TWILIGHT ZONE

***From the Profane to the Ridiculous: As we go to press Cardinal Mahony’s annual religious “education” gab fest starts (Feb. 26, youth day, to March 1) in L.A. and, as usual, offers cafeteria Catholics plenty to please, especially fruits and nuts. Dissenters abound. Thomas Groome, a laicized priest who teaches at Boston College, will talk on What Keeps Us Catholic and A New Apologetics. Groome looks at sacred tradition, a bulwark of Catholicism, with a “healthy suspicion.” Like the raging feminists, he believes “exclusion of women from ordained ministry is the result of a patriarchal mind-set… and is not of Christian faith." Even after Pope John Paul II’s definitive statement that the all-male priesthood is an infallible doctrine, Groome said “fair-minded scholars” [Obviously John Paul II was not one.] consider it “without theological or biblical warrant.” Groome also wants to eliminate gender-based pronouns for Jesus as “helpful.” [Huh? Helpful to whom? Jesus was a man; get over it!] Groome believes the faith of our fathers has little to say to us today. [The old fuddy-duddies – didn’t even recycle.]

The RE Congress is a who’s who of dissenters: Fr. Richard Fragomeni, Sr. Barbara Fiand, Sr. Fran Ferder, Dr. Tom Beaudoin, Dr. Richard Gaillardetz, Fr. Bryan Massingale, Fr. Richard Rohr, Sr. Joyce Rupp, etc. Jim Wallis, founding editor of the liberal left Christian magazine Sojourners, and a shill for Obama, keynotes the Congress. Wallis was instrumental in founding Faith in Public Life (FPL), an organization dedicated to shrouding wolfish liberalism, especially abortion and sodomy, in sheepskin to trick values voters into supporting the very things they oppose. Wallis promotes Obama’s “making abortion rare” hypocrisy and wants pro-lifers to stop fighting to overturn Roe v. Wade. That Mahony would allow Wallis to keynote the Congress is entirely consistent. He has undermined the Catholic faith for years. Pray for his salvation. [Of course there are some legitimate workshops as well. We get teary-eyed at the thought of Sunday’s talk, “Smoke Signals of Hope in Burnt-out People”…. Fire extinguishers optional.]

***Cdl. Mahony under FBI investigation: Mahony may not have to wait for the personal judgment before facing the music. The FBI is on his tail because of possible fraud in the sex abuse scandals. We’ll be following developments on the Les Femmes blog. Check it out. [Mahony would look great in an orange jumpsuit with matching mitre.]

***Inaugural Giddiness at Trinity (TU): According to Baltimore’s Catholic Review, a number of D.C. Catholic schools and parishes fell all over themselves hyping the inauguration of the most pro-abortion, pro-sodomy candidate in history. Catholic U. and nearby TU held inaugural balls on campus. Trinity called theirs a “Celebration of Change” even though there’s nothing for Catholics to celebrate as Obama & company scurry about like rats demolishing pro-life legislation and making the world safe for abortionists and sodomites. But Trinity’s actions are no surprise since they gave up their Catholic identity several generations ago. They gush over Nancy Pelosi, a 1962 alumna, at every step of her pro-abortion career as well as equally pro-abortion Kansas Governor Kathleen Sibelius (’70) who has personal connections to notorious abortionist “killer Tiller” of Wichita. Trinity has a gay pride club on campus and in January invited liberal radical Marian Wright Edelman, head of the Children’s Defense Fund, for a program In Celebration of Community Organizers. Edelman claims her group is neutral on abortion but the American Life League website has an extensive dossier linking CDF to promotion of contraception for teens, school-based health clinics, and other moral evils. CDF also has ties to many pro-abortion organizations. In 1999 NARAL described CDF as sharing its vision which speaks volumes. As for Trinity, don’t let your Catholic children study under the red roof where the only “education” is indoctrination in liberalism.

***Biden gets ovation at Georgetown Mass
Joe Biden attended the 11:30 AM Mass at Holy Trinity (HT) in Georgetown on 01/18 and received Communion, a public scandal because of his well-known pro-abortion politics. He also got an extended standing ovation, no surprise. HT is a bastion of organized dissent. They once held a circus Mass with clowns and acrobats performing in the sacristy after the sermon. [No joke; read about it at www.tboyle.net/University/Post_Circus_Article.html]

In the early 1990s the heretical Women’s Ordination Conference wooed a young woman we know (now a LF supporter), a parishioner at HT, to become their youth coordinator. She declined after realizing how far out and un-Catholic they were. [She apparently was smarter than the pastor who let them meet in the Church hall.]

A blog comment re a liberal parish in Massachusetts, made an astute observation about HT. “Big liberal parishes are often cash cows for dioceses….It's not so much that the liberal parishioners are individually more generous. But they do flock to liberal magnet parishes. Holy Trinity in Georgetown (D.C.) is a good example. Don't kill the golden goose by firing a popular dissident pastor. But there isn't much difference between the golden goose and the golden calf.” [Indeed! HT is a Jesuit parish and most jebbies resemble Aaron enabling the people’s evil desires. Too bad the pope named an Aaron to D.C. instead of a Moses.]

Despite USCCB policy that pro-abortion speakers not be given a platform, Catholic schools continue to welcome them. Radical leftist Bill Ayers recently spoke at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, CA run by the Christians Brothers. His biggest ovation was in response to saying he supported a woman’s right to choose. Cabrini College awarded pro-abortion Catholic, Cokie Roberts, their Ivy Young Willis Award February 5. Cokie describes Pope Benedict as “lacking in the theological virtue of charity.” This from a woman who thinks killing babies is a virtue? She also is pro-gay and pro-contraception. So much for her “Catholic” credentials – and Cabrini’s. Fairfield University hosted pro-abortion Harold Ford, Jr. Feb 20. Ford heads the Democratic Leadership Council which opposes a ban on partial birth abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Finally, Jim Wallis, who spoke at Mahony’s conference also spoke at Detroit Mercy last September. His Faith in Public Life organization, is a coalition that networks with dozens of pro-abortion, pro-sodomy groups. The “faith map” on their website shows just how radical they are with links to hundreds of groups that lobby for abortion and same-sex marriage. Sadly the list includes many diocesan groups whose participation further confuses the faithful and advances evil.

***And then there’s DePaul University… The largest “Catholic” school in the U.S. offers a program in Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Transgender/Queer studies saying, “This emerging discipline scrutinizes the cultural production, dissemination, and vicissitudes of sexuality while attempting to decipher the meanings inscribed in the practices and discourses of sex.” [Huh?... got that? Imagine: A prospective employer studies the transcript and eyes the eager applicant.“I note your minor in queer studies. How will you use it teaching fifth graders?” Of course, it may be a plus applying as a White House intern or for the Massachusetts school system.] Parents, keep your kids away from these poisonous institutions. Send them to local community colleges instead.

***But there’s one bright light at DePaul: Nicholas Hahn, III arrived as a fourth-generation DePaul (DP) student and was shocked at what he found on campus. He didn’t transfer or conform to DP’s politically-correct, pro-gay, anti-life world view. Instead he fought back with charity and humor to bring both Catholic and conservative principles to DP. Did you hear about the affirmative action bake sale last year where white males had to pay more for brownies than women and minorities? Or the 2007 lecture series that featured great Catholic speakers like George Weigel and Dr. Thomas Woods? Hahn is president of the campus group, The Conservative Alliance, and is a great example of the young Church Militant. So don’t despair; even at bad schools there are candles burning among the millennial generation.

***Great Catholic colleges still exist! Check out the Cardinal Newman Society’s Choosing a Catholic College at www.cardinalnewmansociety.org. They list 21 Catholic schools that will educate the whole person, and many offer exciting and unique programs like Wyoming Catholic College with its great books and great outdoors experience. Look for places that promote the true, the good, and the beautiful in the context of authentic faith and culture. And pray God to send more young warriors.

***Skip Pepsi and Campbell’s Soup: Living in an X-rated culture is a real challenge. You need blinders at the mall to avoid the shop windows at Victoria’s Secret and the posters in the lingerie department of any major department store. Even the checkout line at the grocers is an occasion of sin with the covers of rags like Cosmopolitan and Vanity Fair polluting the eyes. But for the worst it’s TV advertising. (See Sodomizing the Culture in the summer issue on our website.) Pepsi is airing a new ad in the UK. A man, encouraged by his buddies, surveys a bar while the camera shows pretty women. He takes a drink to work up his nerve and walks over to connect with – a man. Pepsi is a major funder of homosexual propaganda. They gave $500,000 to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the most powerful gay lobby in the country. HRC funneled over $2 million to the Stop Proposition 8 campaign in California to defeat the act upholding traditional marriage. (They failed.) Pepsi also gave $500,000 to PFLAG (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). They make employees attend gay indoctrination sessions as well. Campbell’s is also shilling for the gay lifesyle. They advertise in The Advocate, a homosexual magazine endorsing gay marriage. American Family Association is promoting a boycott of Pepsi and is asking Campbell’s to be neutral in the culture war. See the Action Box and please support AFA’s efforts. Money talks. Pepsi products include Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker Oats, Frito-Lay, and Mountain Dew. Campbell’s products include Swanson Products, Chunky Soups, Pepperidge Farm, and V-8. Check the labels before you buy and choose generics. Join AFA’s network of activists. They are champions against porn and the gay agenda.

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