Judge Rules in Hoye Case: "Oakland's enforcement policy is a constitutionally invalid, content-based regulation of speech."

Update: Ninth Circuit opinion here.

A major win for pro-life hero the Reverend Walter Hoye, and for free speech.

From this morning's San Francisco Chronicle:

Ruling may weaken escort roles at abortion clinics

"In a suit by an antiabortion pastor who was arrested outside an Oakland clinic, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said a city can require a protester to obtain the patient's permission to approach her or talk to her - but must also apply that requirement to the escort.

By allowing escorts to approach the women, advise them to ignore the protesters and accompany them into the clinic without first asking consent, Oakland "has enforced the ordinance against anti-abortion speakers but not pro-abortion speakers," the court said in a 3-0 ruling.

Such a policy "unconstitutionally suppresses speech based on the content of its message," said Judge Marsha Berzon, writing for a left-leaning panel that also included Judge Stephen Reinhardt, a well-known liberal. She also said antiabortion protesters might be able to show that the city was violating their rights by allowing escorts to shield the patients and prevent the protesters from getting their consent to talk."
That issue may be addressed after Oakland adopts an even-handed enforcement policy, Berzon said. The court returned the case to a federal judge to oversee changes in the city's policy."

And here is an excerpt from the press release from the Life Legal Defense Foundation:

Pastor Walter Hoye's Constitutional Rights Vindicated at the Ninth Circuit

SAN FRANCISCO, July 29, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Late yesterday the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Hoye v. Oakland, the case in which Pastor Walter Hoye challenged Oakland's "bubble zone" ordinance as an unconstitutional infringement of free speech. In the 3-0 opinion authored by Circuit Judge Marsha S. Berzon, the court stated, "We agree with Hoye that there are grave constitutional problems with the manner in which the City has understood and enforced its Ordinance."

The court reversed the district court's determination that the ordinance is valid as the city applies it, because the City discriminates in enforcing the ordinance against Hoye but not other speakers. The City only prosecutes persons for "approaching" women within the "bubble zone" if they are trying to persuade the woman not to have the abortion. Clinic "escorts" and others "facilitating" the women entering the clinic can approach and give the women whatever message they want -- often urging women to ignore Pastor Hoye. While Pastor Hoye has scrupulously followed the law, he has suffered arrest, prosecution and imprisonment due to the City's determination to shut out his message. On the other hand, clinic escorts routinely break the law as written, yet have never faced prosecution.

Based on these facts, the court concluded, "Oakland's enforcement policy is a constitutionally invalid, content-based regulation of speech...."

Every American should be happy about this, and proud of the good pastor and his legal team!

Catholic Charities Supports New Ways Ministry 'Behind the Scenes' says New Ways Spokesman

Today LifeSiteNews picked up a July 14 story from the Washington Blade called "Catholic Charities Gay Lobbyist." LifeSite's story began:

"As Catholic Charities agencies across the country are fighting government efforts to shut down their adoption services, the group’s national office in Washington has employed a firm founded by a homosexual activist to lobby for them on Capitol Hill, the Washington Blade, a homosexual newspaper, reported recently.

A spokesman for Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) confirmed to LifeSiteNews that they hired the Sheridan Group, a lobbying firm founded by Tom Sheridan. A self-professed “gay Catholic,” Sheridan began his lobbying career with the AIDS Action Council in the 1980s, and his firm has since represented numerous AIDS advocacy groups.

What caught our eye was how homosexual activists responded to the news:

At the same time, the dissident New Ways Ministry, which purports to support “LGBT” Catholics, claimed to the Blade that CCUSA and some local Catholic Charities agencies have been backing them 'behind-the-scenes.'

'Catholic Charities in general have been the most progressive wing of the church other than the nuns,' said Sister Jeannine Gramick, one of the founders of New Ways, which has been condemned by both the Vatican and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. 'In some cases, Catholic Charities USA has supported our events. I feel they personally are pro-gay but they can’t do this publicly.'”

That is certainly not news to readers of "A Shepherd's Voice"--except that here Catholic Charities CYO of San Francisco, until recently, DID do it publicly. The infiltration of the Archdiocese of San Francisco by homosexual activists was one of the motivations in the construction of this website. Check it out in complete detail on our sister site: http://www.sanfrancisco-catholic.com/catholic_charities_cyo.htm

"Preposterous and Ridiculous"

Those are the words of Cardinal Joseph Zen, Salesian of Don Bosco. Our headline is his latest response to the absurd efforts of the Chinese government to install counterfeit bishops in China.

From UCANews.com, which is a great source for Catholic news from Asia.


The atheists running the Catholic Church
It is absurd to hear the statements of politically correct state puppets defending Beijing's policies

These last few days, Catholic faithful inside and outside China have noted with sadness and indignation words pronounced by Anthony Liu Bainian and Reverends Joseph Guo Jincai, Johan Fang Xingyao and Joseph Yang Yu, which are hardly distinguishable from being schismatic. But yesterday’s statement by the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) has reached the extreme of absurdity.

We may understand if the government comes out to defend their puppets by saying that they are politically correct, or to praise their courage in resisting foreign pressure; but now they come out to praise their “ardent Catholic faith” and to say that the ordinations without papal mandate are necessary for “the normal running of the Church and for the needs of pastoral and evangelizing activity.” This is absolutely preposterous and ridiculous, given that as some scholars have recently pointed out, the government is now “running” the Catholic Church.

Are they blind? Have they not had a chance to see how the Catholic Church works in the rest of the world? Does the special situation of China force the government to run a Church which simply can no more be recognizable as Catholic? They are making themselves the laughing stock of the world!

Can our leaders take out some time from their engagement in power struggle and give attention to this “tiny community” of Catholics? Why should our brothers and sisters not be allowed to live peacefully their normal life of faith? Is that not a right given them by the constitution?

They call the excommunication by the Holy See in the fifties “cause” and the illegitimate ordination of bishops “effect.” They are shamelessly twisting the reality.

From the recent three illegitimate ordinations and the Eighth National Congress of Catholic Representatives, everybody could understand that the SARA and the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association have decided to lead the open Church to go unrepentant their way of an independent church and to unilaterally elect and ordain their bishops.

Then let them find someone with enough weight, like Martin Luther and King Henry VIII, to give a status to their new church, but they have no right to usurp the name of “Catholic Church.”

With violence they limited personnel freedoms; they even offended the dignity of conscience. They completely disregarded the authority and the kindness of our Holy Father, and still they dare to say that they have sincere will of dialogue. That is the biggest lie in the world! Only the self interest and cowardice of the nations prevent them from saying a fair word of disapproval.

The saying goes: “The eyes of the people are illumined.” In Leshan some people may admire the administrative efficiency of Reverend Paul Lei Shiyin, but they must know that he is unfit to be a bishop; in Shantou there may be people supporting the ambitions of Reverend Joseph Huang Bingzhang. But the generality of the Catholic faithful in China will reject these “opportunists” and will always be on the side of the pope.

Nobody knows how long the severe winter will last, but our faithful are not afraid, or they will overcome their fear with faith and prayer, which will give them strength to imitate the canonized martyrs and innumerable living heroes of faith, to give courageous testimony to our Risen Savior.

Dear faithful brothers and sisters, we salute you – from an old brother who is almost ashamed of living in freedom."

What an admirable son of Don Bosco.

Our friend Jack Smith has posted a column in "The Catholic Key" by good Bishop Finn of Kansas City, telling us that the Chinese Catholics need our prayers but also our political clout. Deacon Keith Fournier has been covering the story in depth, too.

Thousands March in NYC in Defense of Marriage!

We certainly hope there were some Catholic bishops there.

From the AP:

"Thousands of opponents of gay marriage took to the streets in loud and sometimes tense protests Sunday, the first day that legal same-sex weddings were performed.

The National Organization for Marriage held rallies in New York City, Albany, Rochester and Buffalo, saying Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers redefined marriage without giving voters a chance to weigh-in, as they have in other states. Protesters chanted "Let the People Vote!" at rallies across the state.

A rally in New York City that started with several hundred people crowding the street across from Cuomo's Manhattan office quickly swelled to thousands of people out in loud opposition to the new law."

... Around 3:30, the protesters started marching uptown toward the United Nations. By the time they reached the UN, the crowd numbered in the many thousands, filling up 47th Street. They were joined by a brass band as a stage was set up for speakers."

God bless the good people of New York! State Senator Ruben Diaz, a Democrat who led the fight against counterfeit marriage, was there, and said "Today we start the battle! Today we start the war!" The National Organization for Marriage agrees. From BeliefNet:

"(Brian Brown's) group (the NOM) is organizing a four-year campaign strategy to combat the new law, which goes into effect July 24. Among top priorities is to put an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman in the state constitution before state voters, a step that requires the consent of two successive legislatures, but not the governor, according to Brown.

A poll by QEV Analytics found that 59 percent of New York voters preferred to decide the marriage question directly, with only 26 percent favoring a legislative avenue. "

Emphasis added. To help the National Organization for Marriage, go here.

Madness: 150 Human-Animal Hybrids Created in UK Labs

From the Daily Mail:

"The figure was revealed to crossbench peer Lord Alton following a Parliamentary question.
Last night he said: ‘I argued in Parliament against the creation of human- animal hybrids as a matter of principle. None of the scientists who appeared before us could give us any justification in terms of treatment.

‘Ethically it can never be justifiable – it discredits us as a country. It is dabbling in the grotesque.

‘At every stage the justification from scientists has been: if only you allow us to do this, we will find cures for every illness known to mankind. This is emotional blackmail.

‘Of the 80 treatments and cures which have come about from stem cells, all have come from adult stem cells – not embryonic ones.

‘On moral and ethical grounds this fails; and on scientific and medical ones too.’

Josephine Quintavalle, of pro-life group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said: ‘I am aghast that this is going on and we didn’t know anything about it.

‘Why have they kept this a secret? If they are proud of what they are doing, why do we need to ask Parliamentary questions for this to come to light?

‘The problem with many scientists is that they want to do things because they want to experiment. That is not a good enough rationale.’

Earlier this week, a group of leading scientists warned about ‘Planet of the Apes’ experiments. They called for new rules to prevent lab animals being given human attributes, for example by injecting human stem cells into the brains of primates."

Good Bishop Soto Leads Rosary March to Planned Parenthood!

God bless the good shepherd!


From California Catholic Daily:




"On the feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Saturday, July 16, Bishop Jaime Soto celebrated an 8 a.m. Mass at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Sacramento, and later led a Rosary Procession to the city’s main Planned Parenthood abortion business at 29th and B Streets.

The Sacramento Helpers of God's Precious Infants organized the Prayer Vigil for Life.

The Prayer Vigil began with Mass, presided over by Bishop Soto and concelebrated by Fr. Anthony Garibaldi, OFM, the pastor of St. Francis, and six other priests. The Mass included the blessing and distribution of Brown Scapulars, followed by exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

Some of those who attended the Mass stayed at St. Francis, praying before the Blessed Sacrament while about 120 walked with Bishop Soto and several priests in the Rosary Procession to the Planned Parenthood abortion center just northwest of downtown Sacramento.

Bishop Soto celebrated Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament after the Rosary Procession returned to St. Francis Church."

Good News Out of Ireland. Priests Tell Government to Get Stuffed

From Catholic News Agency:


Irish priests will refuse to break seal of confession if proposal becomes law

Dublin, Ireland, Jul 18, 2011 / 08:03 pm (CNA).- Catholic priests in Ireland are prepared to “strongly” resist a proposed law that would require them to disclose information learned in confession.

That's great to hear. And if they go to jail, that's fine too. The souls of the people in jail are just as important as those on the outside. Spread the Gospel everywhere!


When the great Reverend Walter Hoye was imprisoned for exercising his First Amendment rights on the streets of Oakland, ( a conviction which has been overturned) he said every day other prisoners would come to him for counsel.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Phil Kline's Case Moves Forward

Steve Ertelt, writing today at Life News, on the attempted railroading of Kansas prosecutor Phil Kline. While this is tough for Mr. Kline, there is reason to believe the charges may blow up in the face of those who brought them. Here's part of Mr. Ertelt's article:

Kansas: Kline Says Grand Jury Killed Case Against Abortion Biz

"Former Kansas prosecutor Phill Kline is back for the second part of hearings on politically-motivated charges that he acted improperly during his investigations of abortion clinics.
The hearings are taking place even though recently released documents show that investigators for the Disciplinary Administrator cleared Kline of any wrong-doing in 2008. In a Disciplinary Report filed with the Disciplinary Administrator on May 22, 2008, a team of investigators carefully looked into the trumped-up ethics charges against Kline. Their determination left no question that Kline did nothing improper to warrant further action.

'After reviewing the substantial documentation in this case, it is the opinion of these investigators that there is not probable cause to prove that Phill Kline violated any of the rules of ethics,' they wrote....

According to the pro-life group Operation Rescue and a report at the Kansas Watchdog blog, grand jury foreman Stephanie Hensel testified that she filed the ethics complaint against Kline because she believed he had misled the grand jury as to the true application of the mandatory child abuse reporting law and did not tell them of the outcome of a federal case, Aid for Women v. Foulston, where a judge determined that abortion clinics must report suspected sexual activity in minors only if they believe that the activity has caused harm to the child.

Kline insists he explained the law to the grand jurors reflecting the AFW v. Foulston findings almost word for word. The AFW decision has since been rendered “moot” because the reporting law was changed by the Kansas legislature.

Kline also said that a secret agreement entered into by four grand jury members with Planned Parenthood to obtain only records Planned Parenthood wanted them to see “killed the process.” While Hensel testified that she believed at first the grand jury would issue a “true bill” recommending criminal charges against Planned Parenthood, the grand jury in the end failed to indict due to the secret agreement."

The article immediatly reminded us of a post our friend Jack Smith at "The Catholic Key"wrote on February 24, 2011, "Carrie Nation, Kathleen Sebelius, and Hating Phil Kline," offering his analysis of why there is such a vendetta against Kline. Jack wrote:

"There are any number of anti-abortion politicians in Kansas and none of them are hated with the vehemence directed at Phill Kline. He didn’t propose pro-life legislation or prosecute a doctor without a license. There would have been no vendetta for that. I even suspect that if he’d somehow shut down Tiller’s Wichita practice, there would be less hatred toward him than for what he actually did."

To find out what Kline did, and why they are going after him, make sure to read read Jack's post.

Quote of the Week

Words of Wisdom from the new Archbishop of Philadelphia:

"The majority of voters can be uninformed or biased or simply wrong. Thus, to survive, American democracy depends on people of character fighting for their beliefs in the public square – legally, ethically, and nonviolently, but forcefully and without apology. Anything less is a form of theft from the nation's health." -
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap
(from CERC)

Watch This Video About the #1 Killer of Black Americans

A Red Hat in Philly for Bishop Chaput?

UPDATE: CNA confirms it will be Archbishop Chaput.

That's the buzz.

Plus, NewAdvent tweets:

"BREAKING: Pope prepares major reshuffling of US archbishops; announcement on NewAdvent.org 'within 24 hours'"

"Proclaiming the Gospel is an Integral Part of Charitable Activity"

On July 15, Cardinal Robert Sarah, Cardinal President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, discussed the proper role of the charitable arms of the Catholic Church. From his address:

"It is significant that even (c.1970) then Paul VI had identified the response to some of the misunderstandings that undermined the proper understanding of charity within the Church and that would unfortunately be confirmed in time: the witness to charity finds its measure in Christ. The search for justice does not fulfill the task of charity. Proclaiming the Gospel, which is not proselytism, is an integral part of charitable activity.....

"Confirming the divine dimension of charity, and therefore its connection to evangelization, does not mean disregarding human poverty. Rather, on the contrary, it indicates deeply searching within the needs of man, as Paul VI affirmed in his Encyclical, Populorum Progressio (n. 21). It means looking to the heart of his pain, loneliness and state of abandonment, to then announce to him, at that point, the presence of Christ who loves him. Benedict XVI also stated: 'Often the deepest cause of suffering is the very absence of God” (DCE n. 31). This too is the role of the Church and institutions of charity of the Church. I believe that this deep insight allows for the activities of the Church in this field to be so successful and so generally appreciated. For a society that often does not know Him, we can in this way allow others to concretely experience that God is Love and that He takes care of His children. Cor Unum carries out this mission through specific interventions in the name of the Holy Father, but above all by keeping the true meaning of the pastoral works of charity alive in the Church.'"