Ain't nothing more dangerous in this world...

..than an orthodox religious Sister defending the faith.

Especially when she's also a Professor of Philosophy.

Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review interviews Sr. Prudence Allen, R.S.M.

Excerpts:

KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ: During the recent health-care debate, we heard a lot about some Catholic religious sisters — the Network — who supported the president’s health-care legislation, despite abortion-funding issues. Were they representative of the Catholic Church or Catholic religious sisters?

SISTER PRUDENCE ALLEN, R.S.M.: This question should be more fully answered by a theologian whose area of specialization is ecclesiology. However, as a Christian philosopher, I see two obvious contradictions that could be initially noted.

The first contradiction relates to the meaning of “Catholic.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church (#830-831) states, “The Church is catholic in a double sense:” First, because the whole Christ, head and body, subsists in her, and second because Christ sends the Church out on a mission to the whole human race.

By comparing the statements of the Network religious sisters on health care with the statements of Cardinal George and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on health care, it is clear that there are fundamental contradictions between them. Thus, the Network religious sisters have separated themselves from the head, and therefore cannot be included in the meaning of “catholic.” Therefore, they are not representative of the Catholic Church."

_________________________________________________

LOPEZ: They were, by the way, referred to as “nuns.” That’s not technically correct, is it? You’re a Religious Sister of Mercy in full habit, but you are not a “nun,” are you?

SISTER PRUDENCE: You are right that it is wrong to refer to the Network religious sisters as “nuns.” The official meaning of “nun” is a religious woman who makes solemn vows and who lives in an enclosed convent, referred to as a papal cloister. None of the signers of the letter written by the Network religious sisters has made solemn vows or lives in an enclosed convent. Therefore, they are not properly called nuns.

Those of us who make simple vows, who live in a convent with an area that is established as an enclosure, and who engage in apostolic work outside of the convent are properly called “sisters.” As a Religious Sister of Mercy in full habit, I am a “sister,” since I was received into the religious institute, have made simple vows, and live in a convent with an enclosure within it.

LOPEZ: Why should that matter at all to the world?

SISTER PRUDENCE: To answer your question about “why it should matter,” we need to consider the deeper question of the relation of truth to language and the relation of reality to the human mind. According to a realistic philosophy, truth is the union of the mind with reality. There are two complementary pathways to the truth: reason and faith, which correspond to philosophy and theology.

For a Christian, language matters a lot."

Read the whole thing!

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Peggy Noonan: "Seal the Border....Then We'll Talk"

Common sense about SB 1070 and Immigration from Peggy Noonan today. Excerpt:

"The American president has the power to control America's borders if he wants to, but George W. Bush and Barack Obama did not and do not want to, and for the same reason, and we all know what it is. The fastest-growing demographic in America is the Hispanic vote, and if either party cracks down on illegal immigration, it risks losing that vote for generations.

But while the Democrats worry about the prospects of the Democrats and the Republicans about the well-being of the Republicans, who worries about America?

No one. Which the American people have noticed, and which adds to the dangerous alienation—actually it's at the heart of the alienation—of the age.

In the past four years, I have argued in this space that nothing can or should be done, no new federal law passed, until the border itself is secure. That is the predicate, the commonsense first step. Once existing laws are enforced and the border made peaceful, everyone in the country will be able to breathe easier and consider, without an air of clamor and crisis, what should be done next. What might that be? How about relax, see where we are, and absorb. Pass a small, clear law—say, one granting citizenship to all who serve two years in the armed forces—and then go have a Coke. Not everything has to be settled right away. Only controlling the border has to be settled right away."

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

USF Guest: Scrap Celibacy; Vows Reinterpreted

On June 13, 2008 retired Australian Bishop Geoffrey Robinson appeared at the Jesuit University of San Francisco as part of his "Voice of the Faithful" tour. USF hosted him even though Archbishop George Niederauer (joined by Cardinal Roger Mahony and Bishop Tod Brown) refused him permission to speak in the Archdiocese.

Bishop Robinson has now chimed in on the abuse scandal, urging the Church to scrap the discipline of celibacy, and much more. His remarks about how some priests interpret their vows has also occasioned some comment.

From The Australian :

"There was also a view among some offenders with whom he had worked that a priest's celibacy vows weren't broken if a boy was involved.

"We've met it often enough to see it as a factor," he tells the magazine, out today. "That's what the vow of celibacy refers to, being married. If it's not an adult woman, then somehow they're not breaking their vow."

In other words, interpreting their vows to match their desired behavior. But is the Bishop right? While there is no evidence, beyong his word, about child-molesting priests doing this, there is actual hard evidence of "cutting to fit" in the Church.

The Catholic Association for Lesbian and Gay Ministry does this exact thing. Right on their homepage they cherry-pick entry No. 2337 of the Catechism to read:

"Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being."

Left at that, it would condone any sexual behavior, provided the person was sincere. But the full entry of No. 2337, which CALGM does not include (for obvious reasons) reads:

"Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man's belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman.

The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift."

So His Retired Excellency is pointing to a real problem.

Speaking of Jesuits, as we noted in an April 20 article in California Catholic Daily, Fr. Michael Zampelli, who has just been named Rector of the Jesuit Community at Santa Clara University, is Treasurer of the Catholic Association of Lesian and Gay Ministies.
____________________________________________________________

*For the origin of the "Gay Rome" tag, go here. It's at about 1:14 into this audio of USF's "Queer Perspectives" seminar, sponsored by the Lane Center, and held at (where else?) Most Holy Redeemer.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Siding With Arizonans: "The issue is Sovereignty"

Some interesting commentary 0n Arizona's SB 1070, which is supported by 70% of the citizens:

Ramesh Ponnuru, writing in the Washington Post:

"The critics of Arizona's new immigration law are heavy on invective and moral self-congratulation, but they're light on facts....The new law is modest, and it may be vulnerable to the objection that it will not accomplish enough to be worth the controversy. But the debate over it, while often ignorant, has clarified something nonetheless.

Nearly everyone in the immigration debate has claimed to favor enforcing the immigration immigration laws. But if you think it is draconian to require that anyone have to show papers proving their legal status, then you're simply against enforcement. And if you really believe that, you're not going to change your mind just because the government has set up a "temporary worker" program or a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants: You're going to be against truly enforcing any conceivable set of immigration laws."

And Professor William Jacobsen, writing at "Legal Insurrection":

"I do not believe that most Americans share the view that controlling the border -- whether along the Mexican border or at JFK airport or at crossings from Canada -- is inherently racist; so too, it is not racist to enforce the immigration laws against people who violate the border controls.

Rather, the issue is sovereignty. Is the United States, like every other country in the world, entitled to control its borders, to determine who can enter and under what terms, and to enforce the laws which protect this sovereignty.

That is the debate we need to have, because the debate over the Arizona immigration law is just a sideshow in the larger national debate over sovereignty."

Kris Kobach, who helped draft the Arizona law, in today's New York Times:

"ON Friday, Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona signed a law--SB 1070--that prohibits the harboring of illegal aliens and makes it a state crime for an alien to commit certain federal immigration crimes. It also requires police officers who, in the course of a traffic stop or other law-enforcement action, come to a "reasonable suspicion" that a person is an illegal alien verify the person's immigration status with the federal government.

Predictably, groups that favor relaxed enforcement of immigration laws, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, insist the law is unconstitutional. Less predictably, President Obama declared it "misguided" and said the Justice Department would take a look.

Presumably, the government lawyers who do so will actually read the law, something its critics don't seem to have done."

And the law is apparently working already.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Infanticide: Obamacare Italian Style

Shades of Barack Obama. Horrifying story out of Italy, via LifeNews:

Baby Boy Survived Abortion, Lived Two Days After Doctors Left Him to Die

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 28, 2010

"Florence, Italy. A 22-week old disabled boy survived an abortion attempt in southern Italy, but doctors left him to die afterwards and he survived for two days before passing away. The boy's mother was pregnant for the first time but decided to have an abortion after prenatal scans suggested the unborn child was disabled.

The London Telegraph says the abortion was done at the Rossano Calabria hospital but the baby survived the procedure.

Father Antonio Martello, the hospital chaplain, discovered the baby alive the next day -- about 20 hours after the abortion was reportedly completed.

Martello had wanted to pray over the baby but the newspaper indicates he found the child wrapped in a sheet with his umbilical cord still attached and he was moving and breathing.

After the Catholic priest notified doctors, they moved the baby to a specialist neonatal unit at another hospital for treatment -- but the child eventually died on Monday morning."

This is just about identical to what Jill Stanek discovered when working at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn Illinois:"

"It is not uncommon for a live aborted baby to linger for an hour or two or even longer. At Christ Hospital one of these babies lived for almost an entire eight-hour shift. Some of the babies aborted are healthy, because Christ Hospital will also abort for life or "health" of the mother, and also for rape or incest.

In the event that an aborted baby is born alive, she or he receives "comfort care," defined as keeping the baby warm in a blanket until s/he dies."

Stanek's testimony was instrumental in the passage of the Illinois Born Alive Infants Protection Act. But that soul-shattering testimony left at least one member of the Illinois legislature completely unmoved:

"Thrice in the Illinois legislature, Obama helped block a bill that was designed solely to protect the life of infants already born, and outside the womb, who had miraculously survived the attempt to kill them during an abortion. Thrice, Obama voted to let doctors and nurses allow these tiny human beings die of neglect and be tossed out with the medical waste."

It is horribly ironic that President Obama, who claims it is a moral imperative to extend health isurance to every person, actually voted against mandating the provision of medical treatment to a dying baby. How any American, let alone any Catholic, could vote for such a man is beyond me.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Can This Be True?

If this does not summarize the problem, nothing will.

With this kind of a brain, it's no wonder the U.S. is in trouble!
Only in California and San Francisco

Speaking on health care Monday, Senator Diane Feinstein said, "I've gotten 90,000 emails and faxes on the health care bill and over 85,000 of them are against it.
After all the debate we've had, I can't believe so many people still don't get it!"

CCHD UPDATE: Two More Bishops Cancel Special Collections

The fallout from the irresponsible behavior on the part of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development continues. LifeSite News is reporting that Bishop Joseph Adamec of the diocese of Altoona-Johnstown will discontinue the CCHD collection in the fall of 2009. The CCHD collection will be replaced with one for the local Catholic Charities. Archdiocesan spokesman Tony DeGol said that the Bishops decision has nothing to with the ongoing scandal of CCHD's funding of groups which violate its own funding guidelines by opposing Church teaching, particularly on abortion, contraception, and marriage.

Perhaps, but Bishop Kevin Rhodes of the Diocese of Harrisburg is also replacing the CCHD collection with one titled "Matthew 25," which will benefit the poor in the diocese. Peter Biasucci, Assistant Director of the diocesan Catholic Charities' said, regarding the switch“I think that there were some issues regarding the ability to control some of the national grants and the applications.”

Yes, indeed. At least 10 dioceses have now discontinued the CCHD collection.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also reported that Bishop David Zubik, who sits on the committee overseeing the CCHD, had prepared a preliminary report (not yet released to the public) which was sent last month to the U.S. bishops' administrative committee. The report said that the campaign needs to "clarify its Catholic identity and principles and clearly tell applicants what types of activity recipients cannot engage in."

The Post-Gazette said they had obtained the report "from a source outside of the Pittsburgh diocese."

This is good news, but we note that two of the cases where funding has been pulled took place right here in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. We also note that the CCHD continues to provide grant money to the San Francisco Organizing Project, an entitiy which, we contend, continues to be in violation of the CCHD's own funding guidelines. Our previous posts on this issue are here.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

With Obama, It's Always 'His' People vs. 'Those' People

Barack Obama officially kicked off the 2010 campaign season with a speech to "his" people on Monday. Yes, it's true that since taking office, Obama has never really stopped campaigning, but this speech was specifically geared toward building "his" coalition to stop "those" people from regaining power in the November elections.Outside of the overall left wing philosophy of bigger government, more centralized power, higher taxes, and less individual freedom, the way Democrats go about building a campaign has always frustrated me. "Constituency" politics is so fake, yet so many Americans fall for it. Now, Obama isn't even trying to hide the strategy. As long as "his" people vote, that's all that matters. (From Gopusa Eagle)

Pelosi: "Like a Vegetarian who Frequents Steakhouses"

Ouch!

Excellent essay by Matthew Hanley in "The Catholic Thing." Excerpt:

Graham Greene, the great twentieth-century novelist and convert to the Catholic faith, was intimately familiar with the powerful inclinations of the flesh. He led a deeply conflicted life replete with extramarital romantic liaisons. The soul in turmoil, at once given over to passion and afflicted with remorse, is the theme that dominates his greatest works.

Greene recognized that his persistent involvement in a series of affairs severed him from the Church. He knew he could not have it both ways; that would be to arrogate to himself the content of the faith handed down from the beginning.

In the end, he opted for the affairs. In a 1990 letter to Newsweek’s Kenneth Woodward, Greene tells of his experience travelling to Padre Pio’s village in Italy with girlfriend Catherine Walston. He was moved by the Mass they attended early one morning, but also reveals: “I was invited to go see him that night in the monastery, but I made excuses not to go as neither of us wanted our lives changed!”

In spite of his failings, he displayed a certain integrity by choosing not to present himself for Holy Communion – an issue of striking contemporary relevance. “I've broken the rules”, he writes. “They are rules I respect, so I haven't been to communion for nearly thirty years. . . .In my private life, my situation is not regular. If I went to communion, I would have to confess and make promises. I prefer to excommunicate myself." If this is not exactly an act of faith, but it is an acknowledgment of the Catholic faith’s coherence.

Such a stance seems almost quaint today. The stark contrast with Nancy Pelosi and other Catholic politicians who do approach Communion – despite acting in flagrant, public defiance of Catholic teaching – springs immediately to mind. Here we glimpse what it is like when not even the spirit is willing; how dreadful indeed it is when the mind, unlike Peter in the garden, does not even intend to be present to the Truth.

Nancy Pelosi’s support of abortion policies hardly needs to be detailed here. Although Catholicism cannot be reduced to the issue of abortion – or indeed to a mere code of ethics – any Catholic who actively supports it acts as antithetically as (and more destructively than) the vegetarian who frequents steakhouses, or the Muslim who promotes pilgrimage to Panama. It simply makes no sense; and it is not that hard to grasp....

Pelosi is not the everyman (everyperson?) “hypocrite” who recognizes goodness yet fails to conform perfectly to it, but the intellectually dishonest one who misrepresents truth and fails even to aspire to it – all while claiming to advance it. It’s far worse to champion falsity in the name of truth, than to recognize and respect truth – but crash land in its pursuit."

Plus, another nice video from Michael Voris:

Will of the People?

Tom Minnery from Focus on the Family, writes that last Friday, an Arkansas judge overturned the will of Arkansas voters, who approved a citizen-initiated law in 2008 specifying that only married couples could adopt or serve as foster parents. The law's intent was to guarantee Arkansas' kids the best chance to grow up in society's most nurturing homes, those headed by a married mother and father. However, the judge accepted the ACLU's argument, opening the door for cohabiting, non-married couples--whether same-sex or not--to adopt or foster children.

At Focus, we believe that committed marriages between a man and a woman are the essential building blocks of not just healthy families, but a healthy society, too. Most Americans agree, as reflected by repeated citizen approvals of 30 state marriage-protection amendments.

Truth--fit to print?

The New York Times has recently published dozens of articles, many front pages, on scandals of Catholic Church while many groups with a much worse record have gone unreported. Why does the Times hate the Church?

As reported by David Rosen (Counterpunch) the New York Times has devoted extensive investigative resources and page space to exposing the sins of the Catholic Church and its sclerotic leadership to cover-up the long-endemic pedophilia scandal. This reporting has been valuable and one can hope for more of it. But one must ask why such extensive selective journalism has been devoted to this one sinful subject? Why has not similar attention been paid to the other equally troubling examples of sexual abuse of the young, of women and other powerless people, many living in the Times’ very backyard?

Conservative Catholic bishops go further, saying that the sexual abuse committed by their priests is a general social problem, traceable not to the church but to the sexualization of society, to the sins of the 1968 generation… The truth, they suggest, was that the evil had struck in all sectors of society. Percentage wise the Church is very high on the list of “safe” institutions, and today the safest place for children is the Catholic Church.

In NJ, Voters Support Governor Christie

Like I said Monday, he's what New Jersey and California need. He stood up to the teachers unions and yesterday, the voters supported him.

From today's Wall Street Journal:

"Overtaxed New Jersey voters sent a clear message in yesterday's voting on 479 public school budgets: Enough is enough. A stunning 54% of the budgets went down to defeat, the most since the recession year of 1976. The results have clear implications for a bitter power struggle between New Jersey GOP Governor Chris Christie and the state's powerful 200,000-member New Jersey Education Association.

With turnout up significantly, voters were clearly responding to Governor Christie's call for voters to reject budgets in districts where teachers have not agreed to a plan of 'shared sacrifice' proposed by the governor. Given the state's distress, he asked for a one-year wage freeze and teachers to contribute at least 1.5% of their salaries toward their own health benefits. The governor said the cuts were necessary in the face of a massive $11 billion budget gap."

SF/ Archdiocese got to Court

The Archdiocese of San Francisco is taking the city of San Francisco to court. The move results from the city's attempt to impose a transfer tax on the Archdiocese over it's 2006 reorganization. The city is seeking $14.4 million; when interest and penalties are added the amount is $21.7 million.

It was obvious from the beginning this case would end up in court. Catholic San Francisco has more:

"On January 26, 2010, the San Francisco Transfer Tax Review Board, the members of which are all City Hall administrators, issued a written administrative finding that the Archdiocese was not exempt from a transfer tax, despite the fact that the law pertaining to intra-church property transfers of this nature is overwhelmingly in favor of the Archdiocese. Among other things, the Archdiocese argues that the imposition of a transfer tax on a purely intra-denominational reorganization is outside the San Francisco ordinance, and violates the California and United States Constitutions by imposing a tax on a church for exercising its recognized constitutional rights to choose and change those civil law corporate forms that best accommodate its religious structure and needs. The Archdiocese maintains that to impose transfer taxes, penalties and interest on a religious organization in connection with an internal restructuring involving no exchange or receipt of money from which to pay any tax is inequitable and threatens to confiscate substantial Church assets that are devoted to religious purposes. The complaint asks the court, among other things, to direct the San Francisco Transfer Tax Review Board to set aside its ruling, to direct the Recorder to withdraw his notices of delinquent tax, and to award the Archdiocese its attorneys’ fees and costs."

Our other posts on the case are here.

Pope Appoints Wenski--Great Choice!

The Holy Father continues to hit home runs. Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando has been named Bishop of Miami. We fell in love with him in 2008, when we came across his analysis of the motivations behind counterfeit marriage. At that time the Catholic News Agency reported:

"(Bishop Wenski) characterized the 'culture wars' as a conflict about 'the understanding of man and his relationship to truth and reality.'

One side, which, he argued, includes homosexual marriage advocates, 'holds that anyone can essentially create his or her own reality. This side holds for a radical autonomy by which truth is determined not by the nature of things but by one's own individual will.'

This position, in the bishop’s view, is a 'recipe for tyranny.'

The other side, the bishop argued, thinks men and women are 'not self-creators but creatures.'
'Truth is not constructed, but received and thus must reflect the reality of things,' he said. This position promises freedom that is achievable only 'through adherence to objective truth which we do not, and could never, invent.'”

And from today's article in LifeSiteNews about his appointment:

"The church - clergy and laity - while agreeing to disagree on other matters of prudential judgment cannot but oppose the evils of abortion, euthanasia, fetal stem-cell research, human cloning and so-called same-sex marriage. In these areas, there can be no other legitimate Catholic position."

In April of last year, Bishop Wenski was one of the 80 or so bishops who weighed in against the University of Notre Dame’s decision to honor President Barack Obama. In a column on the Orlando Diocese website, he wrote that, "Notre-Dame (at least in its Administration and Board) has forgotten what it means to be Catholic."

He's Not Talking About Priests...

...but it sure sounds familiar.

The post is called "The Sovietizing of American Therapy" from ShrinkWrapped, the blog of a practicing Psychiatrist/Psychoanalist who lives in upsate New York.

"I often get books on psychology sent to me by publishers, and the other day I received Jeffrey Kottler’s On Being a Therapist. The book is now in its fourth edition, and this latest edition 'puts the spotlight on the therapist’s role and responsibility to promote issues of diversity, social justice, human rights, and systemic changes within the community and the world at large.'”

Whoa: I thought the therapist’s role was to increase the client’s well-being and treat mental illness."

Another h/t Instapundit.

Governor Christie is what New Jersey (and California) Needs

Governor Chris Christie takes on the NJ teachers union and calls a spade a spade. That's the kind of Governor we need right now in California.

From JammieWearingFool:

"A day ahead of school budget elections statewide, Gov. Chris Christie today escalated his war of words with the state teachers' union, accusing union representatives of 'using the students like drug mules' to carry information about whether their parents planned to vote.

Christie cited what he called a 'mandatory' homework assignment instructing children in one district to interview their parents about whether and why they would vote tomorrow. 'These are the typical kind of scare tactics that they involve themselves in,' Christie said about the 200,000-member New Jersey Education Association, which has been critical of his proposed $820 million cut in school aid. 'Scaring students in the classroom, scaring parents with the notes home in the bookbags, and the mandatory 'Project Democracy Homework' asking your parents about what they're going to do in the school board election, and reporting back to your teachers union representatives, using the students like drug mules to carry information back to the classroom, is reprehensible.'"

Emphasis in original.

For a thorough analysis of the stranglehold the Public Sector unions have on the state of California, and how we got here, read Steven Malanga's piece "How the Unions Broke California" in City Journal.

h/t Instapundit.

Bishop Brandt Pulls Support From Obamacare-Supporting Sisters

There are people inside the Church who are perfectly willing to sacrifice the unborn in the name of "social justice," and some of our bishops are responding.

Earlier this month Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island withdrew the Catholic hospital in his diocese from the rotten Catholic Healthcare Association.

Today LifeSiteNews reports:

"The Sisters of St. Joseph in Baden, Pennsylvania opposed the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops by supporting the Health Care Reform Bill. Now Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt of Greensburg has withdrawn his diocese's support for their community by prohibiting the use of any diocesan media or parishes in their recruitment efforts....

The Sisters of St. Joseph had signed a letter written by NETWORK, a Catholic 'social justice' lobbying group, which urged members of Congress "to cast a life affirming 'yes' vote" to the Senate Health Care Reform Bill. The USCCB as well as countless pro-life organizations had opposed the bill as seriously flawed and as opening the floodgates to federal funding of abortion.

Afterwards, the Sisters of St. Joseph requested promotional support from Greensburg parishes for a vocations awareness program called 'Explore,' which was meant to show teenage girls what it was like to be a sister. They were refused because of their signing of the letter.

Diocesan spokesman Jerry Zufelt pointed out that "...an environment of dissent and public opposition to the positions of the U.S. Catholic bishops does not provide an appropriate seedbed for vocations."

Absolutely right. Why would the Church want to help such a group grow?

Msgr. Lawrence T. Persico, the Greensburg diocese's vicar general, wrote a letter on April 8 to diocesan priests stating that no diocesan office, the diocesan newspaper, or any parish or event would "would promote a vocation awareness program of any religious community that has taken a stance against the United States bishops by being a signatory of the Network document."

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

No Prayer!

Sadly, prayer is on the line again according to a federal district court in Wisconsin, where a judge has ruled in favor of an atheist organization - declaring the National Day of Prayer UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

The lawsuit is yet another twisted legal attempt to remove prayer from public life.

THERE IS NO CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS HERE.

A day set aside for prayer for our country is a longstanding tradition. It's a day of recognizing prayer. No one is COMPELLED to take part.

Such observances not only reflect our nation's rich history, but are also consistent with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

The ACLJ is fighting to preserve the National Day of Prayer in court, all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States if necessary

Happy Birthday, dear Holy Father!

h/t American Papist.

Pope Benedict on the True Meaning of Mass

Wow! Wonderful letter from His Holiness to the Bishops of Brazil.

Emphasis added, but the whole thing could be bolded. From Rorate Caeli, h/t Fr. Z

"Speaking of the Eucharist, the Pope recalled that it constitutes "the centre and permanent source of the Petrine ministry, the heart of the Christian life, source and summit of the Church's mission of evangelization. You can thus understand the concern of the Successor of Peter for all that can obfuscate this most essential point of the Catholic faith: that today, Jesus Christ continues alive and truly present in the consecrated host and the chalice."

"Paying less attention at times to the rite of the Most Holy Sacrament constitutes," he said, "a sign and a cause of the darkening of the Christian sense of mystery, such as when Jesus is not the centre of the Mass, but rather a community preoccupied with other things instead of being taken up and drawn to the only one necessary: their Lord."

Benedict XVI emphasized that "if the figure of Christ does not emerge from the liturgy ... it is not a Christian liturgy". This is why, he added, "we find those who, in the name of enculturation, fall into syncretism, introducing rites taken from other religions or cultural particularities into the celebration of the Mass."

As Venerable John Paul II wrote, "the mystery of the Eucharist is 'too great a gift' to admit of ambiguities or reductions, above all when, 'stripped of its sacrificial meaning, it is celebrated as if it were simply a fraternal banquet'."

The Pope highlighted that "behind many alleged motives, there exists a mentality that is incapable of accepting the real possibility of divine intervention in this world to assist human beings. ... Admitting God's redeeming intervention to change our situation of alienation and sin is seen as fundamentalism by those who share a deist vision and the same can be said about the sacramental sign that makes the salvific sacrifice present. For such persons, the celebration of a sign that corresponds to a vague sentiment of community would be more acceptable."

"Worship, however," he continued, "cannot come from our imagination: that would be a cry in the darkness or mere self-affirmation. True liturgy supposes that God responds and shows us how we can adore Him. ... The Church lives in His presence and its reason for being and existing is to expand His presence in the world."

San Francisco Tea Party Photos

It was very nice.

It was from 4-7PM, but I had to leave at 4:45 to go to a meeting. There was a wonderful group of young women (maybe 7-16 years old) singing the hymns of the different Armed Services, plus America the Beautiful. Gave me chills!

Hundreds of people were already there when I left, and more coming in. Here are some photos, courtesy of Kelly C:

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

"They talk about making a better country for their grandchildren"

Today is San Francisco Tea Party Day! 4PM to 7PM at Union Square.

Kathryn Jean Lopez writes in the Corner:

"I keep hearing from people on their way to — or planning to head to — a tea-party/tax-day protest today. These people are in the best moods I've ever heard from Americans on an April 15th, ever.

Two things that stand out from the "tea party" crowd this morning so far: a) They talk about making a better country for their grandchildren. b) They are overwhelmingly women."

Cardinal George? Are you There? Hello?

By now this is all over the Catholic blogosphere. Fr. Pflueger or whatever the hell his name is. Reminds me of Jim Jones.





Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Tomorrow: The San Francisco Tea Party

It's Thursday April 15 from 4-7 PM at Union Square. And here's why the Tea Parties are so important. The Democratic leadership in the Senate is proposing another $23 BILLION bailout.

From the Corner:

"Democratic leadership in the Senate is proposing a $23 billion 'emergency' fund that would act as a stopgap for states considering layoffs — primarily in education — to overcome budget deficits.

While nobody wants to see widespread teacher layoffs, let there be no mistake: this bill would represent yet another unpaid-for (hence the 'emergency' bit, which lets Dems get around PAYGO rules) bailout to favored Democratic constituencies, namely powerful teacher and municipal unions. And it would allow state and local governments to once again put off getting their fiscal houses in order."

Meanwhile, Governor Palin addressed a crowd of thousands today at the Boston Tea Party.

For more info about the SF Tea Party visit Bay Area Patriots.

Do we?

More than ever we need to be reminded of our national motto.

The U.S. two-cent coin was minted between 1864 and 1873 and was the first coin to bear the motto "In God We Trust". The motto was omitted from the new gold coins issued in 1907, causing a storm of public criticism. As a result, legislation passed in May 1908 made "In God We Trust" mandatory on all coins on which it had previously appeared. Legislation approved July 11, 1955, made the appearance of "In God We Trust" man-datory on all coins and paper currency of the United States. By Act of July 30, 1956, "In God We Trust" became the national motto of the United States.

Congress Revoked Their Own Coverage When they Passed Obamacare

Well, well, well.

The New York Times is reporting that Congress revoked their own healthcare coverage.

From HotAir, via Instapundit (read the whole thing):

"The perfect ending to a day that saw support for repealing O-Care reach a new high in Rasmussen (58 percent) and support for The One reach a new weekly low in Gallup (47 percent). Turns out that fantastically long, mind-bogglingly complex bills which no one has actually read may create unintended consequences. Remember how they forgot to require insurers to cover kids with preexisting conditions? Oh, and they forgot initially to let young adults be covered by their parents’ insurance until Reid fixed it in reconciliation. Now this. Who knew that when Pelosi said they’d have to pass the bill so that people could find out what’s in it, “people” meant Congress?

I’d call it comedy gold if not for the obvious point raised by the Times: “If they did not know exactly what they were doing to themselves, did lawmakers who wrote and passed the bill fully grasp the details of how it would influence the lives of other Americans?”

Same-sex "Marriage" Initiative Won't Qualify for 2010 Ballot

From Reuters:

"Los Angeles-based Love Honor Cherish carried out a volunteer-driven signature-gathering effort after large groups decided there was not enough time to ensure victory this year, even with some polls showing more than 50 percent support for same-sex marriage.

A 150-day period to gather signatures to place the question on the ballot ended on Monday.

Courts and state legislatures have legalized same-sex marriage in five U.S. states and the District of Columbia, but popular votes have always rejected such unions, which are illegal in the vast majority of U.S. states."

The poll showing 50%+ support is misleading--due to the foolish tactic of labelling anyone who opposes same-sex "marriage" a bigot, support for natural marriage always turns out to be considerably larger on election day than people were willing to tell the pollsters. That's what happened in Maine.

Same-sex "marriage" activists are now pinning their hopes on Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling. As we reported back in February, Hastings Law School Professor Calvin Massey said the arguments made by the activists were "simply ludicrous" but also that he expects Judge Vaughn Walker to rule in favor of the plaintiffs anyway (so do we), but also that it "does not matter a lot what Judge Walker does" because the case will be decided by appeal.

If JudgeWalker rules soon, and he rules in favor of the same-sex "marriage" activists, the Senate hearings on the replacement for retiring Justice Stevens will be pure dynamite.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

"Obstinate Betrayal"

Wow! Archbishop Burke calls out Sr. Keehan, Nancy Pelosi, the CHA, the LCRW & the Whole Sick Crew.

Read American Papist for the full story.

"Kind of like holding a Seder meal after Kristallnacht"

LifeNews is reporting that Notre Dame University has issued a statement affirming "its committee (sic) to the defense of human life in all its stages."

"Consistent with the teaching of the Catholic Church on such issues as abortion, research involving human embryos, euthanasia, the death penalty, and other related life issues, the University of Notre Dame recognizes and upholds the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death."

As a friend said, that's kind of like holding a Seder meal after Kristallnacht.

The support and cover Jenkins and Notre Dame gave to President Obama helped to pass Obamacare with its federally funded abortion. It does not matter what Jenkins or the University say now—the damage has been done.

The critical moment was when Jenkins had a chance to use the Church’s moral authority against the pro-abortion Barack Obama. He didn’t do it--he did the opposite, awarding Obama a platform and an honorary degree, thus paving the way for the Catholic Health Association and those loathsome nuns to sabotage the Bishops and enable the publicly funded killing of the unborn.

As we reported Friday, Jenkins will be the commencement speaker at USF this May. And as we reported in the California Catholic Daily, on March 11 USF hosted a conference showcasing speakers from groups that provide "emergency contraception" (which, depending on the circumstances will be abortion), facilitate and enable abortion, support partial-birth abortion and consider partial-birth abortionist Dr. Paul Tiller to be a hero.

Let's see if Fr. Jenkins will use his forum at the commencement ceremony to condemn the University of San Francisco for hosting those groups. Let's see how genuine his commitment to "recognizing and upholding the sanctity of human life" really is.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Proud Catholic

We know that media reporting is generally biased towards bad and sensational news. It appears especially at this time in the attacks on the Church and the Pope. Why would newspapers carry on a vendetta on one of the most important institutions that we have today in the United States, namely the Catholic Church?

A sin is a sin and we must not condone it, but there is much goodness and hope in our world that we must be aware and be proud of.

We Catholics have much to be proud of, thanks to a Prominent Jewish Businessman who is not a Catholic. God sure did use him mightily in writing/researching these facts.

Proud of Being Catholic (Excerpts of an article written by Sam Miller, prominent Clveland Jewish businessman -( NOT CATHOLIC )

Do you know - the Catholic Church educates 2.6 million students everyday at the cost to your Church of 10 billion dollars, and a savings on the other hand to the American taxpayer of 18 billion dollars. Your graduates go on to graduate studies at the rate of 92%, all at a cost to you. To the rest of the Americans it's free.

The Church has 230 colleges and universities in the U.S. with an enrollment of 700,000 students. The Catholic Church has a non-profit hospital system of 637 hospitals, which account for hospital treatment of 1 out of every 5 people - not just Catholics - in the United States today.

But the press is vindictive and trying to totally denigrate in every way the Catholic Church in this country. They have blamed the disease of pedophilia on the Catholic Church, which is as irresponsible as blaming adultery on the institution of marriage.

At this point in our original posting of his letter, Mr. Miller cited statistics indicating rates of sexual misconduct among Protestant Ministers, one of which claimed that "10% of the Protestant ministers have been found guilty of pedophilia." The Reverend Rob Pollock of Vancouver B.C. showed us that this statistic was false. We thank the Rev. Pollock, and have removed the entire paragraph which compared rates of sexual misconduct among Catholic priests and Protestant Ministers. We apologize. The Reverend Pollock's email, which alerted us to the error, and which traces the roots of the erroneous statistic to an article in Sojourners magazine, is posted in the comments section below. To continue with Mr. Miller's letter:

This is not a Catholic problem. A study of American priests showed that most are happy in the priesthood and find it even better than they had expected, and that most, if given the choice, would choose to be priests again in face of all this obnoxious PR the church has been receiving.

The Catholic Church is bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. The agony that Catholics have felt and suffered is not necessarily the fault of the Church. You have been hurt by a small number of wayward priests that have probably been totally weeded out by now. Walk with your shoulders high and you head higher. Be a proud member of the most important non-governmental agency in the United States. -Then remember what was written in Jeremiah: "Thus says the Lord: Stand by the earliest roads, ask the pathways of old. Which is the way to good, and walk it; thus you will find rest for your souls." (Jer 6: 16).

Be Proud to speak up for your faith with pride and reverence and learn what your Church does for all other religions. ..... Be Proud That You're A Catholic.... .. OR not yet a Catholic

Tho are interested in the full text: http://fratres. wordpress. com/2008/ 06/24/redemption -comes-through- the-jews- jewish-businessm an-sam-miller- whaps-anti- catholic- bias-in-news- media-full- text/
Submitted by Dee Lynd.18 April 2008

Pray for the People of Poland

Terrible tragedy.

Let us pray for our brothers and sisters in Poland.

"President Lech Kaczynski and scores of other senior Polish figures have been killed in a plane crash in Russia.

Polish and Russian officials said no-one survived after the plane apparently hit trees as it approached Smolensk airport in thick fog.

Poland's army chief, central bank governor, MPs and leading historians were among more than 80 passengers.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the crash was the most tragic event of the country's post-World War II history."

BREAKING: Fr. Jenkins of ND, Lloyd Dean of CHW to be USF Commencement Speakers

On May 21-22, the 2010 commencement exercises at the Jesuit University of San Francisco will take place.

The commencement speaker for the USF School of Education and Nursing is Mr. Lloyd Dean, President and CEO of Catholic Healthcare West. Mr. Dean, who earned $5.8 million in 2005, and was a donor to the Barack Obama campaign, was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle on March 28 applauding the recent passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) with the words “This historic legislation is the first step in the most profound change in health care policy in my lifetime.” Mr. Dean expressed no concern over the PPACA’s public funding of abortion which so troubled the Catholic bishops, not to mention a majority of American citizens.

Three days before Mr. Dean’s statement, on March 25, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a detailed legal analysis of the recently passed PPACA. The analysis showed how, among other things, the PPACA will: 1) violate the Hyde Amendment; 2) provide public funding for abortion, and 3) omit key conscience protections. The analysis further showed how the much ballyhooed “executive order” of President Obama can, legally, do nothing to address these issues.

Catholic Healthcare West is one of the largest members of the Catholic Healthcare Association. On March 11, 2010 the CHA issued their now famous letter to congress supporting the passage of the PPACA. The letter ignored the position of the Church that a healthcare bill that does not defend the right to life must be opposed. The responses to the CHA’s letter, on the part of the Catholic bishops were voluminous. That of Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island addressed to Sr. Carol Keehan, Chief Executive of the CHA, is representative:

“Your enthusiastic support of the legislation, in contradiction to the position of the Bishops of the United States, provided an excuse for members of Congress, misled the public and cause serious scandal for many members of the Church…”

It is disturbing, to say the least, that the graduating nurses at an ostensibly Catholic university, who may in the future be victimized for their fidelity to Catholic moral teaching, will be addressed by a man who contributed to the stripping of medical conscience protections. Mr. Dean will also be awarded an honorary degree.

A second Commencement speaker will be Mr. Dale Minami. Mr. Minami is being honored by the USF School of Law. He is a partner with Minami, Lew and Tamaki LLP. Mr. Minami is an outspoken and effective advocate for same-sex “marriage.” On December 8, 2007 Minami, Lew and Tamaki sponsored the Holiday Love 2007 Fundraiser in San Francisco. The fundraiser benefited “Asian Pacific Islander Equality” (API Equality), an advocacy group supporting same sex “marriage.” This is not too surprising--the honoring of same-sex marriage advocates has become a given at USF Law School. Last year’s commencement speaker for the school of law was San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris—an advocate for same-sex “marriage.” In the past, we have reported how every single person, without exception, honored at USF’s annual Public Interest Law Foundation gala, has been a major supporter of same-sex “marriage. Mr. Minami will be awarded an honorary degree.

A third speaker is Fr. John Jenkins of the University of Notre Dame. Fr. Jenkins will address the Graduate Students in the College of Arts and Sciences. Fr. Jenkins was not too well known before around the end of 2008. That’s when it became known that he had invited pro-abortion President Barack Obama to be Commencement Speaker and receive an honorary degree at his University. Fr. Jenkins’ invitation resulted in a firestorm of opposition—including from his own bishop. It also produced an unprecedented show of united disapproval towards one of their own by the American Catholic Bishops. At least 83 bishops publicly went on record in opposition to Fr. Jenkins invitation. Since no other particular accomplishment of Fr. Jenkins immediately springs to mind, it seems reasonable to assume that he is being honored for this action. Like President Obama at Notre Dame, Fr. Jenkins will be awarded an honorary degree.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

"Government of its employees, by its employees, for its employees" part II

Earlier today we posted about the stranglehold the government of California has around the neck of the citizens. Many people have been writing about this distaster, and here is a sentence that encapsulates the situation beautifully:

"Approximately 22,000 California teachers have just received "pink slips" indicating that they may be laid off due to budget cuts next fall. An additional 20,000 were laid off last year. California is cutting "live" teachers out of classrooms in order to pay for retired teachers."

That's from Jane Jamison writing in the American Thinker.

Down Flag

Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti , the United States rushed in to help - with money, medicine, and manpower. To date, we've already given over $179 million in humanitarian aid... but Barack Obama has just ordered all U.S. installations to take down their American flags, lest we be seen as an "occupying army" rather than "international partners."

It is patently appalling that a president of the United States would consider our flag to be a symbol of militaristic takeovers and colonialism, especially when serving (to a greater degree than any other nation on Earth) a humanitarian purpose.Additionally, who would think we'd want to occupy Haiti ?! No other country giving aid in Haiti has lowered its flag. But then again, no other country has a leader who is offended by their own flag

"Government of its employees, by its employees and for its employees"

California strangled by it's government, cont: From an op-ed in the L.A. Times:

"The state of California's real unfunded pension debt clocks in at more than $500 billion, nearly eight times greater than officially reported.

That's the finding from a study released Monday by Stanford University's public policy program, confirming a recent report with similar, stunning findings from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.

To put that number in perspective, it's almost seven times greater than all the outstanding voter-approved state general obligation bonds in California.....

How did we get here? The answer is simple: For decades -- and without voter consent -- state leaders have been issuing billions of dollars of debt in the form of unfunded pension and healthcare promises, then gaming accounting rules in order to understate the size of those promises.

As we saw during the recent financial crisis, hiding debt is not a new phenomenon. Indeed, General Motors did something similar to obscure the true cost of its retirement promises. Through aggressive accounting, for a while it, too, got away with making pension contributions that were a fraction of what it really needed to make, thereby reporting better earnings than was truly the case.

But eventually the pension promises come due, and for GM, that meant having to add extra costs to its cars, making its prices less attractive to consumers and contributing to its eventual bankruptcy.

In California's case, past pension underfunding means reduced funding of current programs. This explains why pension costs rose 2,000% from 1999 to 2009, while state funding for higher education declined over the same period. "

The Stanford University study being cited is here.

Would we see this today? A Soldier's Bible

A friend picked up this pocket-size New Testament at the "Little Sisters of the Poor" yard sale. These were issued to our troops during WWII.

Click on the image for a larger version.






I can't imagine this dedication being written today, and we probably could not win WWII today either.

Archbishop Gomez Gets It

He understands that the problems with Obamacare are not limited to the usage of taxpayers money to fund abortion. This is from a statement he made following the passage of Obamacare in the Congress back in November 2009:

"As the legislation now moves to the Senate, many questions remain—not only about abortion but about the basic structure of the reforms being contemplated.

Though as Catholics we believe that health care is a basic right and that government has a proper role in ensuring access to these services, the question remains how and to what extent the government should be involved.

I still have questions about whether this legislation is the best vehicle to advance the needs of low-income Americans and the uninsured. I worry about the cost and the level of government involvement in the marketplace. I am very concerned about the possible erosion of the principle of subsidiarity in some of the current reform proposals."

His Excellency's full statement is here.

HELP the California Human Rights Amendment!

To get on the ballot the California Human Rights Amendment needs to collect 1.2 million signatures by mid-April. It is sponsored by pro-life hero Walter Hoye.

The California Human Rights Amendment is simple and straightforward:

"The term "person" applies to all living human organisms from the beginning of their biological development, regardless of the means by which they were procreated, method of reproduction, age, race, sex, gender, physical well-being, function, or condition of physical or mental dependency and/or disability. "

You can download petitions here.

1. Either petition download you choose comes with instructions. Please be sure to read them. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us by clicking here.

2. Again, legal size paper is required. All petitions are designed in gray scale, so be sure you have plenty of black ink for your printer.

3. VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: Please remember to mail all completed petitions to this address:
California Human Rights Amendment — P.O. Box 711659, Santee, CA 92072-1659.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

It's Archbishop Gomez for L.A!

Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio has been named to lead the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
He sounds like a great choice to lead the nation's largest Archdiocese. He's young (58), was born in Monterrey, Mexico, and has a long affiliation with Opus Dei.

The LA Times blog says:

"If his personal history is any guide, he also could be expected to lead the Los Angeles church along a more traditional — some would say conservative — path than Mahony, known as one of the most progressive archbishops in the country and an impassioned fighter for immigrants’ rights."

Archbishop Gomez on the life issues:

Abortion:

"Noting that “culture of life” issues are often “dismissed as purely religious issues,” he charged that this characterization is “inaccurate.”

“These issues deal with the most fundamental concerns of human civilization,” the archbishop explained. “The strong moral teaching at the foundation of these issues does not disqualify them from deserving serious public discussion, nor deny the impact they have on the common good.”

The labeling of abortion opponents as “one issue” voters, he argued, might keep people from confronting the “moral gravity” of taking an innocent human life.

The label “also avoids the reality that abortion is an issue that affects all segments of our society,” Archbishop Gomez continued, saying that the right to life is the “primary right” guaranteed in the Declaration of Independence.

“Unless we protect this fundamental right of each human person, at all stages of life, no other issue or liberty matters,” he stated.

On Obama's visit to Notre Dame:

Writing to Notre Dame's Bishop John D'Arcy from the Texas diocese of San Antonio, Bishop José Gomez and auxiliary bishop Oscar Cantú said in a March 31 letter that they were "saddened by the circumstances that made you decide not to attend" commencement ceremonies, and expressed "total support" of the bishop's action and motives.

"President Obama has made it clear that his policies on abortion and the general protection of innocent life are in dramatic opposition to the teachings of the Catholic Church," wrote the bishops. "At this critical time we cannot afford to send an ambiguous message to the leaders of our people."

On Nancy Pelosi, theologian:

"In the course of a “Meet the Press” interview on abortion and other public issues on August 24, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi misrepresented the history and nature of the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church against abortion.

In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law." (No. 2271)

In the Middle Ages, uninformed and inadequate theories about embryology led some theologians to speculate that specifically human life capable of receiving an immortal soul may not exist until a few weeks into pregnancy. While in canon law these theories led to a distinction in penalties between very early and later abortions, the Church’s moral teaching never justified or permitted abortion at any stage of development.

These mistaken biological theories became obsolete over 150 years ago when scientists discovered that a new human individual comes into being from the union of sperm and egg at fertilization. In keeping with this modern understanding, the Church teaches that from the time of conception (fertilization), each member of the human species must be given the full respect due to a human person, beginning with respect for the fundamental right to life."

On the Traditional Latin Mass:

"Archbishop Gomez sent a letter to every parish in the city informing them of his decision to have the local, former "indult" TLM community move from its former place in a tiny chapel behind a nursing home to one of the biggest parishes in the city. The attendance was estimated at 450 people, and the comments the people made afterward were overwhelmingly positive."

His Excellency also made a video in Spanish for the USCCB in defense of marriage. It is here.

"Inestimable Harm to America"

The great Ward Connerly speaks out against irresponsible, politically motivated charges of racism. From the Corner:

"If I have learned one thing from life, it is that race is the engine that drives the political Left. When all else fails, that segment of America goes to the default position of using race to achieve its objectives. In the courtrooms, on college campuses, and, most especially, in our politics, race is a central theme. Where it does not naturally rise to the surface, there are those who will manufacture and amplify it.

Such is the case with the claims that the “Tea Partiers” are a bunch of racists and that many of them spat upon members of the Congressional Black Caucus and called them “n*****s.” I am convinced beyond any doubt that all of this is part of the strategic plan being implemented by the Left in its current campaign to remake America.

In a video that has been played repeatedly showing CBC members as they walked past the tea partiers, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is seen using his telephone to tape the event. If he had any evidence to corroborate the racial claims, why hasn’t he come forward with his phone by now to settle this matter? I believe we all know the answer.

I agree with earlier Corner posts on the matter: By their reckless accusations, those who are alleging “racism” without evidence are doing inestimable harm to the social fabric of America."

April 5 Obamacare update

Bishops' Analysis: Obama's Executive Order meaningless (in case anybody was still biting).

Reuters: Obamacare "Victory" has Democrats in hiding.

CBS News: Obama drops 5 points to new low following passage of bill.

Gallup: Democrats generic "Favorable" rating lowest since 1992.

Rasmussen: Tea Party 48%, Obama 44%.

Breitbart: New media exposes Democrats phony "racism" and "spitting" calumnies. Andrew has also offered a $100,000 reward to anyone who can provide evidence that the "n-word" was used at Washington protest.

Meanwhile, Rep. Cleaver withdraws charge that anyone spit on him--and denies he ever said it in the first place! Go here to see the press release from his office saying someone spat on him.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Ever-enduring Sacrifice

"We are now approaching that most sacred day when we commemorate Christ’s passion and death. Let us try to fix our minds upon this great thought. Let us try, what is so very difficult, to put off other thoughts, to clear our minds of things transitory, temporal, and earthly, and to occupy them with the contemplation of the Eternal Priest and His one ever-enduring Sacrifice." - Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman