TWILIGHT
ZONE
***From "Twilight before the Dawn" File - Bishops Shine the Spotlight on Abortion:
#1 -
Hurrah for Bishop Myers!
Pro-lifers are cheering the appointment of Bishop John J. Myers, to
the diocese of Newark, NJ. Last summer, Myers moved from Peoria, a diocese
of 240,000 souls, to an urban and more ethnically diverse community of
1.3 million. Bishop Myers boosted the morale of pro-life Catholics [Sigh…wish
that was redundant.] with his statements emphasizing abortion as the
critical moral issue of our day. In Time for Catholics to Act,
[Catholic Post 4/28/96] Myers said, "Certainly, when one engages
in political activity or votes for candidates for office, it makes a great
deal of sense to have this one over-riding right be a fundamental factor
in making one's judgment. Not only is it permissible, it may be a solemn
responsibility to be a 'single issue voter.'" Bishop Myers made national
news for telling pro-abort Catholics to stay away from Communion. [Can
we clone him?]
#2 - Kudos for Cardinal Cipriani
of Lima!
Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani of Lima, primate of Peru, has authorized
pastors to deny Holy Communion to politicians and others who publicly
advocate abortion. [Muy bien!] Through the document, Moral and
Legal Dimensions of Abortion, the cardinal instructed his priests
in a "pastoral and sacramental response to the increasing culture
of death." He reminded pastors that participants in abortion incur
automatic excommunication and abortion supporters also "[commit]
a grave fault." They may be denied Holy Communion publicly after
a warning is given in private. [Strong medicine for serious illness,
excommunication and denying Communion are chemo-therapy to cancerous souls.]
#3 - Three Cheers for Three Bishops!
On September 7th three Mexican bishops from the state of
Chiapas (Bishop Felipe Arizmendi from the San Cristobal diocese, Bishop
Jose Luis Chavez from Tuxtla Gutierrez, and Bishop Rogelio Cabrera from
Tapachula) told the faithful not to vote for pro-abortion politicians in
the October 7th election. Their joint statement read "You should not
vote for someone who leads an immoral life, for someone who is corrupt,
who defends abortion or who makes promises but doesn't keep them."
The bishops urged their flock to pray and fast "to counteract the demons
of lies, hate, injustice, corruption and war." [And what will most
of our U.S. bishops be saying or not saying as Election Day comes?]
#4 - Columbia Bishops Rule!
Catholic World News reported in July that all the bishops of Columbia signed a letter to doctors, medical, practitioners, and judges warning them that participation in abortion may result in excommunication. The bishops instructed their flock to practice conscientious objection and refuse to participate in the "abominable crime of abortion." The letter further states "Believers can legally and conscientiously object with validity. That means that women, doctors, and even judges can excuse themselves from participating in this type of crime, because their beliefs do not permit it."
***Back to the Bad News! Pro-abort Politician Teaches "Sunday school" at CTR: We've headlined CTR [Christ the Redeemer] in Sterling before as a hotbed of liberal dissent. Now the parish has the distinction of appearing in the campaign literature of a pro-abortion candidate for Loudoun County Delegate. Patti Morrissey, facing off against pro-life champ, Dick Black, is described thus: "A mother of two, 'Coach Patti' Morrissey, coaches girls' soccer and teaches Sunday school at Christ the Redeemer in Sterling…And Patti Morrissey is pro-choice." How many households received this scandalous piece of literature linking the Catholic Church to abortion?
***"Does the Bishop Know?" You May Ask. Yes, indeed. Les Femmes member, Joe Strada, faxed the following letter to Bishop Loverde on October 17th accompanied by the campaign piece in question.
Your Excellency,
As you'll see in the following two pages, Patti Morrissey, who is running
for a House of Delegates seat (32nd House District), proudly proclaims
that she "teaches Sunday school at Christ the Redeemer Church in
Sterling" and "Patti Morrissey is pro-choice." To make
matters worse, she is running against a faithful Catholic incumbent, Delegate
Dick Black, who has repeatedly been praised in the Arlington Catholic
Herald for his unequivocal defense of human life.
This linkage by Morrissey between the Arlington Diocese and her pro-abortion stance cannot go unchallenged. With great respect, I urge you to:
- Call Fr. Howard and direct him to remove Morrissey
from his CCD program, and demand that she remove Christ the Redeemer
from her campaign literature. She should also mail a letter of correction
to her mailing list, apologizing for linking an Arlington parish to
her personal pro-abortion stance;
- Issue a diocesan press release to the Loudoun-County
media, as well as the Washington Times and Post, repudiating
Morrissey's implied link between the Diocese and her pro-death position.
I know that you have taken a strong stand against pro-abortion politicians speaking on diocesan property, and I am very grateful for that. This campaign literature, however, amounts to the same thing as, to the casual reader, it appears that the Diocese condones Morrissey's pro-abortion views.
I look forward to your response on this important matter.
Respectfully in Christ,
Joseph A. Strada
P.S. Perhaps Fr. Howard should be asked why Morrissey would feel comfortable making these statements in her literature. I am reminded that it was because Fr. Howard hosted a meeting of CTA [Call to Action] at Christ the Redeemer, that Bishop Keating banned that group of radical dissenters from Diocesan property.
***Speaking of CTA, they're over the edge! We didn't think it was possible for them to be any flakier, but the fall newsletter proved us wrong. The lead article refocused on altar girls [yawn] They also reported on a peachy-keen day last spring spent playing church with excommunicated priest, Jim Callan, and his sidekick, Mary Ramerman, who hears confessions and will be ordained a priestess in November in the "Old Catholic Church." Callan and Ramerman, CTA tells us, "have been told by the [Rochester] diocese that they are 'excommunicated,' but have chosen not to accept that questionable edict." [Les Femmes has it on good authority that the pair also does not accept the law of gravity and flew down from Rochester on their own power. We deny the mean-spirited report that they doubled up on Mary's broom. It was Fr. Jim's.]
***In an even nuttier item CTA announced the return of Michael Morwood [his 3rd visit] to push his new book, Is Jesus God? The answer is a resounding NO! According to the article describing Morwood's nonsense, "God's Spirit came to expression and visibility in an extraordinary way in Jesus. [Yeah, duh.] The Spirit emerged into presence [Huh?] and 'produced' Jesus… [Gosh, like "producing" Godiva chocolates? They're pretty heavenly.] The importance of Jesus is not that he is 'God Incarnate' [Jesus God? Nah…not important.]… but that…each of us is challenged to try to live in such a way as to allow the spirit of God to emerge in us as it did in Jesus…[Keep repeating your mantra…mmmmmmm…has God emerged yet?]
"Clearly the Spirit of God found expression in Jesus in an extraordinary way [You're kidding!!] that we are not likely to live up to or replicate [aw shucks!] (just as most of us are not likely to be another Beethoven or Picasso)... [Let's see, who's God: Jesus? Beethoven? Picasso? Jesus? Beethoven? Picasso?…] God's Spirit has come to expression and visibility in other human beings in other cultures and times throughout the slow and gradual course of our God-filled human history (for example in Buddha, Confucius, Australian aboriginal culture, etc.) [Ahhh…now we get it, we're eeevooolving into God. Those little historical problems with the Aztecs, the Reign of Terror, the Nazis, the Communists, the abortionists, the terrorists - just aberrations in the evolution of the CTA god-person.]
"[If] we truly want to know 'where God is' we must look in our hearts. [Mother Teresa used to pray to be little enough to fit into Jesus' heart. Guess she had it backwards. Morwood wants to make Jesus little enough to fit into his heart. Sorry, Mike!] Jesus does not claim to be someone unique [No? You mean the Jesus who said, "He who sees the Father sees me?"] who makes possible and regains for us something that was 'lost.' He reveals to us what has always been." [Now that we know we don't need salvation, we skip Confession and Mass. We'll just visit Mike Morwood and the CTA Board Members: Laurie Blackburn, Sharon Danner, Rea Howarth, Bridget Mary Meehan, Louis Rittelmeyer, John Schwarz, Ann Tennison, Jim Webster, and Tom Yager. Thanks, gods, oops…guys.]
***CTA's claptrap has gone way beyond heresy to apostasy. How many CTA members are teaching their goofy brand of religion in diocesan schools and CCD programs? Marie Kordes, the Director of Religious Education at Christ the Redeemer, welcomed CTA there in 1995, authorized the arrest of those challenging the heretical group's right to desecrate a Catholic Church, and has "pro-choice" Patti Morrissey working for her. What kind of faith are Christ's little ones learning in that parish? [By the way, Marie is scheduled to help train catechists at the Diocesan Religious Education Conference in November!!] Pray for all the poor souls in CTA, those being misled by their scandal, and for the shepherds responsible for reining them in. The whole thing would be laughable if we weren't talking about souls in danger of being lost. Please pray and fast for these blind brothers and sisters to return to the faith.
***The "Big One's" coming, California! Catholic(sic) governor of California, Gray Davis, recently signed into law three bills that sink the state further into depravity. The first gave numerous rights previously reserved to married couples to 16,000 cohabiting and sodomite pairs. Not a single Republican voted for the bill enhancing the Democrats' image as the "evil party." The second bill allows pharmacists to dispense the "morning after pill" without a prescription even to minors. This strong drug exposes a woman to mega-doses of the steroid hormones in the pill over several days. It's a medical disaster for women's health, but a great boon to predatory males who can keep their own stash on hand. Davis also signed legislation making it a state crime to attack abortion mills or threaten clinic workers. Many peaceful pro-lifers have been targeted in bogus accusations with this type of legislation. [If you live in California move. We fully expect most of the state to drop into the ocean following an earthquake over the San Andreas Fault. Incidentally, our dear friend, Fr. Norman Wesson, founder of the Lambs of Christ was sentenced October 18th in Buffalo by Judge Archer to five months in federal prison for contempt of court. The "crime?" He knelt and prayed within a "60 foot Banned Free Speech and Religious Expression Zone" outside a death center that kills 40 babies a day! And God should bless America?]