Posted on 01/27/2006 1:02:30 PM PST by concernedAmerican1
TFP Student Action launches effort to restore modesty on Catholic campuses
Feminist groups on twenty-one American Catholic Universities are planning a new assault against the Church’s traditional moral teaching, by organizing showings of the lewd play, “The V***** Monologues” in the weeks surrounding St. Valentine’s Day. (Asterisks added for modesty).
TO SIGN YOUR E-CARD AND JOIN THE GROWING PROTEST, visit: http://tfp.org/student_action/php/monologues_2006.php
The choice of St. Valentine’s Day is particularly offensive, since it is a feast day the Church instituted to honor three martyrs who died to defend the Faith.
According to the Cardinal Newman Society1, the play is a conglomeration of vulgarities, obscenities and explicit discussions of sexuality and sexual encounters including lesbian activity and masturbation.
Their description continues: “In one scene, a woman describes her seduction by a lesbian woman when she was 16 years old, declaring it her "salvation" and an important coming-of-age experience. The older woman leads the girl into sex by serving her alcohol and abusing her authority as an elder."
“I cannot imagine why this immoral play would be shown at a single Catholic university, let alone twenty-one of them,” said TFP Student Action director John Ritchie. “We are asking our affiliate members on 716 campuses to protest. Catholic universities need to be morally correct, not politically correct.”
Together with the Cardinal Newman Society – TFP Student Action has successfully protested these outrageous performances, achieving partial victory. In 2003, thirty-two Catholic institutions planned to allow the play on campus. However, this year, only twenty-one Catholic universities appear to be willing to allow it.
In 2004, Bishop John M. D'Arcy issued a statement regarding “The V***** Monologues,” which has sadly been allowed at the University of Notre Dame year after year, despite the protest of faculty and students. "Freedom in the academy is always subject to a particular discipline. It is never an absolute… Freedom in the Catholic tradition is not the right to do this rather than that. That would be an entirely superficial idea of freedom… Freedom is the capacity to choose the good," said Bishop D’Arcy.2
Now, TFP Student Action web site readers can send an instant PROTEST E-MAIL to the presidents of all twenty-one Catholic universities apparently involved in 2006. Everyone needs to be concerned.
After being forced to see the play as part of a class, Christopher, a Catholic student from Massachusetts wrote: “…it was a horrible exhibit of vice, lust, and infidelity. Everything about the play was decidedly opposed to just about everything the Church teaches, whether it be about sexuality, abortion, contraception, holy matrimony, modesty, chastity, vulgarity, humility, reverence, you name it…”
Please defend Catholic morality and support students like Christopher by signing a polite and respectful message of protest.
2006 Performances of "The V***** Monologues" (according to V-Day3)
Note: We are grateful to Mr. Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, for his efforts to stop this play on Catholic campuses. He kindly provided TFP Student Action with a list of campuses where “The V***** Monologues” is scheduled. The list below was compiled by the Cardinal Newman Society and will be updated as the protest develops, using the information CNS places on its web site:
1. Boston College Rev. William Leahy, S.J., President 18 Old Colony Rd., Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 Phone: (617) 552-8000 E-mail: william.leahy.1@bc.edu
2. College of the Holy Cross Rev. Michael McFarland, S.J., President 1 College St., Worcester, MA 01610 Phone: (508) 793-2011 E-mail: mmcfarla@holycross.edu
3. College of Mount Saint Vincent Dr. Charles Flynn, Jr., President 6301 Riverdale Ave., Riverdale, NY 10471 Phone: (718) 405-3233 E-mail: charles.flynn@mountsaintvincent.edu
4. College of Saint Benedict Dr. MaryAnn Baenninger, President 37 S. College Ave., St. Joseph, MN 46374 Phone: (320) 363-5505 E-mail: mbaenninger@csbsju.edu
5. College of Saint Catherine Sr. Andrea J. Lee, IHM, President 1st Floor Derham, 2004 Randolph Ave. #F23, St. Paul, MN 55105 Phone: (651) 690-6525 E-mail: ajlee@stkate.edu
6. College of Saint Rose Dr. R. Mark Sullivan, President 432 Western Ave., Albany, NY 12203 Phone: (518) 454-5121 E-mail: sullivam@mail.strose.edu
7. DePaul University Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., President 55 E. Jackson Blvd., 22nd Floor, Chicago, IL 60604 Phone: (312) 362-8890 E-mail: dholtsch@depaul.edu
8. Fordham University Lincoln Center & Rose Hill campuses Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., President 441 E. Fordham Rd., Bronx, NY 10458 Phone: (718) 817-3000 E-mail: president@fordham.edu
9. Georgetown University Dr. John DeGioia, President 37th & O Sts. NW, Washington, DC 20057 Phone: (202) 687-4134 E-mail: president@georgetown.edu
10. John Carroll University Rev. Robert L. Niehoff, S.J., President 20700 N. Park Blvd., University Heights, OH 44118 Phone: (216) 397-4281 E-mail: president@jcu.edu
11. Loyola University of Chicago Chicago campus & Rome campus Rev. Michael Garanzini, S.J., President 820 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611-2196 Phone: (312) 915-6700 E-mail: mgaranz@luc.edu
12. Loyola University of New Orleans Rev. Kevin W. Wildes, S.J., President 6363 St. Charles Ave., Campus Box 009, New Orleans, LA 70118 Phone: (504) 865-3847 E-mail: wildesk@loyno.edu
13. Regis College Dr. Mary Jane England, President 235 Wellesley St., Weston, MA 02493 Phone: (781) 768-7122 E-mail: england@regiscollege.edu
14. Saint Louis University Rev. Lawrence Biondi, S.J., President 221 North Grand Blvd., Saint Louis, MO 63103 Phone: (314) 977-7777 E-mail: biondi@slu.edu
15. Saint Joseph College Dr. Evelyn Lynch, President 1678 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117 Phone: (860) 231-5221 E-mail: elynch@sjc.edu
16. Saint Mary's College of California Br. Ronald Gallagher, F.S.C., President P.O. Box 3005, Moraga, CA 94575-3005 Phone: (925) 631-4203 E-mail: rgallagh@stmarys-ca.edu
17. Saint Xavier University Dr. Judith Dwyer, President Warde Academic Center, Rm A225 3700 West 103rd St., Chicago, IL 60655 Phone: (773) 298-3309 E-mail: jadwyer@sxu.edu
18. Seattle University Rev. Stephen V. Sundborg, S.J., President 900 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98122 Phone: (206) 296-1891 E-mail: sundborg@seattleu.edu
19. University of Detroit Mercy Gerard L. Stockhausen, S.J., President 4001 W. McNichols Rd., P.O. Box 19900, Detroit, MI 48219 Phone: (313) 993-1455 E-mail: gstock@udmercy.edu
20. University of Notre Dame Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., President Notre Dame, IN 46556 Phone: (574) 631-3903 E-mail: john.i.jenkins.1@nd.edu
21. University of San Francisco Rev. Stephen A. Privett, S.J., President 2130 Fulton St., San Francisco, CA 94117 Phone: (415) 422-6762 E-mail: president@usfca.edu
Footnotes: 1. http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.com
2. http://www.diocesefwsb.org/COMMUNICATIONS/monologues.htm
3. http://www.v-day.com
This is a good cause to join. God bless!
http://tfp.org/student_action/php/monologues_2006.php
For more information, visit:
http://tfp.org/student_action/index.html
This makes me want to scream. I went to one of those schools and my kids went to two others. I think my kids have more sense than the presidents of these universities. What does Catholic education mean any more?
I have this image of Mary in the audience jumping to her feet at the end of this "play" and applauding wildly in support of it. No, not really. Just the opposite. If she didn't walk out on it with her head hanging low, I would be stunned. The thing that kills me is that Notre Dame, the school named in her honor, is one of the culprits. I am highly disappointed in all of these schools.
It has nothting whatever to do with the thread, but it's really cool.
Notre Dame reviewing appropriateness of controversial play
TOM COYNE Associated Press
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The new University of Notre Dame president questioned Monday whether "The Vagina Monologues" and a Queer Film Festival held on campus the past few years should be sponsored by university departments.
The Rev. John I. Jenkins, who took over as president of the Roman Catholic school on July 1, did not say he would cancel the events, but is scaling back both events. He discussed the matter on Monday during a speech to faculty members and plans to address students on Tuesday. He said he also wants to hear from alumni.
He told the faculty he worried that sponsorship by university departments indicated a certain level of acceptance. As an example, he said the school would face questions if it were to sponsor a play that was anti-Semitic.
"A reasonable observer would assume that the university is sponsoring an event that, in fact, is clearly and egregiously at odds with its values as a Catholic university," he said.
He said events that are inconsistent with Catholic values should not be allowed at Notre Dame.
After his 50-minute speech, though, some of the faculty questioned him, saying that a university is the place where thoughts and ideas should be challenged.
Margaret Doody, an English professor, said the university should be a place for freedom and that higher education had already been through a period where research and thinking were restrained.
"It was known as McCarthyism," she said. But others praised Jenkins for taking up the issue. Margot O'Brien, who teaches in the accounting department, said plays such as "The Vagina Monologues" had no place at Notre Dame.
"It is a matter of treating something that is evil as good, and that's just wrong," she said. Jenkins said he wasn't surprised by the responses. "People have strong feelings about this and there are strong differences of opinions," he said.
Jenkins, who was a top Notre Dame administrator for four years before becoming president, told the faculty members he supported academic freedom - calling it essential to the university - but said academic freedom has limits.
"I do not believe that freedom of expression has absolute priority in every circumstance," he said. "While any restriction on expression must be reluctant and restrained, I believe that, in some situations, given the distinctive character and aspirations of Notre Dame, it may be necessary to establish certain boundaries, while defending the appropriate exercise of academic freedom."
Jenkins' predecessor, the Rev. Edward A. Malloy, allowed "The Vagina Monologues" and a Queer Film Festival on campus, but did not comment about them. He was criticized by Bishop John D'Arcy of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese for allowing them.
Jenkins said he would allow "The Vagina Monologues" to be performed on campus this year, but only in a classroom setting and tickets can't be sold.
ping
moral absolutes ping?
The best line in the article was: "Catholic universities need to be morally correct, not politically correct.” This sense that so many Catholics and Catholic Institutions seem to have that they are old fashioned and stuck-in-the-mud and that the way to deal with that is by chasing after the false modernity held out by the leftist PC society is the thing that troubles me most about Modern Catholicism.
Boundaries are good.
From their website
The Idea of a Counter-Revolution
WHO WE ARE
The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) was born of a group of Catholic Americans concerned about the multiple crises shaking every aspect of American life. Founded in 1973, the American TFP was formed to resist, in the realm of ideas, the liberal, socialist and communist trends of the times and proudly affirm the positive values of tradition, family and property.
Central to the TFP mission is the idea that the various crises threatening American society and the Church cannot be seen as separate and disjointed. Rather they originate from a single cause.
The TFP handbook Revolution and Counter-Revolution by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira masterfully traces the historical and philosophical roots of this single cause: a phenomenon called the Revolution.
The TFP is not afraid to take its views to the streets with colorful sidewalk campaigns in major cities The TFP was born from the idea of a Counter-Revolution, a movement that would embrace every field of action, especially in art, ideas and culture. (To read TFP views on current topics, visit the TFP Forum) TFP books, publications and newspaper advertisements help bring these views to the public. Moreover, the TFP is not afraid to take them to the streets with colorful sidewalk campaigns in major cities.
The first TFP was founded in Brazil in 1960 by Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. Later, the American TFP became but one of many autonomous TFPs that now exist around the world dedicated to the same ideals and at the service of Christian Civilization (See links).
*Look, one does not have to join an insane cult to protest immodesty anymore than one has to join the Nazi's to protest the immodesty of Hollywood
Actually, opposition to T.F.P. has come mostly from parents of T.F.P. members, themselves usually Catholic traditionalists, and from conservative and traditionalist Catholic quarters.
There are several reasons for this. In the first place, outside of Latin America, TFP generally keeps a low profile or operates through front organizations which the left usually does not understand. Skinhead-scalpers will turn elsewhere when they find a group like TFP whose writings are difficult to read, which is generally unobtrusive, and was founded by a man who sympathized for the British conservatives during the War (so much so that they took a pro-British stance during the Falkland War). TFP always viewed Fascism, with its optimistic cult of the State and the Nation, as a deviant form of "revolutionary socialism".
Another reason is that TFP is actually far to the right of virtually every other right-wing organization. Whatever feelings people may actually harbour deep down, I know of no other right-wing organization which publicly holds that the rich are better than the poor. Even the most extreme Catholic traditionalists tend to blame the modern world on "International Freemasonry" or on "the banker Mafia", whereas TFP puts the blame squarely on the rebellious poor, to whom it opposes its self-styled "rightism".
The third reason is doctrinal. Catholic traditionalists have problems with the "official" Church because of its supposed doctrinal deviation; but TFP is only interested in fighting agrarian reform, not in doctrine, which is why it was able to accept Vatican II and the reform of the liturgy. After all, the Pope has more battalions than Monsignor Lefèbvre ever had.
Also, Plinio's denial of the future role of priests - and the exclusion in the present of priests from all the more secret aspects of the group - led Monsignor Castro de Mayer, for decades Plinio's patron among the Brazilian bishops, to state:
"TFP is a heretical sect since, although they do not say so in words or in writing, lives and acts according to a principle which undermines the very basis of all true Christianity, that is the Catholic church".
(Tradizione Famiglia Proprietà: Associazione cattolica o setta millenarista?, Rimini 1996, p. 6)
The extent of TFP's doctrinal deviation can be seen from the following document. I apologize to Catholic readers for including it, since it sounds very much like some of the more ribald songs nineteenth-century anticlericals used to sing after having had a drink too many. This "hymn" is however serious: a parody on one of the most revered hymns to the Virgin in the Catholic tradition, this is dedicated to Dona Lucilia, the mother of Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira:
Lady Lucilia, pray for us
Mother of Mister Doctor Plinio, pray for us
Mother of the Doctor of the Church, pray for us
Mother of our Father, pray for us
Mother of the Unspeakable, pray for us
Mother of all of us, pray for us
Mother of the coming centuries, pray for us
Mother of the Axiological Principle, pray for us
Mother of the Temperament of Synthesis, pray for us
Mother of all purity, pray for us
Mother of the Trans-sphere, pray for us
Mother of Seriousness, pray for us
Mother of the Counter-Revolution, pray for us
Restorer of Temperaments, pray for us
Source of Light, pray for us
Procreator of Innocence, pray for us
Preserver of Innocence, pray for us
Consoler of Mister Doctor Plinio, pray for us
Mediator of the Grand Retour, pray for us
Mediator of all our graces, pray for us
Dawn of the Kingdom of Mary, pray for us
Lady Lucilia of the smile, pray for us
Lady Lucilia of Flashes*, pray for us
Most beautiful flower of all, pray for us
Our refuge, pray for us
Our consoler, pray for us
Our help in the Bagarre, pray for us
Reason of our perseverance, pray for us
Vase of logic, pray for us
Vase of metaphysics, pray for us
Martyr of isolation, pray for us
Queen of serene suffering, pray for us
Queen of loveliness, pray for us >
Queen of serenity, pray for us
Lady Lucilia, our Mother and Lady, help us
Lady Lucilia, our greatest mediator before the Virgin, help us
* In English (quoted in Tradizione Famiglia Proprietà: Associazione cattolica o setta millenarista?, Rimini 1996, pp. 70-71)
The most extraordinary claim here is also the most obscure,other of the Axiological Principle": this means a principle requiring no previous principle, in other words God himself.
This hymn came into public domain when it was revealed by Prof. Orlando Fedeli, a member of TFP for over 30 years, who asked Mons. Antonio de Castro Mayer for his opinion on its orthodoxy. One can see where the roots of Introvigne's dislike for "apostates" lies. TFP did not deny the allegation; it simply shifted the blame on over-zealous young followers, and claimed the hymn to be perfectly orthodox ((Carlo Alberto Agnoli e Paolo Taufer, TFP: la maschera e il volto, Ed. Adveniat, S.Giustina di Rimini, s.d., p. 17 ss). - shifting the blame onto the boys is a time-honoured practice in certain kinds of organizations. It also claimed that use of the hymn had long been discontinued. The current official version of this issue is given by Roberto de Mattei in his hagiography of Doctor Plinio (Roberto de Mattei, Il crociato del secolo XX: Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, Piemme, Casale Monferrato, 1996, p. 249):
"It is true that for a certain period some co-operators of the association used a litany with invocations to Lady Lucilia, composed by two adolescents late in 1977. This litany was forbidden by Prof. Corrêa de Oliveira as soon as he got word of it"
Oddly, this hymn by Brazilian adolescents seems to have spread across the ocean, since it was certainly used in France in the early '80s, and a former AC member recently told me that some TFP affiliates were still using it in Italy in the early '90s. When nothing else works, shocked TFP sympathizers who discover this hymn are told that "things are different in Latin America": this happened to be a favourite stratagem in my group, New Acropolis, which came from Latin America too.
If Plinio's mother is the Virgin Lucilia, her offspring of course must be quite special. Just how special appears from an extraordinary episode, which can hardly be blamed on over-zealous adolescents, since it is based on a statement made by Plinio, repeated in many works on him, and - as usual - proudly narrated in Cristianità. ("In memoriam: Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira", November-December 1995, p. 6):
"February 1st, 1975, in view of the increasingly difficult situation of the Catholic Church, and hence of the Catholic world, during a meeting of the Brazilian TFP, he offered himself as an expiatory victim. Thirty-six hours later he was seriously wounded in a car accident, the consequences of which followed him until his death"
More than its political character, it was this highly suspect theological nature of the group which led to its demnation by the Council of Brazilian bishop
ring its 23rd plenary assembly, the Council of Brazilian bishops approved a note concerning the 'Brazilian Society for the Defence of Tradition, Family and Property', advising Catholics not to join the above mentioned Society […]. Its esoteric character, its religious fanaticism, the personality cult of the founder and of his mother, the abuse of the name of the Virgin Mary […] can absolutely not be approved of by the Church"
(Osservatore Romano, July 7, 1985, p. 12, n. 408, weekly Spanish edition quoted in Tradizione Famiglia Proprietà: Associazione cattolica o setta millenarista?, Rimini 1996, frontispiece)
The terms "cult" or "sect", with their double meaning of "deviant religious behaviour compared to an institutional religion" and a "closed totalist group", are certainly ambiguous. But this condemnation of TFP reveals why the organization was certainly considered by some to be a "cult" in the first sense of the word; and why therefore this organization took a special interest in the issue of "cults" in 1985, that is exactly when Introvigne too started involving himself in this matter.
Former TFP members have written that Plinio was well aware of this association. Referring to cult accusations, he used to tell them:
"This must not come as a surprise; since you belong to TFP, you will be treated as if you belonged to a cult, by your very parents and friends! It will be terrible, and it will be hard indeed to stay faithful."
(Tradizione Famiglia Proprietà: Associazione
*These folks are nuts. Stay away from them
I can't see why joingin a schism is an answer to immodesty, but, some think it a rational response
By A. Gerard Nordskoven
Watching a Catholic community autodestruct is wrenching. The Society for Tradition, Family & Property, or TFP, is eating Kansas City alive. It is a scenario played out all over the world. TFP is an all-male secret society promoting a "higher" calling than the priesthood, the warrior-monk. TFP is a cold-blooded vocation killer. Not one priest has arisen from their "conservative" formation of young men anywhere in its international ranks since its founding in the early sixties. None. One of TFP's slickest Screwtapes has been a woman, Marian Horvat. Horvat, president of the TFP's California offshoot, Tradition in Action, distinguished herself as one of four collaborating signatories to "We Resist You to the Face," a manifesto for Catholic schism. Before that, Horvat's duties were in the heartland, and more along the line of "We Stab You in the Back" with the quiet destruction of the faithful. She's a "nice girl", well-spoken and polite. And she gave TFP and their ideas entré into nice families. The Catholic scholars at her alma mater, K.U., saw through the Horvat family obsession with TFP and rejected their overtures to infiltrate the Integrated Humanities Program, a veritable incubator for clerics and other religious. Others have not been so discerning. Pious boys exploring their calling have hardened into caustic snobs who are taught by TFP recruiters to despise their parents as "the fountain of my revolution."
The simplest mystery of Judeo-Christianity is election. Yet it is almost unfathomable that the Most High chooses to grace souls and peoples for reasons unknown to man. The antithesis of election, indeed a tenet of Babylonian Mystery Religions (as is secrecy), is elitism. This is man exalting himself above other men. We were warned. The Lord reviled the people's desire for a king to rule over them, and told of their inevitable exploitation. Hindu elitism is writ in the squalor of a rigid caste system. The unholy marriage of elitism and Catholicity was fabricated in TFP founder Plinio's book, The Nobility and Traditional Elites. It was offered for sale after the Latin Mass approved by the KCMO Bishop. $50.00 was the penance exacted for presuming to be a noble, elite Catholic. But the young salesmen were friends of Marian, glowingly praised in the tome. And she was smart, a K.U. teaching assistant who hammered a journalism degree into a doctorate in Medieval History.
Few read the lavishly illustrated book, consigning it to the coffee table. In Nobility, the race and blood cults condemned by Piux XII are resurrected in his own words, spin doctored to fit TFP's agenda. Pius XII's flattering pleas to the nobility of Italy for funds to feed the starving during World War II are transformed into support for TFP's militant monarchists. Published two years before Plinio's death, Marian Horvat garnered high honors from the author for her assistance. That's saying a lot. Plinio Correa de Oliveira was a self-styled demigod, described reflexively in a TFP litany to his mother, Dona Lucilia, as the "Axiological Principle," or First Cause, a divinity. That's the secret side of TFP. In Plinio's book, the elite are defined as bluebloods, and as "professors" like himself and Marian. It is a predatory philosophy of NON SERVIAM, like the fictional spaceman's cookbook, "How to Serve Man." Horvat's brother adds information for the American audience. The elite of America were the Southern slaveholder in general, and genetic marvels like Robert E. Lee in specific. Here is the race and blood cult American style.
Priests do not fit into the TFP schema. They serve. They are poor. They don't rule countries. The colorful "scroll" centerfold in Nobility proclaims "the preferential option for the nobility." John Paul II's "preferential option for the poor" is directly contradicted. That's refreshing. There can be no question whose side they are on. The schismatic heraldry of "We Resist You to the Face" was just a flourish on a split with the Servant of Servants started years before. TFP disdains the priesthood, predicting it's obsolescence. No priests, no Eucharist. Wormwood, be advised. Horvat's crocodile tears for lost vocations as inspiring "We Resist You to the Face" are hypocritical. Styling herself a latter day Joan of Arc, Horvat is a free agent serving only demigod Plinio and the Ten Kings of the Antichrist with no regard for prelates unless they are useful as camouflage for TFP, or Tradition in Action, or the America Needs Fatima cash cow. Radical materialism is the name of the game and another hallmark of Babylonian Mystery Religions. That's the philosophical basis for Communism, so it is no surprise that K.U.'s long-time campus Communist converted to Horvat's brand of Catholicism. One gets all the exploitation without any of the guilt. The poor are solicited by mail for a dollar a day, and the wealthy get quietly approached for donations of homes, large sums of money, and farms, not to mention the entrustment of children. Horvat guided the formation of young women in her home-school Sodality, and the children of "traditional" Catholics in other educational venues.
Marian Horvat is an apt pupil of TFP's techniques, and ingratiates herself to the wealthy, well-educated and powerful only. Peasants are the enemy, and perhaps too reminiscent of her blue-collar background. Catholic scholars cotton to her, and she sailed her pirate ship under their colors whenever possible. Alice Von Hildebrand was shamefully used in discussions aired on EWTN. She slipped one over on the elderly philosopher by dropping Plinio's name into the mix. EWTN got wind of it and axed the "Feminity and Feminism" series. But this virago is far from feminine. Horvat's favorite ploy for testing the mettle of protegés at the family compound was to invite them over and release their snapping, snarling German Shephards. Some left, some signed on to continue undermining the Catholic community in her stead. Horvat came razor close to imposing a TFP school on Kansas City residents under the banner of a conservative Catholic education. The monied Texas woman Horvat talked into bankrolling the venture got wind of her unseemly connections and mercifully withdrew.
Watch for this coiling snake of Babylonian cast, and beg the Blessed Virgin to have bare feet ready to crush its head. Postcards may be found in the back of church from "America Needs Fatima." One response and it is virtually impossible to be free from TFP's dunning direct mail solicitation. And the Boys from Brazil are very appealing as they march like Medieval militants in their red capes, inserting themselves at the head of pro-life rallies, or setting up bookstalls at Catholic conferences, usually without permission. They are spoiling for a fight, and it is not with the forces of evil for which they claim they need lots of cash. It is with the Magisterium, in that they are already condemned by the Brazilian bishops conference, their home country. It is with Peter, as "We Resist You to the Face" obsequiously declares. It is with God, as blithely breaking the first command to honor no false gods. That's Plinio, who did not arise from the dead as he prophesied of himself. And do watch out for nice girls in pearls.
-- Opinion piece (c) A. Gerard Nordskoven, 2001. All Rights Reserved. Pictures: Left, Marian Horvat, Atila Sinke Guimaraes; center, Michael Matt, and Right, top, John Vennari, and, below, Christopher Ferrara, apologist for Remnant/Guimaraes tract. Integrists Showing Their Hand "In our view a possible future declaration of a sede vacante ('the period of time when the Apostolic See is empty, as a consequence of the heresy of the Pope,' CFN 7/2000) would take place automatically when the Church would become aware of the gravity of the present day errors and who is responsible for them." (1) ---We Resist The Pope To His Face, V.3 So there we have it, despite all the spin, tucked away neatly at the very end of their We Resist You.... mainfesto, though it is the very foundation of their errors and audacity: it will, according to the Matt, Guimaraes, Horvat, and Vennari, only take the "true" ideal Church to "become aware" of what these Integrists predict (that the Pope is a "heretic", in substantial rupture with Tradition in several dogmatic areas) -- and then? Retroactive-sedevacantism; the Popes they disgree with will be desposed! the same Sedevacantism to which they (the signers of the We Resist [the Pope] To His Face manifesto) are clearly implicitly committed now, though they tried in the past to play it coy through doublespeak and obfuscation when possible. Of course they deny it when convenient. But most people are not stupid. This is how these deluded souls can urge the public to follow them and officially "suspend obedience" to all the Popes since John XXIII, charging them with heresies and rupture with Tradition, and declare a "sustained public resistance," since they simply do not believe that the Council or present Holy Father has the authority to "bind" them. They have created an alternative, parody-church. Michael Matt, Atila Guimaraes will lead them. They alone will measure Truth. It is tragic. And they were warned by many. I myself warned Michael Matt that he was losing control and headed toward the cliffs. In vain. Their implicit sedevacantism is the very foundation of their belligerence and their call for "all traditionalists" to unite under such a reckless banner. They alone will be the arbiters of what is and is not Catholic, not the living teaching magisterium (see our Integrist section on the relationship between Tradition and the living Magisterium) . Such, tragically, is the hubris of schism. (See also our article below , "Why the Integrists Must Back Back-Pedal"; but this is not new for this group; their trajectory has been clear, whatever fine legalistic distinctions and convoluted arguments they proffer, even quoting JPII in their defense!!!!! ). These and their defenders (Chris Ferrara, Tom Woods -- a Lutheran just several years ago -- now instructing the Pope on Catholicism, Jonathan Tuttle, John -- "Paul VI is the escatological Antichrist" -- Parrot, et al) are all of one essential mind. To defend and appear with them is to join them, to propagate their errors and midwife schism. As the extreme trad conferences draw fewer and fewer people, they are now combining efforts: TFP'ers, Grunerite Fatima cash-cowites, rigorist Feeneyites, Sedevacantists, etc.
TFP uses scandals to attract converts to their schismatic cult
Atila Sinke Guimarães
The DAILY CATHOLIC is honored to add Atila Sinke Guimarães to our list of contributing columnists. He is the distinguished author of the 11-volume collection Eli, Eli, Lamma Sabacthani (My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken me?). To date two volumes of this collection have been published in English: In the Murky Waters of Vatican II and Animus Delendi- 1 (Desire to Destroy). In 1999 a special edition to the Collection, Quo Vadis, Petre? was also released.
This prolific writer was born in Rio de Janiero and tutored by his esteemed mentor Professor Plinio Correa de Oliveira for many years. Both Atila and his mentor spent many years in studies and researches, which included several trips to Europe and other countries of South America.
He is co-author of two timely statements addressed to Pope John Paul II on the responsibility of the Pontiff in upholding Church doctrine and tradition in We Resist You to the Face and An Urgent Plea: Do Not Change the Papacy.
His most recent work is a photo book co-authored with Marian T. Horvat entitled Previews of the New Papacy. He has also authored numerous booklets published by Tradition In Action, Inc. which we highly endorse.
Atila Guimarães is a contributor to Catholic periodicals, and has regular columns in The Remnant, Catholic Family News, and now The DAILY CATHOLIC. In February 2000, the International Biographical Center of Cambridge included him in the 2000 Outstanding Writers of the 20th Century in honor of his contribution in the field of Contemporary Religious Analysis.
His resume represents years of studies which began with Engineering from 1964-67; Law studies 1967-70; three years of French Literature; four years of Medieval History Studies; four years of Catholic Church History; eight years studying Philosophy as well as Politics; with sixteen years of Apologetics on Contemporary Religious Studies.
Marian Therese Horvat, Ph.D.
We are proud to introduce to the reader Marian Therese Horvat. She holds a degree in Journalism and a Master's and Doctorate in Medieval History from the University of Kansas. Her specialty is cultural history and she will write a regular column in her "Echoes of True Catholicism" as well as collaborate with Atila Sinke Guimarães on the inspiring column "Cultivating Catholic Culture."
Her background is in teaching, first in teaching Western Civilization in the Great Books Program at the University of Kansas in Lawrence as well as serving as a principal and founder of private Catholic independent schools in Kansas and Texas. In addition she assisted for many years families establishing home schooling.
Dr. Horvat has spoken at numerous Catholic conferences throughout the United States. She writes for various Catholic periodicals, and has regular columns in The Remnant, Catholic Family News, and now The DAILY CATHOLIC. She is author of Our Lady of Good Success: Prophecies for Our Times, and co-author of the timely statements We Resist You to the Face, An Urgent Plea: Do Not Change the Papacy, and Previews of the New Papacy.
She is president of Tradition in Action, Inc., a center for Catholic culture and apologetics. They have many books and tapes available at Tradition In Action, Inc. and we strongly recommend all of them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.