Bishop Loverde, Where is Fr. James Haley?

Bishop Loverde's Pattern of Persecuting Priests

2012-02-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

Bishop Paul S. Loverde recently made his ad limina visit to Rome to meet with Pope Benedict XVI, the first since 2004 when he met with the seriously ill Pope John Paul II. The bishop presented Pope Benedict a 300 page state-of-the-diocese summary prepared by Mark Herrmann, the diocesan lawyer-chancellor. It included, according to the Arlington Herald, "everything from population statistics and evangelization efforts to child protection programs and the status of diocesan vocations." One of the things definitely excluded was a description of the pattern of persecution in this diocese against faithful priests and laity. Since Bishop Loverde's installation in Arlington in 1999, at least a dozen priests that I know of have experienced persecution in one form or another, often for minor infractions of diocesan rules or deviating from the bishop’s preferences. I have written about some of these cases previously.

Bishop Loverde arrived in Arlington in 1999, assigned to fill the vacant See formerly held by Bishop John R. Keating. The difference for the priests was extreme. Bishop Keating was a fatherly man who set aside two weeks after Christmas every year to meet privately with any priest in the diocese wanting to make an appointment. He generally presented each of the priests who took advantage of that opportunity with a gift. But the gift of his time, a sign of respect, was the most important part, and the priests who went appreciated it.

Bishop Loverde, on the other hand,

sees his priests at regular priests’ meetings, confirmations, other necessary functions, and fundraisers. He operates more like the CEO of a corporation whose staff deal with underlings than as the spiritual father of his priest/sons. I recall reading a bulletin notice by one pastoral administrator who was loaned to another diocese. He wrote that his meeting with Bishop Loverde before he left was the very first private meeting he ever had in the four years since the bishop's arrival. That appears typical. A summons to the chancery is unlikely to be a friendly social call.

The bishops' disrespect for his priests is clear in his failure to consult them on serious matters. The Good Touch/Bad Touch debacle of 2004 (hereafter referred to as "Bad Touch") is a case in point. The bishop planned to impose the Bad Touch program on the diocese before anyone was the wiser. The priests didn't hear a word about it until it was a fait accompli. The facilitators were trained and the diocese had received permission from the Bad touch publisher to put a Catholic spin on the secular materials which were deplorable. (Keep in mind that the financial benefit to the diocese for the “Catholic version” would likely have been considerable.)

The controversy began when the bishop announced the impending implementation of Bad Touch at a priests' meeting. Horrified, several priests alerted concerned laymen including myself. Unfortunately for the bishop, an informed laity rose up in arms and met with diocesan representatives at a "peasants with pitchforks" meeting in Manassas. Chancery officials who tried to manipulate results were outflanked and the program was later deep-sixed. During the course of the battle, both the bishop and his representatives lied. Is it any wonder many faithful Catholics in Arlington do not trust the bishop?

Don't misunderstand. I love the Diocese of Arlington and the bishop has done some good things that I acknowledge with gratitude. He founded new parishes and schools, brought in both a contemplative and teaching order of Dominican nuns, and is a first-class fundraiser. Did I say the bishop is a first-class fundraiser? Sadly, in my opinion, that is his primary concern even though, a few years ago, he allowed his incompetent chancery financial staff to sit on a generous multi-million stock donation until it lost over half its value before selling.

One priest found out just how seriously the bishop takes money matters when he deviated from the professional fundraiser's agenda during the Rooted in Faith Campaign of 2004. Fr. Michael Duesterhaus was removed as administrator of St. William of York, demoted to parochial vicar, and reassigned even though he raised more than his parish’s goal. He simply asked his parishioners to support the campaign. One can only suppose that the bishop thought Fr. Duesterhaus made him look bad for paying a fundraiser millions to accomplish what Father did with an impassioned plea. Instead of going to another parish as an assistant, the former army chaplain returned to military service. He's stationed in Africa today. We wish him well.

I name priests with trepidation because the bishop has a history of retaliation, but many of these stories are public and the past is prologue to the future as the Bard said. Laymen have felt the bishop's mailed fist as well. Chris Manion, who spearheaded the Bad Touch rebellion, was about to be installed as a Knight of Malta when, a day before the ceremony, the bishop apparently nixed the appointment. (The Knights require the bishop’s approval.) A few years later Manion finally entered the order, but no one doubted that the bishop engaged in payback at the time.

The problems for the priests began shortly after Bishop Loverde's arrival. Within a year Fr. James Gould was removed as Director of Vocations. Fr. Gould had a track record so successful it has yet to be surpassed in the diocese and few other places in the country even came close. The word in the diocese at the time, which was privately confirmed to me by a chancery source, was that Bishop Loverde wanted a seminary candidate with a homosexual background and Fr. Gould refused. In fact, if forced to take him, Fr. Gould wanted a letter in the file affirming his opposition. The candidate was not accepted, but Fr. Gould was history. In 2004 the bishop barred him from appearing on EWTN as a commentator during the bishops' meeting, a role he had performed for several years. Raymond Arroyo, World Over anchor, was miffed enough to announce that Fr. Gould's bishop would not permit him to appear. Fr. Gould later was founding pastor of St. Raymond of Penafort. Today he leads a country parish in Warrenton far from the chancery.

One scandal received national attention: the case of Fr. James Verrecchia at All Saints in Manassas and his adulterous amour with parishioner Nancy Lambert. Fr. James Haley was a parochial vicar at the parish and his attempt to help Jim Lambert save his family precipitated the most extreme persecution to date against a priest. Verrecchia was the diocesan golden boy, the bishop's Master of Ceremonies, and a man on the way up. When Fr. Haley protested to the bishop, Verrecchia wasn't removed, Haley was. Jim Lambert, who begged the diocese to move Fr. Verrecchia, was ignored while the affair went on unimpeded.

Jim Verrecchia wasn’t the only problem for Fr. Haley. He was placed with one homosexual pastor after another from the day he was ordained. Some were flirting with gay pornography; a few had active lovers visiting the rectories. After several trips to see the bishop about these situations, visits which were unwelcome and fruitless, Fr. Haley heard the bishop speak these fateful words, "You have no idea what I can do to you." Then Bishop Loverde proceeded to do it. Fr. Haley was suspended, tried in a kangaroo court where he never faced his accuser, and has since been excommunicated and defrocked according to high level sources. His canon lawyer quit, telling Father he'd been warned he would never work again for the Church if he continued to defend him. Secrecy shrouded all the proceedings as it does to this day.

Fr. Haley received the ultimate persecution, one that seemed to embolden the bishop to go after other troublesome priests for lesser matters. Sadly, it also appears to have cowed many priests into silent acceptance of his unjust actions, even to the point of relinquishing their rights under canon law. One priest who fought back, however, was Fr. Joe Clark. In 2005 the bishop suspended him after a minor altercation with a permanent deacon over the deacon’s mishandling of the Precious Blood during Mass. The deacon and his family complained and the bishop called for a meeting. Fr. Clark thought it was a private one-on-one to let him present his side of the story. Instead he arrived to face the bishop, the diocesan lawyer, and the bishop’s representative for the clergy, Fr. Robert Avella. There was no discussion; Bishop Loverde summarily suspended him, a canonical violation of Fr. Clark's rights.

When I spoke about Fr. Clark's treatment with a pastor in the diocese, he made an interesting comment. "When I heard that Joe Clark had been sent to Holy Family, my first thought was, 'It's a set-up.'" He explained that the bishop normally assigns liberal priests to liberal parishes and conservative priests to conservative parishes. Holy Family had a reputation for dissent and was a complete misfit for Fr. Clark, a recipe for conflict. It was also common knowledge among the priests that the bishop did not get along with Fr. Clark. The case went to the Vatican and, after several years, a mixed decision was reached that saw Fr. Clark reinstated. But he paid a heavy price for the battle. After a hospital stay for dangerously high blood pressure and several years of unrelenting stress, he developed a medical condition preventing his return to full time priestly service. He remains in residence at a diocesan parish assisting as his health permits.

In 2007 another orthodox priest, Fr. Christopher Buckner, disappeared after a brief notice in the Arlington Catholic Herald that implied sexual impropriety with a minor. The story at the parish was that Father shook a teenager who ignored him after being told he couldn't read a poem at a funeral, a far cry from the sexual molestation cases that have filled the news. But the impression was given, certainly unjustly, that Father had committed sex abuse against a minor. The same ambiguous-type announcement accompanied Fr. Haley’s suspension. No charges were ever brought against Fr. Buckner who was well-respected pastor and a teacher with Catholic Distance University. He just disappeared and has never resurfaced like some of his brothers who go off on a “leave of absence” and never return.

A recent case of persecution is particularly appalling because of the sterling service of the priest involved. Last fall, Fr. Francis Peffley resigned as pastor of Holy Trinity in Gainesville and was demoted to parochial vicar and sent to a parish in Leesburg. The party line was that Father had “burned out” and needed a rest. I didn't believe it. I've known Father Peffley since he was a young priest assigned to St. Louis in Alexandria. He has the enthusiasm and energy of a John Vianney. “Burnout” was unbelievable, so I wasn’t surprised to be contacted by concerned laymen with the real story.

When Fr. Peffley arrived at Holy Trinity, there was no church, no activities, and only 300 registered families. Daily Mass was held in the chapel of the Benedictine Sisters nearby and Sunday Mass in a rented school gym. Over ten years, Father built a parish community that now numbers 3900 families. Dozens of activities fill the calendar including about ten praesidia of the Legion of Mary, an apostolate close to his heart. Father Peffley built a beautiful church which was well on the way to being paid off five years ahead of schedule. By every indication, the bishop should have been grateful to his faithful son who could easily give lessons on how to build a parish community from scratch.

So what happened? I’ve seen documents that show the bishop came down hard on Fr. Peffley over some minor financial mistakes. Pastors apparently are only allowed to sign contracts for up to $20,000 without the permission of the bishop, although the Diocesan Parish Finance Council Guidelines don’t include that information. Fr. Peffley signed a contract for twenty stained glass windows depicting the mysteries of the rosary at $50,000 each for the design, building, and installation. They were approved by the Diocesan Office of Construction, Management, and Facilities as part of the original plan for the Church. The windows were also included among the memorial pledges made by parishioners as part of the 2002 Rooted in Faith Campaign. Yet this became one of the issues used against Fr. Peffley by the bishop. Father signed a second contract for a commemorative book at a total cost of about $53,000 to be paid in installments, all under $20,000. The book also was approved by the parish finance council and similar books had been developed for both St. Mary’s in Alexandria and Our Lady of Hope in Potomac Falls. The cost of the book was also underwritten by parishioners. Essentially, Father skipped a bureaucratic step in the process of which he was unaware.

The bishop’s third issue was that Father purchased liturgical furnishings and goods from his parents’ Catholic Shop, although the parish building committee got several estimates from other sources and approved the purchases. The Catholic Shop provided a deep discount that made them more than competitive. Neither Fr. Peffley nor anyone at the parish benefitted from any of these financial transactions, but, like Fr. Duesterhaus who failed to do things the bishop’s way, Fr. Peffley apparently broke the letter of the law and was ordered to resign. The official story, which he was told to disseminate, (even the pulpit announcement was sent to him by Vicar of Clergy, Fr. Paul Scalia), was that he requested to step down. Instead of pursuing his rights under canon law, Fr. Peffley, a true son of St. Louis de Montfort, chose silent obedience to the bishop’s unjust act. The story passed around the parish and the diocese was that poor Fr. Peffley was “burned out,” a complete fabrication.

Did Fr. Peffley’s actions merit such a draconian response? Hardly! He had successfully established one of the largest parishes in the diocese, built a beautiful church that was on the way to being paid off early, and managed a huge congregation that operates very much like a family. He brought numerous converts into the Church and had hundreds of parishioner-volunteers. If there were financial mistakes, which is questionable, a fatherly bishop would likely have admonished him to "be more careful in the future.

Let me make it absolutely clear that I did not speak to Fr. Peffley or communicate with him in any way. None of my data came from him, but from concerned laymen. The last time I recall seeing Fr. Peffley was four years ago when he baptized our grandson at Holy Trinity. The Church had recently been dedicated and Father showed us around. He gave me a copy of the lovely booklet on the mysteries of the rosary illustrated with drawings of the windows. He was pleased with the progress at Holy Trinity and gave all the glory to God. I fear he will not thank me for writing this. He is an obedient son of the bishop who no doubt sees his personal Calvary at the hands of his spiritual father as the will of God.

What motivated the bishop in all these priests’ cases? Who can say? But it’s ironic to see pastors who foster dissent carry on without a peep from the chancery while the bishop comes down hard on good and faithful priests advancing the truths of the Church. Fr. Peffley is just the latest in a long line of persecuted priests. And, frankly, it appears to me that the bishop was looking for an excuse to punish Fr. Peffley just like he apparently did with Fr. Clark. The finance issue simply became the means.

It is disturbing to see the injustice and the disparity in the way Bishop Loverde treats his priests. If one examines the cases of sexual immorality: Fr. Verrecchia, Fr. Erbacher, Fr. Hamilton, Fr. Brooks - it took public scandals before the bishop responded. In fact, the chancery engaged in an active cover-up of the Verrecchia affair, sitting on sexually explicit emails between the lovers which could have helped Jim Lambert gain custody of his four children. Instead, a diocesan priest, Steve Leva, testified at the custody hearing describing what a wonderful daddy Fr. Verrecchia would be. Verrecchia got the wife and kids; Jim Lambert got a heart attack.

The practice under Bishop Loverde has been to cover for bad priests, just like the priest abuser he protected in Ogdensburg, Fr. Clark White. In fact, when Bishop Gerald Barbarito took over the bishop’s former diocese, he removed about ten priest abusers. Faithful and orthodox priests, on the other hand, rarely experience the velvet glove and often receive draconian treatment for minor issues as the treatment of Fr. Duesterhaus, Fr. Clark, and Fr. Peffley illustrates. As an interesting side note, Bishop Loverde, while serving in Connecticut in 1991, supported two homosexual civil rights bills that allowed “gays” to adopt children and serve as foster parents.

To sum up, many outside the diocese believe that Arlington, under Bishop Loverde, is a model of orthodoxy. No doubt that was the picture painted in Rome when the bishop presented his ad limina report to Pope Benedict in January. But, as everyone knows, things are not always as they seem. Orthodoxy in Arlington rests on the bedrock of faithful clergy and laity nurtured by Bishops Thomas Welsh and John Keating. The house is unlikely to fall because of that firm foundation, but it is certainly in need of renovation and conversion. One can’t help but wonder what Arlington would be like today if, in 1999, Pope John Paul II had sent a fatherly bishop to teach, govern, and sanctify this unhappy diocese which has become a graveyard of vocations for so many good and faithful priests. Please pray for Bishop Loverde, our clergy, and the suffering Church in Arlington.

News on Fr. Haley and it's sad indeed!

2012-01-16T09:04:00.000-08:00

Well, the word coming down from on high is that Fr. Haley has been excommunicated and defrocked. This has been personally confirmed to me by someone who should know, but don't expect to hear about it anywhere official. There's something about this case that makes authorities skittish. After all, we can't acknowledge the elephant in the sanctuary, the homosexual priest problem. Every new homosexual scandal is met by the three monkeys with ears, eyes, and mouth covered. ("Psst...ignore the elephant until he goes away.") So Fr. Haley will continue to be the invisible man.

Strange, isn't it?

The Vatican released a notification over the excommunication of heretic priest Tissa Balasuriya, but Fr. Haley who is guilty of no more than making his bishop upset for revealing too much about the homosexual subculture in Arlington, simply disappeared without a trace. I have the feeling that if he had experienced an open trial we would have heard testimony by at least one chancery official that was perjury from start to finish. In secular court one has the right to be faced with one's accusers, but in Fr. Haley's case, I understand the accusation used to secure his conviction was summarized by the chancery and the "accuser" never appeared. Isn't that hearsay evidence which would not be allowed in a real trial grounded in justice?

But the story gets worse. Fr. Haley was cut off financially by the diocese last summer and now has no income. His situation has deteriorated from living a nomad's existence in a motor home with a small income to living with no income at all except what he can pick up from odd jobs. He needs work.

Before he entered the priesthood, Fr. Haley was an engineer. He is technologically oriented and I understand he's interested in finding a technical type job. If anybody has leads to suggest or a job to offer, please post them in the comments section. And please continue your prayers. Consider how the heretics go on and on. They write books, speak at diocesan functions, thumb their noses at the Church, with nary a cluck to upset their scandal. Fr. Gerard Sloyan, the architect of the disastrous feeling-based catechetics that destroyed the faith of a generation and a promoter of the "fundamental option" heresy, gives courses in Arlington regularly.

Fr. Haley, on the other hand, was crucified for "being a snoop" as one priest said to me. In view of the devastation the homosexual cabal is inflicting on the Church (Check out the war in in Minnesota where the homosexual/pro-homosexual priests are currently fighting their bishop over an amendment on the ballot to protect traditional marriage.), we could use more "snoops" like Fr. Haley.

Pray for Bishop Loverde. He has a lot to answer for. Our God is a God of mercy, but justice is the flip side of the coin. He used his authority to draw and quarter a good priest. A day of accounting is on the calendar.

The Homosexual Cabal in Kansas City

2012-01-13T07:56:00.000-08:00

We're often told that the homosexual problem in the Church doesn't exist. Don't believe it! In England and Wales a 2003 survey of priests where over half responded disclosed that 53% thought ordaining practicing homosexuals was fine and dandy. Fact is, the homosexual cabal is still active in many dioceses. Here's the latest in Kansas City-St. Joseph where a former employee, Larry Probst, is suing the diocese for a sexually hostile work environment. Probst was an archivist in the chancery and describes homosexual harassment by priests as well as sexually charged and lewd comments.

This problem will continue as long as homosexuals are admitted to the priesthood. Keeping it secret, as Cardinal-elect (at the time) William Levada suggested in 2006 is hardly the answer. In an address given during the installation of the new rector for the North American Pontifical College in Rome, Levada stated that a priest who reveals his homosexuality "places an obstacle to his ability to represent Christ the bridegroom to his bride, the people of God." He asked the question, "Does he not see how his declaration places him at odds with the spousal character of love as revealed by God and imaged in humanity?"

Levada's words are a head scratcher. Does he really believe the spousal nature of the bridegroom/priest to his bride/the Church is less compromised when the priest keeps his disordered nature secret? That's like claiming a disordered man who identifies as homosexual can keep his secret and marry a woman -- like infamous sex abuser Rudy Kos. His former wife warned Church authorities about his homosexuality before he was admitted to the seminary. They ignored her.

But Levada's speech makes one wonder. How many hidden homosexuals are serving the Church? How many are practicing? I've heard homosexuals argue that celibacy, which they define as not having relations with a woman, doesn't apply to them. And they appear to believe it if the claims in Probst's lawsuit are true.

More on Miami Vice

2011-07-31T12:37:00.000-07:00

Nothing to gawk about: a response to Brandon Thorp's exposé on the Miami Archdiocese

Miami Vice, the Gay Cabal, and Courageous Catholic Laity

2011-07-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

The article linked below is sickening and contains at least one graphic photo. But it shows that the problem in the U.S. church is not going to disappear anytime soon. Archbishop Favalora should be the homeless cleric travelling around the country in a motorhome instead of Fr. Haley.

How many other dioceses have their "secret gay cabals" engaging in perversion and embezzling from parishes? No wonder the Church fails to be the salt and light to the culture of death. Poor Holy Mother Church in many places is in the hands of rapists.

Note, that any acton that now taking place in Miami goes to the credit of the laity there. It was the laity, using the name Christifidelis and led by Catholic lawyer Sharon Bourassa, that exposed this filthy rot. Two thumbs up to this brave woman and may her group continue to monitor the situation since the diocese is apparently inundated with homosexual priests. The laity need to hold our bishops' feet to the fire and fight with unflagging vigilance like the widow who demanded justice from the unjust judge. That's exactly what most of the U.S. bishops are. Remember, three fourths of them covered up child rape and moved abusers around. A few are gone, but most still remain in their sees. God help us!

Miami Vice: The Catholic Church's Secret Gay Cabal

Another Homosexual Priest Scandalizes the Church

2011-07-08T14:07:00.000-07:00

Oh, but there's no problemo in the Church! And just ask your bishop. He'll tell you he isn't aware of a single homosexual in his diocese. Well, I think it's a pretty good guess that Rev. Thomas Bouterie fits the bill.

Mardi Gras Miscue Topples Topless Priest

When you visit the website note the photos of Fr. Bouterie, especially the one next to the two biker boys. Click on the photo at left which will enlarge the picture of Father next to the flamboyant drag queen and let you progress to the next photo of him with the biker boys.

"Where's that hand, Padre? You're not playing basketball ya know and he didn't just make a basket!"

At least the guy's been removed as pastor. What's Father's take on the matter? "His resignation was not 'reflective of the current problems' in the Church, but more indicative of his 'personal growth as a priest.' Yup, marching half-dressed illustrates your "personal growth." Can anybody tell me if there's any significance to wearing the black band on the arm? Or is that symbolic of his black clerics?

Gay Priest Exposes Himself on Florida Beach

2011-06-09T14:05:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, the scandals are all behind us now that the bishops are fingerprinting lay volunteers and "empowering" children to fight off adult predators. But the gay problem in the church is obviously NOT over. Fr. Bernard Chojnacki, a parochial vicar from St. Charles Borromeo in Sarasota (Diocese of Venice, FL) was cruising the southern end of Caspersen Beach in Venice, a stretch well-known for gay hookups. Unfortunately for him, local police were carrying out a sting operation and when he grabbed a detective's genitals while exposing his own he was arrested for indecent exposure and battery. Read more here.

Now if you were a parent at St. Charles, which has a school, how would you feel? Would you want your sons anywhere near him? Not me! Homosexuals are attracted to young men manhood. Even if he restricts his perversion to "age appropriate" sodomy, he is a threat.

What's the diocese doing? Fr. Chojnacki has been put on "administrative leave" whatever that means and the diocesan spokesman calls the charges "unsettling." All I can say is, if he did it, and he certainly has a right to an unbiased investigation and trial, release him from the priesthood. "Gay" priest is an oxymoron. A man who is not wired like a man for whatever reason, cannot portray the manliest man in history. God created men and women. Jesus and Mary are the perfect role models for the meaning of male and female sexuality. Someone who is "gender confused" deserves our sympathy and respect as a child of God with a difficult cross, but he should NEVER, NEVER be a priest! And hiding in the rectory closet is not the answer.

Bishop Matthew Clark is exactly the reason for the sex abuse scandals!

2011-03-08T12:34:00.000-08:00

Rochester bishop: Vatican isn’t against homosexuals entering priesthood

Bishop Clark has been a scandal to the Church for years. Here's a partial description of his dissent-ridden history.

His shameless promotion of homosexuals in the priesthood fits perfectly with enabling abuser priests who he described as "afflicted, not sinful." (Tell that to the parents of the victims, especially those who committed suicide!)

The priest sex abuse scandals primarily involved homosexuals raping and molesting pubescent boys, but you'd never know it from Clark's eulogy to homosexual priests. (What's so holy about living a lie? Homosexuals don't "give up" marriage and family, they join a boys' club where they live and socialize with those to whom they are attracted.)

Most of the victims of sex abuse as shown in the Jay Report were young teen boys. The only reason the abusers could continue as long as they did, many for decades, is they were enabled by senior clergy, i.e., pastors and bishops. And Matthew Clark is the poster bishop for gay promotion. In 2005 he was among a handful of U.S. bishops considered the most gay friendly by the Rainbow Sash Movement (Catholic homosexuals who celebrate their depraved lifestyle and demand to receive Communion while wearing the "rainbow sash" that identifies their activism). Clark promoted this heretical group from its early days. Here's a portion of a 1997 article from Catholic Insight reported at Cleansing Fire:

“Rochester, NY – On March 1, Bishop Clark celebrated Mass in Sacred Heart Cathedral for 1300 “gays,” lesbians and their “families.” Well advertised beforehand, they came from as far away as Buffalo and Syracuse, some dressed in leather and chains, many coming as couples holding hands, women out-numbering men three to one, all being welcomed effusively, first by fifteen priests in attendance and then by Bishop Clark and his female master of ceremonies. The bishop joked and was full of good cheer; several times he referred to “their integrity, goodness and wonderful gifts” for the community, in an address which was enthusiastically interrupted by applause.

At Communion time everyone–Catholics, non-Catholics, non-Christians–came forward. Two men received the Host from the bishop and then faced each other, and gave each other the Host. Many lesbians followed this example. There was much kissing and holding of hands.

Outside the Cathedral some 80 demonstrators gave witness to the Church’s true teaching. It would have been more courageous for the bishop, to tell the group, said one, “that if you are not in the state of grace you can’t receive the body and blood of Christ.” But the bishop made no such announcement.”

Aren't you sorry you weren't there? Clark is about as Catholic as Martin Luther, only Luther had more integrity because he left the Church. Clark has stayed around undermining the faith throughout his "career" (one can hardly call it a vocation). It is more than disheartening to see these wolves in sheep's clothing tearing at the heart of the Church with bared fangs and bloody claws. How many have lost their faith or never learned it because of this scandalous "teacher."

Under Clark, the Diocese of Rochester has collapsed. He governs a shrinking local Church, has closed most of the schools and many churches. And there are few vocations (probably a blessing). Clark turns 75 in July 2012, mandatory retirement age. It can't come too soon for many in his flock who have suffered the scourge of his irresponsible governance for years. I think they'll join me next year in saying, "Hie thee to a monastery, Bishop Clark, and ponder the ruin you've made of the poor Church in Rochester. The day of reckoning approaches."

Pray for all bishops and priests, especially the Judases among them. May they turn to the Lord seeking his forgiveness before the day of reckoning.

Another Gay Priest Scandalizing the Church

2011-02-16T12:19:00.000-08:00

What would you think if your pastor had a work background that included being a gay prostitute and a bartender in a gay bar? Would you want him teaching your children about the faith? In fact, would you want your ten-year-old son or grandson in the sacristy alone with him? Or around him at all? Especially when he publicly debunked Church teaching on sexual morality and other doctrine?

Well, Fr. Haley is out in the cold although he was solidly orthodox and often preached on the hard issues: abortion, contraception, etc. But here's a priest in Quebec who, not only publicly defies the Church, but makes no bones about his gay past. (We can only wonder about his present.)

Check out Fr. Gravel who is suing LifeSiteNews Canada for saying he is "pro-abortion." He claims they defamed him since he is "pro-choice." Makes you wonder if Fr. Gravel knows the meaning of the word hypocrite!

Cutie's Book Raises the Issue of Gays in the Priesthood: When Will the Hypocrisy End?

2011-01-08T07:50:00.000-08:00

Fr. Alberto Cutié is back in the news. For those who don't remember his first 15 minutes of fame, the Catholic priest made headlines in 2009 when photos appeared in a Hispanic magazine showing the Florida priest in an amorous tryst on the beach with the "love of [his] life." While initially taking responsibility for his actions and saying he wasn't attacking the Church's teaching on celibacy, Cutié later left, joined the Episcopal church, "married" his enamorata, and had a baby girl by her in December. He also shifted to victim status. What else could he do after all? As he once said, he wears pants under those vestments. We all know a man has needs, right?

And now the priest dubbed "Fr. Oprah," has written a book, Dilemma: A Priest’s Struggle with Faith and Love, which was released this week. I haven't read the book yet, but early reports are that Cutié uses it as a platform to attack the hypocrisy of the Church hierarchy who, he says, accept homosexual and heterosexual relationships among priests as long as they remain hidden. Exposure equals expulsion, the priest says. And so, Cutié writes, he became disillusioned with the Church and the "hypocrites" in the hierarchy.

He has this to say about homosexuality in the priesthood: “There are so many homosexuals, both active and celibate, at all levels of clergy and Church hierarchy that the church would never be able to function if they were really to exclude all of them from ministry.” Tell us something we haven't figured out for ourselves.

While I can't accept the legitimacy of Cutie's argument that the hypocrisy of Church leaders justifies his own hypocrisy; I think it's important to listen to what he's saying about homosexual priests. Cutie echoes priestly voices before him, voices as diverse as Fr. Enrique Rueda who warned about the homosexualization of the priesthood several decades ago, to dissenter-sociologist priest Fr. Andrew Greeley who described a "lavender mafia" subculture in the Church, to Fr. Donald Cozzens who wrote in The Changing Face of the Priesthood that the Church "is or is becoming a gay profession." Cozzens is okay with that, while many of us wonder how someone whose orientation to life and relationships is fundamentally disordered, not to mention the occasion of sin caused by living in close quarters with the sex to which you are physically attracted, can be the face of the Church.

The scandal of active homosexuals in the priesthood was graphically illustrated last July when an Italian magazine ran an exposé of three gay priests in Rome who offer Mass by day and engage in sodomy by night. The author, investigative reporter Carmelo Abbate, pursued the story undercover for twenty days and documented it with secretly taped videos showing the priests dirty dancing at parties and having sex with male escorts even on Church property. Abbate told Newsweek Magazine, “This is about private vices and public virtues. This is about serious hypocrisy in the Catholic Church.” The magazine claimed that 90% of Rome's priests are gay.

Regardless of the actual numbers, serious hypocrisy in the Church is alive and well. It's obvious when a faithful priest like Fr. James Haley is thrown out for exposing the rot in the rectory while homosexual parishes all over the country thrive. It's obvious when a priest is disciplined for hiring a detective because the chancery won't do a thing about a gay pastor embezzling from the Church. How many homosexual priests are living like the priests in Rome, one life by day and another by night? And how many good men have left because they wouldn't cooperate with the conspiracy of silence and protection that covers up for the fornicating or sodomizing priest as long as his double life is discreet?

Fr. Cutié is shining the light once more on a serious situation in the Church. Does anybody with authority care?

Catholic Colleges (and a Jesuit Priest) Promote the Gay Agenda

2010-12-14T11:58:00.000-08:00

TFP (Tradition, Family, and Property) Student Action recently released a list of Catholic colleges sponsoring gay pride clubs. Since the survey only looked at college websites it's possible they missed a few. My own alma mater, Trinity University in D.C., which has been promoting feminism and lesbianism for years, was not listed. But lots of others are, 41% of all Catholic colleges surveyed in fact had gay groups. Among the Jesuit schools the percentage rose to 100%. That pathetic statistic indicates that many Jesuits are either themselves homosexual or homosexualists who support the gay agenda. Here's a story (below) about one openly gay priest (He says he's celibate.) who works at Georgetown and was a founder of the faux Catholic group Catholics for Equality (CFE) that works for same-sex marriage, elimination of Don't Ask Don't Tell, promotes the abuse of children through same-sex adoption, etc.

Fr. Joe Palacios was interviewed by Metro Weekly in September. His remarks show he is anything but a faithful Catholic. He's one more wolf in sheeps' clothing masquerading as a shepherd while he leads the sheep to the cliff. How can it be that a man like this, who admits having homosexual "boyfriends," could be ordained and teach at a Catholic University while Fr. Haley is literally out in the cold? Fr. Palacios is in the warm snuggly arms of the sodomy-enabling Jesuits working as a community organizer and proud to be a change agent. Why is Georgetown still labeled a Catholic University?

____________________________________

Father Figure
Priest, activist, Latino and more, Joseph Palacios discusses his roots and reasoning

by Will O'Bryan

Metro Weekly - Published on September 30, 2010, 3:19am

Joseph Palacios is a man of God.

He's also a doctor of sociology, a Mexican American, a Fulbright scholar, a presidential appointee on the board of visitors of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation and a professor at Georgetown University.

Joseph Palacios

(Photo by Todd Franson) "I teach introduction to sociology, introduction to social sciences, Latino sociology, religion and society, culture and power in Latin America, social justice analysis, urban studies," he says. "It's lots and lots of basic courses."
These may be just the basics for Palacios, but it's obvious he has well-rounded interests and an intellect to match.

Not so obvious, perhaps, is that he is gay.

Honoring his vows as a Catholic priest, Palacios is celibate, but gay nonetheless. And while his sexual orientation doesn't find expression via libido, it does find it in the way that seems to make Palacios happiest: community involvement.

As vice president of The Center, the D.C. area's LGBT community center, and as a board member of the new Catholics for Equality, Palacios's gay identity is as central to his being as are his other components.

As an openly gay priest, Palacios is a bit of a rarity. His enthusiastic intellect, sincerity and altruism also make him something of a rarity. And it's probably what makes an hour's conversation with him seem like a gift.

METRO WEEKLY: Because we're in the middle of National Hispanic Heritage Month, I want to start by asking what that means to you.

JOSEPH PALACIOS: It was a very early time, as a freshman in high school, that my Chicano identity – as we would refer to it at that time in California – began to blossom.

When I was in high school, I went to Catholic boarding school, St. Pious X prep. I was coming from Los Angeles, an urban kid, and I'm in the middle of the Central Valley. In 1965, César Chávez had organized a march from Delano, Calif., to Sacramento. They actually passed near the school. We did an annual passion play, and we went out to the farm workers in a flatbed truck and did the performance.

Throughout high school and then college, I was a Chicano activist. That goes back to my deeper roots, regarding my father and his work. He worked at a country club in Hollywood. I used to think of it as "urban farming," because he was the grounds manager for this golf course. Out of that, we had a landscape business. He got clients from the club. As a kid, I was at the homes of Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, doing work, because they were members of Lakeside Country Club. From the age of 9, I was working with my dad cutting lawns, doing trees. I worked hand-in-hand with Mexican immigrants. My dad was sixth-generation Texan, but I grew up with a strong social consciousness.
When I got to high school, this consciousness became very much a part of me and I've been an activist ever since.
MW: Did you meet César Chávez?

PALACIOS: Yes, I met César Chávez, subsequently, when I was in college. I helped organize a big rally for him at [University of California,] Santa Cruz, where I went to college.

MW: Were you excited to leave home for boarding school?

PALACIOS: Oh, yeah. I said, "If I can find a way to go to school free, would you let me do it?" I found a way to do it. I won a scholarship in my eighth-grade class.

MW: Were you tested as a child, examined for aptitude, intelligence, that sort of thing?

PALACIOS: Just IQ.

MW: Was it in the normal range?

PALACIOS: It's high. I'm clever! [Laughs.] No, I like prizes. This is horrible, but I got used to it. In high school, I won the prizes. In college, I won the prizes. Grad school, I won the prizes. My mother's family really prized education, and I grew up with this notion that your way to succeed is to have a higher education. When my mother won a scholarship to go to secretarial school, my grandfather let her go, which was unheard of in the '40s, that a girl could leave home. My uncles, on my mother's side, were the first Mexican Americans to go to Texas Tech University. There's this love for education. My father, unfortunately, due to the Depression, couldn't advance in education. But my mother's side did, so I grew up with the value of this deep in me: The way to get ahead was to study hard, and somehow I did it.

MW: During your school years, since you're gay, there must have been a time –

PALACIOS: College.
MW: That's when you started thinking you were gay?

PALACIOS: I go over to UC Santa Cruz in 1969 as a freshman. And Stonewall hits in '69. There I am, in the middle of it, and all of a sudden we're forming a gay student group.

This was a very liberal school. We were just at the forefront of everything. And student-driven – students could do anything they wanted. I helped start MEChA, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, which is the Chicano student organization. My first kind of orientation was Chicano movement, anti-war movement.

I had an opportunity to go to Mexico when I was a sophomore. I spent two quarters in Cuernavaca and Mexico City doing a project on liberation theology. While there, I met some gay students, Americans, who I just fell in with, who were going to the same institute I was.
MW: Did you know they were gay?
PALACIOS: Yeah.
MW: Did you know that you were gay?
PALACIOS: Yeah. It just came out. I wanted to study for the priesthood and I admitted that I was gay, but wasn't willing to explore. I was gay and not sexual. So my gay identity was a very spiritual, kind of political identity.
I got back to school, the spring quarter of my sophomore year, and that's when I was really having to face this. Back at home, who am I? I went into therapy for the first time ever and started working with a psychologist. She was very helpful. I emerged from that, coming out with my friends and everyone was very accepting.

MW: Which actually came first, your desire to be a priest or the notion that you might be gay?

PALACIOS: I'll tell you what happened. I'm saving myself for the priesthood and, toward senior year, I start realizing I don't want to go on. I'm gay. And I really would like to have a boyfriend.

I left college and went to grad school at UC Berkeley in sociology. I started classes in '73. Berkeley at that time was very troublesome. At that time, after the anti-Vietnam War movement, Berkeley was in shambles. There was a lot of tension, classes were tense. The feminist movement was really at its peak. The gay movement was really just beginning at the university. I identified with the gay students, but being gay and being Latino, there was a tension there, too. I got so tense that I got a job and started working. I was doing affirmative-action work, human-resource work. I had a business career from, like, '74 to '81. I worked at two large corporations in San Francisco. I bought a home. I got interested in making money. And I did have a boyfriend for several years.
During that timeframe, in my work, I'd run up against value conflicts with management, particularly in one large company. I landed a really high middle-level job at this multinational corporation. I was 26 when I got that job. I had to do civil-rights complaints, work with women and minorities at the various plants and locations we were at. I would do the investigation, write a report and make a recommendation. I often got feedback, "You're not doing this in the company's interest." I had a boss, the corporate legal counsel for this big company, who said, "Joe, the way you think, you really should be a Catholic priest, because you're constantly looking at the side of the employees." I came back with, "I've learned over time that no one files a complaint against this large company unless there's truth behind it." At that time in the '70s, people were very wary about making complaints. I got so entangled in this by 1980 with this company that I resigned. We reached a settlement in the resignation. They were very generous to me – that's why I can't really name them.

That was a chance, from '80 to '81, to review my life. I had money, so I could do things without worrying about work. I started getting involved in local politics in Oakland, Calif. I ended up running a political campaign, a City Council race in Oakland. We lost, but I got rewarded with a job with the state of California. I worked for a year in the California National Guard doing public relations.

MW: Were you in San Francisco when Harvey Milk was assassinated?
PALACIOS: I was working in San Francisco at the time, yes. I remember quite vividly being in my office in the financial district. Someone was listening to the radio, and the news report came out. "Harvey Milk and the mayor have been shot."
Immediately after work, at 5 o'clock, I converged – like a lot of people – down to the Market Street area, City Hall. There was a big vigil. And I was at Harvey Milk's memorial at the opera house. A lot of things in the movie Milk were very vivid for me. I lived in Berkeley, but I was always in the city.
Long story short, I quit the corporate sector, did this segue, this transition time, went to Los Angeles where I grew up, lived with my mother. I was in therapy, and I made a decision to study for the priesthood. In '83, I entered seminary in Los Angeles and went straight into theological studies – the fast track.
MW: Was there a certain turning point that took you back to Los Angeles?

PALACIOS: Yeah, there was. I had hit a bottom in the sense of who I was. I had hit bottom in the sense of alcoholism. I drank. It runs in the men in my family. My father died of alcoholism. Basically, I had time to have another chance.
MW: I can see how the late '70s, early '80s in the Bay Area could be overwhelming.

PALACIOS: It was very taxing, emotionally draining. Fight, fight, fight, fight. And then your heroes die. There are points in time when you get politically exhausted. I felt the way I was channeling my energy was becoming less constructive and more self-destructive. I went downhill.

I really owe it to my family, because they received me back home really well. I had made some bad decisions. I had gotten my settlement from the company and I had a lot of money –
MW: And you were young.
PALACIOS: And I blew it. I lost a lot, and I hit the bottom. Young, in the Bay Area, and my relationship with my boyfriend was falling apart. The whole thing was coming down. My boyfriend really did not want to have much to do with me anymore because of this crash.

So many people had really serious issues in their late 20s. Drugs, alcohol, unstable relationships, going through this big cultural revolution – and we were the experiments. Some of them failed. Some of them didn't. Some people flourished.
But this is history. I don't have any regrets. I had a chance to re-establish myself, and I did. I went back to L.A. Interestingly, my parish there had a new pastor, Father Ryan. He was an incredible friend. He was an intellectual. And he said, "Joe, go for it. Go to seminary and try it out. You have nothing to lose."

So I did. I went to St. John's Seminary in Camarillo. They asked me when I entered the seminary if I was gay. I was honest. At the time I entered seminary, there wasn't this whole discourse on "intrinsic moral disorder" in the church. That only came in '87 when Ratzinger became head of the Congregation [for the Doctrine] of the Faith and started writing his anti-gay doctrine that's now become… doctrinaire. At most seminaries, especially mine, no one talked about sexuality at all. The majority of my classmates were men who had teaching careers, lawyers, people who had been working – people like me. Most of them had had experiences – boyfriends, girlfriends – but no one talked about it. It was like you entered [seminary] and closed the door behind you. You didn't talk about anything in the past, because you could have liability.
MW: If I was going to seminary, I think I would prefer it that way.
PALACIOS: You're there, focused: You're going to be celibate. You have this commitment you're going to make, and go forward. I always thought it was interesting that the straight guys never talked about women ever. Gay men know how to shut up – we're trained to do that. But the straight guys? No one said anything.
MW: Considering the conversation with Father Ryan that you may as well try seminary, that you had nothing to lose, when did you realize you'd made the right choice?
PALACIOS: I think it was my first year. We had an experience of a long retreat, two months at the San Fernando Mission. I had a chance to do a lot of reflecting. My dad is buried in the mission cemetery. I went to his grave every day. There I came to terms through a really great spiritual director who's now archbishop of San Francisco. He helped me realize that I was an alcoholic, and as soon as I left that retreat I entered AA and have been sober ever since.
It was during that time that I saw I could make a commitment and I wanted to be a priest. I really thought I had a passion from my youth that was consistent. I was able to say, "I can make a commitment to celibacy. I love the work." When I was ordained in '87, I was sent to an African-American parish. My first two years of priesthood were just incredible. I was able to use my gifts as a priest. I got to go back to back to my activism. I did a lot of community organizing. I worked in the black community, then more with the immigrant Latino community, and the Filipino community. I was tapped to teach at Loyola Marymount University, in the pastoral institute, to teach leadership skills. I really got into so many aspects of the liturgy, parish development, social justice, community activism, teaching, chaplaincy at high schools, doing retreats.

Then I entered the Jesuits in '92 to really have the capacity to finish the doctorate I never finished and to go into higher education, to teach.

MW: Does anyone give you flak, telling you that you're not gay since you're celibate? Particularly on the right, someone might say you're "choosing" not to be gay by being celibate.
PALACIOS: Here's how I would address it: I came out before I had sexual experiences. I later had sexual experiences. I had a boyfriend for several years. When I then chose to be celibate, it didn't mean that my gayness disappeared. I look at being gay like being Latino. I see it as a mystery. I don't know if it's nature or nurture – I just know it is.

I've asked myself, why am I so motivated now to be so involved in the gay community? I could just sit back like so many other gay priests. In 1998, when I was at Berkeley in grad school, we received the news that Matthew Shepard had been murdered. Actually, first he'd been tortured. Some graduate students in my department approached me and asked me if I would help – because they knew I was a priest – at the graduate theological union, where I was living with the Jesuit community, to get word out to the religious community to help them with the vigil they wanted. I said yes.

That day when we were going to have the vigil, he actually died. So it turned into almost this wake for Matthew Shepard. Being with all these men and women, friends of mine, gay men and women, undergrads, graduate students, people from the graduate theological union, all together with candles, it was like a turning point. I said, I can't be in the closet anymore. I had submerged myself when I entered seminary and I was still there, submerged. I said I am now going to be committed. It was like a moment of clarity. Jesus would be with Matthew Shepard. And every other gay kid in small-town America, in the world. If I'm going to be a priest of authenticity, I have to be with my people. I'd been with the Latino community all along. Now it's my moment to serve the gay community in a new way – as well as the Latino community and the general Catholic community. But I can't live in the closet like this anymore, in terms of my identity.

Then when I got to Georgetown in 2001 to teach, I thought the most wonderful teachers I have had know who they are. They're authentic people, and that's what I wanted to be. I wanted to be an authentic person, like Christ was. So when I think of the person of Christ, Jesus was the one to allow the person in a vulnerable position, the marginal person, or the person submerged, to be the full, authentic person that person was to be. To me, that's the Christ-like thing to do: To be there to help people become authentic. And the mystery of sexuality, to me, is a mystery. I know it's real, though. It's real. And this is the Catholic thing for me. I believe in the body of Christ, in the Eucharist. The gay boy, the gay girl, the vulnerable one: They're the body of Christ. I need to allow them, to help them, to achieve their authenticity. That's the core spiritual thing, "to thine own self be true."
Pilate said to Jesus, "Who are you? Are you the son of God?" And Jesus says, in some of his last words, in a sense, "I am the way, the truth and the life. I came to speak the truth." That to me is what the Christian life is about, to be truthful to yourself. Sinner, needy, vulnerable. All those things are just the human condition. If I'm told to shut down, I can't have a relationship, I can't be the person I am – to me, that's the greater sin. To not allow a person to flourish is true sin.
MW: You're on the board of the new group, Catholics for Equality. How will this group differ from groups like Catholics for Choice or Dignity/USA? What is its particular niche?
PALACIOS: Catholics for Equality emerged after several discussions with groups like Dignity, New Ways Ministry and other progressive Catholics, to think through what is the niche that's necessary right now. We reached the conclusion that there was no Catholic political organization that could mobilize pro-equality Catholics for LGBT rights. So Catholics for Equality is founded as a political-mobilization organization. We're strictly political, hoping for cultural, social change along the way.
MW: You brought up Ratzinger's gay doctrine earlier. Now he's the pope. How do you reconcile being a gay activist within a hierarchy he leads?

PALACIOS: Excellent question. I was trained by a wonderful professor of social ethics that we're there to neither preach an ideology of the church, nor are we to commit to set an agenda. We're there to take the gospel on Sunday and interpret it in a good way, a scholarly way, present contextual situations, and let people form their own consciences regarding things.
Personally, I would never get up in a pulpit and talk against the teaching of the church on homosexuality. I wouldn't get into "intrinsic moral disorder," pro or con. In fact, I don't know of a single gospel that would address this, because there's nothing in the New Testament regarding homosexuality. As an official of the church, so to speak, I do teach what's official. I remember our training on birth control. You teach the Humanae Vitae, but you also tell people, "There are other ways of thinking about it. This is what's in the public eye." Don't treat these people like they're sheep or idiots. You can't tell people what to do. You have to let them form their conscience.
I am for civil marriage, and it doesn't affect my church. My church can do whatever it wants. I'm not going to marry a gay couple in the Catholic Church, and I understand that. Catholics are able to distinguish between civil rights and church stuff. I'm not, personally, campaigning for gay marriage in the church. I'm campaigning for civil marriage. There's a big distinction there.
MW: Would you be the officiant of a same-sex marriage outside the Catholic Church?

PALACIOS: That's an interesting dilemma, because I actually have the state power in the District of Columbia to marry people. I could.

I'd have to look at the couple. I would want the couple to go through the same as I would a straight couple. I'd really want to know what the marriage means. I don't take marriage lightly. Who knows? I hope and pray – and this is just from a citizen angle and a gay person's angle – as marriage moves forward, there will be really adequate marriage preparation for gay couples, that they do have solid preparation -- that it's not just a contract and then end up with the same divorce rates, or higher, as straight people. The bright side is there are so many gay people who want to have really great marriages. They get the seriousness of it. Otherwise, they would just live together.

MW: I was going to ask you about condom use, in that Hispanic Heritage Month ends on Oct. 15 with National Latino AIDS Awareness Day, though you've already spoken somewhat about contraception.

PALACIOS: It's an interesting dilemma – or oddity – for gays, given that the church teaches that gays should not have sex, period. So putting on a condom doesn't make that much difference anyway. It's like a two-strike thing. [Laughs.]
Let me answer that in a very emphatic way: So much of the natural-law teaching that the church uses for sexual ethics is material that is scientifically unfounded. People know this. So they just bypass natural-law teaching regarding contraceptive use because it's not the lived experience of people, and science knows that most of this has no reality to it.

MW: Is there anything you'd like to add before we end?

PALACIOS: It's interesting, where I am in my career. I'm almost 60 years old and I've had a life of fine education. I've had many opportunities to travel. As I said, I've won all these scholarships and had a lot of opportunities. I've had a business career. I've worked in a politics, went to seminary, been a parish priest, a university professor, a writer, Fulbright scholar, presidential appointee. It's like, you know, I could've had enough with all this. But at the depth of this is the passion. I want to be an agent of change, allowing people to flourish. If I can be of that capacity on a pastoral level, the politics is personal. So, to me, to allow human rights in the gay community to really flourish means, personally, I have to have an investment in this. It can't be abstract.

For more on Fr. Palacios see Georgetown's blog.

Former Priest Allegedly Hires Hit Man to Kill the Teenage Boy He Abused

2010-11-24T08:24:00.000-08:00

The new head of the USCCB, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, says things are just peachy keen in the U.S. Church. A teenage boy probably doesn't agree with him. The unnamed victim says Fr. John Fiala raped him at gunpoint and threatened him, his family, and his girlfriend if he refused sex. Was this one of those famous accusations from 20 years ago? No! The alleged abuse took place in 2007-08. And the latest? The now ex-padre, who was removed in the Fall of 2008, allegedly recently tried to hire a hit man to kill the youth. (Go here for a press release from the Diocese of Omaha where Fiala served from his ordination in 1984 until 1996 when he left to join the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT).)

Can this possibly be true? After all, the VIRTUS program tells us it's a myth that homosexuals are dangerous. They are, in fact, actually safer than heterosexuals. And, after the sex abuse policies adopted in Dallas in 2002, with all the fingerprinting of the laity, etc. how could such a thing happen? Aren't the children safe? Haven't we been assured by the bishops that things have changed?

Well, here are the facts about the attempted killing from the Associated Press:

In a murder-for-hire case worthy of a Dan Brown novel, a Roman Catholic priest has been arrested on charges that he solicited a hit man to kill a teenager who had accused him of sexual abuse.

Authorities said John Fiala first offered the job to a neighbor, who blew the whistle and helped police arrange a sting. They said Fiala got as far as negotiating a $5,000 price for the slaying before investigators moved in.

The 52-year-old clergyman was arrested Nov. 18 at his suburban Dallas home and jailed on $700,000 bond. In April, he was named in a lawsuit filed by the boy's family, who accused Fiala of molesting the youth, including twice forcing him to have sex at gunpoint.

The abuse allegedly took place in 2007 and 2008, when Fiala was a priest at the Sacred Heart of Mary Parish in the West Texas community of Rocksprings, a rural enclave known for sheep and goat herding.

Go here to see Fr. Fiala's history of ministry. Note that in 2002 the Omaha archdiocese received a sex abuse complaint from the mid 1980s (Gosh - within months of Fiala's ordination?) which they say they forwarded to the San Antonio Archdiocese, the Kansas City Archdiocese, and the SOLT order. San Antonio says they never got it. (Tut-tut, mail service is so bad!) Consider, this accusation came to light the same year as the famous Dallas meeting when the bishops were so, so aware of sexual abuse and taking such strong action against it. Fiala wasn't listed in the 2002 Directory, but reappears in 2003 assigned to SOLT headquarters in Robstown, TX. From 2006-2008 when he was removed, Fr. Fiala was listed as pastor of Sacred Heart of Mary parish in Rock Springs, TX where the alleged abuse took place.

How plausible is it that this troubled priest showed no indication of his homosexuality during his seminary years and during his early priesthood? How many other homosexual clergy are living double lives?

Sorry, but I don't believe the problem is behind us and I wonder how many bishops are still moving homosexual priests around quietly until something public happens. This is one more proof that Fr. Haley was right to blow the whistle. Homosexuals in the priesthood are a threat to children and to the faith of all. It's maddening to me that Fr. Haley was removed from ministry in 2000 and Fr. Fiala continued to serve from 2002 - 2008.

Yes, priests have a right to due process, but I find it hard to believe there were no other problems evidenced in this priest's behavior. You don't just go from nothing to raping a kid at gunpoint and hiring a hit man. How much did his bishops know during this priest's career? Which reminds me of a pastor in my own diocese who was waiting naked for his age-appropriate partner who came into the rectory the back way. It's in Fr. Haley's deposition. He was an eye witness to it and I have no reason to believe he made it up. But that pastor is still active in Arlington (in more ways than one perhaps?) while Fr. Haley is out in the cold. Go figure!

Bishop Sartain Removes Homosexual Priest from Ministry

2010-10-08T21:32:00.000-07:00

Bishop Removes Catholic Pastor for Homosexual Relationship

I posted a different article on this last May when it happened, but it's worth posting again. I find it encouraging that at least one bishop is taking seriously the problem of immoral homosexual adult relationships. Homosexuality in the priesthood is a serious problem. The homosexual worldview is disordered and skewed. Even if a priest isn't engaging in sex, he is in a constant environment of temptation because he is living intimately with the sex to which he is attracted. It is like a heterosexual priest living and spending all his time with women. Wouldn't more than a few eyebrows be raised?

Homosexual priests live a lie. Part of the virtue of a priest is that he gives up marriage and family to devote himself wholeheartedly in service to the family of God. But the homosexual doesn't give up anything. He enters the environment that appeals to him surrounded by other men. Thank God at least one bishop recognized that a priest engaging in homosexual sex cannot be allowed to remain in ministry. May many of his brother bishops imitate him. And may the Church recognize the need for a canon law that forbids homosexuals in the priesthood. Those already ordained should be banned from any position of authority.

On Kindness, Tolerance, and Compassion: A one-way street in Gayland

2010-10-08T05:17:00.000-07:00

In 1972 as a young mom of two I woke up to the horror of abortion which was going on just across the river in Washington, D.C. Then in 1973 Roe v. Wade made abortion on demand the law of the land. Horrified at the grotesqueness of child murder, I began a life of pro-life activism that landed me in jail several times, made our home a shelter for over a dozen unwed moms, and put me on the sidewalk outside abortion mills for years. During that time I dealt with plenty of obscene gestures, screaming deathscorts, personal insults, etc. But in all my years of pro-life activism I've never seen the level of vitriol and personal abuse to rival those who advocate the gay lifestyle.

Here's a comment from a woman who has engaged in a raging dialogue on one of my posts:

QUIT PLAYING YOUR HATEFUL GAMES...YOU NEED TO READ ABOUT YOUR BELOVED PRIEST....I AM SURE YOU CAN FIND THE NEWS ARTICLES I DID AND AS YOU KNOW YOU ARE WAY SMARTER THAN ALL PEOPLE.WHY DID YOU ONCE AGAIN NOT PUBLISH MY POST ? I KNOW YOU ARE HIDING THEM BECAUSE ANYBODY WHO MIGHT LOOK AT YOUR BLOG WILL AGREE WITH ME AND BE GLAD I TOLD YOU HOW IT IS. I THINK MOST PEOPLE WOULD WANT TO SLAP YOU ACROSS YOU HATEFUL FACE. I SEE NOBODY REALLY HAS ANY POSTS TO YOU...THEY ALL KNOW YOU ARE NUTS...MAYBE FATHER HALEY IS THE FATHER OF SOME OF YOUR (SPECIAL) KIDS....YOU ARE SOMEBODY I WOULD NOT WANT IN MY CHURCH...HAVE FUN BURNING IN HELL BECAUSE YOU WIL NOT REPENT BECAUSE YOU ARE TOO STUPID TO REALIZE YOU ARE A HUGE HATEFUL SINNER I AM NOT THE JUDGE BUT YOUR WORDS SAY IT ALL.. GOD TOLD ME THAT LAST NIGHT IN MY DREAM AND HE SAID HAVE NO COMPASSION FOR MARY ANN SHE HAS BEEN WARNED...I TRIED TO STOP YOU FROM FALLING OFF THE CLIFF..SOME WOULD BE CHEERING AND TELLING YOU TO JUMP..

All of her posts have been in caps. I've been trying to have a civil conversation but obviously it's impossible. Oh, and I've posted everything she sent except one that I didn't even read because my browser closed and when I rebooted it was gone.

She claims to be a mother of three daughters and a son. The son, she says, lives in Canada with his "partner" and they have adopted children. He is as good a parent as all her married daughters she says. I presume she loves her children, but apparently not enough to challenge their sinful behavior and care about their eternal salvation. The acceptance and approval of her son apparently trumps God's laws.

Of course on the Internet who ever knows whether the anonymous poster is who she claims to be or even if more than one person is posting? But I set this before you and ask: Where is the tolerance, kindness, and compassion? There is none because compassion only goes one way in the homosexual worldview. Love me, love my perverted sex acts. And if you dare to disagree, you are hateful and I can do and say anything about you no matter how vicious. I'm sure you've heard of Matthew Shepherd. But have you ever heard of Mary Stachowicz? She was murdered for challenging the lifestyle of a young homosexual she knew.

I don't know who came to this woman in her dream, but it sure wasn't Jesus. Please join me in praying and fasting for her. Homosexuality may very well be the final abomination that draws this country to destruction.

Retaliation Against Those Who Blow the Whistle on Sex Abuse is Nothing New!

2010-09-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

Read the story of an Australian nun who was excommunicated for reporting the sex abuse of a priest. She was the founder of a religious order to teach poor children. The sisters embraced poverty and their rule stressed no ownership of personal property with a dependence on Divine Providence to meet their needs.

A priest friend of the abuser set out to destroy her and the Sisters of St. Joseph, . She persevered and was later exonerated. She will be canonized by Pope Benedict in October. What a saint for our times. I am praying to this courageous sister asking her to intercede for her brother, Fr. Haley.

Sister Mary MacKillop banished after uncovering sex abuse

Most Holy Redeemer in San Francisco -- Another Homosexual Scandal

2010-09-03T05:31:00.000-07:00

From California Catholic Daily - published September 3

Most Holy Redeemer ex-parish council officer, friend of USF’s Donal Godfrey Keeps “slave,” leads workshops at sado-masochist conference

A prominent member of San Francisco’s Most Holy Redeemer parish will conduct two workshops at the “Master/slave Conference 2010” to be held at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Silver Springs, Maryland on September 3-6. Patrick Mulcahey is a past vice-president of Most Holy Redeemer’s pastoral council and has served as a eucharistic minister at Masses....

The two workshops Mr. Mulcahey will lead are: Monogamy in M/s (M/s is short for “Master/slave”; the name of the “slave” is always given in lowercase), and Building your Collaring Ceremony. A collaring ceremony is a ritual where the slave receives a collar denoting submission to a master. The description of Mr. Mulcahey’s workshop seems a satanic inversion of marriage and baptism:
“Common elements of a collaring ceremony, and adapting them to your own commitments and religious/spiritual beliefs, with favored readings, including Scriptural ones. The role and obligations of those witnessing.”
The presence of a homosexual sadomasochistic subculture at Most Holy Redeemer has been well documented. From 2000 to 2008, which includes the period that Mulcahey served as pastoral council vice-president, the church hosted nearly annual events for sado-masochistic groups the Golden Gate Guards and the Inter-Club Fund. The presence of a “leatherman” on the pastoral council explains why these s/m groups chose Most Holy Redeemer—and why the events were allowed. In 2008, the archdiocese caused these events to be discontinued, following efforts on the part of San Francisco Catholics.

Read complete article.

Fr. Haley's Out and Richard Rohr Continues to Scandalize?

2010-08-29T21:36:00.000-07:00

I did a blog post about Richard Rohr today at the Les Femmes site. (See him in the photo at right with his young friends.) It got me thinking once again about the grave injustice of allowing heretics like Rohr to scandalize the faithful, while Fr. Haley is out in the cold for daring to expose the homosexual cabal in Arlington. "Oh, he was a snoop!" some priests say. That is apparently the capital crime while being actively homosexual is a private matter. Frankly as a parent, I'd rather have my kids and grandkids in the company of a snoop than a homosexual -- or a heretic. Of course some priests are both. One certainly has reason to wonder about priests who advance the gay agenda. They are either homosexuals or homosexualists. In either case, they are a serious threat to the faith.

I have to laugh (ruefully) about Richard Rohr giving workshops on male spirituality. Here's someone who advocates homosexuality and blesses same-sex unions. That doesn't show much understanding of what it means to be a healthy male. Beating drums and conjuring images of the native American sweat lodge appear to be his thing. A paragraph from a recent issue of the The Drumbeat newsletter describe a March 2010 "Gateway to the Temple Within" event:

Drumming called the group together in the sacred circle, around a fire bowl that burned constantly, symbolizing the fire within each of us that calls out to more than what is, that drives us toward what lies beyond us and beyond the immediate surface of the person or object in our gaze. This fire within calls us to embrace some deeper reality or truth within the people and things that attract us in life.

So that's what being a male is? Lighting up the firepit? Hey, that must be why men do the grilling! It lets them experience the sweat lodge - especially if its 98 degrees out. But this goofiness pales in comparison to Rohr's attitudes on nudity and healing. Here's an excerpt from a presentation by Fr. Rohr at a New Ways Ministry Symposium in 1997 reported on by Stephanie Block. You remeber New Ways Ministry - the homosexual advocacy group run by Sr. Jeannine Gramick and Fr. Robert Nugent who were both censured by the Vatican. (By the way, I don't believe Fr. Rohr doesn't "encourage nakedness." Read the complete article. I doubt you'll believe it either.):

"The nakedness thing, I must comment on, is really uncanny to me. I could give a whole talk just on that. I never encourage nakedness, as such, but it always happens. I will normally have on the fourth day of a five-day retreat, a day where I send them out into the canyons or into the desert alone. I've prepared them for that day. A lot of men, and women too. I'm sure have never spent a day alone, in solitude. And then that night we come back and process: What happened in the canyons alone?
"Well, there's always one who in that processing will raise his hand and, sort of with embarrassment, admit that when he got out there he took off all his clothes. And then there's chuckles all around the room — I can just predict it, it happens every time — there's chuckles all over the room. 'Oh! I did, too!' I did, too!' I did, too!' There's something about nakedness in the male psyche — and now I've studied initiation rites — it's universal. The boy always gets naked, as you see in the sweat lodges, too.

"And I think it's this desire to get rid of all this persona. All this stuff you have to live up to — you pay a big price for being a patriarch. And feminism has sometimes not been sympathetic enough with that. You pay a big price for having roles and titles and importance and power and significance and the male is just finding every way he can to take it off, to take it off. They always tell me they had to do it and it's amazing how often some wonderful things happen in this sitting there in the sunlight naked — exposed, as it were."

At times, nudity at the retreats is communal. ' 'We often have camp-fires, and I know some of you have been at these where it happens, so you know what I'm talking about. Always, always, there's some guys — I mean, is it in their hard wiring? — they'll strip and have to leap over that fire, burning their balls. . . .1 don't know what it is. They're the 'real' men, who can leap over the fire, naked."'

According to Fr. Rohr, this nudity occurs spontaneously. "This is not part of my agenda that they're supposed to . . . it's just that we have a fire, and then predictably men start doing the same old damn things, all again and again and again. There's this deep desire to get naked, to somehow, even risk nakedness in front of one another. To expose the self. That's really pretty archetypal. It shouldn't really surprise us at all, should it? I mean, that's really what all lovemaking is, of course — could you love me when you see me in my nakedness? Could I still be beautiful, could I still be attractive to you in my nakedness? Can you see it all and still be desirous of me?"

Fr. Rohr understands that many of the retreat activities may appear peculiar to an outside observer. "Certainly the outsider — and this happened one time — would think it's a homoerotic or homosexual group, and it's just not really the character of the group, as such, in a formal or holistic way."

One of the rituals done at some of Fr. Rohr's retreats is a healing ritual. "I give [the men] a talk on the body and I tell them to go alone and do a compassionate meditation on their body from head to foot. I give them all a foot and a half of red tape and wherever their body is holding a memory, a shame, a fear, a guilt, an anger — whatever — to wrap a little piece of that on their body. And then they come back and they sit in a big circle and I always say they look like a field of wounded soldiers. They're always very quiet when they come back. You can feel, like a self-massage almost. The pain came out when they touched each of those spots, I guess.

"And then beginning with the elders I lead them through an extended meditation. . . . I invite them to lie down in what is, for the male, the most vulnerable position — on his back. Then the other men surround them and cradle their bodies and especially touch and lay hands on and pray over those places where the man holds wounds...."

Given the high percentage of homosexuals at his retreats, it is conceivable that a good number of the participants' "wounds" are of a sexual nature. The listener is intrigued to consider the ramifications of this ritual. "[It] sounds like a rather simple, innocuous ritual — well, it blows them out of the water. It usually goes on the whole night. They don't want to stop. The man becomes their father that they never had; their father that they could never touch; their grandfather who died when they were a boy; their brother that they wanted to be friends with.

"Then when the older men are doing it to the younger men, it all, of course, reverses. But the tears just astound me. This readiness to cry and the readiness and the tears seem not be evoked by my words but by the touch itself, by the laying on of hands, by the communion, the connection that seems to happen there. And again, without any unnecessary encouragement from me, many of the men will invariably take off their shirts to expose the red tape, maybe on their chests."

Consider that Fr. Rohr gave this address at a homosexual meeting. Not surprising. I'm sure many homosexuals immediately signed up for a retreat. The "touching" ritual reminds me of the scenes in Brave New World with all the participants chanting "Georgy Porgy" over and over as they engage in a sexual orgy. (Do Fr. Rohr's "retreat" participants smoke peyote along with the rituals?)

But Fr. Rohr is still a priest in good standing - giving talks to parish staff, addressing audiences at Fordham and Trinity University in D.C.... while Fr. Haley is out living like a nomad in an RV. Go figure!

Priest in Texas Has the guts to call Homosexual Activity an Intrinsic Moral Evil!

2010-08-02T18:23:00.000-07:00

Every Catholic must oppose certain things
By the Rev. Michael Rodriguez \ Guest columnist, El Paso Times

Posted: 08/01/2010 12:00:00 AM MDT

I sincerely hope and pray that all El Paso Catholics will take to heart the precious and infallible teachings of Holy Mother Church in the moral sphere, particularly those most relevant to our city at this critical juncture. Remember: Every single Catholic, out of fidelity to charity and truth, has the absolute duty to oppose (1) the murder of unborn babies, and (2) any and all government attempts to legalize homosexual unions. Any Catholic who supports homosexual acts is, by definition, committing a mortal sin, and placing himself/herself outside of communion with the Roman Catholic Church. Furthermore, a Catholic would be guilty of a most grievous sin of omission if he/she neglected to actively oppose the homosexual agenda, which thrives on deception and conceals its wicked horns under the guises of "equal rights," "tolerance," "who am I to judge?," etc.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published a pastoral letter on marriage in November 2009, which is endorsed by our own local bishop, his Excellency, Most Rev. Armando X. Ochoa. This pastoral letter states the following:

Among the many blessings that God has showered upon us in Christ is the blessing of marriage, a gift bestowed by the Creator from the creation of the human race. The Church has taught throughout the ages that marriage is an exclusive relationship between one man and one woman. One of the most troubling developments in contemporary culture is the proposition that persons of the same sex can 'marry.' This proposal attempts to redefine the nature of marriage and the family and, as a result, harms both the intrinsic dignity of every human person and the common good of society. It is not unjust to oppose legal recognition of same-sex unions, because marriage and same-sex unions are essentially different realities. The denial of the social and legal status of marriage to forms of cohabitation that are not and cannot be marital is not opposed to justice; on the contrary, justice requires it.

I urge all of the Catholic faithful to treat homosexuals with love, understanding, and respect. At the same time, never forget that genuine love demands that we seek, above all, the salvation of souls. Homosexual acts lead to the damnation of souls.
Recently, a couple of letter writers claimed that in a democracy, it's up to the majority to decide between right and wrong. This form of reasoning is not only false, it's ludicrous! While it's true that a majority of the citizens in a democracy has the political power to impose its "morality" on society, this juridical reality has no bearing whatsoever on the intrinsic moral value of actions. That which makes something right or wrong is the objective moral order established by God, which can also be grasped and appreciated through the use of human reason. In philosophy, this is known as natural law. Even the ancient Greeks had a basic respect for the principles of natural law.

To simplify: One would have to be ghastly morally decrepit to think that if 51 percent of Americans opine that rape is OK, then rape becomes, in effect, all right. Sure, the majority is politically capable of such a vote, but this could never make rape morally right. There is such a thing as a corrupt democracy, you know!

Abortion and homosexual acts are unequivocally intrinsic moral evils. And friends, this objective truth doesn't depend on the opinion of the majority. Frighteningly, if the majority chooses to deny the objective moral order, then we will all suffer the pestiferous consequences.

Fr. Michael Rodríguez is the parish priest at San Juan Bautista Catholic Church.

Gay priests leading double lives should get out!

2010-07-26T04:07:00.000-07:00

Come out, then get out
California Catholic Daily

After exposé, Vicariate of Rome asks homosexual clergy leading 'double lives' to leave priesthood

Rome, Italy, Jul 23, 2010 (CNA) -- After an Italian media report exposed sexual activity by gay priests in Rome, the Vicariate of Rome responded quickly by calling on all priests who are leading such "double lives" to come out and leave the priesthood for the good of the Church community.
The Italian weekly magazine Panorama ran a feature story on the morning of July 23 titled, "The wild nights of gay priests." The article tracks three supposed priests, monitoring their behavior in gay nightclubs, where they solicited sexual encounters from male prostitutes hired by the magazine.

The author, Carmelo Abbate, claims to have everything on tape, including the sexual acts and the same priests celebrating Mass. Panorama has set up priests before using false requests for the Sacrament of Confession to "poll" what they teach on moral or political issues and then publish the results.

In response to the story, the Vicariate of Rome, the office which assists the pope in running the Diocese of Rome, released a message stating that "the purpose of the article is obvious: to create scandal, defame all priests... discredit the church and -- in another way -- put pressure on that part of the Church defined by them as 'intransigent, that strives not to face the reality' of homosexual priests."

The vicariate did not deny the information in the article, instead saying the Church community cannot help but feel "sorrow and dismay" at seeing the report, knowing its priests intimately "not by their 'double lives,' but with a 'single life,' happy and joyful, consistent with their vocation, given to God and the service of the people, committed to living and witnessing to the Gospel and model of morality for all."

Because the Panorama article painted the 1,300 priests of the Diocese of Rome using gross generalizations, the vicariate replied that the essence of the Church of Rome is not found in those with "'double lives,' who haven't understood what 'Catholic priesthood' (is) and should not have become priests."
"Know," the statement continued, "that no one forces them to remain priests, exploiting only the benefits."

"Coherence,” said the statement, “would require them to come into the open. We don't wish to hurt them, but we cannot accept that due to their behavior the integrity of the all the rest might be tarnished."

"Before such facts," the vicariate asserted, "we firmly adhere to what the Holy Father Benedict XVI has repeated several times in recent months: 'the sins of priests' call us all back to conversion of heart and life and to be vigilant so as not to 'pollute the faith and Christian life, damaging the integrity of the Church, weakening her capacity of prophecy and testimony, tarnishing the beauty of her face.'"

Bishop Kevin Boland, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing!

2010-07-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

Remember when it was a sin for a Catholic to participate in Protestant services? In this modern age of mass confusion, Catholics are led to wonder if anything is a sin at all. When a Catholic bishop, Kevin Boland of Savannah, Georgia actively participates in the installation of an Episcopal bishop, particularly one who is on record approving of sins that cry to heaven for vengeance, one can only say, "The bishop is a wolf in sheep's clothing, a hireling, and a false shepherd to his diocese."

But let me introduce readers to the rising Episcopal bishop in question who Boland so clearly affirms. His name is Scott Benhase and he was elected to head the Diocese of Georgia in 2009. His installation as 10th bishop of Georgia took place in January.

From the liberal branch of the church, Benhase is known for blessing same-sex unions and for affirming the election of active homosexual bishop Gene Robinson. David Virtue writing at his website Virtue Online, has this to say about him:

Benhase has voiced support of the national church's decision to allow gays and lesbians to be ordained as deacons and priests. "Our church has acted with humility in faith, and I believe that the church has acted rightly," he said in an August sermon to members of St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. one of five parishes where he has been rector.

One local resident, Jamie Maury, a member of the local chapter of Integrity USA, the openly Episcopal pansexual organization, praised the election of Benhase. “This is an encouraging sign for Episcopalians who support gay and lesbian clergy. We're very excited, very happy," he said....

In other sermon revelations, Benhase compares Jesus to a Zen master. In a sermon delivered at St. Alban’s in Washington DC he said, “The reason Jesus sounds like Zen Master in today’s Gospel is that too many people don’t understand what Jesus is up to.” Really.

That he accepts such non-biblical and unholy sexual positions and calls the church’s actions filled with “humility in faith” shows that he is not in touch with Biblical revelation....

He will say and do nothing to give gospel-driven Georgian Episcopalians any hope or comfort. They have no future in his diocese. He will, over time, squash them like bugs, all in the name of “humility in faith” of course, not to mention inclusivity, diversity, pluriformity and any all other Episcopal shibboleths.

The die has been cast it is only a matter of time. You will conform or else. Benhase has spoken.

On January 23, Benhase will be consecrated the 10th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia in a formal ceremony taking place at the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center. It will be his beginning; for orthodox clergy and laity in the diocese it will be their end.

That Bishop Boland would participate in the installation of Scott Benhase amidst the rainbow vestments and clownlike costume of the presiding female bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, advertises his lack of orthodoxy and even common sense. Bishop Boland (and the monsignor accompanying him) deserve to be publicly rebuked for their public scandal. Photos from the event clearly indicate they participated actively by joining the processional and recessional. They should not have attended the event in any capacity because they could not do so without giving scandal.

It is ironic to me that Bishop Boland who has engaged in the persecution of an orthodox Catholic in his diocese, has no problem giving his approval to a clergyman who is a champion ear tickler and anything but orthodox. But the two things obviously fit together. The wolf runs with other wolves and together they feed on the lambs. That he continues to be a bishop in the Church while my brother in Christ, Fr. Haley, was cast out frankly makes me sick.

I hope you'll pray for Bishop Boland and the poor people of his diocese. Fr. John Hardon, a holy Jesuit (yes, there are a few), used to say that the faith would disappear in entire dioceses in the United States. I think he must have had Savannah in mind. May God have mercy on Bishop Boland's poor flock.

As for Bishop Scott Benhase, you can read the complete article quoted above which is linked in the articles sidebar and for another article see:

Destruction From Within, Georgia Style

And now for the photos:

The presiding bishop, Katharine Schori, in what can only be described as an outlandish and clownish costume, walks in the entrance procession. When the Episcopal Church began ordaining women and homosexuals it threw dignity to the wind, but this is almost laughable. She makes me think of the Queen of Hearts.

Bishop Boland walking in the entrance procession.

A closer shot of the entrance procession showing Bishop Boland and his companion, who appears to be a monsignor, walking together.

I believe this is a shot of the recessional procession

Catholic World Report on the Scandals of Cardinal Sodano

2010-07-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

The latest issue of Catholic World Report (CWR) has an article on former Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano outlining his scandalous acceptance of bribes and covering up sexual abuse. His name may mean angel, but he's a fallen one. Cardinal Sodano was a major enabler of Marcel Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, who lived a double life of sexual promiscuity while masquerading as a living saint. The man had the sensibilities of a lobbyist bribing a politician with cash and goodies galore. And Sodano was apparently happy to take them.

The CWR article is based to a large degree on Jason Berry's in-depth analysis in the National Catholic Reporter (NCR). NCR, which is a liberal rag, must be loving it! But in this case, they are doing the same job as the anti-Catholic Boston Globe did for the sex abuse scandals, i.e., lancing the boil. It needs to be done.

The Vatican must clean out the corruption and begin the healing. The smoke of Satan has, indeed, invaded the sanctuary and we're all choking to death as a result. As First Things says, Sodano has got to go! Maciel continues to poison the Church from the grave. And a good warning to cardinals and bishops in the future is if someone is passing out expensive goodies to the movers and shakers of the Church, what's he want in return? But even more central, why are you accepting them? Do what Thomas More did in The Man for All Seasons when a woman tried to bribe him to rule favorably in her case -- refuse it or immediately give it away. It's not worth selling yourself for a bottle of expensive wine or a Mercedes.

Here's the scoop:

Money paved way for Maciel's influence in the Vatican by Jason Berry in NCR

Archbishop of Vienna accuses one of Pope’s closest aides of abuse cover-up in The London Times

The Cost of Father Maciel in First Things

Corruption in the Vatican: Pope John Paul II's Shaky Record

2010-07-01T05:21:00.000-07:00

Barque of St. Peter in Troubled Waters
By Tom Bethell

The other day my wife and I went to the Pontifical High Mass at the National Shrine in Washington. The occasion was the fifth anniversary of Benedict XVI's papacy. The pope has gone out of his way to revive the old Mass (Tridentine rite), and the organizers had been looking for some publicity. The Shrine is an enormous place, seating 3,500 people, and a half-empty church wouldn't look so good. Answered prayer:

A few days before the event, the Mass attracted huge press attention. But not of the desired kind.

The planned celebrant was Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos of Colombia, who was prefect for the Congregation of the Clergy in Rome in the years 1996-2006. In other words, he was one of the leading curial officials during the later years of Pope John Paul II. Castrillon turned 80 last July, so he is no longer a voting cardinal.

Then the never-ending saga of sexual abuse reared its ugly head. It was revealed that in 2001 Castrillon had written an embarrassing letter to a French bishop, commending him for refusing to report a criminally abusive priest to the police. The priest had sexually abused 11 minor boys and was later sentenced to 18 years in prison. The bishop received a three-month suspended sentence for not reporting the crimes, in violation of French law. Castrillon had written to the bishop (of Bayeux-Lisieux):

I congratulate you for not denouncing a priest to the civil administration. You have acted well and I am happy to have a colleague in the episcopate who, in the eyes of history and of all other bishops in the world, preferred prison to denouncing his son, a priest.

Then, on April 16, speaking in Spain at a conference on the legacy of John Paul II, Castrillon really stirred up trouble. He said that in 2001 he had shown this letter to John Paul II, who had authorized him to send it. Then it was posted on the website for the Congregation for the Clergy, where it has long been a public record. It was deliberately publicized just as Cardinal Castrillon was due to arrive in Washington for an event celebrating the pope's anniversary. The goal, surely, was to add to the negative publicity already heaped on Pope Benedict. The letter, of course, actually implicated his predecessor, John Paul II, in tolerating the cover-up of criminally abusive priests. (Read more.... )

The Homosexuality of Cardinal McCarrick

2010-05-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

As I read this I was struck by McCarrick's instructions to the young men to call him "Uncle Ted." Does this remind you of anything? It made me think of "Uncle Screwtape" writing to his nephew Wormwood. Cardinal McCarrick has shown himself to be an evil man, a liar. He hid the Vatican letter about Communion in the hand from his confreres and has done much to undermine the faith. Remember when he drew Senator Ted Kennedy out of the pew and walked arm in arm down the aisle after Mass. He is an architect of the culture of death. And yet, as Richard Sipe points out, he remains an honored member of the boys' club in the Church. God help us! Is it any wonder Congress voted to let gays serve openly in the military?

Until men like McCarrick and Weakland are publicly rebuked by the pope and their brother bishops Church teaching on sexuality is, in practice, null and void. We have been betrayed at the highest levels of the Church. Come, Lord Jesus! For Sipe's full report go here.

From the documents of Richard Sipe

"The facts are clear, simple, and typical of the heritage of tolerance of abuse and cover-up inculcated by Theodore E. McCarrick, archbishop of Newark (1986-2000) and perpetuated by his successors. There is documentation that records McCarrick’s sexual activity and sleeping arrangements with seminarians and young priests even when he served as the first bishop of Metuchen after serving as an auxiliary bishop in New York.

"On file are the unsealed 'MEDIATION DOCUMENTATION FOR FR. G.' that involved McCarrick, the dioceses of Metuchen and Newark, NJ. (2006) A financial settlement was reached. The case was sent to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, but it has not yet responded. Documents include the history of McCarrick’s initial sexual gesture and approach to the victim then a seminarian, in the bishop’s Metuchen residence in 1986. Documentation includes hand written correspondence (letters and cards) from McCarrick postmarked between 1987 and 2005. Many of the letters are signed 'Uncle Ted.' The names of other priests who were either seen having sex with McCarrick or witnessed McCarrick having sex with another priest are also included in the file. One of the priests is still in active ministry another left the ministry and was assisted by the church and McCarrick to re-educate for another profession. The names of other sexually active priests are also in the reports. Records of McCarrick’s activities with these priests are also included in medical evaluations and records all reviewed by Bishop Hughes of Metuchen already in 1995.

"Excerpts from the legal Settlement Documents include firsthand accounts that are also in the Newark Archdiocese records of an incident on a trip with McCarrick, then Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, with a seminarian and two young priests when they shared a room with two double beds, it reads:

· McCarrick, wearing just underwear, got into bed with one of the priests: “Bishop McCarrick was sitting on the crotch of Fr. RC As I was watching TV with Fr BL [full names appear in the documents], bishop McCarrick was smiling and laughing and moving his hands all over Fr. RC’s body. Bishop McCarrick was touching Fr. C’s body, rubbing his hands from head to toe and having a good time, occasionally placing his hands underneath Fr. C’s underwear. [I was] feeling very uncomfortable while trying to focus on television, and Fr. B.L., started smiling. As I looked at the bed next to me, Bishop McCarrick was excitedly caressing the full body of Fr. R.C. At that moment, I made eye contact [with] Bishop McCarrick. He smiled at me saying, 'Don’t worry, you’re next.' At that moment, I felt the hand of Fr. B.L. rubbing my back and shoulders. I felt sick to my stomach and went under the covers and pretended to sleep.”

"McCarrick continued to pursue the young man, sent him notes and telephoned him. Notes reveal that it was the custom the Archbishop McCarrick to call his protégés “nephew” and encouraged his entourage to call each other “cousin” and for them to call him 'uncle Ted.'

"On another occasion McCarrick summoned the young man to drive him from the Newark Cathedral to New York City. He took him to dinner; and after, rather than returning to Newark as anticipated McCarrick went to a one-room apartment that housed one bed and a recliner chair. McCarrick said that he would take the chair, but after showering he turned off the lights and clad in his underwear he climbed into bed with his guest. Here is the account from the documents:

· “He put his arms around me and wrapped his legs around mine. Then He started to tell me what a nice young man I was and what a good priest I would make someday. He also told me about the hard work and stress he was facing in his new role as Archbishop of Newark. He told me how everyone knows him and how powerful he was. The Archbishop kept saying, “Pray for your poor uncle.” All of a sudden, I felt paralyzed. I didn’t have my own car and there was nowhere to go. The Archbishop started to kiss me and move his hands and legs around me. I remained frozen, curled up like a ball. I felt his penis inside his underwear leaning against my buttocks as he was rubbing my legs up and down. His hands were moving up and down my chest and back, while tightening his legs around mine. I tried to scream but could not…I was paralyzed with fear. As he continued touching me, I felt more afraid. He even tried several times to force his hands under my shorts. He tried to roll me over so that he could get on top of me, but I resisted, I felt sick and disgusted and finally was able to jump out of bed. I went into the bathroom where I vomited several times and started to cry. After twenty minutes in the bathroom, the Archbishop told me to come back to bed. Instead I went to the recliner and pretended to fall asleep.”

"In a letter dated four days after this incident McCarrick wrote a note signed 'Uncle Ted' that said in part: 'I just wanted to say thanks for coming on Friday evening. I really enjoyed our visit. You’re a great kid and I know the Lord will continue to bless you…Your uncle has great spots to take you to!!!'

"There are additional documents that substantiate this particular relationship. One can safely say that now-retired Cardinal McCarrick was same-sex active and can be presumed to have a homosexual orientation. Neither fact has interfered with his career as a cleric in the Roman Catholic Church."

Two Thumbs up for Bishop J. Peter Sartain of Joliet

2010-05-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

Bishop Sartain has removed a homosexual priest from his pastorate for engaging in homosexual acts on more than one occasion. Although the acts were not crimes since the priest's partners were legal adults, Bishop Sartain's executive assistant said, “It was consenting behavior, but a priest takes a vow of celibacy.... He was unfaithful to his vows on more than one occasion.”

God bless you , Bishop Sartain. You are protecting your people and acting in charity for the good of the soul of Fr. Simonelli. You cannot serve both God and Mammon or God and Lust.

Illinois bishop removes priest for homosexual activity

Bloomingdale Priest Removed from Post

From insidecostarica.com: Gay Priests in the Church Closet

2010-05-17T13:38:00.000-07:00

How long before this courageous priest gets the boot? Telling the truth about the gay priest problem is never a crowd pleaser inside bishops' meetings. Please pray for him.

"The Catholic Church Is The Closet Of Gays", Colombian Priest Writes In His Book

Out of frustration at episcopal inaction, a priest of the Colombian archdiocese of Cali, has written a book on the ongoing homosexual scandals among priests of the archdiocese.

Father Germán Robledo, former head of the archdiocesan ecclesiastical tribunal, wrote that the third largest diocese of Colombia is rife with active and uncorrected homosexuals and heterosexual priests who prey upon young people, have fathered children and used parish funds to pay off the extortion demands of their boy-lovers and the fees for procurers.

The priest has kept his writings in absolute secrecy until they were published, calling it a "bomb" for the clergy of Cali.

Fr. Robledo, a priest for 45 years who served on the tribunal for 23 years, said that since he first presented his allegations and evidence of sexual and financial misconduct by priests in the archdiocese, the problems have increased "due to the lack of control and vigilance". He indicated that the Archbishop has done nothing to stop the misconduct of his priests.

The book, titled, ¿Hacia un celo gay? (Towards a Gay Clergy) is intended, Fr. Robledo said, to "denounce a tendency which is presenting itself within the Catholic Church".

"In the past 30 years," he said, "the Church has leaned towards priests with profiles with effeminate traces, sweet, obedient, submissive, uncritical, and who always accept the authoritarian role of the bishop and of the other superiors." He asserts that 30 per cent of the archdiocese's priests are homosexuals.

He denied that the Catholic discipline of priestly celibacy is the problem, saying that the priest's life gives opportunities to predatory homosexual pedophiles to "lead a double life".

"It is the refuge of those who do not dare face their families. The Catholic Church is the closet of gays."

According to statistics of 2006, the archdiocese of Santiago de Cali, Colombia's third largest city, serves 2.2 million Catholics out of a total population of 2.6 million.

In the Wasteland of Richmond

2010-05-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

My husband and I are in Richmond this weekend at the Knights of Columbus convention. I never sleep well in a strange bed so I decided to skip the 7:00 a.m. Mass at the hotel and go to a local church later. I checked out two on the web that were only a few miles away: St. Edward the Confessor and Epiphany of the Lord. St. Edwards had an orthodox-looking website and a schedule that included 9:00 a.m. "daily" Mass so I barely looked at Epiphany's site, just the mission statement which sounded a little too touchy-feely.

So off I went next morning to St. Edward's arriving about six minutes to nine. Hmm...didn't look good. No cars in the parking lot. But I got out anyway and checked the doors - locked up tight. I peered through the glass and saw a roomy foyer with an attractive wooden statue of St. Edward.

I was walking back toward my car when I saw a gentleman coming out of the rectory opposite the church. He stopped when I called out to him asking whether there was a morning Mass. He didn't know, but volunteered to get me a bulletin. So we walked over to the rectory door where two other men were locking up. They agreed there was no Saturday Mass. ("Daily" Mass apparently excludes Saturdays unless you count the Saturday afternoon vigil Mass for Sunday.)

The gentlemen were very cordial and friendly and directed me to Epiphany of the Lord which "might" have a Saturday morning Mass. I suggested they change the website to read "no Saturday morning Mass" to save visitors like me the frustration of a fruitless trip. Then off I went again on my quest knowing I would be late if, in fact, there was a Mass at Epiphany.

But I needn't have worried about walking in late. The parking lot at Epiphany was also almost empty. But at least the doors were open and I went in. The Church, which was obviously built in the days of parish multi-purpose centers, was inside and off to the right of a large vestibule. I walked through the glass doors and looked for the sanctuary light and the tabernacle -- none in sight. No crucifix either, only a large bare cross on the wall behind the altar. Well, it wasn't bare exactly. It was covered with something -- artificial flowers perhaps? I suspect it was part of the Easter decorations that will disappear after Pentecost. I didn't get close enough to check it out.

I went back into the foyer where I heard voices. Three men were sitting in a side chapel talking. (Was this the day for three-man meetings?) I asked about morning Mass and they assured me that there wasn't one. They pondered for a moment and said that St. Bridget's "across the river" was the only church in the area that they knew had Mass every morning. None of the six men I spoke to seemed to have any concern about no Mass on Saturdays, the only day that some working men can attend daily Mass. I found that sad.

Obviously it was too late (9:15) to make a morning Mass (St. Bridget's does, in fact, celebrate the Eucharist at 8:00 a.m ), so I asked where the Blessed Sacrament was and they directed me to a room further in off the chapel where I found a "tabernacle" that was a large wooden box on legs with a keyhole. The only thing that distinguished it from an ordinary storage unit was some decorative inlays. The sanctuary lamp was lit and I knelt down to say my rosary and apologize to Jesus for being relegated to a box in the "closet." At least the little room had a beautiful banner of the Epiphany on the back wall. I pondered whether the rectory that houses the priest is as plain as that box that houses the King of King and Lord of Lords.

I had a similar experience in Virginia Beach a few years ago - going on a quest for morning Mass and finding nothing but empty parking lots and locked churches. None of this surprises me. Under its previous bishop, Walter Sullivan, vocations in the Diocese of Richmond dried up and disappeared. His was the age of good men barred from the priesthood by feminist nuns and liberal psychologists labeling the orthodox as too "rigid" for opposing homosexuality and women's ordination. They, not the sensitive, tolerant homosexuals, were considered unfit for the priesthood. Circuit priests manning multiple parishes became the rule as the number of priests declined.

Have things improved under Bishop DiLorenzo? I can't say, although my experience this weekend was not promising. Additionally, I know a wonderful orthodox priest from the diocese who was forced out as pastor a few years ago and denied another active assignment. Instead he now lives in residence at a parish and volunteers his services to those who appreciate a faithful son of Mary preaching their retreat or day of reflection. What a loss to his previous parish which I think has no priest still and, in general, to the people of God. He stops by regularly for a short visit, enroute from one place or another, and I always ponder with sorrow the state of the Church that sees bishops putting men like him out to pasture in their prime. He, on the other hand, is cheerful. He has few dealings with the chancery and is free from the burdens of administration which are so much a part of a pastor's life.

My Saturday morning pilgrimage over, as I sit here at the desk in my hotel room. I ponder once more Jesus' words, "When I return will I find any faith on the earth?"

Sin Within is the Greatest Crisis for the Church

2010-05-13T06:38:00.000-07:00

Archbishop Weakland's Sick Legacy

2010-05-11T15:25:00.000-07:00

Catholics who followed the career of Archbishop Weakland and his destruction of the Milwaukee Archdiocese were not surprised when he wrote his tell-all book proclaiming his homosexuality. The man's behavior (or misbehavior) as a bishop was a neon light blinking about his perversion. Cases of lives damaged by this despicable cleric continue to be revealed. Below are excerpts from an article on one of the priests he enabled, fellow homosexual James Tully. Weakland sent Tully off to Africa on two separate assignments where he freely engaged in raping and sodomizing young boys:

Tully's story is an example of how the church transferred abusive priests from country to country, in a scandal now emerging worldwide. But it also shows the deep reluctance to come out against a Catholic priest in many parts of Africa.

Catholic Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg cautioned this month that the scandals in the church were not particular to the United States and Europe.

"It simply means that the misbehavior of priests in Africa has not been exposed to the same glare of the media as in other parts of the world," Tlhagale said....

The shade and occasional breeze are the only relief from the unrelenting 100-degree (38-degree Celsius) heat matched by 100 percent humidity that has men lifting their shirts to fan bellies and black skin glistening with sweat. The only sound is the chirping of long-billed birds attracted to a nearby rice paddy.

It was in these villages that Tully demanded oral sex, called "lollipopping" in the Krio dialect, the teacher said.

"He would want us to play with his penis, to arouse him; not even to just play with it but to put it in your mouth," said the teacher, who asked to remain anonymous because he works at a Catholic school and fears he could be fired.

Asked if the sex had gone any further, tears welled in the teacher's eyes and he turned away: "I don't want to remember that. After all these years, I still can't talk about it. It makes me hot all over."

Tully would not comment about these accusations when approached by The Associated Press in New Jersey, where he now lives. The Catholic Church says it never received any complaints about Tully's behavior in Sierra Leone.

"No family member or friends or associates of any victim that was sexually abused has come forward to inform or report to me that he has been sexually abused by Father Tully," said Bishop Giorgio Biguzzi of Makeni, who was bishop through all the years Tully was based in his northern diocese.

Such responses do not surprise the Sierra Leonean schoolteacher.

"Who would believe a young village boy over a white priest?" he asked. (Read complete article here... )

Is this still going on? I am aware of a homosexual priest in my diocese who frequently visits a third world country. I've even seen pictures of him surrounded by young boys. Is the bishop vigilant to protect foreign children, the children of the poor? I'd say not since, when Fr. Haley warned him about the perverted priests in the diocese, he did nothing about it, but instead came down with a club on Fr. Haley.

How much help are so-called "safe touch" programs to children in other countries when predators are sent there? And how many victims in the third world will be silent because "Who would believe a young village boy over a white priest?" What exactly is the bishop doing to protect the potential victims outside the country?

Archbishop Weakland wasn't the only bishop sending his problems abroad. Apparently moving abusive priests out of the country was a common practice as this article suggests:

Bill Nash and other members of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests held a news conference on Thursday in response to an Associated Press story that detailed 30 cases worldwide in which priests accused of abuse were transferred or moved abroad, including one case from the Worcester area.

Is the sex abuse problem behind us or, like a latent virus, has it simply simply gone underground. Since many of the bishops who enabled it are still serving and continue to justify the ordination of homosexuals one can't help wondering. Clearly Archbishop Weakland was not the only homosexual bishop in the closet. How many are still enabling dissent and closeted perversion as long as it's "age appropriate?"

For a related article see Sex abuse victims call for online registry of abuser priests

Bill Nash of SNAP realeased the photos of Fr. Tully which were taken in 1986.

"Gay Superculture" Running the Diocese of Miami!

2010-04-30T11:21:00.000-07:00

The story behind the story: Miami Archbishop John Favalora resigned early eight months before reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75. More is coming out now about the real reason for his early exit. According to faithful Catholics in the archdiocese who presented documentation to the Vatican a "gay superculturel" of priests was actually running things:

In 2004, a group of concerned lay Catholics of the Miami Archdiocese constituted themselves a lay "watchdog" organization, under the name Christifidelis. They were moved to do so by what they have alleged is a gay superculture running the archdiocese.

Attorney Sharon Bourassa, a member of Christifidelis, was counsel for The Rev. Andrew Dowgiert in a lawsuit filed against the Archdiocese in May of 2005. Fr. Dowgiert, on loan from a Polish archdiocese and soon to be incardinated in Miami, alleged that he was "fired" from active ministry in the Miami Archdiocese after whistle-blowing on homosexual activity by several pastors of the Archdiocese (particularly that of Fr. Anibal Morales of All Saints Parish [in Sunrise]).

In 2005 and 2006, RenewAmerica.com columnist Matt Abbott published several articles tracing developments in what became known as the "Miami Vice" scandal. Bourassa claimed that several "straight" priests were feeding her information on a culture of sodomy and theological heterodoxy on the part of priests of the Miami Archdiocese. Among the allegations: the vast majority of the Archdiocese's priests are sexually active gays; Archbishop Favalora and Catholic Charities of Miami owned several thousand shares in stock for a liquid aphrodisiac popularly sold in gay clubs and strip joints; many priests were misappropriating parish funds to live exorbitant lifestyles, and Archbishop Favalora and vicar-general Msgr. William J. Hennessey are in some way implicated in this superculture....

This writer [i.e., Eric Giunta] can personally testify to the truth of at least one of the above allegations, namely, that the vast majority of the Archdiocese's pastors are homosexuals. Yours truly applied to the seminary formation program of the Miami Archdiocese in the Spring of 2005. I was immediately blacklisted as an ultraconservative "traditionalist" for my regular assistance at the Latin Mass Community at Miami's St Robert Bellarmine parish.

During my course of interviews with priests from the Archdiocese's vocations admissions board, one priest volunteered to me (with absolutely no prompting on my part) the fact that "if the new Holy Father [i.e., Pope Benedict XVI] were to get rid of every gay priest, this Archdiocese could run maybe . . . ten parishes." The Archdiocese, at the time, operated at least 121 parishes and/or missions. ( Read more.... )

Does this sound familiar? Fr. Michael Madden (Bridgeport), Fr. James Foster (Altoona-Johnstown), and, of course, Fr. James Haley (Arlington) all got stabbed in the back for daring to uncover the immoral gay lifestyles of priests in their respective dioceses. In some cases the homosexual priests were helping themselves to parish money to finance their lifestyles.

How much of this is still going on in dioceses around the country? Can anyone really believe that Miami was the only one. Look at the level of dissent still occurring and the scandal over the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. There is no doubt a strong relationship between dissent to the teachings of the Church and the personal morality of the shepherds. Bishop Bruskewitz thought so, but when he suggested a study of the connection between the sex abuse scandals and dissent he got ZERO support. Well, it certainly is no secret why Archbishop Favalora voted no. How many others followed his lead for the same reason?

Please pray for poor Holy Mother Church and all the good priests lost to the faithful in the pews because of the mean-spirited vindictiveness of bishops.

Media Coverup: Hiding the Homosexuality of Sex Abuse Perpetrators

2010-04-13T09:59:00.000-07:00

The concerted media attempt to attack the Church and the pope in particular has been interesting in one specific way. The mainstream media goes out of its way to hide the homosexuality of most of the abusers. They use the word "pedophile" because pedophiles are notoriously sex nonspecific in their attacks. Girls, boys: it's all the same to a pedophile who targets pre-pubescent children whose bodies (at least with clothing) look pretty much the same.

But who were the abusers in the priest abuse cases? Over 80 percent attacked adolescent boys, young men, post-pubescent young men. The cases were largely homosexual assaults. But you wouldn't know that from the mainstream media.

Daniel Oliver has a fascinating article about the New York Times' coverage of priestly sex abuse, specifically the case of Fr. Hullermann in Germany and what and when Cardinal Ratzinger knew whatever he did know.

The Times, Oliver said, omitted an imporant fact: Hullermann's homosexuality. Here's what he writes:

Here are four possible interpretations of the Times's curious omission of Hullermann's homosexuality. One, that the Times reporter didn't know that Hullermann was a homosexual -- and wasn't curious enough to find out. Two, the editors of the Times assumed all its readers would assume Hullermann was a homosexual. Three, the people at the New York Times thought the fact irrelevant. And four, the people at the Times are in thrall to the homosexual community and didn't want to disparage it.

One and two are implausible. If you could figure out Hullermann was a homosexual, so could a reporter for the New York Times. And since when did the newspaper of record omit an important fact just because many readers would know it anyway? Three is absurd: clearly the homosexuality of the offender would be one of the most important parts of the story.

Leaving the fourth reason: the Times made a choice to speak no ill of homosexuals....

There is almost surely a cover-up here. But it's a cover-up by the New York Times of a group of people whose lifestyle the Times celebrates. The Times seems to be more interested in protecting its friends in the homosexual community than the youngsters in churches -- and in any other institutions where they might fall victim to predatory homosexuals.

Exactly! The media, accusing the pope of a coverup have been providing cover for homosexuals for years. They will attack the priests as priests, but NEVER criticize their homosexuality. Even in the case of serial murderers like Jeffrey Dahmer, the homosexual nature of his attacks was swept under the rug.

Which leads one to apply this observation about doctors to the reporters at the Times and other mainstream media outlets. "Physician, heal thyself." Reporters, examine your own biases.

Unfortunately, Church leaders have engaged in the same charade. Look at VIRTUS and their insistance that homosexuals are less of a threat to children than heterosexuals. The so-called "safe touch" programs have been part of the coverup which unfortunately continues.

The Storm around the Pope

2010-04-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

I've been watching with sorrow the storm around the pope as the sex abuse scandals widen. Did he know what was going on in Germany? Was he involved in protecting the guilty? Obviously the anti-Catholic news media doesn't care about the truth. They want to see the Church and the highest churchman discredited. Funny, though, how they save their most vicious attacks for those considered "orthodox." Villains like Mahony and Weakland, by comparison, get the soft soap treatment.

Occasionally, I come across an article that seems pretty clear cut and this one from the Associated Press which appeared in The Washington Times on Good Friday is disturbing:

Vatican waited years to defrock AZ priest

Is there really any excuse for ecclesial courts to take over a decade to decide a case? Is the right to a speedy trial only a constitutional right in a U.S. civil court? Shouldn't it also be a moral right in the Church? Something is wrong here with both the delay and the secrecy.

Pray for poor Holy Mother Church. Beg the Lord to send us priests like those of the early Church many of whom gave their lives for the faith. And let us pray for the same spirit among the laity. We are often too quick to point the fingers at others and give ourselves a pass.

Randy Engel Exposes Pederast Urrutigoity's Protection by Opus Dei Bishop

2010-04-03T06:25:00.000-07:00

[The letter and press release below should warn Catholics that the sex abuse crisis continues and in the same mode of protection and cover up. Consider how the Legion of Christ refused for years to acknowledge Marcel Maciel's evil behavior. If Carlos Urritigoity is allowed to resurrect the discredited Society of St. John, it will be another stain on Holy Mother Church. Read more here and here and here.]

Dear Friends – In his March 25, 2010 Special Edition of The Vortex, Michael Voris recommends Opus Dei as one of the answers to the current crisis in the Roman Catholic Church.* He is dreadfully mistaken.

Just the opposite is true. Opus Dei is a major contributor to the current crisis in the Church at virtually every level including the current international sex abuse scandal.

We, as Catholic faithful can and must do our part, by both prayer and action, to defend and promote the true Faith handed down to us from the Apostles, but to suggest as Mr. Voris does, that the laity with the help of cult/sects like Opus Dei, whose name is synonymous with worldly power and money, is the answer to the Church’s problems, is both dangerous and ill advised. The Catholic Church is by God’s design a hierarchical Church. As such, true and lasting reform must begin at the top with the papacy. It is a hard truth, but a truth nevertheless. To claim otherwise is not wise.

As for Opus Dei, perhaps Mr. Voris will dedicate a segment of The Vortex to explaining how and why Opus Dei Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, is currently harboring the notorious clerical pederast and sexual predator Father Carlos Urrutigoity, founder of the Society of St. John, as well as Urrutigoity’s minions.

Friends, put your faith in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior and in the One True, Holy and Apostolic Church that He founded, not in Opus Dei or the Legionaries of Christ or the numerous sects and cults that have developed in the post-Conciliar Church.

Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for us.

Randy Engel

* Full text of Voris promotion of Opus Dei at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjIKZxfY6D4.

** Mr. Voris can be contacted at contact@realcatholictv.com.

U.S. Coalition for Life International Media Release

“Opus Dei Bishop Harbors Pederasty Cult of the Society of St. John”

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, “The relocation and restoration in South America of the formerly suppressed, U.S.-based scandal-ridden Society of Saint John (SSJ) is one of the most outrageous examples of ecclesiastical malfeasance facing the Catholic Church today,” charges Randy Engel, Director of the U.S. Coalition for Life.

“Disbanded and forbidden from representing itself as ‘a recognized ecclesial entity of the Roman Catholic Church’ by Bishop Joseph Martino, of the Diocese of Scranton in November 2004, after years of credible accusations of moral turpitude and gross financial fraud, the disgraced Society of St. John has found protection and solace in the arms of Opus Dei Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay,” says Engel.

“At the heart of the controversy is Bishop Livieres’ incardination of SSJ founder Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity into the Diocese of Ciudad del Este,” says Engel. “The incardination took place despite repeated warnings from Bishop Martino to Livieres that Urrutigoity’s unchastity, disobedience and outright rebellion, and financial extravagance made him “unfit for ministry,” and despite assurances made in March 2006 by Archbishop Orlando Antonini, the Apostolic Nuncio of Paraguay, that Urrutigoity (and his accomplice and rapist Fr. Eric Ensey) were temporarily in the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, but had been sent away by Bishop Livieres. “… It seems that it does not remain any trace of this Society in Paraguay,” reported Archbishop Antonini. “That turned out not to be the case,” says the Coalition director.

“In his public letter of November 17, 2008, in defense of the SSJ and Urrutigoity,” says Engel, “Bishop Livieres states that Urrutigoity stands innocent of the charges against him; that there have never been any “serious and credible charges” against him; and that the “campaign of defamation” against him “was “orchestrated by one source.” “I believe that the record will show that the bishop’s assertions are incorrect on every count,” says Engel.
“From his earliest days as a seminarian at the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) Seminary of Our Lady of Co-Redemptrix in La Reja, Argentina, Urrutigoity was accused of maintaining particular friendships, and of homosexual tendencies and acts against his fellow seminarians and layman living at the seminary,” says Engel.

“Later, after a brief stay at the priory of Cordoba (Argentina), Urrutigoity was shipped out of Argentina to the SSPX’ St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona, Minn. where he was ordained in 1989 and given a teaching position,” says Engel.

“In 1997, shortly after Urrutigoity was expelled from St. Thomas for ‘subversive activities,’ that is, secretly plotting a new religious order, he sexually molested a seminarian who had left with him – an action prosecutable under both canon law and civil law,” says Engel. “Unfortunately,” says Engel, by the time the incident was reported to SSPX authorities, two years had passed, and Urrutigoity and his followers had found safe haven in the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania headed by Bishop James Timlin.”

“It was Timlin who gave the newly formed pederast Society of St. John its canonical standing as a ‘clerical association of the faithful’; lent his financial assistance to the building of the Society’s “City of God,” a project which attracted more than $5 million in donations but never materialized; and appointed the SSJ members as chaplains at St. Gregory’s Academy, a Catholic boys’ prep school operated by the Fraternity of St. Peter,” says Engel.

“Among the many warnings concerning Urrutigoity that Timlin received but ignored,” says Engel, “was a confidential letter dated February 10, 1999, from the SSPX Superior General Bernard Fellay confirming the charges of sexual abuse against Urrutigoity stated above, and citing earlier charges made at the La Reja Seminary.”

Referring back to Bishop Livieres’ letter of November 2008, Engel notes that “while in 2001 the Scranton Independent Review Board reported that there were no explicit allegations of sex while Urrutigoity was sleeping with students at St. Gregory’s, the bishop failed to report the Board’s final recommendation made on March 21, 2002 which stated ‘In view of the credible allegation from the seminarian, his admitted practice of sleeping with boys and young men, and the troubling evaluation by The Southdown Institute, Father Carlos Urrutigoity should be removed from active ministry; his faculties should be revoked; and he should be asked to live privately (emphasis added).’”

Engel reports that “Even after the Scranton Diocese in 2002 was named as a co-defendant in a $1million plus sex abuse lawsuit brought by “John Doe,” a former student at St. Gregory’s Academy, who charged Urrutigoity and another SSJ priest, Eric Ensey with sexual assault,” says Engel, “and the case had been settled in the plaintiff’s favor for $454,550, Timlin continued to praise and support the SSJ just as Bishop Livieres is doing today.”

“There is no doubt that there is a ‘cult of personality’ that has developed around the charismatic and charming Urrutigoity,” says Engel, “and it is well-known that he has powerful familial, financial and ecclesiastical connections in Argentina and Rome, which explains the extraordinary degree of protection and immunity he has enjoyed over the span of more than two decades.” “But our concern is, and always has been, for the physical, moral, and spiritual welfare of the vulnerable and innocent children and youth who will fall into Urrutigoity’s path as a result of his appointment to the diocese by Bishop Livieres,” says Engel

“I believe the Catholics of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este have every right to demand that plans for the canonical erection of the Society of St. John by Bishop Livieres be terminated and canonical procedures begun to return Fr. Urrutigoity to the lay state,” says Engel. “If Bishop Livieres refuses to take action in this matter, then the task falls to the Holy See and ultimately the Holy Father,” she says.

“The U.S. Coalition for Life pledges its assistance to the people of Ciudad del Este by freely providing to Catholic organizations and members of the media throughout Paraguay and South America all the documentation necessary to back up the Coalition’s charges against Fr. Urrutigoity and the Society of St. John,” Engel says.

“We also plan to challenge the Society’s IRS tax-deductible tax status which currently enables the Society to raise funds from clueless Catholics in the United States for shipment to Paraguay,” she says.

“Neither Urrutigoity nor any other member of the Society of St. John is going to bugger his way through any youth or seminarian in Paraguay or anywhere else if we can help it,” says the Director of the USCL, “but we can’t do it without the help of the Catholic laity and clergy of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este and the Holy See.”

- End -

Contact:

Randy Engel, Director USCL

Box 315, Export, PA 15632

Media Phone Line - 724 – 327 – 7379

E-Mail ( correo electrónico) rvte61@comcast.net

Recovered Memories: It Ain't Necessarily So

2010-03-21T18:16:00.000-07:00

Church Must Accept Reality of False Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse

In Dallas in 2002 the bishops were quick to put in place a policy to make priests the fall guys for the sex abuse crisis. Today an accusation is as good as a conviction for a priest. And the bishops remain above it all, immediately removing an accused priests and blasting the accusation to the world even before having any proof.

Some priests are no doubt guilty, but cases of abuse based on recovered memories are shaky. The irony is that much of the abuse was actually witnessed by others. No one had to depend on a he said, she said scenario. In his book Sacrilege, Leon Podles documents numerous cases where eyewitnesses to abuse ignored it. He documents others where the abuse was reported by fellow priests to their superiors and the information was quietly ignored and suppressed.

The only consistent element in all of the abuse is that those most responsible for protecting youth, the bishops, have preferred to protect themselves from any accountability for their sins of omission.

Accused Priests vs. Accused Bishops: the Double Standard

2010-03-15T21:23:00.000-07:00

I received an email today from Opus Bono Sacerdotii, a group that assists priests accused of sexual abuse, with a sad story from an accused priest. Here's a portion of what the priest wrote:

I had a surprise visit to my Parish office by two Officials from the Chancery, the Vicar for Priests and a Canon Lawyer (who happens to be a classmate of mine). They asked to see me privately and I was extremely nervous because of their attitude and demeanor. When the three of us were alone, they proceeded to tell me that a “credible allegation of sexual abuse” was made against me and that I had an hour to pack a bag and to come with them. Few details were given to me when I asked.

They mentioned a name which I never heard of before and that this “victim” was deceased. His widow and attorney came to the Diocese to bring this supposed abuse to their attention. This was to have occurred some thirty years ago.... I discovered later that the Diocese had already sent out a “Fax Blast” concerning my removal. After the press and media extensively exposed my ‘credible allegation of sexual abuse’ for two days, I found myself living in a hellish nightmare. After some two or three weeks later, the same two Officials called me to another meeting and informed me that another “victim” came forth after the public disclosure to make a second allegation against me. (And I had thought that life could not have possibly gotten any worse.)

As God as my witness, I swear as I swore on a Bible before the Diocesan Officials, these allegations are totally and completely untrue. My mind and my soul are bruised, beaten and trampled down. My parishioners are most supportive but I am not permitted to visit them and I cannot afford to call them by telephone.... I suffer panic attacks, acute anxiety and severe depression. Worst of all, there is nobody that can really understand or share this onerous burden that I bear.

I am in financial ruin ‘to put the icing on the cake’. I have exhausted my life savings trying to pay monthly expenses....

Even when the day for my exoneration and restoration does come, I have already seen the future. There is none. Two weeks ago a fellow priest of our Diocese was accused of sexual misconduct which allegedly occurred forty years prior, was exonerated and was officially assigned to serve ‘in restricted ministry’ at a convent motherhouse. When the media got hold of his new assignment, the public outcry that a ‘priest, accused of credible sexual abuse’ would be assigned to an area which had schools and day-care centers nearby, our bishop, bowing to “public pressure and shepherdly concern” reversed and revoked his Official assignment the very next day, not even twenty-four hours had elapsed.

Now I have abandoned all hope. I do not know where to turn for help, for someone who understands. I am ashamed. I am alone....

Consider the treatment of this priest, presumed guilty from a thirty year old allegation. And what exactly constitutes a "credible allegation?" If he's guilty where is the proof? Apparently the accusation constituted proof for this bishop. What recourse does the priest have?
Now consider the case of an accused bishop. This comes from a 2003 three webpage from SNAP:

San Diego – Bishop Robert Brom was accused of coercing a student into a sexual relationship at a seminary in Minnesota, where he once was rector and later headed the Diocese of Duluth. Church officials acknowledged multiple settlements to seminarians as a result of abuse allegations involving other members of the hierarchy and priests but deny the validity of the claims. Brom paid a confidential settlement (reported to be $85,000.00) to his accuser, who agreed to retract his claim against Brom. Brom has stated the pay out was "minimal insurance" to help his accuser of getting on with his life. The deal was reached in 1993 but didn't become public until this spring. Bishop Brom continues to deny wrongdoing and remains on the job.

SNAP isn't the only recorder of Brom's sexual abuse. In her book The Rite of Sodomy, researcher Randy Engel, quotes from a nuisance lawsuit the diocese of San Diego filed against investigative reporter Robert Kumpel of San Diego News Notes.

In his sworn statement of March 12, 2002, [Mark] Brooks [a seminarian dismissed for blowing the whistle on homosexuality at St. Francis Seminary in San Diego and Bishop Brom in particular] mentioned publicly for the first time that he had spoken by phone with a former seminarian from Immaculate Heart Seminary in Winona named Jeffrey Maras, who confirmed that while Bishop of Duluth, Brom had coerced him into a four-year sexual relationship. Maras told Brooks that he could identify Brom from the markings on his privates. Maras, desperately in need of money, agreed to enter into a confidential financial settlement with Brom in exchange for a fraudulent 'retraction letter' that he was forced to write as a condtion for receing financial compensation from the bishop. (Rite of Sodomy p. 857-58)

Engel reports another affirmation of Brom's sex abuse quoting Msgr. Michael Higgins, a former canon lawyer from the Diocese of San Diego who operates the group, Justice for Priests and Deacons. In an April 22, 1999 letter to Pope John Paul II, Msgr. Higgins wrote. "It is a matter of public record...that the Bishop of San Diego, Robert Brom, has himself been charged with grave sexual behavior and has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars of diocesan funds in attorneys' fees and damages to escape the consequences of that miisconduct...and was given a promotion to the Diocese of San Diego when the full extent of his digsuting and immoral behavior was already known."

So let's get this straight. A priest is accused and is immediately suspended, everyone in the known world is notified of the allegation, and the priest is hung out to dry. He is presumed guilty and must prove his innocence, paying for his defense himself. On the other hand, a bishop is accused, keeps the accusation secret, pays out tens of thousands in hush money to his accuser from diocesan funds, not to mention countless bucks to lawyers and public relations folks, and continues on the job.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

When the bishops developed their sex abuse policy in Dallas in 2002 they excused themselves from its coverage. No "one strike and you're out" policy for the bishops. How many innocent priests have been caught up in spurious accusations? Certainly there are plenty of guilty men, and most bishops covered up for them and moved them around from one diocese to another. But how many priests with one twenty or thirty-year-old allegation are victims of a witch hunt? How many have been presumed guilty with little evidence from a so-called "credible allegation" who, even when exonerated, are deep-sixed by their bishops because of public outcry?

The situation is beyond shameful and is one more scandal against the bishops of the United States, most of whom are experts illusionists with their smoke and mirrors. Perhaps the most shocking thing is the way they cover for one another and scapegoat the priests under them and even the laity through their sex abuse and safe-touch policies. It is all about protecting the bishops and the assets. As for their souls, they apparently don't come into the equation.

Is there a gay prostitution ring at the Vatican?

2010-03-12T20:46:00.000-08:00

Sex scandal rocks Vatican: Papal usher, chorister linked to gay prostitution ring

Good-Bye Good Men! showed that homosexuality in the clergy was endemic. Seminaries were full of it and orthodox heterosexuals were systematically denied access to the seminary, some of which had nicknames like "the pink palace." Has the problem been cleaned up? We'd all like to think so, but the recent scandal at the Vatican isn't encouraging. One of the most worrisome details was this quote from Reuters.

"Wiretap transcripts published by La Repubblica showed that among the men Ehiem allegedly procured for Balducci were seminarians. In one, Balducci is quoted as asking Ehiem: 'At what time does he have to return to the seminary?'"

Okay, we all know that there are many bishops in the Church who think allowing homosexuals into the seminary is perfectly fine. They even describe these disordered men as "heroic" while they enter a career that puts them in a continuous occasion of sin. There's nothing heroic about that. If they seriously desire to be holy, it's foolhardy. It seems to me more likely that most homosexuals enter the seminary because it appeals -- a lifestyle surrounded by men to whom you are attracted, going on vacations together, spending your day off with them -- while everyone around you offers respect and gratitude for your holy "sacrifice." What kind of a sacrifice is the priesthood for a homosexual? None. And that's why they must be banned from the seminary period!

So has anyone a followed-up at the Vatican to find out who the seminarian was that Balducci was speaking about? Are the seminaries of Rome filled with homosexuals? If so, it doesn't bode well for the future.

Pray the St. Joseph Novena for Fr. Haley

2010-03-11T20:37:00.000-08:00

Today begins the novena to St. Joseph which ends on his feast day, March 19. Please join me in praying the novena for Fr. Haley and all priests who have spoken out against homosexual immorality and have suffered the travesty and scandal of being driven out of the priesthood. God help those bishops who have effectively committed the murder of priestly vocations.

Active Lesbian Advising the USCCB on Healthcare

2009-12-04T17:19:00.000-08:00

See the Vortex about Mary Kay Henry who works for the SEIU and is an adviser to the USCCB. This is one more scandal that indicates the bishops have no control of their bureaucracy or are open advocates of this type of immorality. It's time for any orthodox bishops to pull out of this corrupt organization.

The chaos in the Church in both the U.S. & Canada indicates this bishop may have plenty of company!

2009-12-04T17:12:00.000-08:00

Canadian bishop arrested on charges of possessing child pornography

Do They Think We're Stupid?

2009-12-01T12:02:00.000-08:00

Question: When is a homosexual abuser not a homosexual abuser even when he's abusing boys?

Answer: When he's a homosexual priest being studied by the John Jay College for the Catholic Bishops to the tune of 2 million dollars.

Yup, you got it. After previous findings that 80% of the priest sex abusers targeted teenage boys (i.e., homosexual abuse), the John Jay group is now saying that homosexual abuse was not the problem. (Huh?) Well, we suspect that the real cause was, "The devil made them do it!"

This is a convenient finding for the bishops who now, no doubt, can continue telling parents their children are safer with homosexuals than heterosexuals and that allowing homosexuals in the seminaries is a blessing for the people they will serve,

There are are two-word descriptions for this. Political correctness is one, but B*** S*** is more appropriate.

The homosexual bishops who still seem to be running the Church got their money's worth from this study. And it is one more reason for the good bishops to pull out of the bishops' conference.

Hail to Caesar

Your Holiness, I Have the Evidence: Card. McCarrick Is a Homosexual, Please Act

Life and Death in a “Gay” Parish

What a difference five years make! Five years ago they knew priestly homosexuality was linked to the abuse. But now....well, let's just say that the department of newspeak got hold of the old results and dropped them down the memory hole.

The John Jay Study Yields New Evidence on Catholic Clergy Abuse especially teenage boys.

Seminary Reform Needed in Wake of Sex Abuse Study

A Letter from a "Devoted Catholic" to priests in exile.

2009-11-02T07:51:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine sent along this commentary and letter which I post here with a request for prayers. In this year of the priest, but better gift when we offer to our faithful spiritual fathers than the promise of our prayers.
Mary Ann

In our country there are 1000 good priests out of service. Some just for telling God's truth. Some because they only offer the Ancient Mass, now called the Extraordinary Form. I call it the other priest scandal. It seems to me just as much a scandal to keep good priests from service to souls as it is to allow evil priests to continue their evil activity.

Every year a priest observes his anniversary. Many are in spring, some in the fall. Some years it is a milestone. So for 2009 I speak to a priest, All 1000, please know that you are in my prayers.

Dear Good Father,

You have demonstrated over the years that you are a good and devoted Catholic Priest. Devoted to God, His Church and His people. No one can possibly question that. What happened to you, when ever it happened, is a grave injustice. An injustice first to God, yourself, your dear Mother and to your flock, who ache for your return to minister to their souls.

Our children are confused as to how this could happen. They want their Spiritual Father back, as do we all. Even now though, Dear Father, you teach us what a good priest is by your actions. Some in your situation give up and leave. Giving discredit to the words, "You are a priest forever." Some find something called an "Independent Chapel", and continue to offer Mass and hear Confessions, validly, but illicitly.

Not you Dear Priest, you are a Roman Catholic Priest. You were not asked to do something bad, which you could justly refuse to do. You are a victim of an abuse of power. So you go on as best you can , with little to live on, and those responsible seem to have little concern for your survival, so long as you do not get to preach the truth or worship God in a manner appropriate to you. You are doing, what you no doubt taught from your pulpit, "Letting go and letting God be God." Trusting your whole being to Him.

Please know that your wonderful example of the Catholic Priesthood still speaks to our souls, just as strongly as you did from the pulpit. Know that what ever year you observe this 2009, you are still serving Him and us.

God go with you and keep you. We anxiously look forward to the day you are restored to us and we can in a more public way seek your wise council and have you feed us Him who we all love. What a day of celebration that will be.

A Devoted Catholic.

Why would you trust the bishops with your money?

2009-10-29T06:47:00.000-07:00

Diocese to pay $4M for abuse

Many bishops covered for abuser priests resulting in millions of dollars in judgments against dioceses. Several have declared bankruptcy. Money collected from the people of God for the work of the Church is going to huge payouts because of the bisops' irresponsibility.

But a priest who revealed the danger of homosexual men in the priesthood is dismissed for giving Bishop Loverde the bad news about his porn-addicted and acting out priests. Homosexuals can't be trusted in the priesthood and they can never be trusted with children. Fr. Haley knew it and exposed it. No thanks to enabling bishops, some of the abusers finally received justice for their crimes. But what kind of justice has Fr. Haley seen? How many other priests will be willing to expose the truth about homosexuals embezzling from the collection basket after seeing the treatment of whistleblowing priests?

If you think the bishops' safe touch program solves the problem, you live in a dream world. The bishops just shifted reponsibility to the volunteers making them mandatory reporters. So if an abuse happens on your watch, playground mom, be prepared for a personal lawsuit.

Exposing this Horror is What Got Fr. Haley Kicked out of the Diocese! And the Injustice Goes On...and on...and on...

2009-10-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

Bishop Loverde, where is Fr. Buckner?

2009-09-25T10:25:00.000-07:00

Sigh...thinking about good priests who have disappeared amidst unproven allegations makes me sad. Fr. Christopher Buckner was swallowed up in the ether of vague accusations several years ago and has not, to date, resurfaced. While he had a reputation for a bad temper, he also had a reputation for being a good, solid priest. So where is he and what's the state of his case?

I have no idea, but I came across this August post today and thought I'd link to it.

The Performer, the Politician and the Priest: Funerals, Fanfare and Felonies

The performer, of course, is Michael Jackson and the politician...need you ask? Both of them whose lives were filled with scandal, left the scene honored, no idolized. But a good solid priest who merely lived out his vocation serving God and neighbor? Thrown out amid innuendoes that he was an abuser, the same innuendoes used against Fr. James Haley. Innuendo is the tool of a dishonest man. It lends itself to all kinds of evil imaginings. Here's an excerpt from the blog that I found particularly interesting:

The Diocese kept the accusation vaguee. To date, more than 2 years later ,there have not been any charges filed against Fr. Buckner. There has been no civil trial. No criminal trial. No canonical trial. There hasn’t been any word about where Fr. Buckner is. He’s just in canonical limbo, suspended as a priest, without any due process.

My mother in law told us that, shortly after the suspension, they brough this whole investigative crew to St. Mary’s. They were told the people would be there for 4 weeks investigating the case against Fr. Buckner. It was a regular witch hunt, and they summoned people in trying to dig up dirt.

And they couldn’t find any.

They left in less than two weeks because no one was able to corroborate anything, and no one was willing to denounce Fr. Buckner.

There was no evidence.

But with some of our bishops all it takes is an unsubstantiated accusation and a good priest, perhaps a troublesome priest, is out of his hair. And who keeps watch over the bishops? Apparently no one judging from the silence over Archbishop Weakland's scandalous book and Cardinal Mahony's ability to outlast every new outrage. Which bishop is gone? Joseph Martino who bravely spoke out for the truth. It is the way of the American Church.

I mourn and I write. What else can I do?

In the end all injustice will be righted by our all-just God, but how much damage will be done in the meantime? I mourn for the persecuted priests who have disappeared and sometimes I mourn even more over some of those still serving who live secret second lives of perversion. They are honored and pampered, but face a severe judgment unless they repent.

But what of those priests whose earthly lives are destroyed? Will they continue to be faithful in exile or will they commit the spiritual suicide of despair? Oh, how I pray they will not.

In this year of the priest please think often of the persecuted priests in exile. They deserve better than to be abandoned and forgotten.

Mahony Ordered Cover-Up of Priest's Criminal Abuse!

2009-09-19T20:09:00.000-07:00

Sex abuse cover-up by L.A. Archdiocese is alleged

According to a former vicar of clergy deposed on Friday in a civil case against the bishop, Mahony knew about Fr. Michael Baker's problem of diddling young boys for over twenty years and kept it under wraps! TWENTY YEARS! He enabled it and allowed Fr. Baker to be moved from praish to parish to molest over and over again. Now let's see. Fr. Baker was allowed to continue in ministry abusing children, but Fr. James Haley was pitched out for telling Bishop Loverde about his homosexual priest problem.

Can someone please explain the justice of this to me? I've been trying to figure it out ever since Fr. Haley was removed from ministry. And it still makes no sense. A priest is thrown out for telling the bishop about homosexuals in ministry who are a clear and present danger to young men. A year later when Fr. Haley is deposed in a civil case against the dioces (under oath) and the court releases the deposition, the bishop begins the process to throw him out permanently. "Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?" Sure looks like killing the messenger.

Meanwhile, Mahony the enabler, who spent $1.3 million settling with one of the abused youngsters, is still out there in La La Land running the diocese into the ground. He belongs in jail for criminal conspiracy. At some point in those 20 years, Mahone was a mandatory reporter. Of course these days, the dioceses have shifted the role of mandatory reporters to unwitting volunteers who have no idea they can be held criminally liable if a child is molested in the parish on their watch. Do they know it? Probably not. But that's okay, the bishops are resting easier.

Don't hold your breath waiting for enabling bishops to pay for their crimes. Some criminals are more equal than others.

Journalism is War and so is Fighting Homosexuality in the Church

2009-09-15T03:44:00.000-07:00

Matt Abbott has a column today talking about George Archibald's new book. Archibald is the former Washington Times reporter who investigated the homosexual priest problem in Arlington. Abbott describes Chapter 16 as "a doozy."

The gutsy and thorough Archibald — who was raised Anglican, by the way; he's not Catholic — names names, even more than I have. He's not afraid to be sued, and he has been sued (for libel) "at least three times" during his tenure at the newspaper; but, he writes, "no one has ever laid a glove on me because the documentation was always there."

I haven't read it yet but plan to order Journalism is War. Some stories should not be allowed to die.

Please keep praying for Fr. Haley.

What did Bishop Lori Know and When Did He Know It?

2009-08-11T07:07:00.000-07:00

Lawsuit, deposition allege diocese played hardball with whistleblower priest, accountant

A few years ago Fr. Michael Madden and the parish bookkeeper hired a private eye to investigate the behavior of the pastor who was using parish money to fund his lavish homosexual lifestyle with his boyfriend who had the run of the rectory and the parish office. In the course of the scandal it was clear that the associate had tried to get the chancery to do something for FOUR YEARS! Here's what I ran in the Les Femmes newsletter at the time:

***More New England madness: Fr. Michael Jude Fay pastored one of Darien Connecticut’s wealthy parishes, St. John’s. During his tenure he stole church funds to finance a lifestyle that included: a New York Apartment, a condo in Florida, fancy clothes, expensive jewelry, fine furniture, dining at expensive restaurants, tickets to Broadway shows, etc. He also lavished gifts on friends and family especially his gay partner, Cliff Fantini (aka Cliff Martell), a wedding consultant. In 2005 they took a cruise together, requesting that a queen bed replace the twins in their cabin. Fr. Fay was so bold he frequently entertained Fantini at the parish rectory. [Did he require a background check?] The scandalous situation at St. John’s only came to light when Church bookkeeper, Beth D'Erario, and associate pastor, Fr. Michael Madden, hired an investigator and took the results to the cops. Bishop William Lori made Madden parish administrator until the young priest made some imprudent statements in a homily about his four years of “living hell” and the foot-dragging of the diocese. Subsequently he was removed and forced to apologize. What will happen to him in the future remains to be seen, but the scenario is typical: Homosexual priest engages in sodomite relationship and steals from parish to fund lifestyle. Associate pastor blows the whistle. Diocese only takes action after scandal becomes public. Retribution against the whistleblower follows. [We’ll be watching to see what happens to Fr. Madden whom we consider a hero in the matter.]

This is one of those cases where one has to make a judgment call about who's telling the truth. Frankly, my money is on Fr. Madden and the bookkeeper. I didn't trust Bishop Lori when he was in D.C. and the tactics the diocese is using are the same ones used by bishops during the sex abuse scandals. Attack the accusers and stonewall. In 2002 Bishop Lori assigned homosexual priest Fr. Jude Fay as the lone priest on the diocesan 11-member Sexual Misconduct Review Board. Of course, the claim is no one in the chancery had ANY inkling that the big spending homosexual embezzler was doing something wrong. Perish the thought!

Hogwash! The evidence from the sex abuse scandals makes it clear that the bishops knew exactly what they were doing when they covered up for the abusers. Bishop Lori appears to be playing the same game now.

My prophecy is that the diocese will continue to claim innocence and do everything they can to stonewall the depositions. In they end they will settle out of court with the settlement sealed. Hey, it's like the government bailout -- it's only the pewsitters' money.

The Scandals Continue....

2009-07-05T18:12:00.000-07:00

Pope accepts Uruguayan bishop's resignation after he's caught engaging in homosexual sodomy. And how many are there in the United States just like him? We all know about Rembert Weakland. Why hasn't he faced censure after his scandalous tell-all book? Does retirement excuse his depravity and public dissent from Church teaching? I have yet to see a high-placed cleric say one word about this pathetic excuse for a disciple of Christ. If we all just close our eyes and ears we can pretend the elephant isn't in the living room.

When will canon law be used as it was meant to be: to defend the Faith?

2009-06-22T05:37:00.000-07:00

The case for canonical discipline of Archbishop Weakland

George Neumayr of Catholic World Report writes: "How can ordinary lay Catholics be expected to uphold the Church's stand on the immorality of homosexual acts, if such a prominent Catholic leader is voicing opposite opinions? So canon lawyer Edward Peters asks 'what, if anything, will Rome finally do to vindicate the faithful against the appalling and on-going scandal of Abp. Rembert Weakland?... That Weakland is an archbishop...should not shield him from canonical investigation and punishment, but rather serves to underscore the need for his correction.'"

Homosexuals Simply Cannot Be Ordained!!!!

2009-06-05T13:31:00.000-07:00

How many times does it need to be said. Homosexuals cannot be ordained! The latest evidence is a Catholic priest in California. Here's an excerpt from The Californian of Monterey County:

The Rev. Antonio Cortes of St. Mary of the Nativity Catholic Church, was arrested on April 16 after the 16-year-old filed a report with Salinas police. Cortes is accused of molesting the boy and giving him alcohol since he was 14. He remains in Monterey County Jail on charges including providing alcohol to a minor, sodomy and possession of child pornography.

A later article in The Monterey County Weekly reports:

The latest discovery of numerous underage porn videos on Cortes’ laptop led the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office to file two felony counts of possession of child pornography on top of the original felony and 12 misdemeanor charges.

According to Deputy District Attorney Rolando Mazariegos, Cortes began giving “spiritual massages” to a young male at Greenfield’s Holy Trinity Catholic Church about two years ago. Cortes allegedly asked the then 14-year-old boy to lie down while he rubbed his body, and would offer the teenager brandy.

Their relationship continued when Cortes took over as head pastor of East Salinas’ St. Mary’s of the Nativity Church, one of the biggest parishes in the county. Mazariegos says the massages turned sexual on April 14, when Cortes allegedly sodomized the boy.

After the boy went to police, Mazariegos says, Cortes admitted to committing crimes during a phone call with the boy, set up by law enforcement. “The priest didn’t deny any of the allegations brought forth by the victim,” Mazariegos says. “The priest’s response to the allegations was, ‘Whatever happened, happened.’”

Investigators also allegedly found pictures of topless juveniles on Cortes’ cell phone and child pornography on his computer. Cortes pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Cortes’ attorney, Miguel Hernandez, says his client is innocent and is being tried in the media.

Cortes is the first pastor of the Diocese of Monterey to be arrested for sexual misconduct with a minor, spokesman Warren Hoy says. “It really is an aberration,” Hoy says. “It is not something that is condoned or accepted.”

Although Father hasn't been to trial yet, the evidence against him looks pretty damning. After all, the child porn was on HIS computer and HIS cell phone.

I have some questions. Where were these encounters with the young man taking place? In the rectory? Did no one have any inkling that it was going on? Did Father live with other priests? If he did were they all like Schulz in the old Hogan's Heroes series, "I know nuthink?"

Homosexuals are a danger to children. They are a particular danger in the priesthood where they live in a constant occasion of sin and have unusual access to youngsters, especially boys. When will someone in the hierarchy address this issue publicly and make it unequivocally clear that homosexuals may not be ordained?

One suggestion -- just as businesses do spot checks of their employees' computers, the bishops should do the same with the priests' computers. And the bishop's computer should not be exempt either. Let's face it. The silence on this issue from the hierarchy indicates the problem goes to the top.

Ireland and the Child Abuse Problem

2009-06-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

Secrecy and cover-up were the rule of the day in Ireland just like they were here. There is no place for unnecessary secrecy in the Church. As long as secrecy is the modus operandi of the hierarchy (along with clericalism that aspires to be served rather than to serve) the flock will continue to suffer and the battered bride of Christ will be held in contempt by the world. Pray that Christ will raise up saintly reformers. See my post at Les Femmes.

Milwaukee still stuck with Archbishop Weakland

2009-05-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

Former Milwaukee archbishop decides to stay in Milwaukee
River Falls Journal - 05/27/2009

Rembert Weakland is not going anywhere.
The former Milwaukee Archbishop, and one of the central figures in the Catholic priest sex abuse scandal, has decided not to move to St. Mary’s Abbey in New Jersey.
He said an abbot at the monastery was concerned that his presence there might be a “negative element.” That’s after recent revelations from Weakland’s upcoming book. Among other things, the book explains his homosexuality, and a contention that bishops used to consider sexual abuse by priests as a moral evil instead of a crime.

The abbey where Weakland was planning to go is also the home of a highly-regarded boys’ prep school run by the Benedictine monks of St. Mary’s. A former headmaster, Abbot Giles Hayes, said Weakland changed his plans without saying why and he did not believe the controversy over the book had anything to do with it. But Weakland said Benedictine leaders were scheduled to discuss concerns about his move the day after he offered to withdraw.

Weakland, 82, now says he’ll stay in Milwaukee. He was the archbishop for southeast Wisconsin from 1977-2002. And he’s still a key figure in lawsuits accusing the church of committing fraud, by transferring abusive priests to other parishes while keeping their histories secret.
_______________________________________

I'm curious. Suppose Weakland had kept a low profile and not written his tell-all book. Would he be welcome at the Abbey as long as he kept the secret? Frankly, I want to know who the homosexuals in the priesthood are. Knowledge is power to protect the children. As long as homosexual priests can masquerade they have access to children in their parishes. That's what happened in the child abuse scandals. Homosexuals should not be priests, but if they are, the laity have the right to know so those of us with sense can keep our children and grandchildren away from them. No matter how much the world wants to portray homosexuals as no threat to children the fact remains that their small community commits a large percentage of child sexual abuse. It's not bigotry to want to keep our children away from them; it's simply common sense.

As for Weakland, did parents raise an outcry threatening the "highly-regarded boys prep school?" Would the abbey have welcomed a closeted homosexual? Let's hope not, but if the past is prologue to the future, homosexuals are still a protected breed in the Church as long as they keep their hands off minors and engage in secret age-appropriate relationships.

Same-Sex Attraction = No Ordination

2009-05-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

In 2002 in the wake of revelations over the horrendous sex abuse scandals, Fr. Andrew Baker from the Diocese of Allentown, on the staff of the Congregation for Bishops in Rome penned an article for America Magazine, the Jesuits' mouthpiece. You won't be surprised to know that this was accompanied by another article defending the ordination of homosexuals. Where do the bishops stand on this issue today? Many still consider homosexuality no impediment to ordination. Have any spoken out about the scandal of Archbishop Weakland's new book? I'm not aware of any. I fear the scandal is far from over, that it has simply gone underground while the "safe touch" programs give the appearance of the bishops taking strong action.

ORDINATION AND SAME SEX ATTRACTION

AMERICA MAGAZINE, SEPTEMBER 30, 2002

Every bishop possesses the sacred duty of discerning the suitability of candidates for holy orders. St. Paul’s advice to Timothy is fitting for all bishops, especially today: “Do not lay hands too readily on anyone” (1 Tim. 5: 22). The church’s life and the way it manifests itself as the sacrament of salvation for the entire world leans inextricably on the shoulders of her priests. The supernatural “health,” one could say, of the church depends heavily on the fitness of candidates for ordination.

In the aftermath of the scandal of clerical sexual abuse of minors, the church and society have focused partly on the role of homosexuality. The question has arisen as to whether or not it is advisable for a bishop to admit a man with predominantly homosexual tendencies, or what some call “same sex attraction” (S.S.A.), to the seminary and/or present him for holy orders.

Thanks to a recent Circular Letter in 1997 from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments concerning the suitability of candidates for holy orders, some guidance and assistance from the Holy See have already been given in order to tackle the thorny and difficult issue of suitability.

The letter says that a vocation is based on “a moral certitude that is founded upon positive reasons regarding the suitability of the candidate.” Next, it mentions the fundamental reason not to admit a candidate to holy orders. The document says: “Admission may not take place if there exists a prudent doubt regarding the candidate’s suitability (Canon 1052 §3 with Canon 1030). By ‘prudent doubt’ is meant a doubt founded upon facts that are objective and duly verified.” Later, the congregation advises that it would seem “more appropriate to dismiss a doubtful candidate” than to lament the sadness and scandal of a cleric abandoning the ministry.....

It would seem that if there are firmly established facts, both from an objective psychological evaluation and an examination in the external forum of past and present behavior and choices, that a man does indeed suffer from S.S.A. as an “exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex” (Catechism, No. 2357), then he should not be admitted to holy orders, and his presence in the seminary would not only give him false hope but it may, in fact, hinder the needed therapy and healing that might come from appropriate psychological and spiritual care. It may be that a man could be healed of such a disorder and then he could be considered for admission to the seminary and possibly to Holy Orders, but not while being afflicted with the disorder.

The Pauline exhortation not to “lay hands too readily on anyone” is a heavy responsibility for any bishop; but if a candidate’s suitability is scrutinized with prudence, the act of “laying on of hands” will bear abundant fruit in the lives of those who will be touched by the ministry of a priest. Read the complete article.

Archbishop Weakland: Out of the Closet

2009-05-13T12:11:00.000-07:00

Surprise, surprise...Rembert Weakland was one of the most scandalous Catholic leaders in the United States when he was serving as Archbishop of Milwaukee. In 2002 when he retired, he was intent on covering up his homosexuality by essentially paying a $450,000 out-of-court bribe to his same-sex lover in order to prevent evidence in open court. But the cat was out of the bag so this new revelation is simply the final affirmation of what everyone knows already.

Like many narcissistic homosexuals, Weakland probably covets attention. And it will be so much more fun to be openly participating in the gay community: welcomed by Dignity, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and other dissenting Catholics who enjoy playing Church. Besides, in the U.S. sodomy is politically correct and ever-more-popular among the brainwashed "tolerant" so coming out will probably spur sales of his upcoming autobiography. He may even think of the book-signings as opportunities to make new friends.

One interesting coincedence I can't help noting is Weakland's announcement takes place at the same time a transvestite is positioned to win American Idol. Reality is so much more interesting than fiction -- who needs to read books anymore? Perhaps the bishop and the idol can sing together: "All things gay and bi-sexual all lustiness great and small, all things S&M and lesbian, the evil one loves them all."

Keep in mind several things about Weakland. In Milwaukee he promoted dissent and sexual deviancy and was the enemy of orthodoxy. He endorsed the most graphic sex education for children and demonized parents who protested. He destroyed the beautiful historic cathedral and when Rome intervened with a stop order, he blasted ahead to finish the carnage. Dissent, scandal, and wreckovation are the hallmarks of a disordered life. This is his evil legacy and, instead of repenting of it, he moves to a new level of scandal shouting it from the rooftops or at least from the bookstores.

Now think back to 2002 and the Dallas meeting when the bishops diverted attention from their own irresponsible, even criminal, enabling of homosexual abuse. Throwing up a smokescreen, they told us the problem was really not homosexuality but parent and family sex abusers. And so they mandated fingerprinting for all lay volunteers and a one-strike-and-you're-out policy for abusive priests while exempting themselves. They developed VIRTUS which "trains" those working with children to look for abuse among straights who are the real problem while telling them homosexual abuse is a "myth" despite the fact that homosexuals commit almost 40% of child abuse while representing only about 2% of the population.

It has all been very convenient for Archbishop Weakland and other homosexual bishops. How many more are hiding behind their pectoral crosses? According to the John Jay study two thirds of the bishops engaged in moving the abusers around, lying to parents, and covering-up. How many did that because they are themselves homosexuals who empathized with the victimizers rather than the victims?

Weakland should never have been a priest; he certainly should never have been a bishop. He was one of Cardinal Bernardin's boys so many of whom have spent their careers (one can hardly describe them as "vocations") destroying the faith. This latest scandal emphasizes once again how sorely needed are Canon Laws that ban homosexuals from the priesthood and from any positions of authority in the Church. Rembert Weakland was a victimizer who enabled the rape of children and the rape of the faith. It will be many years before the damage he did in Milwaukee can be undone. Pray for him; he has much for which to answer and this latest episode just adds to his burden of guilt. Get thee to a monastery, Archbishop Weakland.

MORE ARTICLES

Disgraced Archbishop Weakland Admits His Homosexuality

A 2002 article by E. Michael Jones, a modern prophet whose writing is almost always spot on

More on the Lavendar Archbishop

Author Michael Rose on Weakland's Coming Out

Weakland comes out of the closet

Miscellaneous Articles on the Homosexual Problem

2009-05-09T12:58:00.000-07:00

Here are a variety of articles relating to the homosexual problem in the Church. It's interesting to note that there is no instruction on homosexuals in the priesthood that rises to the level of Canon Law. Why not? The statement of a Congregation simply does not have the weight equal to the seriousness of the problem. Pray that Holy Mother Church will address the fullness of truth by declaring unequivocally in Canon Law that homosexuals may not be ordained and those who are presently in the clergy may not hold positions of authority.

Openly Homosexual Phoenix Priest Who Endorsed "Naked Boys Singing" Movie Excommunicated

Homosexuals Not Permitted in Any Seminaries

On Priesthood and Those With Homosexual Tendencies
Instruction From Congregation for Catholic Education

Notable Articles, Documents, and Quotes on the Church Abuse Crisis

Obsessed with Sex by R. Cort Kirkwood

2009-05-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

Posted 05/06/09 www.RemnantNewspaper.com) Now that Pope Benedict has unchained the traditional Latin Mass and rehabilitated the Society of St. Pius X, perhaps he can begin cleaning up the Church in America. The top priorities are these: first, purging the perverts from the chanceries and turning them over to police where necessary; second, scouring the Catholic universities that are molesting the minds of the students who attend them. Taking care of the first will help take care of the second, and Benedict XVI has shown Catholics that he listens.

The Church’s homosexual problem is well known. The priesthood is plagued with sexual libertines who have undermined the prestige, authority and sanctity of the Church. The problem with colleges is less well known, but because colleges shape minds, the damage done to the Church spiritually might be much greater, and it needs the kind of exposure the dastardly Paul Shanley received. One hopes the Holy Father is aware of the carnal shenanigans with which Georgetown University, the oldest Catholic college in America, opened Lent. Or that two days after Easter, the university infamously covered up the Jesuit IHS monogram, which symbolizes the name of Jesus, for President Barack Hussein Obama’s speech on economics at Gaston Hall. And that Catholic colleges routinely invite pro-abortion politicians to deliver speeches. The latest affront to Catholic sensibility in that regard is Notre Dame University’s invitation to Obama, a radical supporter of abortion, to give the commencement address at Notre Dame University on May 17. Read more here...

Fr. Haley gets the shaft, Cardinal Law gets the brass ring.

2009-05-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of questions about the way justice is done in the Church - especially justice concerning the sex abuse of children. The viciousness of the attacks (See Leon Podles book Sacrilege) and the cover-ups are still fresh in my mind. Perhaps it's being a mother. How can a mom ever forget the anal rape and soul-killing manipulation and betrayal of children by trusted priests.

But the main reason this issue isn't going away anytime soon is because of the cover-ups. That problem has been swept under the rug and it sits there stinking. The abusers eventually were exposed thanks to the anti-Catholic Boston Globe, no thanks to the bishops charged with protecting the children. No, they were more interested in protecting the homosexual brotherhood, which explains their reaction of outrage -- not at the abuse but about its exposure. It was a secret, you see, a dirty little secret that they didn't want revealed. If there was an award for biggest hypocrite of all, I think a major contender would have to be Cardinal Bernard Law.

I have a lot of questions about Cardinal Law. Why isn't he in jail for obstruction of justice and accessory to sexual abuse? Why was he allowed to flee Boston ahead of the cops to be rewarded with an apartment in the Vatican and being named archpriest of St. Mary Major in Rome with a stipend that allows him a comfortable, if not luxurious, life? Why was he given the honor of presiding over one of the papal funeral Masses for Pope John Paul II? Why do clergy at the top levels of the Church continue to draw the veil on the scandal of homosexuals in the clergy? Why won't the pope even talk about homosexual clergy when he doesn't mind discussing the impact of homosexuality on the culture? Why did Fr. Haley get the shaft while Cardinal Law got the brass ring?

Stop the world, I want to get off!

Phil Lawler who worked with Law in Boston was quoted in a 2006 Boston Magazine article: "'It seems to me unfortunate that [Cardinal Law] is where he is,' says Philip F. Lawler, editor of the Lancaster-based Catholic World News, who worked for Law as editor of the archdiocesan newspaper in the late 1980s. 'We’re still waiting for the evidence that he understands what happened in Boston. And if he doesn’t understand what caused his resignation, that raises questions for me about his perceptions of other problems, his ability to recognize what’s good for the Church.'"

More recently, Huffington Post commentator Caryl Rivers made some cogent points in her column The President and the Felon. While I disagree with her comments about the Notre Dame situation (Two wrongs never make a right.), we are kindred spirits when it comes to our concerns over Cardinal Law.

Here's a portion of Rivers' article:

And what did Bernie Law do exactly? As Dahlia Lithwick noted in Slate,
"We have a clearer picture of what precisely the Cardinal has done, or not done, over the past decade and a half. What's emerged is horrifying. Law was not only aware of egregious sexual misconduct among his subordinates but was apparently engaged in elaborate efforts to cover up incident after incident of child rape. Worse yet, he breezily reassigned clergy known for sexually abusing children to work with more children--conduct not all that distinguishable from leaving a loaded gun in a playground."

In the 1990s, my Boston University colleague Joe Bergantino, then with the investigative unit of WBZ television in Boston, broke the story of father James Porter, the priest who started abusing scores of children in a Fall River parish on the 60s. Porter just kept getting passed along to new parishes, where his molestations continued. As the story grew to other media, Bernie Law declaimed in 1993: "By all means, we call down God's wrath on the media."

God's wrath would surely have been directed elsewhere. Law was finally forced to resign after the Boston Globe Spotlight team revealed the vast scope of the pedophilia scandal in the church.

My own interest in the story was not simply academic. My brother Hugh was murdered--that's the only word I can use-- by a pedophile in a Catholic school run by the Christian Brothers. The abuse was not only physical, but also emotional. A psychiatrist who treated my brother told my mother, "I have never seen so much ego damage as was done to your son in that Catholic school." After many years of struggling with depression, my brother hanged himself. He walked into his Catholic school a bright, engaging, decent young man, and the school destroyed him.

Until the Vatican can look into its own dark heart, until it can stop rewarding the evil men it protected and enabled, who will listen to its moral pronouncements?

Certainly not me. And certainly not millions of others.

The way the bishops, especially in the United States, handled clergy sex abuse has seriously undermined the Church's authority and continues to do so. Remember, the bishops established policies that exempted their own egregious behavior of cover-up. And those who hid and enabled on-going abuse continue to hold positions of authority. That is scandalous!

The smoke of Satan has, indeed, entered the Church choking off and obscuring the truth. Homosexuality in the clergy is the elephant in the sanctuary that no one is allowed to talk about. And heaven help those who do as Fr. Haley learned. He has suffered the penalty for asking forbidden questions and exposing the ugly secret. He got the shaft, while a man who enabled the soul-killing abuse of dozens, if not hundreds, of innocent children escaped justice.

Pray for Cardinal Law. It would be better for both him and the Church if he were out of the limelight doing penance in a monastery. When I read comments about how vindictive people are for wanting to see justice done, I shake my head. Young people are dead because of bishops who cared more about the victimizers than victims. That should bother people more than the loss of prestige of men in mitres.

Articles:
Our Man in Rome by Francis X. Rocca

The President and the Felon by Caryl Rivers

Missing Priests: Fr. John Nesbella

2009-04-27T05:28:00.000-07:00

The Letter below appeared in the New Oxford Review in April 2005. The priest who wrote it, Fr. John Nesbella, was a sex abuse survivor who sued his attacker and the Diocese of Altoona which precipitated his suspension. But I sympathize because it's pretty clear that whistleblower priests are unlikely to receive justice through the Church courts. Bishop Adamec is notorious for coddling homosexuals as well as for his personally lavish lifestyle. The Wanderer ran a four-part exposé on the Diocese back in the '90 but bishops have a way of outlasting their critics. They will, of course, answer in the end, but justice may be a long time coming.

The Influential Homosexual Element in the Priesthood Continues to Carry On

Every time I hear the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church blamed on pedophile priests, I cringe, because the facts tell us it has little to do with pedophilia. When the media exposed this problem in 2002, it was very painful, but it was the opportunity for the Church to be cleansed of this filth, and for her leaders to be redeemed. But the cover-up of the actual problem continues.

How do I know?

First, the John Jay Report commissioned by the U.S. Bishops to gather data about the abuse irrefutably confirmed that over 80 percent of the sexual abuse cases were due to homosexual priests. To quote Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons, a psychiatrist: "The John Jay report has clearly revealed that the crisis in the Church is not one of pedophilia but of homosexuality. The primary victims have not been children but adolescent males."

Second, I have seen it with my own eyes. When I went to seminary in 1996 to study for the priesthood, I was shocked to find so many blatant homosexual seminarians, teachers, and clergy. I was 34 years old and had been away from the Church for nearly a decade. In all my prodigal decadence I had never seen anything like it. It was like getting hit between the eyes with a two-by-four. What had happened to the Church? Homosexuals and heretics had seized control of certain seminaries and were corrupting the priesthood from the ground up. As I became more involved with the clergy, I came to realize that dissident homosexuals had infiltrated nearly every diocese, and that our leaders were doing nothing about it. Anyone who reported or fought this problem was persecuted and marginalized. Needless to say, my life has been a living hell because I am nothing more than an orthodox Catholic who loves Christ's Church and wants to see this cancer removed from the Body of Christ.

So far, over $700 million has been awarded to victims of clerical abuse. Given the John Jay Report, simple math shows nearly half a billion in damages paid out because of homosexual priests. Yet the media and those who know better continue to spin the myth that the scandal has nothing to do with homosexuality. That's a lie and a cover-up. The Protecting God's Children program implemented by certain bishops carries the brand name VIRTUS, and was developed by a group known as The National Catholic Risk Retention Group Inc. Everyone from the grandmother volunteering to help out with the lunch line to the parish gardener is forced to pay for background checks every three years as well as sit through long politically correct seminars that misrepresent the problem. Presenters of VIRTUS emphasize that the problem is pedophilia and repeatedly stress throughout the "training" that the Church scandal is not a homosexual problem.

The influential homosexual element continues to carry on in the Church. God help someone to find the courage to expose this continuing cover-up so that the Church can be purified of this abomination — before it's too late.

Fr. John K. Nesbella
Prince of Peace Parish
No. Cambria, Pennsylvania

More here.

And this article from The Washington Times (November 2004) links the Fr. Haley scandal in Arlington with Altoona Bishop Joseph Adamec's handling of homosexual priests.

From The Wanderer see this also.

From the Tribune Democrat April 2006 see Citing anti-gay stance, outspoken priest quits

Richard Sipe on The Cardinal McCarrick Syndrome

2009-04-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

I disagree with Richard Sipe on a lot of things, but I think he is accurate when he speaks of the sex abuse problem being not just a bottoms-up problem, but a top-down one. In fact, I think that is the major problem. If the sex abuse of children had not been enabled from those at the top it could never have reached the scope it did. If bishops did their duty, sex abuse would have been dealt with immediately and appropriately. Bishops would have reported criminal behavior to the autorities instead of passing the predators from place to place to abuse more and more victim children. Why didn't they do their duty? For some at least (among them about a dozen who resigned for abuse) their own homosexuality was a factor.

One point Sipe makes in this article is particularly relevant to the Fr. Haley situation. Sipe says:

The main point is that the dynamic [i.e., "sexual sponsorship" of younger priests and seminarians by superiors] is in operation and affects even good, observant clergy who cannot speak openly because the secret system will not tolerate them. Where are they to go? The press will not touch malfeasance on this level of the power system without impossible vetting that will expose the whistle blower to potential or certain destruction. Who of the many-in-the-know within the secret clerical system have that kind of courage?

"Expose the whistle-blower to potential or certain destruction." That about sums up what happened to Fr. Haley and other good priests doesn't it? Is the "secret system" still in effect? Considering that the bishops were quick to shift the blame from themselves to priests and laity, especially parents, I'd say it's a safe bet.

Shh... It's a Secret!

2009-04-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

Secrecy is a morally neutral concept. Like fire it can effect great good or, on the contrary, can advance great evil. Secrecy can protect a person's good name from gossip or it can allow gossip to rage unchecked by hiding the truth. It all depends on the circumstances and the motives of those keeping the secret. As Thomas More pointed out during his trial, in law silence indicates consent, so keeping something secret implies agreement with it. And, in the case of the sex abuse scandals, the secrecy and silence was magnified by actions that enabled the immoral/illegal behavior.

Leon Podles in his book Sacrilege exposes the horrifying ways secrecy was used to manipulate the innocent and protect the guilty.

During the homosexual abuse scandals, churchmen embraced secrecy to cover up the most vile and evil crimes against the young. The homosexual priests themselves threatened the children they molested with terrible things if they failed to keep their abuse secret. One young victim of serial mega-abuser Fr. John Geoghan told his mother later that the priest said, "You'd [the mom] hate me and that you'd never love me again because you love the Church more than you love me." (page 147) He used the child's love for his mother against him. That is just plain diabolical, but not uncommon.

Not only the children were threatened however. Geoghan and the others could never have engaged in their systematic abuse (Geoghan's for thirty-six years) without the corrupt assistance of his superiors. Let me repeat that in case you missed it. John Geoghan spent 36 years molesting fatherless boys whom he selected and groomed carefully. "He took them out, became close to them, put them to bed, masturbated them, and performed oral sex on them." (p. 145)

Podles goes on to ask, "Did the diocese have any idea of what was going on at Blessed Sacrament? Rev. Anthony Benzevich, who had been stationed at that parish with Geoghan, at first told Mitchell Garabedian, attorney for the plaintiffs, that he had reported to the archdiocese that Geoghan was taking boys to his bedroom, but he (Benzevich) was threatened with assignment to South America if he opened his mouth." (p. 145-46) (This is particularly interesting in light of what happened to Fr. Haley because one of the things he reported to the bishop about Fr. Verrecchia was his taking a four-year-old boy to spend the night with him in his bedroom at the rectory. Stupid parents!! Fr. Haley confronted Verrecchia and called the parents to come pick up the child.)

A consistent pattern in most bishops' dealing with the crisis was that complaining parents of molested children and complaining priests with knowledge of molesting confreres were threatened and manipulated into keeping the secrets. Like Geoghan who used a child's love for his mother against him, many bishops used the faithful's love for the Church and the priests' vows of obedience to bully them into silence. After allowing the abuse of the children, they abused the parents and their spiritual sons as well. The pattern and scope of the lying coverup can hardly be imagined which is why I, once again, recommend Leon Podles' book. And yet, with rare exception, most bishops who enabled abuse through secrecy retain their ecclesial positions. Can liars be trusted, especially those with a consistent pattern of lies over a long period of time?

And have things really changed? Is the secrecy over? I'd like to think so, but I can't. How many priests are living double lives while their bishops look the other way? Who knows? St. Luke's Institute in Silver Spring has been notorious for years, with allegations that they tell homosexual priests to have "age appropriate" partners.

In 2002, commenting on the sex abuse crisis Fr. Charles Fiore, stressed that it wasn't about pedophiles (those who molest pre-pubescent little children) but mostly about homosexual abuse of adolescent and teenage boys. "The grand taboo in U.S. culture," he told World Net Daily, "is to focus on homosexuality... [which is considered] an alternate way of life." He warned that there was a "gay subculture" in the Church and spent most of his priesthood fighting it. Fiore said acceptance of homosexuality in the Church should be "zero percent." It isn't, as Fr. Enrique Rueda warned in his 1982 magnum opus, The Homosexual Network. How many priests are living double lives? How many scandals will continue to rock the Church? Will the recent murder of the Austin priest in Mexico turn out to be, as the murderer claims, a homosexual lover's quarrel gone wrong? If true, did the bishop of Austin know about this priest's double life?

The Church must establish canon laws that FORBID homosexuals from ordination to the priesthood. Rulings from congregations don't cut it. Until Canon Law bans homosexuals from the priesthood and from holding positions of authority as pastors, bishops, heads of tribunals, etc the scandals will go on. At present, the enablers are still making the rules. When will it stop?

Divine Mercy Novena - Day 9

2009-04-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

Especially offer this today for the lukewarm among the clergy and hierarchy who allow dissent to ravage the Chruch. May God have mercy on us and the whole world.

Today bring to Me souls who have become lukewarm, and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy.

Most compassionate Jesus, You are Compassion Itself. I bring, lukewarm souls into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart. In this fire of Your pure love let these tepid souls, who, like corpses, filled You with such deep loathing, be once again set aflame. O Most Compassionate Jesus, exercise the omnipotence of Your mercy and draw them into the very ardor of Your love, and bestow upon them the gift of holy love, for nothing is beyond Your power.

External Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon lukewarm souls who are nonetheless enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Father of Mercy, I beg You by the bitter Passion of Your Son and by His three-hour agony on the Cross: Let them, too, glorify the abyss of Your mercy. Amen.

Divine Mercy Novena - Day 8

2009-04-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

Today bring to Me the souls who are detained in purgatory and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy.

Most Merciful Jesus, You Youself have said that You desire mercy; so I bring into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls in Purgatory, souls who are very dear to You, and yet who must make retribution to Your justice. May the streams of Blood and Water which gushed forth from Your Heart put out the flames of Purgatory, that there, too, the power of Your mercy may be celebrated.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls suffering in Purgatory, who are enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. I beg You, by the sorrowful Passion of Jesus Your Son, and by all the bitterness with which His most sacred Soul was flooded: Manifest Your mercy to the souls who are under Your just scrutiny. Look upon them in no other way but only through the Wounds of Jesus, Your dearly beloved Son; for we firmly believe that there is no limit to Your goodness and compassion. Amen.

Speedy Chancery "Justice"

2009-04-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

Back in the '80s when Fr. Tom Doyle warned the bishops of the huge sex abuse scandal brewing, they simply would not listen. In fact, Doyle, who was on the fast track for advancement, saw his promising career train suddenly grind to a halt. Some big cases hit the streets: Gilbert Gauthe in Lafayette, LA and Rudy Kos in Dallas, TX, but the bishops' policy of secrecy and cover-up worked for another decade or so before the Boston Globe blew the lid off. The extent of the mostly homosexual abuse of youngters enabled and covered-up by ecclesial Judases covered Holy Mother Church in slime. And most of the guilty bishops continue along their merry ways with hardly a nickel's loss in their collection baskets.

Well, the bishops may be slow to act on child sex abuse and dissent, but they are lightening quick when it comes to going after the REAL SCANDALS. The Diocese of Rockville Center was Johnny-on-the-spot to discipline the pastor in the video below. After watching it, I'm sure you'll be relieved that Fr. Fidelis has been declawed and tamed by the ever-vigilant sheriff (oops...I mean bishop) William Murphy. What a demonstration of manly action to preserve the people of his diocese. Offer your chaplet for him today.

N.B. Thanks to blogger friend Robert Kumpel where I first found this video.

The Sheriff of Nottingham and the Serfs in the Pew

2009-04-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

My husband and I are watching Season 1 of the BBC series, Robin Hood. It's campy and silly in many respects, but reminded us of the current on-going situation in the Church of the cover-up of the homosexual problem and the silencing of good priests. (And that is not silly or campy at all, but dead serious.)

The Sheriff of Nottingham, played brilliantly by Keith Allen, is the villain you love to hate. He tells his ally in evil, Sir Guy of Gisborne, that the way to keep the serfs in line is through fear. Once the serfs are afraid, it's easy to compel their cooperation. Just lop off a hand, cut out a tongue, or have a public hanging now and then and the serfs will fall tamely into line with nary a wimper of protest. The taxes will be paid on time and if the serfs are starving -- oh well.

Does this sound familiar? Aren't the faithful "starving" for the truth as they toss their "taxes" into the collection baskets? Doesn't dissent still rule in many dioceses like Los Angeles and Manchester? Hasn't Fr. Haley had his tongue metaphorically cut out? Haven't bishops cut off the hands of good priests by driving them out? Where are Fr. Madden, Fr. Nesbella, Fr. Foster, Fr. MacCormack, and others? Can they raise their hands in absolution or pour the waters of baptism on the heads of infants? Can they use their hands and voice to raise the Host and Chalice and proclaim, "This is my Body; this is my Blood?" No, they've been cut off from ministry because they bucked the lavendar mafia. And the lesson of their punishment has certainly not been lost on their brother priests.

Like the Sheriff of Nottingham's evil proclamations, "laws" have been issued by the bishops that don't solve the problem, but aid in the coverup. The Dallas Charter and the VIRTUS safety program not only did not end the scandal of homosexuals in the priesthood, they shifted the blame to innocent priests and the laity, especially parents. VIRTUS claims homosexuals are not a problem because heterosexual child abuse is more common. True, in absolute numbers, but that begs the question. Homosexuals represent about 2% of the population, but commit almost 40% of child sexual abuse.

You can believe the problem is over if you want, but the fact is that many bishops are still covering it up amd still retaliating against priests who blow the whistle on homosexual immorality in the rectory and the chancery. The problem took years to create and isn't going away anytime soon and that's why they won't talk about it. And that is exactly why the laity must.

The Sheriff of Nottingham may try to keep his ugly secret under wraps, but he's running out of wraps, which is a bad thing for the sheriff, but a good thing for the truth.

Divine Mercy Novena - Day 7

2009-04-16T11:48:00.000-07:00

Please continue to pray the chaplet for Fr. Haley, Bishop Loverde, and for our poor Church.

Today bring to Me the souls who especially venerate and glorify My Mercy and immerse them in My mercy.

Most Merciful Jesus, whose Heart is Love Itself, receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who particularly extol and venerate the greatness of Your mercy. These souls are mighty with the very power of God Himself. In the midst of all afflictions and adversities they go forward, confident of Your mercy; and united to You, O Jesus, they carry all mankind on their shoulders. These souls will not be judged severely, but Your mercy will embrace them as they depart from this life.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls who glorify and venerate Your greatest attribute, that of Your fathomless mercy, and who are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls are a living Gospel; their hands are full of deeds of mercy, and their hearts, overflowing with joy, sing a canticle of mercy to You, O Most High! I beg You, O God: Show them Your mercy according to the hope and trust they have placed in You. Let there be accomplished in them the promise of Jesus who said to them that during their life, but especially at the hour of death, the souls who will venerate this fathomless mercy of His, He, Himself, will defend as His glory. Amen.

Divine Mercy Novena - Day 6

2009-04-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

Please continue to pray the chaplet for Fr. Haley, Bishop Loverde, and for our poor Church.

Today bring to Me the meek and humble souls and the souls of little children, and immerse them in My mercy.

Most Merciful Jesus, You Youself have said "Learn from Me for I am meek and humble of heart." Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart all meek and humble souls and the souls of little children. These souls send all heaven into ecstasy and they are the heavenly Father's favorites. They are a sweet-smelling bouquet before the throne of God; God Himself takes delight in their fragrance. These souls have a permanent abode in Your Most Compassionate Heart, O Jesus, and they unceasingly sing out a hymn of love and mercy.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon meek souls, upon humble souls, and upon little children who are enfolded in the abode which is the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls bear the closest reemblance to Your Son. Their fragrance rises from the earth and reaches Your very throne. Father of mercy and of all goodness, I beg You by the love You bear these souls and by the delight You take in them: Bless the whole world, that all souls together may sing out the praises of Your mercy for endless ages. Amen.

The Dumpster Priests

2009-04-14T09:17:00.000-07:00

I know several priests who are out in the cold in addition to Fr. Haley. Each has been "dumped," so to speak, by his bishop. They might be suspended or labeled impossible to assign, but the end result is the same. They inhabit a kind of no-man's-land with no residence, no parishioners, no ministry, no assignment, no brother priests, no father bishop.... Oh they have a bishop all right, but he is certainly no father to the dumpster priest. Rather he's the garbage-man bishop who labels his spiritual son junk, and such a priest might as well climb into the dumpster and wait for the compactor to come and crush him in its jaws. That would certainly provide a solution and an answer to the bishop's question, "Oh, who will rid me of this troublesome priest?"

Pray for the dumpster priests, both those who still struggle against injustice and those who have shed their roman collars reluctantly and walked away - some with their faith in shreds.

God has a way of doing justice even when those who lead his Church do not. There is no injustice that will not be righted.

I wonder, if Dante were writing his Divine Comedy today, would he position dumpsters at key spots in the Inferno? And if he did, who would be inhabiting them?

Divine Mercy Novena - Day 5

2009-04-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

Please continue to pray the chaplet for Fr. Haley, Bishop Loverde, and for our poor country.

Today bring to Me the souls of those who have separated themselves from the Church.

Most Merciful Jesus, Goodness Itself, You do not refuse light to those who seek it of You. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who have separated themselves from Your Church. Draw them by Your light ino the unity of the Church, and do not let them escape from the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart; but bring it about that they, too, come to glorify the genrosity of Your mercy.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls of those who have separated themselves from Your Son's Church, who have squandered Your blessings and misused Your graces by obstinately persisting in their errors. Do not look upon their errors, but upon the love of Your own Son and upon His bitter Passion, which He underwent for their sake, since they, too, are enclosed in His Most Compassionate Heart. Bring it about that they also may glorify Your great mercy for endless ages. Amen.

Divine Mercy Novena - Day 4

2009-04-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

Please continue to pray the chaplet for Fr. Haley, Bishop Loverde, and for our poor country.

Today bring to Me those who do not believe in God and those who do not yet know Me.

Most compassionate Jesus, You are the Light of the whole world. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who do not believe in God and of those who as yet do not know You. Let the rays of Your grace enlighten them that they, too, together with us, may extol Your wonderful mercy; and do not let them escape from the abode which is Your Most Compassionate Heart.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls of those who do not believe in You, and of those who as yet do not know You, but who are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Draw them to the light of the Gospel. These souls do not know what great happiness it is to love You. Grant that they, too, may extol the generosity of Your mercy for endless ages. Amen.

Pray the Chaplet.

Dissent: It's Part of the Problem

2009-04-12T08:22:00.001-07:00

Back in 2002 when the bishops met in Dallas, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz suggested that the USCCB implement a study to determine whether there was a correlation between the sex abuse crisis and dissent. His suggestion got this much support: 0000000000000000000. (Well, you get the idea - how many other bishops were there? Add those zeroes.) Those of us who have been fighting scandals in our diocese for decades can offer plenty of anecdotal evidence that there's a direct link between homosexuality/sex abuse and dissent. I could give some specific examples here in my own diocese, but you get the idea. Oftentimes the dissenting pastor is a charmer who boosts attendance of cafeteria Catholics and generates more money for the collection basket. So he's never corrected and is much-loved by the finance office at the Chancery.

But I digress.

Fr. Z. at "What does the prayer really say?" carried a Good Friday post that tempts me to ask -- Is the pastor at that parish a homosexual or homosexualist? He's certainly disobedient. Read the story and weep (or laugh - sometimes you need to laugh or you'd cry all the time.) The fact is, when people say the crisis is over, point them to the on-going dissent and disobedience around the country and ask what's fueling it? At Most Holy Redeemer in the Castro section of San Francisco the answer is easy -- homosexuality. See here and here. There are plenty of others. We have our own gay-enabling parish here in Arlington, Our Lady Queen of Peace.

The good news is that the seminarian quoted by Fr. Z. is the future of the Church. The bad news may be - how many seminarians are more like the disobedient pastor than the young priest-in-training? Fr. Z.'s advice is "This will eventually be solved by the biological solution. Be patient. Learn well. Keep your mouth shut. Pray a lot." I certainly agree with the "Pray a lot" part and he might be right about the "biological solution", but as a mom and gramma I can't quite agree with the rest.

The Church and churchmen tend to take a "long run" view. Problem is - Parents don't raise their children in the "long run." They have only a few short years to get it right and scandal, particularly when it occurs at college, robs children of their faith. So as a mom I say, sure be patient, but don't keep your mouth shut. That's what helped cause the problem in the first place. Fight like the devil is on your tail and after your children because he his.

Pray for seminarians this week during the Divine Mercy Novena. We are in great need of real men who are prepared to fight and die for their bride, the Church and for their flocks.

Christ is risen as He said. Alleluia!

Divine Mercy Novena - Day 3

2009-04-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

Please continue to pray the chaplet for Fr. Haley, Bishop Loverde, and for our poor country.

Today bring to Me all devout and faithful souls, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy.

Most Merciful Jesus, from the treasury of Your mercy, You impart Your graces in great abundance to each and all. Receive us into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart and never let us escape from It. We beg this grace of You by that most wondrous love for the heavenly Father with which Your Heart burns so fiercely.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon faithful souls, as upon the inheritance of Your Son. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, grant them Your blessing and surround them with Your constant protection. Thus may they never fail in love or lose the treasure of the holy faith, but rather, with all the hosts of Angels and Saints, may they glorify Your boundless mercy for endless ages. Amen.

Recite the Chaplet. If you don't know it, go here for instructions.

Divine Mercy Novena - Day 2

2009-04-11T05:23:00.000-07:00

Today bring to Me the souls of priests and religious, and immerse them in My unfathomable mercy.

Most Merciful Jesus, from whom comes all that is good, increase Your grace in men and women consecrated to Your service, that they may perform worthy works of mercy; and that all who see them may glorify the Father of Mercy who is in heaven.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the company of chosen ones in Your vineyard -- upon the souls of priests and religious; and endow them with the strength of Your blessing. For the love of the Heart of Your Son in which they are enfolded, impart to them Your power and light, that they may be able to guide others in the way of salvation and with one voice sing praise to Your boundless mercy for ages without end. Amen.

Recite the Chaplet. If you don't know it, go here for instructions.

A Humble Proposal for Solving the Homosexual Problem in the Church

2009-04-10T11:25:00.001-07:00

When Bishop John Keating was alive Fr. Haley took the homosexual problem to him as his shepherd. At that point he had lived in a rectory with a priest who was physically involved with another and the walls of the rectory were thin. Initially, Bishop Keating offered him the door, but Bishop Keating was a fatherly man who loved his spiritual sons. To illustrate, once a year (I think between Christmas and New Year's), he set aside the entire week for his priests. Everyone was encouraged to make an appointment. It wasn't compulsory, but many priests welcomed the opportunity and went. The bishop usually gave his visitors a gift. One priest I know, who has family in another state, said the bishop sometimes gave him an airline ticket so he could fly home.

Bishop Keating offered something very important to Fr. Haley. He listened when Father asked the forbidden question. Bishop Keating and Fr. Haley began to meet regularly to talk about the homosexual problem in the diocese. Presumably, those meetings caused Bishop Keating to ask the question in Rome the day he died, "What can I do about my homosexual priest problem?"

Why such a question? Doesn't a bishop have total control? Not if he's honest and does things by the book. There is nothing in Canon Law about homosexual priests. There are canons about relations with women, but not about men in relationships with other men.

What is needed?

No one is suggesting that every homosexual priest be thrown out on his heels, particularly those who are struggling to be chaste both physically and mentally.

One possible solution, however, is to add two Canon Laws: one that clearly states homosexuals may not be ordained, and a second that says, if a homosexual is ordained and discovered later, he may not occupy a position of authority as a pastor or a bishop.

Why? Because that's exactly how we ended up with a homosexual cabal in the Church which led to the sex abuse crisis. In many places soliciting homosexualls for the priesthood was (and may still be) the norm. At least a dozen bishops have resigned or been removed for abusing boys and how many others are living in secret in their chanceries like homosexual priests in their rectories?

Homosexual clerics in positions of leadership enable homosexuality. It's been suggested that the reason some dioceses have not fought more vigorously for pro-life and against the gay agenda is because so many bishops are homosexual and vulnerable to the threat of "being outed." As gay marriage becomes more likely in the United States, how many homosexual clergy will lead the fight against it?

The Church must take action on this. It isn't enough to have pastoral letters or diocesan policies that may or may not be followed. Writing legislation into the Code of Canon Law would eliminate ambiguity and offer a real solution to the homosexual problem.

Divine Mercy Novena - Day 1

2009-04-10T11:06:00.000-07:00

Please pray the Divine Mercy Novena beginning today and ending on the eve of the Feast of Divine Mercy the Sunday after Easter for the restoration of Fr. Haley to active service in the Church, for Bishop Loverde, and for the Vatican to take action to end the scourge of homosexuals in the priesthood and the hierarchy.

FIRST DAY: Today bring to Me all mankind, especially sinners, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy.

Most Merciful Jesus, whose very nature it is to have compassion on us and to forgive us, do not look upon our sins but upon our trust which we place in Your infinite goodness. Receive us all into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart, and never let us escape from It. We beg this of You by Your love which unites You to the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon all mankind and especially upon poor sinners, all enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion show us Your mercy, that we may praise the omnipotence of Your mercy for ever and ever. Amen.

Recite the Chaplet. If you don't know it, go here for instructions.

Happy Birthday, Fr. Haley and Faithful Priests of the Church

2009-04-09T07:24:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Today is the feast of the priesthood when Jesus first told his apostles, "Do this in memory of me." I wish all the faithful priests in our diocese a happy birthday. Thank you for washing our feet through your service.

Today I'm launching this blog dedicated to Fr. James Haley and the on-going scandal of his treatment by Bishop Loverde. I suspect many will be critical of this work. So be it.

We live in a Church today where unfaithful and heretical priests are allowed to engage in dissent and publicly disgraceful actions with impunity. I'll just give three examples.

Fr. Michael Pfleger - Archdiocese of Chicago - I hardly need to add anything about this outrageous and scandalous priest beyond his name. Has he been silenced? Suspended? Cast out into outer darkness? No, he continues to lead his parish on the wide path to hell.

Fr. Steve Meriwether - Archdiocese of San Francisco under Archbishop George Niederauer. Holy Redeemer parish is notorious for its gay bingo, drag beauty contests, etc. (The bingo was finally stopped after public outrage from the faithful.) Fr. M. blesses participants in the Castro Street Fair (a lewd gay pride event), continues to allow gay drag events in his parish, and promotes the entire activist gay agenda. If he is not homosexual himself, he is a homosexualist advancing gay rights. And yet he continues undisciplined from scandal to scandal. No silencing, no suspension.

Fr. Michael Lastiri - Diocese of Fresno under Bishop John Steinbock. Lastiri advertised on the internet for gay sex. A gay friend of his whom he allowed to live in the rectory molested the nephew of a fellow priest. What happened? Steinbock sent Lastiri for a quick cover trip to the notorious St. Luke's in Silver Spring and then put him in prison ministry for a time. He's now back in regular parish ministry as the administrator of Our Lady of the Sierra, appropriate perhaps since the people there are likely to be in the desert with such a pastor. (A fellow priest, Fr. Joe Baca, known for his orthodoxy, has been labeled by the bishop as unassignable.)

Why are these priests still in active service while Fr. Haley is out in the cold and, if rumors are accurate, excommunicated from the Church? It is an injustice that screams to heaven and deserves to be exposed. For that reason I'm putting this blog online on the Birthday of the priesthood.

And I ask every cleric the forbidden question? When will it get a straight answer?

Missing Priests

2009-04-08T17:12:00.000-07:00

This page will grow as I gradually add the stories of priests, like Fr. Haley, who brought the homosexual problem out into the open and were punished for it. Most left the priesthood after on-going persecution. They too dared to ask the forbidden question and paid the price. Some exposed the embezzlement of homosexual priests robbing their parishes to maintain lavish lifestyles. Others dared to proclaim the truths of Church doctrine and were instructed to stop rocking the boat. Too many good men have received the boot while dissenting priests have been promoted and given plum assignments. Pray for the priests who served well and deserved better.

Fr. Michael Madden hired a private eye to investigate the financial chicanery of his pastor, Fr. Jude Fay, when the diocese of Bridgeport wouldn't do anything. Fr. Fay stole over a million dollars from the parish. But who got condemned for taking things into his own hands? Guess? Many articles are linked from the one below.
Latest from Darien, CT: Fr. Madden leaves, Fr. Fay denies

Fr. John Nesbella, Diocese of Altoona

Fr. Christopher Buckner, Diocese of Arlington
Bishop Loverde, Where is Fr. Buckner?

Letters to Bishop Loverde and the Hierarchy

2009-04-08T12:57:00.000-07:00

Over the years I've sent numerous letters to Bishop Loverde, the Apostolic Nuncio, and the Vatican about Fr. Haley. With regard to those sent to Bishop Loverde, at first they were ignored, but when I resent them registered mail with a copy to the Nuncio I always got an anwer.

Nowadays I generally receive a very polite response from the Chancellor. I'm posting one of my letters (the most recent) in the comments section with Mr. Herrmann's answer. Despite the Chancellor's saying it is out of Bishop Loverde's hands, the bishop set the events in motion and is still the major accuser.

Keep in mind that the bishop suspended Fr. Haley initially in 2001 because he wouldn't stop asking the forbidden question and bringing the bishop evidence about the homosexual problem. The bishop asked for evidence, but didn't really want it.

Subsequent to the 2002 deposition which was released by court order almost a year after Fr. Haley's suspension, charges were brought (who knows what since it's all secret?) and the tribunal was convened three years later in 2005. Talk about speedy Church justice! Were the charges legitimate? Who knows since everything is secret? What was the verdict? Again - it's a secret.

One thing is a moral certainty, however. If a person sets in motion an evil against another, particularly if false accusations are involved, he has an obligation to rectify those falsehoods and try to undo what he did. Whether he's a humble layman or the pope the obligation is the same. Since all has been done in secrecy, how can any false witness, if there was such, be exposed? It's a Catch-22 for the accused. The trial was secret (Fr. Haley wanted an open trial), the results are secret (I believe Fr. Haley would want them to be public), and a troublesome priest is out of the way. But he's one priest who won't just disappear into the night like so many other persecuted priests have done and, personally, I thank God for that.

If you would like to post a letter you've written to the bishop or the Vatican, use the comments section. I urge you to continue to write to Bishop Loverde, the Apostolic Nuncio, the Congregation for Clergy, and the Apostolic Signatura.

As I continue to build this site I will be adding addresses for contacts.

God bless all of you who have written and prayed about this tragic situation.

When you write be sure to make your letter respectful, unemotional, and short.

And before you sit down at the keyboard or pick up a pen, please pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance and charity and, particularly, pray for the person to whom your letter is directed.

The Story

2009-04-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

The easiest way to summarize Fr. Haley's early story is to send you to Mark Fellows' article from Catholic Family News titled Father Haley and "The Boy's Club." the story essentially covers the period from Fr. Haley's suspension in 2001 up until the time of the deposition almost a year later. The article was originally published in 2003 in Catholic Family News.

I will be adding a timeline to the site to show the progression of events and give an easy overview of Fr. Haley's story.

What is Fr. Haley's current status?

2009-04-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

Who knows?

Is Father Haley still a priest?

Has he been forcibly laicized?

Has he been excommunicated as the rumor mill says?

Try to find and out and all you get is the clerical version of the polka with fast and fancy footwork.

No one is talking.

The entire case of Fr. Haley has been shrouded in silence and secrecy. If you write to Bishop Loverde, as I have, you will most likely receive a letter from Chancellor Mark Herrmann telling you that all information about clerical personnel is confidential to protect the privacy of the priest.

But who does the silence and secrecy really protect? The bishop and the homosexual subculture in the church.

In 2005, a clerical tribunal headed by Bishop Thomas Doran met at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. The hearing was closed.

Was Father Haley allowed to face his accusers?

He definitely was NOT allowed to bring in character witnesses, because I and many others would gladly have testified for him.

What was the outcome of the tribunal? Was there a verdict? What was it?

No one is allowed to know.

Secrecy and coverup were the great enablers of the sex abuse scandals. They also enable injustice and scapegoating. As long as silence and secrecy prevail, justice will not be served. Phil Lawler, Russell Shaw, Randy Engel, and Leon Podles have all written books that show what egregious evil is enabled by silence and coverup. It protects the institutional Church, the hierarchy, and the lavendar mafia - it does not serve the truth or the flock or the lowly faithful shepherds. Remember when the pharisees wanted to kill Jesus, they held their trial in the dark of night and suspended all the Jewish rules protecting the accused. Think of Fr. Haley and other scapegoated priests on Good Friday when you read the Passion. Pray for them. And also pray for those in the hierarchy who do foul deeds in the dark.

The Deposition - Cover-up Exposed

2009-04-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

Fr. Haley was suspended in October 2001 after bringing Bishop Loverde proof of the homosexuality of a number of priests in the Arlington Diocese, their porn collections, etc. From that point on it was cover-up and kill the messenger. At the same time that the bishops were talking in Dallas about transparency over the sex abuse scandals the modus operandi in Arlington was cover up and secrecy.

Fr. Haley has been accused of going around randomly exposing the situation. He did not. He spoke out only once in a legal deposition for which he was subpoened (twice) and answered questions under oath. That occurred during the civil case over Fr. Jim Verrecchia's adultery with Nancy Lambert at All Saints Parish in Manassas, VA where Verrecchia was pastor. Jim Lambert filed suit against the diocese on June 5, 2002. Up to that time Fr. Haley had said nothing about the volatile information he had. The deposition was taken on July 24, 2002. From October to July Fr. Haley said nothing. Secrecy had prevailed and that's what the diocese wanted to continue.

When the deposition was taken the diocese had the right to have a lawyer present, but they chose not to. That gave Bishop Loverde the ability to claim later that Fr. Haley "volunteered" to testify and that there was no subpoena. His denials, however, were couched in vague language. The fact is that Fr. Haley actually received two subpoenas to which he responded and testified under oath.

Interested readers can see the entire deposition at the Roman Catholic Faithful website. The diocese attempted to have the deposition sealed by the court. (So much for truth and transparency.) Their request was refused.

Let me add a personal note here. In 1995 I was arrested with seven others at Christ the Redeemer parish in Sterling, VA for attending a meeting of the dissent group Call to Action and asking by whose authority they were meeting in the church. We were arrested at the direction of CTA members who had no connection to the parish. We were charged with a criminal misdemeanor that carried a penalty of up to a year in jail and $1500 fine. When our spiritual father, Bishop Keating, would not protect us from the wolves, we had no choice but to subpoena him as the owner of the property since the owner or his designated representative must be the one to call for the arrest. At one point the diocesan lawyer, Tom Fadoul, requested a postponement to which we agreed provided the diocese did not try to quash the subpoena. Then they tried to quash the subpoena. This was before Loverde's day, but the diocesan lawyer in both cases was the same, Tom Fadoul. The dishonesty from the chancery was evidenced in both cases. One is tempted to ask whether bishops put more trust in diocesan lawyers than in truth and justice.

The Forbidden Question

2009-04-07T16:48:00.000-07:00

Why is Fr. Haley really in trouble? What did he do that was so wrong?

HE ASKED THE FORBIDDEN QUESTION:

Is it prudent, moral, and good for the Church to ordain homosexual men to the priesthood?

Seems pretty clear to me as a mom and gramma. You don't put a kleptomaniac in charge of the jewelry store and you don't hire an alcoholic as a bartender. So, for the same reasoning, you don't put men with same-sex attraction in an environment where they will be forced to live in close proximity with other men, socialize with them, attend recreation and retreats solely with them, etc. -- all in secret.

Homosexual priests live a continual lie. Parishioners believe they gave up a wife and family for a life of sacrifice dedicated to their Church family. But in reality, the homosexual gave up nothing. He entered a sheltered sheltered, secure community where he will receive false honors, false respect for his penitential life, and has all the benefits of enjoying the fellowship of men whom he prefers. Is this right, holy, and good? No, it's an occasion of sin.

Consider what happens with a homosexual in the seminary. He lives in close quarters with other young men, some of whom are what the girls call, "Fr. What-a-waste" because they are so handsome. What a temptation!

Let's role play. You are a normal, manly candidate for the seminary. Your roommate is a homosexual which you figure out pretty quickly. Undressing in your room becomes very uncomfortable for obvious reasons. The communal bathroom where nudity is inevitable is even a bigger problem and sometimes it's pretty obvious why. Do you get dressed in the closet or the toilet stall?

You go to the rector and he asks for proof that there is a problem. Has your roommate "acted" on his homosexuality?

You don't know, but you argue with the rector that it is wrong to put someone with same-sex attraction in this type of environment. In theology classes you are discussing penance and occasions of sin and the necessity to tell penitents they must avoid them and get out of them. How can a homosexual living his entire life in close and intimate proximity with other men not be in a constant occasion of sin, you ask?

The rector demurs and you ask him if you may live in a convent of nuns (some of whom are young and beautiful and filled with passionate zeal), share a bathroom, eat all your meals together, spend your hours of recreation with them, etc. The rector laughs.

And nothing happens. Your homosexual roommate and the other homosexuals at the seminary continue their studies toward ordination.

Now let's flash forward five years. Father homosexual has tried to be chaste, but he lives with a fellow priest whom he finds sexually attractive. He is tempted to seek opportunities to spend as much time as possible with this priest and he occasionally engages in self abuse using pornography on the internet. He confesses his sexual temptations and his falls from grace. His confessor tells him he has to get out of the situation, it's untenable.

What next? Father goes to the bishop and asks to be moved for personal reasons. So he goes to another parish. Maybe there he is tempted by the male youth director and some of the teenage altar boys. His porn collection grows. Say he becomes a pastor and the bishop sends him newly ordained priests including Fr. "What-a-waste." What happens next?

Is this a life of holiness or stupidity and continuous temptation? If it isn't holy and heroic for a heterosexual priest to live in a convent full of nuns, how can it be holy and heroic for a homosexual to live in continuous proximity with other men? Especially when he is living a lie.

So...how would you answer Fr. Haley's question? Is it prudent, right, moral, and good for the Church to ordain homosexuals? It's not a complicated question. What's the answer?

NB. There is no doctrine in the Catholic Church that states a homosexual may not be ordained. Homosexuality is not listed in Canon Law as an impediment. There is nothing in Canon Law that gives a bishop recourse if he discovers one of his priests is homosexual. It was rumored that on the day he died, Bishop John Keating, Loverde's predecessor, who was in Rome for his ad limina visit, asked in a meeting, "What can I do about my homosexual priest problem?" Unfortunately, his death occurred before the question was answered. But the laity is still asking. What, Holy Father, can be done about the homosexual priest problem? And why is Fr. Haley out in the cold for asking the question while homosexual priests still fill our rectories?

Messages for Fr. Haley

2009-04-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

When you are alone and persecuted, it's easy to feel abandoned. Although I know that many people support Fr. Haley with their prayers, he is isolated and has no way of knowing because he has no permanent address. This blog gives Fr. Haley a permanent address on the internet where he can read the messages of those who support him.

Leave him a message, a word of encouragement, a spiritual bouquet.

If Fr. Haley were a lesser man he would have abandoned the Church he loves long ago like so many before him. He would probably be married and have a family. But when he became a priest he gave himself to his bride, the Church. This forced estrangement is not his choosing, but his suffering.

Leave a comment for Fr. Haley below.

Why this blog?

2009-04-07T15:56:00.001-07:00

In 2001 Fr. James Haley was given four hours to vacate the St. Mary's rectory in Fredericksburg, VA where he was a pastoral vicar. His faculties were suspended and his preaching privileges were taken away. he was denied the right to wear clerical garb and was put under a penal precept of silence.

Why?

Did Fr. Haley molest a child?
Embezzle from the Church?
Murder a parishioner?
Strike the bishop?

No, his crime was providing Bishop Paul Loverde proof of the homosexual immorality of his pastor. It wasn't the first time. Father lived with one homosexual pastor after another during his 15 year service to the Church:

Pastors who had vicious collections of homosexual pornography,

A pastor who brought a little boy into his bedroom and others who engaged in homosexual relations with fellow priests or consenting adults, and some who "just" enjoyed the homosexual flirting and cameraderie of "the club."

Did Father make a public declaration? No, he brought the problem to the attention of his spiritual father, the bishop, as he should.

And did his spiritual father correct the situation? No, he moved Father Haley and allowed the homosexuals to continue on their merry ways.

Since Father's suspension in 2001, he has been an outcast - from his parishioners, his fellow priests, from the life of service he loved. He went from a respected and beloved spiritual father to a homeless vagabond - all for telling the truth - not to the world but to his bishop. I have watched the injustice for almost eight years and can no longer participate in the conspiracy of silence that allows a faithful priest to be a sacrificial lamb instead of the bishop's spiritual son. It is unjust and immoral.

Let me make it absolutely clear that this blog is entirely my doing and I have had no input or encouragement from Fr. Haley. Most of what appears here is a matter of public record that I am gathering in one place. I take full responsibility for the content.

Why am I doing it? Because I love Holy Mother Church who continues to suffer from the cancer of homosexuality, secrecy, and dissent. All three of those things tend to converge in the homosexual priest problem.

Finally, I ask Bishop Paul Loverde: Where, Your Excellency, is Fr. James Haley?