Trahison des Clercs

An interdenominational group of local leftist clerics, organized by rabble-rousing ex-Catholic "Reverend" Terry Troia, held a press conference at St. Margaret Mary church in Midland Beach to call on Congressman Michael Grimm to support amnesty legislation for illegal invaders, to repel any sort of citizenship requirements and to abolish national borders. Apparently, this is a coordinated national effort. In a lineup consisting of Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Moslems, the Executive Director of Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese blathered the usual cant about needing to establish a "welcoming society" and bring people out of the "shadows." The disgraceful Monsignor Dorney, who apparently can be corralled to represent the Church at any ecumenical circus or leftist happening, can be seen in attendance as well. 

 

 

Support for so-called "amnesty" and open borders is a glaring symptom of the mental disorder known as liberalism. It's bad enough to see it afflict an ordinary person, but to see it flare up in a Catholic priest is a disturbing sign that his Faith has taken a back seat to this insane ideology, and that he no longer has any interest in his religion or in his calling, except so far as they serve the cause of the Revolution. It is sure money that these Catholic advocates for open immigration_never_preach the hard truths of the Faith (because they probably don't believe in them) and most likely expend their passion and energy advancing causes that could be classified as secular, material and ideologically leftist. In other words, their primary loyalty is to the Democratic Party, not the Magisterium of the Church. As Christians, we are to "welcome the sojourner", a far, far different proposition from literally giving away your entire country to the endless hordes of the Third World. Committing national suicide is not a requirement for being a Catholic.

 

If one would argue that to be our brothers' keeper we had to somehow help the African, Asian and Latino poor in their own countries, that is an argument that could possibly be made. But to argue that Americans need to voluntarily dispossess and impoverish ourselves by letting the Third World literally take over our country is a sign that one's mind has been thoroughly rotted by liberalism. And for our weak and treasonous bishops to come out and openly advocate illegality and the surrender of our national sovereignty (how else would you describe a country without borders?) just goes to show how little respect they merit. 

 

To be fair, some of these clerics might just be unprincipled fools, rather than faithless leftist ideologues. They may calculate that since most immigrants are Hispanic, they must be faithful Catholics, so in the self-interest of their empty parishes, these bishops and pastors had better import a new congregation from Mexico- and fast- considering how all the Americans have abandoned the Church. Besides being despicably cynical, this theory is extremely flawed. Its lack of validity can be seen in Monsignor Dorney's empty church, as well as all the empty churches in North Shore neighborhoods that have "changed." Before they even learn English, the Hispanics are behaving like Americans, by either joining evangelical sects, living like pagans, or becoming A&P Catholics (Ashes and Palms). I know our priests don't really want to do much, but importing Hispanic congregants simply so they don't have to evangelize is not the answer.

Cardinal Dolan tells Staten Island Moslems not to lose their faith!

The following story doesn't really require extensive comment.Accompanied by Monsignor Dorney, the pastor of Good Counsel and the parish's council, Cardinal Dolan visited the Albanian mosque on Victory Blvd. where he publicly denied his Faith by saying that we worshipped the same god as the Moslems; where he prayed with infidels to this supposed common God; where he gave an extended encomium to the Moslems for holding on to their faith and maintaining their own Moslem schools in America. Then, to everyone's embarrassment, the Cardinal lost all measure and began blathering effusively about "Your love of marriage and family, your love of children and babies, your love of freedom -- religious freedom particularly-- your defense of life, your desire for harmony and unity and your care for others, your care for God's creation and your care for those who are in need." The Moslems may be gaining a new convert in the near future!

""Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Messenger have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection." Koran 9:29

Is there anything this Cardinal will not do to demotivate the Faithful and appease our enemies? Is he even Catholic???? This ecumenical garbage about worshipping the same God has got to stop. We do not worship the same God as the Moslems or the Jews or any other non-Christian religion. If a person or object seems to have radically different characteristics to different people, then they are not talking about the same thing. For instance, if you and I were both looking at a cat and I described it as having fur, four legs, whiskers and a long tail, while you described it as having feathers, a beak and a a ten foot wing span, then we are not looking at the same thing. Nor are both of us right. Similarly, our God did not inspire Mohammed to write the Koran. Nor is he still keeping his Covenant with the Jewish people and planning to send a Messiah to them some day. Anyone who claims differently is not talking about our God. Our God is the True God and our Faith is the One True Faith. Why did Timothy Dolan become a priest if he doesn't believe that and isn't prepared to publicly proclaim that?

St. Francis overcame great obstacles to travel to Egypt and try to convert the Sultan.Yet, our Cardinal has himself driven across the Bridge to confirm the infidels in their error and in so doing deny his own Faith. What an example!

Giotto's "St. Francis Before the Sultan"

June is the cruelest month

This month marks the death of two old and beloved North Shore Catholic schools: Immaculate Conception and St. Joseph's.

In what little I'd seen of Immaculate Conception, I wasn't completely surprised by that decision, even though it seemed like they had a caring teaching staff, and a large student body who really loved their school and were enthusiastic about their education. After all,  the neighborhood is considered "low-income" and the student body is predominantly, if not completely, African American and Latino, which translates into tuition assistance schemes and high non-Catholic enrollment. The school simply couldn't support itself.

I was more surprised by the closing of St. Joseph, which is in the heart of still heavily Italian Rosebank. According to the article, the school only had 170 students. According to this article, when nearby St. Mary's school closed last year, "many" of the 57% of parents who chose to keep their children in the Catholic school system chose to send them to schools in New Dorp, Dongan Hills and Oakwood, rather than send them to St. Joseph's, which is just up the street. Why?

Was it because parents suspected that St. Joseph's would be next on the chopping block? Or was there some issue with the pastor or the principal (negative, but vague, comments about both seem to fill the comments section). I noted the lack of attendance and apathy at Mass there when I went. Certain comments in the silive articles state that the pastor notified the people of the situation for years and begged for help but no one did anything. The comments also say that parents were resentful about having to help out at Bingo and at school fairs. The previous article also noted that many of the student body come from "economically disadvantaged homes." Is there an angle to the story that we're not being told? What has happened to Rosebank? Does this "close-knit" Italian community only consist of nonno and nonni these days? Have the young people fled, which is what happened to so many North Shore communities and inner-city neighborhoods all over America? Can anyone enlighten us as to what is going on at St. Joseph's and in Rosebank?

Now the Cardinal has announced that St. Joseph's, St. Mary's and Immaculate Conception will be put under the leadership of one pastor, the Rev. Victor Buebendorf, the current pastor of St. Mary's who is most known for conducting an annual ecumenical Palm Sunday service with the nearby Episcopal church. Google tells us that he has an interest in liturgical music and is, or was, a member of the Staten Island Council of Churches, specializing in interfaith dialogue. The Cardinal is acknowledges that the 3 churches "will be working together to determine their future viability" over the next year and a half, after which it is possible that one or all of them may be closed. So my question is what will this man- who couldn't save his own parish's school and whose main focus seems to be ecumenical games- do to revitalize these three parishes before the Cardinal makes his final decision on January 1, 2015? Does he have a plan? Does anyone have a plan? Or a clue?

Mount Manresa to Mount McTownhouses. A Trust Betrayed.

It was announced that the Jesuit Order has found a buyer for the beautiful 15 acre Mount Manresa, the "birthplace of the lay retreat movement in the United States." The property has been sold for 15 million dollars to the Savo Brothers, a company which specializes in building the strip malls and gaudy McMansions which have ruined so much of Staten Island with incredibly hideous overdevelopment. To put this is perspective, the Northwestern Province of the Jesuits has agreed to pay 166 million to settle a sex abuse lawsuit. The New York Province so desperately needed this 15 million???

The faithful on Staten Island are understandably frustrated. Joseph Billotti, the long-time leader of the Rosary group at the Mount, notes that he had found a developer who would promise to save the chapel if the property had to be sold, but the Jesuits turned him down, in order to get a little more money from the Savo Brothers, I suppose. Billotti notes that through the years he had arranged for workmen and contractors to contribute labor and improvements to Mount Manresa free of charge. He also heard that religious artifacts that have been donated to Mount Manresa will either be moved to a Jesuit House in New Jersey or "bulldozed." The Rosary group, and other outraged citizens have banded together to stop the sale. Apparently, their efforts have amounted to starting a website, holding some rallies and getting 3,000 signatures on an online petition. These good (but naive) Catholics and citizens have apparently not learned the lesson of the past 50 years on Staten Island: the little people never win.

The Advance editors insultingly (but accurately) dismissed the opponents of the sale by saying that they were "several years too late and $15 million short." Easing up a bit, the editors then urged the Savo Brothers to save the chapel, suggesting its use as a "community center for plays, concerts and meetings."

That secular perspective seems to be the viewpoint of most people who have commented on the story, the majority of whom are, presumably, Catholic (this being Staten Island). They are upset that a large open space will be paved over and developed. They are upset that historic structures will be torn down. Some are even upset that buildings which hosted 9/11 first responders will be "desecrated." No one seems to be upset that the holy places of God are being bulldozed or that the Church is yet again beating a humiliating and demotivational retreat. It seems that all Staten Island Catholics are concerned about is the preservation of the property's bucolic condition. Like all native Staten Islanders, I hate townhouses and overdevelopment too, but it seems like we have our priorities a little askew.

The Jesuits and the media obliquely blame the laity for this, by saying that there's no interest in retreats anymore. I take exception to that. Since I visited Mount Manresa for an afternoon as a high school senior, I have heard nothing from them, directly to me or indirectly through my parish. Occasionally I would see a short notice of an upcoming retreat in the classified section of Catholic New York, but it is true that I had no interest in paying $100 for a weekend retreat. Surely, this wasn't the model for how they operated in their heyday? Can anyone enlighten us as to how Mount Manresa ran retreats 40 or 50 years ago? I would wager that there wasn't such a heavy financial requirement, and I would guess that parish priests were heavily involved in promoting parish retreats. In any case, in recent times the only things Mount Manresa was known for were their Zen Buddhist meditation sessions, Mandala classes, leftist speakers and other heterodox events. I would be putting my Faith at jeopardy to put in the hands of those disobedient Jesuits. The blather that was passed off as a sermon at the closing ceremony must be read to be believed.

The liars who ran the place knew, when they held their 100th anniversary gala in late 2011, that the property would be put up for sale within months. Yet one of their VIPs stated that "he hoped Mount Manresa would spend the next 100 years "offering the community what it needs." Generations of Catholics, who cultivated that property with labor and money thought they were in agreement with its Jesuit caretakers about what our community needed: a place of our own where we and our children could go for renewal and strengthening of our Catholic Faith. Let us reflect on the disingenuous wish of that VIP, when we observe the chapel and the holy grottoes being bulldozed into the ground and the statues of Jesus being smashed to pieces. The sale of Mount Manresa is nothing more than a trust betrayed.

The Dolan problem

When Archbishop Timothy Dolan was appointed Archbishop of New York, everyone seemed to have an opinion on the man even before he arrived. I decided to take a wait-and-see attitude and refrained from passing judgement publicly, even when approached by a certain media outlet. After he began his reign, his public record began to invite commentary, which I offered, judging his tenure to be a mixed bag. Now, after 4 years of Dolan (how time flies!) I think we can say that this man's record has been an unmitigated disaster for the Faith in New York.

Incredibly, Dolan has a reputation as a "conservative" and for some bizarre reason was even touted as papabile at the Conclave. I suppose mere words are enough to get a man a good reputation in the Church these days for Dolan to be considered any sort of orthodox prelate, let alone worthy of sitting in the Chair of St. Peter. I am unaware of anything the man has done to warrant such popularity and esteem except for constantly guffawing and cackling like some backslapping, red-faced Irish ward heeler. No, rather he has undermined the Faith here at every turn. As evidence:

• like several previous Cardinals here, he has been enthusiastic about playing ecumenical games by going to seders and engaging in interfaith prayer services, thereby denigrating the uniqueness of our Faith and spreading indifferentism among the Faithful. 
• he publicly applauded the gay pride group at the openly gay parish of St. Francis Xavier in Manhattan.
• he scandalously invited Barack Obama to the Al Smith dinner at the same time as this baby-murdering Nero was plotting to abolish religious freedom and force the Church to offer birth control to its employees.
• worst of all, except for writing a blog post and giving an interview to an Albany radio show, he did absolutely nothing to fight against the passage of gay marriage in NY State. When it was all over, he didn't excommunicate the politicians who voted for this abomination; he didn't even say a word about it from the pulpit. He did, however, write a blog post in which he apologized to gays who might have been offended by the Church's position against gay marriage!
• even though the Catholic school closings aren't his fault, he has come up with no alternative solution and has axed them with the alacrity of a Bolshevik Commissar. 
• he has never spoken out about anything of consequence, or at least not in any way that would suggest to his listeners that he expects them to do anything or that he is going to do anything about it. Denounce abortion? Sure, why not? Words are cheap. Refuse Communion to pro-abortion politicians or even excommunicate them? Oh my! That would be scary! What does his new evangelization look like? Fiery preaching? Public protests? Letter-writing campaigns? A renewal of Catholic devotional life? No. We've seen felt banners with banal slogans hung from church doors. His episcopacy has been one, long, demotivational exercise in cowardice and compromise.

Now, to top it all off, pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, pro-HHS Health Care mandate Vice President Joe Biden stopped in at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Palm Sunday and not only received a "shout-out" from the pulpit by the Cardinal but was permitted to receive Holy Communion, in defiance of Canon Law 915 and basic morality. Church Militant TV has just produced an amazing 10 minute special report on Dolan and Dolanism which is, in their definition, "subordination of the Catholic Faith to prevailing cultural mores." In addition to the things I've listed here, this segment adds persecution of Latin Mass priests to Dolan's charge-sheet. I encourage everyone to watch this explosive video.

Alert! Alert! Confession available!

Important alert! Important alert! Since Confession in this diocese is usually only offered for a few minutes a week at inconvenient times and is publicized with such muted and almost clandestine furtiveness that one would think it's a state secret, it is a significant news item that every single church in the NY Archdiocese (as well as those of Brooklyn and Rockville Centre) will be offering Confession from 3-9PM today, Monday March 25th.

I saw a full page ad in the Catholic New York announcing this event and it was also publicized on the front page of the bulletin at the church I've attended for a few Sundays. (Nothing remarkable about this place on the church-shopping front. Nothing great nor terrible. Maybe that's a good thing.) There's even a website associated with this. So bravo to the Cardinal for this initiative!

It is imperative to re-instill a conscience in a people who have lost any sense of sin, thanks to a cowardly Vatican II Church which simply stopped talking about the subject 4 decades ago. Hopefully, all the parishes will actually offer the Sacrament later today, unlike the last time I tried to avail myself of a Reconciliation Monday.

Take advantage of this very important gift. Wash away your sins before Easter. Don't buy into the lie, promulgated both by the secular culture and cowardly and/or modernist priests, that you are just fine and dandy so long as you haven't killed someone. If you have committed an unrepented mortal sin, then you are loathsome to God and will burn in Hell for eternity if you die. Are those harsh words to your ears? I'm sure they are, since you've most likely heard nothing but flattery and sentimental drivel all your lives, but it is God's truth and always has been. Examine your conscience very carefully and be purified tomorrow.

A fork in the road...

So a depraved and decadent nation, including a majority of nominal Catholics, re-elected Nero to a second term. Now that they can't count on a deus ex machina in the form of a President Romney saving them from the consequences of their decades-long collaboration with Democratic evil, the big question is what the bishops are going to do about the Health Care contraceptive mandate. Are they going to stand up like men or will they lie down like lambs? Are they going to compromise with evil or are they going to lead our church in civil disobedience to this vile regime and its attempt to make Catholics pay for what is sinful and loathsome? The next four years will undoubtedly be horrific, but fidelity and martyrdom always produce great fruit for Christ's Church.