CTA
Marks 25 Years
Attacking Church
By Mary Ann Kreitzer
Call to Action [CTA] recently published a pamphlet celebrating "25 Years of Spirituality and Justice." It’s interesting reading and provides evidence of how we ended up in the mess we’re in. Sad to say, it wasn’t a Communist or Masonic plot against the Church. The de facto schism we’re living with today is the legacy of bishops and priests, religious, and Catholic laity who were determined to change the hierarchical structure of the Church into a more collaborative model with flexible doctrine illustrated by liberal Protestantism. And, listen up, YOU PAID FOR IT!
CTA grew out of a 1976 bicentennial conference in Detroit sponsored by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops [NCCB] under Cardinal John Deardon, entitled A Call to Action: Liberty and Justice for All. Oh yes, we owe Deardon a lot. He also established the He also established the Campaign for Human Development [CHD] under Msgr. Jack Egan (whose photo appears in CTA’s brochure) which has siphoned off God knows how many donations from the pew to advance the radical liberal agenda including abortion on demand. CHD was renamed a few years ago to Catholic Campaign for Human Development in an apparent effort to upgrade their reputation sullied by years of financing left-wing organizations. But it’s hard for the leopard to change its spots. In 1999 CCHD through the Diocese of Cleveland awarded a $30,000 grant to Organize! Ohio, one of whose founding members is Ohio’s NARAL [National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League]. The grant "provides an avenue for local organizing groups to act on a statewide level on policy issues of common interest." Common interest? The Church and NARAL?
But I digress…Statistics from the 1976 Detroit meeting are an eye-opener. Most of the 1,351 delegates were appointed by their bishops (100 of whom attended); 64% were church employees. Among interest groups attending were Dignity which promotes sodomy and WOC [Women’s Ordination Conference] one of the loopiest feminist claques. Final resolutions from the conference attacked Catholic doctrine and tradition. They endorsed women’s ordination, married clergy, "rights of conscience" on birth control, "reconsideration" of Humanae Vitae (Pope Paul VI’s encyclical upholding the integrity of marital relations), local election of pastors and bishops, and other radical positions. It was Martin Luther all over again, and most of those nailing theses to the door were ON CHURCH PAYROLLS.
Interestingly, this Catholic event took place in the same timeframe as state meetings preparing for the national conference for International Women’s Year under Jimmy
Carter. Those too were taken over by radical feminists. At the Virginia meeting in Richmond which I attended, lesbians were prominent among the delegates and a coven of witches manned a table in the exhibit hall. I missed the Detroit shindig, but I imagine it was hard to tell the difference.
According to statistics from recent CTA conferences 25-30% attending are Church employees (5% clergy and 20% religious — i.e. feminist nuns), 90% are regular churchgoers, and 70% volunteer in their parishes. Membership in CTA has increased from 8,173 in 1993 to 22,272 in 2000. (This statistic may be inflated by people like me who get on their list, but in no way support their agenda.) CTA claims 44 regional affiliates in 33 states including two in Virginia, one based in Arlington and one in the Shenandoah Valley. They also network with dozens of dissent groups that form their COR caucus [Catholic Organizations for Renewal] which meets three times a year with CTA staff support. It includes WOC, Catholics Speak Out, CORPUS (resigned priests many of whom left to get married), CFFC [Catholics for a Free Choice], Dignity, Federation of Christian Ministries whose president is our own fake nun, Sr. Bridget Mary Meehan, and others — all radical.
These dissenters have an inordinate impact for several reasons. 1.) They are often heavily funded by anti-Catholic foundations (e.g. CFFC’s primary support) which use them as front groups to attack the church. 2.) The liberal media love them! See who gets trecked out when the Pope comes to this country or the media is seeking a spokesman about issues in the Church. It is almost always a dissenter. In 1994 following the John Paul II’s declaration that women could not be ordained, Mike Wallace brought 60 Minutes to
CTA’s national convention. Thirty million homes heard Sr. Joan Chittister berate the Church. She was still at it this April when she keynoted for the NCEA [National Catholic Education Association] convention. Which leads to point three. 3.) They are given legitimacy by the establishment. When dissenters and their groups speak under Catholic auspices they tear down the faith, confuse the laity, and undermine trust. It was not encouraging to see those who teach our children give Chittister a standing ovation following her screed against "patriarchy" and dogma.
So what’s a real Catholic to do? Pray and fight, put on the armour of God and hold our ground. Which is why Les Femmes will oppose every dissenter who attempts to steal the faith in our diocese. Vatican II really did empower the laity. Those who distort that to mean female ordination or wrecking our churches or indoctrinating our children in contraception and sodomy will have to walk over the dead bodies of real Catholic parents and grandparents to implement their wicked agenda. Let’s pray that they’ll have to walk first over the bodies of our good shepherds.