Protest by Catholic activists may hamper Obama reelection bid

The Hill ^ | Apr 24, 2012 | Alexander Bolton

[bkopto]

President Obama has seen his standing among Catholic voters, a crucial segment of the electorate, slip in recent weeks, and a looming confrontation with Catholic activists could make it worse.

Democrats want voters this year to focus on what they have branded a war on women, but the flip side of the debate — the so-called war on religion — is not going away anytime soon.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called for two weeks of public protest in June and July against what it sees as growing government encroachment on religious freedom.

The protests are expected to include priests and nuns and thousands of Catholic parishioners. Some activists expect civil disobedience, which could lead to powerful images of priests and nuns being led away in hand restraints.

“This is the most dynamic situation I’ve ever seen since I’ve been involved in Catholics and politics,” said Deal Hudson, president of Catholic Advocate, who also headed Catholic outreach for the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign in 2000 and 2004. “I think civil disobedience is almost inevitable. I think that kind of protest is on the way.”

Republican strategists say the rallies and protests could become powerfully symbolic in the presidential election.

“These would be devastating images for the Obama administration,” said Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist. “You have a very important religious demographic coming out in protest of Obama’s policies and being arrested for their expression. These images would be politically damaging for the president’s campaign.”

And the conference could go beyond protests — it has also discussed working with evangelical Christian groups on a broader public relations campaign that could include television and radio ads.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Right. That's why it's so significant when Bishop Jenky compares Obama to Stalin. (even if only in the "limited" sense of being a totalitarian who is moving to absorb or annihilate Church-related institutions in civil society).

Video of Bp Jenky droppin' the dime

[stephenjohnbanker]

B U M P

[Graing]

One of the bishops just penned an article in which he states that they (the clergy) are prepared to go to prison rather than obey the mandate and they are calling on the laity to have the same resolve.

I think the communist just had his bluff called. But you know how that can sometimes go with narcicism. Tough times ahead if he manages a steal in November.

That being said, looking forward to seeing "For Greater Glory" when it comes out. It will be a foreshadowing of what may be to come if Obama were to sneak a second term. "Viva Cristo Rey!"

[Mrs. Don-o]

Stunning to realize that this history isn't even known in Mexico

For Greater Glory

[BlackElk]

Redgolum:

"The more progressive ones" are in a perilous (from their POV) state of decline.

The surprise election of Timothy Cardinal Dolan of New York (whose brother in their hometown of St. Louis, MO, is said to be a conservative radio talk show host) as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops over the left radical Bishop Kicanas of Tucson (one of the late and unlamented Joseph Cardinal Bernardin's boys) was the first upset in the history of USCCB in which an insurgent nomination came off the floor to defeat the incumbent vice-president and stopping his ascendancy to the presidency of USCCB.

75 year old Francis Cardinal George of Chicago (former president of USCCB) recently wrote in his archdiocesan newspaper (in protest of Obozocare and the HHS regs) that he expects to die in bed, that he expects his successor to die in prison and he expects the successor of the one who dies in prison to be slain in the public square. Cardinal George has heretofore been notable for being a faithful Catholic but one who is modest and somewhat moderate in his choice of language in his communications to his flock.

The Vatican, through attrition, is systematically cleansing the worst cesspool states where the bishops have previously been trendy liberals: Texas, California, Illinois and soon New York. Actual Catholics are being appointed to each diocese that falls vacant by age or death or transfer.

B-XVI has now issued a directive for dealing with the political and ecclesiastical revolutionaries, new agers, enneagram fanatics, "centering prayer" occultists and all purpose heathens who run the major orders of nuns in the United States as a permanent ongoing revolution against their ecclesiastical superiors and, well, God.

God is not finished with us yet and, if the recent trends and policies continue, you may be positively impressed by the improvements in what used to be reviled as "AmChurch." A lot more Catholics than you may imagine are politically conservative as well as pro-life, pro-family religious conservatives. That includes many of us who come from the old private sector labor union families of yesteryear. My parents were both factory workers until my mother took a pay cut from her garment workers' job to be a clerical worker at Yale.

Virtually every older relative of mine was a labor union liberal (on private sector labor matters) in the 1950s. Virtually none of my relatives are Democrats today since they have all chosen Republican politics because they are pro-life and pro-family as actual Catholics. Many are Knights of Columbus and members of Ladies' Eucharistic Leagues. They recognize "progressivism" as the source of the moral evils in our society. We (my extended family members) are not hostile to generous care of the elderly, of the deserving poor, or of the physically crippled. We can remember so many of our own family who had fallen into such categories in the past. It has been our privilege to do our part privately. Nonetheless, even fifty years ago, NONE of them sympathized with the welfare state or welfare dependency as a way of life, even when they were still Democrats.

Finally, recognizing you as a non-Catholic serious Christian of good will and good faith, may I suggest that you take a look at the execrable National (anti-)Catholic Reporter which you may access at ncronline.com to witness the rage of the seriously aging and dying "progressive" crowd who falsely claim Catholicism. Today's issue is particularly filled with anti-Vatican venom. Pay particular attention to the reams of responses to their articles from their handful of readers. It is like reading the New York Times' readers responses to Maureen Dowd or David Brooks or Paul Krugman. As their pagan predecessors used to say: Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad!

I read NCR to know the dwindling enemy within and to do unofficial penance for my sins. And to indulge in a bit of schadenfreude.

God bless you and yours!

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

-— B-XVI has now issued a directive for dealing with the political and ecclesiastical revolutionaries, new agers, enneagram fanatics, “centering prayer” occultists and all purpose heathens who run the major orders of nuns in the United States as a permanent ongoing revolution against their ecclesiastical superiors and, well, God.-—

They traded it all in for enneagrams, of all things.

Good post.

[Salvation]

The Bishops keep knocking at Obama's door, but Obortion O refuses to answer. They're knocking again -- and we can be part of it! God bless these Bishops.

FYI, here is a list of history links on what the Bishops have done.

Catholic Bishops Call For Two Weeks of Action Against Obama
Catholic Bishops Call For Two Weeks of Action Against Obama
Protest by Catholic activists may hamper Obama reelection bid (Organize! Mobilize! Go!)
Protest by Catholic activists may hamper Obama reelection bid
[Connecticut] Bishops: Don't Make Catholic Hospitals Perform Abortions
Obama taking ‘similar path’ as Hitler and Stalin: Illinois Bishop Daniel Jenky
Obama taking ‘similar path’ as Hitler and Stalin: Illinois bishop Jenky
Bishop Calls for ‘Heroic Catholicism,’ Rips Obama’s ‘Radical Pro-Abortion Agenda’
Bishops tell Catholics to disobey 'unjust laws
Bishops warned: Obama will seize assets, only proper response is "Courageous Defiance"

The Profound, Unapologetic and Timely Reflections of Archbishop Chaput [Catholics in Public Life]
Vatican Cardinal: If Catholic employers provide contraceptive coverage they cooperate in sin
Catholics Urged to Imitate St. Thomas More in Contraception Battle
Cardinal Dolan criticizes Obama contraception policy as ‘radical intrusion' (still)
Calling for Calm (Spokane's bishop wants to talk hot topics,...)
Gvmt minister (Canada) rebukes bishops on Catholic sexual teaching: ‘You’re not allowed to do that anymore!’
Pres. Obama invokes “social Darwinism”. Mr. President, look in the mirror.
WaPo Blog Says Jesus Would Support Obamacare
We Will NOT Render Unto Caesar What Belongs to God! [Archbishop Robert Carlson]
Dolan describes Obama’s about-face on contraception mandate>
(NY Cardinal) Dolan: ‘We Can’t Back Down’ (Appears on the O'Reilly Factor)
Obamacare Mandate in Deep Trouble
ACTION ITEM ALERT! Pres. Obama, through a minion, attacks Catholic chaplains once again
Contraception mandate violates federal law, say legal experts
Virginia AG: If Obama's Mandate Stands, the Gov't ‘Can Order You To Do Anything’
What the media doesn’t want you to know: Americans hate the HHS mandate
As Health Care Law’s Trial Approaches, Two-Thirds Say Ditch Individual Mandate
Catholic Bishops Declare Obama's 'Unjust and Illegal Mandate' 'A Violation of Personal Civil Rights'
Health-Care Challenge Evokes Roosevelt New Deal High Court Clash

First Secular Business Sues Over HHS Mandate
Evangelical leaders urged to mobilize against administration contraception policy
Obama Admin Widens Abortifacient Birth Control Mandate to College Students
Do They Know Who They’re Messing With? (Obama Administration vs. the Catholic Church?)
Religious Freedom and Protecting Healthcare for Women and Children
U.S. Catholic bishops pressured Komen breast cancer charity over Planned Parenthood
New York Times accused of Catholic bashing, double standard on religion
Liberal Catholics Spooked by United Bishops for Religious Freedom
US Bishops Dig-in on Threats Against Religious Liberty: USCCB Statement on HHS Mandate
US Bishops Decry ‘Illegal and Unjust’ HHS Mandate, Call for Prayer and Penance
President Obama Perplexed by 'War on Religion' Charges
No Compromise
BISHOPS DON’T BUDGE ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY (Catholic Caucus)
Bishops Consider Broader Focus in Birth-Control Fight
Bishop [Lori] Hopes to Restart White House Contraception Talks
Obama Admin Finalizes Rules: $1 Abortions in ObamaCare
Obama's HHS mandate will destroy the Little Sisters of the Poor's ministry to the elderly
Amish, Ok. Catholics, No. (HHS Mandate)
Gloria Purvis: Opposing the Contraception Mandate
Ave Maria University Files Lawsuit Against Obama Administration
Obama’s Contraception Spin Machine (Administration misreads the Catholic Church yet again)
Obama the Apostate (Reckoning with the Catholic Church)

Dolan: White House invoked support of “enlightened” Catholics in refusing to budge on mandate
Deadly health risks for women: The unspoken side of the Obama birth control mandate
HHS mandate threatens Little Sisters of the Poor elder care
The Noise-to-Signal Ratio at the USCCB
Catholic Missionary Suing Government Willing to Risk Health (Crohn's) Over HHS Mandate
Cardinal Dolan: White House Lectured My USCCB Staff On How to Interpret Catholic Teaching
Obama Admin lectures Card. Dolan and USCCB. Dolan responds. (Fr Z Fisking of Article)
HHS mandate could close 13 percent of the nation’s hospitals
Bishop Lori rips America editorial on HHS mandate Priest warns Obama: Better knock the Catholic Church out now - you’ve awakened the giant
Irony - Bar Boots Denver Bishop giving private talk on threats to religious liberty
Top U.S. Bishop to All Bishops: ‘We Did Not Ask for This Fight, But We Will Not Run From It’
Obama Risks $100 Billion If Catholic Hospitals Close
Catholic bishops exhort faithful to oppose Obamacare in a Sunday message
Congress Told HHS Mandate Fines Could Total $620,000
Cardinal Dolan blasts White House contraception plan as 'freedom of religion battle'
The Coming Persecution (a priest's projection on what is to come if Obama re-elected)
The HHS Mandate: Cardinal George and the Bishops Are Fighting the Last War (Excellent Analysis)
Cardinal Dolan indicates possible legal actions; rebuffs "cave-in" Catholics
From Cardinal Dolan: “We Have to be Realistic and Prepare for Tough Times…”

Biden: We 'Screwed up' Contraception Mandate
Priest To Planned Parenthood: ‘Here Comes The Catholic Church’
The Catholic Diaspora and the Tragedy of Liberal Catholicism
A sermon explaining what Pres. Obama is doing.
Holder: 1st Amendment Allows Gov't to Force Catholics to Buy Sterilizat-Contracept-Abortn Insurance
Sebelius Excludes Bishops From Obamacare Mandate Compromise Talks
On "Things Not Subject to Human Government"
Church Could Be Forced To 'Give Up' Public Work, Cardinal George Warns
Cardinal George: No Catholic Hospitals in 2 Years Unless HHS Mandate is Rescinded
The Way Freedom of Religion Should Work
Religious Liberty Homily
Obama Faces More Lawsuits Over Pro-Abortion HHS Mandate
Pope Benedict Defends Religious Liberty
The Sisters and Universal Health Care: Forgetting What Religion Is
Time Magazine Op-Ed: Perhaps “Some Time in Jail” for Catholic Bishops Defending Religious Liberty
Baptist College Sues Over Contraceptive Mandate
Government Assault May Have Just Begun, Cardinal Dolan Warns
Responding to Your Questions for MORE! (Eblast from Grace Before Meals priest)
Catholic CEO calls mandate compromise 'divide and conquer' strategy

Catholic Bishop's Prez: Our Rights Don’t Depend on Obama
Obama's defense of religion {Mega BARF-Alert - talk about spin...}
Contraception and the Culture War [Deepening Catholic-Evangelical Relationship]
Cardinal Timothy Dolan issues strongest statement yet against the HHS mandate
Clergy Declare State of Emergency for Churches Over Obama Demands
Father, We're Ready for that Homily on Contraception Now
Contraception, Against Conscience [Why EWTN Will Not Comply With Obama's Mandate]
Bishops Decry Obama birth Control Plan, Yet Catholic Hospitals Report Sterilizations
The Catholic Betrayal of Religious Freedom
Obama Responds to Belmont Abbey Lawsuit. Epic Fail.
Catholic Charities Insists it has not Endorsed HHS Mandate
Chaput emerging as a warrior-bishop
Archbishop Chaput: It’s not a ‘compromise,’ and it needs to be rescinded
Pro-Abortion Fingerprints on HHS Mandate
Dem (Congressman) Scolds Bishop (at House Oversight hearin)
Evangelicals & Catholics Together: In Defense of Religious Freedom (vs. Islam, Secularism)
Catholic priest, pro-life activists arrested outside White House protesting Obama mandate
Obama Contradicted: HHS Banned Consideration of ‘Cost Effectiveness’ in Developing Contraception
BREAKING: Every Single Bishop Has Condemned the Obama/HHS Mandate!
Pro-life nuns: We’re not exempt - Obama mandate would force us ‘to pay for abortion-inducing drugs’

Contraception ruling: Democrats accuse clergy of complicity with GOP at hearing
Catholic League on Sebelius’s admission before a Senate committee
Voris: Obama Able to Neutralize Catholic Resistance Thanks to Bishops’ Past Complicity
Abortion, Contraception and the Church Fathers (Catholic teaching unchanged for 2000 yrs)
Head of U.S. bishops: Obama compromise on mandate ‘a hill of beans’; opposition intensifies
USCCB President: 'Harder and Harder' to Accept Obama's Word
White House Criticizes Bishops, Trumpets Support from CHA, Catholic Charities
Political Science 101: how the White House snookered the USCCB on the 'compromise'
What Did CHA's Carol Keehan Know and When Did She Know It?
Pope Shares Remarks on American Culture with Bishops; Issues Call to Laity By: Msgr. Charles Pope
USCCB President says Obama offered next to nothing; expresses disappointment with Sr. Keehan
Evangelical Leaders Call for Civil Disobedience Against U.S. Government
Liberal Jews Speak Against HHS Mandate
Top nun who supported Obama mandate thanks pro-choice group in private e-mail
Catholic Health Association collaboration with Obama admin on mandate a ‘scandal’: Catholic leader
Obama's revised HHS mandate won't solve problems, USCCB president says
Fr. Frank Pavone: No compromise - the mandate has to go, period
Time To Admit It: The Church Has Always Been Right On Birth Control
Culture with Local Bishops and Issues a Call to the Laity [Ecumenical]
Bishops Reject Obama's 'Accommodation' - President's political hemorrhaging to continue.

HHS Mandate - Nothing Has Changed (Donald Cardinal Weurl)
Obama Chief of Staff: New Pro-Abortion Mandate Here to Stay
WH: We Are Done Negotiating With Catholics
Opponents launch new White House petition rejecting Obama rewrite of birth control mandate
Did the Leaders of the Catholic Church Make a Deal with the Redistributionist Devil?
Archbishop Chaput: HHS mandate insulting and dangerous
Cardinal-Designate Dolan no longer trusts Obama
American Catholicism’s Pact With the Devil
Notre Dame Faculty to Obama: ‘This Is a Grave Violation of Religious Freedom and Cannot Stand’
White House: No More Compromise on Contraception
Obama's anti-religious implosion
Lew: Obama's latest stance on birth-control mandate final, puts issue to rest (CAPTION)
Pat Buchanan: 'Obama is trampling on God's turf' (Video)
W.H. official: Contraceptive rule stands
Obama chief of staff: No more compromise, contraceptive rule is done deal
Bishops Reject White House’s New Plan on Contraception (Obama continues his "War On Religion")
Faith/Pro-Life Leaders to Challenge Mandate by Praying and Risking Arrest in Front of the WH
Catholic Bishops: Don't Revise, Rescind
Obama's contempt for the Constitution
How the Catholic Church Became Cool Overnight

Chuck Colson Reacts to Obama’s “Compromise” on Required Abortion Care for Church Employees
US Bishops: Obama's 'Compromise' Has No Clear Protection...(Needless Government Intrusion)
Protests Continue Over Insurance for Contraception, Abortifacients (Feds Under Increasing Pressure
Bishops to Obama: No dice
Paul VI: “danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities ...”
Michael Moore Goes On Anti-Catholic Twitter Rant, Distorts Contraception Debate
Religious controversy burns Obama again (the rookie Hussein is in WAY over his pay grade)
Another Catholic college vows it will ‘not violate conscience’ on Obama mandate
Lutherans join chorus of voices slamming HHS contraceptive mandate
The Obama HHS 'Compromise' Switches the Tiger for the Lion (Not all Catholics buying Obama's bull)
Hannity on now with Priests, Pastors and Rabbis. Please watch
EDITORIAL: Obama’s free abortion pills
U.S. bishops ‘express concerns’ about Obama mandate ‘accommodation’
What Compromise? This Policy Leaves Religious Liberty in Peril and Planned Parenthood Smiling (Albert Mohler Opinion)
Bishops Renew Call To Legislative Action On Religious Liberty
Southern Baptist leader: Obama gave Christians ‘the dismissive back’ of his hand
Obama's Act of Tyranny
Bishops Were Prepared for Battle Over Birth Control Coverage
'Accounting gimmick' -- Obama compromise still threatens religious liberty, leaders say
Bishops ‘concerned’ over reworded mandate; other Catholic leaders slam as ‘insult to injury’
Obama Bows to Pressure, but His Religious 'Accommodation' Even Worse

Don't Be Deceived! Evil Obama Policy Now Even MORE Evil!
Obama’s Contraceptive 'Compromise' Doesn't Pass the Smell Test ("It doesn't change a thing")
Compromise or Accommodation, it’s still unacceptable. (updated from Catholic Vote)
Pres. Obama’s “Plan B” compromise, Sr. Keehan, and the Magisterium of Nuns
Land Says Obama Mandate Most Anti-Catholic Government Action in 150 Years
Motive, Means and Opportunity: Obama’s Assault on Catholics
(Exempt Catholics) Joe Biden, Bill Daley warned of contraceptive backlash
(Tim) Thomas makes second political statement (Stands With Catholics)
Southern Baptist leader: If Obama mandate isn’t changed, Christians will go to jail
Over 150 congressional leaders demand repeal of HHS mandate
Boehner vows to overturn Obama’s birth control coverage rule
Boehner: Congress to overturn birth control policy if Obama does not reverse course
O'Brien says Archdiocese of Baltimore won't offer birth control coverage
Archbishop of San Francisco says Obama ruling strikes at religious freedom
How Obama Lost the Catholic Vote
‘I am going to stick with fellow Catholics’ in Pres. Obama’s war on Catholics. Wherein Fr. Z rants.
Unholy War
Six Things Everyone Should Know about the HHS Mandate
Santorum: Obama Hostile to Christians
Understanding Oppostion to the HHS Mandate (Part 1): Why the Church Won’t Pay for Contracept

The Bishops Chickens Coming Home to Roost.
65 Orthodox Church bishops call on Obama to ‘rescind’ the ‘unjust’ contraception mandate
Doug Kmiec Writes Obama: 'Friendship Will Not Permit Me to Disregard Duty to Faith and Country'
Catholic Outcry Over Obama Administration's Birth Control Decision Could Factor In Presidential Race
Standing with the Bishops [Catholic Caucus]
Updated: *167* Bishops (More Than 90% of Dioceses) Have Spoken Out Against Obama/HHS Mandate
Outrage!… Military Tells Chaplains What They Can and Can’t Say About HHS/ObamaAssault on Religion
Updated: *153* Bishops (Over 80% of Dioceses) Have Spoken Out Against Obama/HHS Mandate
href="http://www.sundayscripturestudy.com/this_week.html">An Affront Catholics Agree On [Liberal and Conservative Catholics Against Obama Mandate]
Army Silenced Chaplains Last Sunday
Catholic Military Archdiocese & Chaplains interfered with last Sunday by Pres. Obama’s Admin
The Anti-Catholic President v. the Catholic Bishops
Sen. Rubio introduces bill to reverse Obama birth control mandate
Churches balk at birth control rule - Catholics won’t comply, Bishop Kevin Rhoades says
Protestants and Jews declare to White House: We stand with Catholics
Checking the Air Outside [Bp. Zubik's follow up to Obama's “To Hell with You”]
Mohler [Southern Baptist] Says Insurance Mandate Not Just 'Catholic' Issue
An Open Letter to President Barack Obama Concerning Recent Tyranny (With Pictures!)
Lincoln bishop: prepare for 'suffering' under HHS mandate
Bishop David Zubik confronts Obama
Obama’s ‘war on the church’

Pope hits out at 'radical secularism'
‘We Will Not Comply’: Catholic Leaders Distribute Letter Slamming Obama Admin Contraceptive Mandate
‘We Will Not Comply’: Catholic Leaders Distribute Letter Slamming Obama Admin Contraceptive Mandate
Bruskewitz: Fight Insurance Ruling [Sebelius a "bitter, fallen away Catholic"]
Letter from Archbishop John G. Vlazny on the matter of freedom of conscience and decisions by HHS
Bishop Olmsted's Letter to Catholics [Catholic Caucus]
Liberty for the Amish & Quakers but not Catholics. . .
Contraception mandate prompts Peoria bishop to instate St. Michael Prayer (Catholic Caucus)
Phoenix bishop (Olmstead): defy feds on birth control
A letter from Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr concerning HHS edict
Speak honestly: abortion is ‘the killing of tiny human beings in the womb’ – Denver bishop
Bishop [Daniel Jenky] Blasts Secularist Intolerance, Calls For ‘Assertive Action’ to Defend Church
(Pittsburgh Bishop Zubik comments:) HHS delays rule on contraceptive coverage
Dolan: Natural law, not religious preference, dictates all life sacred
Religious leaders blast HHS over contraception mandate
Mandated Contraception, Sterilization: Caesar Demands Church Violate Conscience
OBAMA’S CONTEMPT FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY (mandates coverage of sterilization & contraception)
Implications of Obama Admin move to force Cath hospitals to provide contraception and sterilizations
Catholic doctors’ group launches petition against contraception mandate
Contraception mandate tramples religious freedom, US bishops say

[Mrs. Don-o]

BlackElk, thankee for reading the bad NCR so I don't have to. Your post is a light unto mine eyes.

Let us exercise the supernatural power of love which Christ has given us, and pray for Joan Chittister OSB and her dismayed sisterhood. I knew her very well 25 years ago: very well. I do pray that the Lord Christ can work the enemy's grappling hooks out of her and pull her to safety at the last. (What I would want for myself, too.) She will be 76 in two days, April 26.

[redgolum]

Very good points. My old pastor in Lincoln said that he expected open persecution within 15 years. My wife's priest said the same (I often wondered if the pastor and priest drank together in old German fashion). We are heading into a dark time, and have to decide if we leave, go quietly, or done the armor and charge. I fear for the future of my daughter, but I am not worried about myself. My family back in Germany is rather small, because they had a bad habit of calling a spade a spade back in the bad old days. I will follow the old family tradition if it comes to it (God give me strength).

My experience has been the opposite of yours. Half of my family is Catholic, and all of them are very liberal Democrats. My comments about the “good” of abortion on a different thread come from some of them. Some on my wife's side do not talk to me because I am to “orthodox”. Now that is a rather select sample group, and if you add into the two dioceses of which I have contact with (Davenport and Peoria), it is rather interesting to see where and who has iron in the spine.

I pray that the night won't fall. I fear that it it will. Either way, here I stand, in the shadow of the cross and at the door of the open tomb. I can do no other. So help me God.

[D-fendr]

Thank you for maintaining and posting this list.

May all Christians join in this protest.

[BlackElk]

In order to read NCR, it helps to remember the sage words of the non-Catholic Ronaldus Maximus: "It is not that our liberal friends are ignorant but that they know so much that is not so."

You are welcome.

Was Joan Chittester pro-life back then?

Nearly thirty years ago, I sent a Christmas card to the nun who had taught me in nursery and kindergarten. Sr. Frances Julie of the then still Catholic Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. She has retired from the classroom and was running the gift shop at the Mother House in Fairfield, CT. Unlike the others at the Mother House, Sr. Frances insisted on wearing her habit at all occasions when she might be in public or at worship, that she had taken her vows as a young teenager, had lived them all of her long life, had earned that habit and would wear it so long as she lived. I had asked her in my Christmas card what had happened to each nun that I had as teachers at the grammar school I had attended. She reported that fully half had left the convent altogether and that other than Sr. Frances, the rest had made their peace with the rising radicalism in her order. Sr. Frances wrote that she would have left the convent in disgust but that her entire family had been dead for many years and she had no place to go. She was an heroic and magnificent and beloved nun. Each time she was transferred, the parish she was leaving would hold a testimonial dinner in her honor. I knew of no other nun who was so honored.

The Lord Jesus Christ can certainly work the enemy's grappling hooks out of Sr. Joan Chittester but he likely will not violate her free will in doing so. He may well provide her with an infinite supply of unearned graces of repentance but it will still be up to her to accept them or to reject them. And, of course, she is not alone in the perceived misbehavior that has marked so much of her career when she should have been pursuing her vocation instead in faithfulness to Jesus Christ. I join in your prayers for her and for them all.

May God bless you and yours!

[BlackElk]

Trust that God WILL give you that strength.

BTW, as you may know, Lincoln, Nebraska has been blessed for some time with Fabian Bruskewitz as bishop. He is one of the very finest bishops in the US and probably in the world. I am familiar with Bishop Jenky of Peoria whose diocese is the one just south of the Rockford Diocese where I live. Martin Amos is the bishop of Davenport, Iowa, but I know nothing about him other than that he was appointed in 2006. Do you have an opinion of his service as bishop?

As to the liberalism you have witnessed among Catholic members of your family and other Catholics, there is no denying that the Roman Catholic Church in the United States suffered in many places from poor catechesis and trendiness uber alles among many clergy, educators and infernal laity who had convinced themselves that they were somehow charged with bringing about a new form of Catholicism that would make the Reformation seem timid and quite pro-Catholic by comparison.

The National (anti-)Catholic Reporter (ncronline.com) eagerly carries the infernal opinions of these aged and bitterly disappointed radicals who are dying off and have failed to recruit younger folks to their ranks (whatever they may pretend). Pacifism. Surrendermonkeyism. Feminazism. Enthusiasm for all things "gay" or otherwise perverted in sexual relations. Lamentations that pro-abort politicians are barred from the Eucharist by increasing numbers of American bishops and that no one is punished for not implementing Marxism here and everywhere now. Demands for feminist clergy, no doubt to be followed by demands for lesbian clergy and openly proud homosexual clergy while simultaneously using the homosexual abuse of children by priests as a stick to beat the bishops and the Vatican. Many correspondents responding to NCR articles proudly proclaim their actual apostasy to protest what they regard as an ever more reactionary hierarchy.

As the more recently appointed bishops lead the Church in the US back to actual Catholicism, it will take a while for the old time religion to conquer the worst "progressive" termites at the grass roots level and convert the worshipers in the pews and their children to more sensibly conservative Catholicism than the substitute that prevailed for forty years or so.

Apropos of your family in Germany, I would very much like to see the Vatican canonize such Lutheran martyrs of Jesus Christ as Dietrich Bonhoeffer as saints. They became saints without any involvement by the RCC but it would not hurt for the RCC to recognize the obvious under the usual conditions for canonization. The faith of Bonhoeffer was as heroic as that of any modern saint.

As to your daughter, there is a work of Holocaust era history by Oxford Professor Martin Gilbert who is Jewish. The book is The Righteous and may still be available in hardcover. It is Professor Gilbert's historical reconstruction of what Catholics and other Christians did to thwart Hitler's ambitions for the genocide of the Jew and particularly to protect Jewish infants and children. I trust that each and every Christian of whatever faith will follow that example if and when the dark curtain of the tyranny of the AntiChrist has rung down on civilization. You and I may be too well known for what we are to escape the all too common fate of the early Christians. Our offspring and their offspring will live through the heroism that will rise to their defense.

[Cronos]

some idiotic Catholics and CINOs. I like that you too do not go for the euphemism ‘abortion’ but call it for what it is - ‘baby killing’

[Ransomed]

“Because now, at last, the U.S. Catholic bishops are 100% on board and motivated...”

They are doing much better. Not 100%. They have still to use actual discipline on public Catholics who publicly support the mandate. Hollering is fine, but if it is just hollering without anything to back it up, it just shows everyone it must not be too big a deal when you get right down to it after all.

Freegards

[Mrs. Don-o]

Oh, I just meant that 100% of them are officially signed on to say they reject the HHS Mandate. That's the GOOD news.

The BAD new is that almost 100% of our bishops are still in violation of Canon 915, even after Abp Burke wrote the authoritative interpretation in which he used the word "must" SEVENTEEN TIMES

CANON 915:
THE DISCIPLINE REGARDING
THE DENIAL OF HOLY COMMUNION
TO THOSE OBSTINATELY PERSEVERING
IN MANIFEST GRAVE SIN (LINK)

Go ahead, click the link and check it out. It's as carved-in-stone as a curial document can be. It is mandatory. And it helps to highlight the "musts".

[Tax-chick]

... [Cdl. George] expects to die in bed, that he expects his successor to die in prison and he expects the successor of the one who dies in prison to be slain in the public square.

That's scary, BlackElk. Not because I'm afraid for my own life ... I'm ready to die charging the barricades, frankly, because patient endurance for another 45 years or so is tougher. And I've got some children with combative personalities who will go out in a blaze of glory, given the opportunity.

However, I'm afraid for the babies. I know the Enemy's people hate me - because I've seen how much they hate Sarah - and I don't care, but they hate the babies even more. It's a Bishop's job to die at the altar or in the plaza, but so many worse things will happen.

[Ransomed]

Thanks for the link. A general call to action from bishops is pretty strange while there are traitors who get to publicly promote the agenda of the enemy while putting themselves forward as members in good standing.

I mean if hospitals are closed or sold and still discipline isn’t used for the teaching aspect, it must really not have been a big deal after all, at least to them. Did the eurobishops already go through this or what? What did they do or not about it? Maybe that will show us what to expect here.

Freegards

[Mrs. Don-o]

Interesting question. I don't even know if the Church in Europe has Church-related organizations of the type and number that we have here. The USA has far, far more parish schools, for instance, than they have anywhere in Europe.

Historically, European Catholic institutions have been legally recognized or legally suppressed, waxed and waned country-by-country on the basis of "concordats" (treaties between the country's bishops, or the Vatican, and the individual country.) Many institutions would be owned and run by religious orders, rather than dioceses or bishops per se.

This article from awhile back gives some perspective:

"European Commission Threatens..."

[Ransomed]

Thanks for the link, and taking the trouble.

I tried to google what the euro-state healthcare plans have done as concerns abortion/bc and what the Church has done about it. My google skillz once more fail me. Everything comes up Obamacare. I have no idea if they have exemptions for the coverage they provide(or if it is all public plans or whatever) or if they just pay their taxes that fund/perform abortions, pay the punishments for not doing it or have sold their institutions or what the deal is. I did find one blog where a few folks where asking the question for the same reason but no one ever replied. Seems to me it would be reasonable to think the Church will handle it in a similar manner here, whatever they did. I mean the have had state healthcare for a pretty long time over there in some of those places, and abortion has been legal in some of the countries for a while. Portugal has just legalized it a little bit ago, I found this:

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/archive/ldn/2007/aug/07082907

Not too promising if that’s legit, but I suppose you could say that’s an isolated bishop’s fault, and it doesn’t reallty talk about insurance paying for it.

Freegards

[Cicero]

I have belonged to the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars since its inception, although I’m now a retired member. I thought you would be interested that they seem to be picking this up. It should be a pretty lively convention this year.

Here’s the email they just sent me, announcing it:

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Registration for the 35th Annual Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Convention is now open! Please join us September 28-30, 2012 at The Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown Hotel. The theme for the weekend will be Religious Liberty.

Speakers for this convention include Raymond Cardinal Burke, Robert George of Princeton University, Gerard Bradley of the University of Notre Dame, Fr. James Schall of Georgetown University, Kyle Duncan of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty,Tom Farr of the Berkeley Center at Georgetown University, Leonard Leo of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Msgr. Stuart Swetland of Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary, and Patrick Reilly of the Cardinal Newman Society. A more complete listing of talk titles is listed at www.catholicscholars.org.

We are delighted that Donald Cardinal Wuerl will be the main celebrant and homilist for our Saturday morning convention Mass. On Friday evening, participants will be treated to an original one-man play about St. Thomas More - performed by Simon Donoghue, Director of the Abbey Players at Belmont Abbey College.

Don’t wait to register! Super Saver Registration Prices will only be available until June 1. Go to http://www.catholicscholars.org to register now.

We have a block of rooms reserved at the Renaissance.