The Hireling Report #6

San Diego News Notes
May 2005

Link to Original

Fallout in Fallbrook
Pantheist Pastor Pushes Out Popular Priest

BY STANFORD ESPEDAL

Battle lines have been drawn in the Fallbrook parish of Saint Peter. A group of more than fifty families are accusing Saint Peter's pastor Father Edward "Bud" Kaicher and retired associate Father Bernard Rapp of misleading the parish.

One incident in particular has prompted cries of, "Enough is enough!" from parishioners — Fathers Bud and Bernie's sudden dismissal of Father Ian Taylor, a charismatic missionary priest from Trinidad who has been serving in the parish while on a year's sabbatical.

Father Ian is a diocesan priest from the twin-island republic of Trinidad and Tobago who was ordained in 1988. In Trinidad, he labored as the pastor of 17 parishes, administering up to 10 simultaneously with the help of lay assistants. He directed eight Catholic schools. In his home diocese of Port of Spain, Father Ian has been notable for calling all Catholics to withdraw from pre-Lent Carnival festivities, charging that they have degenerated from Catholic cultural celebrations into debauched occasions of mortal sin. Father Ian enjoys the full support of his ordinary, Archbishop Edward J. Gilbert, and has served on the archbishop's advisory council.

In addition to his diocesan duties, Father Ian has Archbishop Gilbert's permission to do missionary work. As a missionary, Father Ian has gained a reputation for dynamic preaching in the United States, Romania, Slovakia, India, Haiti, Samoa, and other countries.

On a missionary trip to Romania in 2000 Father Ian met Saint Peter's parishioner Dennis Donahue, a resident of Temecula. Donahue arranged for Father Ian to preach in Fallbrook in August 2002. Following this, Donahue spoke to Father Bud about the possibility of Father Ian's spending his upcoming sabbatical in Fallbrook. At that time Father Bud felt that Father Ian would be a great addition to the community.

On June 18, 2004, Father Bud formalized his invitation to Father Ian. This read in part: "We have officially invited Father Ian Taylor to render his priestly ministry for the months of October 2004 through October 2005 at our parish.... He is needed to provide pastoral services, sacraments, and teaching during this time period. Due to the priest shortage in the USA, we have been unable to find assistance of this kind within our own country."

Father Bud assured Father Ian that the chancery had approved this arrangement. Archbishop Gilbert then wrote a letter of approval and commendation concerning Father Ian to the Diocese of San Diego.

Despite this agreement, in a February 18th meeting, Father Bud ordered Father Ian to leave the parish in four weeks. This would be seven months earlier than the full year as planned. Father Ian disclosed to Dennis Donahue that Father Bud, with the assent of Father Bernie, had given as reason for the dismissal: "Our theologies clash and I am taking the community in a different direction."

Within 24 hours, concerned individuals had put up a website: KeepFatherIan.com. This site informed parishioners of Father Bud's demand that Father Ian leave, and it encouraged members to write Bishop Brom for intervention.

What theology did Father Ian teach that was clashing with that of Fathers Bud and Bernie? Father Ian declined to be interviewed, saying, "Let those who heard me testify."

His preaching has been documented on a KeepFatherIan.com web page entitled Theological Differences. According to the page, in one homily Father Ian quoted Pope Pius XII's 1950 encyclical Humani Generis, in which the Pope warned about the dangers of the theory of evolution, especially as it challenges the historicity of Adam and Eve and thereby denies original sin. Father Ian reiterated the Church's teaching on original sin explaining why Catholics must believe in Adam and Eve as our historical first parents. "If there is no Adam," he said, "then there is no original sin. If there is no original sin, then there is no need to be redeemed from original sin. If there is no need for redemption, then what did Our Lord do on Calvary?"

The page relates that Father Ian preached, "We must lament the damage and loss of life in the nations hit by the tsunami. The world has not known a natural disaster of such proportion since the time of Noah's flood." He went on to say that most of the areas hit are territories closed to the Gospel. Some were Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu territories. Father Ian expressed a conviction that God was opening a window of opportunity for the spread of the Gospel.

In another sermon, Father Ian referred to the explanation Jesus gave in Luke 19:41-44 of the destruction of the temple. Father Ian explained that the temple of the Jews was destroyed (and up to today has not been rebuilt) because they failed to recognize and accept the visitation of God when Jesus was sent to them. By analogy, he warned the congregation that our generation must not reject Jesus and His teachings lest we suffer a similar fate.

On the Feast of Christ the King, Father Ian insisted that according to holy scripture and the popes — he especially quoted Pius XI in Quas Primas — Christ is not only the King of individuals but of all nations, which have the duty to acknowledge his kingship in the political, economic, and social sphere.

In contrast to Father Ian's teaching of biblical and Catholic doctrine, Fathers Bud and Bernie, says parishioner Sue Granzella, have made statements savoring of pantheism, the doctrine that the universe is God. At one time Mrs. Granzella asked Father Bernie why he neglects to genuflect after each consecration (as the General Instruction of the Roman Missal requires.) "Father went on a tirade against me as a troublemaker and a member of the 'Vatican Police.' Then he said, 'You can reverence God in everything! God is in the trees; God is in nature; God is in you; why don't you reverence yourself!'

"Father Bud is more subtle," she added. "Concerning the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist, his actions clearly demonstrate his refusal to differentiate it from the 'Presence of God in the people.'"

Long-time member Carol Lackey spoke of Eucharistic heresy she heard from Father Bernie when she asked him, "Father, when exactly does the transubstantiation take place?" Father Bernie paused, and then shot back, "It doesn't!" and walked away. She characterized Father Bud's statements about the Eucharist as "ambiguous."

According to Dana Morgan, a 21-year-old Thomas Aquinas College senior and Saint Peter's parishioner, Father Ian preached powerfully about the reality of hell and what we must do to be saved. This was a theme that Fathers Bud and Bernie never touched. "Heresy is also promoted by what they don't preach," Morgan said noting that a week after a sermon by Father Ian on the consequences of sin Father Bud preached that God does not punish.

For parishioner Dave Swanson a small book called Christ Denied by Father Paul Wickens explained much about Father Bud. The 49-page booklet exposes the errors of two influential Jesuits: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Karl Rahner, the architects of Neo-Modernism. In it, Swanson read that de Chardin denied that Jesus is the eternal Son of God, and instead regarded him as "the Omega Point of human evolution." Then he saw Father Bud's "Omega Point" parish retreats in a whole new way. He looked at de Chardin's statement, "I am essentially pantheist in my thinking and temperament," and was reminded of Father Bud's refusal to differentiate between the presence of Christ in the Eucharist and in people. He learned about Rahner's theory of the "Anonymous Christian" and thought he understood why Father Bud will not preach about hell or the narrow path to salvation.

In addition to KeepFatherIan.com, a major letter writing campaign has begun on behalf of the priest from Trinidad. Bishop Cordileone acknowledged that the stack of letters he has received from Saint Peter's parishioners on the matter has grown past two inches and continues to grow.

In the March 13 bulletin, Father Bud acknowledged that Father Ian "is a good man, holy priest, and a gifted preacher," and thanked him for his service. Then he claimed that Father Ian is no longer needed in the parish because of the return to health of Monsignor Mel Young after heart bypass surgery and Father Charlie Sheslo after knee replacement surgery — a strange claim as both of these unforeseen surgeries took place after his June 18, 2004 invitation to Father Ian.

Father Ian is not the first priest whom Father Bud has driven from Saint Peter's. Reverend Humberto Zanetti, a Franciscan from Italy, was assistant pastor at Saint Peter's from 1975 until 1992. Father Zanetti was renowned as an uncompromising preacher of the Word of God. He was also known as a discerning confessor. Bishop Maher wrote to Zanetti's superior in 1977, saying of Zannetti, "He is filled with zeal and love of the Church and is very devoted to his duties. He relates exceptionally well to the people and they seek him out for counsel and advice. Not only does he preach with great effectiveness, but his material — being biblically oriented — is both instructive and convincing."

According to Edith Watts, a senior parishioner at Saint Peters, Monsignor Medaer, the former pastor, told her and others, "Father Bud demanded as a condition of his coming here that Father Zanetti would have to go."

More than twenty former and current parishioners interviewed for this story believe that the Catholic orthodoxy of Father Ian and Father Zanetti stand in the way of Father Bud's goal of a liberal interfaith community subject only to his own decisions. Tim Walker and his wife Pat have been parishioners for 14 years. Tim stated, "It's his way or the highway and he has no open mind whatsoever. He's got an agenda and it is so set and so solid that there's no moving it at all."

Pat added as an example: "Father Bud knowingly gave communion to Protestants and we confronted him in a meeting. We explained to him that it was forbidden to give the Eucharist to non-Catholics and that Pat had confirmed it with the diocese. Father Bud refused to listen. Pat said, "He basically told us that we were wrong, he had a theology background, and he could decide who could receive or not."

Father Ian's dismissal has been the "last straw" for people who have suffered under Father Bud's pastoral style. Some who have been hurt by Father Bud's behavior have said they will withhold financial support from the parish and the diocese until Father Bud and Father Bernie have been replaced. Bill and Peggy Hukill, parishioners at Saint Peter's for 15 years, have cancelled their remaining pledge balance of $3, 916. Peggy stated, "We refuse to give any financial support to Saint Peter's until our current liberal priests of 13 years are replaced with a holy priest who adheres to Catholic theology and teaching."

Despite his expulsion from Saint Peters, Father Taylor is still living in Fallbrook in a house lent to him by a man touring in Spain for a year. Father Taylor will finish his sabbatical there. He spends his time praying, teaching in small groups, and on missions. He just returned from Haiti and will be going on missions to Samoa and Hawaii.

Report #3 on the Era of Peace

From The Independent - online edition

Link to Original

US Admits it has Counted 26,000 Iraqi Dead

By Daniel Howden and David Usborne in New York

Published: 31 October 2005

The Pentagon has admitted for the first time that it is keeping track of civilian casualties in Iraq. The figures, slipped into a bar graph in a lengthy report to the US congress this month, show that the daily number of Iraqi casualties has more than doubled in the past 18 months.

The report says that nearly 26,000 Iraqis have been killed or wounded in attacks by insurgents, with an estimated 26 casualties a day between January and March of last year, rising to 64 a day in the run up to the referendum on the new constitution.

This contradicts the Pentagon's assertion that the security situation in Iraq is improving - and that appearances to the contrary reflect the media's focus on bombings in and around Baghdad.

Previously, the US military has insisted it kept records of the casualties among only its own personnel, and avoided discussion about civilian tolls. It also refuses to release information on the number of Iraqi civilians killed or wounded by US forces.

Washington and London have regularly doubted independent estimates of the number of Iraqis killed since the 2003 invasion.

Pentagon officials said the report was only a rough estimate and did not distinguish between civilian casualties and members of Iraq's nascent security services killed or wounded in insurgency attacks.

"They have begun to realise that when you focus only on the US it gives the impression that the US doesn't care about Iraqis," Anthony H. Cordesman, a military expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a research group in Washington told The New York Times.

Greg Hicks, a Pentagon spokesman, trying to play down the significance of the information, said: "It's a kind of a snapshot. The Defence Department doesn't maintain a comprehensive or authoritative count of Iraqi casualties." The estimates in the graph were based on casualty reports filed by US and allied forces who responded to attacks, but Mr Hicks noted that troops did not respond to all attacks.

The graph appeared in a quarterly audit of Iraq operations. Analysis carried out by the independent group Iraq Body Count, which compiles statistics for civilian casualties based on reports by news outlets, suggests the figure of 26,000 casualties would correspond to a death toll of nearly 6,500 - based on a ratio of one death for every three casualties.

This figure is lower than Iraq Body Count's estimate for the same period of 11,613, which includes those killed by US and allied forces. It is also lower than the Iraqi Interior Ministry estimate for the period from August 2004 to May this year of 8,175.

The appearance of the graph will increase pressure on the Pentagon to be more open in releasing data on fatalities in Iraq.

Hamit Dardagan from Iraq Body Count told The New York Times: "We now know that the US military does keep records of Iraqi civilian deaths. There seems to be no obvious reason for keeping them a secret."

* Ghalib Abdul Mehdi, a brother of Adel Abdul Mehdi, a prominent Shia politician, and his driver were killed yesterday in Baghdad in an attack claimed by al-Qa'ida in Iraq. In a separate incident, Qais Dawoud Hassan, the deputy Trade Minister was wounded in an ambush.The attacks came one day after a bomber killed 30 people after luring them to a truck bomb disguised as a date vendor's van in Howaider, north of Baghdad.

The Pentagon has admitted for the first time that it is keeping track of civilian casualties in Iraq. The figures, slipped into a bar graph in a lengthy report to the US congress this month, show that the daily number of Iraqi casualties has more than doubled in the past 18 months.

The report says that nearly 26,000 Iraqis have been killed or wounded in attacks by insurgents, with an estimated 26 casualties a day between January and March of last year, rising to 64 a day in the run up to the referendum on the new constitution.

This contradicts the Pentagon's assertion that the security situation in Iraq is improving - and that appearances to the contrary reflect the media's focus on bombings in and around Baghdad.

Previously, the US military has insisted it kept records of the casualties among only its own personnel, and avoided discussion about civilian tolls. It also refuses to release information on the number of Iraqi civilians killed or wounded by US forces.

Washington and London have regularly doubted independent estimates of the number of Iraqis killed since the 2003 invasion.

Pentagon officials said the report was only a rough estimate and did not distinguish between civilian casualties and members of Iraq's nascent security services killed or wounded in insurgency attacks.

"They have begun to realise that when you focus only on the US it gives the impression that the US doesn't care about Iraqis," Anthony H. Cordesman, a military expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a research group in Washington told The New York Times.

Greg Hicks, a Pentagon spokesman, trying to play down the significance of the information, said: "It's a kind of a snapshot. The Defence Department doesn't maintain a comprehensive or authoritative count of Iraqi casualties." The estimates in the graph were based on casualty reports filed by US and allied forces who responded to attacks, but Mr Hicks noted that troops did not respond to all attacks.
The graph appeared in a quarterly audit of Iraq operations. Analysis carried out by the independent group Iraq Body Count, which compiles statistics for civilian casualties based on reports by news outlets, suggests the figure of 26,000 casualties would correspond to a death toll of nearly 6,500 - based on a ratio of one death for every three casualties.

This figure is lower than Iraq Body Count's estimate for the same period of 11,613, which includes those killed by US and allied forces. It is also lower than the Iraqi Interior Ministry estimate for the period from August 2004 to May this year of 8,175.

The appearance of the graph will increase pressure on the Pentagon to be more open in releasing data on fatalities in Iraq.

Hamit Dardagan from Iraq Body Count told The New York Times: "We now know that the US military does keep records of Iraqi civilian deaths. There seems to be no obvious reason for keeping them a secret."

* Ghalib Abdul Mehdi, a brother of Adel Abdul Mehdi, a prominent Shia politician, and his driver were killed yesterday in Baghdad in an attack claimed by al-Qa'ida in Iraq. In a separate incident, Qais Dawoud Hassan, the deputy Trade Minister was wounded in an ambush.The attacks came one day after a bomber killed 30 people after luring them to a truck bomb disguised as a date vendor's van in Howaider, north of Baghdad.

The Springtime of Vatican II Report #2

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Author Kenneth Jones Provides Statistical Evidence of Post-Vatican II Decline in the Catholic Church
8/12/2003 2:28:00 PM
By Karl Maurer - Catholic Citizens News Service

Kenneth Jones’ statistic research work first appeared in Latin Mass magazine in the Nineties. As a CPA working in the investments industry at that time, I was already immersed in charts, graphs and financial reports comparing projections and actual results. I knew the decline in the Church had been precipitous since the Sixties, but when I was faced with page after page of glaring bar charts, the awful truth really hit home. A picture says a thousand words, good or bad. It occurred to me then that the quantitative approach to charting the post-Vatican II declines would make a good book someday, and that day has come.

Mr. Jones addressed the Catholic Citizens of Illinois monthly lunch forum on August 8th (held on the second Friday of every month at the Chicago Athletic Association) discussing his new book, The Index of Leading Catholic Indicators (Oriens Publishing, St. Louis, MO.) He could have easily subtitled this work with any number of clever by-lines, but showing a lawyer’s restraint, he delivers the numbers straight up with simple charts and tables covering the period 1920 to 2000, and with projections through 2020 in most cases, based on the trends since the Sixties. His sources of data are independent and credible. The approach to evaluating data (specifically in the area of survey bias in determining Mass attendance numbers) is scientific and accurate. The results are bleak and depressing.


Mr. Jones is a very personable speaker, which was an asset as he recounted the grim statistics in Catholic vocations, beliefs and education to a scandal wearied crowd of traditional Catholics. From 1920 to 2000, the Catholic population in America grew from around 18 million to over 60 million, a 360% increase. From 1920 to 1970, the number of priest steady rose, to a peak of 59,000. By 1970, there were 161,000 nuns and sisters. But in the years that followed, vocations to the priesthood, sisterhood, and holy orders collapsed. There are one tenth as many seminarians today as in the Sixties. The nuns as most of us remember them - teaching and loving - have been cut by more than half. Everywhere there is a lack of, or loss of faith in Catholic teachings.


What could have gone so terribly wrong to produce such declines?


Jones believes, as do many Catholics, that the Second Vatican Council, and the implementation of various reforms immediately following that Council, are directly responsible. “No reasonable person looking at the evidence could come to any other conclusion. The beginning of the declines in all categories commences after the Council, and it’s been all down hill since. Yes, I believe there is a positive correlation.”


Yet in spite of the post-Council wreckage, church leaders continue to insist that the Second Council was a smashing success, and the reforms should continue, in spite of the results. The disconnect between the causes and effects of the decline was the motivation for writing the book, which Jones hopes will help Catholics distinguish between the myths and realities of Vatican II.


The statistics related to Catholic attitudes on core Catholic values have changed dramatically in the last forty years. They reveal that since Vatican II, there are tens of millions of self-proclaimed Catholics in this country who aren’t Catholic at all.


Though the results in several polls vary, Jones believes that Mass attendance in America is currently at 25% (if you think that’s bad, most of Europe is in single digits.) Catholicism of the 1920’s was characterized by huge urban Cathedrals and tightly woven very ethnic and very Catholic parishes. Not surprising, Mass attendance was high, as high as 80% in some areas, but always a majority of the parish members. Attendance began to crash in the Sixties, falling by double digits annually in the early Seventies to one in four Catholics today.


There are no lines at the confessionals either, because no one is going. In one survey, Jones noted, one in three Catholics today claim to go to Confession once a month. “All you have to do is look around on Sunday to know that something’s not right. It’s called survey bias. We suspect many Catholics surveyed knew they had to make an annual confession to remain Catholic, and they gave information that was not true.”


A 1994 New York Times/CBS poll showed that 70% of Catholics between the ages of 18 and 44 have lost faith in the Eucharist, believing instead that it was a “symbolic reminder” of Jesus. The same survey revealed that 51% of Mass going Catholics believed that the Eucharist was symbolic! If the majority of modern Catholics had their way, noted Jones, we would have woman priests and married priests, and all prohibitions on birth control would be lifted, including abortion. Jones traces the increasing gulf between Catholic actions and beliefs to the Second Vatican Council.


Faced with dwindling religious order teachers, and poor catechism and education quality, the numbers of Catholic schools and students declined dramatically from 1960 to today. But there is good news: private Catholic schools (non-diocesan) have been increasing as orthodox home-school families have banded together, hired teachers and converted buildings.


Jones concludes that the Second Vatican Council wasn’t so much a spark that lit a dry forest, but a force that broke a dam which held back oceans of dissent and heresy. The application of the reform of Vatican II says Jones, combined with the social and technological changes going on in the world, has been a complete disaster. It is difficult for Jones and many Catholics to reconcile the optimism of the pope, who lavishes praise on the many fruits of Vatican II that are, in the Holy Father’s words, spreading their branches in the New Pentecost. “If this is renewal,” said Jones wryly, “I don’t want to be around when the decline sets in.”


What to do about it? Jones suggests that Catholics resort to the most powerful and plentiful weapon within their grasp - prayer. Prayer for our families, our country, and most importantly for our priests and bishops, that they make the right decisions and provide faithful leadership.


The second thing to do is evangelize, joining groups such as Credo, which Jones helped found in St. Louis in 1996, or like Catholic Citizens of Illinois (also founded in 1996.) “Through forums, newsletters, websites, phone calls, conferences, videos, tapes and TV the voice of authentic Catholicism is being heard.” Jones encouraged restoration oriented Catholics to keep the truth alive and in front of the Catholic laity and clergy, and not to be afraid to defend the Catholic faith, and the truth, when it is challenged.

It’s hard to argue with Jones’ numbers, but it is possible to look at them in different ways.


We all know that there are many millions of inactive, self-described Catholics who ask nothing of their parish and give nothing in return. In the 1920’s two out of three Catholics went to Mass weekly, a number that was sustained though the early Sixties, then crashed to one out of four Catholics today.


If we exclude non-Mass attending Catholics from the mix, the numbers across the board look different. Besides, in evaluating the workloads of priests, churches, and schools, it is unreasonable to include Catholics-in-name-only, who show up at Church to be “hatched, matched, or dispatched” never to be seen of again.


The priest problem doesn’t look as bad when compared to the number of Catholics who attend to Mass. In fact, it shows improvement. From 1920 to 2000, the number of Mass Attending Catholics per priest declined from 500 to 350. Conversely, during that period, the number of Total Catholics per priest nearly doubled, from 843 to 1,429, supporting the thesis that there is a “shortage” of priests.


I would argue that a priest is primarily going to minister to the needs of Catholics who go to Mass, and have little to do with the 75% who don’t show up for Mass. While the projections get worse going forward, but by 2020, estimates show there will be one priest for every 500 Mass Attending Catholics, which are no worse than the levels experienced in the 1920’s.


The good news is that in spite of the collapse in vocations in the old-line religious orders, there are new orders of priests that are booming with seminarians. The Legionnaires of Christ, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, the Society of St. John Cantius, for example, are highly orthodox and thriving communities. Even the bleak landscape of diocesan vocations is dotted with hope in unexpected cities like Denver and Lincoln, Nebraska, where orthodox men are being attracted by orthodox bishops.


In spite of the decline in Catholic education at the elementary and high school level, vocations are being created in great numbers as the number of orthodox universities increases. The greatest number of vocations recruitment up to the 1960’s was done in Catholic Universities. The collapse in the number of seminarians is mostly due to the collapse of faithfulness to traditional Catholic values in places like Georgetown, DePaul, and other universities that today are entirely secularized. With the rise of private colleges like Thomas Aquinas in California, Christendom College in Virginia, Franciscan in Steubenville, and now Ave Maria in Florida, there are increasing numbers of authentically Catholic universities, and the consequence, as before, will be increasing vocations coming from them.


The decline in the number of Catholic schools and students is not entirely driven by Vatican II, though the collapse of authentic Catholic curriculum and catechism in these schools can find little other cause. Affordability of Catholic education has been adversely impacted by taxes on working families, which rose from 15% of gross income to 45% of gross income today, all taxes (federal, state, and local) included. Under these circumstances, most Catholic families can’t afford to send their children to a private or parochial school, and without any other choice, are forced into public education and the propaganda that comes with it, reinforcing the secular and skeptic beliefs that plague us today.


The numbers of sisters, many of them teachers, declined from 138,000 in 1945 to 75,000 today, forcing Catholic schools to hire lay teachers and pay them competitive salaries. Not only was this more expensive, but many Catholic parents reacted by sending their kids to the public schools if brothers or nuns weren’t teaching anymore at their parish school. During his talk, Jones correctly pointed out that the tragic demise of the sisterhood worldwide needed to be better appreciated by Catholics. In spite of heroic popular saints like the Therese the Little Flower, and Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the orders of sisters have been co-opted by feminists and dissenters to an astounding degree.


Fortunately, just like in the priesthood, the orders of sisters that are growing and thriving are those which have clung most tenaciously to tradition and orthodoxy. The great orders of tomorrow are being founded before our eyes by the courage and faith of women like Mother Assumpta Long, TV evangelist Mother Angelica, and Mother Teresa. Just as the priesthood of the future will be populated by men of orthodoxy and faith, the liberal sisters of the 80’s and 90’s will soon have run their course, and the restoration will be aided by orthodox nuns.


Kenneth Jones has provided a wealth of information on the decline in the Catholic Church. What remains to be seen is whether the bishops will act on it, or continue to perpetuate the myth that everything is fine, and the fruits of the Second Council are continuing to unfold, when in fact, the exact opposite is true.

The Hireling Report #5 - Part I

Abusing God’s Children
By Thomas Augustine
MichNews.com
Sep 14, 2005

Link to Original

Additional links provided on the original site

In this regard, we recall what the Holy Father teaches in Familiaris consortio: "The Church is firmly opposed to an often widespread form of imparting sex information dissociated from moral principles. That would merely be an introduction to the experience of pleasure and a stimulus leading to the loss of serenity -- while still in the years of innocence -- by opening the way to vice". Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality, Pontifical Council for the Family Guidelines for Education Within the Family (November 21, 1995)



Penis. Vagina. Buttocks. Anus.



Coming soon to your parish as part of your children’s religious education.



This is not a joke!



VIRTUS’s “Protecting God’s Children” program insists repeatedly in the K-2 lesson plans for teachers that parents should begin teaching their children these private body part names when their children reach 18 months of age! Can’t wait to have junior’s grandparents over to show off for them the first words of little Johnny! The sexperts and sexologists are so much more progressive than us silly parents. Apparently, so are our bishops.



Shocking to see such words in a Catholic publication? Welcome to dozens of U.S. Bishops’ response to the homosexual clergy abuse crisis in the Church. This “sex abuse prevention program,” “not sex education” as the program itself insists, is one of the most popular religious education and Catholic school curricula chosen by orthodox and modernist bishops alike to help “arm” our children to protect themselves against… whom?



You have to be kidding, you ask me. Well, lesson plan three for the K-2 grade curriculum, which is an “opt-in” session, meaning that unsuspecting parents will need to sign a statement opting their children into this program, has the four “grammar words” shown above, as well as some others just as shocking, to ensure we are protecting our children, from whom again?



The USCCB’s own report from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice study confirmed what many had always suspected. More than 85 percent of all of the sex abuse cases were by priests and bishops with pubescent and post-pubescent boys and young men (ages 11 to 17). www.usccb.org/nrb/johnjaystudy/ In other words, according to these conclusions, homosexual priests and bishops were responsible for the vast majority of the sex abuse cases documented by the Church for the period of time of the study.



But wait! VIRTUS’s “Protecting God’s Children” introductory video presents us with several “myths,” particularly this evidently very important one. This video can be downloaded at their website at www.virtus.org/virtus/preview_pgc.cfm. One of the “myths” that is quickly presented in this first video, to be shown to thousands of youth teachers, volunteers, religion teachers and even “extraordinary” ministers of Holy Communion, is that “homosexuals are more likely to cause sexual abuse than heterosexuals.” The video goes on to emphasize in the next slide that “heterosexuals cause more abuse” than homosexuals.



Of course, 98 percent of the population is known to be heterosexual, while only 2 percent has homosexual inclinations. So, for the total number of abuse cases based on studies in the U.S., this “myth” by itself may be true. However, the problem with this statistic is that a homosexual male is more than 100 times more likely to abuse a teenage boy than a heterosexual male. I have taken my own informal survey from friends of mine. They have all categorically stated that as heterosexual men, they have no sexual attraction toward teenage boys. And remember, the Bishops’ own report showed 85 percent of pubescent and post-pubescent boys being sexually abused by priests and bishops, which means they had homosexual inclinations. But don’t worry, the Bishops’ “awareness” program will teach these 5 to 8-year-olds to be able to protect themselves.



Well, let’s get back to lesson plan three for the K-2 curriculum, and compare it to authoritative teaching on this subject. What makes this K-12 program particularly insidious is that its developers have lifted carefully selected Scripture passages and Catechism quotes to give it so-called “Catholic” window dressing. However, these proof texts have nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of the lesson plan. In other words, just because Sacred Scripture speaks about Christ’s Body (The Church) and its “members,” it does not follow that He was referring specifically about teaching children their clinical body parts as a “protection” device in religion class or in Catholic grade schools as part of its “sex abuse awareness” curriculum. In fact, in the name of purity and modesty and chastity (words NOT used in ANY of the lesson plans of the entire course), Christ Himself would have never brought such scandal to young children.



Remember, this, or a similar program, with a slightly different name, most likely has been mandated by your bishop, no matter which diocese you reside in, as his response to the fact that homosexual clergy molested hundreds of teenage boys and young men, in thousands of known instances. This program is somehow going to prevent these sexual perverts and predators from harming your children. In fact, it is supposed to “empower” your children to ward off potential “unsafe adults” and their “unsafe touches.” One of the first stages is for your Catholic school teachers and religion teachers to teach them the clinical names of their private body parts. No, really… I’m not making this up. The Ph.D. level sexologists, psychologists, psycho-therapists and sociologist… Oh yes… and our bishops… all agree. And we know they are much smarter than us, and much smarter than the Vatican and authoritative Church teaching!



Paragraph No. 78 from The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality states the following:



It can be said that a child is in the stage described in John Paul II's words as "the years of innocence" from about five years of age until puberty -- the beginning of which can be set at the first signs of changes in the boy or girl's body (the visible effect of an increased production of sexual hormones). This period of tranquility and serenity must never be disturbed by unnecessary information about sex. During those years, before any physical sexual development is evident, it is normal for the child's interests to turn to other aspects of life. The rudimentary instinctive sexuality of very small children has disappeared. Boys and girls of this age are not particularly interested in sexual problems, and they prefer to associate with children of their own sex. So as not to disturb this important natural phase of growth, parents will recognize that prudent formation in chaste love during this period should be indirect, in preparation for puberty, when direct information will be necessary.



Apparently, most priests and most bishops in the good ole U.S. of A. have never read this document from 1995. Apparently, most of them do not have the Catholic sense to review in detail the curriculum they have mandated to be taught in diocesan parish schools and religion classes by September 30 in many cases.



Surely, the “orthodox” Bishops will put a stop to this. “My bishop would never allow this,” you say. I thought the same thing. After e-mailing dozen of messages regarding the VIRTUS’s consultants’ checkered backgrounds with the culture of death and the recommended book lists for this curriculum, showing many direct ties to Planned Parenthood-backed and promoted books and contacts, the response I received from my diocesan office was the following.



My e-mail address has been blocked for incoming messages. Apparently, I hit a nerve. Surely, they didn’t do this intentionally. In fact, I called and spoke to the priest who is “in charge” of the program in my diocese, initially expressing my concerns. Of course, after the token respect and wordsmithing that is typical in so many chanceries throughout AmChurch, he must have believed I was appeased. Apparently, although there is no such thing as the Index of Forbidden Books any more, there is an index of forbidden incoming e-mail addresses. Perhaps the words in the text I was sending were being blocked by the automatic filter of the diocesan computer system. Or perhaps, because my e-mail list of concerned Catholic parents had grown, it was detecting this as spam.



OK. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, I decided. I will e-mail them separately, and one at a time if necessary. Nope. Still blocked, banned and censored, for trying to “protect my children” and others from my diocese’s own incompetence. A priest friend recommended that I call His Excellency directly. Okay, I thought. I have spoken to the bishop on the telephone on other unrelated matters before. Surely, he doesn’t know what is in this curriculum. Surely, he has the Catholic sense to remove this stuff from his diocesan schools and religious education programs immediately.



Two phone calls to his voicemail more than a week ago. Finally, after listing some specific questions, such as the following, I received a response from the bishop’s media guy that said in effect that the bishop had not reviewed the children’s component in its entirety, and then later the diocese sent out a letter stating that Lesson Plan number 3 could be removed from the program. The diocesan response also said that due to lack of time, finances and resources, the entire child’s component (Touching Safety is the new and revised VIRTUS-backed “Protecting God’s Children” program) has not been reviewed appropriately. They would be “making changes” and assessing it for “next year.”



But this year, I guess it is OK for our children to have their innocence destroyed!



Beware of the Bait and Switch



It is a long-term strategy and well-known plan of the sex educators of the past 40 years to drop their curriculum on unsuspecting teachers at the last moment with a mandate to have it implemented as soon as possible. It is also a well known strategy to go back and remove the “offensive” elements of a curriculum after receiving a small, but vocal uprising from concerned parents.



After this customary dust-up, the approach of “We’ll remove the most offensive parts” or “those parts you find most objectionable” from the curriculum. After all, “We haven’t really had any other complaints so far except from you.”



Of course, at first they will try to appease the concerned parents (known as fundamentalists or “right-wing Puritans”) by insisting the curriculum states that parents are the primary educators, and of course, “your child” can opt out of the entire program if you would like.


In other words, in Catholic schools, by mandate of our beloved bishops’ interests in protecting our children from the homosexual perverts and predators in their ranks, I have the “right” to “opt-out” my child from this perverted curriculum, while the vast majority of K-2 students learn the body part names (as well as draw body parts, but “not the private ones” as the teacher calls them out, during a session on drawing body parts on their own silhouettes in swimsuits no less), all so my child can then go back into classrooms with these same “sex abuse educated” children. Then, they can go home and show Mommy and Daddy and their younger brothers and sisters (as long as they are at least 18 months of age!) how they can draw body parts on their bodies with swimsuits, but refrain from drawing penises, vaginas, anuses, buttocks when the teachers announces these private body parts aloud in front of the whole class… well, you get the picture, unfortunately.



So the “drawing the body parts” on the silhouette will be offered to you as being all right, because even the though the teachers are instructed to name out loud, the private body parts are the parts the children are not supposed to draw. So, we’ll just eliminate lesson plan three, and everything else will be all right. “The Bishop approved this program, you know. You don’t want to be disobedient. He is a descendant of the Apostles.”



But I thought the Bishop hadn’t reviewed the program?



Riggghhhhhhhttttt… Remember, this is mandated to be taught in some form or fashion at your diocesan Catholic school to your schoolchildren. But if they can’t get them there, then they’ll get it from volunteer teachers at your 45 minute religious education classes this year, for a total of at least three sessions—K-12.



Now, some will state, “Okay, you have made your case. This stuff should not be taught to the younger children, but what about the middle school and high school adolescents? Surely, there is some need for this there.”



According to the Church’s long-held teaching on the principle of subsidiarity, the family is primarily charged with the duty of teaching the full understanding from a Catholic perspective on “the truth and meaning of human sexuality.” In fact, the subtitle of the 1995 document is “Guidelines for Education Within the Family.” That is right—“within the family.”



But perhaps some modern, deconstructionist Scripture Scholar can reinterpret this subtitle to mean something exactly the opposite of what it states. Perhaps the Bishops and Priests are too “deconstructed” by the plain meaning of words to understand the plain meaning of “education within the home.” But I digress…



Ideally, age-appropriate talks on sexuality, chastity, modesty, purity, holiness and biology will be done as the child matures and begins to ask questions to his mother or his father. In fact, the document with the very title of the name in quotation marks above, says that the mother will ideally impart the information to the daughter, with the father to the son. Only if the parents delegate such tasks to others (the Church), should this chastity, modesty, purity and human sexuality information be imparted. And even then, it should never be done in a mixed class setting of boys and girls, or with a male teacher to females and/or vice versa. Ideally, and preferably, it should be done with the teachers assisting the parents with suitable Catholic curricula (not Planned Parenthood or SIECUS-adapted sources) with irrelevant Scripture verses and Catechism paragraphs proof-texted as Catholic window dressing. Even at the older grades.



According to the principle of subsidiarity, Catholic parents should ask for help and assistance from the Church and/or other experts in teaching these concepts to their children. Have any of you asked for this assistance from your Catholic priests, teachers and bishops? I know that none of my friends nor my wife and I have requested it. Remember, this or similar programs were mandated by the U.S. bishops as a response to the fact that homosexual priests and bishops, in 85 percent of the cases that were tracked, sexually abused and molested pubescent and post-pubescent boys. Because of this, all Church volunteers and children need to be armed this “vital” information to destroy their innocence, plant a low view of human sexuality in their minds forever, and become proximate occasions of sin.



Oh, yes, but the U.S. Church has paid out nearly $1 billion in claims and several dioceses have declared monetary bankruptcy (although spiritually bankrupt for dozens of years of course) as the temporal punishment due to sin. These programs are designed to “protect your children.” That is why your signature, whether you attend, or your child attends these sessions or not, is so important. The diocese needs your signature. The attorneys and the insurance company demand it. That is why you need to be fingerprinted in the Diocese of Arlington, and elsewhere. The Church must share your fingerprints with the State authorities to “protect your children.”



So, what about the older children’s curriculum? Surely, that stuff could be used in Catholic schools and in religion classes, couldn’t it?

Copyright by Thomas Augustine

Copyright© MichNews.com. All Rights Reserved.

The Hireling Report #5 - part II

Abusing God's Children: Part II
By Thomas Augustine
MichNews.com
Sep 19, 2005

Link to Original

Additional links provided on the original site

Who are the Consultants behind VIRTUS’s “Touching Safety Curriculum? Ties to the Culture of Death

For us too Moses' invitation rings out loud and clear: "See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. ... I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live" (Dt 30:15, 19). This invitation is very appropriate for us who are called day by day to the duty of choosing between the "culture of life" and the "culture of death". Pope John Paul II in Evangelium Vitae, March 25, 1995


1. In VIRTUS’s “Protecting God’s Children” facilitator’s manual, one of the three primary consultants noted in the facilitator’s manual for VIRTUS’s “Protecting God’s Children is Dr. Gene Gabel, a Ph.D. sexologist, is interviewed with his wife in an article in Playboy magazine (major funder of Planned Parenthood) on his and his wife’s sex lives. www.ejeanlive.com/frigid.htm



Read the entire article and the type of language used throughout and decide for yourself if this is a high view of sexuality as proposed by the Church, or if it is truly part of the culture of death.



2. Dr. Phyllis Willerscheidt is the Director of the Interfaith Sexual Trauma Institute, and is one of the key consultors for VIRTUS as listed on their website. She works on women’s advocacy for the diocese of St. Paul, MN, a diocese notoriously open to homosexual dissenters, and her website is listed in the same listing with dozens of gay, lesbian, transgendered, and the most prominent Planned Parenthood-associated organizaton in the U.S., called SIECUS. She was also quoted in the archdiocesan newspaper shortly after our current Pope's election:

"I look at him as being an interim pope because of his age, so there will probably be some changes, but I would think that he would continue some of the same direction that he's taken before. Sometimes I've liked that direction, and sometimes I haven't." - Phyllis Willerscheidt, director of archdiocesan Commission on Women



I wonder which "directions" Pope Benedict XVI has previously discussed that she didn't/doesn't like? I'll bet we all can guess.



The Center for Sexuality and Religion has her organization, the Intefaith Sexual Trauma Institute, listed on its site www.ctrsr.org/related.asp along with links to SIECUS (direct affiliation with Planned Parenthood), along with Dignity USA, Gala (RLDS) and Gay Lesbian + Affirming Disciples (GLAD) Alliance , all organizations promoting tolerance of, and acceptance of active, practicing homosexuals and lesbians.



3. Sharon Womack Doty – Sex Education vs. Sex Abuse Education June 2003 article from the VIRTUS website

“Young children are generally comfortable with the information provided in sex abuse prevention programs. It is parents who typically exhibit discomfort. We—adults—are the ones who have difficulty with the subject matter.”



Compare Ms. Doty’s statement above as a sex abuse “expert” with Catholic teaching from Par. No. 78 of The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality:



“This period of tranquility and serenity must never be disturbed by unnecessary information about sex. During those years, before any physical sexual development is evident, it is normal for the child's interests to turn to other aspects of life. The rudimentary instinctive sexuality of very small children has disappeared. Boys and girls of this age are not particularly interested in sexual problems, and they prefer to associate with children of their own sex.



4. Michael Morton, M.S. – Mr. Morton is a psychologist and therapist and has a wealth of experience inside the Church in researching and responding to the abuse issue. His experience includes treatment of clergy and victims of clergy abuse. He has consulted with Church officials in the United States and Ireland about the nature and source of abuse. He provided our program developers with valuable insight into avoiding numerous implementation barriers that other programs have experienced.

www.virtus.org/virtus/virtus_description.cfm



What “implementation barriers” was VIRTUS expecting? Have they had problems in Catholic settings from parents before similarly with the VIRTUS “Talking about Touching” program, which “SafeTouch, Unsafe Touch” is merely a modification of? How much did this consultant get paid to assist VIRTUS in “avoiding numerous implementation barriers”? This summary is from their website. Were concerned Catholic parents the primary “implementation barriers”?

Those who allow themselves to be influenced by this climate easily fall into a sad vicious circle: when the sense of God is lost, there is also a tendency to lose the sense of man, of his dignity and his life; in turn, the systematic violation of the moral law, especially in the serious matter of respect for human life and its dignity, produces a kind of progressive darkening of the capacity to discern God's living and saving presence. Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, March 23, 1995


Other Recommended Books and Resources by VIRTUS Supporting the Culture of Death through SIECUS and other Planned Parenthood-related organizations

To claim the right to abortion, infanticide and euthanasia, and to recognize that right in law, means to attribute to human freedom a perverse and evil significance: that of an absolute power over others and against others. This is the death of true freedom: "Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin" (Jn 8:34). Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, March 23, 1995


Birds of a feather flock together. Why is the Catholic Church officially supporting the Culture of Death in its curriculum recommendations? Why do we entrust $25,000 of diocesan funds to people whose curriculum does not have a Catholic worldview, while ignoring authentic Catholic curriculum like “Family Honor?”



It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health. Harris, Robbie, HCambridge: Candlewick Press, 1994. pp. 30-32.



www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=20717



www.ppct.org/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD
&Store_Code=ppct&Product_Code=BPUB2&Category_Code=Books



www.cwfa.org/articles/6122/CFI/family/



www.chalcedon.edu/articles/0408/040801-2duigon.php



*Its's My Body by Lori Freeman, published by Parenting Press, 1986. This book, to be read and shown to 4 and 5 year olds, is endorsed by Planned Parenthood and organizations aligned with SIECUS. It reinforces the mantra so prevalent throughout this curriculum, "It's Your Body" and informs children that sometimes they might like to share their bodies. It is entirely their choice.



My Body is Private by Linda Walvoord Gerard, published by Albert Whitman, 1991.

Parts of this book, to be read and shown to 4 and 5 year olds, are very graphic and disturbing. It is endorsed by the Association for Sexuality Education and Training, an organization aligned with SIECUS. "Some things in the world are private! …That means don't touch and do not disturb, unless I say you can." The book references body parts with names coinciding with those used in this program, "my breasts, my vagina, and my bottom"; "A boy's penis and bottom…" "My mom and dad say if anyone else starts to touch me -- anyplace -- and I don't like it, I can say, "No!" "…sometimes touching doesn't feel good." In this book, Uncle Ted is the offender. In the book the mom says to the child, "If you don't feel good about the way someone is touching you, you can tell that person to stop." "And it's wrong if grownups or older kids try to touch or rub the private parts of your body -- your breasts or your vagina or your bottom.” This seems to imply that this would be fine if it is done with someone your own age. “It's wrong if anyone says, 'Pull down your pants,’ or pulls down theirs, or if someone wants to take a picture of you without your clothes on."

The story text continues, "But if someone touches the private parts of your body, I want to know. No matter how scared you are, no matter who it is -- I don't care if it's Santa Claus…”



The Right Touch by Sandy Klein, published by Illumination Arts, 1998.

This book has drawings of the bodies of a little nude girl and a little nude boy. The perpetrator in this book for pre-k through grade 3 is a neighbor. He invites the child into his house to see new baby kittens. "The man said, 'If you sit on my lap, I'll show you the kittens.'” “Then the little girl got an uncomfortable feeling. She was about to go home when the man tried to put his hand down her panties."

This book promotes the Planned Parenthood mentality "It's My Body" by telling children "Your whole body, from head to toe, is private and belongs to you.” "Now let's say someone was trying to touch you under your clothes…”



The Trouble With Secrets by Karen Johnsen, Parenting Press, Inc., 1986. Situations are proposed for example: “If a big person helps you at bath-time, that is okay. But if the washing makes you feel confused or bad, that is not okay. You can tell good touches from bad touches…” “If a doctor needs to examine you with your clothes off and your parent is there, that’s okay. But if anyone wants you to take your clothes off or touch you in an uncomfortable way,that is not okay. Don’t keep it a secret! You need to say, ‘No! I’ll tell!’…”



*Reviews of books provided by the Holy Family Society of Tuscon, Arizona

Copyright by Thomas Augustine

Copyright© MichNews.com. All Rights Reserved.

The Hireling Report #5 - part III

Abusing God's Children: Part 3
By Thomas Augustine
MichNews.com
Sep 24, 2005

Link to Original

During the past couple of weeks, this column has attempted to expose the disgusting filth and connections with the culture of death that passes for the most used “sex education child sex abuse prevention” program in the United States Catholic Church (more than 80 dioceses according to the National Catholic Risk Retention’s August 2004 newsletter).



In the midst of this ever-increasing groundswell of parents who are realizing across the United States that even their supposed “orthodox” bishops cannot be protected from, or will not stand up to the dissident USCCB lay bureaucracy, Dominico Bettinelli, editor of Catholic World Report, and The Wanderer (and here) recently showed how Teresa Kettelkamp, the USCCB’s executive director of the Office of Youth and Child Protection, has served on an advisory board for the National Center for Women and Policing, which is directly affiliated with the Feminist Majority Foundation, a militantly pro-abortion feminist organization. Although the most recent Wanderer article has Kettelkamp denying being a pro-abortion Catholic, she consistently refused to answer the more specific questions regarding the role of her office and its “power” or lack thereof, to enforce this charter, which of course lacks canonical authority.



The Culture of Death Removes the Evidence



What is particularly interesting is the way her name was removed from the web page where she was cited as being an advisory board member. It used to appear here, just after the name of Deputy Chief Sharon Jones (Ret.). It should be noted that repeated calls to Ms. Kettelcamp by this reporter were not returned by either her or the USCCB’s media relations office in order to confirm or deny her knowledge of the militant pro-abortion group she was affiliated with.



Similarly, in “Abusing God’s Children, Part 2,” the Planned Parenthood websites linked to recommended books from VIRTUS’s “Touching Safety” program, suddenly disappeared shortly before the publishing of the article. Interesting that either Kettelkamp or the Feminist Majority Foundation found it necessary to quickly remove her name from that page. If anyone is in doubt, there are hard copies available, and it can also still be found online (But not for long, so hurry, look, and print it out before it is expunged by the censors!) on page 21 of the document.



So, since Ms. Kettelkamp nor the USCCB office of media relations had the courtesy to return a telephone call from this reporter regarding her abortion stance, I would like to add some other questions, which she can answer through this media outlet if she so desires to fully clear the record.



Do you believe and adhere to the Church’s doctrine forbidding articificial contraception?


Do you believe and adhere to the Church’s doctrine forbidding women from ever being ordained to the sacred priesthood?


Do you understand that by using fear and scare tactics (as the “sex education child sex abuse prevention” programs all do!), this will inhibit a mature and true understanding of sexuality according the natural law and Catholic doctrine?

4. Do you believe that parents are not capable and able, as the natural moral law and The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality insists, to teach their children about sexual issues in the context of morality and biology without any assistance from your office?



Do you believe the “sex education child sex abuse prevention” programs, particularly VIRTUS’s “Touching Safety” curriculum, are in line with Catholic teaching, particularly the prohibition of violating children’s years of innocence as taught in The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality and Familiaris Consortio?

Do you understand and recognize the John Jay report authorized by, and for, the USCCB, showed that more than 80 percent of all sexual abuse was conducted by priests (male) and teenage or pubescent boys (male)?

Do you understand and recognize the primary instigators of sexual abuse in the U.S. Church were homosexual priests and bishops and that the VIRTUS program denies this?

Do you understand that the “Touching Safety” program has a flawed pedagogy (making the children the primary line of defense!) and will not prevent homosexual priests and bishops from abusing teenage boys?

At this point and time, it is time for all Catholic parents to immediately request a full copy of the curriculum of “Touching Safety,” part of VIRTUS’s “Protecting God’s Children” program. Unfortunately, many parents will experience difficulty accessing the actual content from their directors of religious education and/or from their Catholic school religion teachers, as VIRTUS cleverly hides behind a much-shortened marketing “advisory” to parents with the guts of the curriculum unrevealed.



This innocence-ruining program is spreading throughout the U.S. Catholic church like wildfire and will soon be in your diocese, if it is not already implemented. If it is not this program, it will be another with similar innocence-ruining curricula and connections with Planned Parenthood, SIECUS and the culture of death.



It is not primarily and only for the adult volunteers. The entire program is set up to capture the children. And do not let your diocese “assure” you they are passing their concerns on to VIRTUS. Unfortunately, VIRTUS is part of the National Catholic Risk Retention Group, which in turn is owned by at least 62 dioceses in the United States as its insurance arm. The VIRTUS program and consultants are part of the problem—not the solution.



Remember, it was homosexual priests and bishops who were responsible for more than 80 percent of the documented cases in the USCCB’s own authorized study. The “Touching Safety” program itself is abusive, as it destroys children’s innocence (at all ages!) and presents a low view of sexuality. It will do nothing to prevent homosexual priests and bishops (The bishops themselves do not have to undergo the program) from abusing children. This entire, unbelievable fiasco is being implemented even by “orthodox” bishops for financial insurance reasons. Period. The “Touching Safety” program is part of the problem, not part of the solution.



On a final note, I challenge all of you who read this to go to Google (no charge for the free promo!) and type in the words “touching safety” with quotation marks around it, then add a “plus” sign (+), and then type in “Planned Parenthood” with quotation marks and see what comes up. But hurry, before the evidence is expunged. Check out this site. (And by the way, Amy, your children will too be exposed to this program. It hasn’t been “announced” yet.)



The USCCB and Teresa Kettelkamp and your “orthodox” bishop insist your children must be exposed to the tactics of the culture of death. They do not believe you can adequately teach your own children or protect them.

Copyright by Thomas Augustine

Copyright© MichNews.com. All Rights Reserved.

The Hireling Report #4

From Seattle Catholic July 4, 2003

Link to Original

Texas Pastor Removed Over Latin Masses
by Peter W. Miller

For a Catholic priest in a small Texas town, it has been a particularly eventful week.

Over the course of three days, Fr. Stephen Zigrang JCL, pastor of St. Andrew's Church in Channelview, has been called into his bishop's office, threatened with suspension, removed from his parish and even forced to defend his mental health to his own father. These unfortunate events have taken place because Fr. Zigrang did something new during last Sunday's Masses — or, more accurately, did something very, very old.

Before each Mass on the morning of June 29th, Fr. Zigrang announced that he would no longer be offering Mass according to the revised missal of Pope Paul VI, instituted in 1969. He proceeded to offer the Mass according to the Roman Missal of 1962 (also called the "Latin", "Traditional" or "Tridentine" Mass). Parishioners who were used to attending a Mass in English, with the priest facing the congregation, witnessed a priest offer a Mass almost entirely in Latin, while facing the altar. Guitar bands and sing-along hymns were replaced by chants and reverential silence. Rather then standing up to receive Holy Communion in their hands, congregants were instructed to kneel and receive the Blessed Sacrament on their tongues. One of the three masses was a sung mass, also called a Missa Contata.

The Diocese Reacts
Fr. Zigrang is a priest of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, under Bishop Joseph Fiorenza. Upon hearing of the weekend's events, the diocese reacted immediately. Unable to reach him for most of the day Monday, the chancery sent word to Fr. Zigrang that the bishop would like to meet with him the following morning, July 1st.

Despite advice from others suggesting he be accompanied by a lawyer, Fr. Zigrang went to see the bishop on his own. He was told that he would be suspended and had until the next day to vacate the St. Andrew's rectory. He was provided a letter signed by Bishop Fiorenza and the diocesan Chancellor, Monsignor Frank Rossi, admonishing him for his actions and informing him that failure to "follow the liturgical directives of the Holy See in the celebration of the Eucharist and the other sacraments ... is a grave disobedience and threatens the unity of the Church within the parish committed to your pastoral care."

First thing the following morning, the Director of Communications for the diocese, Mrs. Annette Gonzales Taylor, responded to an inquiry from the night before with an email claiming that, "...your inquiry is a bit premature in that Fr. Zigrang has not been suspended. At this time, Bishop Fiorenza and Fr. Zigrang continue to be in conversation."

When reached by phone to clarify the matter, Mrs. Taylor reiterated that Fr. Zigrang was not suspended, is still the pastor of St. Andrew's and no action has been taken against him. She said that she did not know whether he was at the parish today as priests take some days off. When asked why Fr. Zigrang would be (as witnesses claimed) in the process of moving out of the rectory if no action had been taken against him, she did not know.

At some point that same morning, as he was moving out of the parish rectory, Fr. Zigrang was called by Bishop Fiorenza, who recommended that he take a two month leave of duty. It was further suggested that Fr. Zigrang may want to seek psychiatric counseling during this time.

The following day, June 3rd, parishioners found a note on the St. Andrew's church door explaining that there would be no daily Mass or Eucharistic adoration. The note also referenced the name and number of another priest to contact.

Finally, Fr. Zigrang's elderly father was contacted this week by Chancellor Monsignor Frank Rossi, who expressed to him concerns about Fr. Zigrang's psychological well-being.

Past Efforts
Fr. Stephen Zigrang has been a priest in the Diocese of Galveston-Houston for over 25 years and pastor at St. Andrew's for the past six. He is a former seminary instructor and has a licentiate in canon law. He was previously a member of the diocesan marriage tribunal where his lack of lenience toward annulment applications brought him into conflict with his peers.

Prompted by years of liturgical research and studies which drew him toward the Traditional Latin Mass, Fr. Zigrang had requested on multiple occasions for the opportunity to offer a public Tridentine Mass in a parish. His most recent request came in January of this year when he sent a letter to Bishop Fiorenza requesting permission to convert St. Andrew's parish in to a traditional parish (dedicated to the practice of the Tridentine Mass and other sacraments) or start such a parish in another location. Six months later, he had still not received a reply.

For the past couple years, Fr. Zigrang has been offering the Latin Mass privately in the rectory at 6:30 each morning. When he attempted to offer a single Latin Mass for his congregation on Sunday mornings, he was ordered by Bishop Fiorenza to stop.

In 1988, responding to Catholics attached to the Traditional Mass and sacraments, Pope John Paul II called for the "wide and generous application" of Latin Masses throughout the Church, but the decision was left up to each bishop on whether or how to implement those directives. Many bishops have refused to allow any such Masses, while some have allowed only limited access.

In the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, home to 1.5 million Catholics and the largest diocese in Texas (eleventh largest in the United States), there is a single Latin Mass offered on Sundays in downtown Houston. Not all believe that these accommodations are adequate to meet their spiritual needs, or in the "wide and generous" spirit alluded to by the Holy Father. Catholics who need to travel great distances with families have requested that the early Mass time be moved or another Mass be added for more reasonable access. Some have requested daily Masses; others Masses on Holy Days of Obligation; and still others a traditional parish, going so far as to locate property and priests available for such an arrangement. These requests to Bishop Fiorenza have reportedly been ignored or denied. The attendants of the Mass also are under certain restrictions, including a prohibition from promoting or advertising the Mass.

Critics point out that this diocese, which prides itself on promoting and celebrating diversity, particularly in liturgical matters, has demonstrated a clear and disturbing exception when it comes to the Tridentine Mass. Although hundreds of Masses are said throughout the diocese in a multitude of languages from Spanish to Chinese, and in a multitude of styles from "Country Music" to "Gospel Spiritual" with little to no concern from the bishop, requests for Traditional Masses are ignored and attempts to offer Masses in Latin quickly and definitively put to a stop.

Parishioners Respond
The parishioners' responses to Fr. Zigrang's Latin Masses have been varied. Many were surprised but respectful of their pastor's decision, but there were also some notable negative and positive reactions. Some were openly hostile toward the move, storming out of the church at the beginning of Mass. Members of the musical band which performs at the 10:30 Mass were particularly dismayed (having no role during a Latin Mass), as were lectors and extraordinary ministers. After one of the Masses, a regular guitar player was particularly vocal about the complaint that would be forthcoming to the bishop.

On the other end of the spectrum, other parishioners were greatly appreciative of the opportunity afforded to them. Some old enough to remember when the Mass was in Latin were given a reminder of how much had changed and some of what was lost. Others who had never experienced such a Mass were struck by its simplicity and beauty. At least once attendant commented on the contemplative rather than "entertainment" focus, and another described it as "absolutely beautiful".

Several congregants came up to Fr. Stephen Zigrang after Mass to personally thank him. In what now appears to be his last Sunday at the parish, he gave them the rare opportunity to experience a Latin Mass in their parish, and allowed them to witness firsthand the reason for which their pastor was willing to risk the consequences which would soon follow.

Note the letter on the link, adressed from Bishop Fiorenza to Father Zigrang

The Hireling Report #3

A legal action against the Bishop of Miami

Link to Original

FATHER ANDREW DOWGIERT,
Plaintiff,
vs.
ARCHDIOCESE OF MIAMI, INC.,
Defendant.
COMPLAINT AND JURY TRIAL DEMAND


Plaintiff, Father Andrew Dowgiert, sues the Defendant, Archdiocese of Miami, Inc., and alleges as follows:
1. This is an action for damages in excess of $15,000.00, exclusive of interest, costs, and attorneys fees.

2. Plaintiff, Father Andrew Dowgiert (hereinafter, Father Dowgiert), was at all material times a resident of Broward County, Florida.

3. At all material times, Defendant, Archdiocese oF Miami, Inc. (hereinafter, "Archdiocese") is a Florida corporation with it principal place of business in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

4. Plaintiff, Father Dowgiert, was ordained a Catholic priest in Poland in l988. After working for five years as and becoming fully vested as a priest in Poland, Father Dowgiert requested and received permission to be sent to Zimbawe as a missionary priest.

5. From 1994 to 1999, Father Dowgiert was a missionary priest in Zimbawe. During this time, Father Dowgiert, working in a parish church, school, and clinic, contracted malaria. The political climate made it increasingly dangerous to stay in the country.

6. In 1999, Father Dowgiert returned to Poland. Because of his sufferings from malaria in the Polish climate, Father Dowgiert requested that he be sent to the Archdiocese of Miami to continue his priestly duties.

7. At the time Father Dowgiert arrived in the Miami Archdiocese, the Archdiocese had a policy whereby a priest in continuous service for a period of five years was considered incardinated, that is, vested as a full-time employee of the Archdiocese until the time of retirement.

8. After arriving in the Miami Archdiocese in 1999, Archbishop John C. Favalora assigned Father Dowgiert to St. Justin Martyr Catholic Church in Key Largo, Florida under a non-celibate priest who was terminated for sexual misconduct on a minor. Specifically, Father Dowgiert was engaged as Vicar General and priest with supervision and control under the Archdiocese's General Archdiocesan Faculties. From 1999 to 2002, Father Dowgiert stayed at St. Justin Martyr, carrying out the duties of a priest and administering and operating the parish when no other pastor was assigned.

9. Eventually, another full-time priest was assigned to St. Justin Martyr, and after approximately one year, Father Dowgiert requested that the Archbishop transfer him to another parish.

10. In June, 2003, Father Dowgiert was transferred to Good Shepherd parish in Miami as an assistant to Father Michael Greer.

11. During the time he was assigned to Good Shepard parish, Father Dowgiert received repeated sexual advances from his supervisor and fellow priest, Father Michael Greer. Father Dowgiert repeatedly complained to and rebuked Father Greer for such unwanted advances, the theft of parishioner money from the church safe, and that Father Greer spent more time at his own waterfront condominium in the company of young seminarians than at the parish.

12. In 2004, the Archbishop transferred Father Dowgiert to All Saints Church in Sunrise, Florida under Father Anibal Morales as Parochial Vicar and Assistant to Pastor.

13. Soon after his arrival at All Saints, Father Morales left on a six-week vacation with his domestic partner and co-tenant, Carlos Insignares. While absent from the parish, Father Dowgiert was obliged to manage all parish matters and sign checks. He refused to sign numerous questionable checks for dubious expenditures. Father Dowgiert declared that he intended to bring the matters to the attention of the Archbishop.

14. Within days, on or about September 30, 2004, Father Morales caused a letter to be sent to Monsignor William J. Hennessey, concerning Father Dowgiert. The aforesaid letter was personally handed to Father Dowgiert during a meeting with Monsignor Hennessey during the first week of October, 2004.

15. Upon reading the letter, Monsignor Hennessey informed Father Dowgiert that he would be sent to a facility for psychological and alcohol "treatment" for a year. Father Dowgiert denied that he had any problem which needed treatment, but would obey Monsignor Hennessey's command after he spoke to a lawyer.

16. In fact, the practice of the Archdiocese is to retaliate against priests who object or refuse to participate in the illegal activities of the Archdiocese by sending them to be "re-educated" at the Church's modern-day gulags.

17. Informed of Father Dowgiert's desire to speak to a lawyer, Monsignor Hennessey immediately terminated Father Dowgiert's employment with the Archdiocese. At the time of his termination, Father Dowgiert was one month from being incardinated by the Archdiocese.

18. Subsequent to his firing by Monsignor Hennessey, Father Dowgiert sought continued employment as a priest in the Great Meadows Diocese in New Jersey. Though employed as a priest in New Jersey, Archbishop Favarola, the so-called "Don" contacted the Bishop at the Great Meadows Diocese and had him terminated. Indeed in May, 2005, Archbishop Favalora contacted Father Andrew's previous Bishop from Poland and requested that he suspend Father Andrew from the priesthood.

19. The Plaintiff, Father Dowgiert, has agreed to pay undersigned counsel a reasonable attorney's fees and is obligated to pay same.

COUNT I
WHISTLE BLOWER RETALIATION

20. Plaintiff realleges that allegations of paragraphs 1 through 19.

21. Defendant, Archdiocese of Miami, Inc. has retaliated and continues to retaliate against Plaintiff, Father Andrew Dowgiert, because he has objected to and refused to participate in the activities and policies of the Defendant, his employer, which are in violation of the laws, rules, and regulations of the State of Florida. These activities and policies including the following:

a. his objection the theft of Parish and/or Archdiocese money from St. Justin Martyr Catholic Church in excess of $15,000.00 of which a portion was to be paid to Father Andrew;

b. his objection to Father Edward Olszewski's active, non-celibate behavior and specifically his previous abuse of a minor,

c. his objection to preferential employment advantages given to active, non-celibate homosexual priests over celibate heterosexual priests throughout the Archdiocese and specifically at each of the parishes at which he worked in the Archdiocese;

d. his objection to the theft of Parish funds from the Good Shepard parish;

e. his objection to the theft and excessive spending of Parish funds from All Saints Parish by Father Morales; and f. his continuing objection to Archdiocese priests and officials engaging in improper behavior, including but not limited to, creating, sharing, and disseminating internet pornography,

g. his objection to the Father Morales' domestic partner and co-tenant's continual presence at All Saints Parish especially in light of the former seminarians sexual misconduct,

h. his objection to Father Greer living separate from the rectory in his condo on the water and in addition to living in housing on the parish's ground and establishing a non-celibate, permissive retreat for young homosexual seminarians.

22. The retaliation in the past and continued retaliation against Father Dowgiert by the Defendant, Archdiocese of Miami, Inc. is prohibited by Florida law, specifically, '448.102, Florida Statutes.

23. As a result of the Defendant's actions, Plaintiff has been damaged. Pursuant to '448.103(2), Florida Statutes, Plaintiff demands the following relief:

a. reinstatement as a parish priest in the Archdiocese of Miami;

b. an injunction restraining the Defendant from further retaliatory action against Father Dowgiert by the Archdiocese;

c. reinstatement of full fringe benefits and seniority rights;

d. compensation for lost wages and benefits;

e. damages for mental anguish and inconvenience,

f. attorney's fees and costs.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, Father Andrew Dowgiert, demands judgment against Defendant, Archdiocese of Miami, Inc. for compensatory damages, attorneys fees, and costs, and demands trial by jury of all issues so triable.

COUNT II
SLANDER

23. Plaintiff realleges the allegations of paragraphs 1 through 18.

24. Defendant, Archdiocese of Miami, Inc., through its agents and at the direction of its agents, Archbishop Favalora, Monsignor Hennessey, and Father Anibal Morales, caused false statements to be published and republished to the parishioners of All Saints parish and to others in the Archdiocese that Father Dowgiert was terminated by the Archdiocese for alcoholism and a mental disturbance.

25. Father Dowgiert is an immigrant from Poland and English is his second language and that Defendant intentionally attempted to falsely portray the Plaintiff as an alcoholic and mentally disturbed as false grounds to support these false accusations pointed to Father Dowgiert's accent and cultural background.

26. The statements made of and concerning Father Dowgiert tended to expose Father Dowgiert to hatred ridicule or contempt and tended to injure him in his reputation.

26. The false statements of and concerning Father Dowgiert were published and republished by the Defendant, Archdiocese, for the improper and illegal motives of intentionally injuring Father Dowgiert in his reputation and in retaliation for his opposition to illegal practices and policies of the Archdiocese.

27. As a result of the slanderous statements of the Defendant, Father Dowgiert has been damaged. Specifically, he has suffered injury to his reputation and feelings, in his ability to practice his vocation as a priest, and in nominal damages.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, Father Andrew Dowgiert, demands judgment against the Defendant, Archdiocese of Miami, Inc., for compensatory damages and costs and demands trial by jury of all issues so triable.

COUNT III
BREACH OF EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT

28. Plaintiff realleges the allegations of paragraphs 1 to 19.

29. At the time that the Plaintiff, Father Dowgiert, was initially appointed as a priest in the Archdiocese of Miami, the policy and practice of the Archdiocese, which policies were set forth in Archdiocesan writings, was that priests who have been appointed to serve as priests for a period of five (5) years would be incardinated in the Archdiocese. Furthermore, the policy and practice of the Archdiocese was that a priest could not be removed from his appointment within the Archdiocese except for cause.

30. Upon incardination, a priest in the Archdiocese was considered vested and entitled to lifetime employment, benefits, and retirement from the Archdiocese.

31. Plaintiff, Father Andrew Dowgiert fully and completely satisfied the requirements of incardination by serving without cause for termination for a period of four years and eleven months.

32. Defendant, Archdiocese, breached its contract with Father Dowgiert, by terminating him without cause in October, 2004.

33. As a result of the breach of the contract of Father Dowgiert's employment, Father Dowgiert has been damaged.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, Father Andrew Dowgiert, demands judgment against the Defendant, Archdiocese of Miami, Inc., costs and attorney's fees and demands trial by jury of all issues so triable.

With signatures

Report #2 on the Era of Peace

From Catholic World News
October 31, 2005

Link to Original

Pope Condemns Slaughter of Indonesian Christian Girls

Vatican, Oct. 31 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) has sent his condolences to the parents of three Christian girls who were murdered in Indonesia on October 29, and promised his "fervent prayers to the Lord for the return of peace among that people."

The Pope's message to Bishops Joseph Theodorus Suwatan of Manado, Indonesia, condemned the "barbaric murder" of three teenage girls who were attacked and beheaded as they traveled to a private Christian school on the island of Celebes. A fourth girl, who survived the attack, said that six men dressed in black and armed with machetes had accosted the teens.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also condemned the "sadistic" and "barbaric" assault, and ordered an all-out manhunt for the killers.

The massacre occurred in Poso, in a region where about 1,000 people have died in religious and ethnic violence during the past 5 years. The conflict between Christians and Muslims is particularly sharp in regions such as Poso, where the population is almost evenly divided. Some of the attacks against Christians have apparently been launched by militia groups based elsewhere in Indonesia: a country that is more than 90 percent Muslim. The bloodshed has continued despite a peace accord signed by local ethnic leaders in 2001.

Report #1 on the Era of Peace

From Catholic World News
October 31, 2005

India's bishops deplore terror blasts

Link to Original

New Delhi, Oct. 31 (CWNews.com) - The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) has joined the widespread condemnation of the three simultaneous bomb blasts that killed 60 people and injured over 200 people Saturday evening in New Delhi.

"We strongly denounce the act of violence that claimed several innocent and precious lives in Delhi," said Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, president of CBCI. "Our deep sympathy goes to the bereaved families and pray that God may grant peace to those departed souls and give strength to all those who bear the loss from this heinous crime."

"This is a terrible tragedy on the Diwali eve," Father Donald De Souza, CBCI deputy secretary general, told CWNews. The timing of the blasts, Father De Souza said, points to the likelihood that the bombings were a terrorist act aimed "to create panic and confusion" on the eve of Diwali.

Diwali (the Hindu 'festival of lights') falls this year on November 1. In terms of festivity and gaiety, Diwali is marked by illumination of houses, bursting of firecrackers and exchange of gifts.

The blasts that killed the dozens of Diwali shoppers is widely seen as the work of Islamic militant groups that are seeking to break India's control over a region of Kashmir, where the population is mostly Muslim. The other portion of Kashmir is already controlled by Pakistan, a country with a large Muslim majority.

The Hireling Report #2

Report on Bishop Paul Loverde, Arlington, VA

Arlington Priest Faces Judges

By Julia Duin
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
February 7, 2005

Link to Original

A whistleblower Catholic priest who says his bishop is persecuting him because of his activism against homosexuals in the priesthood appeared yesterday in front of an ecclesiastical court near Catholic University.

The Rev. James Haley, 48, a priest in the Diocese of Arlington, appeared before a panel of judges and canon lawyers for a final hearing in a case brought against him by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde. The case has lasted more than three years.

The priest submitted five volumes of documents bolstering his contention that the Catholic priesthood is heavily weighted with homosexuals.

"All I am doing is trying to get an answer to a very complicated question," Father Haley said Tuesday. "Is it moral, proper and prudent to ordain homosexual priests?"

Bishop Thomas G. Doran of Rockford, Ill., is presiding over the case, which will be forwarded for judgment to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

Bishop Loverde has lodged several charges against the priest for sexual misconduct in a case that began in the fall of 2001. He ordered Father Haley silenced and removed him from parish ministry.

The priest denied the sexual-misconduct charges, then revealed in a July 24, 2002, deposition filed in Arlington County Circuit Court a lengthy account of adultery and homosexual affairs among certain priests in the Northern Virginia diocese.

Bishop Loverde then charged Father Haley with wrongfully revealing information to the press, and turned over the case to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Father Haley appeared before an ecclesiastical court in March in Philadelphia, and at least two other secret hearings have been held involving witnesses for the accused priest and his bishop. Yesterday's hearing was the first time he was deposed by church lawyers, Father Haley said.

"To this day, no one has asked me anything. I think that waiting three years for any trial is ridiculous," he said Tuesday.

A diocesan spokesman declined comment on the case because it had been forwarded to the Vatican.

The Hireling Report #1

Report on the USCCB, particularly Bishop Kevin Boland, Savannah

From TheFactIs,org: Culture & Cosmos
Volume 3, Number 13

October 26, 2005

Link to Original

Bishops Marriage Conference Led by Supporter of Cohabitation and Divorce

October 26, 2005
Volume 3, Number 12

A Catholic theologian who opposes Church teaching on divorce and supports creating a betrothal ceremony for cohabitating couples just led a colloquium to assist US bishops with writing a pastoral letter on marriage.

The colloquium, which ended yesterday, was sponsored by the US Bishops' Committee on Marriage and Family and hosted by the Center for Marriage and Family at Creighton University in Omaha. It featured theologians and social scientist and had as its theme, "Promoting and Sustaining Marriage as a Community of Life and Love." According to a press release, the colloquium was a "major step" toward developing "a pastoral letter on marriage" and was "intended for the current and incoming members and advisors of the Marriage and Family Committee."

The director of Creighton's Center on Marriage and Family, Michael J. Lawler, served as the colloquium's chief facilitator. Lawler is well known for his heterodox views on divorce and cohabitation. A review of Lawler's book, "Marriage and the Catholic Church: Disputed Questions," in the left-of-center Catholic magazine "America", explains Lawler's take on divorce: "The governing agenda is to show how divorce and remarriage can be justified historically, canonically and theologically. Lawler argues that the sacramental character of marriage depends on personal faith. Therefore (contrary to canon law and current official teaching), sacramentality cannot attend the union of two persons, even two baptized persons, who do not intend, or who cease to experience, a mutual love that in faith makes God and Christ present." According to the review, Lawler also "proposes a formal betrothal ceremony to recognize and legitimize [cohabitation] and to provide an opportunity for marriage preparation."

In 2004 the US bishops committed themselves to a multi-year National Pastoral Initiative on Marriage. According to the USCCB's website, the centerpiece of the Initiative will be a pastoral letter. "It will deal with contemporary concerns about marriage from a foundation in Catholic doctrine and pastoral practice. It will draw from the experience and expertise of many, including engaged and married couples, social scientists, theologians, educators, communications experts, and others." Savannah Bishop J. Kevin Boland, chairman of the Marriage and Family Committee, said, "The colloquium will play a key role in our pastoral initiative by bringing together Catholic teaching on marriage with the latest research from the social sciences."

Theologians at the colloquium included Dr. John S. Grabowski, Catholic University; Dr. Julie Hanlon Rubio, St. Louis University; and Dr. Wendy M. Wright, Creighton University. Social scientists included Dr. Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, National Marriage Project and Rutgers University; Dr. W. Bradford Wilcox, Institute for American Values; and School Sister of Notre Dame Barbara Markey, Ph.D., Family Life Office, Archdiocese of Omaha.

Report #1 on the Fall of Communism

From AsiaNews

Link to Original

October 28, 2005

Yongqiang (AsiaNews/UCAN) – Two “underground” priests in Wenzhou diocese (eastern China) were detained by public security officers after holding a mass to mark the end of the Year of the Eucharist.

Fr Shao Zhumin and Fr Paul Jiang Sunian, respectively Vicar General and Chancellor of the underground Church community of Wenzhou diocese, as well as five other priests concelebrated the mass on October 27 in Yongqiang parish for about 600 Catholics.

After the Mass, Father Shao together with some priests, nuns and lay Catholics went to a restaurant for dinner. Public security officers seized him at the front desk when he approached the counter to order food while the other Catholics waited inside a room.

Alerted to the arrest, the lay Catholics quietly escorted the other priests out of the restaurant through a back door in the kitchen to prevent them from being arrested too.

Father Jiang did not join the group for dinner, but headed back to his parish. Public security officers took him into custody when he stopped at a toll booth in Bailou, Shuangyu Township.

A local Catholic source said that Fathers Shao and Jiang might have been targeted because they are the leaders of the community.

He said no problems occurred during or after a similar mass held by another parish on October 22 for the closing of the Eucharistic Year, even though more priests and Catholics attended that function.

Other sources said they could not understand why the two priests were taken away, as the situation concerning the Wenzhou underground community “has been calm” for some time, and a number of priests who had been detained were released gradually in recent years.

The October 27 event closing the Eucharistic Year was divided into five parts, with the participants first holding a simple ceremony to signify the closing of the special year proclaimed by the late Pope John Paul II. Then, several priests summarized their activities during the year, reiterating the significance of the Eucharist to the Church and the life of Catholics. After the Mass, the priests and Catholics held a procession with the Eucharist and then adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. A Benediction ended the activities.

Father Shao, who is in his early 40s, was arrested previously in 1999, but was hospitalized due to illness during his detention and later released.

In November 1999, Father Jiang was detained for illegally publishing 120,000 hymnbooks. He was officially arrested the following month, on December 23. He was given a six-year jail term and fined 270,000 yuan (US$ 32,610) in April 2000, but was released on Christmas Day in 2003.

Bishop James Lin Xili of Wenzhou was arrested in September 1999 and is still confined to the cathedral of the government-recognized “open2 Church community without freedom of movement. Reportedly he is not in good health.

Report #1 on the Springtime of Vatican II

Update on cbc Newfoundland

October 26, 2005

Link to Original

'For sale' signs hung up on churches
Last updated Oct 26 2005 04:36 PM NDT
CBC News
The Roman Catholic diocese in Western Newfoundland has hired a real estate company to sell church buildings and other property.

Funds raised from the sales will be used to compensate victims of sexual abuse, most of whom were molested by Father Kevin Bennett.

More than 40 church properties owned by the Diocese of St. George's are now on the market, as the diocese attempts to raise $13 million to settle an agreement finalized this summer.

FROM JULY 6, 2005: Court gives nod to abuse compensation

link: http://stjohns.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=nf_bennett_20050706

Bishop Douglas Crosby says the diocese has no choice but to proceed with listing dozens of its properties.

"It is difficult," Crosby said.

"The benefit is that we're now trying to move the whole process toward a resolution that is fair to the victims, and that would get us beyond it, so we can move forward into the future."

Judy Lacosta, who lives in the small Port au Port Peninsula community of Campbell's Creek, says she is heartbroken that Our Lady of Fatima church may be sold.

The tiny church is now used only occasionally – usually for funerals and at Christmas – but is now up for sale.

Lacosta says the value of the church goes well beyond what price it may fetch.

"It's a beautiful little church, and it's something in our community," she said.

"Our community's small and there's not much else here. It's going to be sad if we lose it."

Crosby is also hoping Roman Catholics here and elsewhere can find money to buy back some church properties.

Lacosta says people in her town are hoping for the same thing.