PRO-ABORTION "Catholics" meet at Loretto College, Toronto

The crisis in the Church continues. One example is the so-called dissident outfit entitled: "Catholic Network for Women's Equality" (CNWE). As a background sample of this CNWE's dissent, Rosemary Ganley, - a long-standing member of CNWE - last June 11, 2011, gave a "workshop" on abortion in New Brunswick.  Ganley, a "feminist" theologian is also a member of "Catholics for Choice Canada".

Rosemary Ganley, volunteer for "Catholics for Choice Canada"

Incredibly, just a few weeks ago, Sr. Caroline Dawson (Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary), addressed this dissident group at Loretto College, a university residence owned and operated by the Order (also know as Loretto nuns) and affiliated with St. Michael's College, University of Toronto. It would seem that the CNWE has used  Loretto College more than once. Some further background information on Sr. Dawson's dissident activities may be found here.

It is not unreasonable for the Archdiocese of Toronto to (at minimum) request that these nuns not allow dissidents to speak on their property. Canon Law provides a wide scope of action for the local Ordinary vis-a-vis religious orders. 

Catholics in the Archdiocese should consider contacting His Eminence, Thomas Cardinal Collins, regarding this matter. Cardinal Collins is also Chancellor of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto. 

Click here for Part II

Culture Wars

Those who persist in using this terminology really should spend some time looking into the Spanish Civil War. The atrocities committed by the republicans are known as the Red Terror and resulted in the martyrdom of thousands of priests and religious, many of whom were canonized. The White Terror, atrocities committed by the nationalists, is less well known in Catholic circles at least. It was particularly chilling to me to read of teachers being killed in the first weeks of the war for promoting secularism.

I have been watching Fr. Robert Barron's Catholicism series this Lent. In the first episode he takes us to the battlefield of a culture war, the ancient Roman Coliseum. Pope Benedict prays in this place of martyrdom each Good Friday. We won this culture war at the very beginning of our history but it might be useful to remember how we won it. "The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians." - Tertullian

Today many Christians seem to believe that Jesus sitting down with publicans and sinners might have been a bad idea. Perhaps God was a bit hasty in making his covenant with Noah. We need to be forthright and fearless about proclaiming the gospel but to do so from the safety of an ivory tower might be missing the point a bit. You cannot proclaim the good news of the kingdom to someone unless you get close enough to them to be vulnerable. It is no accident that the meeting place of God and man is the cross.

It might be time to change the paradigm a bit. We have all seen what culture wars can lead to. The notion that you can be a cultural Christian while adhering to tribal, ethnic or ideological loyalties that are utterly inimical to who Jesus is and what he did must be dispensed with. Perhaps it's time to come out of the ark, down from the ivory tower, out of the fortress to take up our own cross and follow him.

Spanish Civil War seen as religious conflict, biographer says

Ideology at work: Girl Scouts CEO Anna Maria Chavez

The Priest and the Lesbian

Making the rounds in the media is the tale of Fr. Marcel Guarnizo, of the Archdiocese of Washington, who recently denied Holy Communion to Barbara Johnson. Johnson identified herself to him just prior to her mother's funeral (in the sacristy of St. John Nuemann's church) as a practicing lesbian. 

To cut a long story short, Johnson wishes that the Archdiocese remove Fr. Guarnizo from active ministry. My point is: how can this be, as Fr. Guarnizo can cite Canon 915 in his defense.  “Those who have been … obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion”). 

Interesting commentary on the issue may be found here  from the "American Conservative". The website "Get Religion" nails down one of the problems with the one-sided reporting:  " the priest is a stakeholder in this story, a person whose views need to be accurately and fairly reported".  The original, one-sided report from the Washington Post may be found here. One of the interesting developments is that a number of high ranking archdiocesan officials seem to be lining up against Fr. Guarnizo. 

Maria Ratzinger: The Pope's Sister - a REAL Teacher

The future Pope with his sister

Maria Ratzinger, Pope's Benedict's sister died in 1991. In his 2012 book "My Brother, The Pope", her other brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger speaks of Maria's desire to become a school teacher. Maria - like the entire Ratzinger family - opposed Nazi ideology and this meant making serious decisions that went against the general thrust of society.

A typical classroom under National-Socialism

In Maria's case this meant not attending university to become a teacher, as she would have been obliged to teach Nazi ideology to innocent, young children. In making her heroic decision, Maria put God's interests first and firmly rejected pagan racial and state worship. Maria would not render unto Caesar what was God's.

Maria Ratzinger and Cardinal Ratzinger

Following the War, Maria eventually ended up as Joseph Ratzinger's housekeeper, as he - against his desires - rose through the Church hierarchy.

Yet, what a teacher of children she would have been. Or, in an even greater way, what a teacher she was to all of us, by teaching through example. Her greatest lesson to us all is a Christian life well lived. Maria Ratzinger, pray for us.

Eucharistic Heresies: A crisis in the Church

There is no doubt that there is a Eucharistic crisis in the Church. An attack on the Real Presence is an attack on the very "heart and soul" of the Church. To attack the Eucharist is to attack the Mass, the priesthood, the sacramental economy, the mind of Christ. 

Elizabeth Harrington, the Archdiocese of Brisbane's "liturgical commission education officer" has written numerous articles on matters pertaining to the Most Holy Eucharist. Since 1999 The Catholic Leader has been publishing her articles. She is also a colleague of the well known dissenter, Fr. Tom Elich who is the Archdiocesan Director.

Four disturbing examples: 

Home baked bread allows a community to offer its own gifts for the eucharist. Unlike small hosts, it can be seen by everyone in the church. It looks, smells and tastes like real bread. While hosts are quicker and easier to use than real bread, the sacred gestures of the Last Supper when Jesus took, blessed, broke and shared the bread are best actualised when the community shares the one loaf and becomes one Body of Christ. 

When the minister presents the host to the communicant, he or she does not say “This is the body of Christ” because that narrows the meaning to one aspect of the body of Christ alone – the real presence in the consecrated bread.  The less specific “The body of Christ” also contains within it the understanding that it is through sharing communion that the church becomes the body of Christ, that you and I are members of the body of Christ broken and given for the world.

When we eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ, we ourselves are transformed more perfectly into the presence of the risen Christ.  This is Christ’s gift to us, but it is also a challenge, because it calls us in turn to give our own body and blood to others so that they too might be nourished. 

By taking and eating the Body of Christ together, the faithful become the Body of Christ, united in service to the world and in working for the Kingdom of justice, love, and peace.

NEWS FLASH - Heretic as Keynote Speaker for Catholic Teachers?

Each year the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) has a keynote speaker at their AGM. May I recommend Stanford Nutting ?

Stanford Nutting: Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies

To watch the hilarious video please click here

Dangerous Words

'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'
'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you CAN make words mean so many things.'
'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master -- that's all.'

Apparently you can make words mean whatever you want them to. It's an old trick designed to fool the unwary and confuse the unwitting. The net effect is to render the word utterly unusable in ordinary conversation. Take the word "christian" for instance. C.S. Lewis did... and went on to explain how the word has been transmuted from a noun describing a follower of Jesus to an adjective simply meaning "nice" as in "That was a very christian thing to do." This process is carried on unwittingly and results in the devaluation of many words.

This same process can be used as a tool of outright deception. One technique is to use a common word and attach shades of meaning to it that the original users of the word did not anticipate or are even aware of. More than one heresy has been born this way. The real difficulty is when words are used as mere blunt force instruments to bludgeon the opposition. Whatever the intent, the result is always the same. It renders real communication impossible.

Groupthink was originally defined by Irving Janus as "A mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive ingroup, when the members' strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action."

Dictionary.com defines groupthink
noun

1. the practice of approaching problems or issues as matters that are best dealt with by consensus of a group rather than by individuals acting independently; conformity.

2. the lack of individual creativity, or of a sense of personal responsibility, that is sometimes characteristic of group intereaction.

Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) - Radical dissent against the Church

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) has a long history of dissent from the Catholic Church. This goes a long way to explain the poor quality of student that it produces. In the main, these young people are un-educated, uncultured and - worse - lacking in knowledge of the Faith. How can this go on? For how long has this been going on? Where were the trustees, the parents... yes, and the bishops? 

OECTA also has a long history of political "groupthink". A few "highlights"  (any commentary would be superfluous) from 1997 include:

• combat homphobia within the Catholic community
• work to raise awareness of the negative effects of sexism within the Catholic Church
• promote inclusive language in prayers and liturgies 
• eliminate sexism in all materials used in school
• combat sexism among male students
• formal and informal support networks among women 
• produce practical material ...to deal with ... a poisoned working atmosphere for women
• eliminate offensive unofficial...beauty contests
• discuss pervasive heterosexist attitudes that lead to homophobia