He's a bishop, not a squishop
Pro-life Bishop Robert Vasa of the Diocese of Bend, Oregon, had been most famous for saying that he answers to Rome, not to the U.S. bishops' conference. Now he has said something just as great (click on this post's title to see it).
In his February 17 column in his diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Sentinel, Bishop Vasa wrote about heresy, saying, "There are...moral teachings [of the Church] that constitute a part of the deposit of faith that must be accepted and adhered to, 'firmly embraced and retained.'"
Bishop Vasa continued, "The truth is that God charges each of us with the duty to protect and defend innocent human life." Then he wrote that being "pro-choice" implicitly rejects "the clear and consistent teaching of the Church" and that voting for a pro-abortion politician because he or she is pro-abortion "is a type of declaration that the teaching of the Church, indeed the validity of the Fifth Commandment itself, is rejected."
Writing that "One brave soul has termed this present rejection of responsibility for one’s pre-born brother or sister the right-to-murder HERESY [emphasis added]," Bishop Vasa concluded, "Our kind and gentle Lord will certainly receive us and help us when we cry out to Him for He is 'meek and humble of heart,' but I suspect he will likewise not mince words with those who reject His Way and His Truth."
What would Bishop Vasa say about Cardinal Mahony, Cardinal McCarrick, soon-to-be Cardinal O'Malley and the other squishops and clergy who pal around with notorious pro-abortion Catholic politicians and even give them Communion? I think that in his February 17 column he has already said it.
In his February 17 column in his diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Sentinel, Bishop Vasa wrote about heresy, saying, "There are...moral teachings [of the Church] that constitute a part of the deposit of faith that must be accepted and adhered to, 'firmly embraced and retained.'"
Bishop Vasa continued, "The truth is that God charges each of us with the duty to protect and defend innocent human life." Then he wrote that being "pro-choice" implicitly rejects "the clear and consistent teaching of the Church" and that voting for a pro-abortion politician because he or she is pro-abortion "is a type of declaration that the teaching of the Church, indeed the validity of the Fifth Commandment itself, is rejected."
Writing that "One brave soul has termed this present rejection of responsibility for one’s pre-born brother or sister the right-to-murder HERESY [emphasis added]," Bishop Vasa concluded, "Our kind and gentle Lord will certainly receive us and help us when we cry out to Him for He is 'meek and humble of heart,' but I suspect he will likewise not mince words with those who reject His Way and His Truth."
What would Bishop Vasa say about Cardinal Mahony, Cardinal McCarrick, soon-to-be Cardinal O'Malley and the other squishops and clergy who pal around with notorious pro-abortion Catholic politicians and even give them Communion? I think that in his February 17 column he has already said it.
posted by Quintero at 4:38 PM
5 Comments:
May God please grant us more such holy bishops for we need good shepherds desperately!
Hey Quintero, I share your concerns about Mahony. But I'm sure you saw my comments on your previous post.
We had the great Archbishop (now Cardinal) Pell heading our Archdiocese until he was moved to Sydney. And it's been a bit of the old "one step forward, two steps back" here since. But I'm learning (as Credo is too) that we have to do five things:
1. Keep up the good fight
2. Acknowledge and praise good efforts and good intentions
3. Work to have intentions turned into positive action
4. Let our comments be guided by Truth AND Charity.
5. Take all these concerns daily before Our Lord in Adoration.
I do not feel comfortable with you lumping O'Malley with Mahony. The link I provided in the previous post certainly shows where O'Malley's heart lies. There is no hardness of heart there when it comes to what you and I would both acknowledge to be THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL ISSUE OF THE DAY - the issue of abortion. With prayer and encouragement and perhaps with time, O'Malley I believe will head in the opposite direction to Mahony on these sorts of issues. I know I'm an outsider, and he may not yet be a Vasa, but the derogatory term "squishop" just doesn't seem right when applied to him.
I wonder of Hiz Eminence would like to take a drive with the Senor Gasbag/Senator from Chapaquiddick. Of course If they drive of a bridge, they won't be falling into water, but, according to Dante, into a certain circle of hell.
. . . . just wondering
As for this poor Archdioses of Los Angeles:
How long, LORD? HOW LONG?!
Dear Venerable Aussie,
Thank you for your posts and your good recommendations. Please keep them coming!
I try to practice the desire to be very careful in what we say about others. But if I make a point or two about Archbishop O'Malley, I hope you'll understand me.
Of course, he does good things that deserve support. But there are some problems.
Soon-to-be-Cardinal O'Malley's policy boils down to this: He will give Communion to notorious, unrepentant politicians who time and again go out of their way to publicly defy Holy Mother Church by supporting the homosexual agenda and by promoting the killing of millions of BABIES.
Teddy Kennedy is guilty not only of those evils but of another one that few even know about: He is a direct persecutor of his fellow Catholics, including priests, who are pro-life activists.
Kennedy helped ramrod the FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act, which made it a federal crime to hold peaceful sit-ins to block abortionists from plying their bloody racket.
A photo showed Teddy Kennedy and his cronies grinning gloatingly and evilly as Clinton signed that monstrous persecution-of-priests-and-other-Catholics bill.
Can you blame pro-lifers for holding that the hierarchy and clergy should withhold Communion from such politicians? And for holding that excommunication might be in order, as a measure of charity -- toward the politicos for the good of their souls, and to enlighten the faithful?
It is not enough to leave it up to pro-aborts and persecutors whether to receive Communion. A bishop-like bishop would decide that.
Archbishop O'Malley was installed in Boston on July 30, 2003. The day before, his office said pro-abortion politicians should not receive. But both Teddy Kennedy and John Kerry, and probably other pro-aborts, received anyway.
By defying the new Archbishop in his first moments "in office," these powerful politicians spit in his eye like bullies saying, "What are you going to do about it?"
They were also spitting at the Bride of Christ, the Church.
Sure, they took advantage of the new Archbishop -- but he could have prevented that entirely by taking strong, bishop-like actions such as disinviting them ahead of time and by refusing Communion if they dared to show up.
Archbishop O'Malley did a good thing last December by refusing to attend a Boston Catholic Charities dinner that honored Thomas Menino, the notorious pro-abortion, pro-homosexual mayor of Boston.
But he could have taken an even stronger, bishop-like action by ordering Catholic Charities to disinvite Menino, and by scrubbing the dinner if they refused.
It would be hard for any bishop to keep up with the number of pro-abortion politicians that Cardinal Mahony has appeared with -- Bill Clinton, Gray Davis, Antonio Villaraigosa, etc., etc.
But we would all be so proud of ANY bishop who would take more forceful, bishop-like action against the pro-aborts -- any bishop who would act more like the slayings of tens of millions of babies are an emergency priority.
Let us pray that Cardinal O'Malley will be more actively pro-life and will also safeguard the Eucharist from pro-abortion politicians.
Dear Ken,
Thank you for reminding everyone about the Holy Communion situation in Boston.
Thank you, too, for reminding us all to pray for Bishop Robert Vasa of the Diocese of Baker, Oregon, now that he has written about the "right to murder" heresy.
Could you please tell us the time, date and place of your picketing of the Religious Ed Conference? Hope many of us will attend.
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