Sunday Edition - The Synod and Cardinal Pell

SUNDAY EDITION IS PUBLISHED WHEN I FEEL LIKE PUBLISHING IT.
IT EXPRESSES MY OPINIONS ABOUT THE GOINGS ON IN THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH.  PLEASE FEEL FREE TO AGREE OR DISAGREE BUT DO SO IN A RESPECTFUL MANNER.

Texts from the third day of the Vatican summit on child protection emphasized transparency, including:

-- The church must be transparent and open in facing the sexual abuse crisis, and the first step in true transparency is to admit wrongdoing and how it was dealt with, says Sister Veronica Openibo, congregational leader of the Holy Name Sisters.

Sister Veronica hits the bullseye with what she says. For too long the management of the Church has lost sight of what their job is.  Their job is not to "protect the church or her reputation" for that job is the job of the Holy Spirit.  However, words are just words and I should know because I am a wordsmith and can manipulate words to emphasize any point of view.  The words our bishops and cardinals speak now have to be followed up with action.  This action must be taken without regard to the rank of the perpetrator.  If they thought so little of their vows that they abused another vulnerable human being, well, then they must be rendered harmless and they must never be allowed into a position of trust in the Church again.  We do not see much action right now, hopefully, the hand wringing and rhetoric will now stop and the scandal can be addressed with action.  What do you say, Pope Francis?

-- German Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising says counteracting sinful behavior requires traceability and transparency within the church.

Really Eminence?  I can see why you are in the position that you are.  You have a great grasp of the obvious.  Could you do me a favor and perhaps mention this to the Holy Father when you see him next?  He does not seem to have a clue at how to move on this issue. 

-- If bishops are really serious about fighting clerical sex abuse, they must join forces with journalists, says Mexican journalist Valentina Alazraki.

This would be a good idea but for one fact.  The journalists from all media have a bias against the Catholic Church.  Sexual abuse, as bad as it is in the Church is only the tip of the iceberg.  Sexual abuse is a symptom of the miasma we find ourselves in.  Little bit by little bit over the years our respect for life and for one another has sunk to new lows.  We do not see ourselves as children of God but just as interchangeable pawns in the game of life.  This is exacerbated by the press, TV, and all other forms of news sources who no longer just report the news but wordsmith the news to point to a value that they want to push.  The point they want to push is usually the one that sells more papers or gains more viewers and generally, these are positions that are opposite of what the Church teaches and that is what makes it popular.  In America beating up the Catholic Church is second only to baseball as a national pastime. 

-- "Too often we have kept quiet, looked the other way, avoided conflicts" and been "too smug" to confront the "dark sides of our church," Archbishop Philip Naameh of Tamale, Ghana, tells fellow bishops.

Let the confronting begin!  When a person has cancer develop in their body, in order for them to regain their health the cancer must be, in some way, be removed.  The process of removing cancer can be painful and can cause scars but in the end, the person who has been cured lives a longer life and actually has more appreciation for the act of breathing in and breathing out while walking, talking and thinking.  

For our Church, the time for surgery has arrived and we must excise the corrupted parts of our Church and we must cut deep and cut true.  We have to be fair, we have to make sure that there is credible evidence against a malefactor but once it is proven the process should proceed immediately and the perpetrator should be laicized without delay so that the harm that this person has done is cut off and healing can thus begin. 

PELL DOES THE IMPOSSIBLE ACCORDING TO THE JURY AND BILOCATES 

• Twenty Alibi Witnesses showing that reported abuse was impossible ignored by the jury.
• Anti-Catholic bias suspected major factor in conviction because of Pell refusing communion to gay activists, also he was a major supporter of Right to Life - both offenses angered non-christian people. 

EDITORIAL

What is the Church? One answer might be that it is the Pope and the Cardinals, the Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Nuns, Sisters, Brothers and the people in the pews. This answer is not satisfactory.  The Church consists of all of these people but all of these people form the People of God.  No matter what title that they might have, no matter how much power they think they have, no matter whose ear they have, none of us are any greater than God.  The Church is His.  It does not belong to the clergy or even the pew-dwellers. it is His. 

Today we are facing (again) a scandal that will not go away.  Common ordinary Catholics are starting to look outside the Catholic Church and running away to receive their spiritual nourishment.  Without a doubt, each of them will be welcomed with open arms by any Protestant denomination that they fall victim to.  There they will receive the word that the Church, the Bride of Christ is nothing more than the Whore of Babylon.  It is a sad fact that some will actually believe this and turn away from the True Church and accept something less than they are entitled to.  They will become Christians of the Book and begin to believe in strange doctrines such as sola scriptura - where if it is not in the Bible, it has no place in your faith life.  Sadly Sola Scriptura is not found in the Bible.  They might be taught that once they accept Jesus as personal Lord and Savior that they cannot lose that salvation. They will also be taught that works are not needed in spite of the fact that in the Gospel of Mark we are told that the goats who did nothing went to one place and the sheep that took care of their brothers went another.  They will also be taught that the letter of James doesn't really mean what it says.  Four times a year they will participate in a memorial of the last supper, crackers and grape juice will be distributed and the remnants will be fed to the birds because after all, they are just crackers. 

Pray for those who are suffering because of the small percentage of renegade clergy that has sullied the name of the Roman Catholic Church.  Remember as well that our Church enjoys the fullness of the Treasury of Faith and that includes the greatest gift we have ever received, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. 

 

Catholic Church Exposed ! ! ! !

At long last here is the absolute truth about the

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church bases her teaching upon one source: The word of God. This divine revelation is transmitted in two ways: through Scripture and apostolic tradition. Many assume that only the writings of the apostles are the word of God. However, their oral transmission of the faith is also considered the word of God (1 Thess. 2:13). Few Protestant groups today accept the validity, let alone the authority, of tradition. In fact, many believe that Scripture is the only definitive source of divine truth. For this reason, they are critical of certain doctrines of the Catholic Church, which, according to them, have no basis in Scripture. In fact, those who embrace the theory of sola scriptura attempt to use the Bible to contradict, to prove baseless, certain Church teachings, such as the Real Presence and the existence of purgatory. However, these teachings are reflected in Scripture, as the passages we will look at illustrate.

Our purpose here is not to dissect the opposition. Rather, our purpose is to provide a scriptural evidence for these doctrines. Under each Catholic doctrine in the list that follows are passages from Scripture that witness to the doctrine’s divine origin. For the Catholic, what follows will make clear the harmony of Scripture and tradition: truth cannot contradict truth. Whether God speaks to us through the Bible or through the voice of tradition, the word spoken is always a true and steadfast guide.

Please note that all scriptural citations are taken from the Revised Standard Version: Catholic Edition of the Holy Bible.

Scripture and Tradition

"I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you" (1 Cor. 11:2).

"Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus; guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us" (2 Tim. 1:13-14).

"So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter." (2 Thess. 2:15)

"You, then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Tim. 2:1-2).

"First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Peter 1:20-21).

"‘Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink, but I hope to come to see you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete" (2 John 12).

Faith and Works

"‘Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven’" (Matt. 7:21).

"‘Why do you call me "Lord, Lord," and not do what I tell you?’" (Luke 6:46).

"For he will render every man according to his works . . ." (Rom. 2:6-8).

"For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified" (Rom. 2:13).

"For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgments . . . (Heb. 10:26-27).

"What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?" (Jas. 2:14).

"So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead" (Jas. 2:17).

"But some one will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. . . .Do you want to be shown, you foolish fellow, that faith apart from works is barren? (Jas. 2:18-20).

"You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone" (Jas. 2:24)

The Trinity

"Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness . . .’" (Gen. 1:26).

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28:19).

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)

"But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.’" (Acts 5:3-4)

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Cor. 13:14).

Christ’s Divinity

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called ‘Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace’" (Is. 9:6).

"Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven’" (Matt. 16:16-17).

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).

"Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58).

"‘I and the Father are one’" (John 10:30).

"For in him [Christ] the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily" (Col. 2:9).

"In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power . . ." (Heb. 1:1-3).

"But of the Son he says, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever, the righteous scepter is the scepter of thy kingdom. . . . And, "Thou, Lord, didst found the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of thy hands." (Heb. 1:8, 10)

Real Presence in the Eucharist

"‘Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.’ The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed’" (John 6:47-55).

"For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant of my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes" (1 Cor. 11:23-26).

"Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:27).

The Papacy

"And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter . . ." (Matt. 10:1-2).

"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven’" (Matt. 16:18-19).

"‘Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren’" (Luke 22:31-32).

"He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, ‘So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas’ (which means Peter)" (John 1:42).

"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ A second time he said to him, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep’" (John 21:15-17).

Purgatory

"For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin" (2 Macc. 12:44-45).

"Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny" (Matt. 5:25-26).

"Each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire" (1 Cor. 3:13-15).

"For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey . . ." (1 Peter 3:18-20).

"But nothing unclean shall enter it [heaven] . . ." (Rev. 21:27).

Honor Due to the Virgin Mary

"And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?’" (Luke 1:41-43).

"And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name’" (Luke 1:46-49).

"If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together" (1 Cor. 12:26).

Praying to the Saints

"‘And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob"? He is not God of the dead, but of the living . . .’" (Mark 12:26-27)

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely . . ." (Heb. 12:1).

"And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints" (Rev. 5:8).

NIHIL OBSTAT: I have concluded that the materials
presented in this work are free of doctrinal or moral errors.
Bernadeane Carr, STL, Censor Librorum, August 10, 2004

IMPRIMATUR: In accord with 1983 CIC 827
permission to publish this work is hereby granted.
+Robert H. Brom, Bishop of San Diego, August 10, 2004

Source for this page is: http://www.catholic.com

Scandal and the Catholic Church

During the last few years there has been much talk about Roman Catholic clergy abusing their trust as religious and commiting sins against children under their care.  The scandal became world news as more people claimed to have been abused by Catholic clergy.  The situation as bad as it was was made worse when some of the higher clergy decided to try and cover it up or to transfer the offender to another place.  Both of these actions were wrong and the people that did them should have known this.

The Catholic Church is what they used to call in World War II an LST - Large Stationary Target.  It also percieved as having deep pockets filled with gold.  It is my belief that many of the stories told by victoms are the result of greed and the American passtime of suing one another.  One concrete example was the accusations against the late Cardinal Bernadine of Chicago.  His accusser said all manner of evil things about this saintly man only to recant them later.

HOWEVER

If even one child was hurt, molested, or abused in some way or if one incident was covered up by clergy that was one too many.  A child deserves our love, our guidance and should be able to trust their clergy or for that matter any of the authority figures in their life.  This goes without saying.  The Church has dismissed priests found guilty of this tragic dereliction of duty and conduct unbecomming a man of the cloth.  These people have been turned over to the authorities so that justice can be done for the victims. This is as it should be and the Church is only doing what is right in this case.  I also admit that the Church has been slightly less agressive against the clergy that made it possible for these faux priests to practice their shenanigans longer than need be.

The Church has taken it on the chin, and somewhat rightly so for these embarassments.  They also have taken steps that tilt the scale of justice one hundred and eighty degrees to the west in that it is now the accussed priest that is considered guilty until proven innocent.  This is harsh treatment indeed for some of these men who may be in fact innocent.  Father John Corapi, a very devout former Catholic priest was forced to resign from the priesthood due to the unproved accusations that he had an affair with a parisoner, not a child but with an adult woman.

The Church also has been deeply hurt by the example these men have shown the world.  While it is a very small percentage of Catholic clergy that was involved with scandal, the whole Church comes away with a black eye.  The scandal has provided much ammunition to those that are biggoted against the Catholic Church. If you read any news article say on Yahoo where the Pope or the Church is mentioned and then look at the comments people post about the story you will that these bigots, very often taught to hate the Church from early age, keep the scandal alive and well by constantly condemning the WHOLE Church for the actions of a few.  Painting with such broad strokes paints the good and the bad alike and this is a miscarriage of justice.  These comments contain a certain "holier than thou" attitude that is not very Christlike.

If these smug Protestants were to troll the internet using as the search term "Protestant Sexual Abuse" their eyes would be be opened when they see all of the abuse committed on children by Protestant clergy.  The difference between the scandals is that the Catholic Church is centralized and easier to pick apart than say a First Baptist Church or Church of the Nazarene.  Besides, in America the bias against the Church is the last "respectable" bias.

The point I am making here is simply that the scandal of the moment is not only the problem of Catholics.  It is the problem of Protestans, Jews, Hindu's, Muslims, and Atheists.  Our stand should be a united one, we should stamp out abuse of our children wherever we find it.  Also, we should take the time to display Christlike love for one another, Catholics for Protestants and Protestants for Catholics.  The differences between our faiths our real and in some cases profound.  But we should practice what Jesus taught us when He said "Love one another as I have loved you."  Before He died for us on the Cross of Ultimate Love on Calvary that first Good Friday, the night before at the Last Supper he washed the feet of ALL the disciples, even the feet of Judas who betrayed Him.  If our master could do that,can we do any less than Him?