TWILIGHT ZONE

***Yikes! We Need a CCDI Column: Yet again the Arlington Catholic Herald (Jan 12 issue) gave CCDI (Continuing Christian Development Institute) free advertising for its latest heretical speaker, Fr. Gerard Sloyan, teaching a four-week course on St. Mark’s gospel at St. Anthony’s in Falls Church. Fr. Sloyan is on the board of the dissent group, Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church (ARCC), an organization that began in the late 70s to fight Rome’s attempts to reign in heretical theologians. When the Vatican declared Fr. Hans Kung no longer to be a Catholic theologian, ARCC issued a press release saying, oh yes he is. They reacted in the same way to protect heretics Fr. Edward Schillebeeckx, who denied the Eucharistic doctrine of transubstantiation, and Brazilian liberation theologian, Tissa Balasuriya who was excommunicated for his obstinate persistence in heresy. Sloyan wrote the defense of Fr. Balasuriya on the ARCC website. Sorry to repeat ourselves, but here’s what we wrote about Sloyan in 2010 when Fr. Gerry Creedon had him at St. Charles:

Fr. Gerard Sloyan was the chief architect of the catastrophic “new catechesis” that destroyed the faith of millions of young people over the last few decades. Here’s how a 2001 Catholic World News article described him:

“It may be impossible to name one person as most responsible for the current state of religious instruction in the United States. But no one has a stronger claim than Father Gerard Sloyan who, in 17 years in CUA's Religious Education department -- ten as chairman--reorganized the entire curriculum, and thus changed the religious attitudes of a key cohort of religion teachers. It was he who first hired dissenter Charles Curran, in 1964. His 1967 book, Speaking of Catholic Education, by its praise for the Dutch Catechism [which taught error], its clear distaste for the term ‘transubstantiation,’ its displacement of personal sin by a ‘fundamental option’ for or against God, and its call to defer First Confession until after First Communion--proves that the toxic ideas of the revolution were fully formed by the mid-1960s….

“In 1967, Sloyan left CUA to teach at Temple University, remaining there for 25 years. Later he returned as a ‘distinguished lecturer,’ but the move seems not to have sweetened his temper. ‘Is Agape Any Match for Fear and Loathing in the Religious Psyche?’ Sloyan's contribution to The Echo Within, a 1997 collection of essays published to honor Berard Marthaler on his academic retirement, is a fuming denunciation of orthodox Catholics. Characterizing them as ignorant, rigid, repressed, ideologically infected, infantile, censorious, malicious, and uncharitable, he says he offers these diagnoses, ‘in the friendliest possible spirit.’” [In 2010 it was Fr. Gerry Creedon letting Sloyan scandalize his parishioners at St. Charles. This year, Sloyan is continuing the tradition at St. Anthony’s. Why does the diocese allow this to go on year after year in view of the fact that there is supposedly a policy in place to screen speakers? Does Sloyan’s record really pass muster? Your Excellency? Fr. DeLadurantaye? Anyone?]

***Look to a Layman for the Answer: Michael Voris of RealCatholicTV addressed the issue of bad catechetics, among others, at a presentation in Front Royal when he was in town for the March for Life. At age 50, he grew up in the wasteland of vapid teaching orchestrated by Sloyan and Berard Marthaler. They eliminated doctrine in favor of experiencing God through feelings, the religious version of secular self-esteem nonsense that taught kids to feel good about their math skills even when they didn’t have any. [Interestingly, the latest science shows empty praise damages students learning abilities. Well, whoda guessed?] Empty praise and empty textbooks undermined the faith of millions who don’t have a clue about Catholic doctrine. Voris said his last recollection of solid teaching was third grade when Sister taught them about Our Lady of Lourdes. He opined that those coming after him got even less and so are even more vulnerable to the lies of the culture. Since parents can’t give what they don’t have, self-education in Church doctrine is absolutely essential to a spiritual revival. And if it doesn’t come from the pulpit, the laity must grab the ball and run. A priest’s failure to teach the faith will be on his conscience, but doesn’t excuse Catholic adults form their obligation to learn the faith. [Hmmm…If clergy will have to answer for their failure to teach the faith, what will happen when they have to answer for using heretics to teach their people? Anyone? What about the bishop’s obligation to protect his flock? Anyone? Anyone?]

***Know Your Clergy Trading Cards: According to a short article in the Jan. 5-11 Herald a group of students from Queen of Apostles School presented Bishop Loverde with cards and prayers from all the students who “love the bishop.” In return he gave them pictures of himself. What a great idea! Why not a set of trading cards with all the priests and seminarians in the diocese. It can be a fundraiser at all parishes accompanied by “bishop bubble gum” in liturgical colors (sugar-free in line with Michelle Obama’s war on obesity). Think of the fun for children on the playground. We can hear them now: “If our team wins we get the choice of your seminarians….I’ll trade you Bishop Loverde for a pastor and a parochial vicar….I’m collecting all the priests who play on the Earthen Vessels basketball team!” This could catch on in every diocese in the country and help reduce the deficit caused by the clergy abuse lawsuits. [Only one problem – how to recall cards when priests disappear? But not to worry, maybe that will make them more valuable…at least to the kids.]

***Bishop Charles Chaput recently announced that he’s selling the bishop’s house in Philadelphia and will live in more modest surroundings. Bishop David Zubick of Pittsburgh resides in a two-room apartment at the local seminary. Compare that to bishops who live in multi-million dollar homes with wine cellars, subzero freezers, marble and hardwood floors, expensive furniture, top-of-the-line HD TVs, fresh flowers delivered every day, etc. We hope the simplified lifestyle catches on. It would be interesting to see a comparison among the bishops of their personal living expenses. [What category does a bishop’s wine collection fall under in the budget? And how much is allotted from parish collections to cover it? We know they’re called “princes of the Church” but should bishops take that literally, especially with so many of their flock out of work or suffering from the economic downturn?] Les Femmes recalls a pastor at St. Louis parish in Alexandria who was appalled by the expensive rectory furnishings purchased by his predecessor. They were sold at a parish auction to raise money for the school. We don’t know what he replaced them with, early American yard sale perhaps? Considering that St. Louis was on the Route 1 corridor with many poor families, his action had real meaning.

***From the Hobnailed Boot Department:
The Obama administration has told religious groups they have a one-year reprieve from the requirement to offer contraceptive coverage in their employees’ health care coverage. There will, however, be NO exemption says Kathleen Sebelius, the faux Catholic who heads HHS. The Church WILL comply with the draconian order of the anti-Catholic, pro-abortion state collective. The news came a day after Pope Benedict met with the U.S. bishops and acknowledged the growing persecution in America including efforts to “deny the right of conscientious objection.” Cardinal designate, Timothy Dolan, responded to the Sebelius dictat by saying the administration has “drawn an unprecedented line in the sand.” Of the year’s reprieve he stated, "In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences." Sad to say, some bishops likely won’t need that long to work out a sophist’s argument to justify cooperating with the government’s evil order. And the year-long delay postpones the worst confrontation with the bishops until after the election.

***Girl Scouts Banned at St. Timothy’s: Two thumbs up and a big thank you to St. Timothy’s pastor, Fr. Gerald Weymes who not only banned the Girl Scouts from his parish, but also banned the wearing of uniforms on St. Tim’s church property. Father is getting some highly negative publicity for having the guts to stand up to the Girl Scout juggernaut, but hopefully his action will give other pastors encouragement to follow his example. The Girl Scouts as an organization is no friend of girls. While local troops may be unobjectionable and even exemplary, affiliation with a national office that promotes promiscuity, attacks Christianity, and teaches gender confusion is problematic at best. And what happens to the Catholic troop when the local gay activists decide to create a cause celebre by trying to get a boy into the troop? Fr. Weymes may be sidestepping future problems. He’s also eliminated a large market for Girl Scout cookie sales. Thanks again, Father!

***Another U.N. Abomination in Progress! LifeSiteNews reported in January that the Peruvian government is considering a U.N. backed plan to legalize abortion, require motherhood licenses, promote “diversity” (newspeak for advancing the homosexual agenda) and require that all “health establishments will give information and freely distribute contraceptive measures, including contraception in all public health services.” The president will consider the plan in February, but it’s unclear whether he will sign it. Peru has been a U.N. target for years. From 1995 to 1996 the U.N. collaborated in the forced sterilization of at least 100,000 poor, rural Peruvian women. Like similar projects in China, health workers received cash bonuses for every woman having a tubal ligation. Some women died following the operation; many were sterilized without their consent. The country has been flooded with condoms for years. This latest abomination, The National Plan for Gender Equality, is just more of the same and the latest attempt of first world elitists to reduce the numbers of third world poor whom they consider useless eaters.

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