Marian statue vandalized outside of the National Shrine

 From ABC 7 News:

A case of vandalism at D.C.'s most notable Catholic church has been turned over to police, just days before one of the major feast days for Catholics in the United States.

A statue of Our Lady of Fatima outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception was vandalized Sunday night, church staff told EWTN reporter Mark Irons.

A tweet from Irons stated someone had cut the nose and folded hands off the statue, and the cross on top of the statue's crown had also been removed.

 

+Gregory Cancels Pontifical Mass at Shrine on Aug. 14th

From Rorate Caeli: 

A pontifical high Mass had been planned for 14 August in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

Following Pope Francis' motu proprio ...Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Washington, demanded the celebrant of the planned 14 August Mass -- Archbishop Thomas Gullickson -- submit a formal request for permission.  Mind you, all permissions had already been attained prior to the motu proprio. 

Today, Archbishop Gullickson received a reply from Cardinal Gregory.  Permission:  denied.

Read the full story here at RORATE CAELI. 

 

All I can say is you cannot trust +Gregory. 

 

 

 

Does the National Shrine under Msgr. Rossi Uphold Catholic Values?

Do you think that Msgr. Rossi and the National Shrine uphold Catholic values?   

This person has been in their employment for a few years. 

A Letter re Msgr. Rossi Investigation

How can Archbishop Gregory answer for a legal action that was recently taken against BNSIC during the Monsignor Rossi investigation and how he didn't make that public.

A Guest Blogger on the situation at the National Shrine...

I normally do not let others write pieces for my blog.  I think, but I would have to check, I did it only once in the 13 years I have been posting.  

Given the fact that +Gregory and +Bambera whitewashed the entire Msgr. Rossi investigation, I thought that I should give someone, who had an inside view, a chance to let us know, about some of the "characters," who are part of the inside circle.

++++++++++++++


Alexandra Thurman, is called a "Daughter of the Shrine."  She is an consummate insider and always seems to be where the action is.  

She has volunteered for over five (5) years and has seen many of the misdeeds of Msgr. Rossi.

So we have to ask ourselves:  

• What is she hiding on his behalf?  
• How does she afford to go on 'fancy trips to Rome with Monsignor Rossi' and the other priests at the Shrine. 
• What makes this volunteer so special that she gets all these perks that other volunteers don't?  
• Is this a case of Msgr. Rossi using his position to reward those who are loyal to him. 

In a conversation with a shrine source, she bragged arrogantly that "Monsignor Rossi knows who is loyal to him in the building." 

She was also aware of the two guards who stole from the collection boxes, that pilgrims from far and wide give to those less fortunate than ourselves. 

She should not be considered a Daughter of the Shrine.  

She is an enabler of Msgr. Rossi, like many others.  She is a con-woman, lying to the rest of us for her own selfish reasons.

Catholic Standard Update (Feb. 6, 2020 Edition)

Well Folks, let the trumpets blare and the children scream in delight, as I bring you another Catholic Standard update.  I do it, so that I will suffer for you, so that you don't have to, unless you want to. 

• Still no mention of the Msgr. Rossi investigation

• Still no mention of the stabbing at the National Shrine

• Still no mention of how much was raised in the 2019 Annual Appeal

• Do you get the impression that there is a lot not being said these days?  

• Nice articles on Coach Wootten's legacy

• Follow-up articles on Catholic Schools Week.  +Gregory was everywhere visiting children, getting photo ops, etc.  That must be why he hasn't mentioned the Msgr. Rossi investigation.  He is sooooo busy.  

• Recognizing religious priests, brothers and sisters, who celebrated 25 or more years.  Congratulations.

• Articles on the deaths of two prominent Catholics: Mary Higgins Clark & Kobe Bryant.  Did you know that they were Catholic?

• Two articles on President Trump speaking at the Pro-Life March.  What I find interesting about this article, was the fact that there were a number of quotes by priests, who attacked/question his being pro-life. I don't remember this when were were talking about "health care for all."  For example, you have protests by a couple of Franciscans, who are also protesting about climate change, immigration, etc.  My question, and I don't know the answer, were these Franciscans protesting in previous years, and if yes, why are you taking away from the messaging of the day?    If they weren't protesting the same way in previous years, why?     In addition, there was some priest from Annapolis ranting about how Trump was not pro-life.  Wonders if he said the same about Obama.  

Annual Appeal Has Begun - Don't Give

Well folks, the Annual Appeal has begun.

The Catholic Standard (Arch. of Washington Official Newspaper) in their last edition, did a HUUUGE spread on what the appeal spends their money on.  

This is a HUUUGE change from when I first started to write about this in 2008 or so.  Back then, it was a one page flier and no questions were asked.

I remember asking questions, sending emails, and not getting much of a response, until I started to blog about it.  Then, we began to see more marketing on it.  However, the marketing is basically the same, year after year.

This year (2020) the Archdiocese did not publish -- anywhere -- how successful they were in 2019.  Why?  Because they only reached about 70-75%% of their goal -- that is my estimation.   

Considering how +Gregory talks about being open and honest, we still know nothing about the Msgr. Rossi investigation and the Archdiocese did not talk about (in any manner) the injuring of guards at the National Shrine.  

In addition, although +Gregory loves to talk about Catholic Schools, he was willing to let one close and left it up to the pastor and parents of St. Bartholomew to figure it out.  For shame.

And remember, +Gregory is a supporter of James Martin and loves +Bernadin.

As usual...

DON"T GIVE

Figure out a way to give directly to your parish -- and mark your donation as such:

• Pay for the sacramental wine for one or more months
• Pay for the hosts for one or more months
• Sponsor an edition of the Parish Bulletin
• Pay for the tabernacle candle
• Pay for a piece of equipment that may be neeed
• Pay for some new signage
• Purchase a couple of cases of copier/printer paper.  That is something that parishes always run through.

The key is to ensure that your $$ stays in the parish and does not go directly to the Archdiocese.   Make certain to indicate that the donation is for that item specifically.

What's Happening with the Msgr. Rossi Investigation?

Listen to George Neumayr on The Angry Catholic Podcast to hear what he knows about the Msgr. Rossi (National Shrine) investigation.  Go to the 47:30 minute mark to begin.

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-mtzze-7fa558e

What +Gregory has time for and no time for.

+Gregory posted on twitter (January 7th) that he had spent a few hours visiting the African-American Museum.  

Now, I have nothing wrong with him visiting the museum.  

However, I do have an issue, and I let him know that via Twitter.

How can he spend time visiting the museum but has not had any time in the last five (5) months to even mention, the investigation of Msgr. Rossi at the Shrine.

Of course, there was no response.  

You claimed that you would be open but you have not.  

For shame.  

Nineteen Emails...

19.

That is the number of emails I received from the Shrine in the month   Some are direct appeals for money, usually through the sale of a product.  Those that talk about a specific event, always have a button asking for donations.

To receive that many emails, must mean they are hurting.

Catholic Standard Update for Nov. 28th

Well, let's start off with the obvious: There is no mention of the Msgr. Rossi investigation at the National Shrine.  He continues just as he has done for years and +Gregory is just enabling it.  Even the advertisement regarding Mass times has Rossi's name still on it.  The Archdiocese has no shame. 

Let's take a look at some of the other stories in the Catholic Standard:

• 125th Anniversary of St. Cyprian
• There is a page and a half article on the Francis Factor with +Gregory, as part of a panel discussion.  One of the panelists is John Carr.  You may remember his, as being part of the USCCB, where he was responsible for shaping the political message.  He was a leftist, and still is.  From the USCCB he went to Harvard and is now at left leaning Georgetown.  You can read the nonsense from +Gregory and Carr there.  However, you probably should save your time.
• A short article about the Pope's visit to Japan and nukes.
• An article on retired sisters.
• A Capuchine priest sentenced to 15 years for child sex abuse in August.  He served at the Shrine from 2014 to 2018.  Wonders if Msgr. Rossi knew anything about this?
• Full page article on St. Cyprian and diversity
• Article on St. Martin's in Gaithersburg and diversity
• Article on one of the Sisters of Mercy. 
• Interfaith Council of Washington.  Again, taking the que from +Francis, we seem to have more and  more about the feel good interfaith meetings, etc.  
• Victory Housing marks 40 years.  
• Leo Nester's death.  

Guess What is Still Missing from the Catholic Standard?

Yes, you guessed it, there is still no mention of the investigation of Msgr. Rossi, assigned to the National Shrine.

We have stories on:

• the Kidane-Mehret Ethiopian Catholic Church
• a Midway battle veteran (thank you for your service!)
• the priest convocation
• DACA (which BTW was an illegal action, but tell that to CLINIC)
• Carmelite Cloister at Port Tobacco

And yet, there is no room for a story on the investigation of Msgr. Rossi.

You think that they are covering it up????

BTW, Archbishop Gregory will be at Christ the King Church on East-West Highway in Silver Spring this weekend.  

Wonder if I should set-up a large sign, asking about the investigation.

Another Scandal at the Shrine!

According to the Standards of Conduct in the employee handbook for the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception given by a direct shrine inside source, 

You can go to Facebook for the full story.

Once again,  Msgr. Rossi must go.

Thanks to TradCatholic!

Guess What's Missing from this Week's Catholic Standard?

Well, the Catholic Standard came out this week and I was unable to get it on Friday's like normal (bad, Melvin, bad).

And after looking through it there was not one, but two things missing:

Yep, you guessed it, there was still no story on the investigation of Msgr. Rossi at the Basilica.  

Not a peep, not a word. Silence.  

It has been over 2.5 months since the investigation was announced by the Diocese of Scranton.  However, not a word from the Archdiocese of Washington.

Wonder if they have interviewed George Neumayr.  Probably not!

It will be a whitewash and at most, just a slap on the wrist.

Now, there is something else missing from the Catholic Standard:  No mention of Fr. James Martin, SJ, speaking at Holy Trinity in DC on Oct. 20th.   There was no mention of it in the story (Oct. 17th edition) on the 225th anniversary of Holy Trinity.   Nor is there any mention of it in this week's edition.  (Got a screen shot of the bulletin, just in case.)

I mean, I though everyone loved Fr. James!  +Gregory has welcomed him when he was in Atlanta.  +Francis has a one-on-one convo with him.  

But, this is typical of the Catholic Standard.  Do I think that the editor, Mark Zimmerman, is behind this.  Nope, this comes from the top.