Is Anybody There?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says Yahweh Sabaoth" Zach 4:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dio di Signore, nella Sua volontà è nostra pace!" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Ben Franklin 1759

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween At The White House


(Source: Jill Stanek, America’s Haunted (White) House)


(Source: Moonbattery, Open Thread)


Some Very Ugly Statistics (& I DO Mean Ugly!!!!!)

- # of abortions from 22 Jan 1973 - 31 october 2010: 53,495,167
- or the loss of 31.7% of the generation under 40
- including the genocidal slaughter of 4.67 times as many blacks in the last 40 years as lived in these United States in 1860
- The ethnic breakdown of this total includes:
34,085,480 whites,
17,183,630 African Americans,
2,562,490 “Hispanic or other”
- The 17,183,630 black abortions is 69.7% of the under-40 black population & 43.1% of the total black population
- 61.8% of all blacks are under 40
- Currently, blacks are estimated to make up 38.8% of all abortions, but early in the abortion era, they comprised as few as 24%.
- white abortions account for 26.25% of the under-40 white population & just 13.8% of the total white population
- Back in the early days 75% of all reported abortions were among whites. It has fallen to 52.4% — a decline of 30%
- the yearly number of white abortions has declined from a peak of 1.1 million in 1981 to a projected 635,000 in 2010 –a drop of 42.2%
- 82.8% of all abortions occur to single women

This is only the number of abortions that are both “legal” & reported. The actual numbers may well be 20 to 30 per cent higher - or even more. This is because of the growing number of medical abortions using drugs like RU-486 & “morning after” abortifacients.

Not a pretty picture, is it?

The National (Non)Catholic Reporter - Promoting Satan's Agenda

Over the last couple of days, I have become aware of 2 articles on Satan's newspaper of record that once again show that they are pushing an agenda aimed at sending people to hell in droves.
The 1st article is Satan's Blueberry Muffin's obituary of the false "Spirit of Vatican II, although she would probably disagree. ('Don’t even think about it' just isn’t working anymore) In the article she bemoans the rejection by the Catholic Church of what she sees as the "Spirit of Vatican II". In that she is right. The so-called "spirit" she is promoting is being rejected by the Catholic Church, just like it has every other false spirit (Arianism, Manichaeism Pelagianism, Nestorianism, etc) over the past 2000 years. That "spirit" she so dearly loves was not the real Spirit of Vatican II.
What she fails to realize is that the "new spirit in the church" that she talks about rising in the Church isn't new at all. It is the Holy Spirit rising up to combat the false spirit that she bemoans is no longer holding sway. The Spirit rising up is the Spirit of God that she, along with all the other dissident groups & individuals she applauds in the article, have rejected in favor of the demonic spirit they have chosen to follow instead.
Speaking of dissidents, the second article focuses on a recent speech given by Charles Curran at Southern Methodist University. (Curran: How bishops challenge abortion laws is 'flawed') For those of you who don't remember him, he was removed from the faculty of Catholic University in 1986 because of his dissent from a large number of Catholic teachings including contraception & abortion.
Basicly the speech he gave was to tell the Bishops to quit trying to put an end to abortion in the USA. The speech does its best to undermine authentic Catholic teaching on abortion, including when life begins. He attempted to twist Pope John Paul's encyclical "Evangelium Vitae“ to say that Pope John Paul supports his positions. What he is actually doing is providing more cover for pro-aborts like Pelosi, Harkin & Biden to continue on their path of promoting the "culture of death" while claiming to be good Catholics.
I have to wonder if he would have taken the same stand in the battle against slavery 200 years ago. Some of the same arguements he uses here were those used by some to justify allowing slavery to continue.
He also tries to use the fact that the Catholic Church isn't pushing for adultry to be a crime as a justification for not pushing to criminalize abortion. Yes, adultry is terrible. In the Cathechism (p 2381) it is called an injustice. & it is evil. But there is 1 huge difference, adultry doesn't take another life, abortion always does.
Of course there are the other usual dissident suspects on the NonCR website like Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton (whose latest ignores why the publican went home justifed, he repented of his sins*) & Richard McBrien (currently blaming Pope John Paul for the polarization in the Catholic Church rather than taking responsiblitity for it being due to his & others dissent from authentic Catholic teaching).
There is an quote from Winston Churchill that I think is apt to apply to the NonCR gang, "Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it." As I pointed out early, all we are seeing here is a new group of heretics dissenting from authentic Catholic teaching & expecting a different outcome than what happenned in the past. What will really happen is that they will end up in the same garbage heap as all the rest.
________________
PS Given that Joanie is alledgedly a Benedictine, I think I know what St.Benedict would do with her today if he were arround to deal with her perversity. "If a brother is found to be obstinate, or disobedient, or proud, or murmuring, . . . . if he is perverse, however, let him undergo corporal punishment." (Chapter 23)
"If a sister who has been frequently corrected for some fault, and even excommunicated, does not amend, let a harsher correction be applied, that is, let the punishment of the rod be administered.
But if she still does not reform or perhaps (which God forbid) even rises up in pride and wants to defend her conduct, then let the Abbess do what a wise physician would do. . . .then let the Abbess use the knife of amputation, according to the Apostle's words, "Expel the evil one from your midst" (1 Cor. 5:13), and again, "If the faithless one departs, let her depart" (1 Cor. 7:15)lest one diseased sheep contaminate the whole flock. " (Chapter 28 Note: the translation I am using adapted the even numbered chapters for a women's community. Originally the entire rule was written for the monks. But since it is also used by women monastics the gender doesn't matter. the application is still the same, male or female. Also given she has written her own commentary that totally twists & perverts the rule, I think St. Benedict would appprove my bringing up his solution.)
PPS I need to add that Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell didn't let Charles Curran's attack on Catholic teaching at SMU go unchallenged. In fact he was quite proactive, issuing a statement before the speech making it clear that what Curran was going to say was wrong. Bishop Farrell even makes it clear that Curran cannot use Pope John Paul's "Evangelium Vitae“ rto justify his position.
Of course in the speech Curran tried to claim he wasn't being controversial. Given how he views what he said, to him it isn't. The truth, that Curran is denying, is that he is stirring up controversy to undermine the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church. But then he would deny the truth because he doesn't like to admit what he is saying is wrong. & thus admit the damage he is intentionally doing.
* According to Gumbie the Pharisee "recognizes how blessed he is" & was simply citing "what he’s been able to do with God’s help." But later he says "The Pharisee tends to think it’s his own doing". Which is it? Acknowledging God's help or taking the credit himself? It can't be both. The way to justification according to Gumbie is to simply thank God for all He has done for you. Yet that IS exactly what this Pharisee did, Thank God. Remember his prayer begins "'O God, I thank you".
But the big thing is the person in the parable that Gumbie totally ignores, the person that Jesus says goes home justified & why that person went home justified, the tax collector aka the publican (an old word for tax collector) in older texts. & why did the tax collector go home justifed. Not because he praised God. Rather because he admitted his sinfulness & asked God for mercy, seeking forgiveness of those sins.
Now why did Gumbie brag up the Pharisee & ignore the tax collector? Let's talk about the tax collector 1st. I can come up with several reasons. As I said before the older term used for a tax collector was publican. Maybe he thought it was to close to republican & he was afraid of sounding political & partisan? Yeah, right. Given Gumbie's leftist, big government leanings, maybe he was afraid of making someone who he knows is needed to keep it running look bad? Or maybe it was simply that, like many of his false "spirit of Vatican II ilk, he didn't want to admit to what he spent the last 45 years denying, there is such a thing as sin & what the consequences of not repenting are, eternity in Hell. I vote for this last reason.
As for the Pharisee, I am honestly surprized he even said as much negative about him as he did. Let's face it, the Pharisee would fit in perfectly with today's "catholyc" "false "spirit of Vatican II" gang. I can see him lustily singing "We have come to tell our story" or "Let us build a house where. . ." Songs Fr. Mitch Pacwa was critical of on last Wed nite's EWTN Live. As I said, the Pharisee typifies today's "catholyc" so I suspect Gumbie didn't go too hard on him to avoid making any of his buddies take to hard a look at what they are really like.

An Abortion Survivor Tells Her Story

National Right to Life Speaker comes to Loras
By Leah Sedelle Chapman Published October 26, 2010

“If you want to win the lottery, just touch my hand.”
This was pro-life speaker Melissa Ohden’s response to being referred to as a miracle child. Melissa survived a saline abortion.
When her mother was 19 she found herself pregnant. Her parents forced her to get an abortion and actually drove her to the clinic. Ohden’s mother received a saline abortion, where a solution was ejected into her uterus and meant to be released into the child’s lungs to cause them to burn up so that the child, unable to breathe, would die. This form of abortion typically takes three days, until finally the mother goes into forced labor to give birth to the now dead child. It took Ohden’s mother five days until her labor started. All believed that Ohden was born dead as planned; they even set her on a side table to focus their attention on her mother. Minutes after she was born, the nurses heard Ohden making grunting noises. She was later informed that this was her attempt at breathing. The nurses immediately tended to Ohden, saving her life. Saline abortions are no longer in practice because too many babies survived through them. After only 31 weeks in the womb, surviving a saline abortion, being born with jaundice, suffering from seizures and needing multiple blood transfusions, Ohden was adopted into a loving family, complete with an older sister the couple had also adopted. Today she suffers no damage from the attempted abortion.
So how do you tell your daughter that not only was she unwanted, but that her mother tried to kill her and throw her away, and even after that failed gave her away? In Ohden’s case, her adoptive older sister found herself in the same situation that Ohden’s mother had once been in: teenaged, pregnant and looking toward abortion as the answer. The difference in this case is that instead of her parents driving her to the clinic, they told her the story of Ohden’s birth. She told Ohden, who then confronted her parents about it.
“Some people say that my story saved my nephew’s life, but in my perspective he saved mine. I don’t know how my parents could have told me my story any other way.” Even though she had a supportive family, church and school, Ohden was still very upset about this new revelation. “I was embarrassed, and I didn’t want to talk about it.” When Ohden moved off to college she realized just how common abortion was. She soon moved back home and later transferred to another school. This is when she starting speaking out against abortion by telling her story.
People don’t want to face the guilt that accompanies abortion, but it can’t be avoided. “I can count on one hand how many people have told me that abortion was the best decision they ever made. You can’t even fathom the amount of people that tell me that they regret their abortion and wish that I was their child.” People have actually approached Ohden trying to prove that she was their daughter. “We would have conversations for a week maybe two or three, them trying to tell me that I was the same age as what their child would be. They try to replace me with the child they lost.” Ohden encounters many different kinds of people, with many different kinds of ideas about abortion. But Ohden, as a living testament to how much abortion hurts and to the fact that the baby being aborted is truly a living breathing child, gives people a vivid vision of what abortion is and what it can do to someone.
When Ohden felt comfortable she went in search of her biological parents and grandparents. She tried to find her mother but had no results. She contacted her father but received no response. She also contacted her mother’s parents, who did respond. However, they couldn’t pass on Ohden’s message of forgiveness to her mother because she had stopped speaking to them years earlier. At the time Ohden didn’t know why her mother had stopped talking to her parents, but she later learned that her mother blamed her parents for forcing the abortion on her, which resulted in the guilt that followed her through life.
Today Ohden continues to speak across the country against abortion. Her first public speech about her story since high school was on Capitol Hill. She has spoken with Feminists for Life, and recently returned from making a documentary in Australia where the laws involving abortions are some of the most liberal in the world, right next to the U.S.. She is tremendously grateful for the life she has been given and the story that she has to share. It seems odd that someone would be grateful for a story like that, but in Ohden’s words, “I can’t live my life without knowing this. A lot of survivors don’t share their story for whatever reason.” Ohden knew, when she first learned her story, that she would be asked to share it, but she also knew that it would be hard and at first she didn’t want to. But once she learned the impact that her story would have, she knew that there was no way she could avoid it.
If you would like to hear more from Melissa Ohden you can watch her on the 700 Club in November and in the soon to be released exclusive youtube videos from Australia, coming out in the next week.
_______________
This article was published in the 28 October 2010 issue of The Lorian, Loras College's student newspaper.

Things Have To Be Pretty Bad When Even the Lefties Are Making Campaign Ads Like This. . . .

Pelosi - Queen of the Swamp

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Alveda King - Fixing America's Dream

What do abortions, HIV/AIDS, broken marriages, high school drop outs, the failing economy, and prison felons have in common?
America’s dream is broken. Abortion, broken marriages, high school drop outs, the failing economy, prison felons, and victims of HIV/AIDS are suffering and we need to pray for relief. We also need to vote for relief! In the upcoming election, we need to send men and women who understand that failed moral solutions lead to poverty of soul, spirit, body and pocketbook. Right now, as we communicate in cyberspace in this blog, African American leaders and lay people are pressing the White House to do something about the HIV/AIDS crisis that is adversely killing the African American community in seriously disproportionate numbers. Sound familiar? The same levels of pain and injury are occurring in all of the social categories that impact America. For instance, African Americans suffer from more abortions, divorce, high school dropout rates, incarceration levels and poverty rates.
On the HIV/AIDS front, The African American community reports that, “President Barack Obama commissioned the Office of National AIDS Policy to develop a National HIV/AIDS Strategy to fight the growing epidemic in America, but when it presented its vision in July, Black advocates noted swiftly that it was void of any policies or strategies that dealt with tackling the issue in a real way in their own communities, which are being decimated by AIDS on a daily basis.
In response, Pres. Obama’s administration gave the advocates a period of time, which expires this December, to develop and recommend methodologies, strategies, and policies they feel will meet the needs of their people. So on October 12, as part of the effort, several long-time HIV/AIDS activists and community leaders met with the people themselves at the African American Cultural Center (Us) to find out what they say should reflect a national policy on AIDS as it pertains to them.”
President Barack Obama commissioned the Office of National AIDS Policy to develop a National HIV/AIDS Strategy to fight the growing epidemic in America, but when it presented its vision in July, Black advocates noted swiftly that it was void of any policies or strategies that dealt with tackling the issue in a real way in their own communities, which are being decimated by AIDS on a daily basis…
The thing is, if our elected officials don’t find the courage to call things as they are and as they should be, we’ll keep floundering, and people, including babies in the womb, will continue to die, to get sick, to drop out of school and to be victims of poverty.
The social ills all have two things in common, they are killing people right now, and they can be healed by praying, God fearing people who will vote for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for ALL. Please think about this when you go to the polls next week.

The Video Planned Parenthood Heartland Doesn't Want You to See

Because it shows what really happens to the woman & the child during an chemical abortion like the telemed abortions they do.
The video can be seen at the link below ( Caution: Be advised, it is very graphic ):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1HK5PARFX4

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Move Over Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees & Freddy Krueger, We've Found Something Even Scarier Than All of You Combined

Planned Parenthood has come up with what has to be the most twisted idea for a Halloween costume out there:



What is even sicker is their comment with this picture on their Facebook page: "It's almost Halloween! Can you tell that we're serious about our costumes (and birth control) here? If you celebrate Halloween, what will you dress up as? Are you taking the kids out or are you an adult who still has a weakness for candy? Do tell..." Gee why the concern for taking the kids out since PP's mission has been to get rid of them by any means available?

These are the same people who protest children seeing pictures showing what an abortion does to an unborn child. Yet they want to teach those same children their perverted version of sex ed. Banana & condom anybody?

What next, going as an IUD? A diaphram? Or a condom? (I think that someone has already done this 1.) Maybe someone from PP-Heartland will go as a vial of RU-486. I wouldn't put it past them.

This is just another example of how sick & twisted PP is. Remember these are the same people who sell gift certificates for abortions as Christmas gifts. They often use condoms & birth control pills to make centerpieces for their banquets.

But when you worship at the altar of Molech as they do, what else would you expect?


H/T: Thomas Peters (Planned Parenthood’s Costume Idea: “Dress like Birth Control!”)

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Jason Jones on His Lost Fatherhood

This video is from the gathering in front of the Supreme Courtof the Silent No More Awareness Campaign in Washington DC on 22 January 2010.



Jason Jones is a friend of mine. I 1st met him when he came to DBQ to promote the movie Bella (he was 1 of the producers). While this is a sort version of his story, it does capture the hurt he went through. The emotional & psychological damage done to fathers by abortion is ignored & denied by the abortion industry even more than their denial of the damage done to the mothers who have the abortion. The Silent No More Awareness Campaign is working to change that.

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Friday, October 29, 2010

Authentic Catholic Teaching or Muddying the Waters?

In a couple of articles I recently read I saw the difference between the clear teaching of Papa Benedetto & some "Catholyc" theologians who have set themselves as a counter magisterium attempting to undermine the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church.

1st here is what Papa Benedetto said to a group of Brazilian Bishops there for the ad limina visit. According to LifeSiteNews Papa Benedetto stated that "in defending life we should not fear opposition and unpopularity, refusing any compromise and ambiguity that conforms us to the mentality of this world." He called abortion "an intrinsically evil act" & went on to say that it is "morally unacceptable and incompatible with the dignity of people." The pope added that "when political projects contemplate, openly or in veiled fashion, the decriminalization of abortion or euthanasia, the democratic ideal -- which is only truly such when it recognizes and safeguards the dignity of every human person -- is betrayed at its foundation."

"Any defense of political, economic, and social human rights that does not include the energetic defense of the right to life from conception to natural death is totally false and illusory." He adding that "regarding efforts on behalf of the weakest and the most defenseless, who is more helpless than an unborn child or a sick person in a vegetative or terminal state?" (emphasis mine)

Now compare this to what M. Cathleen Kaveny said in an essay in America magazine "We cannot simply set 1.5 million annual abortions on the negative side of the equation as if they are entirely caused by one vote. A single vote for a pro-choice politician is not likely to make any significant difference to any particular woman’s decision for or against abortion, given that abortion is currently a constitutionally protected right in this country. In fact, we might well judge that voting for a candidate who supports a large safety net for mothers and dependent children would be a better way to increase the number of children brought to term, especially at the state level." (again, emphasis mine) She goes on to make all kinds of justifications for NOT voting for a Pro-life candidate. She clearly disagrees with what the Pope is saying as he obeys Jesus' call to strengthen his brother Bishops. I am sure she would also take issue with what Archbishop Burke recently said as well.

The irony is she tries to use some of what Papa Benedetto said back when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to justify her stand. Yet if you look at what Papa Benedetto says, it is clear that he would NOT buy into the claims she is making.

But what this is really about is her attempt to undermine authentic Catholic teaching that has stood the test of time. As the Cardinal Newman Society points out "She goes on to cast doubt on the usefulness of the traditional Catholic moral theology system of determining cooperation with evil, and suggests it is necessary to develop new ways of analyzing the involvement of individuals in systemic structures of complicity.'

As I read her article (& those comments by 2 others in a follow up article) she is clearly working at enabling those who want to defy God to justify their refusing to do so. In other words, she is looking for ways to let people freely cooperate with evil & act like they are being good Catholics. In her screwed up theology evil is good. A "safety net" makes abortion is OK, giving out condoms is commendable since it lets people have sex outside of God's plan safely.

Or as she says to justify winking at sin "Ameliorating injustice and practicing the corporal works of mercy often involve contact with, and sometimes cooperation with, wrongdoers." Cooperating with wrongdoers is 1 thing, cooperating with wrong is another. But she is trying to make the 2 equally OK. There are times when it is OK to cooperate with wrongdoers. Helping a "wrongdoer" to rescue someone from a burning house for example. In that situation you are not condoning or even remotely cooperating in their wrongdoing. Helping to pass out condoms isn't ever acceptable. & you will notice she completely ignores the spiritual works of mercy, like calling the sinner to repentence. She calls them to continue in their sinful ways instead. She would love them into hell. I am sure that she would deny that it exists however & that we are all going to end up in Heaven. So, following her logic, the only evil are those actions she sees as injustice. & abortion clearly isn't at the top of her list. & maybe not even on it at all.

I am sure she would appreciate what those Bishops that Michael Voris talked about in a recent video are doing to abet her muddying the waters. Not that she would agree with Voris' evaluation of their actions. & given that she is is the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law & a professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind I am sure she welcomed Obama with open arms when he spoke last Spring at the commencement.

Someday she will have to answer to God for her cooperating in evil. Yes, by what she has written that is exactly what she is doing. She is helping people to continue killing thousands of unborn babies every day. She is helping people to break God's commandments with impunity. She is calling evil good. & she will have to answer for her part in building the "culture of death" as well as her open rebellion to the magisterial teachings of the Catholic Church. May God have mercy on her rather than give her the justice she deserves for the injustice against the unborn she is condoning.

Sources: Pope Calls Upon Brazilian Bishops to Speak out against Abortion as Election Approaches
Catholic Profs Muddy Waters of Catholic Voting Principles via The Curt Jester (Develop new ways …)

Clarity or Murkiness?

There is a right way to vote as a Catholic - Pro-Life!!!!!



Sadly, once again we see some Bishops muddying the waters rather than providing the clarity needed about what issues must guide our vote.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

If the Communists Invented Monopoly

Bonus points for those who can name the tune used for the closing credits.

H/T: Patrick Button (Funny Videos: Communist Monopoly & Barbara Boxer )

No This Is NOT a Scene From a Horror Movie, This Is Real Life

As we were leaving to go to Mass at the Adoration Chapel after our stint praying/protesting in front of the DBQ Planned Parenthood, a friend of mine told me about hearing this story on Laura Ingraham Wednesday morning. I was digusted, but not surprized to hear that an abortion clinic would handle the unborn babies it murdered this way.
I really wish this were some sort of horror movie, then at least you would know that these weren't 17 dead babies. They would just be fake props. But these are 17 murdered babies. Thank God they will soon get a proper burial.
But the real horror is that apparently the Attorney General can do very little about it. & unlike Iowa's AG, I think he is serious, not trying to help his buddies in the abortion industry. I say that because AG Mike Cox has built a strong pro-life record while in office.
& once again we see how much the abortion industry respects the law let alone the women it victimizes. They claim they care about the privacy of women, yet by the way they handled the women's medical documents it is clear that they don't. They didn't even bother to get themselves set up legally. This is just more evidence of how the abortion industry does all it can to skirt regulation or avoid it when real health care provider organizations have to meet stringent rules.
As my friend commented, these clinics could be opening themselves up to some lawsuits from the women. I agree, they betrayed the women whom they claimed to care about but clearly don't. & they deserve to be sued.
At the least this may open the eyes of some of the women to see the wrong in what they did. Hopefully after they realized the wrong the did, repented of it & gotten help from someplace like Rachel's Vineyard or Silent No More. & hopefully some other women will see this & decide that abortion is NOT a choice to make, instead they will choose to give their child life. Let us pray that God does bring some good out of this.
NOTE: While the Citizens for a Pro-life Society do have some photos I could have added to this post, I suggest you check out their website instead. Some of those pictures had me doing all I could to keep from crying at what I saw as pure, unadultarated cruelty to this helpless babies. Warning, if you do go to see the pictures remember that, as they say below, they ARE very graphic. Which leads me back to the horror movie reference. Sadly, this pictures could rival anything in the current crop of slasher horror movies out there. Again, unlike those movies, these are the real thing. 17 lives really were lost.


Aborted Babies Found in Michigan Dumpster


By Peter J. Smith
LANSING, Michigan, October 27, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Tighter legislation on the abortion industry is in the works after a local pro-life group revealed evidence of two abortion clinics having disposed aborted fetal remains with other bio-hazardous waste and medical documents in a dumpster.
According to Citizens for a Pro-Life Society (CPLS), the Michigan Attorney General and Saginaw County sheriffs concluded last Friday their 7-month investigation of two Womans Choice abortion clinics in Delta Township and Saginaw.
Back in February, local pro-life advocate Chris Veneklase confirmed suspicions that the Womans Choice abortion clinic in Delta Township was disposing bio-hazardous waste, and likely the corpses of aborted infants, along with the rest of the trash in its dumpster. Veneklase said he found the remains of 17 aborted unborn children in 17 bags marked with both the January dates of the abortions and the full names of the respective mothers. (WARNING: pictures can be found here, but are extremely graphic)
Dr. Monica Miller, CPLS President, also investigated the Womans Choice clinic in Saginaw with Veneklase and found the same practice. Besides fetal remains, the trash bags contained bloody or soiled canulas, gloves, gauze, and surgical sheets, along with used medicine vials and urine sample cups that had women’s names written down, including some first and last names.
However the AG concludes that there are no grounds under current Michigan law to prosecute the clinics, other than that they were not properly incorporated under state law. Because the facilities were not properly incorporated, state authorities say they lack the legal grounds to discipline anyone for the improper handling of medical records.
“It is incredibly frustrating that abortion clinics continue to get away with abominations. It’s bad enough that the unborn are murdered, but their bodies are literally treated like trash,” said Miller. “Patient records are thrown away, and still nothing ever seems to happen to those who have no respect for life or for women.”
However Michigan GOP State Reps. Rick Jones, Bob Jenetsky and Joe Haveman say they intend to submit legislation that would change the law.
"I'm shocked by this dumping of 17 babies into a trash dumpster in my district, and I was further appalled that this may be a legal act under Michigan law," said Jones, R-Grand Ledge. He called it “a sickening breach of human decency."
The proposed law, HB 5929, would require that abortion clinics cremate aborted infants or bury them if the mother requests it. Two other bills, HB 6428 and HB 6429 would make violations of the new law a felony punishable by up to three years in jail, a maximum $5,000 fine, or both.
"I am disgusted and saddened by the actions of this clinic," said Rep. Genetski. "Their utter disrespect for human life is abhorrent. I'm hopeful our bill package will put an end to atrocities such as this."
Miller says that CPLS intends to have a burial service for the 17 aborted infants as soon as the opportunity arises.
For more information and history of the case see the Citizens for a Pro-Life Society website (Warning: contains graphic images that can be very disturbing)

Lovely Lady Liberty is 124 Years Old Today

The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World should remind us that freedom is not free. It will always cost us. We must remain vigilant. & be willing to fight for it if need be, against enemies foreign & (esp these days) domestic who try to enslave us. & yes, the biggest threat to our freedom is the "culture of death". It offers only slavery & death, not life & liberty.

But ultimately we must remember that true freedom comes from God & can only be found in Jesus: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach glad tidings to the poor; he has sent me to preach to captives deliverance, and to the blind sight, to send forth the crushed delivered,To preach deliverance to the captives, and sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of reward." Luke 4:18-19
















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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Cardinal Elect Burke to Catholic Voters - You CANNOT Vote for Pro-Abort/Pro-Choice Candidates

Thev following videos are taken from a 25 minute interview of Cardinal-elect Raymond Burke Thomas McKenna, President of Catholic Action for Faith and Family.
In the 1st video Archbishop Burke explains why a Catholic can "never vote for someone who favors absolutely the right to choice of a woman to destroy a human life in her womb or the right to a procured abortion.”



In this 2nd video Archbishop Burke looks at why homkosexuals cannot marry:



The Full-length 20 Oct 2010 Interview with Cardinal-elect Burke regarding his Pastoral Letter on Voting can be found at their website.

Source: New Catholic Cardinal: Catholics Can’t Vote for Pro-Abortion Candidates

Remember This the Next Time Planned Parenthood Says It Gives Out Scientificly Accurate Info

& Crisis Pregnancy Centers don't.
This also shows the poor state of our education system when these pro-abort college students don't know their basic High School biology facts. Of course, if PP ran the sex-ed show in their schools, then that would explain it, wouldn't it?

A eye-opening debate was held October 20 at Ft. Lewis College in Durango about Colorado’s Amendment 62.
Providing scientific evidence that life begins at fertilization were pro-life groups LifeGuard, Durango Pregnancy Center, Bayfield Christian, and Master Plan Ministry.
Arguing to the contrary was Advocates for Choice, a student group sponsored by Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountain to “educate campus audiences.”
Well, I wouldn’t have believed the words that came out of the young turks from A4C unless I saw the video for myself.
But the same people who constantly – and erroneously – complain pro-lifers make the life debate into a religious one took the opposite tack this time, saying scientific debate was irrelevant and actually “illegitimate.”
I guess it’s no wonder. The few times they ventured into the scientific arena they showed themselves to be abysmally ignorant. A few highlights:
“Their researchers say the heart beats in 21 days. There’s people on our side and research that says the heart doesn’t beat until 24 weeks!”
“I mean I have a cold, so I have a virus in my body, and that’s also something little and living inside of me. But if I’m going to try to kill it I’m not gonna be like, ‘Oh no it was a virus thing I just killed a life.’ It’s not the same thing.”
“And again on the biological note, I just want to add really quickly that all of us women out there we shed fertilized egg pretty much every month.”

There was also this interesting dialogue:
A4C: Gender studies majors? Uh, is there a natural woman?
Crowd: Noooo!
A4C: There is no such thing as “natural woman.”
Our side: I would put out there that probably most of you women do not have a Y chromosome. Ok? There is a natural woman.
A4C: Um, anyone who is born with an X and a Y chromosome is biologically female.
Here is the short version with several of the highlights…




And here is a longer version that begins with our side’s scientific evidence that life begins at fertilization and photos of fetal development alongside photos of abortions at those stages of development…

H/T: Jill Stanek

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PP's Cecille Richards - Better Living For Us By Eliminating More of the Next Generation

Yes, as the article points out, this is basicly the same thing Nancy Pelosi said last year to justify the contraceptive funding in last year's massive stimulus bill. This pretty much is the final nail in the coffin that proves Pelosi is not a Catholic in any way shape or form. (Like we needed it!) Rather she is a worshipper in the demonic religion that is the "culture of death". It shows that Pelosi's recent claim that her faith does not pass through the Catholic heirarchy is accurate. But that is only half the story. We now see exactly which heirarchy she does listen to, Planned Parenthood's.
1 other thing. Cecille Richards fails to mention 1 other result of fewer people being born, fewer people entering into the work force & paying in to Social Security. So, is she volunteering to forego the expense to the government of her monthly check that would eat up some of her so-called cost savings? Or will she gladly agree when an ObamaCare "death panel" tells her the government can't afford the 'expense" of a treatment she needs to save her life? She sure can decide whether others are worth it, so is she willing to apply the same standard to herself? I suspect that should the time come, she wouldn't.

Fewer People Mean Less Government Cost: Planned Parenthood President

By Kathleen Gilbert
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 26, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The president of Planned Parenthood has argued that the new federal health care reform ought to consider funding all contraception with taxpayer dollars because preventing new children leads to less government expense.
In an appearance on the Bill Press radio show, PP president Cecile Richards said that, although the costs of the federal health care bill already promise to skyrocket out of control, federal officials ought to consider covering birth control a priority because of the "cost savings" benefit of fewer children being born.
"I think it's important, Bill, to understand that unlike some other issues of cost, birth control is one of those issues that actually saves the government money," said Richards. "So an investment in covering birth control actually in the long run is a huge cost savings because women don't have children that they weren't planning on having and all the sort of attendant cost for unplanned pregnancy.
"So we actually feel that covering birth control is not only it's the right thing to do for women, it's good for women it's good for their health care, but it's frankly good public policy."
The remarks reflect sentiments aired by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when prompted to justify the contraceptive funding in last year's massive stimulus bill. The speaker explained that preventing births "will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government."
Richards also touted artificial birth control as "the most normative medical care that exists in America," calling the push for its universal availability a "no-brainer."
Planned Parenthood and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recently launched a massive campaign, called "Birth Control Matters," to pressure the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that all prescription contraception is completely covered by health insurers under "preventive care."
Rita Diller, the national director of Stop Planned Parenthood International, indicated that the true reason for the abortion giant's campaign was not expanded contraceptive availability, but an expanded profit margin.
"In reality, birth control is already widely available to women and even young girls, on a sliding scale basis, so that those who cannot afford the dangerous steroidal pills can receive them at little or no cost," Diller told LifeSiteNews.com. Therefore, she said, covering all birth control as preventive care "will not increase its availability, but will dramatically increase Planned Parenthood’s profit margin, by not only requiring new private health plans to cover 100% of the cost, but also requiring state Medicaid programs to pay 100% of the cost for all Medicaid recipients."
Diller noted that, according to the testimony of former Planned Parenthood chief financial officer P. Victor Gonzalez, the organization purchases contraceptives "at rock bottom prices and resells it at up to 12 times its acquisition cost."
"If Medicaid is required to pay 100 percent of the price Planned Parenthood charges for prescription birth control, it will be laughing all the way to the bank, at our expense," she said.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has challenged Planned Parenthood's campaign, arguing that contraception and sterilization "prevent not a disease condition, but the healthy condition known as fertility." In addition, the bishops pointed out the possibly severe repercussions such a mandate would pose for conscientious health care providers, especially in the case of abortifacient "contraceptive" drugs such as ella and other emergency contraception.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Planned Parenthood Pushes for Universal Birth Control as Coalition Fights Abortifacient Ella 'Contraceptive'
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/oct/10101206.html
USCCB Officials Urge HHS Not to Require Coverage of Contraception, Sterilization

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Papa Benedetto - States Have Right to Defend Borders, Control Immigration

1st the shocker: The New York Times got something right for once in reporting what Papa Benedetto said.
So what did they get right? The contents of his 2011 Message for the 97th World Day of Migrants and Refugees. The message was dated 27 September 2010 & released on 26 October 2010.
VATICAN CITY — States must treat migrants with dignity but have the right to regulate immigration and defend their borders, Pope Benedict XVI said on Tuesday.
The pope made his comments in his message for the
Roman Catholic Church’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees, touching on a subject that has caused tensions between the church and governments in European countries, including France and Italy.
He said everyone had the right to leave home to seek better conditions of life in another country.
”At the same time, states have the right to regulate migration flows and to defend their own frontiers, always guaranteeing the respect due to the dignity of each and every human person,” he said.
He said immigrants had the duty to integrate into their host countries and respect their laws and national identities.
The challenge, he added, was to ”combine the welcome due to every human being, especially when in need, with a reckoning of what is necessary for both the local inhabitants and the new arrivals to live a dignified and peaceful life”.
You can read the entire 2011 message here. But as I said, the Times got it right for once by not ignoring what so many Catholics in Name Only/Cafeteria Catholics ignore. I am refering in particular to the responsibility of immigrants to obey the national laws of the country the go to. In other words, to immigrate legally, not illegally (undocumented). The other part is the responsibility of the immigrants to integrate into the society. In other words, become a part of the whole society, not a society within a society.
It will be interesting to see how the CINO gang deal with this year's message, esp since 1 of their biggest allies, the Times, has not cherry-picked it to justify their agenda. Well, maybe I sould say Reuter's got it right since they were the source, but the fact remains that the Times ran it so my point is still valid.
In April when that whole controversy broke out, I put up a post entitled What The Catholic Church Actually Teaches About Immigration. In it I looked at the Arizona law to see how well it lined up with authentic Catholic teaching as opposed to those on the left like Cardinal Mahony who were screaming for open borders & ignoring a lot of other things the Catholic Church actually taught.
Recently, there has been some semi-serious joking among a few of us as to whether the Pope & other Vatican officials are reading our blogs & then taking their lead from what we wrote. What I do want to say is, that what really matters for me is to read something Papa Benedetto or Cardinal-elect Burke wrote or said & know that what I wrote lines up with them. That is they key, I line up with them. It tells me that I am not going off on my own, but rather I am doing my best to study authentic Catholic teaching as well as uphold it.
Unlike Cardinal Mahony & Nancy Pelosi among others.
I do have to add that the whole message of Papa Benedetto's does include a few other things I pointed out but were ignored by the Times/Reuter's article. 1 of those points was about improving things in the countries the immigrants came from so there wouldn't be as much of a need to leave. Again, I am happy to see I got it right last April.
The question is, will those Catholycs admit they were wrong or once again ignore what the Catholic Church actually teaches, my bet is on the latter.
What should happen is that all sides should start from what the Pope said & go from there in dealing with those already hear as well as border enforcement, etc. While prudential judgment may leave some room as to how we go about it, at least we will all be on the same page rather than promoting our own agendas.
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*FYI in this case the term state refers to what is more often called a country these days. But since the USA is made up of States who viewed themselves as states in the other sense as well, it has the double application that makes what is going on in Arizona all the more interesting.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Remember - "Your momma....... Wears combat boots."

Readers Digest version of Fr. Corapi's Spiritual Warfare: Undeniable Reality. This video gives us a small taste of what Fr. Corapi has to say on Spiritual Warfare, I don't envy the person who had to edit it. Having heard a full version of the talk, I would have had a very hard time deciding what to cut out.

What ObamaCare Really Does to the Unborn - Help Kill More of Them

What Do Pelosi & The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Have In Common?

A complete disdain for what the Catholic Church stands for & teaches. In other words, they are good Democrats, but not good Catholics. I came across the following 2 items earlier tonite that show how Pelosi & the Dems express their disdain for the Catholic Church.

1st we have this postcard sent out by the Minnesota Democratic Farm Labor Party State Central Committee*:

If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you will notice the button on the priest says "Ignore the Poor". Given that the Catholic Church has done more in any 1 of its almost 2000 yrs of existance to help the poor than all the socialist programs promoted by the Dems over the last 200 years of its existance, this has clearly got to be an attack on the Catholic Church for its stands on things like abortion, gay marriage & other issues that drive the Democratic Party of the left edge of the map.

Then there is the following comment by Nancy Pelosi that I came across at the American Papist: "I view my connection to the church to be a very personal one — not passing through the hierarchy of the Catholic Church." (read entire quote at: Nancy Pelosi: “My faith … does not pass through the heirarchy”) Once again, this self-called "ardent Catholic" has put her ignorance of what it means to truly be a Catholic on public display. Has she ever heard of Apostolic succession? Or the fact that the heirachy she has opted to ignore make up part of the Magisterium that passes on the Authentic teaching of the Catholic Church?# & that if she really is a Catholic then she must give assent to & live out the teachings of the Catholic Church.
& while Tom Peters said "The responsibility for this pitiful state of affairs, considering the havoc she has caused for a culture of life during her tenure as speaker of the house, I am tempted to say sits squarely on the shoulders of her bishop Archbishop Niederauer." I will out & out lay a large part of the responsibility at his feet as well as his shoulders. Supposedly he was to have a sit down talk with her. I don't think it ever happenned, but if he did meet with her, it is clear she has willfilly rejected his pastoral leadership. & it is time for Archbishop Niederauer to do more. & his column in Catholic San Francisco doesn't cut it.
While a lot of the responsibility lies on Archbishop Niederauer's shoulders some also lies on Archbishop (soon the be Cardinal) Wuerl's as well. He has refused to do anything to deal with her or other pro-abort Catholics in Congress, or VP Biden for that matter.
I am not saying that it is absolutely impossible to be a good Catholic & stay in the Democratic party. I am saying it seems almost nigh impossible given the clear hatred & disdain the party has towards the Catholic Church, what it stands for & for the Triune God; Jesus, The Father & the Holy Spirit.


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*FYI: The Minnesota DFL IS the Democratic Party in Minnesota. In 1944 under the leadership of Hubert Humphrey, the Minnesota Democratic Party & the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party merged to form the DFL. This post card was sent out by their state central committee making this officially sponsored by the party.
# No, I am not saying that every Bishop does this on an individual basis. Many of them have failed miserable to pass on authentic Catholic teaching or properly shepherd their flock. It should be clear from what I said above that the failure of a good many of them over the years to shepherd & teach as the should is repsonsible for the current mess. & while many of the new Bishops are starting to speak out more, there is still a long way to go.

Monday, October 25, 2010

What God Made marriage to Truly Be

Why Marriage Can't Be Anything Other than What it is

Marriage is a permanent, faithful union between a man and a woman. It is necessarily open to life, creating the proper setting not only for sexual union between spouses, but also for giving birth to, raising, and educating children. As such it is a natural institution and genesis of the family, the most basic element of any society. No matter how some may clamor that this natural view of marriage is somehow oppressive or restricting, they cannot change its basic biological, societal and spiritual character.

This fact, as we know, doesn't stop them from trying. Indeed, this attack has been underway for some time now, and is only increasing in its aggression. There are now several television shows (which we will not dignify by naming or linking to) that campaign feverishly for alternative views of marriage and family. Homosexual "marriage," polygamy, cohabitation, infidelity and divorce on a whim-all these and other attempted corruptions of natural marriage are featured not only as normal, but often as even preferable to the real thing.

Notice that every one of these corruptions has a different fundamental character than marriage: each one is based on mutual use, not mutual gift. Each has the self, not the other, as the primary source of motivation. None has true gift, fidelity and openness to life as desired ends.

Yet one in particular is poised to be elevated to the level of natural marriage in American law, and indeed has already been given sanction in several states by bypassing the will of the people: homosexual "marriage". These two words cannot meaningfully occur next to one another. Proponents of this offense to sanity would have us believe that marriage is only what the whims of society happen to hold today; it has no essential character. And anyone who says otherwise is being unjust, perhaps even hateful, and thus must be silenced.

This increasingly common theme is a perfect example of what the Catholic scholar Monsignor Michel Schooyans refers to as "The Totalitarian Trend of Liberalism." The last thing the proponents of homosexual unions are interested in is rational dialogue; they only care about getting their way and will use the state to enforce their corrupt views.

Their enablers in the mainstream media cannot report on the controversies around homosexual unions without presenting their limited view of the Church's position with a detached scorn, analogous to those who don biohazard suits to handle something that they really don't want to touch.

Amid this growing cacophony the Church continues to charitably speak out and defend these basic truths about the essential nature of natural marriage, basic truths that are necessary for the common good to be achieved.

A 2003 document from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith has a wonderful response to all those who seek to undermine natural marriage:
No ideology can erase from the human spirit the certainty that marriage exists solely between a man and a woman, who by mutual personal gift, proper and exclusive to themselves, tend toward the communion of their persons. In this way, they mutually perfect each other, in order to cooperate with God in the procreation and upbringing of new human lives.

Precisely. The same document gives direction to Catholic politicians who waver on the marriage issue in the face of ever increasing pressure to erase traditional marriage from among the natural institutions that still enjoy the protection of the state. I would encourage you to give careful consideration to this brief instruction, as it very concisely lays out not only a summary of the Church's understanding of sexuality and marriage, but the basic arguments against the confusion that we are force-fed every time we see the media treat the issue. The document's conclusion sums things up nicely:

The Church teaches that respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behavior or to legal recognition of homosexual unions. The common good requires that laws recognize, promote and protect marriage as the basis of the family, the primary unit of society. Legal recognition of homosexual unions or placing them on the same level as marriage would mean not only the approval of deviant behavior, with the consequence of making it a model in present-day society, but would also obscure basic values which belong to the common inheritance of humanity.

In Spirit & Life the last several weeks we have been focusing on our political responsibility as Catholics and Christians to exercise our right to vote in a way that is consistent with our faith. Since the moral and social teaching of our Church stands far above the meager political options we face in the upcoming election, this is necessarily a non-partisan effort. Truth is like that: if there were a party of Truth we would have no objection whatsoever to declaring our partisanship. So we must carefully examine the positions on marriage held by those who are asking for our vote, and side with the truth.

We are partisans for Truth and the common good. We reject the distortions surrounding the topics of sexuality and marriage, and we gladly proclaim the truth, in season and out of season. And in this political season, we proclaim it all the louder, grateful for the teaching of the Faith that unites us in the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro-Carámbula
Interim President,
Human Life International

If This Is True then Why Hasn't the CCCB Repudiated The Winnepeg Statement?

Came across this in the FAQ section of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops:


"Most Bishops are given a diocese to govern spiritually, making sure the priests, deacons, pastoral workers and catechists in their diocese are preaching the Gospel and teaching sound doctrine to the flock."

OK, the title was more of a rhetorical question that a serious question. Given everything I see of the CCCB they aren't about to start practicing what they claim. My point in bringing up this quote is to remind us that this is what the duty of every Bishop, USCCB or CCCB, is. & when they fail to do it, we do have the right as laity to call them to task.

In fact, according to Canon law it is our responsibility: "The Christian faithful are free to make known their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires to the pastors of the Church." (Canon 212, § 2)
"According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which [the laity] possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.”
(Canon 212 §3)

I know that some groups have abused this to push for their agenda to destroy the Catholic Church. This is why we need to be all the more vocal in pushing for the Bishops to do what they are supposed to do, uphold the magisterial teachings of the Catholic Church. We need to do so in the proper way, respectfully, but we need to do so. I also realize we need to sometimes pick our battles.

Additionally, we need to support our Bishops when they do the right thing.

I realize that some Bishops we have today are the spiritual heirs to the Arian Bishops & want to undermine Catholic teaching. & others don't want to make waves. But someday they will have to realize that not making waves will result in things being hotter in the long run

I will be honest, what got me over to the CCCB site was a comment a few days ago by TH2 about their upcoming Fall Plenary Assembly. I looked at what they had to say about the upcoming session & while I was there I came across this. As I was looking at the agenda for the upcoming gathering I thought as bad as the USCCB Fall General Assembly will be next month, it seems a lot better than what the CCCB's get together will be like. I was going to go back & make a few comments but then I discovered that TH2 put up a post Sunday about the gathering that talks about the things I was going to say (D&P, doing more behind closed doors & several other subjects as well). So check out SOMETHING QUITE WONDERFUL to get a good look at the CCCB as it really is.
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FYI: To put it simply, The Winnepeg Statement was a repudiation of Humane vitae by the CCCB in 1968. IMHO, if the encyclical came out today you would probably see the same statement adopted by them today.
PS Even though the USCCB isn't quite as bad, their Fall agenda leaves a lot to be desired as well. The real test of where the USCCB will go depends on the results of the election forthe next president, vice president, treasurer-elect & general secretary of the USCCB, as well as the chairmen-elect of six committees. I'm not holding my breath, but I am cheering for Msgr. David Kagan, JCL, who is currently serving as the vicar general for the Diocese of Rockford, IL to be elected general secretary. I will admit that is because of how I see Bishop Doran running things across the river from me. & it because of that that I will see Kagan's election as a move in the right direction.
EWTN (among others) will be providing live coverage of the public sessions, which is more than I can say about Salt & Light TV up in Canada for the CCCB. I don't see anything on their schedule. & even if they were covering it, I doubt that they would provide the honest analysis that EWTN will for the USCCB gathering.

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Did You Know That Pope Paul VI Expected All Latin Rite Catholics to Know Plain Chant?

Recently I have made a couple of interesting discoveries of things that were right below my nose but I wasn't aware of them. I became aware a long time ago that much that was done in the so-called "Spirit of Vatican II" had noting to do with the real Spirit of Vatican II as found in the documents of Vatican II or the follow up documents issued after Vatican II.
For instance, I have known that Vatican II did NOT get rid of chant in Latin as a part of the Latin/Roman Rite liturgy. & happily, some parishes have begun to restore the use of chant. (EWTN has been a leader in the restoration of Latin.)
& I have known for a long time that those promoters of the false "spirit of Vatican II" covered up a lot of what was really said. & even blatently ignored the Pope & Vatican directives on the proper implimentation of Vatican II.
I have owned a copy of Vatican Council II, Vol. 1: The Conciliar and Postconciliar Documents & Vatican Council II, Vol. 2: More Post-Conciliar Documents for decades. & every so often I make an interesting discovery as I am researching something else. This document that I am posting below is 1 of those happy discoveries. I was looking to see if it contained an encyclical by Pope Paul VI on the Eucharist (more in a later post) in Vol 1 when I came across this letter from what is now the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Since this was sent out by the Vatican to all Latin Bishops it is apparent that the failure to impliment it lays at the feet of the Bishops of the time.
As I said, I will have more in a later post about the 1965 encyclical. But for now I will say that it is becoming apparent that Pope Paul VI did more than he is credited with for thrying to prevent the abuses that sprung up in the liturgical practices after Vatican II than he has been given credit. Back then though, there were fewer routes to go through to get the word out. & most of them went through Bishops & others who didn't want to get the message out so they ignored &/or buried it.
These days we have the internet & sites like EWTN as well as the Vatican's to help us bypass those who would pervert or cover up what the Catholic Church really says. & Papa Benedetto is doing his best to lead by example. & while many of those who want to keep going their own way continue to do so, it is getting harder for them to get away with it.
So the next time you hear someone talk about Vatican II throwing out Latin you have this as an example to show them that the real letter & spirit of Vatican II was not what they claimed. Don't expect them to welcome the truth, but at least they will know that you are on to them & their days are numbered.
Minimum Repertoire Of Plain Chant (a)
Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship
Issued on April 14, 1974.
Eminence, Excellency,
Our congregation has prepared a booklet entitled, "Jubilate Deo," which contains a minimum selection of sacred chants. This was done in response to a desire which the Holy Father had frequently expressed, that all the faithful should know at least some Latin Gregorian chants, such as, for example, the "Gloria," the "Credo," the "Sanctus," and the "Agnus Dei."[1]
It gives me great pleasure to send you a copy of it, as a personal gift from His Holiness, Pope Paul VI. May I take this opportunity of recommending to your pastoral solicitude this new initiative, whose purpose is to facilitate the observance of the recommendation of the Second Vatican Council" "...steps must be taken to ensure that the faithful are able to chant together in Latin those parts of the ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them.[2]
In effect, when the faithful gather together for prayer they manifest at once the diversity of a people drawn "from every tribe, language and nation (Ap. 5:9) and its unity in faith and charity. Their diversity is manifested in the present multiplicity of liturgical languages and in the vernacular chants which, in the context of one shared faith, give expression to each people's religious sentiment in music drawn from its culture and traditions. On the other hand, their unity finds particularly apt and even sensible expression through the use of Latin Gregorian chant.
Down the centuries, Gregorian chant has accompanied liturgical celebrations in the Roman rite, has nourished men's faith and has fostered their piety, while in the process achieving an artistic perfection which the Church rightly considers a patrimony of inestimable value and which the Council recognized as "the chant especially suited to the Roman liturgy."[3]
One of the objectives of the liturgical reform is to promote community singing in assemblies of the faithful, so that they might the better express the festive, communal and fraternal character of liturgical celebrations. In effect, "the liturgical action becomes more dignified when it is accompanied by chant, when each minister fulfills his own role and the faithful also take part.[4]
Those who are charged with responsibility for the liturgical reform are particularly anxious to achieve this difficult objective. To that end, the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship appeals once again, as they have often done in the past, for the proper development of singing by the faithful.
Vernacular Singing
When vernacular singing is concerned, the liturgical reform offers "a challenge to the creativity and the pastoral zeal of every local church."[5] Poets and musicians are therefore to be encouraged to put their talents at the service of such a cause, so that a popular chant may emerge which is truly artistic, is worthy of the praise of God, of the liturgical action of which it forms part and of the faith which it expresses. The liturgical reform has opened up new perspectives for sacred music and for chant. "One hopes for a new flowering of the art of religious music in our time. Since the vernacular is admitted to worship in every country it ought not to be denied the beauty and the power of expression of religious music and appropriate chant.[6]
Gregorian Chant
At the same time, the liturgical reform does not and indeed cannot deny the past. Rather does it "preserve and foster it with the greatest care."[7] It cultivates and transmits all that is in it of high religious, cultural and artistic worth and especially those elements which can express even externally the unity of believers.
This minimum repertoire of Gregorian chant has been prepared with that purpose in mind: to make it easier for Christians to achieve unity and spiritual harmony with their brothers and with the living traditions of the past. Hence it is that those who are trying to improve the quality of congregational singing cannot refuse to Gregorian chant the place which is due to it. And this becomes all the more imperative as we approach the Holy Year of 1975, during which the faithful of different languages, nations and origins, will find themselves side by side for the common celebration of the Lord.
Those who because of their special vocation in the Church need to have a deeper knowledge of sacred music ought to be particularly careful to observe a proper balance between popular chant and Gregorian chant. For this reason the Holy Father recommended that "Gregorian chant be preserved and be sung in monasteries, other religious houses and seminaries, as a special form of chanted prayer and as something of high cultural and pedagogic value."[8]
Further, the study and the performance of Gregorian chant remain "because of its special characteristics, a very useful foundation for the cultivation of sacred music."[9]
In presenting the Holy Father's gift to you, may I at the same time remind you of the desire which he has often expressed that the Conciliar constitution on the liturgy be increasingly better implemented. Would you therefore, in collaboration with the competent diocesan and national agencies for the liturgy, sacred music and catechetics, decide on the best ways of teaching the faithful the Latin chants of "Jubilate Deo" and of having them sing them, and also of promoting the preservation and execution of Gregorian chant in the communities mentioned above. You will thus be performing a new service for the Church in the domain of liturgical renewal.
The contents of this booklet may be reproduced free of charge. To help people understand these texts, one may add the normal vernacular translation.
Endnotes
a. The following is a translation of a letter which was sent to all bishops and heads of religious orders, together with a book of chants, "Jubilate Deo." The letter was published in Latin in the April 1974 issue of "Notitiae," (pages 123-126) and in French in "La Documentation Catholique," 2 June 1974. Our translation was made from the French (said by D.C. to be the original) by A. F.
1. See the Address of Pope Paul VI at general audience, 22 August, 1973;
Address of Pope Paul VI to the "Consociatio Internationalis Musicae Sacrae," 12 October 1973; Letter of Cardinal Jean Villot to the National Assembly of the Italian Association of St. Cecilia, 30 September, 1973.
2. Constitution on the Liturgy, no. 54.
3. Ibid., no. 116.
4. Instruction, "Musicam Sacram," no. 5.
5. Ibid., no. 54; Address of Pope Paul VI to members of the Italian Association of St. Cecilia, 23 September, 1972.
6. Address of Pope Paul VI to the "Consociatio Internationalis Musicae Sacrae," 12 October 1973.
7. Constitution on the Liturgy, no. 114.
8. Letter of Cardinal Jean Villot to the National Assembly of the Italian Association of St. Cecilia, 30 September, 1973.
9. Instruction, "Musicam Sacram," no. 52.

Margaret Sanger & Her Reproductive Revolution

These are 3 episodes of Johnnette S. Benkovic's program Women of Grace that feature Jim Sedlack Vice President of American Life League. They ran on EWTN recently. Guys, don't let the title of her program stop you. They have info about Planned Parenthood & what we can all do to fight the agenda of the "culture of death".





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Sunday, October 24, 2010

1st Texas, Now Ohio

Earlier today I posted about a girl in Texas who went to court to keep from being forced by her parents to have an abortion (Another Proof That Choice Isn't Always Choice, It Is Coercion). A little while ago I came across a story from Ohio about a 17 year old pregnant girl in the Columbus, Ohio area who went to court to get permission to marry before turning 18. Why? As she told the judge she was afraid "she could be forced to have an abortion if she stayed at home." While the girl's mother denies it, her new father-in-law told the press that his daughter-in-law felt that she was in an unsafe environment.
Again I applaud the father of the child for not shirking his responsibilities. Or doing what a lot of other men do, coerce the woman into having an abortion. Which leads me to a 2nd Ohio story about an attempt to coerce a woman into having an abortion. In this case the story is about a man who tried to force his girlfriend to have an abortion at gunpoint. Fortunately the employee at the abortion mill did the right thing in this case & helped her to get out rather than go through with it.
The article mentions an incident from 2008 in Wisconsin where prosecutors charged a man with attempted first-degree intentional homicide of an unborn child after his pregnant girlfriend suspected he gave her a drink spiked with RU-486, a drug used to induce abortions.
& I have also posted many other stories about women being forced into abortions when the choice they wanted was to let the child live.
My question is this, why aren't the "pro-choice" people speaking up about how horrible it is that these women are being denied their right to choose to keep the child? Oh yeah, the answer is simple. They are Pro-choice only when that choice is for abortion. As I said before, look at how upset they got when Palin chose to have Trig rather than abort him because he was diagnosed with Down syndrome. Or the whole Tim Tebow & his Mom Super Bowl ad brouhaha. They don't want any choice but abortion to be made, even if it that choice is forced on a woman. & if that forced abortion helps cover up a rape or incest, well that doesn't matter either to the so called "pro-choice" side. Someone chose to have the child aborted, & that is all that matters to them.
As I am writing this post another thought crossed my mind. This involves Obama's comment about not wanting his daughters "punished with a baby". In light of the several recent stories about parents trying to force their daughters into an abortion, I have to wonder if the real person he felt would be punished would be himself, not his daughters.

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