USF Update: Cardinal Newman Society catches them touting Planned Parenthood

From the CNS website:

"The University of San Francisco is scandalously suggesting to students that being a director at a Planned Parenthood clinic is a future job possibility.

The Jesuit institution’s School of Nursing and Health Professions website lists under the banner Careers in Public Health,'Director for Planned Parenthood.' The site promotes USF’s Master's in Public Health Nursing degree with suggestions of future job possibilities."

Following CNS's exposure, the Jesuit school has pulled the reference, but here is a screenshot from the cached webpage:

John XXIII & John Paul II to be Canonized on Divine Mercy Sunday!

Wonderful news!

Blessed John XXXIII and John Paul II, pray for us!

Barilla Pasta Boss Tells Truth, Gets Hammered

Guido Barilla apparently thinks a culture where "Heather Has No Daddy" is not a desirable state of affairs.

From The Guardian:

"For us the concept of the sacred family remains one of the basic values of the company," he told Italian radio on Wednesday evening. "I would not do it but not out of a lack of respect for homosexuals who have the right to do what they want without bothering others … [but] I don't see things like they do and I think the family that we speak to is a classic family."

Now, of course, he's getting the Maoist/Nazi/Stalinist/Khmer Rouge/Homosexualist re-education, and Barilla officials are grovelling in obeisance to the almighty buck, but the truth can't be untold. The Guardian article goes on to say that he is in favor of counterfeit "marriage" but is against same-sex couples adopting children. You're dealing with a totalitarian movement, Signor Barilla. You won't be allowed to make those kinds of distinctions. As pro same-sex "marriage" supporter Professor John Corvino said “Whichever side prevails in this debate, the other’s views will be marginalized. There’s no getting around that.”

More justification, if more were needed, for the Russian anti-propaganda law.  As Russian Consul Sergey Petrov said “Family, motherhood and childhood in the traditional sense are values that lead to the preservation and development (of Russia, and) therefore require special protection from the state."

Providence College Changes Mind; Dr. Ed Peters Comments

Here's Dr. Ed Peter's take, given after the college had rescinded the invitation to Dr. John Corvino (see previous post), a supporter of counterfeit "marriage." It's valid regardless of Dr. Corvino's being reinvited, disinvited, or never invited. Emphases added:

What was there to debate at Providence?

About Drs. John Corvino and Dana Dillon, and about Providence College, I know next to nothing, and so can say next to nothing; about the ‘gay marriage’ debate—or at least about some Catholic principles applicable to the ‘gay marriage’ debate—I know something and so can say something.

Inviting a speaker to a college campus to address a volatile issue and offering (if belatedly) to provide a rebuttal speaker, but then cancelling the whole event apparently because management doesn’t like the views to be expressed by the original speaker, is the stuff of which higher education public relations disasters are made. But while Providence College works through its image problems (and, given the institutional identification with the Catholic Church, while the Church faces yet another PR mess not of her own making), it might help to step back and ask, what exactly was to be debated at the Providence ‘gay marriage’ debate in the first place?

Considering her age (+2,000 years), her membership (+1,000,000,000), and her range of concerns (eternal salvation and human civilization), the Catholic Church has a remarkably short list of non-negotiable assertions. Some of these non-negotiable assertions deal with dogma (e.g., Jesus is divine and human, or, there are exactly seven sacraments) and some of these non-negotiable assertions deal with doctrines (e.g., the Church has no power to ordain women to priesthood, or Thomas More is a saint) but in both cases, the assertion being made is, Catholics hold, being made with infallible certainty.

Now, among the assertions made by the Church with infallible certainty, I have argued, is this one: God made marriage to exist between one man and one woman. Catholics could debate, say, whether this assertion is a dogma to be believed or a doctrine to be held, or whether the assertion is knowable by reason alone or requires the gift of faith. Catholics could even debate whether civil unions of one sort or another between two persons of the same sex are good for society or bad. But Catholics cannot, I suggest, argue whether true marriage exists only between one man and one woman. To debate whether marriage can exist between two persons of the same sex is to imply that some Catholic non-negotiables can be negotiated by Catholics.

No wonder an event purporting to do exactly that ran aground. Little wonder that the attempt to explain away the shipwreck on grounds of, say, the 2004 USCCB statement or the lack of prep time afforded one participant, rings so badly. Neither of those considerations gets at the heart of the matter: Catholics cannot hold marriage to be other than the union of one man and one woman.

Providence College Follows Church, Denies Platform to Counterfeit "Marriage" Supporter

Good to see. From the New York Times:

"Providence College, a Roman Catholic school in Rhode Island, has canceled a lecture in support of same-sex marriage on Thursday by a gay philosophy professor, citing a church document that says that “Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles.” 

Excellent. This is why that Church document was written.

"The lecturer, John Corvino, chairman of the philosophy department at Wayne State University, in Detroit, has spoken previously at more than 10 Catholic colleges and often appears in friendly debates with religious opponents of gay marriage. His appearance at Providence College had been co-sponsored by nine departments and programs, and some of the organizers said the cancellation surprised them." 

I'll bet it did. May the surprises increase!

Do Christians in America care about Christians in the Middle East?

A reporter named Lee Stranahan has arrived in Beirut. His mission is to cover the horrible situation facing Christians in the Middle East--the birthplace of the faith. We will be following his reporting.

From his first dispatch:

"Even before I got to Lebanon, I got some confirmation of my suspicion that the plight of Middle Eastern Christians may not be a big news story in the United States but it’s a real, major crisis and people connected to it in this part of the want to talk about it.

On the plane into Beirut, I sat next to a man named Fadi, a Lebanese native and Maronite Christian who was now living in France. His father had passed away in Lebanon a few months ago and now the family was getting together for a memorial.

We talked about the strikes by the Syrian rebels agains the town of Maaloula that I’ve written about for Breitbart News. I explained how most Americans weren’t really paying much attention to what was going on in Syria until President Barack Obama began to talk about attacking it recently. Fadi asked me:

'The Christians in the United States, do they care about what’s happening to the Christians here?'”

"Well, that’s the question for Americans, isn’t it? That’s the question for you, really.

So far, the media has decided you don’t care. The Obama administration appears to pinned their foreign policy public approval hopes in the Middle East on the notion that Americans will either not notice or not care what’s been happening to Christians here."

Well, our own government is now supporting those in Syria who have driven the Christians out. There does not seem to be any Christian solidarity in America, nor any political power. One way to help and learn more is rescuechristians.org 

78 Christians Murdered by Muslim Fanatics in Pakistan

Let us pray for our brothers and sisters, Christians throughout the world, who are being murdererd on a daily basis. An all-too-familiar story, via the New York Times.

"PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide attack on a historic church in northwestern Pakistan killed at least 78 people on Sunday in one of the deadliest attacks on the Christian minority in Pakistan in years.

The attack occurred as worshipers left All Saints Church in the old quarter of the regional capital, Peshawar, after a service on Sunday morning. Up to 600 people had attended and were leaving to receive free food being distributed on the lawn outside when two explosions ripped through the crowd. “As soon as the service finished and the food was being distributed, all of a sudden we heard one explosion, followed by another,” said Azim Ghori, a witness.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who arrived in Peshawar on Sunday evening, said that 78 people had been killed, including 34 women and 7 children. “Such an attack on women and children is against humanity,” he said. Akhtar Ali Shah, the home secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, said that more than 100 people had been wounded. Mr. Khan said that 37 of those were children....

In March, a Muslim mob swarmed through a Christian neighborhood in the eastern city of Lahore, burning two churches and more than 100 houses. Christians also frequently find themselves accused of blasphemy under Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws.

In a statement, (Prime Minister Nawaz) Sharif said, “The terrorists have no religion, and targeting innocent people is against the teachings of Islam and all religions.” The Pakistan Ulema Council, the largest clerical body, also condemned the blast, saying that the council was “standing with our Christian brothers in this tragedy.” The opposition leader Imran Khan, who has advocated initiating peace talks with the militants, expressed solidarity with the Christian community but also repeated his call to tackle terrorism in the country."

Mary Help of Christians, pray for us!

Cardinal Burke Teaches it: Nancy Pelosi Must Be Denied Commuion

The great Cardinal Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura stated in no uncertain terms that my Congresswoman, Nancy Pelosi, MUST be denied Holy Communion. The Cardinal made the statement in an interview with The Wanderer, parts of which were reprinted in LifeSiteNews. From the LSN article:

"Asked about Pelosi, he said, 'Certainly this is a case when Canon 915 must be applied.'

Canon 915 states that those who are 'obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.'

'This is a person who obstinately, after repeated admonitions, persists in a grave sin — cooperating with the crime of procured abortion — and still professes to be a devout Catholic,' the cardinal said. 'I fear for Congresswoman Pelosi if she does not come to understand how gravely in error she is. I invite her to reflect upon the example of St. Thomas More who acted rightly in a similar situation even at the cost of his life.'

Canon Lawyer Ed Peters, who since 2010 has been a Referendary of the Apostolic Signatura has been making the same point for years. In March of 2010, he wrote:

"Now, I suggest that there is no US Catholic politician whose conduct at the national level is more stridently and widely pro-abortion (to name just one area in which Pelosi's machinations are gravely objectionable) and whose scandalous rhetoric is more overtly Catholic (many of her bizarre assertions the bishops have had to stop and refute) than is Nancy Pelosi's. If her prolonged public conduct does not qualify as obstinent perseverance in manifest grave sin, then, in all sincerity, I must admit to not knowing what would constitute obstinent perseverance in manifest grave sin."

And of course my old boss, Fr. Malloy (may he pray for us!) called out Pelosi back in 2007.

The Cardinal's full interview is well worth reading. He also discusses the Holy Father, the benefits of the increased celebration of Mass in the Extraordinary Form, the diabolical attack on the family, the deline in Mass attendance, and the increasingly totalitarian direction of the U.S.

Pope Francis to Doctors: "The first right of the human person is his life"

It's strangely necessary, in our time to belabor the obvious. But strange and irritating though it may be, we still are not excused from doing it, as the Holy Father knows. Here's what he told a group of Catholic gynecologists, courtesy of Vatican information services (emphases added):

Vatican City, 20 September 2013 (VIS) – Today the Pope met with members of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations and Catholic gynaecologists, and spoke of the current paradoxical situation of the medical profession. “On the one hand we see progress in the field of medicine, thanks to the work of scientists who passionately and unreservedly dedicate themselves to the search for new cures. On the other hand, however, we also encounter the risk that doctors lose sight of their identity in the service of life”. He referred to the Encyclical Caritas in Veritate to explain that this paradoxical situation is seen also in the fact that, “while new rights are attributed to or indeed almost presumed by the individual, life is not always protected as the primary value and the primordial right of every human being. The ultimate aim of medicine remains the defence and promotion of life”. Faced with this contradictory situation, the Pope renewed the Church's appeal to the conscience of all healthcare professionals and volunteers, especially gynaecologists. “Yours is a singular vocation and mission, which necessitates study, conscience and humanity”, he said.

Again, Francis spoke of the “throwaway culture” that leads to the elimination of human beings, especially those who are physically and socially weakest. “Our response to this mentality is a 'yes' to life, decisive and without hesitation. 'The first right of the human person is his life. He has other goods and some are precious, but this one is fundamental – the condition for all the others'”

(In the preceding paragraph His Holiness is obviously speaking of abortion, and the illogical elevation of a right to choice over the right to life.)

Reiterating that in recent times, human life in its entirety has become a priority for the Magisterium of the Church, the Pope emphasised that “goods have a price and can be sold, but people have dignity, they are worth more than goods and have no price”.

Francis asked those present to “bear witness to and disseminate this 'culture of life' … remind all, through actions and words, that in all its phases and at any age, life is always sacred and always of quality. And not as a matter of faith, but of reason and science! There is no human life more sacred than another, just as there exists no human life qualitatively more meaningful than another”.
.

Nicely said. AB Broglio's Statement: "Reiterates Church teaching on homosexuality"

On September 17, His Excellency Archbishop Timothy Broglio, our good Archbishop for the Military Services, issued the following clarification for Catholics and especially Catholic Chaplains, when they "encounter ministry situations involving Catholic or non-Catholic parties in same gender “marital” relationships."

The press release was headlined "Statement reiterates Church teaching on homosexuality"and provides clarity and the proper Catholic responses to concrete situations. God bless him!

Renewed Fidelity in favor of Evangelization

As members of the Church founded by Jesus Christ to meet the needs of the baptized and to proclaim that good news about the salvation given by Him, we are also aware of His clear teaching about the danger of scandal (Mt. 18:6). This world is a pilgrimage to life without end. At the conclusion of our walk through life we must stand before the Throne of Grace to give an accounting of our fidelity.

St. Paul reminds priests to be all things to all people (1Cor. 9:22). A clear disservice is rendered if the truth of the Gospel is confused by the actions of those ordained to disseminate that truth. The current situation makes it necessary to reiterate with clarity the teaching of the Catholic Church regarding homosexuality. However, it must never be forgotten that the human condition occasions many failings. St. Paul continually reminds us of that fact in his letters to the communities of believers.

Priests ordained to minister Word and Sacrament and endorsed to serve Catholics in the Armed Forces, the Veterans Administration Medical Centers, and those who serve the US Federal Government outside the borders of the United States of America know that theirs is a twenty-four-seven vocation. By speech, action, and example they witness to the truth revealed by the Lord in all that they do (see Eph. 4:14).

Recent changes in interpretations of the laws of the Federal Government oblige me to recall what is clearly held by the Catholic Church. At the same time I am grateful to the Congress of the United States for its passage of renewed conscience-protection language, specifically for chaplains in the Armed Forces.

Ministry

No Catholic priest or deacon may be forced by any authority to witness or bless the union of couples of the same gender. No Catholic priest or deacon can be obliged to assist at a “Strong Bonds” or other “Marriage Retreat”, if that gathering is also open to couples of the same gender. A priest who is asked to counsel non-Catholic parties in a same-gendered relationship will direct them to a chaplain who is able to assist. Catholic parties will, of course, be encouraged by the priest to strive to live by the teaching of the Gospel.

Participation in retirements, changes of command, and promotion ceremonies is possible, as long as the priest is not required to acknowledge or approve of a “spouse” of the same gender.

While the tradition of the Catholic Church always tries to find reasons to bury the dead, a priest may not be placed in a situation where his assistance at a funeral for a Catholic would give the impression that the Church approves of same sex “marital” relationships (see CIC, c. 1184, §1,3º). In the case of doubt, the Archbishop for the Military Services, USA must be consulted (see CIC, c. 1184, §2).

 
Lay Ministries

Obviously, anyone who is known to be in a sinful relationship is excluded from ministries in the Catholic community. While this list is not intended to cover every situation, lectors, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, altar servers, catechists, and members of the Catholic Council immediately come to mind.

Participation

We are also mindful of the Lord’s words, “Let the one among you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone…” (Jn. 8:7b). The Church must minister to all regardless of their sexual inclination. While the invitation to conversion cannot be diluted, the door to the mercy of Christ, obtained through His Cross, must be kept open. Priests and deacons will be guided by the principles of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (cf. nos. 2358-2359) and never forget that it is the sin that is hated and never the sinner.

In the quest for continued fidelity to the truth of the Gospel, it must not be forgotten that estimates indicate that same-gender couples represent less than half of one percent of those in the Armed Forces. While every individual is important, such a small group cannot be allowed to mandate policy for all.

Guidance for Catholics in Command Positions

I am not unaware that the faithful entrusted to my pastoral care also include those Catholics who exercise command positions. They can be faced with additional questions as they fulfill their responsibilities to those above and below them in the chain of command. Consequently in response to a doubt raised by the AMS regarding the question of a person’s possible cooperation with evil, the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) stated:

“Commanders of United States military installations/veterans’ facilities (hereafter, ‘commanders’) would not be engaging in morally illicit cooperation, but rather tolerable remote mediate material cooperation with evil by implementing federal employee benefits accruing pursuant to same-sex marriage, as required by United States v. Windsor. Our determination is contingent on the situations in which commanders are unable to avoid such cooperation without jeopardizing their own just right to their employment security for themselves and/or their families. This is also contingent on the commander making known his/her objection to being required to so participate, as well as on attempting through legal channels to continue to accomplish changes in policy consistent with the historic understanding of marriage and family as based on natural moral law. Also, if without incurring a demotion of loss or downgrade of position/rank/grade or other serious harm, there is a mechanism to have others more senior in the chain of command to carry out the implementation of such policy, this should be pursued.”

Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio
Archbishop for the Military Services

SF’s Third Annual Rosary Rally on October 12!

Public Rosary, The Blessed Sacrament, Confessions, and the Archbishop
SF’s Third Rosary Rally on October 12

On October 12, the Archdiocese of San Francisco, joined by the Archdiocesan Hispanic Ministry, the Legion of Mary, Immaculate Heart Radio, Ignatius Press, and the Knights of Columbus will host San Francisco’s third Annual Rosary Rally. This year’s keynote speaker will be San Francisco’s Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone.

The San Francisco Rosary Rally was reborn in 2011 in observation of the 50th Anniversary of Fr. Patrick Peyton’s 1961 Rosary Crusade in Golden Gate Park, which drew half a million of the faithful. That event is still the largest gathering in San Francisco’s history. While the 2011 Rosary Rally drew an estimated 2,000 Catholics, a far cry from Fr. Peyton’s crowd, the significant number of devoted Catholics in attendance provoked a correspondingly greater involvement by the Archdiocese in the 2012 Rally.

By a lucky coincidence, the Second Annual Rosary Rally, in 2012, happened to be scheduled on the same day as the Archdiocese’s Annual Hispanic Day Mass, which is always celebrated at St. Mary’s Cathedral. Following the Mass, a large number of Hispanic faithful joined the march and rally, and shouts of “Viva Cristo Rey!” filled UN Plaza! The 2012 keynote speakers were Father Mark Mary, of EWTN’s “Life on the Rock” (in English) and Father Moisés Agudo, the Vicar for Spanish-speaking of the archdiocese of San Francisco (in Spanish).

This year the day will also begin with the 9:30 AM Hispanic Day Mass at the Cathedral. Mass will be followed by will be a mile-long procession to UN Plaza, located by the intersections of Market and Seventh Streets. The faithful will bear images and statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of the Rosary, and the Immaculate Conception. An additional crowd of the faithful will already be at U.N. Plaza, praying the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary and awaiting the arrival of the pilgrims from the Cathedral. At 12 noon the pilgrims will be welcomed, then there will be Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament (O Salutaris); the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary; Benediction (Tantum Ergo); and the keynote addresses in both Spanish and English by Archbishop Cordileone. The faithful will then recite the Nicene Creed, followed by the concluding blessing and a closing song. This year’s Master of Ceremonies will be Monsignor James Tarantino, who closed last year’s rally with a fiery call to the New Evangelization: “Heaven demands that WE do it! Heaven demands a voice! You are that voice!” And, taking a page from World Youth Day, for the first time at the Rosary Rally there will be Priests on hand to hear confession.

Vicki Evans, Respect Life Coordinator for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, said “We are grateful to Our Blessed Mother for bringing us to our third Rosary Rally. As we pray the rosary in United Nations Plaza, we witness to the fact that religion is not something that is observed only in private and only on Sundays. As we bring our faith into the public square, we are putting the City on notice that religious freedom is a first amendment right that we will defend in season and out of season.”

To learn more about the Rosary Rally, visit http://www.rosaryrallysf.com/ 

For some nice pictures from the 2012 Mass and Rally, go here:

http://www.rosaryrallysf.com/2012_photos.html

Let Us Remember What 9/11 Is All About

Because our government apparently does not. The blogger Fjordman writes today:

"On September 11 2001, Jihadists from the al-Qaida terror network hit the US mainland and killed thousands of people. On September 11 2013, groups with al-Qaida ties receive backing and even arms from Western authorities in countries like Syria."

SB 131 Passes Senate: ALL "Aye" Votes Are Democrats

On September 6, the California State Senate passed SB 131, which targets Churches and other non-profits, but exempts the public sector constituencies of the Democratic Party. We have posted on SB 131 before. The bill has the potential to bankrupt the Catholic Church in California, and has been opposed by legal experts and all sorts of nonprofit organizations.

Every single "Aye" vote was cast by a Democrat.

They were Senators Beall, Block, Corbett, De León, DeSaulnier, Evans, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Liu, Monning, Padilla, Pavley, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Wolk, and Yee.

Seven of the eight "No" votes were Republicans. They were: Senators Anderson-R, Berryhill-R, Gaines-R, Huff-R, Knight-R, Vidak-R, and Walters-R. Senator Ron Calderon, a Democrat, also voted "No."

Ten Senators did not vote.

The party of death. How any Catholic can still vote Democrat (confession: I was a registered Democrat until 1988) is a mystery to me.

All that is left is a veto of this unjust legislation by Governor Jerry Brown. Ask him to veto this bill!

http://govnews.ca.gov/gov39mail/mail.php

Rainbow Flags and the Russian Anti-Propaganda Law

On August 12, 2013, California’s state senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) introduced Senate Resolution 18, which urged CalPERS and CalSTRS not to invest future resources from their pension plans in Russia. On August 26, the resolution passed the Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee. From the resolution: “That the Senate strongly encourages the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, whenever feasible and consistent with their fiduciary responsibilities, to cease making direct investments in Russia…” Leno’s resolution was a response to the June 30, 2013 Russian law which bans the “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations to minors.” The text of the Russian law may be found at the “School of Russian and Asiatic Studies” website. In a letter to Leno, Sergey Petrov, the Russian consul-general in San Francisco, defended the law: “Family, motherhood and childhood in the traditional sense are values that lead to the preservation and development” of Russia, and “therefore require special protection from the state.”

Leno’s opposition to the Russian law, which is shared by President Obama and the international homosexualist movement is further evidence, if more were needed, that the war over the family is international and civilizational in scope. Patrick Buchanan succinctly summed up the issue in the title of an August 13 article “Post v. Putin-Whose Side are you On?” The article’s first sentence was “The culture war has gone global.” And war it is. As we have noted before, in the book Debating Same-Sex Marriage, co-authored by John Corvino and Maggie Gallagher, Corvino, who supports same-sex “marriage” wrote: “Whichever side prevails in this debate, the other’s views will be marginalized. There’s no getting around that.”

Corvino’s assertion has been proved. While Leno, President Obama, and others are outraged by the Russian law, retaliation against defenders of natural marriage in the United States and other countries show that the Russian law is justified. Critics of the Russian law say its wording is ambiguous, and “could outlaw activities from kissing or holding hands to wearing a rainbow pin.” But so what? The list of people in the United States and other countries who have already been fined, fired, suspended from their jobs, relieved of their military duties, simply for expressing opposition to same-sex “marriage” is far too long to include here: Canadian sportscaster Damian Goddard fired for expressing opposition to same-sex “marriage”; consultant Frank Turek fired from both Cisco and the Bank of America because he authored the book Not Politically Correct: How Same-sex Marriage Hurts Everyone; Teacher of the Year Jerry Buell suspended for expressing his opposition to same-sex marriage; Air Force Master Sergeant of 19 years Phillip Monk relieved of duty because he disagreed with lesbian commanding officer about same-sex “marriage”; florist Baronelle Stutzmann sued by the attorney general of Washington because she refused to provide flowers to a same-sex “wedding”; Sweet Cakes Bakery in Oregon closing rather than provide goods to a same-sex “wedding,” etc. etc.

The contrast between the Russian and American responses to the attack of the international homosexualist movement is disturbing. It may be explained in part by the still existing experience of a Russian identity by the Russian people, and the decayed experience of an American identity among the American people. It raises the question: to what extent does an “American identity” still exist? Since the 1960’s, America has been plagued by an ever-growing number of “group identities” to which many people give primary loyalty. The one commonality among such “group identities” is that much of their meaning is defined by simply being in opposition to the American mainstream. But as “group identities” have grown another question arises: what happens when those professing “group identities” outnumber those who identify simply as Americans?

When one walks around my native city of San Francisco, which Senator Leno, a transplant, represents, the number of homosexualist rainbow flags one sees outnumbers the American flags. It is thought-provoking to see, for instance, on the 3000 block of Pacific Avenue, a large rainbow flag flying just a few doors down from where the Egyptian flag flies in front of the Egyptian Consulate. Ditto for the 3500 block of Clay Street where the Korean flag flies in front of the Korean Consulate and four doors away one sees a large rainbow flag flying in front of a large lavender-colored house. Flags are a public assertion of loyalty. This juxtaposition of flags expressing loyalty to a nation flying next to flags expressing loyalty to a group with similar sexual proclivities should provoke anyone to stop and think about what that means for a society.

The loyalty the rainbow flag expresses is a loyalty to anyone anywhere who shares the same sexual proclivities. That identity is obviously supra-national or sub-national. It is a loyalty based on one of the most fundamental of biological drives: animal sexual desire. It is also sexuality unmoored from both responsibility and sexuality’s primary purpose: children. The simple sense of Consul Petrov’s justification of Russia’s law to Senator Leno then becomes crystal clear: “Family, motherhood and childhood in the traditional sense are values that lead to the preservation and development (of Russia, and) therefore require special protection from the state.”

U.S.: Stop Helping Those Who Persecute Christians!

Here's an excerpt from Katherine Jean Lopez's interview with Raymond Ibrahim in  National Review. Check out his website--Mr. Ibrahim documents the persecution of Christinas throughout the Mideast.

KJL: Are Syrian Christians better off if the U.S. does not strike against Assad?

IBRAHIM: Absolutely. That is not because Assad is a great guy, but because the alternatives — the same alternatives we saw in Libya and Egypt, that is, the Islamists and jihadis — are hostile to “infidel” Christians, a fact with ample doctrinal, historical, and current-affair proof.

KJL: Why is the debate over “Allahu Akbar” this week worth having?

IBRAHIM: Allahu Akbar is Islam’s most original and distinct war cry, it is always shouted out when Islam scores a victory, most often, a military victory, such as, in this case, shooting missiles at a church. It literally means “my god [Allah] is greater” than your god (hence why shouted in the context of military victory). And hence why it is disgraceful for John McCain to compare it to Christians saying “thank God.” He elevates the war cry of Islam to the level of the evcharistia – the Greek word for “thanksgiving” — and thus implicitly equate the Holy Eucharist with 1,400 years of jihad against Christianity.

KJL: There’s an understandable concern that focusing on such things will feed hatred toward one religion in particular. How do you approach such things in fairness?

IBRAHIM: My only concern is to be fair and speak truth – no more and no less, and regardless of the consequences.

KJL: Is it silly to pray for peace under such circumstances?

IBRAHIM:: Prayer is never silly. But accompanying it with action is obviously better. Let us not forget that when Jesus was slapped by a guard, he did not meekly submit, but questioned him for it, and when St. Paul was persecuted, he did not meekly go along, but invoked his Roman citizenship. The idea that Christians must always “turn the other cheek” — which increasingly is being exploited to make Christians passive — is much more complicated than normally thought, and does not mean Christians should be doormats.

KJL: How can the U.S. help? Specifically the Christians and minorities under fire?

IBRAHIM: It is sad to say, but the days when Mideast Christians called for U.S. help are gone. Today, all that Copts, Christian Syrians, and others want from the U.S. is for it to not get involved — since apparently every time it does get involved it’s to help those who persecute Christians, Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and now al-Qaeda in Syria. Watching Mideast media, it’s clear that millions of Egyptians and Syrians — both Christians and moderate Muslims and others — want nothing more from the U.S. than for it to stop supporting terrorists, under the guise of “freedom” and “democracy.”

AL-QAEDA LINKED SYRIAN REBELS ATTACK CHRISTIAN VILLAGE

And Obama wants us to side with THESE guys. From the AP via Breitbart:

(AP) Syria rebels attack regime-held Christian village
By KARIN LAUB
Associated Press

BEIRUT
A nun and activists say rebel fighters have attacked a regime-held, predominantly Christian village, commandeering a mountaintop hotel and shelling the ancient community from there.

The nun, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, says the assault began around dawn Wednesday with a suicide bombing at a regime checkpoint outside the village of Maaloula.

She says she's heard firefights and regime airstrikes. The nun, speaking by phone from a convent in Maaloula, says regime troops are deployed at the village's entrance, while rebels have commandeered the Safir hotel overlooking Maaloula and surrounding caves.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirms the attack and says the rebels are from the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra."

Holy Father Calls us to Prayer & Fasting for Peace THIS SATURDAY!

From Pope Francis Angelus message of September 2:

"I make a forceful and urgent call to the entire Catholic Church, and also to every Christian of other confessions, as well as to followers of every religion and to those brothers and sisters who do not believe: peace is a good which overcomes every barrier, because it belongs all of humanity!

I repeat forcefully: it is neither a culture of confrontation nor a culture of conflict which builds harmony within and between peoples, but rather a culture of encounter and a culture of dialogue; this is the only way to peace.

May the plea for peace rise up and touch the heart of everyone so that they may lay down their weapons and be let themselves be led by the desire for peace.

To this end, brothers and sisters, I have decided to proclaim for the whole Church on 7 September next, the vigil of the birth of Mary, Queen of Peace, a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria, the Middle East, and throughout the world, and I also invite each person, including our fellow Christians, followers of other religions and all men of good will, to participate, in whatever way they can, in this initiative.

On 7 September, in Saint Peter’s Square, here, from 19:00 until 24:00, we will gather in prayer and in a spirit of penance, invoking God’s great gift of peace upon the beloved nation of Syria and upon each situation of conflict and violence around the world. Humanity needs to see these gestures of peace and to hear words of hope and peace! I ask all the local churches, in addition to fasting, that they gather to pray for this intention."

Let us respond to our Holy Father's call!

Alas, poorly catechized as I am,  I'm not sure what the Holy Father, bless him, means by "fasting." No food at all, bread only, no water, two small meals? Since there were no concrete instructions provided, and I for one do not know what he means, I'll follow these rules for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday fasting, taken from Catholic Culture:

Fasting means having only one full meal to maintain one's strength. Two smaller, meatless and penitential meals are permitted according to one's needs, but they should not together equal the one full meal. Eating solid foods between meals is not permitted.

Catholics from age 18 through age 59 are bound to fast. Invalids, pregnant and nursing mothers are exempt.

Help Catholics for the Common Good, Help the New Evangelization!

Bill May and our friends over at Catholics for the Common for the Common Good have been tirelessly working to help Americans understand what marriage is and what family is. Just over the past few weeks CCG's Getting the Marriage Conversation Right booklet was awarded the #1 family life book by the Catholic Press Association.

And the USCCB Pro-Life Secretariat turned to CCG to draft their marriage pamphlet which was included in the 2013 Prolife Packet across the nation.

And Bill tells us more: 

"Concerned Catholics have been contacting us from around the country expressing their anxiety about the negative developments regarding marriage. We can offer them various educational support, including Faith And Action Circles, a formation program which equips participants with a positive new approach to witnessing the truth about marriage and family, starting with our own children.

Today I want to tell you about another organization that your support is enabling us to help. There is no religious order in the country that better presents the spirit of the New Evangelization than the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. They even captivated Oprah Winfry, who did several segments about them on her popular network TV program. That is why we are so humbled they asked Catholics for the Common Good to put on a two-day workshop communicating the reality of love and marriage as the foundation of the family for their entire novitiate in Ann Arbor, their Mission Advancement staff and teachers and aids from their local schools."

We need to help Catholics for the Common Good continue their fine work, and right now they are in the middle of a pledge drive:

"It is your ongoing support that permits us to respond to requests like this and lay the groundwork for rebuilding a marriage culture. Friends, we are just two days away from our deadline of raising $10,000, please help us with a tax deductible donation today. Click here to make donations online or send a check to":

Catholics for the Common Good Institute
P.O. Box 320038
San Francisco, CA 94132-0038

Catholic City Councilmen Vote to Allow Planned Parenthood in South San Francisco

On August 28, the City Council of South San Francisco voted 3-2 to deny an appeal brought by local citizens Rosa Gomez, Rolando Delgadillo, Vera Priego, Teresita Valido and Respect Life South San Francisco. The appeal sought to overturn land-use rulings by both the South San Francisco Planning Commission and the South San Francisco Parking Place Commission which allowed Planned Parenthood to open a new location on Grand Avenue, South San Francisco’s main artery. The location will be one block away from All Souls Catholic Church and school. The pastor of All Souls, Fr. Agnel De Heredia, and All Souls school principal Vincent Riener had strongly opposed the opening.

The controversy, which had been going on since the projected opening was announced, has been well covered in local news outlets, as well as by national Catholic and pro-life publications. Although ostensibly a simple land-use issue, the real issue is whether or not to allow the nation’s largest abortion provider to open in South San Francisco. Three of the five members of the City Council who heard the appeal are Catholics. A June 30 Everything South City article quoted a local resident named Cynthia Marcopulos, who suggested that the Catholic members of the board and had a duty to recuse themselves from the vote, since support for Planned Parenthood is counter the Catholic faith:  “Coming before the South San Francisco City Council for a vote on whether there can be a Planned Parenthood facility on Grand Avenue, our City Council has an inbred prejudice. Mayor Pedro Gonzalez’s wife is an active protester on the protest line against the Planned Parenthood facility, Councilman Mark Addiego works for Holy Cross Cemetery which is owned by the Catholic Church, and Councilman Richard Garbarino is active with St. Veronica’s Church. These council members must recuse themselves for their apparent and visible biases.”

Ms. Marcopulos concern turned out to have been exaggerated. When the vote was called, two of the three Catholics on the board, Mark Addiego, (identified in 2007 by Inside Bay Area as the Operations Manager at Holy Cross Cemetery), and Richard Garbarino “active with St. Veronica’s Church,” voted to deny the appeal, and thus to allow Planned Parenthood to open. The third Catholic, Pedro Gonzalez, joined by Councilwoman Karyl Matsumoto, voted against Planned Parenthood.

An attendee at the meeting and vote told us that “Mr. Garbarino said that after speaking with ‘his confessor,’ he had decided to vote to allow Planned Parenthood to open.” Our source’s recollection was confirmed by an August 28 post covering the vote on the Everything South City website. The post quoted council members giving their reasons for voting:

“(Richard) Garbarino: His ‘confessor’ said he must take his decision; he will not stand in judgment of those who use the services of Planned Parenthood. Although he has his own convictions, that this decision must be based on laws.”

“(Mark) Addeigo: Other facilities, as seen on El Camino Real that offer many of the same services to those with insurance. Personal opinions cannot weigh come into play (sic), including his own Catholic beliefs that maybe contrary to this.”

Planned Parenthood is the largest abortionist in the United States. The Catechism of the Catholic Church treats abortion in entries 2270-2273, which are part of the section unpacking the meaning of the Fifth Commandment “Thou Shall Not Kill.” Entry 2270 reads: “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.” Entry 2271 (in part): “Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.” Entry 2273 (in part) “The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined.”

After reading the Catechism, it is clear that a vote to allow Planned Parenthood into the city would have been impossible if the Catholic council members truly accepted Catholic teaching: that the unborn child is a human being; that it is defenseless; that abortion, the premeditated killing of a defenseless human being, is therefore murder. Considering the question solely as a “land-use” issue is absurd. That simply leads to the question of why “land use” issues are important. The answer is that "land use" affects the common good of society. And once one starts considering the common good of society, and drills down to its roots and first principles, one reaches the conclusion given by the Catechism: that legal abortion causes “the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined.”

One can see the councilmen's dilemma. Do they execute a single law when by so doing they undermine the basis for law in general? That's a lot of weight on the shoulders of councilmen in a small and obscure city, but that is the reality that legalized abortion has created. Do they resign? Do they follow the example of San Francisco’s then-mayor Gavin Newsom, who in 2004 defied the law and issued “marriage" licenses to same-sex couples? He picked the wrong side of the issue but he acted on his “convictions” and “beliefs” that the law he was defying was unjust. He drilled down to what he perceived to be first principles which then guided his actions. I've always maintained that as an executive and as a man his proper response would have been neither to defy the law, nor to execute what he considered to be an unjust law, but to resign. Of course he didn't, but if what Mr. Addiego and Mr. Garbarino said in justifying their vote was honest, they were neither true to their convictions on a critically important issue, nor did they resign.

While it is not wrong to blame Addiego and Garbarino for their votes, it should be remembered that Catholic politicians far more prominent than the SSF city councilmen (Mario Cuomo, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, Ted Kennedy) have made similar decisions and worse over and over again. And the Catholic Bishops, with very few exceptions—Archbishop Naumann of Kansas City’s denial of communion to Kathleen Sebelius springs to mind—have not responded in a way that the gravity of legalized abortion demands.