, Christ the King, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Vivat Christus Rex! Viva Cristo Rey!
Immaculate Heart of Mary, triumph soon!
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.
Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.
Saint John the Evangelist, pray for us.
Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.
Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.
Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.
Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.
Saints Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, pray for us.
The North American Martyrs, pray for us.
Saints Cyprian and Justina, pray for us.
Appendix
Mothers' Watch Report on Donald Wuerl's Attacks on the Innocence of the Young, 1996
[Droleskey note: Although there is much to write about the soon-to-leave "archbishop" of Washington, District of Columbia, events have precluded me from doing so. However, this appendix, which was published by Catholic mothers within the conciliar structures twelve years ago, contains documentation, laden with the sort of incredulous outrage that, unfortunately, characterized my own writing on scandals in the false conciliar sect during my years with The Wanderer, contains very useful information about the fact that the conciliar warfare against the innocence of souls long predates the rise of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as "Pope Francis."
In February 1988, Pittsburgh Catholics looked forward to the appointment of Donald Wuerl as the 11th Bishop of this ethnically-rich, traditionally-based community. This former "blue-collar" town had longed for a return to the roots of its Catholic heritage which was already being subtly but persistently overtaken by the modernist establishment. But instead of the situation getting better, things got worse.
In the Catholic schools and CCD programs, the message of salvation runs secondary to the "social gospel." Catechists are educated in the latest innovative theories taught by education "experts" and children, for the most part, have no foundation in authentic catechesis.
Some members of the clergy seem to regard their vocation as a nine to five. job, while other priests appear so overburdened with responsibilities and concerns about meeting financial obligations in their parishes, such as paying the diocesan tax, "Parish Share," that they have little time for evangelization. Some priests are hesitant to speak out on critically important moral issues such as abortion, contraception, pre-marital sex, adultery and homosexuality, perhaps out of fear of diocesan censure.
For years, Catholic parents have trusted that others would aid them in fostering religious education for their children and naturally turned to parochial schools for support. More and more of these same parents have come to the realization that the majority of Catholic schools are "Catholic" in name only and in fact, can be more detrimental to the spiritual lives of their children than some of the public schools!
In this age of false ecumenism, children have little concept of the major differences existing between Catholicism and other denominations and religions. In March of 1964, Pittsburgh Bishop John Wright established the Ecumenical Commission and years later, the "fruits" of this effort were manifested.
A look at the 1987-1988 CCD catalog on courses and catechists provides valuable insight into the reality of this pernicious attack on the Faith. Listed under a profile of "Master Catechists" (trainers of diocesan school teachers) were: Sr. Rita Harasiuk, RSM, a follower of the same "Creation-Centered Spirituality" promoted by former Dominican priest, Matthew Fox. Fr. Fox worked with a woman named Starhawk, a self professed witch. He was silenced by the Vatican and has since left the Church to join a Protestant denomination. On numerous occasions, Matthew Fox was a guest on "Amplify," an ecumenical radio program hosted by diocesan spokesman, Fr. Ron Lengwin.
Susan Mink included in the diocesan directory of catechists, was identified as a member of Women/Church and the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA). Theresa Orlando, also a Women/Church member served as "consultant" for Sadlier Publishing Company, a major publisher of "religion" texts.
Sr. Marguerite Kropinak, CSJ, not only worked as a Master Catechist but also served as chaplain of the homosexual group, Dignity. She was also the National Coordinator of SIGMA (Sisters in Gay Ministry Associated). Sr. Kropinak co-authored (with Matthew Fox, Jeannine Gramick and others) A Challenge to Love -- Gay and Lesbian Catholics in the Church. She was also credited with match-making couples in Dignity. She now serves as Parish Social Ministry Director of Catholic Charities.
Rev. Garrett Dorsey, Master Catechist, is a member of the Association of Pittsburgh Priests (APP), an organization which openly dissents from Church teaching. Other diocesan approved Master Catechists were pastors of Protestant churches and non-Christians -- an Iman from an Islamic church, a rabbi, the chairperson from the Baha'i Spiritual Assembly and a teacher of Buddhism and Hinduism.
Catholic school students fare no better than the CCD students in being catechized in the Faith. Faulty "religion" texts subtly undermine authentic instruction with the implementation of catechesis which either deletes or distorts Catholic teachings. Scripture is frequently referred to as mythical stories. Students are taught that there was no Adam and Eve. A catechist was heard to say that "Jesus did not know He was the Son of God until after the Resurrection." As a result, Catholic youth are graduating from Pittsburgh parochial schools without the basic truths of the Church and many have lost their Faith.
The March 12, 1989, Pittsburgh Press article, "Spirituality Is His Specialty" provided a somewhat clearer insight into Bishop Wuerl. It stated that the Bishop wanted the respect of the people but didn't want them to be "intimidated by his rank," and that it bothered him when people were "too awed to laugh at his jokes." The article mentioned that Bishop Wuerl was supposedly "feared as a reputed Roman enforcer who might not care on whom he stepped...[but he has since] allayed many fears. The intelligent, energetic and engaging bishop appears, at least tentatively, to have won over many of those who were prepared to write him off as a clone from Rome." (It was the faithful who had much to fear.)
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
While winning the hearts of the liberal faction, Bishop Wuerl ran roughshod over the faithful and the parishes they and their families had built. Bishop Wuerl had managed to cut a million dollars from the operating budget his first year and his concepts for the consolidation of schools and parishes became the "model for bishops facing similar problems nationwide."
While the reporter, Ann Rodgers-Melnick, in the March 12, 1989 article enthused over the bishop's controversial closing of parishes and schools, Pittsburgh Catholics found themselves at the mercy of the diocesan machine as it moved full throttle over the heartfelt concerns of the laity who were stunned at the numerous closings and mergings of churches into "worship sites," including the financially and spiritually sound parishes.
The usual "blarney" about consultation with the laity, who for the most part saw it as a "done deal," was published in the local Catholic paper, which ranted on and on, inferring that the suffering Catholics were disobedient and causing disunity when they felt their spiritual world crumbling. Uppermost in the minds of many were concerns about the losses of Mass availability, ethnicity, and the sense of community. The allowance, by the diocese, of "polka Masses," and the parading of Catholics in ethnic costumes in the Civic Arena was apparently an attempt to show "respect" for the many heritages represented in Pittsburgh's Catholic community.
The diocese attempted to give the appearance of cooperation and harmony toward the people, but the laity felt betrayed and disillusioned by the strong-arm tactics employed under Bishop's Wuerl's rule. Many elderly Catholics were no longer able to continue their custom of attending daily Mass due to limitations set by the distance to the nearest church, since their "worship site" may or may not have a scheduled daily Mass.
Money from one parish, totaling three million dollars, donated by hard working parishioners, was confiscated by the diocese. This was only one instance of what is thought to be an enormous amount of money ending up in diocesan coffers from parish accounts and property sales. The diocese claims the money will be returned to the merged parishes, but many of Pittsburgh's Catholics do not believe that and wonder about the total sum of money taken in, diocesan-wide. Having no where else to turn, some displaced members of parishes are suing Bishop Wuerl in civil court for closing their parishes.
Other parishioners have watched helplessly as pastors spent large sums of parish money on unwelcome "renovations" such as the installation of "immersion pools" for baptisms, and the removal of tabernacles from places of prominence to hidden positions.
One pastor, a Mass celebrant for the homosexual group, Dignity, renovated his church by painting it a light lavender and draping it with banners throughout.
Going, Going, Sold!
An article in the Allegheny Bulletin (11-4-92) "Catholics to Sell or Convert Closed Churches" speculated that "closed churches may become places of business, social service centers or museums...if the parish can't use the church, the most obvious way to dispose of the property would be to sell it to a non-Catholic congregation."
The Redemptorist Order was forced to sell the historic site of St. Philomena Parish where St. John Neumann, regarded as "the Father of the Parochial School System" served as pastor from 1844-1847, "when the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh indicated that it intended to close St. Philomena Parish, effective June 30 because of the parish's $370,000 debt to the diocese." The parish members did not owe this "debt" for expenses of the day- to-day operations of their church. They simply owed the diocesan tax.
The site was sold to the Jewish community and used for an elementary school. Obviously, the historical significance of the property had little meaning for the diocese, but the ultimate insult came when the site was used for the production of the Sharon Stone movie, "Diabolique" in the fall of 1995. The June 1996 issue of Catalyst published by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights describes "Diabolique" as follows: "In the original film, which was released in 1954, there was no nudity, vulgarity, gore or anti-Catholicism. The latest version has it all....This just goes to show that when Hollywood addresses Catholicism in the 1990's it will go out of its way to offend Catholics. There is no other way to understand the content differences between the original and the remake of DIABOLIQUE."
Another example of the lengths the Pittsburgh diocese will go to turn a profit was the selling of St. John the Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, built in 1907. The Church is used as a "brewpub," a brewery and restaurant. Stained glass windows and support columns will remain intact and pews will be cut down and used for seating. "On the former altar, behind a 10 foot wall of clear glass, will stand stainless steel kettles used for making the beer."
This is in direct opposition to the Holy Father who has taken a strong stand against the destruction of parishes. The Pope asked "bishops to strengthen parish life in their dioceses," saying `See to it that the parish remains alive and the believers have contacts they can count on. Despite the problems caused by the lack of priests, established structures should not be destroyed if possible and smaller communities should not suffer deprivation because of centralization.'" 3
Among Church properties on Bishop Wuerl's hit list are diocesan Catholic schools. Members of Resurrection Parish took to the streets to protest the sale of their school. Protesters carried signs reading: "Czar Wuerl & Czar Kozar [pastor] Killed Catholic Education." 4
Our Sunday Visitor, which has published Bishop Wuerl's work in the past and is slated to soon publish his sex program, ironically promoted Bishop Wuerl in their newspaper as "a man who has a `magnificent obsession' with Catholic education... [January 3, 1993.]" Two other schools are also scheduled to be closed, Our Lady of Loreto and St. Pius X .
The Company Bishop Wuerl Keeps
To further illustrate the attitude of the Pittsburgh diocesan bureaucrats toward church property, consider the July 12, 1994 North Hills Record article, "Masons Receive Approval For New Headquarters in Ross," by Ben Rand. The Masonic Fund Society of Allegheny County "will build a headquarters on eight to ten acres of property owned [emphasis added] by the North Side Catholic Cemetery." The Masons (longtime enemy of the Catholic Church) wanted to relocate from their former home in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh "in an attempt to rebuild its membership...to make it more convenient for its members, but the goal is not just to move. The goal is to revitalize..." There was no mention of selling the land to the Masons, in fact, the only mention of money was a contribution..."to act as a good neighbor and to help speed approval, the Masonic Fund agreed to contribute $15,000 toward a traffic signal at Cemetery Lane and Babcock Boulevard."
Contrast this with the warning by Lincoln, Nebraska's Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz to excommunicate Catholics who do not discontinue their membership in the Masons and other organizations such as the abortion supportive "Catholics for a Free Choice."
Rather than support the courageous move by Bishop Bruskewitz, Pittsburgh diocese's chief canon lawyer, Fr. Lawrence DiNardo responded by calling it "a relatively extreme measure..." 5 Fr. DiNardo also seemed to have difficulty accepting the Primacy of the Holy Father at a session on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, September 16, 1995 when he stated: "...if a person says `I accept the teachings of the Pope, but I don't accept the teachings of my bishop,' they are not Catholic. They are in heresy. They are excommunicated by law..." He said when people say they believe in the Pope, that they `don't like what bishop so-and-so did'...I say, well then, you ain't Catholic...that's not part of our doctrine, whether you believe in the Pope. You don't need to believe in the Pope. Only Bishops need to believe in the Pope. You need to accept the teaching authority of the Bishop..." 6
The 3/31/96 article (on Bishop Bruskewitz's warning) continues in response to "Catholic legislators who support legal abortion, the [Pittsburgh] diocese has favored dialogue over damnation. `We would rather convince people of the truth of the church's position than take some more severe course of action' said the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the diocese, who has met with some of the politicians." 7
Bishop Wuerl as "Liberal"
When appointed as Bishop on February 11, 1988, Donald Wuerl did not want to be identified as a conservative and said: "Give me a chance to do some things and let the people decide."8 One of the "things" Bishop Wuerl decided to do was "to open the lines of communication" with the Association of Pittsburgh Priests (APP) which is in constant opposition to the Vatican on matters such as the ordination of women, homosexuality and married clergy. APP members also signed the 1990 "Call for Reform in the Catholic Church" initiated by "Call to Action" and co-sponsored by the "Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church, Catholics Speak Out, CORPUS, Friends of Creation Spirituality, Inc. and the Women's Ordination Conference." This document was published in the New York Times (2-28-90) and other major newspapers.
Bishop Bevilacqua, Bishop Wuerl's predecessor, said he saw "no reason for the APP to exist." This was quoted from "The Association of Pittsburgh Priests -- A Brief History" by Francis F. Brown in 1987. Fr. Brown was "instrumental in the formation of the National Federation of Priests Councils (NFPC), and in 1979 published a history of the NFPC entitled Priests in Council--Initiatives Toward a Democratic Church" (emphasis added), a Church free from Rome.
The Pittsburgh Press reported that the APP came to Bishop Wuerl's defense when he met with CORPUS, an organization of married priests in June of 1990. This meeting provoked a response from Cardinal Antonio Innocenti of the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy who said it was concerned that such a meeting "could lend legitimacy to the demand for a married priesthood." 9 The APP responded: "Just as strongly as we support Bishop Wuerl, we deplore the letter of Cardinal Innocenti....The meeting between the bishop [Wuerl] and the resigned priests is not only the American way, but the Christian way. To put it very simply-- and we mean these words -- the Vatican response is un-Christian."10
The following day, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, said that although the letter (from the Vatican) was termed "critical" Bishop Wuerl said it was not a reprimand, just a "request for information...[a] routine piece of communication in the church."11
More Than Ministering to Homosexuals
For years, the Pittsburgh diocese's association with homosexuals has been of great concern. When the laity learned of the existence of the "Catholic" homosexual group, Dignity, and its usage of two diocesan parishes, St. Elizabeth in the Strip District and St. Pamphilus in the Beechview section, the alarm was sounded throughout the diocese. Bishop Wuerl had previously stated in regard to Dignity: "everyone who is struggling to live by the teachings of Christ and the teachings of the Catholic church is welcome in the Catholic church."12 However, Dignity had no intention of following the teachings of the Church and said so in its "Statement of Position and Purpose" which reads: "gay men and lesbian women can express their sexuality in a manner that is consonant with Christ's teaching. We believe that we can express our sexuality physically in a unitive manner [emphasis added] that is loving, life giving and life affirming..."
Again, this is contrary to the teachings of the Church which states:
Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is more or less a strong tendency toward an intrinsic evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder. Therefore, special concern and pastoral attention should be directed toward those who have this condition, lest they should be led to believe that the living out of this orientation is a morally acceptable option. It is not ([Letter to the Bishops on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, Article 3].
In addition, the Letter (Article 17) does not permit the use of Catholic facilities for homosexual services because "...it is contradictory to the purpose for which these institutions were founded, it is misleading and often scandalous."
St. Elmo's, a bookstore owned by former Dignity president, Bill Nist, has been permitted to use exhibit tables at diocesan conferences including: a two day conference at Duquesne University (August 10-11, 1990) sponsored by Catholic Charities and the Diocesan Secretariat for Social Concerns, and the 1991 Tri-diocesan Teachers' Conference held in Monroeville.
The homosexual bookstore was also represented at the "Seventh National Congress of the Religious Formation Conference" held at the Pittsburgh Hilton Hotel, 10/10-13/91. There were approximately 650 priests and religious in attendance. Not only was St. Elmo's present, but also New Ways Ministry, another homosexual advocacy group and a woman selling feminist greeting cards.
St. Elmo's had been mentioned in the 4-12-91 Pittsburgh Catholic as an outlet for the distribution of "three cassette tapes featuring the praying of the Rosary by Bishop Donald Wuerl." News of this circulated among the laity and eventually the diocese did remove the tapes.
The co-founders of New Ways Ministry, Fr. Robert Nugent and Sr. Jeannine Gramick, conducted the "Homophobia in Religion and Society" workshop at St. Mary's Convent, Carlow College. The major part of the morning session consisted of a video portraying the plight of the "persecuted" homosexual and intimated that of all the people killed in the concentration camps by the Nazis, the homosexuals suffered the most torment. Of course, there were the usual discussion groups afterward. Sr. Gramick bragged that two-thirds of all the dioceses in the U.S. have played host to their traveling seminar.
Even though the laity attempted to convince the diocese to intervene, the conference proceeded as planned; the reason given was that "Wuerl can't cancel the seminar because it's their [the Sisters of Mercy's] property."13 Carlow's president, Sr. Grace Ann Geibel, in the March 24, 1996 Pittsburgh Press, indicated she was very pleased with Bishop Wuerl and said that he has "no inclination whatsoever to interpret his role as one of an authoritarian."14
Isn't it amazing the Bishop didn't "have" the authority to intervene in this instance, but used his authority to close St. Philomena Parish, owned by the Redemptorist Order? Was it because the diocese considers money more important than morality?
The "Fourteenth Annual Pastoral Musicians' Convention" was held 7/9-13/91 at the David Lawrence Convention Center. Not only was Dignity USA an exhibitor, but apparently influential for in the program booklet under "Anointing of the Sick" one reads: "Each hotel will have a quiet place for people who are HIV positive and concerned others to come open their hearts and journey toward wholeness through prayers and rituals."
The theme of the convention was "Singing A New Church." The program booklet says: "NPM [National Association of Pastoral Musicians] is affiliated with the United States Catholic Conference (USCC) and directs itself toward the concerns of the Roman Catholic liturgy. However, some of the NPM members are from sister Churches, especially those with liturgical concerns." Are we talking about Protestant churches? Apparently, not only are we dealing with the issue of homosexuality, but also the prospect of "singing a new church" seemingly with the cooperation of the United States Catholic Bishops! Included in the sessions were people from the "National Center for Pastoral Leadership," (formerly Time Consultants, an organization at odds with the Vatican) and priests and religious from the Pittsburgh diocese.
Listed among the master catechists for the Pittsburgh Diocese, Sr. Marguerite Kropinak's homosexual association was apparent as early as 1983 when, at the Dignity, Inc. International Convention, held in Seattle, Washington (September 2-5, 1983) she "enthused about the Dignity `hotline' which is installed not only in her convent, but in others in this country..."15 Sr. Kropinak is with the Sisters of St. Joseph, [who teach in Pittsburgh Catholic schools. ed. n.]
In the February 1991 issue of Profiles (Dignity/Pittsburgh's Newsletter), Sr. Kropinak spoke of the biennial Dignity Convention which she described as "...marked by the presence of the Holy Spirit, alive and active in the gathered community of Dignity. The Dignity Convention is a HOLY [emphasis in original] event." Far from being "holy," the sin of sodomy is listed (Catechism of the Catholic Church, pg. 457) as one of the "sins that cry to heaven," and Scripture tells how the Lord looked at homosexual activity in His destruction of Sodom and Gommorrah.
It was announced, August 1992, that Sr. Kropinak had been appointed to the position as Pittsburgh Catholic Charities' Parish Social Ministry Director and from all accounts, remains in that role. Remember, she was listed as a master catechist for the Diocese despite her close connection with homosexual groups mentioned throughout this report.
A pamphlet, obtained 4/24/95 from "Gay and Lesbian Alternative Dimensions" (GLAD) in Pittsburgh lists the following as "gay friendly" sponsoring congregations: "American Baptist, Evangelical Lutheran, Jewish, Presbyterian, Quaker, Roman Catholic [emphasis added], Unitarian and United Methodist." It states: "All sponsoring congregations are gay friendly. They do not all share the views of their stated national policies [emphasis added]. Persons who come to GLAD are affirmed for who they are and are not asked to change...GLAD offers another alternative -- a perspective that validates the spiritual journey of all gays, lesbians and bisexuals -- one that does not exclude, but affirms their sexuality as part of their spirituality."
The September, 1994 edition of Planet Queer related that "On August 8, the Corpus Christi Residence officially opened its doors as a personal care home for people with AIDS..." The Verona House, a non-profit corporation, "sponsored by the Presbyterian Association on the Aging, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh and four area hospitals; Allegheny General, Mercy Health System, Shadyside and West Penn" was given a long-term lease by the Pittsburgh Diocese for a building at 7165 Churchland Street for a mere $1.00 per year. While it is commendable to help sufferers of AIDS, does the Diocese also charge $1.00 per year for a lease to help other equally needy sick people? Perhaps, if instead of ignoring the major cause in the spread of AIDS (homosexual activity), diocesan authorities would promote the teachings of the Church, the incidence of this disease would dramatically decrease!
Only recently, after the public outcry of Pittsburgh Catholics, which included letters and documentation sent to the Vatican and to Courage, did the Diocese reluctantly stop the sacrilegious Dignity Masses being offered for homosexuals, lesbians and bisexuals. An anonymous Dignity coordinator said: "We have nothing negative to say about Bishop Wuerl...it was simply a matter of conflict of conscience."16 The "banning of Dignity was a sad moment for Wuerl" according to the March 24, 1996 article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Further, the article claims Bishop Wuerl had "started an alternative group for gay Catholics who wanted to be celibate and for eight years tried to persuade Pittsburgh's Dignity to renounce the unorthodox teachings of the national group."17
There seems to be a little discrepancy in the time element claimed by the Bishop. The January 30, 1996 issue of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette article "Diocese to Gays: No More Masses" by Ann Rodgers-Melnick says: "...in 1993, the diocese established an alternative group, Courage, for non-heterosexuals who are striving to be celibate." That was three years ago, not eight as the Bishop claims. It has been learned Dignity now uses the Lutheran Center in Oakland for its "Masses" (rumored to be offered by some 30 different diocesan priests. ed.n. ) Is this just another bond in ecumenism?
Ecumenism Replacing Catholicism
Ecumenism seems to be another pet project of Bishop Wuerl. The 7/21/89 issue of the Pittsburgh Catholic, revealed "Bishop Wuerl recently named 18 persons as diocesan representatives to Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania...Christian Associates is a regional ecumenical agency serving 21 Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant church bodies or judicatories...its primary purpose is to provide a channel of cooperation among the judicatories it serves so that common problems can be addressed effectively." But what problems?
An article in the January 23, 1989 Pittsburgh Press, "Breaking Bread -- Wuerl Wants Denominations to Share Communion," dealt with a meeting between the Bishop Wuerl and six Protestant denominations "to work with the Catholic Church toward the possibility of sharing Communion together...Wuerl stressed that local church leaders have had years of experience working together on social projects through Christian Associates. He called them to move beyond working together to worshipping together at the altar. He contrasted the theological polarization over Communion with the ritual of foot-washing, which does not divide churches."18 (Comment -- One of the first actions of the Bishop was the repeal of the ban against women in the foot-washing ritual of Holy Thursday, reversing the ban imposed by Bishop Bevilacqua. This move was greatly appreciated by Pittsburgh Women/Church.)
The succeeding issue of the Pittsburgh Catholic tried to persuade Catholics the preceeding information was not quite accurate, and quotes from a note of correction from the Pittsburgh Press said: "The decision to share communion cannot be made by the local bishops, but must come from the highest level of each church involved." 19
The April 1995 issue of Ecu-memo, (Christian Associates newsletter ) under "Ecumenical Events" says: "Ministry in the Eastern Christian Context...is the title of a new focus Pittsburgh Theological Seminary will inaugurate in its Doctor of Ministry program this May. Roman Catholic [emphasis added] and Protestant clergy are encouraged to apply. Seminary administrators anticipate the first group of participants in this new ecumenical venture will come from various regions of the United States and Canada." So, in other words, our Catholic priests will be taught "ministry" by Protestants? Wonder what effect this will have on the Mass and Sacraments? Is this a glimpse into the "future church"?
There was a lot made over Fr. Raymond Brown's address to an ecumenical gathering of 450 people, mostly clergy, from Catholic, Episcopalian, Greek Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian and non-denominational churches on April 3, 1995. While the local church considered Fr. Brown a "world-renowned biblical scholar" there are those who disagree with that assessment, especially considering Fr. Brown's doubts on scriptural accounts on the birth of Christ. Fr. John McKenzie, quoted in "The Battle for the American Church," by Msgr. George A. Kelly, said: "Brown manages to avoid saying there is no historical evidence for the Davidic descent of Jesus, for the birth in Bethlehem or the virginal conception, at the same time affording ample evidence for the perceptive reader to draw this conclusion."20 Fr. Brown, also is said to have some difficulty with the acceptance of the priesthood in the Church. And yet, Bishop Wuerl, who was in charge of priestly formation, gushed about Fr. Brown's talk: "Don't be surprised if homilies preached on Passion Sunday in various area churches have a similar ring."21
Catholic parents, it seems, are in for another rude awakening in our parochial schools as Bishop Wuerl moves steadily along in his push for ecumenism and the removal of our Catholic identity. Bishop Wuerl and leaders of two Protestant churches, signed a "covenant to cooperate on social ministries and other projects in the future" possibly with participation in parish events, and "...in one another's educational ministry...especially the enrollment of students in established schools." 22
Another source says, "The Catholic, Lutheran and Episcopal bishops of Pittsburgh have signed a covenant of cooperation that could lead to joint parochial schools (emphasis added) and shared facilities." 23 An example of "shar[ing] facilities" was the recent (April 27, 1996) use of St. Paul's Roman Catholic Cathedral for the consecration of Rev. Canon Robert William Duncan as bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese. The April 4, 1996 Tribune Review said: "The procession into St. Paul's will include clergy and lay representatives from each of the 75 congregations in the diocese...thirty other Episcopal bishops are expected to attend the service."
Education: The "Magnificent Obsession"
As mentioned earlier, Our Sunday Visitor portrayed Bishop Wuerl as having a "magnificent obsession with Catholic [emphasis added] education...[he] believes we should start letting people know that we have a magnificent system of schools that has educated children well for generations, bringing them up in the faith with a solid system of values and giving them education that has served them extremely well, as evidenced in the success they have had in their lives." 24
There is no doubting that graduates of Catholic schools achieve higher academic results than some public schools, but it seems that it may well be the atmosphere of discipline and higher academic expectations that figure strongly in producing the end result. Textbooks used in Pittsburgh's Catholic schools are the same as those used by the public schools, except for "religion" texts, which are watered-down in doctrine.
Educators, many of whom are well-intentioned, have been subjected to "newchurch" philosophies which distort or play down Church teachings. Many teachers seem unaware of the ever-widening gap between authentic teachings and today's modernist concepts which attribute changes to the "spirit" of Vatican II, despite the fact that Vatican II never authorized changes in the basic teachings of the Church.
The Diocese of Pittsburgh is one of twenty-five dioceses which give credit toward catechist certification by attendance at anti-Vatican "education" conferences sponsored by the group formerly known as "Time Consultants, Inc.," and now known as the "National Center for Pastoral Leadership" (NCPL). For over twenty years, the leaders of these organizations have sponsored speakers who "regularly voice their opposition to the current policies of the most powerful religious organization in the world...[who] have been rebuked by the church or forced out of their church-related positions for their criticism of the policies of Pope John Paul II, as well as, more mainstream Catholics who share the same outlook but tend not to attack the church's doctrine so intently." 25
The NCPL's East Coast Conference for Religious Education held annually in Washington, D.C., apparently enjoys the support of the United States Catholic Conference ( USCC) of bishops. The 1990 flier said: "Time Consultants [now NCPL] has offered a variety of ministerial and professional conferences in close collaboration with dioceses, the USCC, national organizations and universities throughout the United States in the areas of religious education, liturgy, youth ministry, women in the church, and the future of the church." Many of today's religious textbook publishers and authors have been associated with these conferences of church dissenters, held in late February or the first weekend in March.
Although Bishop Wuerl was sent extensive documentation about the conferences, he continued to allow diocesan participation. In fact, the late Fr. Frank Sokol, who died in 1992 at age 45, was the diocesan Director for Religious Education, and he spoke at the 1990 East Coast Conference. This was close to a year after the documentation was sent to Bishop Wuerl, who apparently passed the material on to Sokol's office. A letter from Sokol declared: "Please be assured that the good of the whole Church and the faithful teaching of its history and tradition, guide this department in its work." The letter was dated March 17, 1989. Fr. Sokol also served on Bishop Wuerl's Catholic Vision of Love theological subcommittee.26
The Diocese of Pittsburgh hosted the "Come to the Water -- Total Catholic Education Conference," November 3-4, 1995. There was much fanfare for the event which featured Cardinal Pio Laghi ( whose name appears on at least one list as a Mason 27 ) as the keynote speaker. The diocese had lined up quite an array of orthodox speakers for the conference, but also included past participants from the NCPL (Time Consultants) lineup -- Carol Augustine, Greer Gordon, Robert McCarty, Neil Parent, and Pittsburghers -- Dr. Susan Muto, and Patrick Malloy. Sr. Elizabeth Thoman, whose expertise is "media" related, spoke to the Pittsburgh group and later addressed the "Women's Ordination Conference" the following weekend in Arlington, VA.
Parental Protest
The diocese capitalized on the big names at the "Come to the Water Conference," but little was mentioned about the faithful Catholics who had gathered outside the Convention Center on that bitter cold November day to protest Bishop Wuerl's sex instruction program, Catholic Vision of Love. The diocese apparently sent security personnel outside the building to encourage the demonstrators to leave. When they did not leave, within "five minutes" of the warning, a squad car and "paddy wagon" arrived. A police officer told the demonstrators that "pornographic" material was reportedly being shown by them. The officer looked over the material being distributed by parents consisting of critiques concerning Catholic Vision of Love and other sex ed programs in the Pittsburgh Diocese and determined that the protesters were within their rights to be there, their "God-given rights." The policeman said, "This isn't what they [the Diocese] said was happening here. We don't belong here." He likened the situation to being called "to get a cat out of a tree." 28
Not only does Pittsburgh have National Center for Pastoral Leadership sympathizers in its midst, but enjoys the "honor" of having two members of its advisory board, here locally. Sr. Joanne Marie Andiorio, RSM -- President and CEO of Pittsburgh's Mercy Health System and founding president of the National Interfaith Healthcare Leadership Conference. (It is interesting to note, Bishop Wuerl chairs the bishops' Healthcare Committee.)
Also in the company of NCPL is Fr. Thomas Harvey, former pastor of two diocesan parishes, St. Joseph and Immaculate Conception. Father Harvey was involved with the Association of Pittsburgh Priests (APP) in its early years and is past president of Catholic Charities, USA. The October 7, 1994 issue of the Pittsburgh Catholic mentioned Fr. Harvey in two separate articles relating to his NCPL address, September 24, 1994, on the "future of ministry" and a talk he gave to local priests. He was also listed as a "Master Catechist" for the diocese (1994-95). The NCPL and the like are pushing for a "democratic" church which will in no way resemble what the faithful regards as Catholic.
Revising History and Attitudes
Through Multi-Cultural Studies
Another serious element that has invaded Catholic education is "multi-culturalism." The Pittsburgh schools immerse the students in the subject for a whole week. Some high school literature classes select books relating to "politically-correct" cultures and lifestyles -- American Indian, Afro-American, Hispanic, and other races of color. There is little, if any, reference to European cultures. It seems to reflect a reverse form of discrimination. Feminism and homosexuality are also part of multi-culturalism.
An inordinate amount of emphasis is placed on past injustices and attributed to selected peoples and religious beliefs. They do not relay the message that all cultures have experienced a form of prejudice at one time or another and that they must move on today and not be preoccupied in past iniquities. However, it seems that mult-culturalism curriculum is calculated to instill a division between races while blending religions.
No longer are Catholic missionaries portrayed as courageous messengers of Christ's salvation, but instead are regarded as bullies who set out to destroy native peoples and their cultures. Christian rituals are blended with "Native Spirituality." All religions are depicted as more or less the same.
In an "activity book" for the celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the diocese, the authors incorporated under "ecumenism," Christianity, Shinto, Taoism and Judaism with the explanation: "Catholics in Pittsburgh respect and learn [emphasis added] the religious traditions of peoples of many faiths. We pray `That all may be one during the week for Church unity...'" This booklet is clearly designed for young children, with pages to color and puzzles. Under "words to learn" are -- global, ecumenism, ministers, laity, etc. (Where are words such as Jesus, Trinity, Catholic, Mary, Rosary, Holy Father, priest, etc.?) Another page displays symbols of non-Christian religions and says: "People believe in God yet express their faith in unique and varied ways. Each symbol above represents a particular religious tradition." Shown were -- Russian Orthodox, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam. While there are Catholic sounding words, one gets the impression that one religion is as good as another.
The Providence Heights Alpha School, operated by the Divine Providence nuns, replaced the Mass with a "Thanksgiving Liturgy," November 24, 1993, according to one parent. The "liturgy" began with a "reading and culture different from our own. The reading come[s] to us from Israel." This reading was followed by a song and then an American Indian prayer set up in responsorial fashion whereby the presider invoked: "Be with us, O Great Spirit God. Show us the way you would have us go." The students were told to face the four directions, East, South, West and North and to call on God to help them conserve the earth's resources. Everyone was to read: "May the air we breathe be purified so that life may be sustained and nurtured over the entire face of the earth." The presider responded: "My spirit is one with you, Great Spirit God. You strengthen me day and night to share my very best with my brothers and sisters. You, whom my people see in all of creation and in all people, show you[r] love for us. Help us to know, like the soaring eagle, the heights of knowledge. From the Four Directions, fill me with the four virtues of fortitude, generosity, respect and wisdom; so that I will help my brothers and sisters in Christ walk in the path of understanding and peace." This was taken from a "Lakota Prayer Tradition." (Please note how "Christ" was inserted to Christianize the Indian prayer.)
An after-school massage anyone? The above was only a sampling of the New Age activities these nuns are engaged in. Yes, the sisters of Divine Providence who run the above school also own and operate the Kearns Spirituality Center conveniently located next door to the school. Housed within the Kearns Center is Sr. Sharon Geibel, a massage therapist who "is available for individual massages " or "back and neck massages for groups." (How many hands does Sister have?) For other "touching" experiences a program entitled "Spirit Bones in Women's Bodies" offered "ritual and gentle body touch and movement." Going on next door to the school are also workshops on the "Enneagram -- A Number for Everyone" which is a New Age exploration of one's inner self in order for individuals to discover their personality number; sessions featuring an ordained minister certified as a body/mind practitioner; and still another workshop for parents of pre-school children was to include the "God within myself...the world and...my child."
A video, "Circle of the Spirit," listed in the mult-cultural catalog from the diocese (dated 2-12-93) for high school and adult audiences is described as follows:
Circle of the Spirit is a saga of two Northwestern tribes of Native Americans, the Coeur d' alene of Idaho and the Lumi of Washington State. Viewers will experience traditional native dances. Tribal members tell of the coming of the Jesuit "Blackrobes" in 1837 and the tensions that have existed between the acceptance of Christian beliefs and their traditional tribal spirituality. [However, the truth is that the Jesuits were brutalized by the pagan Indians who even ate the hearts of the "Blackrobes."]
While Bishop Wuerl tries to give the impression that he is concerned about Catholic education, parents find him to be isolated and unreachable when trying to communicate their concerns to him. There is little, if any, communication between the Bishop and Catholic parents. People outside of the diocese seem to have the impression that Pittsburgh Catholic schools are firmly rooted in the Faith. Ask informed parents who live in constant fear that Johnny or Jane may lose their faith because of Pittsburgh's Catholic schools or because of what some misguided role model might say in contradiction to the Magisterium. Because Pittsburgh's parochial schools seem to be moving toward regionalization, parents will have an even more difficult time sharing concerns with other parents. The high schools demonstrate how difficult it is to communicate. Think how it will be with other denominations sharing "joint parochial schools."
The Sex Education Bishop
Bishop Wuerl created his own sex ed program, Catholic Vision of Love which has caused quite a commotion and the diocese continues to insist that it is in keeping with the Vatican's recent statement on sex education which upholds parents as "primary educators" of their children.
The Catholic Vision of Love sex program (CVOL) will be all inclusive. A letter sent to "Principals/ Catechetical Administrators/Clergy" from Brian Keane dated January 19, 1995 states "As you are aware, a three year process has been developed, through the 1996-1997 catechetical year, in which all parishes of the diocese will be expected to integrate the Catholic Vision of Love into schools, CCD and special education programs, throughout the diocese...emphasis will be given to parish-wide awareness of the Catholic vision of love and human sexuality through scheduled courses in adult education, homilies, pre-baptismal catechesis and family programs." Further, "Diocesan support will include: 1. continuing education programs for adults; 2. ongoing certification classes for catechists teaching CVOL and 3. continuing education programs in human sexuality/ Catholic morality for priests."
Sex education is a primary focus in Pittsburgh, despite objections from faithful parents. Marriage classes showing various forms of birth control were and are taught in our "Catholic" high schools with assurances from teachers that although the school may discuss birth control with the students -- not to worry -- they also tell students what the Church teaches!
AIDS education is mandated by the state of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh's Catholic schools, grades K-12th. Like sex education, little children are told how to make "good moral choices" when tempted to "engage in immoral or unhealthy activity." How do you explain this to children? Each grade is subjected to more and more detailed information and finally, students are given graphic descriptions of sexual intercourse, including anal and oral-genital intercourse, etc.
Feminist Spirituality
Adult Catholics seeking spiritual fulfillment are hard pressed to find an oasis of truth. The Adult Religious Education Speaker's Directory features the same caliber of "experts" to which our children are exposed and topics include: "Spirituality / Sexuality; Ecology / Environment; Homosexuality / AIDS; Hunger / Economy; Peace and Justice; Politics and the World; Racial Issues; Sexism; Clowning / Mime; Feminist Spirituality; Future Church; Earth Spirituality," etc.
A retreat center, Villa Marie, 29 offers feminist theologian, Madonna Kolbenschlag, H.M. for September 7, 1996. Other speakers and topics, past and future are: Fran Ferder, FSPA and Rev. John Heagle (Time Consultant speakers) on "Issues of Sexuality, Relationship and Intimacy" (4/30 - 5/2/93); Barbara Walter, HM and Elaine Wellinger, HM on "Loving Your Christed Self." (7/31-8/4/94); Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, "The Holy Spirit, Female Imagery of God and the New Theology of Earth" (8/27/94); International Elderhostel, "Storytelling: Musical, Magical and Mysterious" (10/15-20/95) and a Guided Retreat with Barbara O'Donnell, HM and Rita Weinken, OSF on "Weaving Webs of Wisdom (7/28-8/1/96).
Catholic teaching is being cast aside as new age ideologies take over and usher in ecumenism and the idea of blending of all religions into one and the "one" religion for the world takes on various forms of occultism and body worship.
Catholics were exposed to "A Gift of Women" (5/ 16/ 1993) sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Spirit, Martina Renewal Center. The "Centering Prayer" included these verses: "I believe in the Holy Spirit, as she moves over the waters of creation and over the earth. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the women spirit of God, who like a hen created us and gave us birth and covers us with her wings..." 30 Participants were to sing a Centering song, "Dear Sister God," by David Haas. There was also a Response -- "Women of the World" written by Martha Ann Kirk, a participant at the "Women in the Church Conference, Washington, DC in which the "goddess" was invoked. Master Catechist, Joanne Paradise gave a "Reflection -- Gift of Women." (These people are figuratively so off-balance that no amount of "centering" will bring them back, only a return to the Faith can accomplish that!)
Bishop Wuerl's, "The Teaching of Christ," an adult catechism program has been a weekly television presentation aired on local television in the Pittsburgh area. It had been fed to national cable outlets by the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) until it was dropped by EWTN in the fall of 1993. Supposedly, losing his spot on national TV didn't bother the bishop who preferred to concentrate on the "program's local success."
Some of those interviewed on the Bishop's program have controversial backgrounds: Sr. Maureen Crossen, listed in the Adult Religious Education Speakers' Directory with "Feminist Spirituality" as her topic; Sheila Carney, RSM who "understands Mary as a paradigm of feminist liberation, a kind of icon for NOW;" 31 Rev. Msgr. Charles O. Rice, controversial columnist for the Pittsburgh Catholic and promoter of APP priests. He also came to the defense of Sr. Kropinak in one of his columns, when she was exposed in The Wanderer; and "Rev. Timothy Fitzgerald, C.P., who speaks on "Earth Spirituality."
Dr. Susan Muto, who spoke at the 1992 East Coast Conference for Religious Education sponsored by the anti-Vatican "Time Consultants, Inc.," was also a guest on Bishop Wuerl's TV catechism program. Muto also worked with Fr. Adrian van Kaam at Duquesne University in "Formative Spirituality," an ecumenical program. Listed among publishers in the journal, "Studies in Formative Spirituality" were feminist theologians, Rosemary Radford Reuther and Monica Hellwig, dissident, Fr. Harvey Egan, as well as others involved with "Time Consultants." The journal included "special issues on Spiritual Perspectives (Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist)."
Another guest on the TV program, Dr. William Uricchio, had caused a big reaction with his "Understanding Human Sexuality" workshop at Gannon University (1/28-29/1983) because of its sexually explicit nature "complete with homosexual and heterosexual films." He was involved with "the pro-homosexual sex program called Sexual Attitudinal Restructuring [later renamed Sexual Attitudinal Reassessment]. 32 Dr. Uricchio is listed on the Catholic Vision of Love -- Human Sexuality Advisory Subcommittee.
Last, but not least, Bishop Wuerl's most recent guest on his show was former Pro-Nuncio Cardinal Pio Laghi referred to earlier in this article.
Press Popular
Pittsburgh Catholics are at a loss to explain the apparent cozy relationship between Bishop Wuerl and the liberal press which has featured such flattering news articles about him as -- "Spirituality Is His Specialty" (Ann Rodgers-Melnick, Pittsburgh Press, 3/12/89); "Papal Selection May Prophesy Higher Calling For Wuerl" (Ann Rodgers-Melnick, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 8/31/90); "Bishop A Whirlwind At National Conference" which refers to him as a "rising star" (Ann Rodgers-Melnick, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 11/21/93). The latest promo (3/24/96) appeared on the front page of the Pittsburgh Post Gazett entitled "The Bishop Moves Ahead." It was subtitled "Insight -- CARDINAL VIRTUES" (emphasis added) and again was written by Ann Rodgers-Melnick. Is the press promoting Bishop Wuerl for advancement, using political tactics whereby all one needs for promotion is to get one's name out there often enough accompanied by pictures and flattering phrases?
Melnick wrote a very lengthy article and praised the Bishop in terms usually reserved for a cheap romance novel: "At 55, Wuerl is 5 feet, 11 inches tall and aesthetically thin from exercise and abstemious living. Beneath meticulously trimmed silver hair, his huge hazel eyes are the centerpiece of an expressive face. When he is not pleased, his jaw tightens and his lips become a thin grim line. But when Wuerl is happy -- and he usually is -- his broad smile can light a room." 33
The Bishop's motto is "Thy Kingdom Come, which is shorthand for 'Lord, help me today to make Your kingdom come." He "sees himself as a subcontractor for the Kingdom of God, recruiting workers and pulling out all stops to meet the deadline and specifications...the kingdom isn't a city of golden streets in the sky, but an earthly reality that people build with each act of generosity and every promise kept..." 34 Many Catholics would ask Bishop Wuerl about his "acts of generosity" toward his people as far as time spent in listening to their legitimate concerns.
Social Butterfly
As Pittsburgh area churches are being closed, parishes are struggling to meet the "Parish Share" tax and Catholic parents are desperately striving to protect their Faith and that of their children, Bishop Wuerl spends time in the company of the rich and powerful. His name frequently appears on society pages, apparently in the company of people such as "river boat magnate," John Connelly. Events, such as the "Maecenas X Gala" and "The American Irish Fund" Dinner, described as a "lavish bash" are two examples of how the Bishop spends some of his leisure time. The Tribune Review, 3/27/95 revealed that guests at the "American Irish Fund" event "paid at least $500.00 a ticket to promote peace, culture and charity in Ireland...the deepest pockets paying $5,000 - $10,000 were invited to the chi-chi [showy] private reception with guests of honor, Paul Newman and Melanie Griffith." 35
Bishop Wuerl's Forest in Israel
We can not fail to mention that Bishop Wuerl now has a complete forest named after him in Israel comprised of 5000 trees. The exact amount contributed by Bishop Wuerl is unknown. However, donations made him an eligible recipient of the "Jewish National Fund's Tree of Life Award." At a Jewish dinner held in Bishop Wuerl's honor he was referred to as " a dynamic force in the building of American-Israeli relations." Hmm, what's that saying about "not seeing the forest for the trees?"
Father Lawrence DiNardo says of the Bishop, "If there are people out there who think that Bishop Wuerl's whole goal in life was to do whatever he can to please the Holy See and move himself forward in the church...their judgment of him is mistaken..." 36
The writer of the article continues: "Wuerl understands that not every word from Rome carries the same weight and chooses his issues carefully..." 37 His brother, Wayne said: "In any given environment, there are things that are permitted, things that are not permitted and there are definite gray areas...those gray areas are where a person like Don [Bishop Wuerl] can operate." 38
Pittsburgh Catholics, struggling to maintain their Catholic Faith and identity, many believe that what Bishop Wuerl has an obsession with is not "magnificent," but a dangerous preoccupation with sex education, homosexual advocacy, multi-culturalism, ecumenism, destruction of schools and parishes, feminism, married priests, politics, money, power, and suppression of the Faith. "Woe to the shepherd who...."
The above article was originally published in the Summer/1996 issue of Mothers' Watch newsletter.