tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14542709163164074842024-02-19T06:53:38.525-05:00Staten Island CatholicI am a Catholic who is concerned about the state of the Church and would like to relate my experiences as seen from my local pew in Staten Island, NY.Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.comBlogger146125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-12364666445555515622020-03-21T11:18:00.000-04:002020-03-21T11:22:15.195-04:00The Church has abandoned us. Jesus help us. <br />
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Mass has been cancelled <a href="https://osvnews.com/2020/03/14/a-comprehensive-list-of-changes-to-mass-schedules-or-obligation-in-u-s-dioceses/" target="_blank">throughout the country</a>. The Sacraments have been taken away from the faithful. The clergy is holed up in their rectories and monasteries and episcopal palaces...<b><i>for fear of the flu</i></b>. At most, we get to watch a private Mass on Youtube, but the clergy dare not come into physical contact with the laity. Has anything <b>SO COWARDLY</b> ever been seen in our lifetimes? Has the Church ever done anything so cowardly, even during WWII, the Mongol invasions or the Black Death???<br />
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We grew up marinated in tales of priestly heroism, from ancient times to the modern day, telling of priests who risked all to bring the Word and the Sacraments to the Faithful. Tales of these martyrs strengthened us and inspired us, since what besides a supernatural Faith could make these men do what they did?<br />
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After all, to be a priest is a form of sacrifice, giving up family and friends for Christ, explicitly offering one's life for Him, no matter the cost.<br />
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Yet today our priests have fled to the hills in fear of the flu, taking the Sacraments with them. The demoralizing effect of this can hardly be imagined. In the aftermath of this crisis, it might perhaps be quantified in the number of people who have left the Church after it abandoned them in the hour of need. <a href="https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2020/03/pope-warns-people-will-abandon-church-if-church-abandons-them-amid-virus/" target="_blank">Indeed, the Pope's own secretary said the same thing</a>.<br />
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Why?? The larger issue, which I've been pondering ever since the disgraceful silence of the clergy during the St. Patrick's Day parade debacle, is what kind of men are becoming priests these days? I don't think these men are made of the same stuff as an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Campion" target="_blank">St. Edmund Campion</a> for instance. We'll leave that for another day. What I want to explore now are those historical examples of Catholic priests who risked their lives to say the Mass and bring the Sacraments to the flock despite the presence of disease and plague. A martyrology of priests who showed courage in the face of persecution and certain death is one thing. After all, we Staten Islanders have the example of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_R._Capodanno" target="_blank">Father Vincent Capodanno</a> to inspire us. But in this time of fear and disease, let us look to the past to learn how we should act.<br />
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I will follow up this post with examinations of historical examples.<br />
<br />Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-39463612384287043222020-03-14T08:08:00.003-04:002020-03-14T08:08:36.362-04:00Hierarchy voids the Third CommandmentIt's amazing what you can do when you have no respect for God or His Church. From the Pope down to his minions like Cardinal Dolan, Masses across the world have been either cancelled altogether or <a href="https://www.silive.com/news/2020/03/archdiocese-on-coronavirus-masses-continue-but-parishioners-may-stay-home.html" target="_blank">Catholics have been relieved of fulfilling their Sunday obligation</a>. In other words, mere men have voided one of the Commandments. Is it any wonder that modern man feels himself empowered to do the same, if mere mortals can so casually declare that a Divine Commandment need not be obeyed.Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-14999095477797608512020-03-03T11:08:00.000-05:002020-03-03T11:08:12.398-05:00Staten Island, the Center Ring of Clown WorldIf the West has officially become <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/clown-pepe-honk-honk-clown-world" target="_blank">Clown World</a>, then Staten Island has got to be the center ring of the whole honking sh*tshow. After the spineless traitor <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cardinal-dolan-marches-with-homosexual-activists-at-nyc-st.-patricks-parade" target="_blank">Cardinal Dolan marched</a> as the Grand Marshall <br />
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of the 2015 Manhattan St. Patrick's Day Parade, along with an openly gay organization, the attention of the rainbow-tinted forces of Hate turned to our little island's own Paddy's Day march.<br />
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At first, the Democratic politicians predictably led the way in risk-free virtue signaling, and boycotted the parade. Then, last year, our "Conservative Republican" Borough President, the <a href="http://statenislandcatholic.blogspot.com/2013/10/catholic-concubinage.html" target="_blank">reprobate Jim Oddo</a>, made news by <a href="https://www.silive.com/news/2019/03/oddo-to-not-march-in-islands-st-patrick-parade-citing-a-lack-of-inclusion.html" target="_blank">announcing a boycott</a> of the parade until the organizers allowed the Staten Island Pride Center to march. The floodgates opened this year, with oafish Republican <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2020/02/24/matteo-becomes-latest-republican-to-boycott-staten-island-st-patricks-day-parade-1263275" target="_blank">Councilman Matteo</a>; Brendan Lantry, the incoherent millennial <a href="https://www.silive.com/news/2020/02/its-time-to-welcome-all-to-march-in-parade-letter-to-the-editor.html" target="_blank">Chairman of the Republican Party</a>; <a href="https://www.silive.com/news/2020/02/im-taking-a-stand-for-inclusion-letter-to-the-editor.html" target="_blank">Miss Richmond Count</a>y Gabrielle Ryan; and <a href="https://www.silive.com/news/2020/02/a-teens-view-of-gays-in-the-st-patricks-parade-i-wont-march.html" target="_blank">Miss Staten Island Teen</a> Angelica Mroczek (the daughter of Advance columnist Gracelyn Santos) all announcing that they wouldn't march either until sodomy was proclaimed mandatory for every man, woman and child and enshrined in the Constitution as the highest of all virtues. The Janus-like Assemblywoman and Congressional candidate Nicole Malliotakis, the apotheosis of political hacks, announced that she would march but proclaimed her support for the inclusion of the Pride Center. Republican Councilman Joe Borelli said the same. To top off the circus, Miss Staten Island 2020 Madison L’Insalata <a href="https://www.silive.com/news/2020/03/miss-staten-island-comes-out-as-bisexual-will-wear-rainbow-colors-at-st-patricks-parade.html" target="_blank">announced she was bisexual</a> the night before the parade and vowed to be <br />
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driven down the parade route wearing rainbow paraphernalia. The Advance joined the pile-on as well. And it need not be said, that pretty much every person involved in promoting degeneracy is a product of local Catholic schools and rationalized their position by referencing "Pope" Francis and hippie Jesus.<br />
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It also need not be said that the local Church provided zero leadership as ravenous wolves ravaged their flock. These senile milquetoasts smiled and said nothing as aggressive homosexuals and their useful idiots recruited our God in their campaign to corrupt souls and groom our children. I attended Mass at Blessed Sacrament before the parade and listened to its pastor give an asinine sermon about some idiotic irrelevancy, while a full blown gay pride march was taking place on the lawn of his church. Staten Island's priests have <b>covered themselves with disgrace</b> during this episode. If they can't even say a damned word when these people are coming for our kids, what the hell good are these so-called shepherds?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ8MrxMSDIUGftgjss1kutHlB6onaDODVEmH9ISGzSBUGkY3CDVOMA0zdj0XOeAOLuWgaDionZAnpLbhTl0MSt1cyYO6oaAmZqnXcSJ1dxnrFq8EqNoWazlMMlT2__XWToN7IZ0FybWuvD/s1600/97a_p7kklpi4a5epdpwuuhx6upih44.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ8MrxMSDIUGftgjss1kutHlB6onaDODVEmH9ISGzSBUGkY3CDVOMA0zdj0XOeAOLuWgaDionZAnpLbhTl0MSt1cyYO6oaAmZqnXcSJ1dxnrFq8EqNoWazlMMlT2__XWToN7IZ0FybWuvD/s200/97a_p7kklpi4a5epdpwuuhx6upih44.jpeg" width="200" /></a>With the betrayal of the so-called "family-values party", the hometown newspaper and the institutional church, a hero arose in the form of parade chairman Larry Cummings, who summarily banned <a href="https://www.silive.com/news/2020/03/staten-island-pageant-winners-banned-from-st-patricks-day-parade-amid-lgbtq-controversy.html" target="_blank">Miss Staten Island</a>, <a href="https://www.silive.com/news/2020/03/councilman-joe-borelli-they-banned-me-from-marching-in-the-st-patricks-parade.html" target="_blank">Councilman Borelli</a>, the <a href="https://www.silive.com/news/2020/03/port-richmond-tottenville-hs-bands-banned-from-marching-in-st-patricks-parade-due-to-pride-symbols.html" target="_blank">marching bands of Tottenville and Port Richmond High Schools</a>, and everyone who showed up intending to flaunt the rules of the parade and wear the symbol of men who eat semen and masturbate in each other's anuses. Oh, did those words offend you? Then why aren't you offended by the acts themselves and the people who want to promote that lifestyle to our children?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GnG0YmgTRmw7bguf_izxRfuhO52gMtCTTOcVxG7xBSaboI2ckXPp8nwGJzaUunfxf-zmKAmRu8zPrSIF_LIvrURcAyehPUtnuFJQsPZKPbQtO-zpHV0I_g-ZWa7EeT8oWukIMg3P1I-z/s1600/Tranny-Kid-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="765" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GnG0YmgTRmw7bguf_izxRfuhO52gMtCTTOcVxG7xBSaboI2ckXPp8nwGJzaUunfxf-zmKAmRu8zPrSIF_LIvrURcAyehPUtnuFJQsPZKPbQtO-zpHV0I_g-ZWa7EeT8oWukIMg3P1I-z/s200/Tranny-Kid-2.jpg" width="159" /></a>Nevertheless, it is obvious that the parade's days are numbered. The agitation will continue and the pressure increased until the citadel of normal standards is stormed and overthrown. The playbook of social engineering has been tried and proven effective over and over again since the victorious Allies tested it out on the conquered Germans after WWII. And it will definitely work on low-IQ, media-addicted, poorly catechized Staten Islanders of the 21st century. Just look at the heterosexual couples_with children_who were out in force yesterday doing what their masters want them to do, which is waving rainbow flags and advocating for semen-eating and anal sex. We won't win this battle by doing what we've been doing up until now. The resistance will be long and hard. Traditional allies will desert us. Casualties will be many. But victory is the only option.Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-55856276869504445232017-07-25T01:05:00.000-04:002017-07-25T01:05:33.852-04:00Goodbye Priests for LifeEven Priests for Life can't afford to be in overpriced Staten Island any more. Well, God bless you and your holy work in your new Florida headquarters, Father Pavone.<br />
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<br />Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-21555694591761265992017-02-27T14:40:00.001-05:002017-02-27T14:41:31.702-05:00Judas: the first Catholic to leave Mass early...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's a historical (or perhaps psychological) mystery how American Catholics went from devout to depraved in two generations, but a visit to Mass in most any area of the country will bear out our fellow-Catholics' utter trashiness and lack of any sort of spiritual feeling. One universal example of this is the mad dash to flee the church immediately after receiving Communion. I had thought to make up a poster to be displayed in the backs of churches that said "Judas was the first Catholic to leave Mass early" but a quick Google search showed that many other people had thought to do the same thing.<br />
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<br />Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-30009774421833147692016-09-21T17:50:00.004-04:002016-09-21T17:56:33.054-04:00Aisle People<div>
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<a href="http://www.cny.org/stories/Aisle-People,14464?" target="_blank">This letter</a>, which appeared in the 9/15/16 edition of Catholic New York, should be printed out and posted on the doors or bulletin boards of every Catholic church. The epidemic of lazy, inconsiderate "Aisle People" is painful to see. If you have an overactive bladder, or are on active duty in the emergency services, or are the parents of rambunctious young children, then you have every right to plant yourselves near the aisle so as not to have to climb over others when you inevitably have to step out of Mass. If you're just a paranoid neurotic who has a psychological barrier against having people sitting on both sides of you, then please get over it and slide towards the middle of the pew.</div>
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Aisle People</div>
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Because of my peripatetic lifestyle, I’ve attended Mass at many parishes. For the past 20 years, I’ve probably worshipped at 30 different Catholic churches across America each year for a total of about 600. One thing that each of these houses of worship have in common is the Aisle People (AP.)</div>
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The AP covet the seats at the end of the pew regardless of the emptiness within. I always arrive at Mass early and sit toward the rear, so I present my empirical data on the AP from a disinterested distance. The AP make up approximately 30 percent of attendees, and I am not sure they realize the angst they cause in other parishioners. </div>
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Everyone who attends Mass weekly has no doubt noticed that late arrivals will “probe the line” looking for a charitable aisle person to allow them to enter the pew. It disgusts me to see how many AP stare straight ahead, ignoring the petitioner’s tacit plea to access the vacancies within. After being ignored, the late-comers must then clear their throat, which will compel the AP to take heed. This distracts other congregants.</div>
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Only once in all my years have I heard a priest remonstrate from the pulpit regarding this opportunistic practice of “aisle seat covetousness” (at Mass in Arkansas). He was instructing while I am lamenting. </div>
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Hopefully, the AP act as they do unconscious of the aggravation they cause other attendees because if they are aware of the inconvenience and distraction they cause and still park their corpus segnes at the end of the pew week after week, well, I find that almost unforgivable. </div>
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There are a few occasions when AP are justified in maintaining their spot: if the AP is manning the collection basket or, like my sister, is with a disabled child or is part of the altar crew or has urgent bladder problems. </div>
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The irony of this situation is glaring: every Sunday the priest urges us to be charitable, loving, considerate, humble and Christ-like. When the AP hear the priest speak thusly, does it not register that their action (or inaction) exemplifies the antitheses of these elements of our faith?</div>
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George Ganssle</div>
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Nanuet</div>
Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-85958486585313495342016-07-20T13:49:00.000-04:002016-07-20T13:50:28.336-04:00Catholic Church shopping Part XVI: mother church<div style="text-align: justify;">
Since we worship a God who literally rose from the dead, our "God of surprises" has the wonderful quality of regularly surprising us with the miracle of breathing life into things that were dead. And I was pleasantly surprised to recently see that a parish I had heretofore avoided as a moribund place now has a fresh spirit blowing through it. The feeling was palpable as soon as I walked into our island's mother church of St. Peter's (now officially part of the parish cluster of "The Catholic </div>
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Community of St. Peter-Assumption-St.Paul").</div>
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There didn't seem to be much going on in the bulletin but there was a pretty rousing flyer calling for men to join the Holy Name Society of the parish, describing their mission as being to make themselves better men, supporting one another's spiritual needs, and doing good works. There was a racially diverse congregation with a few young families sprinkled throughout. Honestly, there didn't seem to be too many more people there than attended when Monsignor Dorney was alive, but there was something new and ineffably encouraging about the church now. The choir was talented and seemed genuinely animated by a holy joy in their task. The priest was, I believe, Filipino and spoke rapidly with an accent with precluded me from understanding more than about 70% of what he said. And even though I couldn't really grasp the main point of his message, what I could understand of his passionate sermon was filled with one holy sentiment after another which, surprisingly, satisfied my soul. In addition, the church- which had been allowed to crumble away for years on end, now seemed like it had enjoyed some repairs and regular cleaning.</div>
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After Mass, a group of men hosted a social gathering in a room adjacent to the foyer, which had once been a chapel I think. They provided coffee and juice and a lavish spread of delicious pastries. The fellowship was warm and welcoming. I came away from my time there with an optimistic mood and uplifted spirit. I don't live close enough to attend regularly, but would definitely consider joining the parish if I did.</div>
Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-13307336316784207712016-05-11T14:43:00.001-04:002016-05-11T14:44:08.632-04:00St. Francis Friary, 1928-2014<div style="text-align: justify;">
After a year and a half on the market, the beautiful St. Francis Friary (known as a Center for Spirituality in its modern incarnation) <a href="http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/04/st_francis_friary_sells_former.html" target="_blank">has been sold to the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of New York and New England</a> to be used as their headquarters. (And they're <a href="http://www.nynecopts.org/copticcenter">currently seeking donations</a> to pay for it.) I'm glad the property will not be covered with 8,000 townhouses and I'm glad it was at least Christians who bought it, but this is still a disgrace and an embarrassment. How is it possible for the Coptic church to buy and maintain this property when the Catholic Church cannot? There are only <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_Americans">450,000 Copts</a> in the entire United States. In the Coptic Diocese of New York and New England, which covers Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont, there are only 25 parishes and only 42 clergy; I don't know how many parishioners are in the diocese. Compare this to the New York archdiocese, which has 296 parishes and contains 2.6 million Catholics. Yet with all our resources, we could not retain the Franciscan Friary? The Franciscans made a hash of it, but with the demise of Mt. Manresa, couldn't the Archdiocese have made good use of it? </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlxzTmWlC9Ogxu8b-VVUPHkA5ObIfdHdRptJflru8BNHzGyZZOQHZmwfmsOqv76a2Krrhz4h12Fn9LnM3sZhQT-h82MilDhNBNjOWk3A2gyPuGUb4stE6aJFocvQPt_GVsMlvbIkOQEeXC/s1600/frontpage-958x425.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlxzTmWlC9Ogxu8b-VVUPHkA5ObIfdHdRptJflru8BNHzGyZZOQHZmwfmsOqv76a2Krrhz4h12Fn9LnM3sZhQT-h82MilDhNBNjOWk3A2gyPuGUb4stE6aJFocvQPt_GVsMlvbIkOQEeXC/s400/frontpage-958x425.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-69667537103390101432016-05-11T10:53:00.001-04:002016-05-11T13:24:34.539-04:00The Idol of "Participation"<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
When I attended Mass at <a href="http://olhcparish.org/" target="_blank">Our Lady Help of Christians</a>
in Tottenville a few weeks ago, I was utterly shocked and horrified to
see that two large video screens had been placed on the walls to either
side of the altar. There was an explanation in the bulletin: <br />
<br /></div>
"The
introduction of the TV screens in the church has caught the attention
of many. I invite anyone who has knowledge of this technology and is
willing to work and meet with Fr. Sylvester to learn about it. We hope
to minimize the use of the Missals and maximize the liturgical
participation making Sunday worship more interesting and spiritually
beneficial to all. The clergy will devise ways and means to enhance
their delivery of homilies using this technology."</div>
<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPMgb2gVpjtv5-cCLJmP3a17bSPEFwS6JSCLFGfFw7kJy6R0fIGku0raLduZBiMamIDVvSSjDBNNBQew5h09Gywzsu4uFJdYAzgfLpclGXNXxI-zvtrKe1FvRTgvKiuAJNA1Cu6zoWczC/s1600/In-His-Presence_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPMgb2gVpjtv5-cCLJmP3a17bSPEFwS6JSCLFGfFw7kJy6R0fIGku0raLduZBiMamIDVvSSjDBNNBQew5h09Gywzsu4uFJdYAzgfLpclGXNXxI-zvtrKe1FvRTgvKiuAJNA1Cu6zoWczC/s400/In-His-Presence_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The size of our video screens is in direct correlation to our holiness</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br />
So,
there in one short paragraph are summed up a host of errors,
misconceptions and incompetence from the first word to the last. The
Vatican II Church, animated by the leveling, hippie spirit of
communalism, has always been obsessed with the participation of <b>The
People</b> (always ennobled with a capital "P") in the Mass. However the
People stubbornly do not want to participate in the Mass. Therefore, our
enlightened (ha!) overlords will_force_us to play-act their fantasy of
the Great Group Hug by further degrading and infantilizing the Mass. </div>
<br />
I
don't suspect the pastor at OLHC of any devious intentions, but his dumb response to a non-problem is based on faulty premises. He sees his
congregation sitting in the pews week after week in a catatonic state
and bemoans the lack of excitement and engagement, which he's been bred
to expect from the "new springtime" in the Church. So, the natural
response of a priest marinated in both the post-Vatican II era and the
age of technology is to make it more entertaining! Whereas the clueless, 1970s hippie priest would bring in guitarists, clown Masses and liturgical dancers,
the lame and impotent response of the modern, clueless pastor is to
introduce TV screens. Next will be youtube videos, comedy routines,
pre-recorded rock music, and other cribbed gimmicks from evangelical
megachurch circuses. Who knows, perhaps they'll even introduce
trampolines?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6SKxZ2FuEDHrKBLINvVVZfZBzdRMUZIGDH5ic3RxoZtn2m_mtlEJBMYPhjY5_4sChggVsuWoi8RpWogyCw7BlTmN8zwtn0bQfQ_Y8q3osEmYqyDawyypieBE5X77UAS6ABepDVejgDjwJ/s1600/mountainman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6SKxZ2FuEDHrKBLINvVVZfZBzdRMUZIGDH5ic3RxoZtn2m_mtlEJBMYPhjY5_4sChggVsuWoi8RpWogyCw7BlTmN8zwtn0bQfQ_Y8q3osEmYqyDawyypieBE5X77UAS6ABepDVejgDjwJ/s400/mountainman.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coming to a Catholic church near you! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Needless to say, the screens were a major
distraction. They were scrolling announcements before the Mass (the same
announcements that were in the bulletin), thereby precluding the
ability to quietly pray. As the Mass started, the screens flashes the
words of the Mass and the Scripture readings as we were simultaneously
listening to them. Obviously, it is human nature to look at moving
images, so everyone was staring at the screens instead of the priest. At
one point during one of the guitarist's songs, a photoshopped picture of Pope
Francis as the Good Shepherd was shown, conflating the current Pope with the Creator and Savior of mankind.</div>
</div>
<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKjuKmYvdWkHV2yy-ioKasudi2jQTZnoKTs0bjCPxtu4xweLhyphenhyphenPMii7UnRHcSNkt6oo7zBCbgC2gHS0CZQ8eG_fvNvQ2rp_I2Pp2RVmJfYqcmiRRyXE24J3uN2sp3JxWvK5XFhBeOOgPCN/s1600/pope-francis-wears-a-sheep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKjuKmYvdWkHV2yy-ioKasudi2jQTZnoKTs0bjCPxtu4xweLhyphenhyphenPMii7UnRHcSNkt6oo7zBCbgC2gHS0CZQ8eG_fvNvQ2rp_I2Pp2RVmJfYqcmiRRyXE24J3uN2sp3JxWvK5XFhBeOOgPCN/s200/pope-francis-wears-a-sheep.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Lord...Francis?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I can ignore bad
homilies. I can ignore bad music. I can ignore bad congregations and
priests who rush through the Mass. I cannot ignore two 10 foot video
screens that grab and demand your attention more than the Holy Sacrifice. They
change the very nature of the Mass in a very fundamental way, which
means that I will never, never go back to this parish.Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-16156932649226393282015-12-16T10:04:00.001-05:002015-12-16T10:04:18.303-05:00The plot thickens.....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"Fr. Miqueli felt a sense of invincibility in his life of larceny and
lust, because, according to people close to the story, he witnessed a
<i><b><u>child molestation by a priest on Staten Island</u></b></i> back around 2002 and went
to the archdiocese. They told him to keep silent about it, and,
according to reports, arranged for him to become pastor of St. Frances
Xavier Cabrini parish on Roosevelt Island in exchange for his
cooperation."<br />
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<br />Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-68366336507230215752015-12-14T17:32:00.002-05:002015-12-15T10:05:11.506-05:00"Slave" priest had Staten Island tiesSo apparently the homosexual slave priest that's been all over the tabloid headlines <a href="http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/12/archdiocese_yet_to_substantiat.html#incart_river_home" target="_blank">worked in a surprising number of Staten Island parishes</a> (St. Sylvester's, Holy Family, St. Clare's and St. Rita's) some years ago.<br />
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I think it's safe to assume that he didn't just recently discover that he was a pervert, a thief and a megalomaniac. So is it possible that no one in these Staten Island parishes ever noticed something "off" about this guy, when it was so apparent to the parishioners of St. Frances de Chantal? Or <i>did</i> people speak out about this priest but his "guardian angel" in the chancery just shifted him around from parish to parish?<br />
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<br />Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-54141982686766158812015-11-02T16:57:00.000-05:002015-11-02T16:57:55.962-05:00R.I.P. Monsignor James DorneyMonsignor James Dorney, the co-vicar of Staten Island (whatever that means) has <a href="http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/10/monsignor_james_dorney_dies.html" target="_blank">passed away at age 83</a>. We have never been an admirer of his, as a quick search of this blog will demonstrate. But I would like to relate one positive memory I have of the man. I attended Stations of the Cross at St. Peter's on a Friday night in Lent about 8 years ago. Monsignor Dorney was already feeble and bent over with whatever physical ailments were torturing him. Nevertheless, despite the fact that the meager number of people in attendance surely would have granted him any allowance to accommodate his age and weakness, Monsignor Dorney nevertheless exerted all his strength to make a full, and obviously painful, genuflection down to the floor at every station to honor his Savior, and then struggled with everything he had to raise himself again and move on the next one to do it again. That was a beautiful gesture of love and respect for our God, and I will never forget it.Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-76059079335493025292015-09-21T12:23:00.003-04:002015-09-21T12:24:18.791-04:00May God protect us from Pope FrancisWith his new <a href="http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2015/09/catholic-divorce-theological-and.html" target="_blank">streamlined annulment decree</a>, the Pope is finally showing his hand. <a href="http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2015/09/catholic-divorce-theological-and.html" target="_blank">He intends to contradict 2000 years of Catholic dogma and negate Christ's extremely clear teaching on marriage. </a>The openly expressed intention of these reforms will be to fast-track "millions" of new "annulments" that are, in reality, Catholic divorces. There will be no true fact-finding discernment about the validity of an individual marriage; this is a blatant fig leaf to rubber stamp civil divorces by pseudo-Catholics, as is done by the Eastern schismatics. This Pope is looking more and more like one of the anti-Christ's forerunners as spoken of in the Scriptures, and the upcoming Synod on the Family will definitely be a major- and perhaps definitive- battlefield as he seeks the downfall of the Church. The open heretics (Kasper, Cupich, Wuerl, Bode, Marx) and the abettors of abortion and child abuse (Daneels) that this Pope has <b><i>hand-picked</i></b> to participate in the upcoming Synod on the Family clearly demonstrate this Pope's true beliefs and his ultimate endgame: destroy the Church through the destruction of marriage. Not only will an official papal decree nullifying Christ's prohibition on divorce and remarriage destroy the family, but it will immediately undermine the supernatural claims of the Catholic Church. If the Church denies its own dogmas and starts teaching something opposite of what we have always believed, then the gates of Hell have prevailed, and no amount of sophistry, logic-chopping and obfuscation and outright denial will convince anyone otherwise.<br />
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Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-83201790720128088252015-05-12T00:26:00.001-04:002015-05-12T00:26:59.293-04:00Another humiliation. Another defeatLate in the afternoon last Friday <a href="http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/05/former_st_francis_friary_on_to.html" target="_blank">it was reported</a> that the St. Francis
Center for Spirituality was on the verge of being sold to a "religious
organization". In addition to the secrecy surrounding this sale, as well
as the euphemistic term being used for this shadowy buyer, it is
speculated that an Islamic organization- perhaps the MAS (<a href="https://www.muslimamericansociety.org/" target="_blank">Muslim American Society</a>) which was thwarted in its designs on the <a href="http://statenislandcatholic.blogspot.com/2010/07/victory-in-midland-beach.html" target="_blank">St. Margaret Mary convent</a>- will soon be sounding the call to prayer from minarets where
bells once rang to announce the Eucharistic Sacrifice. As one of the commentators on silive said, "The Catholic Church is giving up on Catholics".<br />
<br />
Whether the
mystery buyer does turn out to be a Moslem organization or a Hindu
temple, a Protestant worship center or a Jewish shul, the fact remains
that a sacred space of God's One True Faith- where once God's priests
were trained up for His service and where the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
was once offered- will now be turned over for profanation and
blasphemy, with crosses torn down, statues smashed, icons trashed, and
the images of God and his saints defaced and whitewashed; perhaps the
fate that befell Mount Manresa would be preferable to that which is
going to happen to the St. Francis Friary. And our Catholic leaders do....what?<br />
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<br />Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-12472085024497440292015-04-29T12:18:00.000-04:002015-05-01T11:02:37.159-04:00Little ChildrenStaten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan is running for Congress to replace Michael Grimm. A <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGkPqsbYRXbvM9nD6Ogq_BjFWcokUc7E6cZqJ16zmTUI9UyOyX0LcPFYqAOFdwM95jR9oNVqbba9zpTfenAWAgjyjIhk_9NxNtwu6u0dr_hfjGUJeOZAlPhbVbV_HEWHIJTi62s17ZOVYf/s1600/17260384-mmmain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGkPqsbYRXbvM9nD6Ogq_BjFWcokUc7E6cZqJ16zmTUI9UyOyX0LcPFYqAOFdwM95jR9oNVqbba9zpTfenAWAgjyjIhk_9NxNtwu6u0dr_hfjGUJeOZAlPhbVbV_HEWHIJTi62s17ZOVYf/s1600/17260384-mmmain.jpg" height="149" width="200" /></a></div>
pretty standard-issue local RINO (Republican In Name Only) <a href="http://www.wnyc.org/story/meet-candidate-dan-donovan/" target="_blank">who supports abortion</a>, Donovan will most likely coast to victory in the special election next week. Where this race gets interesting is in the 58 year old <a href="http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/03/district_attorney_daniel_donov.html" target="_blank">Donovan's announcement </a>that he is expecting a bastard child (<a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bastard" target="_blank"><i>bastard</i>, noun, a person born of unmarried parents; an illegitimate child</a>) with his 44 year old, divorced concubine (<a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/concubine" target="_blank"><i>concubine</i>, noun, 1. a woman who cohabits with a man to whom she is not legally married</a>). Donovan, a baptized Catholic whose <a href="http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/04/daniel_donovans_beginning_in_t.html" target="_blank">working-class parents</a> sacrificed to send him to Farrell High School, is now going about flaunting his sinful relationship and the child that, undoubtedly, they never planned to have. As if Donovan's disrespect and disregard for the Faith and for Marriage wasn't made manifest enough by his immoral lifestyle, he can be seen in this Facebook photo mocking sacramental Marriage by playing the part of officiant at the wedding of some friend or relative of his concubine's.<br />
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Although Donovan is unique, for a man of his age, in having such a <a href="http://www.cullenanddykman.com/attorneys-209.html" target="_blank">young and attractive concubine</a> and actually having a baby with her, his lifestyle is actually pretty common now for pseudo-Catholic Staten Islanders in their 40s, 50s and 60s. It is incredible to see these older people who were raised in strong Catholic families, grew up in a strong Catholic environment and educated in good Catholic schools putting away their spouses and shacking up with their lovers, as if they had never known the Faith or heard of anything called morality. And what's worse is that everyone here treats their behavior as if were perfectly normal and acceptable. It's one thing for twenty-somethings to be doing this, having been marinated their entire lives in degenerate media, broken homes, and public schools, but to see our elders- who had first hand experience of a better world- living like this is pathetic and disappointing. Sorry- Donovan is a dishonorable and disgraceful libertine who is living in adultery with a concubine who just happens to be another man's wife. St. John the Baptist and St. Thomas More suffered martyrdom for saying such things to kings. This lawyer, Donovan, needs to know that if even royalty are subject to the laws of God, then so are local politicians. He doesn't get my vote or my respect. </div>
Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-5606618816892073322015-04-29T08:53:00.003-04:002015-04-29T08:54:19.844-04:00Pseudo-Catholic Staten Islanders<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl3oZ47R-ZzPO9h4BXDMs4mlTo2qb3r9H2ab5CGeavwYQt8xNDfka8OWq28jpIMKyQKjs5oeTjgNOIqzqvw2EVUY0fZcqIn4Xll4U9eQ-nBYMHHp0ocLxA0hyphenhyphen3DJ5Ow_ErcnJO6as7tqXr/s1600/Last_Rites_ca_1600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl3oZ47R-ZzPO9h4BXDMs4mlTo2qb3r9H2ab5CGeavwYQt8xNDfka8OWq28jpIMKyQKjs5oeTjgNOIqzqvw2EVUY0fZcqIn4Xll4U9eQ-nBYMHHp0ocLxA0hyphenhyphen3DJ5Ow_ErcnJO6as7tqXr/s1600/Last_Rites_ca_1600.jpg" height="320" width="315" /></a>The Rev. Michael Martine, former pastor of St. Joseph's in Rosebank and current pastor of Holy Rosary, <a href="http://www.silive.com/opinion/columns/index.ssf/2015/03/the_end_of_life_options_act_a.html#incart_river" target="_blank">recently penned an opinion piece</a> for the Advance in which he, calmly and dispassionately, laid forth the Church's position on euthanasia. This is noteworthy first because a local Catholic priest has actually shown a bit of courage and and took a public stand on a somewhat controversial issue. That in itself is as noteworthy as Halley's Comet. But the second thing about this article to note is the vitriol expressed in the comments section of the article. It has garnered more than 200 mostly negative comments, which is even more than is usually left for those other subjects which outrage Staten Islanders the most: namely Al Sharpton and potholes. Nothing gives pseudo-Catholic Staten Islanders more apoplexy than a Catholic priest actually telling them what is right and wrong. It is true that ex-Catholics usually make the worst anti-Catholics, but it is also true that pseudo-Catholics- that basically pagan breed- so prevalent on Staten Island- who hate the Faith but inexplicably retain the identity, are a pretty nasty enemy as well.Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-70450924516784449072015-04-29T07:43:00.002-04:002015-04-29T07:48:45.711-04:00Ted Hesburgh and Staten Island<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQiHVSWbjlk-90BC5dxMP8JjZkfh1h79RvdRNLPJemzsUIzCMtrbC9g3EUoBOtGKD9U-8K9bowwNFtOl3SA6QP1QNZdPu0HrWSykqNZ4-x1Cx5u1Ovpt-Co8eMv0GX1obYh1pmRFur1GQE/s1600/Obama_and_hesburgh.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQiHVSWbjlk-90BC5dxMP8JjZkfh1h79RvdRNLPJemzsUIzCMtrbC9g3EUoBOtGKD9U-8K9bowwNFtOl3SA6QP1QNZdPu0HrWSykqNZ4-x1Cx5u1Ovpt-Co8eMv0GX1obYh1pmRFur1GQE/s1600/Obama_and_hesburgh.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihTxnXwvX5bO_VmoZ6P63BUK3pBkBWJ9rbjxtv_e3K8QKMbrT5rvdAPgHzwHQ56OE6fgosZoLFHgOQGRBOwvu-1bVSHf-9kbIuxlKvZrMtgnp_F4IV0itRjEpG7vJF_UhMkxsKgFQuaMdl/s1600/cuomo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihTxnXwvX5bO_VmoZ6P63BUK3pBkBWJ9rbjxtv_e3K8QKMbrT5rvdAPgHzwHQ56OE6fgosZoLFHgOQGRBOwvu-1bVSHf-9kbIuxlKvZrMtgnp_F4IV0itRjEpG7vJF_UhMkxsKgFQuaMdl/s1600/cuomo.jpg" height="175" width="200" /></a>The recent death of Father Ted Hesburgh of the University of Notre Dame elicited the usual nauseating panegyrics from the secular media. In the midst of all the encomia was a <a href="http://blog.silive.com/memories_column/2015/04/remembering_father_ted.html" target="_blank">surprising article in the Staten Island Advance</a>, written by a distant relative who revealed that Father Hesburgh had roots on Staten Island and came back often to visit after his family moved away. Contrary to the sentimental recollections recounted in the article, the truth is that Father Hesburgh was a notorious heretic who worked day and night for 40 years to undermine the Catholic Church and destroy Catholic higher education. <a href="https://churchmilitanttv.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/the-vortex-fr-ted-hesburgh-traitor-to-the-faith/" target="_blank">Watch this video</a> for more information.<br />
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Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-59360678668360673072015-04-12T10:26:00.003-04:002015-04-12T10:26:52.190-04:00Staten Island Catholics The Advance is interested in interviewing Staten Island Catholics, whether practicing or fallen-away: <a href="http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/04/adid_you_go_to_mass_today_take.html#incart_river" target="_blank">click here</a>.<br />
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I would encourage the faithful to respond to this survey so as not to let the results be skewed in favor of the bile-dripping, God-hating former Catholics so prevalent on this island.Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-72379787048640890552015-03-15T23:40:00.001-04:002015-03-15T23:44:02.446-04:00Cardinal Quisling's collaboration<div style="text-align: justify;">
In just two days our craven, cowardly, compromising joke of a Cardinal will, by his actions, publicly give sanction to mortal sin when he will serve as Grand Marshal of a St. Patrick's Day parade that has, for the first time, allowed a homosexual group to march under its own banner. Since he took his seat here, Cardinal Dolan has made it quite clear that he fully supports the gay agenda, by <a href="http://statenislandcatholic.blogspot.com/2011/07/welcome-to-babylon.html" target="_blank">doing absolutely nothing</a> to oppose gay marriage in New York, by <a href="http://statenislandcatholic.blogspot.com/2010/07/archbishop-dolan-shows-support-for-gay.html" target="_blank">publicly applauding</a> the gay pride group at St. Francis Xavier, and by sending a "Bravo!" to gay NFL player Michael Sam on the occasion of his coming out. But those actions, while appreciated and valued by the homosexual movement, were basically passive. What he will do in two days is the final bending of the knee, the public act of degradation and submissiveness. To add insult to injury, he makes the childishly specious argument that his participation is acceptable because the group is not endorsing homosexual acts but only showing pride in being homosexual. <a href="https://watchwithhim.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/st-patricks-day-of-prayer-march-17-2015/" target="_blank">Pray for the soul </a>of this bad shepherd and for the souls of all those he is leading to damnation.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Patrick's Day parade, 2015</td></tr>
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<br />Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-9910130579006282332015-01-10T02:36:00.002-05:002015-01-10T02:45:26.956-05:00Satan's laughing with delightDespite the repeated reassurances of the Cardinal, Catholic parishes throughout his domain <a href="http://www.silive.com/worship/2014/11/archdiocese_of_new_york_announ.html" target="_blank">are dropping like flies</a>. Five Staten Island parishes <a href="http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/12/st_john_neumann_to_close_st_ma.html" target="_blank">have received a death sentence</a> and numerous others are being merged with other parishes in what is no doubt a preliminary move towards future closures. With an example of local Catholic culture <a href="http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/10/former_moore_catholic_gym_team.html" target="_blank">making national news</a>, it is no wonder. Our priests have failed; we, the laity have failed. We have gone a-whoring after false gods of material gluttony, sexual hedonism and self-worship. Is it any wonder that such a people would allow the temples of their God to fall into ruin?<br />
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Some brief histories of the doomed parishes <a href="http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/11/a_look_back_at_the_4_roman_cat.html" target="_blank">can be found here</a>. One of the churches slated to be shuttered dates back to the 1850s. Four of the five churches are located on the North Shore. Two are located in one-time "ethnic" neighborhoods that are now mostly black and Hispanic. One is located in a neighborhood that still has a significant Italian population. The outlier- St. John Neumann- is only a few decades old and is located mid-island. Its parishioners claim that their church <a href="http://www.silive.com/southshore/index.ssf/2014/12/update_on_roman_catholic_churc.html" target="_blank">is in the black and debt-free.</a> And that got me thinking.<br />
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Why aren't we being given the actual numbers that are the basis for these decisions? Every so often, the archdiocese simply releases a list of the condemned parishes, like some commissar from Stalinist Russia. Wouldn't it help the flock to understand the decision-making process if we were shown some solid numbers that said, for example, that Parish X brings in only $10,000 a year from its 50 parishioners and has operating expenses of $100,000 and a $50,000 debt? Wouldn't it be helpful if the archdiocese further justified its decisions by citing relevant demographic data or pragmatic arguments by saying, for example, that Parish X's 50 parishioners are all over 70 years of age and the church building will be condemned unless it has hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs to its roof and foundation? Those are legitimate arguments that no reasonable person could contest. But when the archdiocese just condemns a financially successful parish like St. John Neumann to extinction, on the basis of unknown and seemingly arbitrary criteria, it makes the curious Catholic wonder just what is going on here.<br />
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Assumption in New Brighton I could believe had problems. It was a small parish, built for people who lived within walking distance of the church. It is located within a mile radius of about 4 other Catholic churches. It was built for a specific ethnic group (Italians) that have long since fled the neighborhood. But St. Mary's in Port Richmond? Whenever I've driven by that place on Sundays, it has always been overflowing with Mexicans. St. Roch's in Port Richmond was never packed when I visited but it was always moderately well-attended. Similarly, St. Mary's in Rosebank seemed to have a fair number of parishioners. What are the actual numbers that doomed these parishes? What are the arguments?<br />
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Apart from the complete lack of transparency and accountability, Cardinal Dolan is showing his usual alacrity when it comes to secular initiatives by quickly suggesting that the closed churches <a href="http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/11/shuttered_churches_may_be_repl.html#incart_river" target="_blank">be used for affordable housing</a>. This Cardinal has probably extinguished more Catholic churches than John Calvin. There is no plan to reverse this trend, no plan to evangelize, no plan to re-catechize. There is no plan and no clue at the top of this hierarchy. We are a rudderless ship without a captain. </div>
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<br />Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-2737166486049073552014-12-17T11:03:00.001-05:002014-12-17T11:07:27.451-05:00O tempora o moresSome miscellaneous and disparate news items and observations:<br />
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<li>Rorate Caeli has a <a href="http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2014/12/saying-and-unsaying-synods-orwellian.html" target="_blank">brilliant article about the Orwellian language</a> at play in the Vatican's transparent attempt to subvert Catholic doctrine and manufacture a new Gospel based on secular sexual practices. Obfuscation and language perversion is indeed a favored tactic of these men but, in a sign that they are confident in their unassailable position, it appears as if they are also taking the gloves off now and eschewing subtlety. The <a href="http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20141209_lineamenta-xiv-assembly_en.html" target="_blank">Vatican's own instructions</a> for next year's follow-up Synod on the Family overtly <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/avoid-simply-applying-doctrine-vatican-urges-bishops-preparing-for-2015-fam" target="_blank">demands that attendees avoid reference to doctrine</a> when coming up with a "solution" to the irregular relationships of homosexuals and bigamists. The fix is in and it is looking more and more as if this Pope is fully behind the revolution: he wants Communion for the divorced and remarried and he wants integration for practicing homosexuals. The consequence of such "pastoral" contradiction of dogmatic teaching would have the most dire consequence, namely, the final and authoritative suicide of the Catholic Church. </li>
<li><a href="http://gloria.tv/media/v6WpZoaFx8t" target="_blank">This wonderful interview </a>with Cardinal Burke deals with the matter of the impending betrayal of Catholicism by our hierarchy, and other topics as well. </li>
<li>I noticed that a local church had an advertisement in its bulletin for a book called "Romans 8" by someone named Teacher Shekinat Ayodele Ikioda (I'm not sure if "Teacher" is a title or a given name).The book's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Romans-teacher-shekinat-ayodele-ikioda/dp/1419694049/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418828793&sr=1-1" target="_blank">amazon page</a> doesn't have anything that would indicate that it is a Catholic book. On the contrary, the book blurb trumpets its "Christian" message. Have we sunk so low that we're now marketing Protestant books? How they must be laughing in their sleeves at our stupidity!</li>
<li>The latest issue of Catholic New York included a pull-out color section which displayed, in yearbook fashion, all the seminarians and students at the Seminary in Yonkers. Not a single one was from Staten Island. </li>
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Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-65947116136727178302014-11-07T04:30:00.000-05:002014-11-10T06:05:55.540-05:00Catholic Church Shopping, Part XV: The Heresy Hut<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm going to dispense with all the usual attempts at anonymity for this location because of the sheer egregiousness of the violation I witnessed. People need to be warned. I attended the Sunday evening Mass on October 19th at the St. Thomas half of the <a href="http://www.sjstparish.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #99aadd;">St. Joseph-St. Thomas</span></a> parish.</div>
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First, a bit about the church. The only thing I knew about it before I first attended was that it had been hilariously described as a <a href="http://www.silive.com/opinion/letters/index.ssf/2012/06/struggling_church_represents_t.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #99aadd;">"Tabernacle of opulence"</span></a> in a letter to the editor by an envious Protestant minister some years ago. It is indeed opulent; ugly as sin but still grand and, no doubt, expensively constructed. The shape of the church resembles a Mongolian yurt, with a statue of a dove hanging from the apex. The walls are brick and the stained glass windows- having been made in the early 1990s and thus avoiding the worst cartoonish excesses of 1970s modern church art- nevertheless still don't quite approach the standard of traditional Catholic beauty. Again, avoiding the worst excesses of hippie-era Church architecture, it also has several alcoves with statues and relics and kneelers for devotional purposes (not that they are ever used). The stations of the cross were built, in a creative but ultimately unappealing way, into the brick walls using other bricks. There is a tiny, hermetically-sealed room at the back of the church, presumably for families with young children, where you can see the Mass through a window and strain to listen to it through a sub-par sound system. In practice, there are few families with babies in this church, so this room fills up with rowdy tweens who want to text and talk in peace, without much liturgical distraction. Any attempts to verbalize the Mass responses or- God forbid- sing, are met with heads whipping around to glare at you. The confessional is located in this tiny room, thereby precluding any self-conscious person from ever going to confession for fear of being overheard by the other people sitting 2 feet away. The music here is strictly limited to the effeminate treacle of the St. Louis Jesuits. <strong>No one</strong> sings.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQLM9jdW9lr9XG9i3H-B8DL12b79C55g8pKnJBhidcD9TFJBrpe-YA6zdUJpi274cRujRuAeU24ke3TsslKvq4TKqpzQeW29iyncisj0CGBYzDgaJgQhEYarRbjrCrDQZAZ-X_MrJo8jYp/s1600/slobs.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQLM9jdW9lr9XG9i3H-B8DL12b79C55g8pKnJBhidcD9TFJBrpe-YA6zdUJpi274cRujRuAeU24ke3TsslKvq4TKqpzQeW29iyncisj0CGBYzDgaJgQhEYarRbjrCrDQZAZ-X_MrJo8jYp/s1600/slobs.bmp" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Standard church wear for local Catholics</td></tr>
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The well-to-do people who attend this church are some of the worst dressed and worst behaved congregants I have ever seen. All of the usual misbehavior can be seen here, but to a higher degree than anywhere else in my experience: unbelievably slovenly and slatternly dress, <em>constant</em> talking and phone use, and a complete lack of respect for or acknowledgment of the presence of God. It's not as if there's any example coming from the parish leadership, since the tall, blonde pastor, when he is not the celebrant, habitually wanders around the church before and during the beginning of Mass glad-handing and chatting up the crowd. (Bizarrely enough, when he is not saying Mass, he announces that he will be hearing Confession <strong>during</strong> the other priest's sermon). Mass is always well attended but I suspect that this has something to do with a requirement for the children at the booming parish school; one does not get the impression of any piety whatsoever from this group of people. The rotation of three priests serving the two constituent churches are nice enough but their sermons set the standard for banality and insipidness.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpKkHrE6EyuzryeMEKHtOIPqdVBfglT1hRD0jLlJcufP11o3yk6HRnU5JMCB0JxUZaocmKAMa-KQ410rHTltEVr52AL0qnoNagtp7qlggj3VJrb_C3Zw2xJrRvSo5IpFgJZbdZgJVv3Qrg/s1600/liberal+priest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpKkHrE6EyuzryeMEKHtOIPqdVBfglT1hRD0jLlJcufP11o3yk6HRnU5JMCB0JxUZaocmKAMa-KQ410rHTltEVr52AL0qnoNagtp7qlggj3VJrb_C3Zw2xJrRvSo5IpFgJZbdZgJVv3Qrg/s1600/liberal+priest.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Cool" priest prototype</td></tr>
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I had <a href="http://statenislandcatholic.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2014-01-22T01:01:00-05:00&max-results=7" target="_blank"><span style="color: #99aadd;">heard this priest before</span></a> and although his sermons are usually bizarre, this one took the cake for not only being strange but outright heretical. He came down from the pulpit in the usual pandering style of "cool" priests and started talking, with his customary histrionics, about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Feeney" target="_blank"><span style="color: #99aadd;">Father Leonard Feeney</span></a> (as if there were nothing more relevant to talk about than a 65 year old controversy that 99.9% of Catholics have never heard of.) Father Feeney, of course, rigidly interpreted the age-old doctrine of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extra_Ecclesiam_nulla_salus" target="_blank"><span style="color: #99aadd;">No Salvation Outside the Church</span></a> to mean that one had to be formally baptized with water in order to be saved, and was eventually excommunicated for disobeying a summons to appear in Rome to defend himself. This priest didn't stop at condemning Father Feeney for denying the validity of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism_of_desire" target="_blank"><span style="color: #99aadd;">Baptism by Blood and Desire</span></a>, but went even further by preaching <b>universal salvation.</b> I kid you not. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfzyWRZ2SPtA8vojiJCJOlpT6NMkNAilqOGtvRSL6tgN1ayWaN7nldrdrN4e_NyFgoq4YdHUOs_46l-5MFTOjUA5Q_XNst3xDr8ZNBtLijfhikiU5-BbtN4zGU52xpRx3YyhVF6B6qjAbM/s1600/feeney.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfzyWRZ2SPtA8vojiJCJOlpT6NMkNAilqOGtvRSL6tgN1ayWaN7nldrdrN4e_NyFgoq4YdHUOs_46l-5MFTOjUA5Q_XNst3xDr8ZNBtLijfhikiU5-BbtN4zGU52xpRx3YyhVF6B6qjAbM/s1600/feeney.bmp" /></a></div>
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He mused that God couldn't possibly damn a person who had never heard the Gospel and He couldn't possibly damn a person who was turned off by the Faith because they only knew bad Catholics and He couldn't possibly damn a person who was comfortable in their own non-Catholic religion. In fact, God really can't damn anyone at all, he preached, because if they are non-Catholic it's because God <strong>wanted</strong> them to be non-Catholic, which is all part of His plan (thereby reducing to worthlessness all the missionaries and evangelists and martyrs through two millennia of Church history). This priest repeatedly said that "every person made in the image of God will know God". He also repeatedly and vehemently underscored that this has <strong>always </strong>been Church teaching. He admitted that, yes, Christ said that no one comes to the Father except through Him and, yes, the motto of No Salvation Outside the Church was ancient and true, but he harmonized his contradictions by explaining that Christ's sacrifice basically made every human being a part of the Church and ensured their salvation automatically, whether or not they were consciously Christian because, after all, "every person made in the image of God will know God". <br />
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How many souls did that priest murder that evening, I wonder. </div>
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I think I did the right thing by trying to contact the pastor privately, but several emails to the parish about this outrageous blasphemy went unanswered.</div>
Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-42235387085256858042014-10-21T17:11:00.002-04:002014-10-21T17:11:21.245-04:00No Marriage=No ChurchThe <a href="http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2014/10/its-essential-to-understand-stakes-no.html" target="_blank">following must-read article by John Zmirak</a> is spot on and exactly <a href="http://statenislandcatholic.blogspot.com/2014/03/marriage-and-its-enemies.html" target="_blank">what I have been saying</a>: if these modernist, wicked bishops in the hierarchy manage to declare that Catholics are able to divorce their spouses and marry again, then that effectively negates all of the Catholic Church's authority and claims about its divine nature. This issue is that important. And if the Catholic Church turns out to be a fallible, human institution, then what does that say about the Christ who promised that the gates of Hell would not prevail against it? Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-16073863230550466922014-10-14T01:27:00.001-04:002014-10-14T01:29:06.418-04:00The Abomination of DesolationThe <a href="http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2014/10/first-synod-report-homosexual.html" target="_blank">Synod on the Family</a> taking place in Rome right now is proving to be one of the most disastrous and significant events in the history of the Church. Satan has surely enthroned his servants in high places if our shepherds are seriously considering allowing Communion for the divorced and remarried, second and third marriages, allowing contraception, and recognizing fornicating couples and active homosexuals as comprising some sort of legitimate alternative to true marriage that must be valued. Our Church leaders have not only embraced the spirit of the age but have fallen down and worshipped this idol of lust. They are in the process of constructing a new Gospel that discards or makes powerless the clear words of Jesus Christ Himself. May God intervene!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNtQS1j_rJQUVdQBWfKMa0bERYl4199xbqDQbQmG27_kGBCvwxbmvwBgQsRKqjAqKJ64H7lmTPaWQVGXt95D9Y3JCM_vVChBWg2xTGOXHlkSNEaIAr1ULNsni__A1G7Z0z8ahGOp6QT2xr/s1600/image6296.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNtQS1j_rJQUVdQBWfKMa0bERYl4199xbqDQbQmG27_kGBCvwxbmvwBgQsRKqjAqKJ64H7lmTPaWQVGXt95D9Y3JCM_vVChBWg2xTGOXHlkSNEaIAr1ULNsni__A1G7Z0z8ahGOp6QT2xr/s1600/image6296.jpg" height="249" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." Matthew 24:15-16</span>Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1454270916316407484.post-57374882420763062742014-09-25T15:31:00.003-04:002014-10-14T01:29:37.962-04:00Death watchSo, the <a href="http://statenislandcatholic.blogspot.com/2009/10/st-francis-seminary.html" target="_blank">St. Francis Center for Spirituality</a> is <a href="http://www.silive.com/worship/2014/09/st_francis_friary_and_center_f.html#incart_m-rpt-1" target="_blank">closing down</a> and- just like the Mount Manresa affair- all anyone can talk about is the threat of overdevelopment on the site. As a native Staten Islander, I can well understand that, but there has been no <em>Catholic</em> response as such, as if it is just to be expected by our clergy that we are to suffer, in the natural course of things, one humiliating defeat after another and just eventually die out. Are any of our clergy wondering why it is that a seminary has no seminarians and what we can do about this non-stop decline? <br />
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Fun fact: only <a href="http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/03/staten_island_is_the_forgotten.html#incart_river" target="_blank">40,000 Staten Islanders</a> attend Mass every Sunday, according to spokesman Joseph Zwilling. Approximately <a href="http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010/r/c/36/rcms2010_36085_county_name_2010.asp" target="_blank">54% of Staten Islanders</a> are counted as being Catholic (although the actual percentage of baptized is probably <strong>much, much higher</strong>). Even going by the lower number, that is only 8% of Staten Island Catholics who go to Mass on Sunday. <br />
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<strong><u>8%</u></strong><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwKja1_-XgsuRR-_3W5yDE-xpPvtx0ee-Uo1q7KUANRIZ77YU16vH9wsp5LmydJmLtTMhE5M0bnToXGq-AjJvGetH3E8WZ60Jh1ylQluKaYFq3-elJWn2MDHN-aQhTPNqvNHFWs25PGhmK/s1600/Ruined_Church_on_the_hill_above_Tintern_Abbey_-_geograph_org_uk_-_204622.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwKja1_-XgsuRR-_3W5yDE-xpPvtx0ee-Uo1q7KUANRIZ77YU16vH9wsp5LmydJmLtTMhE5M0bnToXGq-AjJvGetH3E8WZ60Jh1ylQluKaYFq3-elJWn2MDHN-aQhTPNqvNHFWs25PGhmK/s1600/Ruined_Church_on_the_hill_above_Tintern_Abbey_-_geograph_org_uk_-_204622.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>And how many of those church-goers have the slightest clue about the Faith, considering polls show that the vast majority of even church-going Catholics dissent from or are ignorant of basic Church teaching on the Eucharist, sexual morality, the authority of the Pope and the Bible, the divinity of Christ, et al. The situation over the past 40 years, but especially today, should prompt any faithful priest to run frantically through the streets, trying to salvage whatever souls they can from this wreckage. However, all our priests and bishops seem focused on is gaining amnesty for illegal invaders, pandering to homosexuals, destroying the orthodox Catholics who point out the truth and turning the One True Faith into a hand-holding Episcopalian community center. We are on a death watch here, and our spiritual fathers just don't do or say <strong>anything</strong> about it. Staten Pilgrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16700073698285791143noreply@blogger.com0