The Church and the Episcopacy Cannot Be Politicized

Archbishop Joseph Naumann

[He's an excellent bishop,

he once rebuked VP Biden as well.]

That's corrupt.

Crux reported on the election of Archbishop Naumann as chairman of the Committee for Pro-Life Activities for the USCCB as if it was a race for political office.

Yesterday’s big Catholic news in the States was the election of Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, over Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago as chair of the Committee for Pro-Life Activities at the U.S. bishops’ fall meeting.

It was the tightest vote of the six races for committee chairs at the 2017 meeting, with Naumann prevailing 96-82. Going in the thought was that Cupich might have the edge, in part because of the bishops’ tendency to choose cardinals to lead the committee to give it a higher profile. - Crux

While posting a disclaimer, and doing a good job explaining the election process,  the tone is decidedly partisan, political and all about competition.  Why are these things represented in partisan-political terms? Why is this considered a 'race' for committee chairs?  A competition to gain control?  That's totally inappropriate language and terminology for ecclesial affairs.  It feeds into the clericalist culture everyone likes to condemn.   Furthermore, it feeds into liberal/conservative anti-papist politics and propaganda circulated online.  Catholic journalists, pundits, and commentators share responsibility with right-wing-nuts for the divisiveness in the Church.  

I'm against it.

Corruption of morals.

No one can remain decent in a culture that has become obscene.

All the scandals of today reveal a complete corruption of morals.  Corruption is something Pope Francis continually speaks about and points out.  Today he called it the 'smog of corruption' which pollutes society.

With the clergy scandal the smog began to clear, just enough to see the 'filth' in the Church - perhaps this is what Blessed Paul VI meant when he spoke of the 'smoke of Satan'?  It certainly couldn't have been a liturgical reference, since the liturgy, the Eucharist is the heart of the Church, the source and summit of the life of the Church, it is sacred and inviolable... there is only one, holy Mass, albeit two forms in the Latin rite.

That said, first the judgment and chastisement exposed the corruption in the Church - in a sense, now it comes upon the world - culture/society.  I may be wrong, but it seems to me this is what is happening now, the corruption is being revealed.  People deny it - like those busily defending perpetrators such as Weinstein, Spacey, Roy Moore ... and before them, Trump.  What seems so strange is that they all look so normal.  Especially those defending politicians.  Few will defend Weinstein and Spacey, but many are willing to pick their accusers apart, seeking to discredit them or blame them - or just shame them.  In a sense, that is part of what I mean when I point out that no one can remain decent in a culture that has become obscene.

Rotting on the inside.

I'm thinking the least defensible actors in all of this are those who are most vocal in dismissing allegations against those they support politically.  This is corruption.  This is hypocrisy unmasked.  The toleration of lies and deceitful propaganda to promote a political agenda.  We saw it when every Trump supporter defended him against sexual harassment allegations.  Now Roy Moore is getting the same sort of treatment.   Alabama State Representative Ed Henry has suggested the accusers should be jailed.  Blaming and shaming is one reason victims do not come forward.  Edging on complete blasphemy, State Auditor Zeigler  defended Moore with an obscene reference to the Holy Family.  It's an outrageous statement coming from a Christian.  A respectable Christian politician.

Who can be surprised when figures in the entertainment industry are charged with sexual misconduct and corruption?  Be it male on male on female on young people on children?  Throughout history, actors, musicians and entertainers were always considered more or less immoral, it is only in our day that we have placed them upon pedestals and hold them in high esteem or treat them like royalty.  The same goes for professional sports and athletes - although a bit less so.  Every aspect of culture is corrupt:  The worthless are prized highly by the sons of men. (Psalm 12: 9)  It seems to me to be a form of propaganda, to deceive the public, already seduced by obscenity.

I sense it even among Catholic critics of the Pope, the Church and the liturgy.  They can look and sound so normal.  Something is wrong with them however, something is off.  Their rhetoric is just as obscene, just as deceptive.  They are anti-Catholic even though they claim to be more Catholic than the Pope.  They seem to me to be caught in the same smog of corruption, disoriented by the fog, the smoke of Satan.

I'll leave it at that, closing with what the Holy Father said today:

Speaking about what he described as the “smog of corruption” that pollutes society, the Holy Father also urged for prayers for the corrupt so that they “find a way out of the prison in which they wanted to enter.” - P. Francis

One more thought I like to point out to religious people, not all the residents of Sodom were gay.  

Hillary is innocent!

FBI recommends Hillary NOT be indicted.

Oh those Clinton's - always falsely accused and yet they soldier on!

The Clinton's do not lie.

Reading the Holy Father's words in context ...

Pope Francis greets an inmate during his visit 

to the CeReSo n. 3 penitentiary in Ciudad Juárez - AFP

I have been waiting all week for this visit.

Now back to regular posting...

"This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign - but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah." - Luke 11

What he says comes from the heart, in this he reminds me of the saints - especially the paternal saints - Jesuit fathers, parish priests who were fathers to their parishes, missionary priests and bishops who mingled and shared the lives of the poor.  I think many of the old ladies online are being led astray by some of the specious clerical commentaries, as well as the incessant criticisms made by former seminarians and theological students who seem to adhere to a strictly legalistic interpretation of what the Pope says and does.  There is a conservative element entrenched in right wing politics unable to see beyond their own agendas, fearful of counter political agendas, always judging by American human standards, that which is God's providential action in our midst.  They 'pull-quote' papal allocution's to give the impression the Holy Father is unfaithful to Catholic teaching.    As today's Gospel affirms (for me at least), in this particular Apostolic visit to Mexico,  "there is something greater than Solomon here, there is something different from Jonah here."

Pewsitter and RomeReports pulled the following quote from the Holy Father's address to families - as if to suggest the Pope is approving irregular marriages:

"I prefer wounded families because they are the result of a true love." - RR

Yet what follows is what the Holy Father actually said about his love for those who struggle, even though they may be in irregular circumstances and even illicit marriages:

The meeting began with testimonies from a young couple; a family made up of divorced parents in a new relationship; Manuel, a disabled adolescent; Beatriz, a single mother, and various other couples from the diocese of Tapachula who had been married for many years.

"Today we see how on different fronts the family is weakened and questioned. It is regarded as a model which has done its time, but which has no place in our societies; these, claiming to be modern, increasingly favour a model based on isolation. … It is true that family life is not always easy, and can often be painful and stressful but, as I have often said referring to the Church, I prefer a wounded family that makes daily efforts to put love into play, to a family and society that is sick from isolationism or a habitual fear of love. I prefer a family that makes repeated efforts to begin again, to a family and society that is narcissistic and obsessed with luxury and comfort. … I prefer a family with tired faces from generous giving, to a family with 'made up' faces that know nothing of tenderness and compassion. I prefer a man and a woman, don Aniceto and his wife, with faces that are wrinkled due to the daily struggles over the fifty years of strong married love; and here we have them". - VIS

How can we, in our cozy homes, living with abundance, luxury, and comfort, paying millions to support corrupt politicians in their ambitious campaigns of false promises and bitchy rhetoric, even begin to understand the plight of the marginalized, discriminated against people the Holy Father speaks to.  He mingled with these people throughout his ministry, as priest and bishop, how can we judge the fatherly concern, the pastoral care shown by the successor of Peter, the Vicar of Christ, towards these truly, really poor - not just temporally, but deeply poor in spirit?

How do we dare to do so?


Gossip monger priests online waste their time, their vocations nit-picking what the pope says or does, writing articles defending financial institutes, or pointing out flaws in politicians supposedly on their side, not mention their connections, as one priest does in his latest political writings for the Republican political franchise.  Is that his job?  Recently, another online priest affiliated with the Acton Institute, promoted a new exposé titled, Poverty Inc. - all about exposing the big business that is involved in the ending poverty game.  He calls it an 'action item'.  Is anyone surprised?  Surely inquiring minded, militant Catholics can't be surprised at this news.  I'm talking about those who rail against the USCCB campaigns and fundraisers, and expose Catholic Relief services and tell people not to donate.

Though there may be a place for the filthy business of exposé, that is not the Church in action.  The mission to the poor is an apostolic, evangelical vocation - not a business.  Neither is it about dollar-barometers on your website, selling tickets to an event, pre-ordering books and films, counting and adding up your contributions on your sacrifice beads or for your tax accountant, nor is it about hawking Bible-banger verses about how expensive it is to receive or show mercy to sinners or those who call you out.

There's big money to be made in religion as well - obviously.


Yet as the Holy Father said to the inmates: "No one is beyond the reach of God's mercy."  So there is hope for us too.

This is creepy: “Karadima’s Forest”

James Hamilton, Juan Carlos Cruz y José Andrés Murillo, 

víctimas de los abusos sexuales cometidos por Fernando Karadima.

El Bosque (The Forest)

Once upon a time in a charming forest in Chile, a priest named Karadima seduced and abused some boys - young men - and got away with it.  Until a major scandal broke - then the holy priest was sent away to do penance.  In the meantime, his defenders who refused to listen and do anything to help the boys the saint molested, were promoted to higher positions in the Church and so the boys made a film about it and the good people of Chile rioted.  

I just made that up - but it kind of follows the real story.

What's so creepy about the story is the priest - Karadima - was regarded as a saint - not unlike Maciel.  He led a double life.  He was corrupt and took advantage of his position and exploited the young people in his charge.  

I may have some of the details wrong, but a film on what happened will be released in April this year.

That story here:

SANTIAGO, Mar 20 2015 (IPS) - Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Latin America are taking the first steps towards grouping together in order to bolster their search for justice – a struggle where they have found a new ally: filmmaking.
“Besides entertaining us, movies urge people not to forget, to memorise what is happening to us as a society,” Chilean filmmaker Matías Lira told IPS. 

He added that, with respect to the sexual abuse committed within the Catholic Church, “the media has a pending task, and society has a duty.”

Based on this premise, Lira directed “Karadima’s Forest”, based on real events. The film, which comes out in Chile in April, tells the story of a priest who sexually and psychologically abused dozens of boys and young men, and who was one of the country’s most influential priests thanks to his enormous charisma and his reputation as a “saint” – which was even his nickname. 

There is great expectation surrounding Lira’s film in Chile, a country with a highly conservative society where 67 percent of the population of 16.7 million identifies as Catholic. 

The film comes after “The Club”, by Pablo Larraín, winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in February, which also tackles the question of pedophile priests in Chile. 

The case of Fernando Karadima is emblematic. As the parish priest of El Bosque (“the forest”), in the wealthy Santiago neighbourhood of Providencia, the priest forged an empire with the backing of high-level church authorities from the early 1980s until his retirement from his post in 2006. - Finish reading here.

Riot in the Cathedral. (LOL)

Supporters of Bishop Barros tried to stop the protest.

Story here.

Active participation.

Perhaps the bigger story, up here in the U.S, and especially among Catholic bloggers, is the protests by Chilean Catholics over the consecration of  Juan Barros as bishop of Osorno.  I haven't followed the story closely, aside from being slightly amused by the 'riot in the Cathedral' which occurred in response to the installation of Barros.  Supposedly Barros knew about the abuse - perhaps even witnessed it, but remained silent.  Today he denies any involvement.  Nevertheless, the outcry is so incessant at this point, the protests so loud, I'm confident there will be some response from the Pope and the Vatican.

I hope I can see the film when it's released.

Fernando Botero, Promenade

Prayers for the victims and that justice and peace will ensue.


UPDATE: Catholic news Agency has a good synopsis here.

Forget the Poor? Minnesota DFL way off-base.

But it got my attention.
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When I got Ray's email about this story I didn't pay much attention - the candidate wasn't from my district.  Call me dull-normal - but that is what I am when it comes to State politics.  Not that these races are not extremely important and consequential - but by this time of the campaign season I am so sick of all the ads and the candidates, I just want it all to be over.  I doubt I'm unlike the majority of people in this.  So I kind of blew off the ad for what it is - an anti-Catholic ad to dissuade people from voting for candidates who are pro-life or against gay marriage.  I got it - but I didn't think it was any worse than an ad I saw on TV using the Catholic name when urging voters to reject any candidate who is pro-gay marriage.  Then there was the Archbishop's DVD of course.
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Am I offended the Democrats got it wrong by implying the Catholic Church is defending marriage on the backs of the poor?  Yes, but secular anti-Catholics along with Catholic dissidents always say that kind of stuff.  For instance - in the AIDS battle, Catholic dissidents along with other pro-gay activists have often insisted the Church preferred dogma to helping AIDS victims.  Such lies fly in the face of the fact that the Church was the first to come to the aid and defense of these sufferers around the globe!  In NYC - the Church was the first to open a hospice under the care of the Missionaries of Charity.  Likewise today, Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services, and other such organizations are on the streets and in the front lines defending the poor.  So how can a practicing Catholic not even be aware of that fact what with all the fund drives and donation seeking mailings we all get?  That said - the attack wasn't necessarily anti-Catholic - but anti-clerical.

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Nevertheless, the ads are nothing but cheap shots at the Church, to be sure - but political campaigns are nothing but cheap shots at one another's contender and opposing political platforms.  So that is pretty much why I never paid any attention to the ad in the first place.  I never watched the Archbishop's DVD either - I agreed with it - but I never watched.  Nor did I read the entire Archdiocesan plan on the closing and merging of parishes.  You might call it detachment... defensive detachment.  However, I definitely feel compelled to vote (pressured is more like it) - but I do not like any of the candidates or their platforms. 
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Actually, I feel as if I am forced to vote for the only candidate who happens to be pro-life and anti-gay marriage - I don't like the guy.  I can't stand people like Michelle Bachman either.  Mark Dayton is a zombie.  And so on.  See how I am.  I'm scared I'm a liberal stuck in an out of shape conservative's body - or is that a conservative in a liberal body?  No - I'm fairly certain I'm some sort of an anarchist with a conscience, always on the wrong side of the fence - but tear my heart open and you will find love.
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Anyway - the DFL ad?  I'm against it.  God bless Ray of Stella Borealis for making dolts like me aware of it. 
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NB:  Although it may seem as if I'm riding the coat-tails of Ray's superb post, as a prominent Roman Catholic Minnesotan, I feel it is only my duty to make a statement on where I stand in this controversy.  Hi Cath!

Be careful what you say...

You don't have to tell me that.

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I wouldn't listen anyway. But the Obama Administration is sure telling people to watch what they say. Pretty soon they will be telling the American people what to think...

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"White House press secretary Robert Gibbs issued a pointed warning to opponents of Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination Wednesday, urging critics to measure their words carefully during a politically charged confirmation debate.

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“I think it is probably important for anybody involved in this debate to be exceedingly careful with the way in which they’ve decided to describe different aspects of this impending confirmation,” Gibbs said." Source

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Yet Judge (Ugly Betty) Sotomayor hasn't always been that careful with the way she has decided to describe things...

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In a speech published in the Berkeley La Raza Law Journal in 2002, Judge Sotomayor offered her own interpretation of this jurisprudence. "Justice [Sandra Day] O'Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases," she declared. "I am . . . not so sure that I agree with the statement. First, . . . there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." - Source

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I'm not so sure she is all that wise either - 60% of her decisions have been reversed, and some have been blasted by at least one Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

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Janet Napolitano seems to be trying to tell Canadian media to shut up too...

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Napolitano was trying to get past the diplomatic gaffe after an interview last month with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. in which she said—incorrectly—that the Sept. 11 terrorists crossed into the U.S. from Canada. The comments caused an uproar in America's neighbor to the north.

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"We know, and I know, that 9-11 terrorists did not cross the Canadian border. I regret that the Canadian media only seems to hear that earlier misstatement by me to that effect," Napolitano said at a brief news conference, adding that she wants to move on. - Source

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I wish Obama and the entire Administration would move on, and take Pelosi with them.