Did Pope Francis Cave at his Inaugural Mass?

When the likes of Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, who consider themselves to be pro-choice pro-abortion Catholics, receive communion, it's about control. Every time they do it, they're challenging the Church not to give it to them.

First, take a look at an excerpt from a document Pope Francis signed in 2007:

“...we should commit ourselves to ‘eucharistic coherence’, that is, we should be conscious that people cannot receive holy communion and at the same time act or speak against the commandments, in particular when abortion, euthanasia, and other serious crimes against life and family are facilitated.  This responsibility applies particularly to legislators, governors, and health professionals.”

Now, fast forward to Pope Francis's very first mass as Pope. Guess who was in attendance and received communion.

Via POLITICO:

Vice President Joe Biden and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, both strong pro-choice advocates, took communion during the papal mass Tuesday in Rome, according to a pool report.

The move could potentially reignite a passionate debate about the propriety of participating in the ritual without fully abiding the Catholic Church's teachings.

Pope Francis has said he is clearly against the practice, particularly by pro-choice politicians.

It would seem the new Pope blew a chance to establish a new standard and did not meet the standard he himself set. This all happened at his very first Mass as Pope.

Disappointing.

Catholic Bishops preparing for Civil Disobedience

It's pretty safe to say that any administration that agitates the Catholic Church to this degree is showing reckless disregard for the first amendment and is intolerant.

Via CNS News:

Having organized 43 plaintiffs—including the archdioceses of New York and Washington and the University of Notre Dame—to file 12 different lawsuits against the Obama administration last Monday alleging the administration is violating the religious freedom of Catholics, the Catholic bishops of the United States are now preparing Catholics for what may be the most massive campaign of civil disobedience in this country since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and early 1960s.

“Some unjust laws impose such injustices on individuals and organizations that disobeying the laws may be justified,” the bishops state in a document developed to be inserted into church bulletins in Catholic parishes around the country in June.

“Every effort must be made to repeal them,” the bishops say in the document, which is already posted on the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “When fundamental human goods, such as the right of conscience, are at stake, we may need to witness to the truth by resisting the law and incurring its penalties.”

The bulletin insert reminds Catholic parishioners that the bishops have called for “A Fortnight of Freedom”—which they have described as “a special period of prayer, study, catechesis, and public action”—to take place from June 21 to July 4.

The elites always seem to twist themselves into pretzels to avoid calling the west's war with Islam a religious war. Meanwhile, we have a religious war right here, being waged by the Barack Obama administration against the Catholic Church.

Time for Catholic Church to excommunicate Nancy Pelosi?

It's no secret that the Obama administration has declared war on the Catholic Church. In particular, over things like abortion and gay marriage. Two of Obama's most ardent mouthpieces are Catholics themselves, to include Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi. At a press conference, Pelosi was asked how she reconciles being a Catholic with supporting Obama's stated position on gay marriage.

Her response? Catholicism makes her support it.

Are we to believe too, that her faith also compels her to support abortion?

Uh, is it possible that maybe, just maybe, it could be time for the Catholic Church to show Pelosi the door? Until that happens, the moral high ground will not have been fully seized.



h/t GWP

Glenn Beck: 'We're all Catholics now"

I'm cross-posting this from Shoebat.com because this is Glenn Beck at his best.

This is a very compelling video from Glenn Beck. In it, he references a trip he took to the Vatican and discussions he had with Cardinals. According to Beck, those Cardinals understand that the world is moving toward a spiritual war between good and evil and that the Pope has appointed six very socially conservative Cardinals who “get it.”

Walid has long been making the case that the anti-Christ will not be European but Muslim. Adherents to the European anti-Christ model inevitably include the Catholic Church in their calculations but if Beck is right here, the Pope is actually choosing to fight evil. Though Beck doesn’t talk about Islam in this segment, the implication is that the Catholic church is under assault for a reason and it’s not being attacked by forces for good but of evil. After all, it’s currently fighting against things like abortion, which is the murder of the unborn, among the most evil of earthly acts.

Are we to believe that anti-Christ will fight itself?

Beck also references Ephesians 6. Here are verses 10-20 of that chapter, which seem to be the ones Beck is referring to specifically:

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

 This is one powerful segment:

Catholic Bishops hitting the Streets over Contraception, in June

Catholic Bishops penned strong letters expressing their disapproval of Obama's HHS contraception mandate earlier this year. Though there has been a consistent murmur of disagreement since, there has been little action. That is all set to change on June 21st, as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will be taking their righteous anger to the streets.

Via Newsmax:

The protests, dubbed “A Fortnight for Freedom” will be an “unprecedented, aggressive attack” against policies that church leaders see as an assault on religious freedom, said Catholic Advocate chairman Deal Hudson.

“The bishops are seeing – rightly – a pattern of emerging of hostility towards the Catholic faith for upholding protection of the life of the unborn and because of its position on contraception,” said Hudson.

And Bill Donohue, the president of the Catholic League pointed out to Newsmax that the protests will come around the time the Supreme Court issues its judgment on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Unless the justices throw the act out completely, the protests could not be timed better, he said.

“If the individual mandate falls and the rest stands it will be more important than ever for Catholics to step forward and get involved,” said Donohue. “We will have to make the point that we are not going anywhere.”

Donohue said the mandate to make insurance companies cover not only contraceptives but abortion-inducing drugs is the key, he said. “It was done on purpose as a wedge to open the door. If we don’t fight it the next step is to force Catholic hospitals to provide abortion facilities,” he said.

“The idea that I as a Catholic should have to pay for some woman’s abortion makes me want to reach for the vomit bag.”

Donohue praised the bishops for their proactive stance “if for no other reason than to make the point that they are furious,” he said.

“Over the years there have been times when the resolve of the bishops wasn’t quite what we wanted it to be. Today that resolve is extremely strong,” he said.

The two weeks of protest has been called by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “That is not the type of body that goes out of its way to pick a fight,” Catholic Advocate’s Hudson pointed out.

“That is precisely what makes this so unusual a moment. The bishops have been provoked to such a degree that they will go to this extreme. They would prefer quiet negotiations leading to a principled compromise, instead they are talking about the probability of civil disobedience.”

The article goes on to make the point that Catholic Bishops in robes being put in handcuffs all across the country would be an extremely powerful visual for Obama to have to deal with. OWS'rs love to portray themselves as victims of overzealous police officers; it's why they're so provocative. That said, their tactics have grown tiresome.

If you're Catholic, call your priest or Bishop and ask about how they're participating.

Read it all.

Catholic Bishop hit with IRS complaint over Sermon

Last weekend, Catholic Bishop Daniel Jenky did something that parishioners aren't used to - he said that Obama has the country on a path similar to that of Hitler and Stalin. Here is audio of that portion. Less than one week later, Jenky has been hit with an IRS complaint.

Via Lifesite News:

On Thursday, the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State claimed the homily violated federal law by taking sides in a political campaign.

“No rational person could believe the bishop was doing anything but saying vote against Obama,” said Barry Lynn, the group’s executive director.

“Bishop Jenky’s intervention in the election wasn’t just extreme and mean-spirited, it also seems to be a clear violation of federal law,” said Lynn. “Churches are tax-exempt institutions, and they aren’t allowed to intervene in partisan politics.”

“To be sure, Jenky never utters the words ‘Do not vote for Obama,’” Lynn wrote in his complaint. “But the Internal Revenue Code makes it clear that statements need not be this explicit to run afoul of the law.”

Bishop Jenky’s remarks have also been denounced by the Anti-Defamation League, which demanded an apology. Lonnie Nasatir, regional director for the Chicago branch, told the Chicago Tribune that his statements were “outrageous, offensive and completely over the top.”

It will be interesting to see if the diocese stands behind Jenky. So far, it seems to be.

“Based upon the current government’s threatened infringement upon the Church’s religious exercise of its ministry, Bishop Jenky offered historical context and comparisons as a means to prevent a repetition of historical attacks upon the Catholic Church and other religions,” said diocesan chancellor Patricia Gibson.

“Bishop Jenky gave several examples of times in history in which religious groups were persecuted because of what they believed,” she added. “We certainly have not reached the same level of persecution. However, history teaches us to be cautious once we start down the path of limiting religious liberty.”

h/t Free Republic 

In Sermon, Catholic Bishop compares Obama to Hitler and Stalin

Those concerned that the Catholic Church's response to the HHS contraception rule was going to be a flash in the pan got a bit of a reprieve courtesy of Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of the Diocese of Peoria, IL. Jenky compared Barack Obama to Hitler and Stalin.

Via Washington Examiner:

"Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care," Jenky said. "In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama – with his radical, pro abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path." Jenky added.

Jenky reminded the men of the Catholic Church's history of surviving threats from Jihadi, Nazism and Communism and called them to stand up for their faith.

Denouncing the "entrenched corruption and sheer incompetence" of the Illinois state government, Jenky also criticized Catholic politicians who "pretend to be Catholic."

Here is the relevant excerpt from Jenky's sermon.

Video: Powerful Catholic Ad refutes Obama's War on Catholics

When the HHS rule that demanded Catholic employers must offer insurance providers that pay for contraception for their employees, Bishops across the country expressed indignation in the form of letters read to multiple congregations. It was a good start but where was the steady drumbeat and marching in the streets?

Here is a very nicely done political ad by a group called Catholics Called to Witness:



h/t GWP

Video: (Father) Pfleger Race Baits from Pulpit using Trayvon Martin statue

Someone please tell me why this guy is still a Catholic priest. There's nothing quite like race-baiting from the pulpit while using visual aids to help you do it. St. Sabina pastor (and Jeremiah Wright / Barack Obama friend) Michael Pfleger used a wooden statue of Trayvon Martin holding bags of skittles and Iced Tea to make his point from the altar that blacks need to demand justice from their government. Disgraceful doesn't even begin to explain this.

One question: If the Catholic Church refuses to defrock / excommunicate this guy, how can it be expected to do the right thing with Obama's HHS contraception mandate?

Via the Daily Caller:

De-Coding David Axelrod's Quickly Deleted Mormon tweet

Earlier this week, the Atlantic posted a story about a tweet Obama strategist David Axelrod sent out but very quickly deleted. Did Axelrod mean to send this to a private network and inadvertently broadcast it, ala Anthony Weiner? Hard to say but if it was, it could have told us quite a bit about a strategy of the Obama campaign if Romney is the nominee. The tweet said, "Wring URS. This is the Medicare story." The tweet included a link to a story in the Salt Lake Tribune about menstruating women not being permitted to participate in proxy baptisms, a practice in which deceased non-Mormons are baptized through the baptism of a living Mormon. This fact alone demonstrates that the Obama campaign team is very aware of the practice and is almost certain to encourage the mainstream media to make it an issue if Romney is the Republicans' guy.

The Tribune article is tailor-made for a left wing campaign to keep the "war on women" narrative going if Romney is the nominee as well. By focusing on young women being treated unequally in this case, Axelrod would be able to subtly introduce the bizarre practice of posthumous baptisms while laying the groundwork for another narrative - Mormonism discriminates against women. Romney will eventually have to respond to both, which would be very damaging.

The tweet is a bit cryptic but let's start with the first word, "wring." In every definition, that word carries a negative connotation. Various meanings include, "to twist forcibly," and "to extract or expel by twisting or compression," and "to affect painfully by or as if by some contorting or compressing action."

That leads us to the less discernible and apparent acronym, "URS." Consider the components included in the administration's narrative about the fallacious "war on women" which has included free access to contraception as a central component. That narrative includes "reproductive rights," religion, and health care. Discrimination, while not a central issue there, was certainly implied. Not allowing women to participate in a religious ritual because of menstruation is easily proven to be discriminatory; it also makes pushing a new false narrative, based on that provable fact, much easier.

If "URS" stands for Utah Retirement Systems, Axelrod was referring to an entity that provides benefits to both active and retired Utah public employees. URS also offers a Medicare supplemental plan. If a reality can be manufactured that says URS discriminates against women, would it not be easier to "wring" more benefits out of them?

Though hypothetical, imagine a premise originating with Axelrod that says Mormons discriminate against young women in their baptismal rituals; they consider menstruating women as "unclean." Based on that premise, a logical question can be asked:

"If Mormons discriminate against young women, would they not discriminate against elderly women?"

Taking the next step, one of Axelrod's apparatchiks could float something like:

"If Mormons discriminate against women, is there any Mormon influence on URS?"

Even if the answer to that question is no, when has lying stopped the Democrats? Planting the seed that there is Mormon influence on an entity in the state with the highest Mormon population per capita wouldn't be difficult to do. Democrat operatives would only have to find one example that could be easily exploited based on prohibiting young women from taking part in proxy baptisms. Democrats could then start saying things like:

"Mormons are waging a war against women in both the temples and in the hospitals."

Remember, it doesn't have to be true, just effective. It also calls attention to the Mormon practice that has seen the posthumous baptisms of Adolf Hitler, Anne Frank, Daniel Pearl, and hundreds of thousands of Holocaust victims while appearing to draw attention solely to the issue of women's rights. Additionally, Romney can be identified by the left as someone who practices a sexist religion.

Look, there are three viable candidates in the Republican primary at this point - Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich. The latter two are Catholic and the recent rule from the HHS mandating that Catholic employers must include contraception in their insurance plans for employees was a direct assault on the religion of both Santorum and Gingrich. The subsequent Sandra Fluke controversy highlighted the issue further. So, if the administration is willing to attack Catholicism directly, why would it not be willing to go after the religion of the frontrunner - Mitt Romney?

Here is an excerpt from the Tribune article Axelrod tweeted a link to. Notice the first two words (music to the left's ears):

Mormon feminists recently learned that some young women were wrongly blocked from doing LDS proxy baptisms – which include wearing all-white clothing and being fully immersed in water – because they were menstruating.

Though this was not a consistent prohibition, the women had anecdotal evidence that it was happening in some Mormon temples, including several in Utah.

Trouble is, such a ban is bogus. If temple workers are excluding young women from doing baptismal work while having their periods, church spokesman Scott Trotter said, they are not following LDS policy.

“Performing baptisms in church temples is a sacred ordinance open to all members who are at least 12 years of age and who meet the standards of the church,” Trotter said in a statement. “The decision of whether or not to participate in baptisms during a menstrual cycle is personal and left up to the individual.”

The New York Times has already reported that Romney doesn't want his religion to become an issue in the campaign and declined to offer comment for the story when the Times approached him about it. This could be a way for Axelrod to draw attention to both Romney's religion, which includes an unusual practice (posthumous baptisms), while doing so under the guise of highlighting the fallacious "war on women" meme, which leads back to Axelrod's original tweet.

Commenter "Fuzzy" at Legal Insurrection seems to think "URS" stands for Utah Retirement Systems as well.

Video: Democrat says "We're not looking at the Constitution..." on Contraception Mandate

I'd say that this is unprecedented but it's really not. However, it does peel back another layer of the hidden Democratic agenda. Back in April of 2010, Congressman Phil Hare (D-IL) told Adam Sharp of Sharp Elbows that he "doesn't worry about the Constitution" during a town hall meeting at which he defended Obamacare.

Fast forward to just this week at another town hall. This time, the speaker is Rep. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) and the subject is the HHS mandate that says religious providers must offer insurance to its employees that covers contraception. While Obamacare was primarily about the Individual mandate relative to the commerce clause, this mandate has to do with the very first amendment to the constitution. When Hochul was called on it, she had the same response as Hare.

Via Freedom's Lighthouse:



For grins, here is then Rep. Phil Hare in April of 2010:

Time for Catholic Church to Excommunicate Pelosi?

Perhaps it's time for the Catholic Church to do something bold, like excommunicate Nancy Pelosi. While speaking at Texas A&M, Pelosi poked her finger in the chest of the Catholic Church by twisting the entire HHS contraception mandate around and blaming the Church for not "enforcing" its teaching on contraception.

The argument from Pelosi is that since 98% of Catholic women use contraception and that, as a result, the Catholic Church should shut up and pay for it because it hasn't been effective at preventing its use. First of all, if there's one thing that has been proven over and over and over again, it's that Democrats lie when quoting statistics so I don't believe her 98% figure at all (remember when the Obama administration's claim that 90% of the guns used in crimes in Mexico came from the United States?).

Second, if the Catholic Church was "enforcing" its teaching on contraception, Pelosi would be acting like a caged animal, throwing hay up in the air about it. If you've ever wondered what a "heads I win, tails you lose" argument is, this is it.

Nonetheless, if Pelosi wants to play hardball with the Catholic Church by saying it should shut up and pay for its employees' contraceptives because it hasn't enforced its own teachings, I can think of no better response from the Church than to say, "You know what, Nancy? You're right. We haven't been enforcing our own teachings and we're going to change that today, starting with you. We are hereby excommunicating you from the Catholic Church because of your position on abortion."

Via CNS News:

Romney losing to Santorum..... in Michigan?

I don't want to make too much of this but if Santorum beats Romney in Michigan, it may be the equivalent of landing an upper cut on an opponent with wobbly knees. It would be devastating. However, according to the Public Policy Poll (PPP), not only is Santorum ahead of Romney in the latter's formerly home state but he's blowing him away.

Via PPP:

Rick Santorum's taken a large lead in Michigan's upcoming Republican primary. He's at 39% to 24% for Mitt Romney, 12% for Ron Paul, and 11% for Newt Gingrich.

Santorum's rise is attributable to two major factors: his own personal popularity (a stellar 67/23 favorability) and GOP voters increasingly souring on Gingrich.  Santorum's becoming something closer and closer to a consensus conservative candidate as Gingrich bleeds support.

Santorum's winning an outright majority of the Tea Party vote with 53% to 22% for Romney and 10% for Gingrich. He comes close to one with Evangelicals as well at 48% to 20% for Romney and 12% for Gingrich. And he cracks the 50% line with voters identifying as 'very conservative' at 51% to 20% for Romney and 10% for Gingrich.

Yeah, that's a 15% lead for Santorum in Michigan. The vast majority of Gingrich's support would likely go to the former Pennsylvania Senator as well if the former Speaker dropped out.

A couple of random thoughts on this.

1.) As a Catholic, Santorum could very well be capitalizing on Obama's contraceptive mandate. It's a rule the administration issued that targets Catholicism more than any other religion since it goes completely against the Church's teachings. Though they're not supposed to endorse any political candidate, the Catholic Church might just be mad enough to do it with Santorum. Obama's Community Organizing tactics work when the CO's are underdogs. In the fight between Obama and the Catholic Church, the CO's are actually the bullies and the Church is the underdog. This, as much as anything, could be giving Santorum the momentum he's got.

 2.) If Romney loses Michigan, it might be time for the establishment to throw up its hands and work for a brokered convention instead of coalescing behind any presumptive nominee other than Romney. Along those lines, if Romney represents the establishment and Santorum represents the Tea Party, how clear would that line of distinction be between Jeb Bush and Sarah Palin?

Via The Hill:

Santorum’s contraception boom — “We’re all Catholics now,” said Mike Huckabee — won’t hold up. Because we’re not. This race could well go to a brokered convention. If Jeb Bush is proposed, so Sarah Palin should be minutes later. She is now and always has been the singular Jacksonian voice in the original Tea Party phenomenon; the only one who can bring it to the mainstream. Her absence from the primary race has left a vacuum and no substitute has been found. Every other possible or potential leadership hopeful has risen and receded in this long Republican primary season.

But as The Hill’s Josh Lederman reports from the CPAC conference, the former Alaska governor received far and away the most spirited and enthusiastic reception at the convention of about 10,000 conservative activists. She drew the audience to its feet more than a dozen times during her keynote address on Saturday.

“The cheers for Palin were so loud that they drowned out her remarks again and again,” he writes. “Conference organizers had to set up three overflow rooms to accommodate the throngs of supporters eager to hear her words.”

Make no mistake. The second it's shown that Romney will not be the nominee, the establishment will fight, tooth and nail, to make sure neither Santorum nor Gingrich gets the nod and it certainly doesn't want Ron Paul (the one thing I agree with the establishment on). These are not just speculative rumors; they're practically self-evident truths.

They're only option at that point is to work toward a Brokered Convention. Jeb Bush and Mitch Daniels are warming up in the bullpen right...this...very...second.

h/t Hot Air

Catholic Bishop invokes 'God's Judgment,' when talking about Catholic Democrats

Frankly, while words like these are right on target, they're long overdue, may be a little too late, and must be followed up with action or they won't matter. Nonetheless, Bishop Daniel Jenky's comments are indeed noteworthy.

Via the Catholic News Agency:

Politicians who consider themselves Catholic but collaborate in “the assault against their faith” should remember they will one day have to give account for their acts before God, Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Illinois said Feb 10.

“There is a last judgment. There is a particular judgment. May they change their minds and may God have mercy on them,” he told CNA during his visit to Rome.

When asked specifically about recent actions of Democratic Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius Kathleen Sebelius and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Bishop Jenky replied “I am utterly scandalized.”

“The Lord once said ‘if you deny me at the end, I will deny you,’ this from our most merciful, good Savior. And so if it is a choice between Jesus Christ and political power or getting favorable editorials in leftist papers, well, that’s simply not a choice.”

Both Sebelius and Rep. Pelosi have been at the forefront of attempts to force Catholic institutions to cover contraception, sterilizations and abortifacients as part of their staff’s health insurance plans.

Bishop Jenky said there are too many Catholic politicians in the U.S. who “like to wear green sweaters on St. Patrick’s Day and march” or “have their pictures taken with the hierarchy” or “have conspicuous crosses on their forehead with ashes” but who then “not only do not live their faith they collaborate in the assault against their faith.”

It's time for any and all Cardinals with influence in the United States to assert their authority as well.

Like I said, long overdue.

h/t GWP

Senator 'Cornhusker Kickback' calls Obama Contraceptive Mandate 'Boneheaded'

Well, Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) has now chimed in on the contraceptive mandate controversy and has settled on calling the Obama administration's decision 'boneheaded.' He's also not the only Democrat to come out publicly against the decision.

Via ABC News:

A handful of Senate Democrats have split with President Obama’s controversial birth-control mandate and slammed the administration’s requirement that church-affiliated employers cover contraceptives.

The five Democrats in the Senate expressing concern about some parts of the administration’s policy include, most recently, Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Bill Nelson of Florida, who have spoken publicly about their unhappiness with the mandate.

“This was a bone-headed decision by HHS,” Sen. Ben Nelson said of the new Health and Human Services mandates, according to the Nebraska Radio Network.

Nelson agreed with state Attorney General Job Bruning’s decision to file a legal challenge to the mandate.

Nelson has already announced that he will not run for reelection so these comments can't be about trying to get back voter support after the 'Cornhusker kickback.'

Like former Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), Nelson was the guy in his caucus that put Obamacare over the top. Also like Stupak, he paid a price.

Calling the latest HHS rule 'boneheaded' is likely more about bitterness than anything else.

h/t Weasel Zippers

Video: Ruh Roh, Obama losing Chris Matthews on Contraceptives Mandate

This may just be the clearest sign that the Obama administration took too big of a leap, too soon relative to the recent contraceptives mandate. When Catholic Archbishops are in agreement with Chris Matthews over an HHS rule that says religious institutions must offer contraceptive services, it could be a precursor to a serious walk-back.



h/t Weasel Zippers

Military Archbishop Defies Secretary of Army

The recent ruling from Obama's HHS that all entities providing healthcare services must include contraceptives and abortion prevention services to include the "morning-after" pill. Though Archbishops all across the United States wrote letters that their priests read aloud during Sunday masses, one Archbishop was instructed not to do so.

His name is Timothy Broglio and he is at the head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, which is responsible for providing Catholic services to Catholics in the military all over the world. He was instructed by the Army's Office of the Chief of Chaplains not to have his letter read from the pulpit during his masses.

The decision seemed to set up a showdown between the Military and the administration.

Via CNS News:

Archbishop Broglio’s letter opposing the regulation and describing it as a violation of the constitutional rights of Catholics was read verbatim at Masses served by Navy and Air Force chaplains around the world.

However, the Army’s Office of the Chief of Chaplains attempted to silence Catholic Army chaplains from reading it at their Masses—an effort rejected and resisted by Archbishop Broglio.

“On Thursday, January 26, Archbishop Broglio emailed a pastoral letter to Catholic military chaplains with instructions that it be read from the pulpit at Sunday Masses the following weekend in all military chapels,” the Catholic Archdiocese for the Military said in a statement.

Someone had to blink. Fortunately, it appears Broglio is not the one who did:

“The Army's Office of the Chief of Chaplains subsequently sent an email to senior chaplains advising them that the Archbishop's letter was not coordinated with that office and asked that it not be read from the pulpit,” said the archdiocese’s statement. “The Chief's office directed that the letter was to be mentioned in the Mass announcements and distributed in printed form in the back of the chapel.”

On Saturday, Jan. 28, after the Army’s Office of the Chief of Chaplains issued this directive, Archbishop Broglio spoke with Secretary of the Army John McHugh, a political appointee of President Barack Obama.

Archbishop Broglio’s position was that, in trying to stop Catholic Army chaplains from reading his pastoral letter, the Army was violating his First Amendment rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion and the First Amendment rights of Catholic chaplains and Catholic service members.

“Archbishop Broglio and the Archdiocese stand firm in the belief, based on legal precedent, that such a directive from the Army constituted a violation of his Constitutionally-protected right of free speech and the free exercise of religion, as well as those same rights of all military chaplains and their congregants,” said the statement from the archdiocese.

In his Jan. 28 telephone conversation with Army Secretary McHugh, Archbishop Broglio was able to extract from the secretary an admission that it had been wrong for the secretary to try to silence the Catholic chaplains. The archbishop decided that the line in his letter that said Catholics cannot and will not comply with the “unjust law” of the HHS regulation would not be read aloud in Catholic Masses by the chaplains, but that the rest of the letter would.

The line stating "we will not ... comply with this unjust law" did remain, however, in the printed letter that was distributed at Masses said by Army chaplains and it remains in the copies of the letter posted on the website of the Archdiocese for the Military.

It's safe to say that the Obama administration appears to have lost this particular battle and that Broglio's one concession was so minor, that to call it a face-saving gesture for Obama would be a stretch.

While a good sign, rhetoric alone will not accomplish much. The Archbishops will have to get out of their chairs and organize at some point, if they want to see this rule withdrawn.

Read it all. 

Military tells Catholic Chaplains to Zip it

After the Catholic Church was told by the HHS (Kathleen Sebelius) that they would be required to carry insurance that offers contraception and abortions, Bishops wrote letters that were read aloud by priests in their respective churches. Those letters were stinging in their outrage, which reflected directly on Obama.

Now, the military has informed Catholic chaplains not to read those letters to Catholic troops.

Via the Business Insider:

All the bishops in the country sent out a letter to be read in their parishes promising that the Church "cannot-and will not-comply with this unjust law."

Even Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who is in charge of Catholic military chaplains sent out the same letter.

But after he did, the Army's Office of the Chief of Chaplains sent out another communication forbidding Catholic priests to read the letter, in part because it seemed to encourage civil disobedience, and could be read as seditious against the Commander-in-Chief.

More than one Catholic chaplain who spoke to us off the record confirmed that many chaplains disobeyed this instruction and read the letter anyway. Others sought further instructions from their Archbishop.

So, in addition to the Obama administration's insistence that the Catholic Church engage in behavior fundamentally antithetical to its core beliefs, it has forbidden the Church to raise these objections with its followers who are in the most physical danger.

I seem to remember the Catholic Church taking the path of least resistance during the Obamacare debate. Here we have another, in a looooooooong line of examples, that shows where that path leads - to a much uglier place that is much harder to get out of.

h/t Weasel Zippers 

Catholic Bishop slams Obama

The good news? The Catholic church is now angry about what Obamacare has wrought. The bad news? The church could have helped to prevent it in the first place but seemed to be all too willing to either stand by or endorse it.

Nonetheless, a Bishop is delivering some tough talk to the president.

Via CNS News:

Roman Catholic Bishop David A. Zubik of Pittsburgh says the Obama administration is telling American Catholics: “To Hell with you.”

“The Obama administration has just told the Catholics of the United States, ‘To Hell with you!’” the bishop said in a column posted on his diocesan website. “There is no other way to put it.”

The bishop was responding to a regulation, finalized by Health and Human Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Jan. 20, that orders all health-care plans in the United States to cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives--including those that induce abortions--without any fees or co-pay.

The regulation includes an exemption for “religious employers.” But to qualify for this exemption, the employer must primarily serve members of its own faith, primarily employ members of its own faith, and primarily focus on inculcating the tenets of that faith—a rubric that would not apply to Catholic hospitals, universities, or charitable organizations.

We'll see if the phrase, "better late than never" actually holds true here but I don't see how at this point. The horse is out of the barn; the genie is out of the bottle.

Read it all. 

Awesome: Archbishop with Guts!

Newly appointed bishop for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Charles J. Chaput, is going after the liberal media on its handling of religious issues, social issues, and even the Arab Spring. This is very refreshing to see from a Catholic leader. Frankly, it's in such short supply that the absence of such men in the Catholic church likely has something to do with why it gets such a bad rap. Pope Benedict XVI recently moved Chaput from the Archdiocese of Denver. If this was a promotion, it could help direct other bishops down a similar path. It would also demonstrate that the Pope endorses such assertiveness from Bishops.

Via CNS News:

The news outlets CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, and MSNBC do not “provide trustworthy information about religious faith,” said Philadelphia’s incoming Archbishop, Charles Chaput, at the Catholic World Youth Day ongoing this week in Madrid, Spain.

Chaput, the former Archbishop of Denver, made his remarks in an address on religious freedom to a group of more than 10,000 young pilgrims in Madrid on Wednesday. As initially reported in First Things, Chaput told the audience that, “In the United States, our battles over abortion, family life, same-sex ‘marriage,’ and other sensitive issues have led to ferocious public smears and legal threats not only against Catholics, but also against Mormons, evangelicals, and other religious believers.”

“And with relatively few exceptions,” he said, “the mass media tend to cover these disputed issues with a combination of ignorance, laziness, and bias against traditional Christian belief.”

Then Chaput went after the liberal media for its coverage of and bias toward the Arab Spring:

Archbishop Chaput noted that the media gave a lot of coverage to the so-called “Arab Spring,” involving civil unrest in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries. “But very little of that coverage has mentioned that the turmoil in Muslim countries has also created a very dangerous situation for Christians and other religious minorities across North Africa and the Middle East,” he said. “In Egypt, angry mobs have attacked Christian churches and monasteries, burning them to the ground and murdering the people inside.”

In addition, he said there has been widespread anti-Christian violence in Iraq, Syria, and Tunisia, but little news coverage of this in the U.S. media, adding that it is illegal to wear a crucifix or own a Bible in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, said the Archbishop, in Pakistan, “Christians face frequent discrimination, slander, beatings and even murder.”

It is long since overdue for Christians to stand up for themselves. Chaput - and perhaps the Pope - see it the same way.

Read it all.