Catholic Voters Guide - Form a Good Conscience

Dissent Comes to Holy Trinity (Again)

Although Holy Trinity no longer advertises VOTF meetings (but they are still listed as the "sponsor" of the VOTF chapter in DC), it would seem to me that they are attempting to pick up the slack given that St. Al's is no longer operating.

On Oct. 6th, Sr. Simone Campbell will be speaking there on social justice. 

Yes, this is the same Sr. Campbell who did the "nuns on the bus" tour (who sponsored it, I would like to know), spoke at the Democrat Convention to criticise Rep. Paul Ryan and is willing to give her opinion on a number of other issues, but when it comes to abortion, she has none.

Here is the question asked of her by The Weekly Standard (Sept. 5, 2012):


TWS: On the legal question, do you think there should be penalties against abortion doctors? I mean, should it be illegal to perform abortions?
CAMPBELL: That’s beyond my pay grade. I don’t know.

You don't know?  Give me a break.

It is really shameful that a Catholic Church would give her any platform on which to speak. 

Hey, Hyattsville, did you know this?

The Wind of Change Comes to USCCB - Thanks Be To God!

When John Carr retired from the staff of the US bishops’ conference, after helping to shape the bishops’ statements on political issues for more then 25 years, we wondered whether his departure signaled a shift in USCCB policy. Today we have our answer: Yes, it does.  Jonathan J. Reyes, who will be taking Carr’s post in December, will be coming to Washington from Denver, where he was head of Catholic Charities. His work there, and especially his involvement in projects like “Christ in the City,” testify to his belief that Christian charitable work is inseparable from evangelization. In other words he sees charitable work as a witness to faith, not a call for government support.

The resumés of these two men provide a vivid contrast. Whereas John Carr was hired by the Carter administration, and worked for the White House Conference on Families. Reyes was hired by Archbishop Chaput, and worked for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. Carr sat on the board of the leftist Center for Community Change; Reyes is co-founder of the Augustine Institute. Carr will be taking a post at Harvard’s Kennedy School; Reyes is a former vice-president of Christendom College.

To read it all, go to Phil Lawler's On the News Column at Catholic Culture.Org. 

(thanks to the Curt Jester)

Ken from Greenbelt - A Life Saved from Rape

Pillar of Truth: The Church & the Modern Moral Cris

 Presenter: His Excellency Paul S. Loverde, DD, Bishop of Arlington

Time: Tuesday, September 18  @ 7:30 p.m. EST

 Location: St. James Catholic Church – Heller Hall

 Address: 905 Park Avenue, Falls Church, VA 22046

Do you know of a fairly conservative parish?

A reader has lamented the fact that his/her parish is simply driving him/her crazy.  In looking at the parish website, I can see some reasons why.

Can anyone recommend a good traditional pastor/parish in MoCo or PG County?  How about readers from the Diocese of Baltimore?

Thanks!!!

No tears shed for St. Aloysius

Normally, when I hear about the closing of a Catholic church, it saddens me. And that was the way I thought when I saw the headline in The Washington comPost (Sept. 9, 2012). But my thoughts changed, as I read the article a few times.

My reading reminded me of my my previous posts and the one time, of my recent visit.  In fact, the closing is actually a good thing and may be part of the very slow revival of a faithful Roman Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Washington.

So, we have the comment by a L. Tydings (of the People's Republic of Takoma Park), which leads many of us to believe that if you were a dissenter (pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, etc.), you were not only welcome but your views were respected and honored.

And the comment by Teddi Ann Galligan (DC) complaining about the church's stance of married and women priests. All I can say is; Hey lady, blame the fact that the Jesuits cannot attract young men to their order. Having seen them in action over the last few years, makes me wonder about their upholding of the faith, and could be one reason why men are not flocking to their order. Also, it was up to the Jesuits (although Cardinal Wuerl could have done something, if he wished) who refused to have it staffed by other orders or even to turn it over to the Archdiocese. Don't blame the Catholic Church. Look to the Jesuit's on this one Teddi Ann.

St. Al's was always a bed of dissent. It seemed to look the other way on homosexual relationships and was considered to be a very gay friendly church. It recently hosted a retreat by dissident Bishop Gumbleton (ret.). And, from the altar a parishioner was asking others to support the Occupy protesters.

So, I do not shed a tear for the closing of St. Al's.

September 11th

There are a couple of important happenings this week in the Archdiocese.  One is the preparations for the Synod.  (Did you get invited?) 

Second, is the letter from Cardinarl Wuerl to the Seminarians of the Archdiocese.  Here is an excerpt:

Your need to be well grounded in authentic Catholic teaching is important, first for your own participation in the great living, teaching tradition of the Church. One reason why you are required to take so many courses in Catholic teaching, history and philosophy is so that you are not only aware of the immense gift of the great Catholic tradition, but that you are also well prepared to access it, understand it, appropriate it and share it. Your formation should introduce you to the thought of the Fathers of the Church, the saints over centuries, the wisdom of Church Councils and the constant teaching found particularly in the Papal Magisterium.

There is also a pastoral reason for your initiation into and appreciation of the received teaching of the Church. You will, God willing your ordination, be ministering to many who have, unfortunately, been instructed in their college/university experience to accept what can be described as Catholic teaching/theology done within the “hermeneutic of discontinuity.” For reference to this term, we can turn to the address of Pope Benedict XVI to the Roman Curia December 22, 2005.

Essentially the hermeneutic of discontinuity is a defective lens through which Catholic teaching is seen. This perspective tends to accept as a starting point a rupture between the Church’s teaching prior to the Second Vatican Council and anything that follows on the Council. Our Holy Father pointed out the disruptive and harmful qualities of the acceptance of discontinuity in the life of the Church. Teachings that were never accepted as a part of Christ’s Gospel are announced now as new teaching in the “spirit” of the Council. He also noted that the hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture has “frequently availed itself of the sympathies of the mass media, and also one trend of modern theology.”

This mentality that evaluates Church teaching through the perspective of discontinuity permeated the teaching faculties of a number of Catholic schools. Thus, there are many who do not know well the Church’s intellectual tradition and the reasons for her teaching, especially her moral and social justice teaching. To them you will need to be a voice of invitation, re-proposing Christ, his Church and his teaching.


http://www.dcpriest.org/meet-us/news/801-cardinal-wuerl-writes-letter-to-seminarians-on-intellectual-formation

DeMatha Football Players Kicked Off Team

From NBC...

Five DeMatha High School football players have been removed from the team after apparently hiring three prostitutes last weekend.

Two have been withdrawn from the school, Erika Gonzalez reports, and two more are facing expulsion.

A parent said that some of the boys had sexual intercourse with the prostitutes after hiring them over the internet. They apparently brought the women to a hotel room early Saturday morning after a win in North Carolina.

More here.

Catholic Humor for a Friday...

This is the story of the blonde flying in a two-seater airplane with just the pilot.

He has a heart attack and dies. She, frantic, calls out a May Day.
"May Day! May Day! Help me! Help me! My pilot had a heart attack and is
dead. And I don't know how to fly. Help me! Please help me!"

She hears a voice over the radio saying:

"This is Air Traffic Control and I head you loud and clear. I will talk you
through this and get back on the ground. I've had a lot of experience with
this kind of problem. Now just take a deep breath. Everything will be fine!
Now give me your height and position"

She says, "I'm 5'4" and I support Obama."

"O.K." says the voice on the radio....

 "Repeat after me: Our Father. .  Who art in Heaven. . . .."

A Little Humor for a Friday

A professor - an atheist - was teaching a college class and he told the class that he was going to prove that there is no a God.
He said, "God if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you 15 minutes!"

Ten minutes went by. He kept taunting God, saying, "Here I am God, I'm still waiting"

He got down to the last couple of minutes and a BIG 240 pound football player happened to walk by the door and heard about what the professor said.

The football player walked in the classroom and in the last minute, he walked up, hit the professor full force, and sent him flying off the platform.

The professor got up, obviously shaken and said, "Where did you come from, and why did you do that?"

The football player replied, "God was busy. He sent me."

Today is...NATIONAL EMPTY CHAIR DAY