Can you say, ditto? February 10, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in General Catholic, Society.comments closed
Mark Mallett is a Catholic lay minister and preacher who travels extensively in Canada. He has seen the disintegration of the Church in Canada, the literal disestablishmentarianism that dominates the culture there, and gives a very accurate description of that process.
Most of what he says can be directly applied to the United States. We too have witnessed the collapse of morals, the vacancy of moral teaching from the pulpit, and the steady decline of the Church in any category you choose: vocations, Church attendance, formation, divorce, contraception, divorce. There are many reasons for this decline, but primarily, we the laity have let ourselves down, and we have been let down by our leadership. There are too few voices clamoring, shouting, standing athwart the world’s headlong descent into immorality and yelling STOP!
I pray every day for our Church and its reinvigoration. I pray that Catholics will come to realize the awesome treasure they, we, so easily forsake. We have access to the Truth, the only Truth that matters in the Universe, and we weak, foolish men so often throw it away in exchange for the ephemeral pleasures of the world. The best, the only way to come to know Jesus as fully as possible within our very limited human means, is through the Church Christ Himself established. To try to remake it into something more acceptable to heretics, to try to make it less challenging to the world, is a tragic mistake.
I pray we stop making that mistake, and return to the Truth of His Church.
Medina the most pro-life candidate February 10, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in Abortion, Society.comments closed
I generally try to stay away from politics on this blog, but there is a hotly contested Republican primary going on in Texas for governor, and of the three candidates, one is demonstrably the pro-life candidate. Kay Bailey Hutchison is actually somewhat pro-abort, and Perry is pro-life insofar as it is politically expedient. But Debra Medina is as rock solid pro-life as you can be – she is utterly opposed to abortion, in all cases. In her mind, rape or incest to not change the fact that the baby is still God’s creation we do not have the right to destroy.
I am not telling anyone whom to vote for, but when it comes to life issues, Medina is the strongest.
A small pro-life victory February 10, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in Abortion, General Catholic.comments closed
An abortion clinic in Alabama, close to EWTN and Mother Angelica’s Shrine in Hanceville, has been put on probation by the state of Alabama for repeated violations of the law. Specifically, it has been found that the Planned Parenthood clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, has been providing abortions to children as young as 13 without notifying their parents, and has been involved in actions to cover up evidence of sexual abuse.
Lila Rose of Live Action was instrumental in gathering the evidence showing systemic violations of abortion laws in many states by Planned Parenthood. I don’t care what Planned Parenthood, their advocates, or their allies say, Planned Parenthood is an organization whose sole goal and purpose is to continue its lucrative practice of killing as many babies as possible. Planned Parenthood will lie, cheat, and deceive as many women as possible to do so. Planned Parenthood was founded by a known racist and eugenicist, and continually places its clinics in locations with a majority of minority residents. Unfortunately, Planned Parenthood is very successful – african american women have abortions at over three times the rate of caucasian women, and hispanics at over twice the caucasian race. Almost 40% of pregnancies in african american women end in abortion.
Explaining Papal Infallibility February 10, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, General Catholic.comments closed
I monitor goings on in the Anglo-Catholic community a little, since I come from an Episcopal background. Anglo-Catholics are those Anglicans that most, ahhhh…..emulate, Catholic practices and beliefs. This can include veneration of Mary, believing in the Real Presence in the Eucharist (although, Anglicans are incapable of transubstantiation), and all of Roman Catholic moral doctrine. Anglo-Catholics are the most likely Anglicans to enter the Catholic Church under the ordinariate created by Pope Benedict XVI with Anglicanorum Coetibus.
One thing alot of Anglo-Catholics have traditionally had a problem with is Papal Infallibility. In fact, of all Catholic doctrines, few are more misunderstood that this one. In an effort to cast some light on the subject, Angl0-Catholic blog has a post up discussing this doctrine. The post explains that Papal Infallibility has nothing to do with what most people think: that the Pope is somehow perfect in everything he thinks, says, or does. That is completely wrong. Papal Infallibility is very limited, pertaining only to doctrines the Pope proclaims with the guidance of the Holy Spirit on subjects related to faith and morals, and only when he does so in direct conjunction with the Magisterium of the Church. So, if the Pope gives an audience and says “red meat is bad for you,” that doesn’t mean the Church now infallibly teaches this is so. It also doesn’t mean that the Pope can’t sin – Popes are human, and have as great a potential for sin as any of us.
Anglo-Catholic kindly reprints the sections of the Catechism that deal with this issue. I hope alot of people will read it, so they can have a better understanding of the nature of, and limits to, papal infallibility.
I wish that every Bishop would conclude that the Pope was infallible in the wishes he expressed in Summorum Pontificum. Ah, I can dream……….
More USCCB news February 10, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in foolishness, General Catholic, scandals.comments closed
And it ain’t good. More scandals have broken, including the fact that the USCCB is both a dues paying member and a fundraiser for an organization called LCCHR. LCCHR pushes for gay marriage and general ‘gay rights,’ among other types of civil rights agitation. Others are beginning to more loudly question a hypothetical I raised a short while back, asking whether the USCCB should be done away with.
The USCCB has an operating budget of about $150 million per year. Some of that money comes from their preferred source, various governments, but much of it comes from the Catholic faithful.
Feel as if you’re getting your money’s worth?
UPDATE: LCCHR also is a major supporter of very liberal abortion rights. Yay!
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