Remedial action!

Two bits of good news:

First -- About those sisters who say they are pro-abortion: Archbishop Chaput has written someone who complained about them; he says the sisters are not under his authority but are answerable to Rome, so he is going to write Rome about them. Good for him!

Second -- About Most Holy Redeemer Parish in "Frisco," where reports have said Fr. Stephen Meriwether, who is the pastor there and also the chancellor of the SF Archdiocese, has been letting the anti-Catholic, homosexual, blasphemously named "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence" meet at a parish facility:

The great Catholic pro-family activist Allyson Smith today announced this:

"Today I received the following response from San Francisco Archdiocesan spokesman Maurice Healy regarding the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence bingo games at Most Holy Redeemer parish. If you post my letter to your groups or websites, please post this as well. The SF Archdiocese is to be congratulated (at least at this point) for its speedy and pointed response:"

Maury Healy wrote:
Subject: RE: Open letter to Fr. Stephen Meriwether: How DARE you allow the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at MHR???Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2006 09:41:34 -0800From: "Maury Healy" To: allyson

"Statement by the Archdiocese of San Francisco

"Permission to use Ellard Hall should not have been given to the group [the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence]. The Archdiocese of San Francisco has directed the parish to end the arrangement immediately. For years the group has directed contempt and ridicule at Catholic faith and practices. The particular targets of the group’s derision are women in religious communities, for whom Catholics, and many non-Catholics, have a special reverence and respect.

"Fr. Meriwether is on leave from his duties."

All kudos to our friends Allyson Smith and Kenneth Fisher for publicizing the atrocity so effectively and for getting fast results! It can be done!

But how did SF get to the point where the chancellor of the archdiocese could do something like that, and have it approved or overlooked?

Pro-abortion sisters

Lots of things to blog about lately, such as the possible indult for the Tridentine Mass (watch the liberals sabotage it) and such as the upcoming election.

But try on for size the news (click on this post's title) about the pro-abortion sisters.

How did we get to the point where any Catholic sisters could be for aborting BABIES, and could be so defiant as to say so publicly?

How did we get to the point where these pro-abortion sisters are so arrogant as to think they have the moral high ground?

How did we get to the point where these pro-abortion sisters' superiors, and their bishops, do nothing and just let them get away with being for aborting BABIES?

When will some bishops excommunicate these pro-abortion sisters?

More to follow on this story, maybe.

A bishop speaks out

Click on this post's title for a powerful recent address by Bishop Bruskewitz. Here is his conclusion:

"...The dynamism, the Teilhardism, the Communism, the Marxism, the Socialism, and countless other isms of the last centuries will never be successfully confronted either, apart from a reinvigorated and grace-filled Catholic faith. This duty to profess again, not just with mouth and words, but with heart and soul, the Catholic faith, the profession of faith, is incumbent, not simply upon priests, religious, and bishops, preoccupied as they are and assailed as they are by abominable scandals in their number and confusion in their thoughts, but also by a laity that takes again very seriously what Chesterton observed. 'There are an infinity of angles at which one can fall, but only one at which one can stand.' Once the Catholic faith is flaming alive in the hearts of a dedicated laity, they will be able to carry out the function that the Second Vatican Council places upon them, to bring Christ and the truth of his faith and the truth of the faith He founded into the market place, into the work place, into the home and family, into the realm of politics, business, industry, commerce, the professions, arts and culture.

"In summary, a laity that will be the salt, the leaven and the light that will penetrate our world. Initially, there were only twelve apostles, largely shabby fishermen from Galilee, who were able, with the grace of God and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to bring the light of Christ to 2000 and more years of human history. Why should we think we are any less capable, provided that we are people of prayer, dedication and devotion, of doing something similar in our time and place. Let it be our prayer that God will give us here and now, the ability to dare to be different, and to stand for Christ whatever the cost, and to convince our world that our Catholic faith is so beautiful that all people would wish it to be true, and then to inform our world in the most certain terms that it is true. Thank you very much."

Let's be there: Cathedral to host Yes on 85 event this Sunday, Oct. 29

YES on 85 Big Event this Sunday evening, Oct. 29, at L.A. Archdiocese Cathedral

7 to 8:30 PM at the the Los Angeles Cathedral Conference Center.

Please help spread the word: Everyone is invited, including Pastors, Priests, Respect Life Chairmen, all Parishioners too!

This event is open to Catholics and non-Catholics, too -- to everyone who supports Prop 85

YES on 85 Big Event for the Parents' Right to Know and Child Protection Initiative

You are Invited: Bring your family and friends. Everyone is welcome. (Media will be invited, too!)

Come and see the latest Prop 85 Video Spots - Special Large-Screen Presentation

Pick up your Yard Signs - Flyers - Bumper Stickers - Road Signs - DVDs

Hear inspiring special guest speakers

DATE and TIME: Sunday, October 29, 7:00- 8:30 p.m.

LOCATION: Los Angeles Cathedral Conference Center, Our Lady of Angels Cathedral
555 Temple Street (Temple and Grand, off 101 Freeway), Downtown Los Angeles

Come Meet Proposition 85 Grassroots Leaders:
Maria Elena Kennedy, California Grassroots Coordinator
Astrid Bennett Gutierrez, President of Hispanics for Life
J.T. Finn, Publisher of LoveMatters.com andSpecial Advisor to Prop 85 campaign
Catherine Short, co-author of Prop 85 text
Rob Pennington, State Leader of Evangelicals forProp 85

For more information call 866-828-8355 and visit: www.Yeson85.net

New bishop comes out swinging

A new bishop has said more about pro-life and pro-family in the first hour of his tenure than some bishops have said in years.

He is Bishop Paul Swain of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, made a bishop yesterday. Here is an excerpt about him from today's Sioux Falls Argus Leader (click on this post's title):

"Bishop Paul Swain came out swinging Thursday. Within an hour of being ordained a Roman Catholic bishop and installed as the eighth leader of the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls, he had spoken out on two issues on the Nov. 7 ballot.

"'I'm proud to say that the first vote I will cast as a South Dakotan will be yes for Referred Law 6,' Swain said, to applause and a standing ovation.

"Referred Law 6 is the abortion ban, which was passed by the state Legislature earlier this year and will be decided by voters. It outlaws all abortions except those done to save a pregnant woman's life.

"'This law is not perfect legislation, but it will better respect and protect the vulnerable,' Swain said. He also said he would vote yes on Constitutional Amendment C.

"Approval of Amendment C would amend the South Dakota Constitution to recognize marriages between only a man and a woman.

"Swain said he was not judging or demeaning anyone by doing so but preserving the common good and encouraging family life."

Bishop Swain has made a good start. Let's hope and pray the liberals do not wear him down.

LMU will host a "Missa Gaia"

The print edition of the October 27 issue of The Tidings (the online edition is not posted on that paper's site, but you can click on this post's title tomorrow and presumably it will be) carries an article, "LMU Forum draws prominent environmentalists."

The article is about this year's Bellarmine Forum, Oct. 29-Nov. 3, at Loyola Marymount U. in L.A. The theme is, "Earth to You: Do Something Now." The invitees include Bobby Kennedy Jr., Jean-Michel Cousteau and Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard.

St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621), for whom the Forum is named, would want his name withdrawn this year. Listen to this Tidings paragraph:

"The Oct. 29 kick-off event is a Missa Gaia (Earth Mass), 8 p.m. at the Sacred Heart Chapel with Jesuit Father John Coleman presiding. The contemporary liturgy celebrates the whole earth as a sacred space by integrating recorded sounds such as the calls of wolves, whales, eagles and seals."

The "Missa Gaia" debuted at an Episcopalian cathedral, and Unitarian Universalists like it.

"Missa Gaia" composer Jim Scott has written, "When we began neither Paul [Winter] or I had ever been to a Mass...We took the name of the Greek goddess Gaia after the writings of James Lovelock, whose 'Gaia hypothesis' is that all of life on earth and the earth itself comprises a single living entity that is self-sustaining and, of course, evolving."

"Missa Gaia" writer Paul Winter has written, "The idea of writing a Mass seemed far-flung. I had never even been to a Mass!...Could a Mass celebrate a vision of the entire Earth as a cathedral? Dean Morton assured me it could. Could Mass music be based on themes from whales and wolves? 'You can write a Mass on anything', the Dean said. I did have a fine melody from a wolf that fit perfectly with the words 'Kyrie Eleison.'"

There you have it -- the wolves are in the sheepfold. Here is a quote from a great Catholic author and journalist:

"A post-Christian belief system is taking over – one that sees the earth as a living being mythologically, as Gaia, Earth Mother – with mankind as her consciousness...Such worship of the universe is properly called cosmolatry." —Donna Steichen, Ungodly Rage, p. 237

The seals that the Tidings story mentions are baby seals. Too bad the "Missa Gaia" does not incorporate a moment of silence for the endangered species of preborn baby humans -- the preborn baby girls and boys of the silent scream, whom abortionists stab in the skull with scissors and suck their brains out or slice their limbs and heads off with curettes. All of these millions of crimes against humanity about 990 of 1,000 "environmentalists" endorse and support by voting for flaming pro-abortion politicians decade after decade.

What if someone composed a "Missa Infans" for preborn infants? Such a Mass the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem would attend from Heaven, as would their once bereaved but now reunited and rejoicing moms, and Baby Jesus would be there, too.

Think Loyola Marymount would ever host a Mass like that?

More on the Amy Berg film

Today's San Francisco Chronicle ran a review (click on this post's title) of the Amy Berg documentary "Deliver Us from Evil" about the O'Grady sex abuse case in the Diocese of Stockton, which was under then-Bishop Roger Mahony, 1980-1985.

The U.S. government deported O'Grady to his native Ireland in 2000 after he served half of a 14-year sentence here. The Chronicle article says, "...according to Berg, [O'Grady] has fled Ireland in the wake of publicity about the movie. His whereabouts are unknown, a frightening development to those he abused decades ago, who are still haunted by him."

The Chronicle quotes Cardinal Mahony spokesman Tod Tamberg as calling the film "an obvious anti-[C]hurch hit piece.'' The article continues:

"In a phone interview with The Chronicle, Tamberg said, 'Everyone should be saddened by the kind of emotional and spiritual devastation that these kind of child molesters can wreak on individuals and families. That said, this movie is incredibly biased and omits many facts that would've changed the assumption the movie makes.'"

The review continues: "The movie, Tamberg added, 'is chock full of attorneys and expert witnesses who make millions of dollars every year in abuse litigation against the [C]hurch. It's a big advertisement for them.'''

Okay, Tod, what facts does the film omit?

21 Catholic colleges for 2006

The September 24-30 issue of the National Catholic Register carries a "2006 Collegiate Guide" that lists 21 Catholic colleges and universities that positively answered 10 survey questions about their Catholic identity. Here they are, with their locations in parens:

Aquinas College (Nashville)
Augustine Institute (Denver)
Ave Maria U. (Naples, Fla.)
Belmont Abbey College (Belmont, NC)
The Catholic Distance U. (Hamilton, VA)
The Catholic U. of America (Wash., DC)
Christendom College (Front Royal, VA)
College of St. Thomas More (Fort Worth)
Franciscan U. of Steubenville (OH)
Holy Apostles College and Seminary (Cromwell, CT)
John Paul the Great Catholic U. (San Diego)
Magdalen College (Warner, NH)
Our Lady of Corpus Christi (Corpus Christi, TX)
St. Gregory's U. (Shawnee, OK)
Southern Catholic College (Dawsonville, GA)
Thomas Aquinas College (Santa Paula, CA)
Thomas More College of Liberal Arts (Merrimack, NH)
U. of Dallas (Irving, TX)
U. of Sacramento (Sacramento)
U. of St. Thomas (Houston)
Walsh U. (North Canton, OH)

Also, there is a Catholic high school "honor roll" for 2006 at: www.chshonor.org

Cardinals and "red flamers"

This week's remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 should remind all of us that atheistic Communism is the mortal enemy of all mankind and especially the Church.

“See to it, venerable brethren, that the faithful do not allow themselves to be deceived! Communism is intrinsically evil, and no one who would save Christian civilization may collaborate with it in any undertaking whatsoever.” — encyclical Divini Redemptoris (On Atheistic Communism), Pope Pius XI

Catholics should have nothing to do with Communism or its sympathizers and fellow travelers, or with socialism and radical leftism, either.

Considering the millions of Catholics, including cardinals, bishops, priests, sisters, brothers and lay people, whom Communism has imprisoned, enslaved, tortured and killed and continues to oppress and kill right now, Catholics should avoid even the appearance of not condemning Communism, socialism and radical leftism.

So why do Cardinal Mahony and other clerics in our Archdiocese seem to support the work of the late Saul Alinsky's radical leftist Industrial Areas Foundation? Is that prudent?

And is it prudent for the Cardinal to appear from time to time with pro-abortion radical leftist Dolores Huerta, who is not a Communist but who received a "Red Flame Award" in March 2005 "for outstanding progressive leadership," as noted in the official Communist Party USA newspaper, the People's Weekly World ? (Click on this post's title.) Said that newspaper, "The award’s name is based on the nickname of Anne Burlak Timpson, an outstanding labor organizer and leader of the CPUSA."

Much better for the Cardinal and other clerics to appear with anti-Communists from now on.

Hungary's noble Freedom Fighters -- 50th Anniversary

Monday, October 23, is a day we must all commemorate: The 50th anniversary of the start of the Hungarian Revolution, in which the heroic people of Hungary rose up against their Soviet oppressors and by force of arms established freedom for a brief but golden span of days before the U.S. government's behind-the-scenes betrayal and Communist treachery and slaughter overwhelmed them.

All praise and honor to Hungary's immortal Freedom Fighters, who died by the tens of thousands in the cause of liberty. We should pray for the repose of their souls.

Any Catholic liberal fans out there of Castro, the Sandinistas and other Reds need to REPENT for loving the atheists who murder, torture and imprison our fellow Catholics and all who love liberty. (Look up Oscar Elias Biscet, a pro-life physician whom Castro holds in prison.)

The monument to the Freedom Fighters, pictured above, is in our very own MacArthur Park. Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty, Primate of Hungary, blessed this monument on June 14, 1974.

The Freedom Fighters liberated Cardinal Mindszenty from a prison where the vile Communists had held him for eight years. Here is the Cardinal's own account of their rescue of him:

http://historicaltextarchive.com/books.php?op=viewbook&bookid=13&cid=4

Incidentally, the Norbertines of St. Michael's Abbey in Silverado possess personal belongings of Cardinal Mindszenty.

Cardinal Mindszenty, giant of the Faith, pray for today's millions of Catholics and others still under Communist oppression, and pray for each of us and for our Archdiocese! Amen.

Another court stomps on the Church

The AP says (click on this post's title) that New York's state court of appeals ruled 6-0 today that Catholic Charities of New York and other Catholic social service agencies that provide health insurance coverage for their employees "must" include contraception in that coverage.

This is a blatant anti-Catholic act by those judges. Listen to this from the AP story:

"The organizations 'believe contraception to be sinful,' the Court of Appeals said. 'We must weigh against (their) interests in adhering to the tenets of their faith the state's substantial interest in fostering equality between the sexes, and in providing women with better health care.'"

Sorry, your dis-Honors, but the Roman Catholic Church, whose Founder and Protector is the Son of God and whose Queen is the Mother of God, outranks you and will outlast you. The list is long of the tyrants, petty and otherwise, who have attacked the Church and lost.

Unfortunately, though, Catholic Charities of New York has undercut its own position and that of the Church by providing the contraception coverage "under protest" during the court battle. They need to stop their contraception coverage!

They could have dropped their health insurance coverage altogether, although that would be unfair to their employees. They could also just go out of business. These two options are totally unfair to the Church and to everyone whom the Church helps.

But imagine the uproar if Cardinal Edward Egan would now raise the stakes and play hardball. What if he pulled an "Atlas Shrugged" and announced, "Okay, you are oppressing us and our Faith, so we are shutting down all our charitable operations. As of this moment, we are on strike against your tyranny. See if you can help all the people we have been helping."

Not that this is going to happen. But imagine if it did!

And in a situation such as this in the really olden days, the Pope might have put New York under interdict so the people would stand up to the persecution.

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

L.A.'s links to "Mexico siempre fiel" -- "Mexico ever faithful"

Not every Angeleno knows that many thousands who settled in the Southland between 1910 and 1940 were faithful Catholics from Mexico who came here to escape murderous persecution of, and war against, the Church by Communist-Masonic-atheist revolutionaries and dictators.

The enemies of Christ, the Blessed Mother, the Church and our clergy and religious executed thousands of heroic Catholics, including many priests.

One of those priests, St. Jose Maria Robles Hurtado (1888-1927), pictured above, was hanged outside Quila, Jalisco, before dawn on June 26, 1927 (click on this post's title to read his unforgettable story). He was a great lover of the Holy Eucharist and a fervent apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Kingship of Christ. He told the people of Mexico that they had a right to take up arms to defend themselves and their families against their persecutors.

Padre Jose gave his murderers a candle to light their way. Saying, "Don't dirty your hands" to the hangman, a friend of his, he took the noose, kissed it and placed it around his own neck.

Here is an excellent Website, en Espanol, about Padre Jose: http://www.sanjosemariaroblesh.org/

In 1915 Padre Jose founded the Institute of Sisters Victims of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, now called the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Through them we have a link to him; they are at St. Peter Church in Fallbrook, in the Diocese of San Diego, and at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church on South Norwalk Boulevard in Los Nietos, in our Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

There is much sacrifice and sanctity behind every Catholic parish in L.A. and everywhere. May we always remember that and never part company with our heroic forebears and ancestors.

Many saints down to the present day have sacrificed all for Christ and our Church; may we do our best every day to never desert Him and them in thought, word or deed. Amen.

Bishop Olmsted's "Catholics in the Public Square"

Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted (no "a" in there), pictured above, has written Catholics in the Public Square, a new pamphlet (click on this post's title) about Catholics' civic duties.

It would be great if all Catholics could read the following, and then heed it:

• Are all political and social issues equal when it comes to choosing a political candidate?

Absolutely not! The Catholic Church is actively engaged in a wide variety of important public policy issues including immigration, education, affordable housing, health and welfare, to name just a few. On each of these issues we should do our best to be informed and to support those proposed solutions that seem most likely to be effective. However, when it comes to direct attacks on innocent human life, being right on all the other issues can never justify a wrong choice on this most serious matter.

As Pope John Paul II has written, " Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights - for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture - is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with the maximum determination ." (Christifideles Laici, 38)

----------------------------------------------

By the way, the Diocese of Phoenix's Website has some interesting features, and it is at: http://www.diocesephoenix.org/

A Prayer for Priests (Do you have another such prayer to share?)

O Jesus, Eternal Priest, keep all Thy priests within the shelter of Thy Sacred Heart, where none may harm them.

Keep unstained their anointed hands which daily touch Thy Sacred Body. Keep unsullied their lips purpled with Thy Precious Blood.

Keep pure and unearthly their hearts sealed with the sublime marks of Thy glorious priesthood.

Let Thy holy love surround them and shield them from the world's contagion.

Bless their labors with abundant fruit, and may the souls to whom they have ministered be here below their joy and consolation and in Heaven their beautiful and everlasting crown. Amen.

O Mary, Queen of the Clergy, pray for us; obtain for us many and holy priests. Amen.

Tributes to Mr. Al Antczak (May he rest in peace)

In its current issue, The Tidings remembers its late editor, Mr. Al Antczak, very well. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace, Amen. Here are the links:

http://www.the-tidings.com/2006/1013/alobit_text.htm

http://www.the-tidings.com/2006/1013/alweber_text.htm

http://www.the-tidings.com/2006/1013/alcardinal_text.htm

http://www.the-tidings.com/2006/1013/aleditorial_text.htm

http://www.the-tidings.com/2006/1013/alwritings_text.htm

The following is from the last item above:

'Life is Theological'
(In one of many talks he gave to Catholic organizations, Al Antczak gave this reflection at a 1966 address to the Cabrini Literary Guild on the role of a journalist.)

My remarks will be simply those of a newspaperman --- a reporter and an editor. I am not a theologian, philosopher, historian and scientist --- only a reporter.

Although a good reporter is not necessarily a theologian, he should recognize that the central fact of life is theological; that man has a relationship to God and that when his relationship is ignored there is disorder.

A good reporter is not necessarily a philosopher, but he recognizes that there are orderly, systematic methods of thinking and reasoning. And that when these are ignored, then there is fallacy and error...

The Amy Berg film opened today

The Amy Berg documentary film "Deliver Us from Evil," about the Oliver O'Grady case, opened today in Los Angeles, Boston and New York City. Here are links to two reviews:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2006-10-12-evil-review_x.htm

http://movies2.nytimes.com/2006/10/13/movies/13evil.html?ref=movies

The New York Times review says, "[Critics of the Church] all point to the hierarchical, secretive, authoritarian nature of the Roman Catholic Church as a central reason for its failure to deal effectively with the likes of Mr. O’Grady."

Sorry, New York Times Old Gray Lady, or whatever cutesy term you like to call yourself, but the fault is not at all in the nature of the Church that Jesus founded.

The problem is the abysmal dereliction of certain members of the hierarchy who have kept molesters in the priesthood instead of firing them immediately to protect the flock and instead of turning them over to the police immediately to protect the general public.

The problem is also the sickening practice in recent decades of certain bishops', vocations directors' and seminaries' turning away, expelling or smearing solid traditional applicants and seminarians on the false claim that they are "rigid," "not pastoral" and psychologically unfit.

Another diocese goes bankrupt

Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish in Davenport, Iowa, was founded in 1856. The cathedral, completed in 1891, is pictured here.

The Diocese of Davenport, beset by two dozen or more sex abuse lawsuits, has just now picked this year to declare bankruptcy. Click on this post's title to read about the situation.

Then pause and do the math to find that the 560+ sex abuse lawsuits against our Archdiocese of Los Angeles are 23 times as many as the 24+ such lawsuits facing Davenport.

Will the Archdiocese of Los Angeles be able to escape bankruptcy?

R.I.P. Mr. Al Antczak, a great Catholic journalist

Today's Los Angeles Times carries an obituary (click on this post's title) for Mr. Al Antczak, 84, a great Catholic journalist who worked for The Tidings from 1947 to 1989 and was its editor from 1973 to 1989.

Suffice it to say that Mr. Antczak lived up to the highest principles and demands of his noble calling as a Catholic journalist and that under him The Tidings was always edifying and without weekly outrages. He told the truth. He was loved and admired, and he will be missed.

The Times obituary says:

"While working at the newspaper, Antczak was also raising eight children with his wife, Helen, who had a job in the library at Loyola University when they met. A social worker, she died in 1994.

"Antczak is survived by his daughters, Helen Sanchez of San Gabriel, Margaret Antczak of South Pasadena, Teresa White of San Diego and Sister Mary Catherine Antczak, a Dominican nun in Los Angeles; four sons, Alphonse Jr. of San Gabriel, Thomas of Thousand Oaks, John of Pasadena and Joseph of Los Angeles; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

"A rosary is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at San Gabriel Mission's Chapel of the Annunciation. A funeral Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the chapel. Antczak will be buried at the mission cemetery."

Let us pray for the repose of the soul of Al Antczak, Catholic reporter and editor. May he be in Heaven, where every story has a happy ending. Amen.

--30--

From that Oct. 7 New York Times article

That New York Times article of October 7 (click on this post's title) contains this paragraph:

"In a 2004 deposition related to civil trials in Los Angeles, Cardinal Mahony stated that expressing sexual urges toward a 9-year-old would not be automatic cause for removing a priest from duty. He also said he barely knew Mr. O’Grady, though lawyers in the cases presented warm letters exchanged between the two."

Don't look now, but anyone who would be "expressing sexual urges toward a 9-year-old" needs to be far away from the priesthood of Jesus Christ and should never have been ordained. How can ANYONE think otherwise?

The Amy Berg movie

Click on this post's title to see yesterday's article in the New York Times about "Deliver Us from Evil," a documentary by Amy Berg about the Oliver O'Grady case. In the film, ex-priest O'Grady, now living in his native Ireland, admits molesting boys and girls in central California when Cardinal Mahoy was his superior as the bishop of Stockton.

Says the article, "Mr. O’Grady says in the film that as bishop in Stockton, the cardinal moved him from parish to parish in the face of abuse accusations."

The big news in the article is in these three paragraphs:

"'The film does certainly charge the atmosphere here in Los Angeles,' said William Hodgman, the top deputy of the target crimes division of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office, who coordinated prosecutions of priests in Los Angeles.

"The film also 'will fuel ongoing consideration as to whether Cardinal Mahony and others engaged in criminal activity,' Mr. Hodgman added.

"Joe Scott, a spokesman for the district attorney, Steve Cooley, confirmed that characterization.
The lawyer for the Los Angeles archdiocese, Michael Hennigan, said Friday, 'If Mr. Hodgman is suggesting in any way that the cardinal is the subject of a criminal investigation, he is being irresponsible and in our judgment is committing prosecutorial misconduct.'"

Anyway, that is the latest news.

Did your parish play Cardinal Mahony's "Yes on 85" recording?

Cardinal Mahony asked every parish to play, at the end of each Mass last Sunday (and, last I heard, every Sunday this month), his recorded message urging everyone to get to the polling places on Tuesday, Nov. 7, and vote "Yes on Prop. 85," the pro-life Parental Notification and Child Protection Initiative.

Not every parish complied. I know of one that only had the lector read, in the announcements at the end of Mass, a brief statement about the Cardinal urging everyone to vote Yes on 85. Maybe they just had "technical difficulties"; they did have a Yes on 85 flyer in the bulletin.

So let's do a survey here. Did your parish play the Cardinal's recorded message? Did they have an announcement about Yes on 85? or a flyer in the bulletin?

By the way, Election Day, Nov. 7, is a month away. NOW is the time to order your yard signs, bumper stickers, flyers, sample letters to the editor, and other Yes on 85 materials. You can get them in English or in Spanish. How about right now ordering them by going to:

http://www.yeson85.net and http://www.yeson85.net/espanol.aspx

What St. Brigid Church was like...before the liberals

Here is what St. Brigid Church in San Francisco looked like before the liberals sold it out from under those who would save it. Visit http://www.st-brigid.org

St. Brigid of Ireland, pray for us! St. Vibiana, pray for us!

Only liberals would want to tear down St. Brigid Church

Liberals love to close beautiful, old Catholic churches, the older and more Catholic the better. They do it all the time. Liberals also love to sell off the beautiful, old Catholic churches they close, especially to non-Catholics for secular and even profane uses. They do it all the time.

Liberals also love to jackhammer and tear down the beautiful, old Catholic churches they have closed and to gut and strip their interiors and sell off or throw away everything Catholic about them, from statues and stained glass windows to Stations of the Cross and altar rails, altars themselves, holy vessels and even Tabernacles. THEY DO IT ALL THE TIME.

Click on this post's title to read about the latest developments over St. Brigid Church (pictured above) in San Francisco, an irreplaceable 1904 Catholic treasure which the Archdiocese there closed, wanted to tear down for a PARKING LOT, sold to secular interests and has stripped inside despite the pleas of parishioners.

Even secularist politicians in San Francisco are trying to save St. Brigid Church! So are her former parishioners and other champions she has. Be sure to visit http://www.st-brigid.org to find out how you can help.

If all this sounds familiar, just think about St. Vibiana Cathedral here in L.A. and her fate at the hands of the Archdiocese of L.A.

Did your parish observe Respect Life Sunday, Oct. 1?

Ole Q is running a survey here. Hope you can take part. (You don't have to write a lengthy report.)

Did your parish observe Respect Life Sunday on Oct. 1?

If so, how? Activities, sermon, bulletin insert, pulpit announcement, other?

Did your parish play Cardinal Mahony's recorded "Yes on Prop. 85" message?

Thank you in advance for responding!

Join pro-lifers in El Cajon in opposing Planned Parenthood abortions

Oye, amigos. Planned Parenthood, which has been aborting 250,000 American babies a year all by itself, is moving into a new office in El Cajon that is to open Monday, October 2.

Pro-lifers prayed at the site this past Saturday and plan to be there regularly. They also are asking El Cajon's city council to shut down the baby-aborting facility on the grounds that it is a threat to public safety and welfare.

I do not have contact information for those local pro-lifers, but we should be able to find out more about the situation through a group that is publicizing it, Operation Rescue, which is at: http://www.operationrescue.org

May all of El Cajon's Catholics, and the rest of us, join the pro-life effort. Amen!

TV alert: Priest plugs Prop 85 on Ch. 52 at 7 a.m. Monday, Oct. 2

Pro-lifer Astrid Bennett reports that Father Marcos Gonzalez (Holy Family, Glendale) did a Prop. 85 Spanish-language interview with NBC affiliate Telemundo (Channel 52) that will appear on Monday, October 2, at 7 a.m. Let's watch it and tell our friends. Sorry for this late notice (my fault, not Astrid's).