TWILIGHT ZONE
***Gay parishes: public defiance online! They’re out of the closet and in your face on the internet with an agenda anyone can see including the local bishop. Who are “they?” Catholic parishes advancing same-sex perversion. Under Archbishop Harry Flynn, gay parishes in Minneapolis have scandalized with impunity for years. St. Frances Cabrini and St. Joan of Arc are most blatant. Both parish websites have displayed the rainbow flag, symbol of gay pride. (The flag originated at another gay parish, Most Holy Redeemer in San Francisco. It was designed for a 1978 gay pride parade.) The websites of many gay parishes proudly proclaim support for the GLBT (gay, lesbian, etc…) agenda. They often link to pro-sodomy groups like Dignity, P-FLAG, Soulforce, and other organizations working to normalize same-sex marriage, gay adoption, etc. Not surprisingly, parishes like these also champion dissent and offer parishioners little in the way of true Catholic life. St. Frances has baptism four times a year, two annual communal penance services, no regular hours of confession [Who needs ‘em? Nothing is a sin!], and no daily Mass. They explain it by saying they have a part-time pastor, Fr. Leo Tibesar, whose primary role is being a hospital chaplain. [Funny, Fr. Tibesar has plenty of time to serve on Dignity’s national board and engage in homosexual activism. but no time for Mass. He recently announced plans to bless same sex unions at St. Frances, but that little item disappeared from the website after it was exposed by LifeSite News last November. ]
***St. Joan’s shrewd makeover: St. Joan’s is a particularly interesting case. After lots of adverse publicity and a 2004 Vatican intervention, the parish toned down its website and dumped the rainbow flag. The Vatican ordered the gay pride material removed from the site and called for the parish to stop inviting non-Catholics to speak at Masses. But nothing much appears to have changed at St. Joan’s. Dissent continues to be a mainstay of parish life. The GLBT page has a lower profile (no photos), but still announces their “participation in gay pride celebrations” inviting those interested to email for details. Gay propaganda remains on the site including an article reporting on a talk at the parish by retired Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong [a full-time resident of the Twilight Zone] who endorses sodomy as “normal.” Dissent appears to be endemic. The sacraments page says “First Eucharist is celebrated by students in grade 2…. First Reconciliation… by students in grade 4,” despite the fact that First Communion before First Confession was specifically banned by Sanctus Pontifex 35 years ago:
The Congregations for the Discipline of the Sacraments and for the Clergy have considered this matter thoroughly and taken into account the views of the conferences of bishops. With the approval of Pope Paul VI, therefore, the two Congregations by the present document declare that an end must be put to these experiments -- which now have gone on for three years -- to coincide with the close of the school year 1972-73 and that thereafter the Decree Quam Singulari must be obeyed everywhere by all. [What about “obeyed everywhere by all” does St. Joan’s not understand.]
***Are we surprised? Not hardly. Kathy Itzin, St. Joan’s long-time Director of Elementary Education and Sacraments is a lesbian activist. If sodomy and other same sex practices aren’t sins, how can a seven-year-old even think of committing a sin? [“Bless me, Father, I spit at my brother and flushed his homework down the toilet.”] Speaking of sin and confession, we couldn’t find any hours for the sacrament on the calendar or in the bulletin or anywhere on the website. No sin, no confession.
***Another loony thing at St. Joan’s is the Eco-Spirituality movement. [Wait…take the lotus position and repeat, “oooom.” Feeeeel the vibration.] “The earth…is the incarnation of God’s/Divine Wisdom’s creative love.” [Huh? Isn’t Jesus the Incarnation.] “Our way to healing and wholeness (= salvation) plays out through our inter-relationship with the living systems of the earth.” [Uh…like surfing a wave or swimming with dolphins?] “We face a crisis because the earth’s life-systems are extremely stressed. [Well send ‘em to a shrink and put ‘em on Prozac.] “’Eco-Spirituality’…fosters an awareness of how we are inseparably interconnected with all creation.” [Wow…us and the viruses. So…why are we trying to get rid of our interconnected buddies like AIDS?]
This goofy view meshes with the “evolving theology” at St. Joan’s fostered by former pastor Fr. George Wertin. He urged parishioners to “let go of the obsolete ancient worldview” where “God is in his heavens” and we struggle “in this vale of tears.” He advised replacing the “fall/ redemption theology” with a “creation-centered spirituality” where we are “co-creators with God” who is no longer “up there but within us and all creation.” He threw out the doctrine of original sin replacing it with “original goodness” and debunked the orthodox view of salvation dismissing it as “high Christology.” He offered a “new theology for a new age,” what he called “low Christology” where “by embracing his humanity Jesus is transformed by God’s spirit and actualizes the divine in the world…not through redemptive violence but through healing, acceptance, and compassion.” Where does Fr. Wertin take all this? – to a “new spirituality that is not based on rules and obedience, but on growth, wholeness and transformation of the world.” [This hogwash is the same lie the serpent used to seduce Eve in the garden. We don’t need a redeemer; we’re our own little, tinpot gods. No thanks. Keep your brave new world, Father; it leads to despair and death.]
***And then there’s St. Edwards : Seems we could go on and on about the Twin Cities. Another gay-friendly parish is St. Edwards which has the same disobedient policy on First Penance/First Communion as St. Joan’s. Their pastor, another activist for the gay agenda is Fr. Michael Tegeder. In 2006 he wrote a commentary in the Minneapolis Star Tribune calling the archdiocese “mean-spirited” for encouraging the faithful to support an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Twenty-seven priests in the archdiocese sent Archbishop Flynn a petition saying the “aggressive and widespread endeavour in favour of the amendment [against gay “marriage”] is a scandal.” One hundred and thirteen priests (including Wertin, Tegeder, and Tibesar) sent a letter in 2003 to former USCC head, Archbishop Wilton Gregory calling for an end to priestly celibacy. Prior to sending the letter, 58 priests met, Wertin and Tegeder among them, to discuss its contents. After the meeting, they solicited the support of their brother priests in a letter. It read, “we discussed a wide range of related topics, the church international, the priesthood of the laity, the ordination of women, sexual orientation and the priesthood, etc. In the end we returned to the focused question of… mandatory/optional celibacy.” [Connect the dots. These priests mix an issue of discipline that can, but hopefully won’t, change with a mélange of issues that are non-debatable, like women’s ordination. They are change agents actively undermining the faith.]
“My people perish for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6) Gay parishes create a shadow church with a new creed based on acceptance, and even celebration, of sin. What happens to the minds, hearts, and souls of the people at St. Frances, St. Joan’s, St. Edwards, Most Holy Redeemer, and countless other gay Catholic parishes in the U.S.? Fr. Wertin’s “new spirituality” is a lie. His actions, as well as those of Fr. Tegeder and Fr. Tibesar, are scandalous. They cannot set prisoners (of sin) free with their heresy. Where are those in authority who will speak the truth and intercede to protect the bride of Christ from these men? Thankfully, there are signs that the Lord is raising up a Daniel in Minneapolis. The new coadjutor bishop, expected to take over next year when Archbishop Flynn reaches retirement age, is Archbishop John Nienstedt. He has already aroused the ire of the gay community for speaking the truth about what the Church teaches on homosexuality. Pray for this bishop who has entered the lion’s den, that he will not shrink as he faces persecution. Satan will not give up his congregations easily. The homosexual subculture among the priests of Minneapolis/St. Paul is alive and well, but where sin abounds, grace abounds even more. [Besides…not to worry. All these parishes have safe touch programs in place to protect the children. Don’t you feel better?]
***How did we get in this mess anyway? In a 2001 interview with Latin Mass Magazine Dr. Alice von Hildebrand, widow of Dietrich von Hildebrand, said the current situation in the church was no accident. Her husband, whom she described as “a sanguine man and optimistic by nature” came to believe there was a “systematic infiltration of the Church by diabolical enemies.” She went on to describe the information provided by Bella Dodd, an active communist converted by Bishop Fulton Sheen. “It is a matter of public record… that Bella Dodd… openly spoke of the Communist Party’s deliberate infiltration of agents into the seminaries. She told my husband and me that when she was an active party member, she had dealt with no fewer than four cardinals within the Vatican ‘who were working for us.’” [Read the complete interview at www.latinmassmagazine.com.]
In Congressional testimony Dodd claimed to have placed 1100 men in U.S. seminaries during the 1930s to “destroy the church from within.” Another communist defector, Manning Johnson, who also testified before the House Un-american Activities Committee confirmed the infiltration of the seminaries. “The practical conclusion drawn by the Red leaders was that these institutions would make it possible for a small Communist minority to influence the ideology of future clergymen in the paths conducive to Communist purposes This policy of infiltrating seminaries was successful beyond even our communist expectations."
***And then there’s the book - AA-1025 The Memoirs of an Anti-Apostle: A French nurse named Marie Carre claims she cared for an unidentified auto accident victim who died from his injuries without speaking. He had a briefcase containing a manuscript, notes about his life as a Communist agent who infiltrated the Catholic Church by entering the seminary. Obviously, authentication of the document is impossible, but in view of everything that’s happened in the Church the book is believable. The English version is published by TAN Books and is worth reading.
***VA Catholic Conference Lobby Day: Virginia’s dioceses of Arlington and Richmond hold a lobby day every January at the onset of the General Assembly session. Unfortunately, they mix non-negotiable moral issues with issues of prudential judgment. This year is no different. While paying lip service to the primacy of pro-life issues, they stir into the soup an assortment of big government solutions to health care, education, etc. Will more taxes and more government really solve our problems? How about a Catholic alternative? [Wouldn’t that be novel?] When Fr. McGivney, who founded the Knights of Columbus, saw Catholic widows and orphans struggling in poverty, did he look to the government for a solution? No! He came up with a big idea: to found a fraternal men’s organization that would do charitable work and also establish a life insurance program to protect families. Why don’t the bishops encourage the Knights to establish a truly Catholic health insurance program that eliminates coverage for abortion, contraceptives, sterilization, sex change surgery, immoral fertility treatments, etc.? Consider the impact of millions of Catholics saving money and sleeping better because they aren’t forced to pay for immoral drugs and treatments. The Knights could also establish a charitable fund to subsidize health coverage for the poor. Many Catholics would be happy to check a box on their insurance payment card to donate a few extra dollars to subsidize health insurance for the poor and elderly on fixed incomes. [Hey, even the bishops could get into the act: cancel the renovations on their bishops’ residences or chanceries and divert the savings to the fund.]
A man who loves sin does not wish the Gospel to be true.
Venerable John Henry Newman