Arcbishop Viganò Takes on Vatican Stonewall

I hereby dub him Carlo Maria Athanasius Viganò.  The Vatican is attempting to stonewall and obstruct the purification of the Church and Archbishop Viganò is having none of it:

 Archbishop Viganò urges US bishops to be 'courageous shepherds

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò sent Tuesday a message to the bishops of the United States, who are holding a plenary assembly, encouraging them to act as courageous shepherds in the face of the sex abuse crisis.

“I am writing to remind you of the sacred mandate you were given on the day of your episcopal ordination: to lead the flock to Christ,” the emeritus Apostolic Nuncio to the US said Nov. 13.

“Meditate on Proverbs 9:10: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom! Do not behave like frightened sheep, but as courageous shepherds. Do not be afraid of standing up and doing the right thing for the victims, for the faithful and for your own salvation. The Lord will render to every one of us according to our actions and omissions.”

“I am fasting and praying for you,” Archbishop Viganò concluded.

The former nuncio's message came on the second day of the USCCB's autumn general assembly, being held in Baltimore Nov. 12-14.

It was intended that the assembly would vote on proposals meant to form the basis for a response to the sexual abuse crisis facing the Church in the US.

But Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the conference, announced Monday morning that the Congregation for Bishops had directed that the vote not be held.

"Priest describes ‘cesspools’ of homosexual immorality in German dioceses"

The horrific testimony, excerpted from LifeSiteNews, shows why those of us here in San Francisco and the surrounding dioceses give thanks to God for Archbishop Cordileone, and the Rector of St. Patrick's Seminary, Fr. George Schultze, SJ--a TRUE Son of St. Ignatius.

Priest describes ‘cesspools’ of homosexual immorality in German dioceses

A German priest has released what he calls an "eyewitness account" of "cesspools" of homosexual immorality in an unnamed German diocese.

The priest, Father N., has remained anonymous in order to avoid repercussions.

He tells of his troubles of getting into the seminary because of the vocation's director being a homosexual. This director later left the priesthood to live with another man.

That a priest of God has to keep silent in order to "avoid repercussions" stemming from his exposure of sodomy in the Church of God tells you exactly how pervasive, powerful, and catastrophic the homosexual infiltration has become. Let the wrath of God come!

To support a GOOD seminary, our own St. Patrick's, go here. And their Gala fundraiser is in two weeks!

"There is an intentional and malicious infiltration of the Church for the purpose of destroying her from within"

More than 10 years ago we documented this exact thing in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The very first sentence on sanfrancisco-catholic.com reads: "This is a report on the infiltration of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco by homosexual activists."

 

From LifeSiteNews:

The following is the transcription of the August 19, 2018 homily gi:ven at the Church of St. Raphael in Crystal, Minnesota by Fr. Robert Altier:

‘Predatory’ gays have infiltrated Church, trying to ‘destroy’ her: priest on abuse crisis

In the second reading today St. Paul tells us that we have to make the most of our opportunity because the days are evil. We aren't just simply living in days that are evil, we are living in the days that Isaiah spoke about, the days when they will call evil good and good evil. And we have been brainwashed into thinking that evil things are okay, they're not.

So, from this point forward, what I am about to say is completely politically incorrect and if you have young ears that you don't want to hear it, you may want to take a fifteen-minute walk....

Read the whole thing. 

"For some of these people, cleaning up sexual abuse...not as important as protecting the advancement of homosexuality"

Rod Dreher writes in the American Conservative:

The Hypocrisy of Pope Francis's Silence

Vigano is not some disgruntled low-level official. He is a high-level curial figure, and as the papal nuncio to the US, was in a position to know about McCarrick and the way Rome dealt with him. Vigano’s accusations may be wrong, but they cannot be dismissed. The idea that Francis’s silence in the face of these damning allegations is a sign of his holiness is the kind of thing you’d have to be a numbskull to believe. And Austen Ivereigh is not remotely a numbskull.

It is sadly apparent that for some of these people, cleaning up sexual abuse and related corruption in the Roman Catholic Church is not as important as protecting the advancement of homosexuality and other progressive priorities.

He Speaks! To a bunch of Italian bikers.....

Addressing the important issues, I see. Reported yesterday on the Vatican's website.

I am pleased to welcome you, representing the bikers who will take part in the next Gran Premio Octo di San Marino and the Rimini Riviera. I greet you all with affection: managers, riders and technicians, and I thank you for this visit. I especially greet the President of CONI, Giovanni Malagò, and I thank him for his words.

Your presence gives me the opportunity to underline the importance of sport in today’s society. The Church considers sporting activity, practiced with full respect of the rules, as a valid educational tool especially for the younger generations; indeed, it is indispensable. The phenomenon of sport, in fact, stimulates a healthy overcoming of oneself and of selfishness, trains the spirit of sacrifice and, if well practiced, inspires loyalty in interpersonal relationships, friendship, and respect for the rules.

It is important that those involved in sports, at various levels, promote those human and Christian values that underlie a more just and supportive society. This is possible because the sporting event is expressed in a universal language that transcends borders, languages, races, religions and ideologies. This is seen above all in amateur sport, which comes from the heart. Therefore, it possesses the intrinsic capacity to unite people, fostering dialogue and acceptance.

I encourage you to spread the values of sport: in this way you will contribute to building a more just and supportive society. And I would like to focus on two words that the president said. One is “passion”: when I read the news about suicide among young people – and there are many – but what happened there? At least I can say that in that life “passion” was lacking, someone did not know how to sow the passions to live. And then difficulties were not faced with this passion. Spread passion: this world needs passions, passion. Live with passion, and not like someone who bears life like a burden. Passion is moving forward. And the second phrase is: “champion of life”. Yes, one can become a champion in sporting success, a champion of a team, and so on ... But “champion of life” is someone who lives with passion; one who lives with fullness is able to live like this. “Passion” and “champion of life”: two beautiful phrases.

With these wishes, while I assure you and your families a remembrance in prayer, I willingly invoke upon you the Lord’s Blessing.

Two of Uncle Ted's, oops, Uncle Blaise's Boys Caught Committing Sodomy

Sorry, hard to keep these creeps straight.

Chicago's CBS affiliate has the whole disgusting story.

Two priests from northwest suburban Arlington Heights were arrested in Miami Beach on Monday after allegedly engaging in a sex act inside a parked vehicle.

The priests, Diego L. Berrio, 39; and Edwin M. Cortez, 30, both reside at San Juan Diego Mission on the 2300 block of North Wilke Road.

According to arrest reports from the Miami Beach Police Department, someone called police after seeing two men engaged in oral sex inside of a black Volkswagen parked on the 1300 block of Ocean Drive at 3:20 p.m. on Labor Day.

Great young Bishop Lopes not buying the 'I knew nothing!'

That's Bishop Steven Lopes--another Bay Area boy, born in Fremont. Came through the Ignatius Institute, gave the invocation at the Walk for Life West Coast a couple of years ago.

LifeSiteNews has the story.

Young bishop doesn’t believe prelates who say, ‘I knew nothing’ of McCarrick’s sex abuse

One of America’s youngest bishops has expressed his incredulity, if not disgust, over the manner in which senior prelates have handled the McCarrick scandal, which is still sending shockwaves throughout the Catholic Church.

In a Sunday homily at Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston, Texas, Bishop Steven Lopes, 43, spoke about the unsatisfactory response of some of the old guard members of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) to the scandal.

“I’ll tell you what response is not good enough: It’s the parade of cardinals and bishops who have rushed to the television cameras, clutching their pectoral crosses, saying, ‘I knew nothing,’” said Lopes, appointed bishop of the Anglican Ordinariate – a special rite in the Church for Anglicans who become Catholic but still may retain some of their traditions, formally called the Diocese of The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter – in 2016.

“I don’t believe it,” continued Lopes. “And I am one of them.”

“I don’t believe it, because as one of the youngest bishops in the conference, you do get an interesting perspective. Like, for the fact that I was a seminarian when Theodore McCarrick was named Archbishop of Newark, and he would visit the seminary often,” he added. “And we all knew.”

God is raising up great Priests and Bishops to lead his Church!

Buchanan: 'It needs be stated clearly: This is a homosexual scandal.'

Pat Buchanan gets it. 'A cancer on the papacy' Excerpt:

"Applicants to the seminary should be vetted the way applicants to the National Security Council are. Those homosexually inclined should be told the priesthood of the Church is not for them, as it is not for women.

Secular society will call this invidious discrimination, but it is based on what Christ taught and how he established his Church.

Inevitably, if the Church is to remain true to herself, the clash with secular society, which now holds that homosexuality is natural and normal and entitled to respect, is going to widen and deepen.

For in traditional Catholic teaching, homosexuality is a psychological and moral disorder, a proclivity toward acts that are intrinsically wrong, and everywhere and always sinful and depraved, and ruinous of character.

The idea of homosexual marriages, recently discovered to be a constitutional right in the USA, remains an absurdity in Catholic doctrine...."

Archbishop Charles Chaput: Cancel Youth Synod: "Absolutely no credibility"

The fearless Archbishop of Philadelphia tells the truth (LifeSiteNews):

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia told a conference that had met to discuss the “young people” of the Church that in light of the abuse crisis in the Catholic Church he had written to Pope Francis asking him to cancel the upcoming Youth Synod set to take place in Rome.

“The bishops would have absolutely no credibility” in the upcoming Youth Synod, Chaput told the Cardinal’s Forum, an annual gathering to provide academic formation of seminarians and continuing education for lay people, yesterday. The synod's planned dates are set for October 3-28, 2018.

The August 30 panel discussion, which took place at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, was on the topic of “Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment.” Some 300 participated in the event.

Archbishop Chaput said the Youth Synod should be canceled.

“I have written the Holy Father and called on him to cancel the upcoming synod on young people. Right now, the bishops would have absolutely no credibility in addressing this topic,” he said.

Instead of having a youth synod, the Archbishop proposed that a synod should be held to address the topic of the bishops themselves.

“I have called on him (Pope Francis), in its place, to begin making plans for a synod on the life of bishops,” he said.

Promoting Sodomy in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles

The Religious Education Congress of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will be held this weekend. LifeSiteNews has an extensive expose of the sodomy-promoting individuals the archdiocese has welcomed. Excerpts:

Dr. Arthur Fitzmaurice, an open homosexual and LGBT activist who says that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is “evil” because of its language regarding homosexuals, will be giving two talks at the conference: “Transgender in Our Schools: One Bread, One Body,” and “Teaching Mercy: Accompanying LGBT Students.” At the Religious Education Congress in 2015, Fitzmaurice condemned the Catechism’s teaching that homosexual orientation is “intrinsically disordered,” asserting that “to keep this abusive language in the Catechism and other Church writings is, in itself, gravely evil.”

Fr. Bryan Massingale, who openly advocates the LGBT political agenda, will also be giving a talk with the title “Transgender in Our Schools: One Bread, One Body.” Massingale spoke last year at the annual symposium of the condemned homosexualist organization “New Ways Ministry,” which seeks to eliminate Catholic moral teaching against homosexual acts. According to the dissenting National Catholic Reporter, Massingale “shared a note he had received in 2002 from [Archbishop] Rembert Weakland” who had recently resigned after he was exposed as having paid hundreds of thousands of diocesan funds to a man with whom he had a homosexual tryst. Massingale quoted the note from Weakland stating, “On the gay issue, the level of fears is so high that the official teaching of the church skates so very close to the edge of a new ‘theology of contempt.”

Massingale has publicly opposed the Trump administration’s executive order to protect religious liberty because he regards it as “unnecessary and most likely would threaten the rights of LGBT persons.” Although Christians have lost their businesses for refusing to cooperate with the celebration or practice of homosexuality, Massingale writes, “Despite the rhetoric of persecution embraced by some, Christians are not under attack in this country.”

An open lesbian named Yunuen Trujillo will be giving two talks in Spanish, titled “Family acceptance project: Myths and realities regarding the gay community,” and “Catholic and gay: Answers to the most basic pastoral questions.”  

In a recent video, Trujillo claims that for homosexuals having a “partner” and being chaste are “equally holy.”

The article closes by quoting Joseph Sciambra, a Catholic who actually cares about saving those with same-sex attraction:

“During and after the 2017 Congress, I spoke with representatives of the LA Archdiocese, including Archbishop Gomez and told them about my concerns,” Sciambra told LifeSite. “Yet, this year, they inexplicably invited probably the most controversial speaker in the Catholic Church on the topic of homosexuality: James Martin, SJ…

“Unfortunately, many devout and faithful Catholics do not understand or even know what the Church teaches about homosexuality. Therefore, when they attend a lecture by [Fr. James] Martin at an official Catholic conference, they will assume that everything he wrote and says supports those teachings.”

“In other words, the Bishops, who allow such speakers, are contributing to confusion and the outright dispersion of lies.”

Nice! Italians offer Reparation for Celebration of Sodomy

Church Militant has the story:

Larger turnout than expected

A procession meant to offer reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the offenses of the local gay pride parade was a success. Organized by Committee Bl. Giovanna Scopelli in Reggio Emilia, a lay initiative aimed at repairing the scandal caused by the public celebration of sodomy, about 350 people from all over Italy attended the procession, including dozens of priests, with a notable presence of the young.

The priest leading the procession, Fr. Luigi Moncalero, once again had to explain to the press that they weren't there to hold a counter-protest. "This isn't a protest against the Gay Pride Parade, but a prayer to repair public sin: from the moral point of view, homosexuality is a disorder strongly reprimanded by the Holy Scriptures. To glorify homosexuality means not only to contradict the Bible ... but to invert Nature's natural order."

Read the whole thing.

Thanks, Holy Father....But....

Good Pope Francis (and not for the first time)  nailed the insanity of 'gender ideology' in his address to the Bishops of Poland at World Youth Day:

"In Europe, America, Latin America, Africa, and in some countries of Asia, there are genuine forms of ideological colonization taking place. And one of these - I will call it clearly by its name – is [the ideology of] 'gender'. Today children – children! – are taught in school that everyone can choose his or her sex. Why are they teaching this? Because the books are provided by the persons and institutions that give you money. These forms of ideological colonization are also supported by influential countries. And this terrible!

In a conversation with Pope Benedict, who is in good health and very perceptive, he said to me: 'Holiness, this is the age of sin against God the Creator'. He is very perceptive. God created man and woman; God created the world in a certain way… and we are doing the exact opposite."

Thank you, Holy Father, for introducing some sanity into our world. And you are right about the ideological colonization pushed around the world by wealthy and well-connected wackos.

BUT...that same colonization is taking place in Catholic schools. Holiness, these schools are under YOUR authority. The right guidance of those young souls is ultimatly YOUR responsibily. 

See here for just a few examples within the Archdiocese of San Francisco:

'Transgendered' Teacher not the Only Problem at Mercy

Gay Totalitarianism at Schools of the Sacred Heart, San Francisco

'Queer Bohemian' Chairs Theology Department at Woodside Priory School

LGBT Activist Leads Retreat at Notre Dame de Namur

'Our Mother who is within us'

Holiness, our good Archbishop is working to address this problem. You've identified the problem: I humbly beg you to assert your authority in solving it.

Your son in Christ,

Gibbons

Joseph Sciambra Gets It, Accepts It, Preaches It!

The passionate and committed Catholic Joseph Sciambra has a vitally important (one of many, actually) column on his website, also reprinted on LifeSiteNews. All Catholics should listen. Excerpts:

"Yes, the Catholic Church should apologize to gays. But not for the reason you think.

When I was a conflicted and scared boy growing up within the confusing confines of the post-Conciliar Church of the 1970s, I needed someone, anyone, to teach me and to tell me that Jesus wanted to be more than just my friend, that He wanted to be my Savior – that He wanted to save me from myself. I knew, even from a young age, that something was going incredibly wrong within me – I was terrified and I needed help. However, the Jesus they offered was a mere historical figure; a guy who meant well, but who was dead and distant; he was the hippie-Christ from “Godspell” in a Superman shirt – with the Bible as a superhero comic-strip.

When I was teenager, quickly swerving towards homosexuality, a few noticed, but did nothing to help. At school, a sort of pandemic relativism was extolled as an individual rule of life: custom-made for every human person on earth. The detached Jesus from my youth cared little about our daily drudgery or our personal proclivities.

On the verge of accepting my homosexuality, I was told by a Catholic priest that I needn’t worry as every homosexual is born gay; he sent me on my way with a socially responsible warning about the dangers of unsafe sex.

In the near devastation of AIDS, and my own worsening realization that gay wasn’t what I hoped it would be – the sole Catholic presence in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood was the hotly affirmative parish of Most Holy Redeemer. Although the priests who were stationed there kindly buried the lifeless and wasted bodies of our friends, in an age when few were willing to do so, they confused a compassion for the sick and the dead with a total renunciation of any semblance to Catholic teaching about homosexuality. They wanted to be our friends, not our Fathers...."

Mr. Sciambra concludes:

Recently, during one of my several outreaches to the “gay” community in San Francisco, I spoke with a young Catholic “gay” man about my life after homosexuality; we discussed how and why I left gay and the contentment and happiness I experienced when I embraced chastity. He immediately said, “Oh no, but that is not what they tell us at Most Holy Redeemer.”

Therefore – Dear Pope Francis: apologize for bad catechesis, for bad pastoral programs, for bad priests, and for the apathetic Bishops who do nothing to correct them. As for the long dead who passed from this life, far too young, because no one ever bothered to tell them the Truth – no amount of apologizing will ever bring them back."

Sacred Heart Chaplain Fr. Mark Doherty hits a Home Run on School Initiative Interview

KPCC Radio's Air Talk had a show on March 5 about the new Archdiocesan initiative to re-Catholicize the Archdiocesan High Schools. It's a must listen.

In the first minutes the host, Larry Mantle, interviewed Michael Vezzali, the Chairman of the English Department at Archbishop Riordan High School, who, opposes the Church's teaching. I don't think it's unfair to say he did not exactly make a great showing, but I invite you to listen.

He was followed (at about 6:16 into the interview) by Fr. Mark Doherty, the Chaplain of Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep, who absolutely hit it out of the park. Logical, educational, persuasive.

The final guest was Rick Garnett, Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of Notre Dame, specializing in freedom of speech, association, and religion, who was also excellent.

Baronelle Stutzman, American Heroine

Baronelle Stutzman is the florist from the state of Washington who refused to provide flowers for a same-sex "wedding." As a result she was sued by the ACLU and Bob Ferguson, Attorney General of the state of Washington. On February 18, Judge Alexander C. Ekstrom ruled against Mrs. Stutzman. Mrs. Stutzman's attorney Kristin Waggoner, of the Alliance Defending Freedom, will appeal the ruling. Following the ruling, Mrs. Stutzman sent this beautiful letter to Attorney General Ferguson:

Dear Mr. Ferguson,

 Thank you for reaching out and making an offer to settle your case against me.

 As you may imagine, it has been mentally and emotionally exhausting to be at the center of this controversy for nearly two years. I never imagined that using my God-given talents and abilities, and doing what I love to do for over three decades, would become illegal. Our state would be a better place if we respected each other’s differences, and our leaders protected the freedom to have those differences. Since 2012, same-sex couples all over the state have been free to act on their beliefs about marriage, but because I follow the Bible’s teaching that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, I am no longer free to act on my beliefs.

Your offer reveals that you don’t really understand me or what this conflict is all about. It’s about freedom, not money. I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything else that your lawsuit threatens to take from my family, but my freedom to honor God in doing what I do best is more important.

Washington’s constitution guarantees us “freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment.” I cannot sell that precious freedom. You are asking me to walk in the way of a well-known betrayer, one who sold something of infinite worth for 30 pieces of silver. That is something I will not do.

 I pray that you reconsider your position. I kindly served Rob for nearly a decade and would gladly continue to do so.

I truly want the best for my friend. I’ve also employed and served many members of the LGBT community, and I will continue to do so regardless of what happens with this case.

You chose to attack my faith and pursue this not simply as a matter of law, but to threaten my very means of working, eating, and having a home. If you are serious about clarifying the law, then I urge you to drop your claims against my home, business, and other assets and pursue the legal claims through the appeal process.

Thanks again for writing and I hope you will consider my offer.

Supporting Archbishop Cordileone at tonight's anti-Catholic protest

Photo: Mike Koozmin, SF Examiner.
Thanks, Mike, but I'm praying in SUPPORT of the Archbishop
and real Catholic Education, not against him!

I went to the plaza in front of St. Mary's Cathedral tonight while the protest against Archbishop Cordileone's initiative to re-Catholicize Archdiocesan high schools was taking place. While the protesters posed for the cameras and encouraged passing motorists to honk their horns, I knelt on the hard stones for about 90 minutes praying the Rosary for our great Archbishop. You know Our Lady loves him!

One of the recent California Catholic Daily articles about the protests was headlined "Gays herd high schoolers to St. Mary's" and boy, were they being herded tonight. While I was praying someone with a megaphone announced (I don't claim this is verbatim--I was praying, not taking notes, but it is accurate) something like "the 6:00 news is here...we need signs for photos over here" and then, a little later "OK, now, we need signs over here."

Nothing's real with these guys--only how it looks. Counterfeit marriage, counterfeit "genders," deliberate misunderstanding of Pope Francis, counterfeits all the way down.

Anyway, I had a great time praying for His Excellency. The Good Lord knew what he was doing when he sent ABC to the city of St. Francis! What a blessing!

Anti-Family, Anti-Catholic Activists hosted at Most Holy Redeemer

Today's California Catholic Daily reports on SF's Most Holy Redeemer Church's January 22 hosting of a town hall meeting for the LGBT political action group Equality California. The article is aptly titled "Is this a Catholic Church?"

Of all the anti-Catholic events hosted at MHR, and there have been many (drag show, obscene bingo, years of sado-masochistic gatherings, etc.) this is the most obscene and the most anti-Catholic. No group that MHR has hosted, not the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, or the S/m Golden Gate Guards or the Inter-Club Fund are worse than EQCA.

The meeting was sold as focusing on access to health care. But that took up only a small part of the meeting. The majority of the discussion covered Equality California's broadening political agenda. That political and legislative agenda is diametrically opposed to the Catholic Church, That agenda will also target individual Catholics and Christians who attempt to uphold the truth of the faith.

The transcripts of some of the items under discussion, taken from the California Catholic Daily article are reproduced below in red. The speaker is Executive Director Rick Zbur.

On EQCA's opposition to religious exemptions to laws that the Catholic Church and its members could not obey without violating their faith, the moderator asked: "Do you see some of these religious liberty laws they’ve tried to get started in other states over the last year or so? And they did have an effort in California that I don’t think went anywhere. Do you see this happening again in the legislative session, and if so will Equality California oppose that?"

“Well, we definitely would oppose it. You know, I haven’t heard very much about them doing that, I think they’re focus is on unraveling AB 1266, that’s what we we’re hearing their focus is, but in California I haven’t heard anything recently, but obviously we would oppose it. The thrust really though, I think is at the federal level with the version of ENDA that passed the Senate that included a broad religious exemption that we were very very uncomfortable about, and most of the LGBT organizations that weighed in expressed a lot of nervousness about the decision to pass it with that broad religious exemption, and so we’ve already spoken out against that. 

“I think the thing that makes me nervous is the fact that it passed with that version and we’ve got a lot of states now that I don’t think that the next phase of us earning civil rights protection is going to happen at the federal level with Republicans in control of both houses of Congress. It’s really going to happen, as it has in California, in the states that don’t have that. So I’m really nervous about this religious exemption being used to sort of weaken civil rights laws that pass in the states. So that’s, we’ll continue engaging on that where we see it.”

This means EQCA opposes an exemption for, say, a photographer or a baker who refuses to participate in a same-sex 'wedding.'  They will work to prevent a Catholic from being faithful to the Church. They are announcing this intention in what calls itself a Catholic Church.

Note that in his answer, Mr. Zbur brought up AB 1266. The California Catholic Bishops were very clear about that bill: "If signed into law by the governor, AB 1266 will require public schools to allow a child of any age 'to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.'"

What the bill means is that if a second grade girl (who is biologically a female) decides she wants to be a boy, she can use the boys’ bathroom if she chooses. She can insist on being called 'he' instead of 'she'. If a twelve year old boy (who is biologically a male) self-identifies as a girl, he—or 'she'—must be allowed to play on the girls’ softball team and share the locker room with the girls.

Explain that to your eight or ten year old, or your six year old."

The moderator followed up: "You just mentioned AB 1266, which is the law that went into effect last January, that provides that all students have access to the same facilities [bathrooms], including transgender students too, athletics and other things too. What do you see in different parts of the state around implementing that and how can Equality California help with that. You did mention earlier you were working on some school issues." Zbur responded:

“We’ve been partnering with other LGBT organizations, not us alone. The ACLU, one of our partners, has been really taking a lot of leadership on this. For example, I think it’s next week we are participating in a pretty big convening meeting in the Coachella Valley in which I think there is something like 8 or 9 smaller school districts that the ACLU and Equality California are helping provide some training for members of the school district and administrators and the school board on AB 1266 implementation. 

“What we’re finding is implementation is spotty, that a lot of districts really don’t want to do it, that AB 1266 is one of those laws that there is a fair amount of controversy on. We saw a member of the California Assembly who lost re-election in Orange County and one of the key issues that was raised in her political campaign was the fact that she voted for AB 1266. So I think our opponents know that is an area where the public, where there is a lack of full understanding among the public. And they’re using that as a bit of a wedge issue.

“So we think that we need to really engage in education ahead of a potential ballot measure that they may very well try to put back on the ballot in the 2016 election cycle. They did try to gather signatures for 2014 and just fell short in gathering enough signatures to get on the ballot but we’re hearing that they are going to try again and so that’s an issue that we’ll be working on with the Transgender Law Center & the ACLU & National Center for Lesbian Rights and all of our partners”

AB 1266 is a vastly unpopular law, certainly opposed by a majority of Californians. As Zbur admits even "a lot of (public school) districts really don't want to do it." And we repeat: it was publicly opposed by the California Catholic Bishops. But EQCA announces, in what calls itself a Catholic Church, that, working with the ACLU, will be forcing compliance with this idiotic and immoral law in direct opposition to the Catholic Church.

EQCA's actions corrupt the minds of California's children by teaching them that it is simply their decision which determines whether they are a boy or a girl. But AB 1266 is not the only attack EQCA is making on children, the family, and reason in the public schools.  The moderator asked Mr. Zbur what EQCA's priorities were for the coming year. Zbur listed three, one of which was:

“We are talking to the ACLU about co-sponsoring a bill that would update sex-education criteria that are imposed in the schools, and there are requirements now that sex education programs in a very general way address and educate kids about the diversity of what a family looks like and because the standards are so general most school districts don’t really do what was intended by the existing legislation. So that the curriculum is being updated, the ACLU really wants more standards than that, so we’re really going to be focused on that as well.”

So the propaganda that goes under the name of 'sex education' in the public schools does not go far enough in Mr. Zbur's (or the ACLU's) opinion. To 'educate kids about the diversity of what a family looks like' is simply propaganda against the family, what Pope Francis himself called on January 16 the 'new ideological colonization that tries to destroy the family.'

Once again, Zbur announces that he will attack the fundamental teaching of the Church (exemplified by Pope Francis words) on the reality of man and woman and the family. Once again he announces his attack on the faith, (and the Pope), in what calls itself a Catholic Church.

Mr. Zbur is also seeking clerical allies in castrating the Churches. (He has two--two priest were in attendance at the meeting, probably Frs. McClure and Link of MHR). He unveiled EQCA's 'Faith Initiative'--apparently made public for the first time, at Most Holy Redeemer.

The moderator asked: "I know that when we talked you had mentioned something about Equality California planning a faith initiative. What would that entail?"

Mr. Zbur: “So we’ll be announcing the details, but I’ll give you a little bit of a preview. We’ve been in discussions with a group of faith leaders throughout the state who’ve actually already been engaging in work to both educate and outreach to the faith communities about the LGBT community and to advance LGBT equality and acceptance in the faith community, talking with them about providing a home and support for that and part of their ministry. 

“The group of faith leaders are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, includes a large group or them, so for us it recognizes the fact that some of achieving our goal of full acceptance of LGBT people will require us I think to have more outreach and education within faith communities and so that’s a priority for us and we are hoping that this new initiative is completed, but we’re hoping soon to announce the details of the faith initiative that is sort of really aimed at more outreach in the faith communities in California. 

“I think that other than that what makes me really excited is that you look at where the opponents of full equality are coming from, they’re using faith based arguments and religious exemptions to try and carve away the legal rights that we have already earned here in California and in other parts of the country, so having a group of faith leaders who are standing with us in our fight for full equality and acceptance, I think will be something that’s going to be important for us all as we engage in the political advocacy that we need and in the public education to sort of protect the rights that we have already earned.”

Equality California is at war with the Catholic Church. Inexplicably, the Archdiocese of San Francisco provided them with a beachhead. That Most Holy Redeemer would provide aid and comfort to the enemies of the Church will surprise no one who has been paying attention. As far back as August 28, 2007, in the post 'MHR and how it got that way,'  I argued that, existentially, Most Holy Redeemer is not a Catholic Church, it is a gay spiritual institution. I wrote at that time:

"The moral credibility of the Catholic Church, then, will be determined (by the members of MHR) by the extent to which it supports, or fails to support, the community-forming experience of the gay community. If...the sexuality is experienced as more important than the doctrines of the Catholic Church, one would expect the doctrines of the Church to be discarded when they come into conflict with the community-forming experience. And this is exactly what happens...And this leads to the acceptance of blasphemy in an ostensibly Catholic Church. But such events will not be experienced by the parishioners as blasphemous, because they validate the community-forming experience...Indeed, at this point, what will be experienced by the parishioners as blasphemous is that which denies the value of the community-forming experience." Such as the teaching that marriage is only between one man and one woman.

I also wrote at that time that the fault does not lie with MHR but with the Archdiocese.

Valerie Schmalz's blockbuster series continues in Catholic San Francisco

Valerie Schmalz's must-read series describing the attack by homosexual activists on the Church continues in the September 19 issue of Catholic San Francisco. The digital version of the paper is already up. It's been on the paper's front page both last week and this week, and quickly reached #1 on the website's "Most popular news stories" list. This week's installment begins:


Faith the latest battleground for gay rights advocates
Faithful America targeting of Archbishop Cordileone showcases tactic

Don’t be surprised if same-sex partnered families are front and center in news coverage of the 2015 Catholic World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia – whether or not Pope Francis shows up.

A coalition of four dissident Catholic groups, calling itself Equally Blessed, is recruiting for what it calls a pilgrimage to “speak out for the holiness of LGBT families” at the World Meeting of Families, to which Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput has invited Pope Francis.

The Equally Blessed coalition received a $200,000 grant in March from Michigan self-identified gay billionaire Jon Stryker’s Arcus Foundation. That brings Arcus funding of Equally Blessed since 2010 to $770,000.

In a press release, Arcus said the 2014 grant was to support “a coalition of pro-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual,transgender) Catholic advocacy agencies which will amplify pro-LGBT voices within the Catholic Church in preparation for significant international gatherings planned by Catholic bishops and the Vatican.”

The Arcus Foundation’s grant-making is part of a strategy by a handful of nonprofit and private foundations to use the language of faith to challenge traditional sexual morality by directly attacking individual faith leaders, including Catholic bishops but also Protestants and Jews.

They fund dissidents in the Catholic Church, as well as other Christians and Jews who share their worldview opposing marriage as only between one man and woman. The financial grants help amplify the voices of dissident Catholics with the intention of making it appear as if the dissidents constitute a vigorous, loud, and committed contingent within ordinary Catholic parishes...."

It's a long and well-researched article, and, as noted, a must-read. You can read the whole thing here. 

Here is her chart of the foundations funding the faux-Catholic groups. Click the image for a larger version.



Important: SF Archdiocese Exposes LGBT 'Catholic' Groups

This week's Catholic San Francisco, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco has an important and comprehensive expose of the motivations and funding of 'Catholic' homosexualist groups seeking to undermine the Church. The article begins:

Gay rights money funds archbishop’s critics
Faithful America part of national progressive advocacy network

September 10th, 2014
By Valerie Schmalz 

"Many Catholics in the San Francisco Bay Area were surprised by the strong negative reaction to Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone’s decision to give a talk about traditional marriage at a June 19 Washington, D.C., rally organized to support marriage.

A national online petition from Faithful America and a nationally publicized June 10 letter from 78 politicians and others urged the archbishop to withdraw from the March for Marriage in Washington, D.C. The letter and petition citing “hate” speech by the National Organization for Marriage and the labeling participant Family Research Council as a “hate group” created a media storm and disturbed many local Catholics and pastors.

Most are used to attacks on the archbishop for his strong advocacy of the Catholic Church’s teaching on marriage and family, but the reaction seemed disproportionate to the event – which was a talk at a rally by a Catholic Church leader who has given many talks in support of marriage and family across the country and in the media.

 The cause for surprise among Catholics may be they assumed the powerful reaction was spontaneous. Now there is abundant evidence the reaction was both well planned and financed by Faithful America, an organization that is supported directly and indirectly by politically powerful and wealthy men and by grant-making foundations who have devoted millions of dollars to promoting acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) behavior...."

Flowchart showing funding behind the "Open Letter" to Archbishop Cordileone.
Courtesy Catholic San Francisco.

The article is part one of a three-part special report. It is very heartening to see this in an Archdiocesan newspaper. Not only that, the Archdiocese has a number of its ministries involved in the special report. Ms. Schmalz's article quotes Jesuit Father John Piderit, the Archdiocese's new moderator of the curia and vicar for administration. Fr. Piderit says:

“Similar to other groups, Faithful America is a well-funded pressure group that espouses a variety of viewpoints contrary to Catholic teaching. Informed Catholics are aware that such groups regularly promote their viewpoints in the media.... Catholics should treat these people with dignity, but Catholics also should be aware of their agenda and their tactics." 

Fr. Piderit adds:“The message is part of a larger strategy, and the appearance of open letters and demonstrators is planned, not spontaneous.”

In addition to Ms. Schmalz's expose, the paper also contains two related pieces by Mr. Ed Hopfner, the director of the Office of Marriage and Family Life for the Archdiocese. His first piece articulates the Church's teaching on marriage--what it is and what it isn't:

"The marriage vows reflect the love of God shown us in the person of Jesus Christ – freely given, faithfully and completely given, and fruitful (life-giving). Furthermore, through his life, death and resurrection, Christ has elevated marriage to a sacrament, which gives us the grace to overcome our lust – our disordered desire, our tendency to use others, even our spouse, instead of love them – and love our spouse in the way they deserve.

No other kind of 'love relationship' (parent-child, sibling, friendship, same-sex couple, polygamous ... ) has these features – thus no other kind can be a marriage in our understanding. While many states have legalized same-sex marriage, the church cannot recognize them as such. Pope Francis, while reminding us that we cannot judge the heart, only actions, with his famous 'Who am I to judge?' quote, has reiterated the church’s teaching on the unique character of ‘traditional’ marriage, calling same-sex legal marriage a 'destructive attack on God’s plan,' since it omits a key element of marriage, openness to new life."

Mr. Hopfner's second contribution articulates the Church's teaching on conscience:

"The Catholic Church does teach the primacy of individual conscience. It’s like a compass God has given us, to make moral decisions. In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that we must always obey our consciences.

However it also tells us we have an obligation of proper formation of conscience, since we are all 'tempted by sin to prefer … (our) own judgment and to reject authoritative teachings.' Just like a compass can point in the wrong direction if a magnet is nearby, so our conscience can be pulled in the wrong direction, and make errors in judgment. The catechism tells us this is particularly true when we are subject to 'bad example by others ... (by) a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience, (or) rejection of the church’s authority and her teaching.'”

Oakland Diocese catches up with "A Shepherd's Voice"--Priests bounced from "Queer Rosary" parish

Today's California Catholic Daily re-posted an article from the East Bay Express ('Gay Priest Ousted by Conservative Bishop') reporting that Oakland's Bishop Michael Barber, left, is removing two priest (one an open homosexual) from their positions at Newman Hall-Holy Spirit Parish in Berkeley. The article included the sentence "And yet more troubling was the fact that according to the pastor, Barber had made it clear that the removal of these two priests supported his broader goal 'to see a major redirection of ministry at Newman.'”

We blew the whistle on these guys long ago, we know a major redirection at Newman has been necessary for a long while, and we don't find the Bishop's actions troubling in the least.. On September 29, 2009 we had a post entitled "Shadow Churches: UPDATE "Queering the Rosary." The post also appeared as an article in California Catholic Daily.

Part of the article dealt with what homosexual activist call the "relational mysteries" or the "queer rosary" which is an attempt to co-opt Catholic devotion in furteherance of the homosexualist agenda. From our article:

"A crystal-clear description of purpose of the 'Relational Mysteries' was given in the online calendar of the New Spirit/MCC Church in Berkeley. The entry was for an event held on Sunday, May 31, 2009, and reads: “GTU doctoral student Eugene McMullan and Reverend Jim Mitulski will lead a two part class on 'Praying the Queer Rosary,' based on stories from the bible which depict Queer Families or Relationships. The class will include a brief history of the rosary, introduction to Catholic devotions, sharing of stories, and praying together.”

The MCC is an overtly homosexual activist church; that was its founding purpose, so it is not surprising to see such an event held there. Unfortunately, the homosexual activists have managed to introduce the 'relational mysteries' into at least one Catholic parish as well. The September 13 web bulletin of Berkeley’s Newman Hall - Holy Spirit Parish announces: 'Praying the Rosary in solidarity with LGBT Catholics. Join us Sept. 17, 7:30-9:00 p.m. in the lounge as we explore the Relational Mysteries: Fidelity—Ruth's pledge to Naomi (Ruth 1:16-18); Grief—The parting of David and Jonathan (I Sam 20:35-42); Intercession—Esther intercedes for her people (Est 4:9-5:2); Restoration—the raising of Lazarus (John 11:38-44); and Discipleship—the two encounter Christ on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). The group will be co-facilitated by Mike Campos and Eugene McMullan, Ph.D. students at the Graduate Theological Union.'”
It's very heartening to see that the Oakland Diocese is catching up with A Shepherd's Voice, even if it did take four-and-a-half years.