TWILIGHT
ZONE
***What’s Wrong With This Picture?????? Scene 1: The diocese uncovers a financial irregularity at a local parish. The pastor is immediately suspended and an investigation begun. The diocesan paper carries an article about it. The priests of the diocese attend a meeting with a financial expert to discuss financial accountability.
Scene 2: A pastor is seeing a married woman in his parish. The husband confronts the priest and appeals numerous times to the Chancellor. The situation continues for almost a year and a half until the Philandering Padre takes off with the wife, now pregnant with his child. He "marries" her after the divorce is finalized. At the custody hearing for the betrayed husband’s four children, another diocesan priest testifies to Padre’s good character, his joy for the happy couple, and what a "caring man" Padre is with a "lot of love for people." [Including the betrayed husband?] This priest acts as godfather for the new baby. Oh, incidentally he also allowed CTA to meet in his former parish, opened the meeting with a prayer, and pushed around une femme who challenged him. [Proud of yourself, Fr. Leva?]
The tally in this disgraceful episode? Padre: — one "wife," the betrayed husband’s four kids, and a new baby. Betrayed husband: — no wife, kids hundreds of miles away, and a heart attack. [We pray his faith isn’t another casualty.]
Question 1: Why did the diocese immediately suspend the priest in scene 1, but left the Philandering Padre in a proximate occasion of sin for over a year?
Question 2: Will there be any consequences to Fr. Leva for his public affirmation of adultery and desecration of vows?
Question 3: What exactly is the patrimony of the Church?
*** When the NCEA booked dissident feminist nun, Sr. Joan Chittister, O.S.B. as a keynote speaker, five dioceses voiced objections. Was Arlington one of them? Unfortunately, no. (It was Peoria and Pittsburgh originally, joined later by Lincoln, LaCrosse, and Tulsa.) According to a CNS [Catholic News Service] article published April 26th in the Arlington Herald, School Superintendent Timothy McNiff, two assistant supes (Sr. Patricia Helene and Sr. Karl Ann), and officials from four parish schools (St. Michael, St. Agnes, St. Timothy, and St. Leo) attended the convention. A few questions: 1) In view of the NCEA featuring a notorious dissenter, how vigilant were they at guaranteeing the orthodoxy of the 400 workshops teachers were attending? 2) How many presenters poisoned participants with their program? 3) Why didn’t Arlington follow the example of the other dioceses that refused to support dissent? 4) How much did it cost us? [As shareholders in the corporation we want fiscal accountability.] 5) Did Dr. McNiff and company join in the standing ovation for Chittister? [Keep your eye on the NCEA, an organization whose leadership either lack prudence or have a hidden agenda.]
*** What gives at St. Joseph’s in Herndon? Are those visions in white robes (albs?) serving in the sanctuary during Sunday Mass altar babes? Concelebrants? Lay extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist? Or are they angels among us? More on this in another issue.
***Dissenters’ Deceitful Day Dumped: Tony Kowalski thought he’d put one over on the Knights of Columbus by scheduling the CORPUS Region 5 Day of Recollection at the Andrew Douglas White Council Hall in Arlington. CORPUS, the National Association for a Married Priesthood, is a support/dissent group of ex-priests who have abandoned their vows, many to enter invalid marriages. They lobby for reinstatement to the active priesthood, approval of married priests, ordination of women, etc. We discovered the plan when a Texas femme e-mailed us the Region 5 webpage describing the event: "Arlington Virginia Tony Kowalski, working from his home in Arlington, Virginia, has just finalized arrangements for the next annual Day of Recollection, which will be held on Saturday, April 28 at the same location as last year [our emphasis], the Knights of Columbus Hall at 5115 Little Falls Road in Arlington, Virginia. Father Gerard Sloyan, one of the great intellectual leaders in the post-Vatican II Church, has agreed to lead the participants for the day."
We immediately notified the Grand Knight of the council, Rick Vranesh, and several priests in the diocese, and sent a letter to the club manager with details about CORPUS and Fr. Sloyan, a founder and board member of ARCC [Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church]. ARCC is one of the most malicious groups attacking the faith. Vranesh called Kowalski who said the meeting had nothing to do with CORPUS, a direct lie. [Dissenters and the truth often part company.] Happily, the Knights canceled the event and CORPUS had to take their dissenting corpses [oops...corpora: third declension neuter, accusative case, plural] to another location. For future reference we suggest the creedless Unitarian church where members may believe any insanity they wish as long as they smile and play nice. We extend our sincere appreciation to the Knights of Columbus for their swift and decisive response. Please pray for the members of CORPUS, their families and their lay brothers and sisters in invalid marriages who work in vain to change Church doctrine to accommodate their sin.
***Will the Real Archbishop Brunett Please Stand Up: After assuring a local man that the Archdiocese of Seattle would not support the Northwest Catholic[sic] Women’s Convocation featuring some of the most radical dissenters in the country, Archbishop Alexander Brunett allowed the sponsoring groups to advertise in his diocesan paper, The Catholic Northwest Progress. The dishonest ad listed NO conference speakers, but 17 religious orders, members of LCWR [Leadership Conference of Women Religious] Region XV [See Twilight Zone Vol.5 #4, "What ever happened to Sr. Mary Dolors" on the LCWR.] Most women reading the ad will have no idea of the controversy and the danger to their faith of attending the event. Is the bishop ignorant? No way! He received specific information about the heretical speakers from Les Femmes with an offer of taped talks illustrating their errors. We also suggested he sponsor a Call to Holiness Conference to offset the scandal. The editor of The Progress assured a concerned subscriber they would not advertise the conference. So much for assurances. The bishop says the diocese is not "sponsoring" the convocation, a subtlety that, no doubt, will be lost on those reading the ad. Les Femmes intervened initially because our local dissenter, Bridget Meehan, a "nun" affiliated with a phony religious order, was speaking.
Why did Archbishop Brunett flip-flop? A profile on him in the Seattle Times March 11th provides a clue. "I’m a happy person. I enjoy my priesthood. I like the church. I’ve always found people like to be uplifted. They don’t like to be beat down." [There you have it folks - a "happy church" with no pain, no martyrdom, and no unpleasant truth.] The archbishop made it clear he will censor the nasty issues from his paper. "‘I want the newspaper to reflect who I am,’ he said... ‘I’m a person who likes some class and glitz to it, so it doesn’t look so ugly and dull’ — but to leave out the heated debates on controversial issues such as women clergy or abortion." [May God deliver us from a "happy" hierarchy that welcomes the wolf into the sheepfold.]
***Bishops Cave to Theologians — Ex Corde Mandate is Dead on Arrival: Don’t expect improvements on Catholic college campuses any time soon. At their annual meeting in D.C. last fall the bishops gave dissident theologians a pass. Ex Corde Ecclesiae, the 1990 Apostolic Constitution on Catholic Education, upheld the canonical requirement for theologians to get a mandatum (permission) from the local bishop in order to teach Catholic doctrine. Orthodox parents paying big bucks to Catholic schools hoped their kids would no longer have their faith undermined by "experts" teaching that the bible is a myth, the infancy narratives are just stories, the miracles never happened, Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, etc. But after 10 years of delay and obfuscation the fix is in.
Most bishops refuse to do anything about the out-of-control situation at many schools. Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of Cincinnati, chairman of the bishops committee on the mandatum said, "It is my understanding that the diocesan bishop does not have the power to enforce anything in the context of university life." Cardinal Bernard Law was quoted in the Boston Globe saying, "Theologians have to have the freedom to be wrong...I don’t want to denounce people." [Which explains how self-professed lesbian witch, Mary Daly, could indoctrinate students in feminist claptrap at Jesuit Boston College for over 20 years. How many Catholic parents did B.C. defraud while their children lost the faith and the shepherd was silent?]
One archbishop, Elden F. Curtiss of Omaha, had the courage to express a different view. "If it doesn’t make any difference whether somebody asks, this is an exercise in futility." According to the Globe, "Curtiss said he would seek to publicize the names of theologians in his diocese who were denied church permission to teach." [Thank you, Your Excellency. Now a question from Logic 101: If Catholic bishops have no authority to enforce anything at Catholic colleges, why did canon law require a mandatum in the first place? What are those shepherds crooks for anyhow? Might as well replace ‘em with wet noodles.]
***While on the subject of Catholic colleges, Shame on Seton Hall for awarding an honorary degree at the May 7th commencement to Dolores Cross, an educator and NARAL activist. Father Peter West of Priests for Life called it a scandal saying, "Catholic schools bestowing honors on abortion advocates weakens the Church's witness to the sanctity of human life...If Dolores Cross were discovered to be a racist, anti-Semite, or anti-Catholic she would be immediately uninvited. Why don't we have the same reaction to those who deny the rights of pre-born children?" Amen! Contact school president, Msgr. Robert Sheeran, at (973) 761-9620 or email him at sheeraro@shu.edu. [An interesting sidelight — Seton Hall was founded in 1856 by Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley, the first bishop of Newark, who named it after his aunt, Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton. Would she approve, ya think?]
***Thank God, Some Good News! A giant Les Femmes thank you to Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput who banned pro-abortion Representative Diana DeGette from speaking at an awards dinner sponsored by the Archdiocesan Housing Committee. Responding to DeGette’s letter decrying an "apparent litmus test" and claiming the "fringe politics of abortion" had "won out," the Archbishop replied, "I've always been puzzled by political leaders who exclude unborn children from the protection of the justice they publicly claim to champion. I invite you to turn away from the fringe politics (of the abortion issue) by bringing your own politics more consistently in line with real service to the sanctity of human life," As to the "litmus test" accusation, Chaput wrote, "your own party enforces a pro-choice litmus test on its potential candidates far more roughly and with far less [Continued on back page] moral legitimacy." DeGette, in typical liberal fashion, whined that the archbishop was "rude" and "combative." [Get this little girl a hanky!] Spokesman for the archdiocese, Greg Kail said, "The important thing is that people not be confused about the Catholic Church's stand on social justice, which includes our stand for the unborn. It would be inappropriate for someone who is aggressively pro-abortion to speak at a church event." [We invite our local social justice advocacy group, SALT (Social Action Linking Together), which often honors pro-abortion politicians, to reflect on the archbishop’s action and his words.]
***Shepherds, please listen to our Holy Father: At the February consistory creating 44 new cardinals, Pope John Paul II said, "Cardinals must assist and collaborate with the Successor of Peter to alleviate the burdens of a ministry which extends to the four corners of the earth. Together with him you must be strenuous defenders of the truth and custodians of the patrimony of faith and customs [our emphasis] which has its origin in the Bible. You will thus be sure guides for everyone and, in the first place, for priests, consecrated persons, and committed lay persons." [Amen, Amen, Amen!!]