What's the Use, Indeed. A Pox On Both Houses.

Some Catholic leaders are calling for the excommunication of Governor Andrew Cuomo in response to the late-term abortion bill he signed last week.
The bill, the so-called Reproductive Health Act, codifies Roe v. Wade in New York law and removes abortion from the state criminal code, legalizing the procedure up to the moment of birth in cases where the mother’s life or health are endangered or where the baby is non-viable. It also allows individuals other than doctors to perform abortions.
Previously, doctors in New York were only allowed to perform an abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy if the mother’s life was in danger.
“Today we are taking a giant step forward in the hard-fought battle to ensure a woman’s right to make her own decisions about her own personal health, including the ability to access an abortion,” Cuomo said.

The governor, a Catholic who recalled his days as an altar boy in his State of the State address earlier this month, publicly celebrated the bill’s signing by ordering One World Trade Center and other landmarks to be lit up in pink.
Many Catholics, including some bishops, responded by urging Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York to excommunicate Cuomo. But Dolan, while admitting that he has gotten “wheelbarrows” of letters asking him to make that move, has indicated he is unlikely to do so, saying the governor is “not going to be moved by this, so what’s the use?”

Showing the courage of leadership we have come to expect from the Catholic Church hierarchy....

"NY Bishop Calls Out Cuomo Over State's New Abortion Law: 'It Goes Way Beyond Roe vs. Wade' "

 There are 7 Bishops and a Cardinal in the Archdiocese of New York City. Which one?

None of them.

A bishop in Albany, New York, called out Gov. Andrew Cuomo for citing his Catholic faith and supporting recent legislation that legalizes abortion up until birth.

Cuomo (D) signed the Reproductive Health Act on Tuesday, which he called "a historic victory for New Yorkers and for our progressive values."

Days earlier, though, the governor touted his Catholic faith during his ninth State of the State address.

In an open letter to Cuomo, Albany Bishop Rev. Edward B. Scharfenberger said it was "very difficult to understand" how the governor can cite his faith, yet advocate for such a "profoundly destructive legislation."

Scharfenberger said Saturday on Fox & Friends that although Cuomo's bill advertised bringing more equality to women, it excludes the class of women who are unborn.

"It goes way beyond Roe vs. Wade in so many ways, so certainly I don't see it's something to celebrate," he said.

He added the governor's excommunication from the Catholic Church may occur if he continues to distance himself.

"I can certainly understand the outrage and the anger," he said. "My hope is that since his faith is important to him, he will reconsider the importance of maintaining that communion and not continue to distance himself."

SEEK in Indianapolis, Diocese of Meath Coverage

There was a huge gathering (around 16,000) of Catholic college students a few weeks ago in Indianapolis. The SIUC Newman Center sent a contingent. Exactly ZERO United States Bishops showed up.

Here's the Diocese of Meath, Ireland's coverage of the event:

Ten people from the Diocese of Meath attended the bi-annual SEEK Conference in Indianapolis, USA from January 3rd – 7th. The conference, organised by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), was attended by 18,000 participants with thousands more watching via live stream. College students from America as well as Ireland, England and Austria attended SEEK 2019.
FOCUS is an outreach that helps college and university students to deepen their relationship with Jesus and the Catholic faith. It aims to inspire and equip students for a lifetime of Christ-centred evangelization, discipleship and friendships in which theylead others to do the same. FOCUS missionaries invite students and parishioners into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and accompany them as they pursue lives of virtue and excellence.
The group of young people included individuals from Ratoath, Kentstown, Dunshaughlin and Drogheda. Fr Kevin Heery (St Mary’s, Navan) also attended SEEK and took part in the life-long mission track. Fifty people from Ireland attended which included twenty-eight from UCD in south Dublin where FOCUS has a team of missionaries for the past year and a half.
Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan of Waterford and Lismore was also a part of the group with an interest to see how FOCUS’ model could be applied here in Ireland. “It has been an incredible experience,” said Ivan Mather, a third-year UCD Business and Law student from Ratoath in County Meath. “Everything about the conference whether it be truly beautiful liturgies, time in adoration, the various talks to the time in
fellowship with others prepares us to bring the Gospel to our generation who so desperately needs to hear it. Less than 60% of college students would even nominally label themselves as Catholic. Less than 40% are confident that God exists. Even at Christmas just gone, the percentage Mass attendance amongst this age group in a parish such as my own would be generously described as 10% – likely less than that.”
“It’s exciting to be a part of a revival. I’ve seen it on a major scale at SEEK but even in my own life, in that of my friends, my family, in our home parish where we have a thriving youth group that has kept growing over the past year and indeed in UCD where our Catholic student group, the Newman Society has experienced exponential growth this year. There are many growing Catholic communities scattered in various places. We are eager to deepen our faith and to share it in a positive and fresh way with our peers.”
Celebrating its 20th year as an apostolate, with over 700 full-time missionaries serving on 153 campuses, FOCUS has seen more than 700 alumni pursue religious vocations and today 7,000 student leaders are heavily engaged in one-on-one discipleship. They will host their leadership summit, SLS, in Phoenix, Arizona from December 30th to January 3rd, 2020 where students, recent graduates, educators, parish leaders, clergy and religious are all welcome to become inspired and equipped for the New Evangelisation.

SEEK in Indianapolis, Diocese of Belleville Coverage

It's About Time...

Dublin, Ireland, Jan 28, 2019 / 11:30 am (CNA).- A pro-choice Irish legislator has been denied the reception of Holy Communion, after he announced that he had voted in favor of measures that allow for abortion in Ireland.

Robert Troy, the member of parliament, or Teachta Dala, for the Irish constituency of Longford-Westmeath, revealed in a December interview that he voted to repeal the Eighth Amendment to Ireland’s constitution, which prohibited abortion in the nation. The amendament was repealed after a May 2018 referendum on the issue.

Troy had previously identified as pro-life. 

“I voted to repeal it,” Troy told Irish magazine Hot Press in December 2018.
“I have to say, I thought long and hard about it. In terms of repealing the Eighth, I would have no issue in terms of fatal foetal abnormalities, incest and rape. Other areas I’m uncomfortable with it. But when it came down to it, I asked myself the question: ‘By voting no, would it prevent one termination?’ And I then I said, ‘No, because what it does is, it victimises women and it forces them to go abroad.’ While I had concerns about the 12-week nature, I ultimately came down with the decision to vote Yes.”

In the same interview, Troy said that he had supported a successful 2015 effort to legalize same-sex marriage in Ireland.

Bishop Tom Deenihan

The Times reported that Troy was denied the Eucharist at a Jan. 4 funeral Mass in the Diocese of Meath. The diocese has not commented publicly on the matter.

The report comes amid debate in the United States over the situation of New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo, a Catholic who signed into law Jan. 22 a set of measures that will allow for abortion in New York throughout a woman’s pregnancy, if her “life and health” require it. Some Catholic groups have called for a response from Cuomo’s bishop, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.

Canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law says that Catholics “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.”

Could Also Be I Heart America

"Demon Lord Clearly Visible In New York Senate Chamber Applauding Legalization Of Abortion Until Moment Of Birth"

ALBANY, NY—As the New York State Senate voted to legalize abortion until the moment of birth, remove legal protections for late-term unborn babies, and allow anyone with a pulse to perform abortion procedures, witnesses claim a demon lord was clearly visible in the gallery cheering on the decision.

"This dude in a dark cloak appeared in a flash of fire and started cackling and stuff," said one woman who also applauded the decision. "We thought maybe we should call security, but then we saw he was cheering right along with us, so we decided that he can't be all that bad."

The demon lord solemnly applauded as legislators passed the historic legislation, in which a human being can be murdered even though he or she has fully formed organs and can feel pain.

"We've been pushing for this legislation for a long time," the evil overlord told reporters after the session. "It just goes to show when you believe in your cause, scream loudly about it, ignore basic biological facts, and pray to Satan, you too can get people to cheer on the senseless slaughter of babies."

The demon lord then departed as he had pressing business to attend to at Planned Parenthood's headquarters.

One More Thing About Those Covington Boys...SPOILER ALERT

 The spoiler is that James Martin is mentioned so you know it will be stupid...

What about your school and your Church, charged with protecting your wellbeing and your souls, respectively? Rather than wait for the facts, school and diocese quickly issued a joint statement denouncing you in the strongest terms. So did the March for Life, though they later re-assessed.
A number of prominent Catholics brought their own pitchforks to the scene. Mollie O’Reilly, a Commonweal editor, tweeted: “You don’t let your kid wear a MAGA hat, and then act offended when they get taken for a racist.” Celebrity Jesuit Fr James Martin said he was “disgusted” and even questioned your integrity as Catholics: “These actions are not Catholic… Would that these students fully understood the dignity of all human life.” Fr Martin later apologised, though retractions and apologies rarely garner as much attention as the original fulminations.

March For Life Vs. the "Women's" March

 Who do you want running things?

Governor Wormtongue and the Trouble With Jesuits, Part 73

The Governor graduated from Fordham University, a Jesuit institution.  He is divorced and lives with his girlfriend.

The New York State Senate passed the Reproductive Health Act (RHA) this evening by a vote of 38-24, on the 46th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which found that a woman has a constitutional right to abortion. The bill already passed the state assembly by a 92-47 vote.

Once signed by Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo, who has long pushed for expansive abortion-rights legislation, the bill will expand the state’s already liberal abortion regime to allow late-term abortions when “the patient is within twenty-four weeks from the commencement of pregnancy, or there is an absence of fetal viability, or the abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s life or health.”

 

The legislation provides a further exception to permit abortion at any point during pregnancy if a health-care practitioner deems it necessary for the mother’s life or health — the exception that was defined in Roe companion case Doe v. Bolton as “all factors — physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age — relevant to the wellbeing of the patient.” In other words, abortion will be available to women essentially on demand up to the point of birth. The RHA will also decriminalize abortion, moving it from the state’s criminal code to the public-health code.

From a 2014 article...

When Andrew Cuomo was running for governor in 2010, he claimed time and again that he wanted to represent and fight for all the people of New York – all, that is, except Catholics.

Since taking office in 2011, Cuomo, who was baptized a Catholic, graduated from Archbishop Molloy H.S. in Queens County and Fordham University, has been hell-bent on offending Catholics and dismissing their beliefs in the public square.

Cuomo’s first assault was on Catholic teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman. He was embarrassed that his state had been “surpassed by many other countries which have legalized same-sex marriage including the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden and Portugal; as well as by many states.”  “Marriage equality,” he declared, “is a question of principle and the state shouldn’t discriminate against same-sex couples who wish to get married.”  He promised to “fight to make sure all couples have equal marriage rights under the law.”

To impose his will on practicing Catholics, Jews, and Muslims, Cuomo ruthlessly used the powers of his office.  He bought off several wavering Republican State Senators – sadly, all baptized Catholics – with promises of appointments if voters should turn them out of office.  

 New York, the abortion capital of America – 37.6 percent abortions per 1,000 pregnancies versus 19.6% nationally – has had the nation’s most liberal statute on the books since 1970.  If Roe v. Wade were suddenly overturned, it would have no impact on the state.

News From a Formerly Catholic Universiy

South Bend, Ind., Jan 21, 2019 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- A series of murals depicting Christopher Columbus' life and exploration displayed at the University of Notre Dame will be covered up, the university's president announced Sunday.
“Painted in 1882-84 … they reflect the attitudes of the time and were intended as a didactic presentation, responding to cultural challenges for the school’s largely immigrant, Catholic population,” Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C., wrote in his Jan. 20 letter announcing the decision.
“In recent years, however, many have come to see the murals as at best blind to the consequences of Columbus’s voyage for the indigenous peoples who inhabited this 'new' world and at worst demeaning toward them.”

Carol Delaney, an emerita professor of anthropology at Stanford University and author of “Columbus and the Quest for Jerusalem,” told CNA in 2017 that a popular current narrative around Columbus is tarred by bad history.
“They’re blaming Columbus for the things he didn’t do. It was mostly the people who came after, the settlers,” Delaney said. “He’s been terribly maligned.”

She said Columbus initially had a favorable impression of many of the Native Americans he met and instructed the men under his command not to abuse them but to trade with them; he also punished some of his own men who committed crimes against the natives.
Delaney acknowledged that some Native Americans were sent to Spain as slaves or conscripted into hard labor at the time Columbus had responsibility for the region, but she attributed this mistreatment to his substitutes acting in his absence.
And the Knights of Columbus have said that their namesake “has frequently been falsely blamed for the actions of those who came after him and is the victim of horrific slanders concerning his conduct.”

And since there are no Catholic issues to worry about....

 The head of the Native American Student Association of Notre Dame welcomed Jenkins' decision, and wrote to the South Bend Tribune expressing hope that the administration “will continue to prioritize Native issues on our campus in the coming weeks and months as there is still work to be done.”

I Want a Refund!

Washington D.C., Jan 22, 2019 / 03:30 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Planned Parenthood, the largest performer of abortions in the U.S., has released its annual report, and its critics object to the organization’s increase in abortions and financial profits even as its number of adoption referrals has fallen.
“The big business of abortion is evident in this report, as Planned Parenthood turned a profit of nearly $250 million, a 150 percent increase, according to its own accounts. What a waste of taxpayer dollars,” Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, said Jan. 21.
“While Planned Parenthood pushes talking points about healthcare, the fact remains that Planned Parenthood is the nation’s number one abortion vendor, profiting by violently ending life,” Hawkins charged. “But pregnancy is not a disease cured by abortion. Women deserve real, life-affirming care, and taxpayers deserve a return on their investment that helps women and their children, born and preborn.” 

While federal funds for abortion are limited, the abortion provider Planned Parenthood receives over $500 million in federal funding for programs involving contraception provision and other services.

It is also in the public eye for possible involvement in illegal sale of fetal tissue from aborted babies’ remains, after a series of videos produced by the Center for Medical Progress alleged that Planned Parenthood was involved in the sale of aborted fetal parts for profit.
The Department of Justice is currently investigating Planned Parenthood due to these videos. Congress has launched several investigations.

Weirdly, I Was Thinking This Morning About Buying a Quip Toothbrush

 I threw out my Gillette razor yesterday and bought a Harry's.

Conservative commentator and radio host Ben Shapiro reportedly lost an advertiser Friday after reading ads during his speech at the annual March for Life rally in Washington, D.C.

Quip toothbrushes said it will no longer advertise on any of Shapiro’s programming, saying it disagreed with having its ad read at the anti-abortion rally, HuffPost reported.

“Our mission is to make good oral health more accessible to everyone, and podcast advertising is one way we’re able to realize this,” Quip said in a statement reported by HuffPost.

“However, following one of our ads being read in a venue we did not endorse, we have chosen to discontinue our advertising relationship with this show. We are also taking steps to ensure all of our advertising partners are aligned with our oral health mission and values.”

Shapiro garnered widespread attention online Friday after saying during his appearance at the rally that “no pro-life person would kill baby Hitler" because "baby Hitler was a baby.”

During his appearance at the rally, he also read ads for multiple sponsors. HuffPost noted that he read the ads for the podcast that he was simultaneously recording on Friday.

The 35-year-old Shapiro has a large following among younger conservatives. His podcast “The Ben Shapiro Show,” is downloaded more than 10 million times every month.

The Only Thing Worse Than a Catholic is a Catholic in a MAGA Hat!

On Friday, somewhere between 100,000 and 300,000 people attended the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. The crowd dwarfed that at the Women’s Anti-Semites’ March the following day. Vice-President Pence addressed the March for Life crowd in person, and President Trump spoke via satellite.
Was that news? No. The only “news” that emerged from the massive rally arose out of a peaceful confrontation between some high school boys from Kentucky and an elderly Native American Man and a group of his followers. Supposedly, the boys treated the man disrespectfully. This became front-page news across the country. Why? Because it was important? Of course not; on Friday there were countless traffic accidents that deserved to make the news more than this encounter between teenagers and an aged activist. But this is how my home town paper, the Star Tribune, treated the story:

UPDATE: Ed Driscoll has the latest at InstaPundit. A number of conservatives who initially jumped on the bandwagon have now apologized to the Covington Catholic kids. That’s good, but it would have been better not to chime in with a corrupt lynch mob in the first place.
FURTHER UPDATE: Left-wing news sources are now backing off. See, for example, the Star Tribune, which has dropped its original headline, “Students in MAGA Hats Mock Native American After Rally.” No acknowledgement, of course, that this was a flat out lie. Now, this is what we see:

American Indian says he tried to ease tensions at Mall

The revised story begins:

A Native American who was seen in online video being taunted outside the Lincoln Memorial said Sunday he felt compelled to get between two groups with his ceremonial drum to defuse a confrontation.
Nathan Phillips said in an interview with The Associated Press that he was trying to keep peace between some Kentucky high school students and a black religious group that was also on the National Mall on Friday.

This is complete bullshit, but the Associated Press knows that a large majority of readers will not have seen the video. The activist went looking for press coverage, dishonestly, and he got it.

Catholic, in the Nancy Pelosi Sense

 This could have been another The Trouble With Jesuits post.


Panama City, Panama, Jan 16, 2019 / 04:06 pm (CNA).- A U.S.-based coalition of dissenting Catholics, whose backers include wealthy non-Catholic funders, is sending a small group of LGBT activists to World Youth Day in Panama to engage with media and pilgrims and to challenge Catholic teaching and practice they say is “harmful.”

The six pilgrims are backed by the Equally Blessed Coalition, currently composed of the groups Call to Action, Dignity USA and New Ways Ministry. The group Fortunate Families had belonged to the coalition for several years but left it in 2018.
This year’s World Youth Day, a major international Catholic young adult event, will take place in the Panama City area Jan. 22-27. It is expected to draw 3 million people, including 200,000 Panamanians, according to local papers. Pope Francis will take part in the events and celebrate a penitential liturgy with juvenile detention center detainees, a Way of the Cross with young people, a prayer vigil with youth, and a Mass for World Youth Day participants.
The Equally Blessed Coalition’s November 13, 2018 announcement cited Pew Research Center and Public Religion Research Institute polling that they said showed two-thirds of American Catholics backed “gay marriage” and a majority oppose “so-called ‘religious freedom’ laws that allow businesses and other public service providers to discriminate against individuals on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.” (This sounds bogus).


In a February 12, 2010 statement, then-U.S. bishops’ conference president Cardinal Francis George of Chicago said New Ways Ministry’s claim to be Catholic “only confuses the faithful regarding the authentic teaching and ministry of the Church with respect to persons with a homosexual inclination.” He rejected claims that it provides “an authentic interpretation of Catholic teaching and an authentic Catholic pastoral practice.” The group has no approval from the Church and “they cannot speak on behalf of the Catholic faithful in the United States,” he said.

In 2016 New Ways Ministry awarded its Bridge Building Award to media commentator and America magazine editor Father James Martin, S.J., who based his book on LGBT outreach on his acceptance speech.
In 2012 the Equally Blessed Coalition issued a report attacking the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Knights of Columbus for their work to maintain the legal definition of marriage as a union of one man and one woman

Trump Miraculously Feeds Multitudes With Just 5 Quarter Pounders, 2 Filet-O-Fish Sandwiches

WASHINGTON, D.C.—According to stunned witnesses at the White House yesterday, President Trump somehow managed to feed an entire multitude with just five Quarter Pounders and two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, miraculously multiplying the food until there was enough to go around for the entire Clemson football team.

Worried aides had rushed to Trump's side and informed him there wasn't enough food for the visiting national champions. "Go and ask if anyone packed a lunch," Trump instructed them, but all they were able to find was a bag of week-old McDonald's food in Trump's desk.
Trump quietly knelt and thanked the Lord for the sack containing just five cheeseburgers and two fish sandwiches he'd stowed away in case he got hungry, blessed the food, and then told his aides to begin laying the food out on the table.

The White House staffers were shocked to find the sack continued to produce food, with more and more Quarter Pounders, Big Macs, fish sandwiches, fries, and McNuggets coming forth in a great bounty from on high.

"It's a great miracle," Trump told reporters. "The best. The old miracles in the Bible, they just had bread, no burgers." He shrugged. "How do you eat bread without a fabulous McDonald's patty and a little mayo? Sounds good, doesn't work."

At publishing time, sources had confirmed aides collected over 12 takeout bags of cheeseburgers, on which Trump quickly called "dibs."

"Care for the Earth" Liturgy Penitential Rite

 BROTHER TREE!

 SISTER BIRD!

Being Pushed Down the Slippery Slope

Seattle, Wash., Jan 15, 2019 / 12:03 am (CNA).- A Catholic healthcare network has settled an ACLU lawsuit over transgender surgeries, saying that it has covered these procedures in its employee medical plan since January 2017.
Plaintiffs in the suit said they want Catholic employers to cover minors’ transition surgeries as well, though one leading Catholic ethicist says Catholic institutions can’t ethically provide these health plan options for anyone, adults or minors.
“People who suffer from gender dysphoria exhibit great anguish. We can acknowledge this and should accompany them on a personal level and try to offer effective interventions,” John F. Brehany, director of institutional relations at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told CNA.
“However, just because someone requests some intervention doesn't mean it should be provided. Sometimes people who are depressed request assistance in suicide, but no one, including Catholics, should provide such assistance.”

I Wonder How THAT Happenend?

Philadelphia, Pa., Jan 14, 2019 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- Judges in California and Pennsylvania have issued injunctions against a Trump administration rule that would allow the Little Sisters of the Poor and similar groups to claim a religious exemption against the Department of Health and Human Services so-called Contraception Mandate. 

Obama appointee Gilliam

Judge Haywood Gilliam of the U.S. District Court for Northern California issued a preliminary injunction Jan. 13 that affects 13 states plus the District of Columbia in the case State of California v. HHS. Gillam declined to issue the nationwide injunction requested by the plaintiffs, the attorneys general of several states led by California.
Responding to the ruling, Mark Rienzi, president of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said Sunday’s decision “will allow politicians to threaten the rights of religious women like the Little Sisters of the Poor,” whom the Becket Fund represents.

 

Obama appointee Beetlestone

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone issued a nationwide injunction blocking the same rule in her decision for the case Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Trump.

What? During the USCCB "Building Communities of Welcome" Week?

Mexican President Obrador Calls For Border Wall To Help Keep Out Drunk College Students From Entering Country During Spring Break

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took to national television Tuesday night in his battle over his proposed border wall to keep out drunk college students from the country during spring break.

Describing the situation at places like Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta during the months of February and April as a “growing crisis,” Obrador urged Congress to give him close to $97 billion pesos to keep out “undesirables.”

“This is a crisis of debauchery—a crisis of the heart and of the liver,” Obrador said. “For the Mexican people, it is a mental crisis. Yes, we make money during these months, but at what cost?”

Obrador went on to say that every year, “hundreds of thousands of Katlyns, Brittanys, Tiffanys, Taylors, and Kaitlyns pour into this country from different sororities every year, endangering the mental security of the Mexican people.”

“That’s not even counting the wolves that accompany many of these women—the Brads, Chads, Dillons, Zachs, and, of course, Connors,” the President went on to say.

In a brief joint response from Southern California, Fraternity and Sorority leaders Chelsea and Dax accused Obrador of being lame.

The Bishops Leave the Bunker

Analysis: Their retreat accomplished, the U.S. bishops remain under siege

Chicago, Ill., Jan 7, 2019 / 04:41 pm (CNA).- The Archdiocese of Chicago’s Mundelein Seminary is beautiful. Set on 600 leafy acres, its buildings merge the aesthetics of the American Colonial Revival with the motifs of great Roman edifices. Its library is expansive. Its chapel is a gem. Mundelein is the kind of place that is hard to leave.
When their seven-day retreat at Mundelein ends Jan. 8, some U.S. bishops may be reluctant to leave the seminary. But if they are not eager to go home, the setting will not be the reason.
When they depart, many bishops will find their retreat did not bring an end to the siege under which they find themselves.
Once home, they will face the same questions, the same investigations, the same demand for answers that they left behind. And they will face the same impatience from Catholics across the country...

The priorities for the U.S. bishops are said to be establishing a mechanism for credibly investigating allegations of abuse, negligence, or misconduct against bishops; investigating the possibility of expanding the Church’s definition of vulnerable adults to include seminarians and others under the authority of bishops, and creating protocols for bishops who are removed or resign from their posts amid scandal or allegations.

It seems likely they’ll be able to accomplish some portion of those goals by the conclusion of their June meeting.
The question, of course, is whether Catholics will wait.
Among the effects of the scandal has been a much broader sense of disillusionment and disenfranchisement from Catholics than was palpable in the aftermath of 2002. It is not yet clear whether the scandals of 2018 have impacted Church attendance or diocesan financial support. And, of course, for many Catholics the anger of last summer has abated. But episcopal leadership is under a new level of scrutiny in the U.S., and voices from across the ecclesial spectrum have been unrelenting in calling for change.

GEEZ! I Almost Missed It!

The stalemate over the border wall continues amid the USCCB's National Migration Week, taking place Jan. 6-12. The week's theme this year is “Building Communities of Welcome”.

Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin, chair of the USCCB Committee on Migration, said Jan. 4 that “In this moment, it is particularly important for the Church to highlight the spirit of welcome that we are all called to embody in response to immigrant and refugee populations who are in our midst sharing our Church and our communities.”

Are You Smarter Than a Nun?

Here's your chance to find out.

Catholic IQ.

Nancy Pelosi Named Speaker Of The Church

Nancy Pelosi became the most powerful person in the Catholic Church today as she was elected Speaker of the Church in America.
The Catholic democrat vowed to “reach across the pews and across the divisions in this great Church.”
“American Catholics want a Church that delivers results for the people, even if those results are completely at odds with Church teaching they have heard in the past,” Pelosi said with gavel in hand. “As speaker of the Church in America, I begin my new role as the God’s mouthpiece until he returns to America.”

Noted Theologian Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi’s new role allows her to speak ex cathedra when she is speaking about faith or morals while holding the gavel.
“Marriage between two men or two women is henceforth consistent with Catholic teaching. Actually, let me amend that. Marriage between anything other than two men or two women is henceforth inconsistent with Catholic teaching, and there for invalid. Gay marriage or no marriage. Your choice. Speaking of choice…”

You Keep Using that Word....

I don't think it means what you think it means...

“The wall is, in my view, immoral, expensive, unwise, and when the president says, 'Well, I promised a wall during my campaign.' I don’t think he said he was going to pass billions of dollars of cost of the wall on to the taxpayer," Pelosi added.

Pelosi argued that "the president is expressing a sign of weakness" by wanting a wall to stem the flow of illegal immigrants from crossing the southern border.

 

Noted Theologian Nancy Pelosi

Meanwhile she:
 

Voted NO on banning federal health coverage that includes abortion.

Voted YES on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines

 Voted NO on banning partial-birth abortions.

Voted NO on banning partial-birth abortion except to save mother’s life.

Voted NO on restricting interstate transport of minors to get abortions. 

 

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 2, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, says that same-sex “marriage” is perfectly "consistent" with Catholic Christianity.
Pelosi brought her grandchildren to see her receive an award from the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, to show the young, impressionable children that "marriage equality is important."
In an interview with Thomas Roberts on MSNBC, Pelosi said she took the children to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund gala because "it's really important to see what the practice of our faith is."