The Video Already Being Shown

This was posted on The Rush Report. It was shown to a group of elementary aged children in their school on Aug. 28.
Check out the full story HERE.

MY RANT: Grab your kids and hide. After reading today about the H1N1 plans to force vaccination and possibly force confinement in who knows where, and after reading about the continued push to indoctrinate the youth of this nation, now, I have to see this. Where did the funding for this come from?????? Was it previewed by the administration? Approved by any parents or PTA's? Do the parents even know that their child(ren) saw this?
I feel like Glenn Beck . . . rant, rant, rant. When will we wake up???

UPDATED: Obama and School Kids

Update: Enough people were upset to stir a reaction from the White House. Albeit, not much. The document still has quite a slant to it and the speech is still on. Maybe I will post my own study lessons = smile
See latest news update here

One more article that expresses my concerns, but not as emphatically as I would like.

OK, Obama may be just going to talk to all the public school kids in this nation on the value of a good education and hard work, but I do distrust him. History has taught the world that charismatic leaders can have a profound effect on the youth - to the point of following blindly. His focus on recruiting the youth for forced "public service", his dream of a civilian national security force, and the web site to report those who did not support his health care agenda are enough for me to question his motives for this speech. Could you imagine if George Bush would have done this right before or after the invasion of Iraq? Maybe just before the vote on some important legislation which he had campaign for?

See article at WorldNetDaily, here
and
to see the teacher's study guide for before, during, and after the speech, here

For those of you who have or know public school kids, please pass the word about "Stay at Home Day" on September 8. My guess is there is no opting out of the unit study leading up to and after the speech.

A Great Article on What Might Come Next

This is a great article by David Kupelian explaining what may very well happen as a result of the killing of the abortionist. He actually wrote it before the attack. Read the entire article at WorldNetDaily.

Here is the beginning:

The real danger of right-wing extremists

---

Posted: June 01, 2009
12:23 am Eastern

© 2009

Author's note: Although I wrote the following article two weeks ago for the June edition of Whistleblower (titled "DON'T TREAD ON ME," for release later this week), the murder of Wichita abortionist George Tiller, M.D., makes its message especially urgent.

There's only one thing that could seriously, perhaps fatally, derail all the principled, well-intentioned, patriotic efforts currently taking place to rein in the shocking and unconstitutional power-grabbing by Barack Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress. And that would be for elements on the Right to turn to violence.

Dr. Allan Keyes Arrested at Notre Dame

See the story here
Watch the video here

Archbishop Burke - A Hero Again!

OK, I was elated to read a letter of suspension that turned out to be a hoax. But once again Archbishop Burke encourages me with his words. Perhaps if we locked all the US Bishops in a room with him for 48 hours . . . below is the article from FOX news.

One of the Vatican's highest ranked clerics and a frequent critic of President Obama said Friday that Notre Dame is causing a "scandal" by giving the president an honorary degree and a platform to address graduates at its commencement next weekend.

'The proposed granting of an honorary doctorate at Notre Dame University to our president, who is so aggressively advancing an anti-life and anti-family agenda, is rightly the source of the greatest scandal," said Archbishop Raymond Burke, who is the prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican's highest court.

Burke, the former archbishop of St. Louis and vocal opponent of giving communion to politicians who support abortion rights, told Catholics at a national prayer breakfast in Washington, D.C., that "with unparalleled arrogance, our nation is choosing to renounce its foundation on the faithful."

He pointed to several Obama administration decisions that he said have damaged "the fundamental society that is the family," citing the repeal of the conscience clause, which prohibits health care workers from refusing to participate in abortion-related services; repeal of the Mexico City policy, which allows federal funding to be used abroad to provide abortions; presidential support of the Freedom of Choice Act, which prevents government from in any way denying or interfering with a woman's right to choose; and support of the U.S. Population Fund, which he noted supports China's one-child policy.

He blamed loose morals for legislation that would allow same-sex marriages and repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which states have implemented to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

"At the root of the confusion and error about marriage is the contraceptive mentality which would have us believe that the inherently procreative nature of the conjugal union can in practice be mechanically or chemically eliminated while the marital act remains unitive. It simply cannot be sold," Burke said.

Obama has considerable support from Catholics, having won 54 percent of the Catholic vote in the presidential election. In a Quinnipiac national poll released at the end of last month, 57 percent of Catholics said they approve of the way Obama is doing his job, while 33 percent disapproved.

By comparison, 76 percent of Jewish voters approved of Obama's performance while Protestants were the most split -- 44 percent approval to 42 percent disapproval. The poll had 2,041 registered voters

Burke noted the Catholic support, saying a majority of Catholics freely chose leadership that is now implementing decisions that conflict with the tenets of their faith.

"The path of violation of the most fundamental human rights and of the integrity of marriage and the family which our nation is traveling is not accidental," he said. "As Catholics, we cannot fail to notice with the greatest sadness the number of our fellow Catholics who cooperate fully to the advancement of a national agenda which is anti-life and anti-family."

The archbishop also slammed Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who was confirmed by the Senate last week on a 65-31 vote. Opponents cited her ties to an late-term abortion provider, George Tillman, who is a supporter of the former Kansas governor.

"The appointment of a Catholic as secretary of health and human services who has openly and consistently cooperated with the industry of procurative abortion in our nation is necessarily the source of the deepest embarrassment to Catholics and a painful reminder of the most serious responsibility of Catholics to uphold the moral law, which is the irreplaceable foundation of just relationships among the citizens of our nation," Burke said.

He added that it "grieves me to say that the support of anti-life legislation by Catholics in public office is so common that those who are not Catholics have justifiably questioned whether the church's teachings regarding the inviolable dignity of innocent human life is firm and unchanging. It gives the impression that the church herself can change the law that God has written on every human heart since the beginning of time."

After initial criticism of the invitation, Notre Dame University President Rev. John I. Jenkins called Obama an "inspiring leader" who follows in a long tradition of presidential guest speakers. He added that the invitation does not mean universal support for Obama administration policies.

"The invitation to President Obama to be our commencement speaker should not be taken as condoning or endorsing his positions on specific issues regarding the protection of human life, including abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Yet, we see his visit as a basis for further positive engagement," he said in a statement addressing the cricitism.

The White House also has heard the criticism about the president's appearance but is not deterred. The president "greatly looks forward to delivering the commencement address at Notre Dame" on May 17, said a spokesman.

"Any commencement is a very special occasion for students and families that are involved. I think Notre Dame has a strong record of healthy exchange of differing viewpoints and ideas," the spokesman said.

FOX News' Molly Henneberg contributed to this report.

Prayer Time

Blogging time is not only limited, but non existent right now. I do want to post this article about Mr. Obama's refusal to pray publicly for our country. He has decline to recognize the National Day of Prayer (see link and excerpts below). Please, let us, remember to pray for all our country's leaders.

PRAYER FOR CIVIL AUTHORITIES

We pray Thee, O God of might, wisdom, and justice, through Whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist, with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fottitude, the President of the United Srates, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness and be eminently useful to Thy creatures over whom he presides, by encouraging due respect for virtue and for religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality.

Let the light of Thy Divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government; so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge, and may perpetUate to us the blessings of equal liberty. Grant that our leaders recognize and acknowledge publicly that Thou art our Sovereign and only good.

We pray for his Excellency the governor of our state, for the members of the legislature, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare; that they may be enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.

We recommend likewise to Thee O unbounded mercy! all our brethren and fellow citizens, throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge, and sanctified in the observance, of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union and in that peace which the world cannot give; and, after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.

And here are excerpts from The Washington Times article, "Obama to be prayer day no-show":

President Obama is distancing himself from the National Day of Prayer by nixing a formal early morning service and not attending a large Catholic prayer breakfast the next morning.

"For those of us who have our doubts about Obama's faith, no, we did not expect him to have the service," said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America. "But as president, he should put his own lack of faith aside and live up to the office."

Referencing a remark the president made at a recent press conference in Turkey that Americans "do not consider ourselves a Christian nation," she added: "That was projecting his own beliefs, but not reflecting what the majority of Americans feel. It's almost like Obama is trying to remake America into his own image. This is not a rejection of Shirley Dobson; it's a rejection of the concept that America is a spiritual nation and its foundation is Judeo-Christian."

However, the White House did host an April 9 Passover Seder for family and friends - the first time a president has hosted that Jewish religious meal.

But the president passed up the fifth annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, scheduled for the Washington Hilton and expected to have 1,300 participants.

For this year's prayer breakfast, Catholic members of the administration have been invited. They include Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

None has responded, Mr. Cella said.

The keynote speech will be given by Archbishop Raymond Burke, the former St. Louis prelate who now heads the Signatura, the Vatican's top court. He has recommended that pro-choice Catholic politicians such as Mrs. Sebelius not be allowed to receive Communion.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is scheduled to speak.

Alan Keyes in Full Force

See a man with passion . . . for truth, morals, and America.

New Blog - Alan Keyes

There is a new blog on the block, not homeschooling, nor even blatantly Catholic (although Mr. Keyes' Catholicism manifest itself frequently), but I expect it will be worth our time. It will be on my blog reader daily.

Check it out at Alan Keyes

Hi Everyone,
I'm writing to let you know that I've now developed a blog site that's available to the general public without the need to sign up for myspace.com or any other social networking service. You can find it at Loyal to Liberty . It is now my main outlet for sharing views and commenting on current events, updated daily. I will also be serializing longer works that will later be published as books or pamphlets.
Given Obama's push to overturn Constitutional government and make the U.S. a soviet style state, I think it's more important than ever that those of us who believe in liberty deliberate and work together. I hope you'll join me whenever you can at Loyal To Liberty.
Godspeed,
Alan Keyes

A very interesting read from the Archbishop of Denver on politics, Catholicism, and the likes.

Rendering Unto Caesar: The Catholic Political Vocation
ARCHBISHOP CHARLES J. CHAPUT, O.F.M. CAP.

The following lecture was delivered on Monday evening, February 23, 2009, to a standing-room only audience in St. Basil’s Collegiate Church on the campus of the University of Toronto.

Some excerpts:

. . . We need to remember that tolerance is not a Christian virtue. Charity, justice, mercy, prudence, honesty -- these are Christian virtues. And obviously, in a diverse community, tolerance is an important working principle. But it's never an end itself. In fact, tolerating grave evil within a society is itself a form of serious evil. Likewise, democratic pluralism does not mean that Catholics should be quiet in public about serious moral issues because of some misguided sense of good manners. A healthy democracy requires vigorous moral debate to survive. Real pluralism demands that people of strong beliefs will advance their convictions in the public square -- peacefully, legally and respectfully, but energetically and without embarrassment. Anything less is bad citizenship and a form of theft from the public conversation. . .

. . . I like clarity, and there's a reason why. I think modern life, including life in the Church, suffers from a phony unwillingness to offend that poses as prudence and good manners, but too often turns out to be cowardice. Human beings owe each other respect and appropriate courtesy. But we also owe each other the truth -- which means candor. . .

. . . and there's no easy way to say it. The Church in the United States has done a poor job of forming the faith and conscience of Catholics for more than 40 years. And now we're harvesting the results -- in the public square, in our families and in the confusion of our personal lives. I could name many good people and programs that seem to disprove what I just said. But I could name many more that do prove it, and some of them work in Washington.

. . . Seventy years ago the great French writer Georges Bernanos published a little essay called "Sermon of an Agnostic on the Feast of St. Théresè." Bernanos had a deep distrust for politics and an equally deep love for the Catholic Church. He could be brutally candid. He disliked both the right and the left. He also had a piercing sense of irony about the comfortable, the self-satisfied and the lukewarm who postured themselves as Catholic -- whether they were laypeople or clergy. . . .

A Quiet Prolife Enemy

It has come to my attention that the administration is trying to pass this bill through while we are all distracted by fighting FOCA. Contact your senators and congressman, now! You can read about FOCA's evil twin at American Life League and at LifeSiteNews

Prevention First Act is FOCA's Dangerous but Overlooked "Evil Twin," says ALL Co-Founder

By Kathleen Gilbert

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - American Life League's (ALL) Judie Brown last week urged pro-lifers to actively oppose the Prevention First Act (PFA), legislation currently under review in Congress. The Act, if passed, would hand over millions to "family planning" methods, strike a blow to health providers' conscience rights, and financially pave the way for the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA).

The Mexico City Policy

A friend forwarded the following link out in response to last post on population control. Thanks, Mary! The Mexico City Policy comes up in the end - see the quote at the bottom of this post
Excerpt from here:

National Security Study Memorandum 200: World Population Growth And U.S. Security

by Stephen D. Mumford

. . . And uncovers why this commission's final report was ignored.

“In the words of a Commission member, Congressman James Scheuer (D.-NY): "The reasons were obvious -- the fear of attacks from the far right and from the Roman Catholic Church because of our positions on family planning and abortion. With the benefit of hindsight, it is now clear that this obstruction was the first of many similar actions to come from high places."

Then he goes on to describe the commissioning of the NSSM 200 study, its major findings and the Vatican’s responsibility in the failure to implement the study’s recommendations.

And a quote from then President Nixon:

We must help break the link between spiraling population growth and poverty....Where they have been tried, family planning programs have largely worked. .Many pro-life advocates .. .contend that to condone abortion even implicitly is morally unconscionable. Their view is morally shortsighted. . ..if we provide funds for birth control . . .we will prevent the conception of millions of babies who would be doomed to the devastation of poverty in the underdeveloped world.

Richard M. Nixon

And then a few words on the late President Reagan:

In response to concerns of the Vatican, the Reagan Administration agreed to alter its foreign aid program to comply with the church’s teachings on birth control. According to William Wilson, the President’s first ambassador to the Vatican, the State Department reluctantly agreed to an out-right ban on the use of any U.S. aid funds by either countries or international health organizations for the promotion of...abortions. As a result of this position, announced at the World Conference on Population in Mexico City in 1984, the U.S. withdrew funding from, among others, two of the world’s largest family planning organizations: the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities.

http://www.population-security.org/mumf-93-01.htm

The new administration's focus on its "agenda" lends to mind a memo sent from Planned Parenthood to Bernard Berelson (President, Population Council) in 1969.
Some scary stuff.

Go to link above to read the entire memo. Here are some excerpts . . .

Memorandum to Bernard Berelson (President, Population Council) found in "Activities
Relevant to the Study of Population Policy for the U.S." 3/11/69 by Frederick S. Jaffe (Vicepresident of Planned Parenthood - World Population).

TABLE 1. Examples of Proposed Measures to Reduce U.S. Fertility, by Universality or Selectivity of Impact

Restructure family:
a) Postpone or avoid marriage
b) Alter image of ideal family size
Compulsory education of children
Encourage increased homosexuality
Educate for family limitation
Fertility control agents in water supply
Encourage women to work
. . .
Modify tax policies:
a) Substantial marriage tax
b) Child Tax
c) Tax married more than single
d) Remove parents tax exemption
d) Additional taxes on parents with more than I or 2 children in school
Reduce/eliminate paid maternity leave or benefits
Reduce/eliminate children's or family allowances
Bonuses for delayed marriage and greater child-spacing
. . .
Chronic Depression
Require women to work and provide few child care facilities
. . .

Payments to encourage sterilization
Payments to encourage contraception
Payments to encourage abortion
Abortion and sterilization on demand
Allow certain contraceptives to be distributed nonmedically
Improve contraceptive technology
Make contraception truly available and accessible to all
Improve maternal health care, with family planning a core element

Interesting Read on the Pro-Life Movement and Why It Is Not Working

There has been a lot of talk lately about the failure of the pro-life movement among Catholics. I pulled out one of my favorite articles last night to re-read and could not help but post it here. I hope this will inspire a lively, but intelligent discussion on this subject. I ask that all refrain from personal attacks - this is for discussion and presents, what I think, is an argument well worth consideration (and soul-searching!). Please read carefully, think about it, and then respond.
The article was written all the way back in 2002 by Robert Siscoe. It is found in its entirety below, but can also be found here in the archives of the now defunct online Seattle Catholic. Seattle Catholic was an Internet-based publication that ran from 2001-2006. It is a great resource for articles on many Catholic matters.

A Journal of Catholic News and Views

29 Jun 2002

The Problem with the Pro-life Movement
by Robert Siscoe

To win the battle against abortion, we must take the ax to the root!

In the spiritual life – as we are overcoming sins and perfecting ourselves – we often discover that in fighting against a particular fault, the fault we are attacking is actually an effect of a deeper root cause. At first, we may be unaware of the deeper root and begin attacking the fault with little or no lasting success. It is not until we discover – by God's grace – the deeper root cause of the particular fault, and begin to attack it, that our true victory is gained. Just as in our personal spiritual lives we often discover a deeper root cause for our sins, similarly in other areas of life there is often a deeper root cause that has produced the manifest evil. This work will focus primarily on the cause that produced legalized abortion and our "culture of death," and show what must be done to correct the situation.

Abortion is surely a most heinous sin; not only is it murder, but it is murder of the most innocent. These innocent babies are created by God and for God, yet their lives are snuffed out before they are even born. Many people, whose eyes are open to the evils of abortion, fight for the lives of these unborn babies with truly heroic courage, yet the abortions continue. In 1997, the CDC reported that there were just over 1.18 Million abortions in the US alone; it was reported this year that during 2000 there were a total of 1.37 Million abortions, which is slightly higher than the average yearly abortion rate since 1985. With all of the Rosaries, Masses, and sacrifices offered to God, why is the number of abortions not decreasing? Is the fight being waged on the wrong front? Is the symptom being attacked while the disease goes undetected? In the fight to end abortion, we must seek to find the root cause that has produced it; and after finding the cause, we must "take the ax to the root."

So, what is the deeper root cause that has led to abortion and our culture of death? Abortion is a moral issue; our objective moral values are based on our religion, and our religion on our faith. A person with little or no religion usually has weak moral values. Similarly, when faith is weakened, the logical effect will be a lowering of morality. Pope Leo XIII tells us, "when the mind has... become poisoned, the moral character becomes at the same time deeply and substantially corrupt." He further tells us that "it is the light of Christian faith which is the principal and foundation of all righteousness." It follows, then, that if the Christian faith, which the Pope calls the "foundation of all righteousness," is diminished, the effect will be a lessening of moral values; and it is logical to conclude that until the faith is restored, the morality it upholds will not return.

If we look back over recent history, we see that this indeed is what happened: First the faith was attacked and weakened; the weakening of faith then resulted in a lowering of morality; finally, the lowering of morals paved the way for our culture of death. Therefore, to end our culture of death, we must fight the effect at its cause; that is, we must restore moral values by restoring the faith.

As was stated above, abortion is surely one of the worst of all sins, however, according to Catholic theology, heresy is the greatest of all sins: "The sin of unbelief [heresy] is greater than any sin which occurs in the perversion of morals." (St. Thomas Aquinas) This is because murder (abortion being one of the worst forms) is an attack on a creature, while heresy is a direct attack on God Himself. What is heresy? Heresy is the rejection of a truth revealed by God; that is, the rejection of a truth contained in the "deposit of faith" handed down by Tradition, and proclaimed true by the Church. If a person rejects even one truth of the faith, that person is objectively a heretic. "He who dissents even in one point from divinely revealed truth absolutely rejects all faith," said Pope Leo XIII in the Encyclical Satis Cognitum. He then goes on to quote St. Augustine as saying: "'In many things they [the heretics] are with me, in a few things they are not with me; but in the few things which they are not with me the many things in which they are will not profit them.'"

We are now living in a day when the true faith, as taught by the Church for 1900 years, is nearly dead. In a strange twist of logic, we are now told that what used to be wrong is right, and that what used to be right is now wrong. Many of the clergy, who are supposed to be our shepherds in the faith, have instead become "wolves" leading the flock into error. This disorientation has produced the expected results: The faithful are confused. With so many contrary voices, they do not know who, or what, to believe: We are indeed in a crisis of faith! The statistics tell the sad story: most Catholics living today are objectively heretics. A survey conducted by Gallup Poll between December 1991 and January 1992 indicated that 70% of the Catholics polled held a heretical belief in the Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist. A later poll released by the same organization indicated that weekly Mass attendance by Catholics in the U.S. dropped from 75% in 1958, down to 50% in 1971, and down to only 19% in 1999. We can see from this poll that even before abortion was legalized, Sunday Mass attendance had dropped 33% in only 11 years. Moreover, between 1965 and 1973, approximately 22,000 to 25,000 priests left the priesthood. These statistics show that even before abortion was legalized, the faith was diminishing at an astounding rate.

The many contradictory voices emanating from the clergy have literally poisoned the minds of the faithful. Recall the words of Pope Leo XIII: "when the mind has... become poisoned, the moral character becomes at the same time deeply and substantially corrupt."

This drastic loss of faith among Catholics has produced – as its effect - a lowering of morality; the lowering of morality thus laid the groundwork for our culture of death. Therefore, to end the culture of death we must "take the ax to the root" by restoring the faith; but to restore the faith we must first remove the poison that corrupted it. This leads us to the next question: What initially led to the loss of faith? To find the answer to this question we need only read the encyclical letters of the guardians of our faith, the Roman Pontiffs. The primary duty of the Pope is to guard the integrity of the faith, and our Holy Fathers have done so brilliantly. They repeatedly warned the faithful of the snares of the enemy, and of the poison that was being infused into the "roots". Let us now take a look at several of the errors that our Holy Fathers have warned us to be on guard against.

In 1907, Pope St. Pius X, the only Pope Canonized in the 20^th century, warned the Bishops to be on guard against the enemies within the Church. He warned that these internal enemies "lay the ax not to the branches and shoots, but to the very root, that is to the Faith and its deepest fibers. And once having struck at this root of immortality, they proceed to diffuse poison through the whole tree so that there is no part of Catholic truth which they leave untouched, none that they do not strive to corrupt... and this so craftily that they easily lead the unwary into error." (Pascendi)

Who were these enemies the Pope was referring to, and what were their plans? They were the modernists, and their plan was to "reform" the Church based on their erroneous teachings. The Pope said: "These partisans of errors are to be sought not only among the Church's open enemies; but, what is to be most dreaded and deplored, in her very bosom, and are the more mischievous the less they keep in the open. We allude, Venerable Brethren, to many who belong to the Catholic laity, and what is much more sad, to the ranks of the priesthood itself, who, animated by a false zeal for the Church, lacking the solid safeguards of philosophy and theology, nay more, thoroughly imbued with the poisonous doctrines taught by the enemies of the Church, and lost to all sense of modesty, put themselves forward as reformers of the Church..." (ibid.) (Note: For a detailed account of these erroneous reforms read the encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis, Pope St. Pius X, and to see them implemented, visit your average American Parish.)

In addition to the modernist "reforms" that Pope St. Pius X warned of - which have led to the lessening of faith - we were warned of another grave error, which, Pope Pius XI said, threatened the very foundations of the Catholic faith. What was this "grave error" that threatened the very foundations of the Catholic faith? It was the current ecumenical movement!

In 1929, in the Encyclical "Mortalium Animos" (On Fostering True Religious Unity – a must read for every Catholic), Pope Pius XI again warned of these "enemies within" and of the false movement toward "unity". In the hope to achieve this unity, the Pope tells us that: "[Ecumenical] meetings and addresses are arranged, attended by a large concourse of hearers, where all without distinction, believers of every kind as well as Christians, even those who unhappily have rejected Christ and denied His divine nature or mission, are invited to join in the discussion (dialogue). Now, such efforts can meet with no kind of approval among Catholics. They presuppose the erroneous view that all give expression, under various forms, to that innate sense which leads men to God and to the obedient acknowledgement of His rule. Those who hold such a view are not only in error; they distort the true idea of religion and thus reject it, falling gradually into naturalism and atheism. To favor this opinion, therefore, and to encourage such undertakings is tantamount to abandoning the religion revealed by God."

In the encyclical, he gives instructions on how to attain true Christian unity and warned the Bishops to not be misled by those who sought unity at any price: "[W]hen there is a question of fostering unity among Christians it is easy for many to be misled by the apparent excellence of the object to be achieved. 'Is it not right', they ask, 'is it not the obvious duty of all who invoke the name of Christ to refrain from mutual reproaches and at last to be united in charity? Dare anyone say that he loves Christ and yet not strive with all his might to accomplish the desire of Him who asked His Father that His disciples might be 'one'? (John 17:21). ...If only Christians were 'one' it is contended, then they might do so much more to drive out the danger of irreligion which, with its insidious and far-reaching advance, is threatening to sap the strength of the Gospel.' These and similar arguments, are constantly on the lips of the 'pan-Christians'... The energy with which this scheme is being promoted has won for it many adherents, and even many Catholics are attracted by it, since it holds out hope of a union apparently constant with the wishes of Holy Mother Church... In reality, however" the Pope warns, "these fair and alluring words cloak a most grave error, subversive to the foundations of the Catholic Faith."

The pope tells us that this false drive towards unity leads to the subversion of the very foundations of the Catholic Faith and the practical abandonment of true religion, both of which are the foundation for upholding moral values. Unfortunately, the warnings of this encyclical have not only been ignored for the past 35 years, but what the Pope condemned as destructive to the Catholic faith is now the driving force towards Christian unity. And the internal enemies Pope St. Pius X warned of, who wanted to "reform" the Church based on their erroneous teachings, have now reformed the Church based on their erroneous teachings. We are now witnessing the result of these "reforms" and of this 'unity at any price': The foundations of the Catholic Faith are being destroyed.

This false ecumenism has led to the Catholic Faith – which should be the foundation of unity – becoming, for them, a stumbling block to "unity"; therefore, the stumbling block has been gradually disregarded and weakened, and unity is now sought in a "new" way. No longer is unity sought the way Jesus chose – within the true faith - but "in diversity".

In February 2001, Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, defined the current ecumenical movement when he stated: "Today we no longer understand ecumenism in the sense of the ecumenism of return, by which the others would 'be converted' and return to being 'Catholics'... each church has its own riches and gifts of the Spirit, and it is this exchange that unity is trying to be achieved, and not in the fact that we should become 'Protestants', or that the others should become 'Catholics' in the sense of accepting the confessional form of Catholicism."

This kind of "unity" brings to mind the words of Pope St. Pius X: "...religion itself is allowed to go to ruin. 'Blind' they are, and 'leaders of the blind' puffed up... they have reached the pitch of folly at which they pervert the concept of truth and the true meaning of religion; and in introducing a new system in which 'they are seen to be under the sway of a blind and unchecked passion for novelty." Disregarding the Faith for the sake of unity, however, has not led to the desired result (nor could it), but rather it has led to a degeneration of Faith, which - as has been repeated - has led to a lowering of morals resulting in our "culture of death". When the faith is again restored – and it will be one day - the morality it fosters will return; but neither of these will be restored until we "remove the poison from the root," as Pope St. Pius X put it. Unity is not something that can be sought to the detriment of the faith. We cannot suffer the faith to be compromised for the mere appearance of unity: "If they did this" said Pope Pius XI, "they would be giving countenance to a false Christianity quite alien to the one Church of Christ. Shall we commit the iniquity of suffering the truth, the truth revealed by God, to be made subject of compromise?" Unity should be desired by all, but true unity will only be achieved within the guidelines set down by God; that is, within the true faith. "The true union between Christians is that which Jesus Christ, the Author of the Church, instituted and desired, and which consists in a unity of faith and a unity of government." (Pope Leo XIII, The Reunion of Christendom, 1894)

The current ecumenical movement, however, is not seeking a true unity within the faith, but a unity based on the notion of "fraternal love", as it is called. Unity is no longer sought the way God desires, but out of merely human motives, to the exclusion of God's Will. "It is not for any human motive" said Pope Leo XIII, "but impelled by divine charity and a desire for the salvation of all, that We advise the reconciliation and union with the Church of Rome; and We mean a perfect and complete union, such as could not subsist in any way if nothing else was brought about but a certain kind of agreement in the tenets of belief and an intercourse of fraternal love." (ibid.) Unity founded merely on 'fraternal love' is not true unity, and the result of this false unity is, as Pope Pius XI said, the practical abandonment of True religion.

"But some through enthusiasm for an imprudent 'eirenism' (ecumenism) seem to consider as an obstacle to the restoration of fraternal union, things founded on the laws and principals given by Christ... which are the defense and support of the integrity of the Faith, and the removal of which would bring about the union of all, but only to their destruction." (Pius XII, On Certain False Opinions, 1950).

Unfortunately, we did not heed the warnings of our previous Popes; and we are now reaping the fruits of this disobedience. Is there any surprise, then, that the faith has been weakened laying the groundwork for our culture of death? (We often see manifest physically that which first takes place spiritually: in this case death.)

Through this destruction of faith, morals have become such that we are now in a virtual pagan society. Christianity has become so weakened over the past 40 years that there is no longer a Christian moral force upholding the values of society. Is there any surprise that the war on abortion is not having better success? Without the faith being restored we should not expect a moral recovery.

Abortion: a triple victory for Satan?

Is abortion a triple victory for Satan? In addition to the most obvious evil, murder, is Satan also using the abortion issue as a diversionary tactic? And as a means of promoting false ecumenism which "threatens the very foundations of the Catholic Faith"? (Pope Pius XI)

Just as God can bring good out of evil, so Satan can bring evil out of an apparent good. What a victory for Satan if he could not only use the abortionists for murder, but use the pro-life movement to infuse his poison into the root of the tree through false ecumenism. And what if at the same time he could divert the fervent Catholics attention away from the cause of the evil (the loss of faith) to wage war on its effect (deteriorating morals and abortion)?

While driving in my car several months ago, I turned on the radio and heard, probably the leading Pro-life Priest in the U.S., telling how successful the pro-life movement has been in promoting Ecumenism. He stated that, because of the pro-life movement, Catholics have begun working together with their Jewish, Protestant and Mormon "brothers" and have come to a better understanding of them and their religions. Is this not helping to destroy the faith, while fighting its effect?

If we were to attack the effect (abortion), while being diverted from – or worse still - promoting the cause that produced it (loss of faith through false ecumenism and religious indifferentism), would we not be adding fuel to the fire that we are trying to extinguish? Would it not be like trying to put out the flames of a fire by spraying it with gasoline?

Let us imagine that one night, while everyone slept, a water pipe burst in a beautiful Cathedral. The water began to poor out onto the hard wood floors. In the morning when the parishioners arrived for Mass, the water was running out of the front doors. Frantically everyone joined in to soak up the water. Many of the parishioners stayed all day to attempt to clean up the water so as to save the flooring, however, they were making little progress because no one bothered to stop the leak. In fact, the pipe was beginning to leak water at a greater speed. They were working frantically with all their might to save the floors, but their work produced little fruit because they never fixed the leak.

Fighting abortion while neglecting its cause is like trying to dry up spilled water without stopping the leak; the one causes the other. Could Satan, "that crafty enemy of mankind and a murderer from the beginning" as Leo XIII called him, be diverting our attention from the cause of the problem, by inspiring us to fight, with all our might, its effect?

Moreover, if we recall that heresy is objectively a greater sin than abortion, how can we unite with heretics to fight what is objectively a lesser evil than what they stand for? Can we commit a sin against Faith – or at least risk becoming indifferent to religion - under the appearance of good? Can we break the 1^st commandment in the hope of stopping another from breaking the 5^th? No, we cannot sin that good may come. As Cardinal Newman said, "we cannot commit even a venial sin, with the hope of attaining a good end."

"The devil has succeeded in infiltrating evil under the appearance of good... worst of all, the devil has succeeded in leading into error and deceiving souls having a heavy responsibility through the position they hold." (Sister Lucy of Fatima)

What would a pro-life Catholic say if a group of Catholics were to unite with a group of abortion doctors to fight Protestantism? And what if, after engaging in their efforts for several years, the Catholics discovered that 'the abortion doctors have many good qualities. In addition to providing occasional abortions they also do much good to save lives; they are respectable members of the community, and their children are good kids'; and what if they were to conclude "Isn't the abortion issue dividing us? Maybe we should all just set aside our differences with regard to abortion for now and unite in the fight against heresy; after all, we would fight heresy much better if we were united; and didn't Jesus pray that we all should be "one"?' Obviously, we can see that this would be false reasoning. Nevertheless, are we not falling into the same error by uniting with heretics to fight abortion?

Just as it is not appropriate to put aside our differences with an abortion doctor to fight heresy, so it is not appropriate to put aside our differences with heretics to fight abortion. Do we really believe that God will be pleased if we unite with those of a false religion – who are perishing in their unbelief – for the purpose of the pro-life movement? Has our faith so weakened over the past 35 years, and have we become so indifferent with regard to religion, that we believe salvation is possible by the profession of any faith as long as they share our moral values? One who believes that each person has the right to choose their own morality has fallen into the error of moral relativism; and one who believes that each person is free to chose their own religion has fallen into the error of religious indifferentism. Relativism is to morals what indifferentism is to faith.

In the Catechism, under the heading "How does a Catholic sin against faith," we have a definition of indifferentism: "Indifferentism is the error of those who hold that one religion is as good as another... or that one is free to accept or reject any or all religions." After reading this definition, we must ask ourselves: have we become indifferent? Do we believe that one is free to choose any religion they like, or that salvation is attainable by the profession of any religion as long as morality is maintained? Pope Leo XIII referred to this kind of indifference as a deadly error: "Now We consider another abundant source of the evils, which the Church is afflicted at present: indifferentism. This perverse opinion is spread on all sides by the fraud of the wicked who claim that it is possible to obtain eternal salvation of the soul by the profession of any kind of religion, as long as morality is maintained. Surely, in so clear a matter, you will drive this deadly error far from the people committed to your care." (Mirari Vos)

We must be careful not to sin against faith – thus weakening it - while performing an act of charity. How could it be that the Faith should be undermined through Charity? Let us never forget the words of Pope St. Pius X: "The primary duty of charity does not lie in the toleration of false ideas, however sincere they may be; nor in the theoretical or practical indifference toward the errors and vices in which we see our brethren plunged..." (Our Apostolic Mandate)

In the above encyclical, Pope St. Pius X was condemning a false movement, which originated in France, known as the Sillon. He condemned their false notion of fraternity - a fraternity based merely on a common interest. He said that their "notion of fraternity, which they found on the love of common interest or, beyond all philosophies and religions, on the mere notion of humanity" was false and dangerous. He said, "there is no true fraternity outside of Christian Charity." And as Pope Leo XIII asked: "How can hearts be united in perfect charity where minds do not agree in faith?" (The reunion of Christians) True fraternity must be within Christian charity, and Christian charity must have - as its foundation - the Catholic faith. It is not sufficient to have a fraternity founded merely on a common moral interest outside of Christian charity. This would be false charity and a danger to the true faith. "If, as we desire with all our heart, the highest possible peak of well-being for society and its members is to be attained through fraternity... all minds must be united in the knowledge of the Truth (true faith), all wills united in morality, and all hearts in the love of God and His Son Jesus Christ. But this union is attained only by Catholic charity." The Pope says it is essential that fraternity be founded on both Faith and morals. He further states: "separating fraternity from Christian charity... would mean a disastrous step backwards." (Our Apostolic Mandate, Pope St. Pius X)

The Sillonists were a group of Catholics who united with Protestants and Freethinkers in the pursuit of a common end. They thought it appropriate to put aside their differences with regard to religion to attain the common goal. The Pope quotes one of their leaders as saying:

Sillon: "'Catholic comrades will work among themselves. Protestants and Freethinking Democrats will do likewise on their own side. But all of us, Catholics, Protestants and Freethinkers will have a heart to arm young people, not in view of the fratricidal struggle, but in view of a disinterested emulation in the field of social and civic virtues.'"

Although they were working in separate groups, the Pope concludes the quote by saying: "These declarations and this new organization of the Sillonist action call for very serious remarks. Here we have, founded by Catholics, an interdenominational association that is to work for" their common end. He says: "what must be thought of the indiscriminate mingling in which your Catholics will be caught up with heterodox and unbelieving folk in a work of this nature? Is it not a thousand-fold more dangerous for them than a neutral association... What are we to think of this respect for all errors and of this strange invitation made by Catholics to all the dissidents to strengthen their convictions?"

Let us look now at some quotes from the leading pro-life movement in Catholicism in light of the warnings of Pope St. Pius X:

On the website of Priests for Life we find the following statement under the heading "We Are Ecumenical":

Priests For Life: "The pro-life movement consists of men and women of every religious persuasion, and some of no religious persuasion. Priests for Life serves the entire movement. We therefore eagerly work together with everyone interested in ending abortion."

Compare that statement with the above quote from the Sillon and you will see that the similarities are striking. In both cases, religious differences are put aside to attaining a common goal. There is, however, one difference: with regard to the Sillon, each religious group worked amongst themselves separately; while the pro-life movement is working, not in separate groups, but completely intermingled. In an interview with the Priest who heads Priests for Life, the interviewer concludes the article by saying: "He said he works a lot with ministers of other denominations and that in the pro-life movement he has found the ecumenism he had been longing and praying for. There are few, if any, things that foster practical day to day ecumenism like the pro-life movement does, because people are "in the trenches together..."

The problem with this type of "ecumenism" is that it promotes everything that causes indifferentism. Ecumenism is supposed to be the process of converting those of a false religion to the true religion; what it has instead become is the act of putting aside our religious differences (i.e. indifferentism) for the sake of getting along. Unfortunately, without realizing it, many in the pro-life movement are promoting a false ecumenism which leads to what Pope Leo XIII referred to as the "deadly error" (i.e. mortal sin) of indifferentism. Without a very strong faith – which is rare today - uniting with Protestants and others of a false religion will inevitably lead to this grave error.

How will uniting with those of a false religion lead to indifferentism? God gives each person natural good qualities; these qualities are to be used in the service of God, and to show forth God's goodness. If a person becomes entangled in a false religion, they do not lose their God-given natural good qualities. If we are working together on a regular basis with people of a false religion, it will inevitably happen that we will see their good qualities and be attracted by them. The result will be that we will begin to like the person and respect his good qualities. If we do not possess a very strong faith, it will be a very short step from respecting the person to respecting their false religion. That is why it used to be forbidden for a Catholic to even work with heretics (now referred to as 'separated brethren'), because of the possible danger to their faith.

We live in a day when we are greatly tempted to become indifferent. It is difficult to remain true to the "faith of God" when we are so often confronted with friendly people of false religions. Working with them in a common cause only makes matters that much more difficult. That is why Pope Saint Pius X condemned the Sillon who were working with those of other religions when he said: "what must be thought of the indiscriminate mingling in which young Catholics will be caught up with heterodox and unbelieving folk in a work of this nature? Is it not a thousand-fold more dangerous for them than a neutral association? What are we to think of this appeal to all the heterodox, and to all the unbelievers, to prove the excellence of their convictions in the social sphere... What are we to think of this respect for all errors and of this strange invitation made by Catholics to all the dissidents to strengthen their convictions... What are we to think of an association in which all religions and even Free Thought may express themselves openly and in complete freedom? For the Sillonist who, in public lectures and elsewhere, proudly proclaim their personal (Catholic) faith, certainly do not intend to silence others, nor do they intend to prevent a Protestant from asserting his Protestantism... Alas! Yes, the ambiguity has been broken: the social action of the Sillon is no longer Catholic..." (Our Apostolic Mandate)

Why was their social action no longer Catholic? The answer is simple: Because they set aside their faith to accomplish it. How much better could the Sillon have accomplished their goals by not mingling with those of false religions? Did they really believe that God would bless their work if they, for all practical purposes, denied Him? Would it not have been 'a thousand-fold' more beneficial and pleasing to God if they would not have risked becoming indifferent by mingling with those of false religions?

It is very easy to loose our faith, through religious indifferentism, in a society like ours which has so many religions intermingled; this is a great temptation for all of us. Even Solomon, with all his wisdom, fell into the error of religious indifferentism. This happened as a result of his becoming to close with those of other religions. He eventually disobeyed God and married many women from "strange nations". "And king Solomon loved many strange women... of the nations concerning which the Lord said to the children of Israel: You shall not go in unto them, neither shall any of them come in to yours, for they will most certainly turn your heart away to follow their gods. And to these Solomon joined with a most ardent love. And he had seven hundred wives as queens, and thee hundred concubines: and the women turned away his heart." He began to love these women, and thus he began to accept their false religions. As stated above, it is a very short step from liking a person to accepting their religion. Even the wise Solomon fell into this deadly error: "And when he was now old, his heart was turned away by women to follow strange gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father... And Solomon did that which was not pleasing before the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as David his father. Then Solomon built a temple for Chamos the idol of Moab, on the hill that is over against Jerusalem, and for Moloch the idol of the children of Ammon. And he did in this manner for all his wives... and burnt incense, and offered sacrifices to their gods. And the Lord was angry with Solomon... And the Lord therefore said to Solomon: Because thou hast done this, and hast not kept my covenant, and my precept which I have commanded thee, I will divide thy kingdom." (3 Kings 11:1-11)

We read that Solomon's heart was not perfect before God, as was the heart of his father David. Now we know that David fell into the sin of adultery (2 Kings 11:4) as well as murder (vs.15), yet God forgave these sins (ch.12:13). However, the sin of religious indifferentism that Solomon fell into led to the destruction of the kingdom. We can see from this how serious a matter it is to become indifferent towards God's religion. Let us never forget that Catholicism is not our religion, it is God's religion, we have only been given the grace to be members of it.

If we have a strong faith, it may be possible to respect the person while realizing that their religion is false. We have a good example of this in St. Patrick. While in Ireland he grew to love the Irish people, but he did not accept their religion. St. Patrick possessed a very strong faith; therefore, impelled by Divine Charity, he went back to Ireland and converted the Irish to Catholicism, and they have always loved him for that. This, however, requires a strong faith, which is not a particular mark of our times.

We must constantly be on our guard against religious indifferentism or we put our own salvation at risk. What good will it do to promote an honorable cause if we lose our own faith in the process? We should never forget these words from Scripture: "Without faith it is impossible to please God."

As a test of our faith, let us read an infallible dogma of the Catholic Church. This will help us to see if we have become indifferent with regards to religion. Keep in mind that an infallible dogma is a teaching of the Catholic Church which all Catholics are bound to believe. This dogma is a good test of our faith as it is one of the most politically incorrect dogmas of our day and it does not leave any room for religious indifferentism.

In 1442, at the council of Florence, Pope Eugene IV, in the Bull Cantante Domino, declared infallibly that no one can attain salvation except in the Catholic Church, and that all those who die outside of the Church will suffer the eternal fires of hell:

"The Most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of those existing outside of the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews, heretics, and Schismatics can ever be partakers of eternal life, but that they are to go into the eternal fire 'which was prepared for the devil and his angels', unless before death, they are joined with Her;... no one, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ, can be saved unless they abide within the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church."

If we have a difficulty with this dogma of our Holy Faith it is probably because we have become indifferent. And if we say we believe this dogma, we must ask ourselves: do we really believe it? or, have we so water down its meaning that it has become, what Pope Pius XII called, a meaningless formula: "Some reduce to a meaningless formula the necessity of belonging to the true Church in order to gain eternal salvation." (Pius XII, On certain false opinions, 1950)

The reason indifferentism is such a "grave error" is because our faith is a primary bond that unites us to God. If we become indifferent with regard to our faith, we risk severing that bond. God must always come first, and if we sin for the sake of a moral cause, we are serving the moral cause instead of God; thus, it becomes our god. We certainly have a duty to fight evil – especially an evil as great as abortion - but only in a manner that is pleasing to God. There is no need to unite with those of a false religion, and risk our own faith, to fight abortion; we can fight abortion just fine without endangering our faith. God does not need large numbers, only faithful people, and a faithful person is one who has not severed his relationship with God. "In His divine wisdom, He [God] ordained in His Church Unity of Faith; a virtue which is the first of those bonds which unites man to God, and whence we receive the name faithful..." (Satis Cognitum) That is why God inspired St. John to write: "If any man come to you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into the house nor say to him, God speed you. For he that saith unto him, God speed you, communicateth with his wicked works." (2 Jn 1:10-11)

Conclusion

Abortion is a great evil, but the loss of faith is greater still. Back in 1931, Hilaire Beloc wrote the following: "Our civilization developed as a Catholic civilization. It developed and matured as a Catholic thing. With the loss of Faith it will slip back not only to Paganism, but into barbarism with the accomplishments of Paganism..." (The New Paganism) We are now living in the day he described. In a pagan culture, there is very often child sacrifice, that is one of the marks of a pagan society. The solution is not putting aside religious differences and uniting with "moral" pagans to fight abortion; the solution is to end our pagan society by restoring the faith. If the faith is restored, morality will return and abortion will end; but if we fight to restore morals without restoring the faith we will never accomplish our goal. Therefore, the solution to ending abortion, and many other evils of today, is to restore the faith.

"Just as Christianity cannot penetrate in the soul without making it better, so it cannot enter public life without establishing order,,, If it has transformed pagan society -–and that transformation was a veritable resurrection – for barbarism disappeared in proportion as Christianity extended its sway, so, after the terrible shocks which unbelief has given to the world in our days, it will be able to put that world again on the true road, and bring back to order the states and peoples of modern times. But the return of Christianity will not be efficacious and complete if it does not restore the world to a sincere love of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church." (Leo XIII Review of His Pontificate pg. 566-567)

When our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego, child sacrifice was the religion of the day. To end the evil of child sacrifice, Our Lady did not organize a protest, She took the ax to the root and converted the pagans to the Catholic faith. Therefore, let us learn a lesson from Our Lady of Guadalupe and end our modern-day child sacrifice by restoring the faith. It will do little good to fight the effect (abortion) if we are not at the same time fighting the cause that produced it (loss of faith). Every child saved is a victory gained, but in the long run, where is the victory if the child grows up in a pagan home and dies only to suffer the eternal fires of hell? And what shall we say if we are fighting abortion while actually adding fuel to the cause that produced it? Is this not what will happen if we become indifferent, and thus loose our faith, by fighting a moral issue that resulted from a lessening of faith? Is this not a deadly spiral that will not only never accomplish the goal, but destroy the faith of millions of Catholics in the process? Remember the words of Sister Lucy of Fatima: "The devil has succeeded in infiltrating evil under the appearance of good..."

Let us re-think our means of fighting abortion so that we do not offend God while trying to serve Him. If our goal is merely to fight abortion, we can continue on our current path; but if we seek to eliminate it, let us do our part to restore the faith, because when the faith has been restored, abortion will end. Therefore, I end with this appeal to the pro-life Catholics of the world who are seeking to end abortion: Take the ax to the root!

Robert Siscoe
Elizabethtown, Kentucky
6/29/2002

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Fr. Newman and the Church's Stand

As you all can tell from my lack of posts, I do not have much time to spend here, but feel like this is too important to only link to from my Google Reader.
A scandal (my perception) has resulted from a South Carolinian priest's request (note that I had to use an external source since the Diocese has removed it from the parish's website) and the Administrator of the Diocese's reply.
Barbara Kralis does an excellent job of presenting Fr. Newman's justification for his announcement and causing us all to ask, "What in the world is this Administrator thinking". Her article is posted on RenewAmerica. You can find her entire article in two parts here1 and here2.

Some excerpts:

Solemn and Ordinary Magisterial Teachings

"The Church stresses that a well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals.... John Paul II, continuing the constant teaching of the Church, has reiterated many times that those who are directly involved in lawmaking bodies have a 'grave and clear obligation to oppose' any law that attacks human life.

"For them, as for every Catholic, it is impossible to promote such laws or to vote for them" [1]

"Presenting oneself to receive Holy Communion should be a conscious decision, based on a reasoned judgment regarding one's worthiness to do so, according to the Church's objective criteria, asking such questions as: 'Am I in full communion with the Catholic Church? Am I guilty of grave sin? Have I incurred a penalty [e.g. excommunication, interdict] that forbids me to receive Holy Communion? Have I prepared myself by fasting for at least an hour?' The practice of indiscriminately presenting oneself to receive Holy Communion, merely as a consequence of being present at Mass, is an abuse that must be corrected." [2]

"If we tell ourselves that the Church ought not to interfere in such matters, we cannot but answer: are we not concerned with the human being? Do not believers, by virtue of the great culture of their faith, have the right to make a pronouncement on all this? Is it not our duty to raise our voices to defend the human being, that creature who, precisely in the inseparable unity of body and spirit, is the image of God?" [3]

"Among all the crimes which can be committed against life, procured abortion has characteristics making it particularly serious and deplorable" [Pope John Paul II, 'Evangelium vitae,' n.58].

In treating the evil of procured abortion, Pope John Paul II concluded: "No circumstance, no purpose, no law whatsoever can ever make licit an act which is intrinsically illicit, since it is contrary to the Law of God which is written in every human heart, knowable by reason itself, and proclaimed by the Church" [Pope John Paul II, 'Evangelium vitae,' n.62d].

"Laws, which authorize and promote abortion... [are] radically opposed not only to the good of the individual but also to the common good; as such they are completely lacking in authentic juridical validity. Disregard for the right to life, precisely because it leads to the killing of the person whom society exists to serve, is what most directly conflicts with the possibility of achieving the common good. Consequently, a civil law authorizing abortion or euthanasia ceases by that very fact to be a true, morally binding civil law. [Pope John Paul II, 'Evangelium vitae,' n.72].

"To claim the right to abortion, infanticide and euthanasia, and to recognize that right in law, means to attribute to human freedom a perverse and evil significance: that of an absolute power over others and against others. This is the death of true freedom: 'Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin'" Jn 8:34 [Pope John Paul II, 'Evangelium vitae,' n.20].

"The Church's custom shows that it is necessary for each person to examine himself at depth, and that anyone who is conscious of grave sin should not celebrate or receive the Body of the Lord without prior sacramental confession, except for grave reason when the possibility of confession is lacking; in this case he will remember that he is bound by the obligation of making an act of perfect contrition, which includes the intention to confess as soon as possible. Moreover, the Church has drawn up norms aimed at fostering the frequent and fruitful access of the faithful to the Eucharistic table and at determining the objective conditions under which Communion may not be given [Ecclesia de Eucharistia n. 42]. It is certainly best that all who are participating in the celebration of Holy Mass with the necessary dispositions should receive Communion. Nevertheless, it sometimes happens that Christ's faithful approach the altar as a group indiscriminately.

"It pertains to the Pastors prudently and firmly to correct such an abuse." [4]

"Abortion and euthanasia are thus crimes which no human law can claim to legitimize. There is no obligation in conscience to obey such laws; instead there is a grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection. From the very beginnings of the Church, the apostolic preaching reminded Christians of their duty to obey legitimately constituted public authorities [cf. Rom 13:1-7; 1 Pet 2:13-14], but at the same time it firmly warned that 'we must obey God rather than men' [Acts 5:29]. ... It is precisely from obedience to God -to whom alone is due that fear which is acknowledgment of his absolute sovereignty — that the strength and the courage to resist unjust human laws are born. It is the strength and the courage of those prepared even to be imprisoned or put to the sword, in the certainty that this is what makes for 'the endurance and faith of the saints' [Rev 13:10].

Communion of Saints

An acquaintance forwarded me an article today. It really made me think about the Communion of Saints. Many Catholics I know do not even know what this is more less practice it! An excellent and must read from the archives of the now non-existent Seattle Catholic can be found here.

Here an excerpt from the article about the protest at the annual meeting of the US Bishops:

Bishop Sheen once said, “We priests usually don’t lose our souls because we do evil. Rather, we lose our souls because we fail to do good.” This “failure to do good” was reflected in the latest Election. One of the greatest tragedies of the 2008 presidential race is that most bishops, with some exceptions, simply made a weak pro-life statement, or signed a joint pro-life document, or printed a pro-life article in their diocesan newspapers. They never mobilized the faithful to effectively fight for the unborn.

And then a reminder of some valuable Church teaching from Wikipedia:

CHURCH MILITANT AND CHURCH TRIUMPHANT

The Church Militant and the Church Triumphant
by Andrea da Firenze

The Catholic Church, or Church Universal, is traditionally divided into:

• the Church Militant (Ecclesia Militans), comprising Roman Catholics who are living,
• the Church Triumphant (Ecclesia Triumphans), comprising those who are in Heaven, and
• the Church Suffering (Ecclesia Penitens) or Church Expectant (Ecclesia Expectans), comprising those Christians presently in Purgatory. This last term is used mainly in Roman Catholicism.

These terms are often used in the context of the doctrine of the Communion of Saints; although Christians may be physically separated from each other by the barrier of death, they nonetheless remain united to each other in one Church, and support each other in prayer.

The Latin word militans has a primary meaning of "serving as a soldier, military", but it acquired a secondary meaning of "to struggle, to make an effort", which is the intended sense here. Christians on earth (the Church Militant) are still struggling against sin in order that, when they die, they might go to heaven and be members of the Church Triumphant, those who have triumphed over sin. However, if this struggle is successful, but not completely so, then after death they temporarily become members of the Church Suffering before ultimately joining the Church Triumphant.

The Catholic Church commemorates the Church Triumphant and the Church Suffering on two consecutive days: All Saints Day on November 1 (the Church Triumphant), and All Souls Day on November 2 (the Church Suffering).

Words to Ponder

Some words from Fr. Corapi concerning America's "choice" (kind of ironic, isn't it?):

"The American people have now made it abundantly clear who they want to lead them, and the policies and practices that this president-elect has represented for some time, they can now claim as their own.
Actions have consequences, and I am sure God has duly noted what our priorities are in the US of A. Economic matters would seem to take precedence over moral matters; money more important than life itself to most people (I guess they don't consider almost 50,000,000 innocent
children murdered by abortion part of life).
Now we shall see what the fruit of such a tree will be. I predict that we won't have to wait long. In recent months we have seen "corrections" in the stock market, housing market, and banking
industries. Now we'll see if God orchestrates a "correction" in a country and a world that has demonstrated quite clearly that it prefers convenience and wealth to life itself.
Regardless of whatever happens next, remember there is still a God in Heaven and He loves you. He is infinitely merciful—and He is infinitely just as well."

God Bless You

Fr. John Corapi

Post Election Thoughts

OK, it is over and the pro-abortion candidate won. I have thought about a rant I would like to go on, but am resigned to God's Will. We prayed, we sacrificed, we hoped . . . and the majority of voters chose Obama. I believe God sends us tests, just as He tested the Angels and Adam and Eve. Sometimes it may be little tests of our faith or our obedience, and sometimes there are bigger stakes. I believe that we failed this test and I also believe there will be a sentence. That said, I will pray for our future president and all our leaders just as I pray for the present.
Now, can someone please explain the following article to me. I heard it from the SSPX pulpit, and the bishops of North Carolina "ordered" a statement to be read at Masses, as did many bishops throughout the United States. So why did such a large percentage of Catholics vote for Obama? Excuse me, but I am labeled the "disobedient" one for attending SSPX Masses . . . ????????????
From the Catholic News Service:

Catholic voters mirror general electorate in support for Obama

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholics pretty much voted the way the rest of the country did in supporting Democratic Sen. Barack Obama in the presidential race Nov. 4, according to some early poll reports. Exit poll data was still being compiled and analyzed Nov. 5, but early information showed 53 percent or 54 percent of Catholics supported Obama and 44 percent or 45 percent were for Republican Sen. John McCain. Of the total population, 52 percent of Americans voted for Obama and 46 percent for McCain. By comparison, 52 percent of Catholics in 2004 supported Republican President George W. Bush and 47 percent voted for Democratic Sen. John Kerry. The total nationwide vote in 2004 was 55 percent for Bush and 44 percent for Kerry. Final pre-election polls from battleground states showed there would likely be some differences between the Catholic vote and the overall vote in those states, however.

Fasting on Election Day

From an acquaintance . . .

Esther 4:12-17

12 When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."

17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther's instructions.

Fasting was the "God-given' strategy when Esther recognized the urgency of the hour to speak up and save the lives of her people. The United States is in an "Esther moment" as Americans vote for their leaders on November 4th.

Nine-Day Rosary Novena Prior to the US Election

Please remember that the 9-day Rosary novena starts tomorrow. For more info see Catholic Family News

Catholic Family News urges you to join us in a

Nine-Day Rosary Novena
Prior to the US Election

From October 27 to November. 4.

Please forward this email to as many as possible…

Whether you plan to vote for John McCain, Chuck Baldwin, Ron Paul or no one at all.
Join us in the Rosary Novena and in the daily recitation of
a special approved prayer against “revolutionary men”.

PLEASE ALSO RECITE ON EACH DAY OF THE NOVENA
THIS PRAYER APPROVED BY THE CHURCH
Prayer given by Our Lord to Sister Marie de Sainte Pierre (1816-1848 – Apostle
of the Holy Face of Jesus), to divide and conquer revolutionary men.

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and all the instruments of His Holy Passion that Thou mayest put division in the camp of Thine enemies, for as Thy beloved Son hath said, "a kingdom divided against itself shall fail".