Pot...Meet Kettle

 

Washington D.C., Jan 6, 2021 / 05:57 pm MT (CNA).- Catholic bishops strongly condemned pro-Donald Trump protesters' incursion that penetrated the Capitol Building Wednesday as Congress debated the certification of the presidential election results, leading to the evacuation of lawmakers and the deadly shooting of one protester by law enforcement.

“I join people of good will in condemning the violence today at the United States Capitol,” Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Jan. 6. “This is not who we are as Americans. I am praying for members of Congress and Capitol staff and for the police and all those working to restore order and public safety.”

What did they have to say about Black Lives Matter?

 

July 17, 2020 (Crisis) — The first step on the way to solving a problem is to understand what the problem is. Consequently, we can’t look to America’s bishops to offer solutions to our nation’s most pressing problem because most of them simply don’t get it.

The biggest problem we currently face is an attempt to overthrow our country’s system of government. In the words of one Black Lives Matter leader, we “should burn down this system and replace it.” Replace it with what? Well, nobody knows for sure. But judging by the fact that leftists, Marxists, anarchists, and nihilists are heavily involved in the movement, the “replacement” society won’t be a pleasant one.

It’s not only the United States that the protesters wish to take down, but also the Western Christian tradition upon which American society was built. Shaun King, a far-left activist and Black Lives Matter supporter with a large following, tweeted that “all murals and stained-glass windows of white Jesus, and his European mother, and their white friends should also come down. They are a gross form of white supremacy. Created as tools of oppression. Racist propaganda.” So beneath the “black lives matter” hype, the main agenda is still, “Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Western civ has got to go!”

But apparently many bishops haven’t been paying attention. They seem to believe that the current crisis is all about racism. They seem to think that if only we can overcome the sin of racism, the nation will heal. To them it’s the sixties all over again and this is their chance to show their solidarity with the civil rights marchers of yore. Only, the current protests aren’t led by people whose primary interest is ensuring civil rights — but, rather, by people who want to bring down the system that guarantees civil rights.

OH MY! The USCCB Made SENSE!

 

CNA Staff, Dec 10, 2020 / 07:01 pm MT (CNA).- The doctrine committee of the US bishops’ conference (USCCB) earlier this year produced a guide to evaluating the lyrics of hymns on the basis of their doctrinal content, noting that Vatican II declared sacred music’s purpose to be “the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful.”

“Christian tradition, both Eastern and Western, has from antiquity been acutely aware that hymns and other songs are among the most significant forces in shaping – or misshaping – the religious and theological sensibility of the faithful,” the committee wrote in “Catholic Hymnody at the Service of the Church,” which is dated September 2020.

 

“It is all the more important, then, that hymnody selected for the liturgical life of the Church successfully draw out the beauty of the Christian mysteries themselves. This cannot be done if language is used that is out of keeping with the sensibility created by scriptural texts and universal liturgical usage.”

 Examples of hymns that offend the presentation of Eucharistic doctrine, they said, include “God is Here! As We His People”; “Now in This Banquet”; “Let Us Break Bread Together on Our Knees”; and “All Are Welcome”. 

 The bishops wrote that hymns “that imply that the Jews as a people are collectively responsible for the death of Christ” would be ruled out, naming in particular “The Lord of the Dance” and “O Crucified Messiah”.

 The document on hymns said that “Canticle of the Sun” “teaches that death is natural and necessary for our life to have something at stake and thus be ‘real.’ In fact, it is the Resurrection of Christ that makes our life ‘real,’ restoring what we had lost in Adam, and it is the Passion of Christ, not death per se, that ‘helps us to feel.’ Death is not a necessary part of human nature.”

Not Giving Communion to Biden is "Political", But Not...

 

CNA Staff, Dec 9, 2020 / 03:30 am MT (CNA).- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) applauded a federal judge’s recent decision to restore the full Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, including the resumption of new applicants.

Auxiliary Bishop Mario Dorsonville of Washington, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, praised the decision in a Dec. 8 statement. He emphasized the Church’s support of immigrant communities.

 

                                                              The USCCB is on the case!

“We welcome the full reinstatement of the DACA program and are particularly pleased that with this ruling, youth who are first-time applicants are allowed to apply for the program for the first time since 2017. The DACA program directly benefits immigrant youth, their families, and the communities we serve,” he said.

“To all Dreamers, the Catholic Church continues to stand with you and will advocate with you to ensure you reach your God-given potential here in the United States.”

The Best Bishop We Have Is Retired

 

A retired archbishop has said that President-elect Joe Biden should not receive Holy Communion because of his stance on abortion -- an issue that has divided Catholic leadership in the U.S.

The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Biden’s support for abortion rights presents the church with a “difficult and complex situation,” but Charles J. Chaput, a retired archbishop, has made his stance clear: Biden has demonstrated that “he is not in full Communion with the Catholic Church.”

                                                               Archbishop Chaput
 

“The implications for the present moment are clear,” Chaput wrote in the magazine First Things. “Public figures who identify as 'Catholic' give scandal to the faithful when receiving Communion by creating the impression that the moral laws of the Church are optional.”

 “When bishops publicly announce their willingness to give Communion to Mr. Biden, without clearly teaching the gravity of his facilitating the evil of abortion (and his approval of same-sex relationships), they do a serious disservice to their brother bishops and their people.”

 Catholics have been sharply divided over the issue of denying Holt Communion to public figures who take controversial stances on issues near and dear to the church, with bishops sharply divided over Biden in particular.

The USCCP president, Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, ahead of Thanksgiving announced a working group of bishops who would assess the dilemma. Gomez rankled conservative bishops when he congratulated Biden on his victory and praised many of the president-elect's stances, including on immigration and racial justice.

 Washington archbishop Cardinal Wilton Gregory already declared that he would not deny Biden any Communion. Cardinal Gregory would Biden’s local bishop, and he called the issue of denial a “confusion” over Church teaching. 

 

                                                                     Cardinal Gregory

Should Joe Biden Be Allowed Communion?

Wilton Gregory thinks so...

People who think pro-choice Catholic politicians like President-elect Joe Biden shouldn’t be given Communion are often accused of politicizing the sacrament. But the real politicizers are the accusers, who introduce politics into the discussion. The accused aren’t motivated by politics but by reverence for the Blessed Sacrament, much as St. Paul was in cautioning the Christians of Corinth against receiving it unworthily. (cf.1 Cor 11:27)

It helps to see these matters in the broader context of respect and disrespect for the Eucharist generally. There is a neat formulation of the problem in the newly published first volume of Cardinal George Pell’s Prison Journal. Speaking of the too-casual reception of the sacrament, which is common today, he says: “Every type of Catholic should realize there is an exclusion zone around the Eucharist, where adults without faith and without basic good practice should not enter.”

Then he quotes a prison warden’s explanation of why a prominent Catholic criminal attended Mass without receiving Communion. “Because he has faith,” the warden said.

 

But when all is said and done, the heart of this problem remains. It’s a grave scandal being given to Catholics – who are led to conclude that, when push comes to shove, neither the evil of abortion nor the holiness of the Eucharist is all that important to certain Church leaders.

On that point, give the final word to Cardinal Pell, still speaking about the problem posed by loose practice in regard to the Blessed Sacrament:

It will be very difficult pastorally to reform the “open house” inclusive approach, because many regard the reception of Communion as being like accepting a biscuit and a cup of tea. . . .In an age of religious indifference and ignorance, the indiscriminate reception of Holy Communion is against the tradition and bad for the spiritual health of the Church.

Wouldn’t you think it was time and then some for everyone – popes, bishops, priests – to do something about that?

We Need Open Borders!

Xalapa, Mexico, Jun 9, 2020 / 01:49 pm MT (CNA).- The Xalapa Cathedral and the Expiatory Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Mexico’s Veracruz state were vandalized June 8 during a march protesting local police repression.

According to La Silla Rota, the incident that sparked the demonstration was the death in police custody of Carlos Andrés Navarro. Family and friends of the young man, who had demonstrated peacefully, disavowed and condemned the violence, the media reported. 

Graffiti spray painted on church walls included the messages “pedophiles,” “oppressive state,” “rapists,” “war on the state and capitalism,” and the anarchist symbol.

Because Nothing Says Catholic Like Founding a Muslim Country

 I'm too smart to be a Bishop.

Jerusalem, Jan 17, 2020 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- Following a trip to the Holy Land, a group of bishops from the United States and Europe called on their countries’ governments to acknowledge the state of Palestine and to apply international law in Israel and the surrounding area in order to promote peace and justice.

“We are inspired by their enduring resilience and faith in a worsening situation,” the bishops said of those who live in the Holy Land in a Jan. 16 statement.

The Bishops Want Me To Have My Own Country!

The bishops added that the Catholic bishops of the Holy Land have “lamented the international community’s failure to help realize justice and peace here in the place of Christ’s birth. Our governments must do more to meet their responsibilities for upholding international law and protecting human dignity. In some cases they have become actively complicit in the evils of conflict and occupation.”

I'm Starting a New One .. The Problem with Open Borders, Chapter 1

Washington D.C., Jul 16, 2019 / 01:05 pm (CNA).- The president of U.S. bishops’ conference issued a statement on Tuesday condemning a newly-announced rule on asylum eligibility at the southern border, suggesting that countries like Mexico are not a safe final destination for asylum seekers, and encouraging the Trump administration to change the policy. 
“The rule adds further barriers to asylum-seekers’ ability to access life-saving protection, shirks our moral duty, and will prevent the United States from taking its usual leading role in the international community as a provider of asylum protection,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the USCCB, in a statement released July 16. 

Meanwhile....

Santiago, Chile, Jan 6, 2020 / 06:50 pm (CNA).- A mob of masked protesters set fire Jan. 3 to a Catholic church dedicated to serving the national police in Santiago, Chile, while an anti-government demonstration was in progress in nearby Plaza Italia.
According to local reports, a group of masked individuals surrounded Saint Francis Borgia Church, located two blocks away from the plaza, around 8 p.m., setting fire to a vehicle parked outside and then starting fires inside the church and an attached building.
Three companies of firemen arrived at the scene, but the masked mob blocked their passage and they were unable to put out the fire in a timely manner, according to reports.
The church was built in 1876 and was originally the Sacred Heart of Jesus Chapel of Saint Borgia Hospital. In November 1975, it was set aside to serve the spiritual needs of the Carabineros, the national police force.

I Will Allow You to Travel, As Long as You Put Your Fingers in Your ears and say, 'LALALALALA! I Can't Hear You!"

Springfield, Ill., Sep 30, 2019 / 01:15 pm (CNA).- An Illinois state representative has introduced legislation to prevent government employees from traveling to states which have enacted pro-life legislation. The Illinois state Catholic conference told CNA the bill is "absurd."

The bill, introduced last week by Rep. Daniel Didech (D-Buffalo Grove), would ban any Illinois state agency from requiring or approving travel by any of its employees or officers to states with laws that prohibited abortion at 8 weeks of pregnancy or upon the detection of a fetal heartbeat.

The bill would also ban state-sponsored travel to jurisdictions that do not have exemptions in abortion laws for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest or that require an investigation in the cause of a miscarriage.

Didech filed HB 3901 Sept. 26, saying the measures is intended to protect Illinois employees.
“What these other states are doing is, to me, very dangerous. To a large extent, yes, abortion is a big part of it, but it’s not entirely about abortion,” Didech told the State Journal-Register. 

“As a member of the legislature, I have the responsibility to protect our state employees.”

Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Illinois Catholic Conference, which serves as the public policy voice for the state’s six Catholic dioceses, called the bill “absurd.”

“Where does this thinking begin and end?” he said to CNA Sept. 30.

“There are states that have weaker gun laws, different speed limits out West, different smoking laws - why don’t we protect our state employees when they travel to other states when they may not have the same laws as Illinois on these issues?” he asked.

“The obvious point is: why does this always have to come back to abortion?” 

 “I think we should have a list of all states with weaker air pollution laws, water laws, driving laws, gun laws, and we shouldn’t be sending people to those areas either,” Gilligan told CNA.

Illinois is basically a sanctuary state.  We should boycott states that aren't (this statement brought to you by the USSCB).

They Can Stay at Your House! Or at Least in Your Neighborhood!

 Pretty sure illegal immigrants don't have Constitutional Rights.

Washington D.C., Sep 10, 2019 / 12:08 pm (CNA).- A Catholic group is suing the Trump administration over the restriction of protections granted to asylum seekers in the U.S.
The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), Democracy Forward, and Proskauer Rose LLP filed a lawsuit Sept. 6 arguing that the Trump administration’s new policies violate the statutory rights of asylum seekers and were issued without notice.
 

Mexican women and babies apply for visas.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for D.C., also argues that the new policies were issued invalidly by Ken Cuccinnelli, who the groups claim was appointed unlawfully as head of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). U.S. President Donald Trump appointed Cuccinnelli as “acting director” of USCIS after it became clear that the Senate was unlikely to confirm him as permanent director.

 Who We Are

Embracing the Gospel value of welcoming the stranger, CLINIC promotes the dignity and protects the rights of immigrants in partnership with a dedicated network of Catholic and community immigration legal programs.

So...blah, blah blah, blah blah. I think it's a front for the USCCB.

If At First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try, Try, Try, Try, Try, Try, Try Again!

Washington D.C., Sep 1, 2019 / 09:09 am (CNA).- The U.S. bishops’ conference Sunday issued a statement in response to the Aug. 31 Texas shooting spree that left 5 people dead and 21 injured. It was the ninth statement the bishops’ conference has made in response to mass shootings in 2019. 

Over to You, Bishop Cupich!

 Washington D.C., Aug 4, 2019 / 02:46 pm (CNA).- U.S. bishops are calling for prayer and action in the wake of two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio this weekend. 

 “We encourage all Catholics to increased prayer and sacrifice for healing and the end of these shootings,” the bishops wrote in an Aug. 4 statement. “We encourage Catholics to pray and raise their voices for needed changes to our national policy and national culture as well.”

“The lives lost this weekend confront us with a terrible truth,” bishops wrote. “We can never again believe that mass shootings are an isolated exception.”

“They are an epidemic against life that we must, in justice, face.”

  From the dictionary:

Definition of epidemic (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : an outbreak of disease that spreads quickly and affects many individuals at the same time : an outbreak of epidemic disease

2 : an outbreak or product of sudden rapid spread, growth, or development an epidemic of bankruptcies

In Chicago, 1,517 people have been shot this year. That is 129 fewer than 2018.

Cardinal DiNardo - Attorney-at-Law

Washington D.C., Jul 16, 2019 / 01:05 pm (CNA).- The president of U.S. bishops’ conference issued a statement on Tuesday condemning a newly-announced rule on asylum eligibility at the southern border, suggesting that countries like Mexico are not a safe final destination for asylum seekers, and encouraging the Trump administration to change the policy. 
“The rule adds further barriers to asylum-seekers’ ability to access life-saving protection, shirks our moral duty, and will prevent the United States from taking its usual leading role in the international community as a provider of asylum protection,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the USCCB, in a statement released July 16. 
Cardinal DiNardo also said that “initial analysis raises serious questions” about the new rule’s legal soundness.  

Judy Garland's tribute to the USCCB.


 

The USCCB Is On The Case!

 So they will dither and hurumph and say some pish along with some posh.


Washington D.C., Jun 6, 2019 / 05:01 pm (CNA).- When the U.S. bishops arrive in Baltimore next week for their second plenary meeting since a year of serious crisis began last June, they will do so under the specter of another demoralizing scandal. This one involves a well-connected bishop, a ledger of extravagant gifts, and allegations of abuse from priests and seminarians subject to the bishop’s authority.

The Washington Post reported June 5 that a months-long ecclesiastical investigation of Bishop Michael Bransfield, formerly of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, had uncovered evidence that the bishop had a reputation for being sexually inappropriate with seminarians and young priests, that he may have had a substance-abuse problem, and that he used diocesan funds generated from its Texas oil fields to support a lifestyle of luxury, and to give $350,000 in cash gifts to Vatican officials, fellow bishops, and other clerics.

More troubling, the Post’s report suggests that when seminarians and young priests raised concerns about Bransfield’s behavior, they were met with either indifference or an unwillingness of authorities to intervene.

Some Catholics have already noted that Bransfield’s gift-giving habit likely gives some indication of how Theodore McCarrick’s ecclesial career prospered during his decades of sexual abuse.

Don't worry. Cardinal Dolan is ALSO in the case.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan is dodging questions about what he’s done with cash he received from former West Virginia Bishop Michael Bransfield, who left his post in disgrace amid allegations he sexually harassed seminarians and improperly spent church money.

Over the 13 years Bransfield served as head of the West Virginia diocese, he gave $350,000 in gifts to high-ranking Catholic officials ― money the diocese ultimately reimbursed him for, according to a report from The Washington Post last week.

“It’s incredibly problematic,” Zach Hiner, head of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said of the money. “It seems as if was done to curry favor, or in the hopes that people who know something about you won’t do anything about it.”

Bransfield’s lavish living and generous gifts to fellow clergy were particularly egregious in West Virginia, Hiner said, because of the extreme poverty in the state.

Dope for Dummies

 Because God knows we need more stupid people in Illinois.


Chicago, Ill., Feb 5, 2019 / 08:15 pm (CNA).- Citing “rampant” drug use in modern society and a commitment to the common good, the six Catholic bishops of Illinois are speaking out against the the state’s efforts to legalize recreational marijuana.
“Proponents of legalization say marijuana is not addictive, yet peer-reviewed research concludes that it is,” the bishops wrote in a Feb. 4 joint statement released by the Catholic Conference of Illinois.

“Proponents also say that most people who use marijuana will not move on to harder drugs, yet other studies note that most people who are addicted to other drugs started with alcohol and marijuana,” they wrote.
The push to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Illinois is being led by State Sen. Heather Steans and State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, both Chicago democrats, who said Jan. 29 that they hope to introduce a formal bill to the legislature soon.
Medical marijuana has been legal in Illinois since 2013. Ten states and the District of Columbia have so far legalized recreational use of marijuana, though its use remains illegal under federal law.

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.”

Funny...I Don't Remember Voting for Our Bishop

The Catholic bishops met in Fort Lauderdale a few days ago. The dominating topic of discussion was politics, specifically, their official guide to Catholic voters, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. 

Bishop Cupich and the Pope

The Pope Francis faction, led by Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, called for a complete rewriting of the document since it no longer represented "the new body of teaching" as taught by the present pontiff, specifically mentioning climate change, poverty, and immigration.
Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego went a step further saying the present document doesn’t represent "Catholic teaching as it is now."
These two are not the only ones who believe that in the space of five years, since Bergoglio’s 2013 election, the moral and social teaching of the Church has been so fundamentally altered Faithful Citizenship no longer speaks with the true voice of the Church. So much for an institution considered slow to change.
Other leading bishops, however, including Archbishop Gomez of Los Angeles, opposed writing a new document, arguing what was needed was a more straightforward, significantly redacted version of Faithful Citizenship along with an accompanying video for YouTube, etc.

During this discussion there was no mention of Trump being the most pro-life president in our nation’s history. It should not surprise us at that omission since the intent behind the beefing up of Faithful Citizenship is to deny Trump a second term in office.
The bishop’s present silence about the president's achievement is only another iteration of their attempt during the campaign itself to camouflage Hillary Clinton’s pro-abortion stance by arranging with moral indictments Trump about "The Wall."
The strategy didn't work. Faithful Catholics would not be bullied into seeing moral equivalence between killing the unborn and insisting on secure national borders.

 

You Keep Using That Word...I Don't Think It Means What You Think It Means

U.S. Catholic Bishops Blast “Immoral” Trump Immigration Policy

This comes as more than 300 Catholic bishops blasted the Trump administration’s immigration policies, calling for an end to the separation of migrant children from their parents and condemning Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s policy of ending the right of domestic violence survivors to seek asylum in the United States.

Monsignor Brian Bransfield: “Separating babies from their mothers is not the answer and is immoral.”

That’s Monsignor Brian Bransfield, reading a statement issued by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops during its spring meeting this week in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Monsignor Brian Bransfield: “This decision negates decades of precedents that have provided protection to women fleeing domestic violence. Unless overturned, the decision will erode the capacity of asylum to save lives, particularly in cases that involve asylum seekers who are persecuted by private actors.”

The administration insists the new rules are necessary to send a message to immigrants.
"Look, I hope that we don't have to separate any more children from any more adults," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said last week. "But there's only one way to ensure that is the case: It's for people to stop smuggling children illegally. Stop crossing the border illegally with your children. Apply to enter lawfully. Wait your turn."

There Seems To Be A Trend Developing Here...

Mexico City, Mexico, Apr 30, 2018 / 11:20 am (ACI Prensa).- An 84-year-old priest of the Archdiocese of Mexico City was found dead in Cuernavaca, the capital of Mexico’s Morelos state, April 25.
Fr. Moisés Fabila Reyes had been kidnapped April 3. According to local media, his family had decided not to publicize the kidnapping, and to keep the Church out of the negotiations to free him.

 The announcement comes amid a wave of violence against priests in Mexico. Fr. Rubén Alcántara Díaz was found murdered April 18, and Fr. Juan Miguel Contreras was shot to death in his church April 20.


 I wonder what the USCCB has to say.... 

The Catholic Church in the United States is an immigrant Church with a long history of embracing diverse newcomers and providing assistance and pastoral care to immigrants, migrants, refugees, and people on the move.  Our Church has responded to Christ’s call for us to “welcome the stranger among us,” for in this encounter with the immigrant, the migrant, and the refugee in our midst, we encounter Christ.

Maybe this is the USCCB's plan to get rid of all our excess priests.

The USCCB versus the Holy Goalie

Catholic pews in the US are emptying, according to data from a recent Gallup survey, which showed that Mass attendance is down to a 39 percent weekly average over the past 10 years.
From 2005-2008, Catholics reported attending Mass on a 45 percent average within seven days, but it has since dropped 6 percent from 2014-2017.  
The average Mass attendance in 1955 was at 75 percent, which roughly consisted of all age groups. During this time period, around three in four Catholics had attended Mass within the past week.

But don't worry! United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is on the case!

 One of the highly watched cases of the Supreme Court’s current session, Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31, has sparked such passion that some 73 interested parties have filed amicus briefs in the matter. Among the most unusual is a brief by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops urging the court to rule against Mark Janus, an Illinois state employee who claims that a law requiring him to pay AFSCME an “agency” fee violates his rights. In an unusual move, a prominent bishop, Thomas John Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, has publicly disavowed  the conference’s position, arguing that no consensus exists among Catholics regarding an issue “on which reasonable people can disagree.” Several Catholic scholars have also contested the bishops’ arguments, especially the prelates’ startling suggestion that a ruling for Janus would “marginalize” the church’s voice on public-policy debates in the same way that the Court’s decisions on abortion and same-sex marriage have done. The Court heard arguments in Janus on February 26 and will issue a ruling before the end of its term in June.

The Holy Goalie

 
 What seems like the bishops’ effort to bend over backward to support AFSCME rankles critics like Bishop Paprocki because government unions are among the most socially liberal labor organizations, using their considerable resources—generated by compelled dues—to fight against the church on issues that have little to do with representing workers. “I don’t know specifically what Janus’ objections are regarding the union’s political work, but the public-sector union supports abortion and donates to Planned Parenthood,” Paprocki has said. In 2014, the union gave $400,000 to the organization’s PAC, which works to elect pro-abortion candidates.