Whitey Bulger and the Catholic Church

 Whitey Bulger was given a Catholic funeral in the Diocese of Boston recently.

Whitey, a notorious gangster, was murdered in prison recently.
 
 From Wikipedia:

Bulger's trial began on June 12, 2013. He was tried on 32 counts of racketeering, money laundering, extortion, and weapons charges, including complicity in 19 murders. On August 12, Bulger was found guilty on 31 counts, including both racketeering charges, and was found to have been involved in 11 murders. On November 14, he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus five years for his crimes by U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper. Bulger was incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary Coleman II in Sumterville, Florida.

Why? Canon Law says:


1983 CIC 1184. § 1. Unless they gave some signs of repentance before death, the following must be deprived of ecclesiastical funerals: 1º notorious apostates, heretics, and schismatics; 2º those who chose the cremation of their bodies for reasons contrary to Christian faith; 3º other manifest sinners who cannot be granted ecclesiastical funerals without public scandal of the faithful. § 2. If any doubt occurs, the local ordinary is to be consulted, and his judgment must be followed.

 If Pope Francis wants to change the canon law forbidding ecclesiastical funeral rites for “manifest sinners who cannot be granted ecclesiastical funerals without scandal” (1983 CIC 1184 § 1 n. 1) he can do so. Till then Church law forbidding such funerals, a law that dates back many centuries, remains in effect, and its apparent gross violation last week by clergy of the Archdiocese of Boston, who (seemingly with approval from the chancery), granted notorious mob murderer James “Whitey” Bulger a Catholic funeral Mass, hardly justifies granting Church funerals to other “manifest sinners” who do not give “some signs of repentance before death”—which no one claims Bulger gave—not that that fact gave James Martin, sj, any pause before tweeting Bulger’s funeral as preemptive justification for Church funerals for “LGBT person[s even though] they are married”.

Not About Religion, But Too Funny Not to Post

FLORIDA—Broward County, which has had trouble meeting its legal deadlines in the counting of ballots, has now brought in a consultant to speed up the recount: counting expert Count von Count.
The Count wasted no time and immediately began counting as soon as he saw the ballots. He picked up one and said, “One vote for governor, eh eh eh.”

After that, he picked up a second ballot and said, “Two votes for governor, eh eh eh.”

Next, he picked up a third ballot and said, “Three votes for governor, eh eh eh.”

“Wow!” exclaimed Broward County official Stanley Collier. “He’s way faster than us!”

The Count continued his tabulation and within a minute was in double digits. “I always get confused once I reach the number nine,” said Brenda C. Snipes, the Supervisor of Elections for Broward County, “but he blew right through that.”

With the help of the Count, Broward County now expects to have an official total sometime in late 2019.

 If you don't know the Count, you never watched Sesame Street.

Council Chairman Stamps Feet, Vows To Hold Breath Until He Turns Blue

Baltimore, Md., Nov 13, 2018 / 11:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As the bishops of the United States continued their fall general assembly in Baltimore Tuesday, the leaders of the National Advisory Council delivered a report to the conference, telling bishops of the “depth of anger” felt by the council members over recent scandals.
 
The council meets ahead of the annual sessions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to review and vote on the proposed action items to be put before the assembly, offering their opinion on the priorities of the conference.

The council chair, Fr. David Whitestone, delivered his report to the conference Nov. 13, telling them that the council session, held Sept. 6-9, came hard on the heels of the scandal of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, the release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report, and the release of the 11-page testimony of Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano.

It was, Whitestone said, a “unique” gathering, unlike any of their previous meetings.

“We are facing painful times as a Church, and this was reflected in our meeting,” he told the conference.

“The depth of anger, pain, and disappointment expressed by the members of the NAC cannot begin to be expressed adequately in words.”

The Pope Protects the Countries Who Can't Figure Out How to Make Nuclear Weapons, Like Argentina

The Pope addressed the Plenary of the Pontifical Academy of Science recently. Here's some of what he said:


The possible fruits of this mission of service are countless: here I would like to mention only a few. First, there is the immense and ongoing crisis of climate change and the nuclear menace. Following in the footsteps of my predecessors, I reaffirm the fundamental importance of commitment to a world without nuclear arms (cf. Message to the United Nations Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, Leading Towards their Total Elimination, 23 March 2017), and I ask – as did Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II – that scientists actively cooperate to convince government leaders of the ethical unacceptability of such weaponry, because of the irreparable harm that it causes to humanity and to the planet. Consequently, I too reaffirm the need for a disarmament which today seems a subject less and less raised at the tables around which great decisions are made. May I be able to thank God, as did Saint John Paul II in his Testament, that in my Pontificate the world was spared the immense tragedy of an atomic war.

Global changes are increasingly influenced by human actions. Hence there is also a need for adequate responses aimed at protecting the health of the planet and its inhabitants, a health put at risk by all those human activities that employ fossil fuels and deforest the planet (cf. Laudato Si’, 23).  Just as the scientific community has made progress in identifying these risks, it is now called to propose workable solutions and to convince societies and their leaders to pursue them.

I had a lawn full of Global Warning this morning!

Certification? Censorship? Are They Synonomous?

The most astonishing demand of the "Synod Fathers" who approved their final document without actually reading it is in paragraph #146:

 

I get a feeling I won't get certified.

 

Taking Advise on Masculinity from a Frenchman Is Not Wise

From Father Longenecker:

The sight of Catholic cardinals scrambling over themselves to chase the spirit of the age is not only disconcerting–its ridiculous and sad.

In this headline Canada’s Cardinal Ouellet tells us that the Church “needs women to fight clericalism and extreme masculinity”
OK. Let us not jump to conclusions based on the headline.

In his address to the synod members Oct. 18, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, said he agreed with the working document’s assertion that there sometimes is “an ecclesial inability to recognize, welcome and foster the creativity of the ‘feminine genius.'”
“The participation of authoritative women in the discussion has shown us that it is possible and necessary to accelerate the processes of struggle against the ‘machista’ culture and clericalism, to develop respect for women and the recognition of their charisms as well as their equal integration in the life of society and the church,” the cardinal said.

 Once again our prelates seem deaf to the real problem in the church and are taking the ostrich position.
Headlines are screaming about homosexual priests who have been abusing teens, cardinals jumping into bed with seminarians, a homosexual subculture in seminaries and religious houses, drug fueled gay orgies in the Vatican, a Vatican appointed communications guru who is a global advocate for active gay life, parishes with “LGBTQ ministries” that have socials at gay clubs, cardinals and archbishops endorsing dissident gay rights groups… and we have a problem of toxic masculinity in the priesthood?
Most of the priests I know are good guys, but I wouldn’t say they are exactly Reverend Rambo.

Pope Francis Offers Mind-Blowing Deals On Indulgences For Reformation Day

VATICAN CITY—The Roman Catholic Church is celebrating Reformation Day in style, by offering thousands of hot deals on indulgences for the forgiveness of the temporal punishments for sin in purgatory.

A crazed-looking Pope Francis ran an infomercial throughout the day Tuesday, marking the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation by offering hourly lightning deals on high-quality, official indulgences granted by the Roman Catholic Church.
“Tetzel would be rolling in his grave if he could see the kinds of deals we have for you today!” Pope Francis said in the infomercial, which was rolling around the clock as the Pope broadcast from Vatican City. “We’ve got indulgences for gossip, we’ve got indulgences for lying—heck, we’ve even got indulgences for fornication! All at rock-bottom prices! And if you buy in bulk, you’re going to save, save, save!”
Pope Francis hawked the Roman Catholic wares all day long, enthusiastically pitching the indulgences as a great gift for birthdays, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Easter.
“But wait, there’s more!” Francis said later in the afternoon. “If you buy right now, you’ll get the value pack on indulgences, plus you’ll get a SECOND value pack—absolutely FREE! That’s right! So call now, don’t wait, we only have a few lines open so get your order placed right now!”
At publishing time, Pope Francis had begun a live demonstration of the indulgences, showing how he could commit a minor sin and immediately have its punishment removed through one of the official Catholic products.

Migrant is a Synonym For Invader

Denver, Colo., Nov 1, 2018 / 04:00 am (CNA).- Catholic agencies along the U.S.-Mexico border are bolstering refugee aid efforts as thousands of people in multiple migrant caravans continue to trek north through Mexico to the border.
Thousands of migrants, primarily from the Central American countries of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, started multiple caravans to the United States border earlier this month in order to seek asylum. While the caravans are still weeks out, Catholic charities along the border are preparing for an increased influx of refugees.
Teresa Cavendish, director of operations for Catholic Community Services in Tucson, Arizona told CNA that while they are monitoring the caravans, the agency is accustomed to receiving and helping large numbers of migrants with food and clothing, and then connecting them to their family in the U.S.

 Cavendish said that CCS provides those in their care with information about their legal rights, as well as on resources 

In other words, provide those here illegally with information on how to steal form the American Taxpayer. Gee thanks.