Defenders of Fr. Corapi attack EWTN.

Biting the hand that feeds the many.
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EWTN is a rare commodity in media - the network offers good Catholic programming, yet some Catholics in this country like to paint the network as utterly given over to Modernism.  There is nothing wrong with critiquing a network and its programming, but to condemn and attack it as they do many of the more non-Traditional bishops, priests and various liturgical abuse seen in the Church, seems to me to be like biting the hand that feeds many Catholics who are otherwise not exposed to sound Catholic teaching.
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Currently it appears most of the attacks are coming from the devoted fans of Fr. Corapi, based upon the fact the network has seen fit to cancel Corapi's programs for the duration of the investigation into the allegations leveled against the popular preacher.  The network is acting out of deference to Church authority.
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“A priest, has no right to public ministry in the Church on his own. He cannot function publicly without the express permission of his bishop or religious superior. That is the discipline of the Church.” - Michael Warsaw
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The Eternal Word Television Network said its decision to halt programming by the popular speaker Fr. John Corapi followed the lead of legitimate Church authority.
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“EWTN has an obligation to uphold the discipline and teachings of the Church,” president Michael Warsaw said on April 1. “In the network’s thirty years of existence, our practice has always been to discontinue airing programs featuring any cleric whose priestly faculties have been suspended, even if temporarily,” Warsaw said.
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EWTN pulled Fr. Corapi’s programs following the priest’s announcement on Ash Wednesday that he has been publicly accused of drug abuse and sexual relationships with several women. Fr. Corapi has denied the allegations.
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In the weeks since then, EWTN has come under intense criticism for its decision.
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In his statement, Warsaw said that much of that criticism has been “shrill and uncharitable.” He said that many people have threatened to withhold donations and have made personal remarks attacking the network’s employees.
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“When I see messages and web postings that malign the character and intentions of people who have served this mission for years, often at great personal sacrifice, I cannot allow those assertions to stand unanswered,” he said. - Finish reading here.
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In the end, 'all will be well' - good will come from this.
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Perhaps one more good reason for the interruption of the Fr. Corapi business - regardless of his guilt or innocence - may be the opportunity to call into question  the personality cult which appears to have developed around him over the years.  
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(I wonder if the same thinking was behind the HLI decision to pull Fr. Euteneuer's book?)

Marijuana use approved for Caenacle Retreat Centers.

Who knew?
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"Contemporary life is just too stressful for the average contemplative," stated Sr. Mary Jane Hemp.  Sr. Hemp explained that limited use of marijuana seems to help in centering a retreatant's focus.  "Our community promotes Catering Prayer made simple through drugs.  Ideally peyote is our first drug of choice, but we are not a native American community and therefore are not authorized  for its use.  Since medical marijuana is widely available for use, we've selected it to spiritually medicate and relaz - err, relax our retreatants.  The community enjoys it as well" 
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As the interview continued, Sr. Hemp appeared to be disinterested in discussing marijuana use for meditation.  When asked to further explain the benefits of the practice, Sr. looked puzzled, giggled and then replied,  "What?"
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The interview ended abruptly.
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Editor's note:  Caenacle retreat centers are staffed by a new contemplative religious community of 'hermits' of Diocesan right, known as the Sisters and Brothers of the Higher Power.  The community was originally founded as a nursing order (see photo), but later decided to go completely contemplative.  They now operate for profit religious retreat centers in undisclosed remote areas in the Arizona/California desert regions.  They also offer Oriental healing and massage, as well as yoga - in addition to hair styling make-overs.  Catering Prayer seems to be the most popular however.  The community refers to it as Catering Prayer due to the fact that the religious serve snacks during meditation.  The rather corpulent Sr. Santa Marta Basuco, procurator for the communtity explained, "You see, marijuana tends to increase the user's appetite."
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Brother Founder

Terry Jones or Wayne Sapp? The preacher(s) who burned the Quran - and set ablaze Muslim anger.

Arrogance and misplaced zeal.

Editor's note:  The first report I read and linked to below, names Wayne Sapp as the actual Quran burner, but now it seems Terry Jones is taking the credit for this act of idiocy, since he's the so-called head of the Dove Outreach Center, and seems to be calling the shots.  Fanatics are hard to follow.
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On Sunday "Rev." Wayne Sapp, a member of the Dove World Outreach Center, torched a copy of Qur'an claiming that the holy book had been found "guilty" of crimes in the course of an eight-month trial and was therefore "executed." - Source
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Fanatics call unto fanatics.
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MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (Reuters) – At least eight foreign U.N. workers were killed, two of them beheaded, on Friday in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif after a demonstration against the burning of Korans by a U.S. preacher, a regional police spokesman said.

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"Eight foreigners were killed and two were beheaded," said Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai, a police spokesman for the northern region.
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Over a thousand protesters had flooded into the streets of the normally peaceful city after Friday prayers, and after two or three hours violence broke out. - Source
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People will condemn the Muslim extremists for this - and rightly so.  But over zealous fanatics like Sapp seem to me to be just as quilty.  I wonder if he is self-righteously pleased by all of this?   
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Photo:  "Minister" Sapp.  I'm confused - Sapp burned the Quran, but Terry Jones presided over it?  So they are both to blame, right?  But Terry Jones is shouldering it?  They are both false prophets.  I have to wonder what Sarah Palin thinks.

Bishop Aquila: Sound teaching.

Don't go to strangers...
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Avoid self-appointed prophets and visionaries.  At last the Church in the U.S. is getting  courageous and outspoken bishops defending the Truth of Catholic doctrine.  From Bishop Aquila:
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"Bishops and priests should not apologize or make excuses for the teachings of Christ and the Church, Bishop Aquila exhorted. Rather, they should teach with “charity and unhesitating truth.”

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The exercise of Church authority faces challenges because secular culture “makes man into god” and undermines any authority attributed to God. Bishops and priests should turn to Jesus Christ to learn how to exercise their authority in governing the Church, the Fargo bishop said.
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Jesus was “direct” in calling people to conversion and to change their way of acting and thinking, he pointed out.
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“This directness makes many of us uncomfortable today.
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“We should follow his example and language, even if we do not use his precise words. His language is good to contemplate and definitely should challenge us to look at how we correct the faithful, including priests and bishops, and speak the truth especially with those who say they are with Christ and the Church but do not accept the teaching of Jesus and the Church.”
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Jesus’ “forceful” language towards the Pharisees and Scribes “would never be tolerated today” but the Gospel writers did not hesitate to pass down his words, Bishop Aquila said.
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“In love Jesus makes these direct statements to open the eyes of those whose hearts and minds are hardened. His straight talk, given in love for the person, desires the conversion and holiness of the person to the ways of God,” the bishop explained.
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“(T)oo many people understand correction or punishment as not loving the other or as dominion over the other, and this is the work of ‘the father of lies.’ A reluctance or hesitancy to correct and properly punish does not invite the other into the truth that frees and ultimately fails in true charity.
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“As servants of truth, of Christ, we will correct those who sin for their own good and for the love of the other, even if it leads to our own persecution and rejection,” Bishop Aquila said. - CNA

Presidents and Demons.

"The devil made him do it" and modern day prophets and their excuses...

It just ain't conservative Catholics and Fundamentalists who fear Obama may be infected with evil. Louis Farrakhan seems to thinks so too.
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"Warning that destruction could be on America's doorstep because it oppresses “God's chosen people,” Minister Louis Farrakhan, the controversial Nation of Islam leader, defended Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi today, calling the U.S. action in Libya hypocrisy.
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Speaking from the pulpit of Chicago's Mosque Maryam, the Nation of Islam's international headquarters, purchased 40 years ago with a $3 million loan from Gadhafi, Farrakhan blamed demons for altering President Barack Obama's moral conscience and driving the assault on Gadhafi, who he calls a brother.

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“It is a terrible thing for me to hear my brother called all these ugly and filthy names when I can't recognize him as that,” Farrakhan said to the crowd assembled at the mosque on Chicago's South Side. “Even though the current tide is moving against him … how can I refuse to raise my voice in his defense? Why would I back down from those who have given so much?”

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On Thursday, Farrakhan said scenes from an earthquake- and tsunami-ravaged Japan inspired him to warn the American people about an impending natural disaster that will punish them for their arrogance.

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“A major earthquake is on the way to you and me and us,” he said. “Death and destruction is at the door of all of us, and we are worse prepared than the Japanese.” - Source
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Wow!  He sounds just like Christina Gallagher and so many other visionaries warning America!
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Seriously, this is what "we" sound like to others when we blame the devil for everything, or call  our opponents Nazis and Commies all of the time.  Men have free will and are capable of making their own choices, plans, and agendas.

So far the best thing about the Fr. Corapi story:

Some questions regarding his business and religious life have been answered.
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1) Fr. Corapi was given freedom to conduct his ministry more or less independently of SOLT.
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2) Though wearing a habit of a mendicant for a time, it appears he was permitted to have his own private company and residence.  A report from the National Catholic Register:
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"He made Santa Cruz Media a for-profit company, he told his superiors, in order to have the proper freedom to proclaim the Gospel without any fear of raising issues that might threaten the company’s tax-exempt status.  He said he would pay his taxes and proclaim the Gospel fearlessly. Father Flanagan allowed him to manage his own funds. No one knew it would become so big.
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Nevertheless, the vice president of operations of Santa Cruz Media, Inc. described Corapi's for-profit production company as a “secular corporation and not affiliated with the Catholic Church in any way. As such, we are not under the jurisdiction of any bishop or other official in the Catholic Church.” - Fr. Corapi's Superior offers a look into the SOLT's relationship with the priest.  
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Then to whom is Fr. Corapi accountable?  I noted on another site that he does not have faculties in the diocese in which he lives.  I'm aware that his superiors are investigating the allegations against him, but he seemed to be acting as a free agent up until now.       
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"There is great gain in religion..."
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Link:
Assessing the Fr. Corapi Case  Be sure and read the comments.

Marriage Prep.

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Quick, report this one to Bill Donohue too.

Equality Matters: Gay watchdog group for media and communications goes after priest.

Never heard of the group.
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I'm sure most of you haven't either.  Nevertheless, the gay activist group is going after a priest for teaching Catholic doctrine to his Catholic high school students.  And yet so many activists insist that special rights for homosexuals would never impinge upon religious liberty.  So here's the deal...
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INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, March 29, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Catholic priest has come under fire from homosexual activists for “anti-gay indoctrination” after he taught his students what the Catholic Church teaches about homosexuality in his high school course on gay “marriage.”

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Equality Matters, a media and communications group for homosexual rights, on their website accused the chaplain of Indianapolis’ Cardinal Ritter High School of “spouting a stream of homophobic and offensive falsehoods about same-sex marriage and gay people in general to a classroom full of students.”
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Fr. John Hollowell, chaplain and teacher at the private Catholic high school, had posted the videos of the lectures on YouTube and his personal blog last week.

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In the lectures he explains Catholic teaching on homosexuality. However, his presentation was denounced as “anti-gay lecturing” by the media watchdog group, who said that the priest “calls homosexual acts ‘an abomination’, advocates for ex-gay therapy, and rails against same-sex adoption and marriage by comparing homosexuality to alcoholism and prostitution.”
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In the videos, however, Fr. Hollowell is seen challenging his students to think about and discuss the “difficult” issues of homosexuality and homosexual “marriage.”

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He points out that the Bible, in Leviticus 20:13 and other places in the New Testament, calls “homosexual acts” an “abomination.” “You have two options,” he says, “God is cool with homosexuality, homosexual acts, I should say … or what the Bible and the Church say about it is correct … There’s no middle ground on that issue.”
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The priest refers to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the official book of the teachings of the Church, which states that homosexuals “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity,” and condemns any form of “unjust discrimination” against them.

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However, the Catechism also states that homosexual inclinations are “objectively disordered” and homosexual acts are “acts of grave depravity.” “Under no circumstances can they be approved,” it says, explaining that people with the homosexual inclination are called to chastity. - Finish reading here.
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My comments.
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The group actually twists Church teaching, claiming Fr. Hollowell's catechesis was “anti-gay lecturing”.  They point out that Father's use of Biblical references calling homosexual acts "an abomination" is unjust discrimination - it is not - and they insist Fr. Hollowell advocates for ex-gay therapy as a solution to homosexual attraction.  That is not true.  

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It should come as no surprise that Equality Matters spokesmen are deliberately misinterpreting what Fr. Hollowell has taught.  Much of the pro-gay propaganda these days is manipulated and exaggerated.  Truth be told, Father has not advocated for ex-gay therapy, in fact he repeats Church teaching regarding persons with homosexual inclination, teaching that they “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity,” and (he) condemns any form of “unjust discrimination” against them.

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Hollowell argues that the position he advocates is one of compassion. “If you’re struggling with homosexual attraction, the Church’s first message is compassion,” he told his students, “helping them overcome it is not the first inclination.”
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Programs such as Courage are in place to help people “who want it,” he said, “we’re not out there telling people they need to change.” - Source


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Prayers for Fr. Hollowell and his students.
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H/T Paula and Pewsitters

Affectation

Phonies... it's epidemic these days.

af·fec·ta·tion/ˌafekˈtāSHən/Noun

1. Behavior, speech, or writing that is artificial and designed to impress.

2. A studied display of real or pretended feeling: "an affectation of calm".
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Isn't that interesting?  I think many people are affected and actually believe it is a good thing - that it is their 'better side' as it were.

Remembering Two Holy Men for March.

Faithful models of holiness in ordinary life.
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It is the end of March and I forgot to write about one of my patrons, Blessed Alberto Marvelli.  His birthday was March 21, but I misread the autobiography I have in Italian and I transposed his age at death with the date of his birth - so I was waiting until March 28 to write about him.  Naturally, checking his stats, I realized my mistake.  Confused?  So am I.
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However, a very holy young man from these parts, who could be a canonized saint one day, was born in March and also died in March - March 20, 2000.  Charles Untz.  I was reminded of him while reading The Little Way blog.  It appears that devotion to Charles is spreading.  (His memorial card shown above.)  To learn more about him visit his family's website dedicated to Charles, My Lady's Knight.
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Blessed Alberto and Charles, pray for us and with us.  Amen.

The John Corapi Affair.

Some thoughts...
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One risks being called a bad Catholic if one expresses reservations concerning this very public story about this somewhat famous priest, currently accused of sexual misconduct and drug abuse.  As most of my readers know, the priest, Fr. John Corapi issued a public statement last week concerning canonical, non-criminal investigations into the charges against him as a result of a whistle blower former employee, described as disgruntled, and letters she sent to more than one bishop.  Corapi's superior's, not the bishops, called for the investigation and as is customary, placing Corapi on administrative leave in the process - at least until the investigation is completed.
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It is hardly an attack upon the Church, priests, or the priest under investigation, to question the one sided version of this story made public by the man accused.  Catholics have been pretty much shell shocked since the height of the sexual abuse scandal and cover-up throughout the Catholic Church.  The stories keep on coming, most recently involving Fr. Euteneuer, a famous American priest.  Not too many months prior to the Euteneuer case, the Catholic faithful were scandalized by the Fr. Maciel revelations of a double life.  Locally a few priests have had their personal double lives exposed as well.  This is stuff Hollywood movies are made of.  Hence, when another accusation surfaces - thinking Catholics actually pay attention to details, and they ask questions, even sorting through possible evidential signs of behavior and statements by the accused.
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One particular misstatement made by Fr. Corapi's 'company', of which he is the head, owner, director - what have you, states that Bishop William M. Mulvey of Corpus Christi, Texas, acted illicitly in removing Fr. Corapi from public ministry.  The spokesman for Corapi's company, Bobbi Ruffatto claimed the Bishop acted improperly and that the USCCB's policy of removing accused priests from active ministry after such accusations is wrong.  That statement echoes Fr. Corapi's personal statement regarding the events.
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The truth is, Corapi's congregation enacted the suspension, not the diocese.  It is curious how that fact could be obscured.  Obviously, I am not the only person to question such things.  From my local Archdiocesan newspaper, The Catholic Spirit:
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Fr. Corapi's company...
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"A representative of the media company owned by Father John Corapi challenged the action to place the popular speaker on administrative leave from priestly ministry, saying that it was illicit under “several points of canon law.”

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Bobbi Ruffatto, vice president of operations at Santa Cruz Media, Inc., in Kalispell, Mont., charged in a posting on Father Corapi’s Facebook page March 25 that Bishop William M. Mulvey of Corpus Christi, Texas, acted improperly, according to canon lawyers consulted by the company.
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The statement offered no specific citations of canon law.
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However, Marty Wind, director of communications for the Diocese of Corpus Christi, disputed Ruffatto’s claim that Bishop Mulvey placed Father Corapi on leave. He said the action was taken by officials of the priest’s order, the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity in Robstown, Texas.
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"We have been clear from the beginning that the bishop of Corpus Christi was notified by the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity that the administrative leave was imposed by the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, not the bishop of the diocese,” Wind told Catholic News Service March 25.
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Wind said that although Father Corapi was placed on leave, “it’s been the position of the Diocese of Corpus Christi from the outset that the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise is of the highest importance.”

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Calls and emails from Catholic News Service to Santa Cruz Media requesting comment from Father Corapi and Ruffatto were not returned.
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Online records with the Montana secretary of state list John Corapi as the registered agent for the company. A company with the same name also is registered in Nevada and online records in the secretary of state’s office there indicated John A. Corapi holds the office of president, treasurer, secretary and director. - Catholic Spirit
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Links to other writers who have been objectively and dispassionately watching the case as it unfolds:
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Elizabeth Scalia

Deacon Greg Kandra

Tom O'Toole

Mark Shea

Military Chaplains face court-martial for 'religious, conscience' objection to homosexual conduct?

Curtailing of religious liberties to be enacted?
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Can this be true?  And yet they said this could/would never happen.
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The U.S. Army has officially threatened military chaplains they must either embrace the new openly homosexual military, resign from service, or face court-martial for their "religious, conscience" objections. The Pray In Jesus Name Project has obtained leaked copies (unintended for media disclosure) of a private briefing given to chaplains, threatening them with court-martial unless they compromise their Christian message.
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Christian Chaplains who speak out against homosexual sin can be accused of "harassment" by homosexuals and face disciplinary action simply for voicing their religious views outside the "context" of their religious ministry.
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[Chaplains' interpretation: The phrase "vocational reflection" is not-so-subtle code language meaning "reconcile with homosexuality or find another line of work." The phrase "do NOT tolerate harassment" is code language for "don't speak against sin, for ANY reason, or you the Chaplain will be disciplined for quoting the Bible, and the homosexual protected."] - Source

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“Gay marriage will affect you and you should be concerned. And there’s a lot we can do.” - Bishop Tobin
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Advocates of gay marriage hope to convince us it just isn't so, insisting legalized same sex marriage will never result in churches being forced to go against their teaching and perform gay weddings or host receptions for same sex couples. 
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Bishop Tobin, Bishop of Providence, Rhode Island recently warned about the implications the recognition of same-sex “marriage” would have for religious liberty:

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“We’re familiar with other examples of the gay agenda infringing on religious freedom,” he said, noting how Massachusetts required the Catholic Church to place children for adoption with homosexual couples and how some countries have charged Christian preachers of hate crimes for voicing Christian doctrine about homosexual practices.
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“Proponents of gay marriage say that the Church won’t be forced to witness such marriages. Don’t believe it,” he said, warning that the Church may be required to admit homosexual couples as sponsors for baptism, to rent its facilities for homosexual wedding receptions, or to hire employees despite their immoral lifestyles.
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“For simply maintaining its teachings in these and many other possible scenarios, the Church will be accused of bigotry and unlawful discrimination. The threat to our religious freedom is real, and imminent,” he said. - Source
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H/T Pewsitters

Today is Teresa of Jesus' Birthday.

She was born on March 28, 1515.

And yet I try to be diplomatic...

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New Paintings

Be forewarned!

Considering all of the painting I've been doing lately, I only have 2 new ones I consider suitable to show online. I know some of you are offended by nudity, so please be advised that one of the paintings is titled, "Nude Beach". I provided a detail above. If you dare, check out my art blog here.


What?

Contraception, the original sin of modern times: Redux

More voices acknowledging the fact.
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Contraception is the underlying factor responsible for today’s scourge of unwed pregnancies, single-parent families, sexually transmitted diseases, deficient fatherhood, and high abortion rate, says a prominent family expert.

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“Since the introduction of contraception, everything else has fallen,” said Patrick Fagan, director of the Family Research Council’s Marriage and Religion Research Institute, reported CNS.
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Addressing the annual conference of the Frederick Douglass Foundation in Washington, D.C. last week, Fagan cited “alienation of men from women, the breakdown of marriage,” and “sex outside of marriage” as a few of the tragic results of contraception use. The foundation is a black, faith-based organization.

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“Universally, in all the history of Christianity, contraception was always seen as a grave sin against God,” he said, “a sin by which one lost divine life and the soul.”
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Planned Parenthood’s birth-control campaign, said Fagan, was the beginning of the societal scourge.
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“The first family targeted by Planned Parenthood in the late 30s, early 40s was the black family,” said Fagan.
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The abortion giant campaigned in low-income, black neighborhoods. That campaign, said Fagan, is partly responsible for the breakdown of the black family as well as a host of other consequences affecting society at large.
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Black families had remained intact until the 1930s when the American Birth Control League, later renamed Planned Parenthood Federation of America, implemented their pro-abortion agenda on the minority group, he said..
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“By the late 1960’s, after ‘family planning’ clinics were widespread, there was a clear pattern of a preponderance of them being in black neighborhoods.” - Source
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An interesting comment on the Lifesite post, cited here:
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“In view of the large families of the Slav native population, it could only suit us if girls and women there [Poland and Russia] had as many abortions as possible. Active trade in contraceptives ought to actually be encouraged in the Eastern territories, as we could not possibly have the slightest interest in increasing the non-German population. … We must use every means to instill in the population the idea that it is harmful to have several children, the expenses that they cause and the dangerous effect on woman’s health. … It will be necessary to open special institutions for abortions [“clinics”] and doctors must be able to help out there in case there is any question of this being a breach of their professional ethics.”  - Adolf Hitler, Tischgesprache im Fuhrerhauptquartier, 1941-42.

Mass Chat: The great facade: Reputation and Honor.

Pride in external goods. (From I Want To See God,  Fr. Eugene-Marie, OCD)
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"The external goods in which one takes pride are all those that secure honor and consideration for their possessor, and therefore exterior advantages and qualities; such as beauty, fortune, fame/name, rank, honors.  These goods simply constitute a facade - brilliant perhaps - which, as we know, conceals our interior poverty very effectually.  And yet we like to dwell on them in secret admiration of our own supposed excellence, and we display them to win honor and praises.  But the world is not deceived; after satisfying what convention requires, it reserves to itself the right to pass interiorly the severe judgement of justice.
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This pride, the most foolish but also the least dangerous because exterior, is ordinarily the first to give way before the light of humility (humiliations).  In her Life, St. Teresa of Jesus writes::
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Thus the soul "is weary of the time when it paid heed to niceties concerning its own honor, and of the mistaken belief which it had that what the world calls honor is really so.  It now knows it to be a sheer lie and a lie in which we are all living.  It realizes that genuine honor is not deceptive, but true, that it values what has worth and despises what has none; for what passes away, and is not pleasing to God, is worth nothing and less than nothing.  It laughs at itself and at the time it set any store by money and coveted it. [Life, xx; Peers]
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I see some people whose actions are very holy and do such wonderful things that everyone is astonished at them!  God bless me then!  Why are such souls still on earth?  How is it they have not reached the summit of perfection?  What is the reason for this?  What can it be that is impeding one who is doing so much good for God?  Why?  Simply because of his punctiliousness about his reputation.  And the worst of it is that this sort of person will not realize he is guilty of such a thing, the reason being that sometimes the devil tells him that punctiliousness is incumbent upon him.  [...]  Such a concern is a thing which harms the soul whenever it occurs, but in the life of prayer, it is pestilential.  [Life, xxxi; Peers]
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A day will come when the soul will enjoy a quiet laugh when it sees 'men of prayer making a fuss about niceties concerning their honor'; for it will know very well 'that if they subordinated the authority due to their positions to the love of God they would do more good in a day than they are likely to do as it is in ten years.'" - I Want To See God, Humility; Marie-Eugene, O.C.D.
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Icon:  St. John of Egypt - March 27 is his traditional feast day.

Confession is good for the soul.

Thanks be to God for the sacrament of Penance.
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The Holy Father said it is good for humility - both for the penitent and the priest. 
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As regards the penitent, the Holy Father explained; "an integral confession of sins 'educates the penitent in humility, in recognition of his own fragility and, at the same time, in awareness of the need for God's forgiveness and trust that divine grace can transform life.'  In an age characterized 'by noise, distraction and loneliness,' said the Pope, 'the penitent's conversation with the confessor can be one of the few, if not the only occasion to be truly heard and in profundity.  To be received and heard is also a human sign of the acceptance and goodness of God to his children," he said." - Zenit
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Link:
The Catechism: On The Sacrament of Reconciliation