I am not your best.
But I do love you.
Look kindly upon me, Holy Lady.
But I do love you.
Look kindly upon me, Holy Lady.
29 June 2010
28 June 2010
NEATO !
Ever since TH2 got this blog up and running in early 2009, there has been, from the get-go, a steady flow of harsh criticism and lampooning of heretical/liberal nuns. There is one in particular. Namely, Sr. Joan Chittister. In the past, I have read her articles, perused her website (going by the name Benetvision), and so forth. But I distinctly recall it only taking a short time to arrive at the conclusion that this person is, not just a heretic, but a heresiarchess. Still, one likes to have, from reliable sources, confirmation of such definitional extrapolations.
So I'm doing my regular rounds at Al's blog Is Anybody There? (H/T) and he has this post on Fr. Paul Marx, OSB (1920-2010), the recently deceased founder of Human Life International (HLI). On August 20, 2007, Fr. Marx wrote the following in a letter to Fr. Tom Euteneuer, the (now) president of HLI:
So I'm doing my regular rounds at Al's blog Is Anybody There? (H/T) and he has this post on Fr. Paul Marx, OSB (1920-2010), the recently deceased founder of Human Life International (HLI). On August 20, 2007, Fr. Marx wrote the following in a letter to Fr. Tom Euteneuer, the (now) president of HLI:
...and thank God you printed that "The Millstone Award" item. Sister Joan Chittister is a wicked woman, to say nothing of a wicked nun. Whoever wrote that article about Sister Chittister did a marvelous job; it is a great commentary on this wild nun who has been doing her dirty work for quite some time.Holy kerschmackenals! There was my stamp of confirmation. You're not going to get a more reliable source than that.
Al continued, writing that Fr. Marx often said: "The truth will set you free, but it won't make you any friends".
When is this guy going to be made a saint? Do it soon. Please. That line ranks up there with a recently discovered (now) all-time favourite of mine by Fr. Stanley Jaki, OSB (1924-2009).
It goes like this: "Nothing gives me greater joy than to skewer heretics with the truth".
Come to think of it, when is this recently deceased priest going to be made a saint? Forget protocol.
These Benedictine's are the best. And, hey... we now have a pope named Benedict. Neato!
We must pray for Sr. Joan, of course. But it certainly does not mean that Mr. Scampers cannot lampoon her once in a while. Right Scampers?
When is this guy going to be made a saint? Do it soon. Please. That line ranks up there with a recently discovered (now) all-time favourite of mine by Fr. Stanley Jaki, OSB (1924-2009).
It goes like this: "Nothing gives me greater joy than to skewer heretics with the truth".
Come to think of it, when is this recently deceased priest going to be made a saint? Forget protocol.
These Benedictine's are the best. And, hey... we now have a pope named Benedict. Neato!
We must pray for Sr. Joan, of course. But it certainly does not mean that Mr. Scampers cannot lampoon her once in a while. Right Scampers?
20 June 2010
REGISTERING THE PRESSURE
I see red and it hurts my head. Guess it must be something that I read.
- Neil Peart, red lenses
Well, it seems the Catholic Register is starting to feel the pressure. Otherwise its recently issued editorial (see below), entitled "Seeking Truth", would not have been composed.[1] Accordingly, it is time for some TH2 slicing and dicing:
It begins with a question:
What is the role of Catholic media in modern society?
The Catholic mainstream media, like the secular mainstream media, are now forced to ask this question, due to the emergence of the "new media" (e.g. unaffiliated-independent Catholic bloggers conducting their own researches and analyses, providing opinions, challenging careerists, etc.). Without this emergence, the Catholic MSM never would have "volunteered" to pose this question. Why? Because the "new media" allows for immediate, widespread dissemination and, therefore, obliges the Catholic MSM to actually defend or justify their variegated distortions and falsehoods regarding Church teaching, their endorsement of apostasy and heresy, and so forth. Things have changed and the Canadian Catholic MSM do not like it in the least. The days of ignored "Letters to the Editor" are over.
Several hundred journalists from across North America were invited to ponder that question during the Catholic Press Association annual conference, held recently in New Orleans.The theme/title of the conference was: Spreading the Good News: Byte by Byte. Just prior to the conference, Pope Benedict XVI issued (from Rome) a message to those in attendance. He spoke of: "the extraordinary potential of the new media to bring the message of Christ and the teaching of his Church to the attention of a wider public. If your mission is to be truly effective - if the words you proclaim are to touch hearts, engage people's freedom and change their lives - you must draw them into an encounter with persons and communities who witness to the grace of Christ by their faith and their lives."[2] Now does the Canadian Catholic reader really believe that the Canadian Catholic MSM has given, over the last few decades, "witness to the grace of Christ". TH2 answers in the negative.
These have been difficult days for the church and challenging days for Catholic media.Indeed, they have been difficult days for the Catholic MSM. For it is now fully aware that it is no longer in total control of the dissemination of all things Catholic. That sentence bespeaks desperation.
Not only has the news been filled with stories of clerical sexual abuse and alleged Church cover-ups, but the technology-challenged Church hierarchy has often stumbled in offering a timely defence or authoritative explanation of Church positions.This is a euphemism attempting to justify itself for having been caught red handed, instead of admitting error, manipulation and apostasy. One example would be the recent revelations of the funding of abortion groups in South America by the group Development and Peace, under the auspices of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB).[3]
Instant communication in a digital age has put pressure on traditional media such as newspapers and television to rethink how they conduct business.Another euphemism specifically meaning (as above) that the Catholic MSM must now take account for its past errors in reporting, subtle advocacy of heresy, whitewashing of apostates, lack of full control in the diffusion of its version of Catholicism to the laity, and so on.
The result is often a softening of fundamental values [!] as the old media strains to keep pace with the new, a manic technological beast of web sites, blogs and various social media tools that, collectively, disseminate information instantly but not always accurately. (TH2 italics)Notice: "not always accurately". Man, does that statement piss me off. Right now I so much want to release an f-bomb (forgive me, Blessed Lord, I am a poor sinner, please give me patience and love for my enemies). See the implied presumption and condescension of views expressed outside the Catholic MSM... how the editorial board at The Catholic Register make them out to be irrelevant, expounding ignorance, void of objectivity, as if nothing, like an irritating mosquito to be whisked away.[4] TH2 takes that as a subtle affront to himself and others in the Catholic blogosphere. What really makes that statement enraging is that fact that at this blog, and others adhering to orthodoxy, it is a commonplace duty to refer (comprehensively) to original sources in the substantiation/defence of whatever Catholic doctrine or thesis or opinion presented.
For the Catholic media, the challenge is, in some respects, even greater. In addition to maintaining time-honoured journalistic standards of accuracy, balance and fairness, we are called to be faithful to the Church and, as Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton told the conference, to engage in the mission of evangelization. So when the secular media reveals wrongdoing by clergy and attacks the Church, how should Catholic media respond? (TH2 italics)Are you joking? Does The Catholic Register "maintain time-honoured journalistic standards of accuracy, balance and fairness"? The evidence shows this not to be the case. Just recently the SoCon or Bust blog highlighted how an article by Michael Swan of the Catholic Register[5] gave an uncritical free ride to Fr. Luis Arriaga (of a Mexican group funded by the aforementioned Development and Peace), whereas documented facts show the group to "have given multiple clear statements endorsing the legalization and availability of abortion in Mexico." Swan's article was issued late last May, just some two weeks prior to the aforesaid Catholic Press Association (CPA) conference. The Fair Publishing Practices Code of the CPA states that members are to: "make every effort to ensure the news content is accurate, free from bias, in context and presented fairly".[6] Either Swan is not a CPA member and thus under no obligation thereto, or else he needs to smarten up and actually abide by "time-honoured journalistic standards of accuracy, balance and fairness". Unfortunately, Swan is part of the baby boomer old guard, so likely this will not happen.
The policy at the Catholic Register has always been to report the news, warts and all, but report it from a perspective that is true to Catholic teaching and gives voice to Church leaders. A belief in seeking truth is fundamental to who we are and what we do. But where the mainstream press has trended towards cynicism and hostility, we must strive for charity and civility, which, admittedly, is not always easy. (TH2 italics)Tension. Desperation. Pressure. Oh, and by the way CR Staff - the accusation against people like yours truly being "uncharitable" does not work anymore. It is a diversionary tactic that works to vilify posers of legitimate questions and concerns. The Lord of History gave a specific instruction to admonish the sinner. And you are fooling yourselves if you think there was never, in the past, any tension, pressure or argumentation in the Church. Read the lives of the saints, read a book on the history of the Church. For crying out loud, even SS. Peter and Paul had it out. So stop listening to Ron Rolheiser, send him in exile, grow up and be an adult. Deal with it.
Our calling is not to be unquestioning apologists for the Church and its bishops. We agree with Los Angeles Bishop Gabino Zavala who told the conference that Catholic media needn’t feel obligated to automatically defend the Church "at all costs" because that approach is “too simplistic and does not reflect the intelligence of Catholics. They deserve a Catholic media that takes a more nuanced perspective". (TH2 italics)Given the lukewarmness and apostasy of not a few bishops in Canada today, the italicized part of the quote above is justifiable. But what I find suspicious is how the Church as such (i.e. dogma, etc.) is brought into the mix. In an Apostolic Letter regarding the use of mass communications by Catholics, Pope John Paul II wrote: "God has placed at our disposal to discover, to use and to make known the truth, also the truth about our dignity and about our destiny as his children, heirs of his eternal Kingdom." And the Truth is Jesus Christ, the Roman Catholic Church, established by Our Lord.[7]
We recognize that, within the Church, there are varying views and opinions and believe that civil, reasoned, faith-based debate is healthy. Bishop Thomas Doran of Illinois quipped that "if you get three bishops in a room they often can’t agree on the colour of an orange". But most will agree it’s not black or white, and neither are most issues. We encourage respectful discourse. Religion is constantly in the news. But stories in the mainstream media often abound with stereotyping and misinformation. Catholic readers deserve honest, comprehensive, faith-based coverage of the important news and issues that affect their lives. That is the role of Catholic media. (TH2 italics)A clarification: the "mainstream media" to which the Register refers also includes the Canadian Catholic MSM, which therefore means the Catholic Register. John Pacheco at SoCon or Bust said it best: "'Catholic' journalism which is under the heel of the social justice clique and ladder climbers in the Church is not journalism at all. They don’t serve the Truth or the Church. It's propaganda for their own selfish self-interests and Marxist agendas".
New logo. Same old crap.
NOTES / REFERENCES
1. "Seeking Truth" (editorial), Catholic Register, June 10, 2010. LINK
2. "Pontiff sends greetings to Catholic media convention", ZENIT, June 2, 2010. LINK
3. This scandal has been exposed at LifeSite News and the blog SoCon or Bust.
4. On this point, The Catholic Register takes its cue from the likes of Fr. Thomas Rosica (CEO at Salt+Light TV) and, his good friend, Archbishop James Weisberger. The latter recently stated: "These bloggers who claim to be more Catholic than anyone - I think first of all they’re not part of the church, they’re not Catholic in the sense that they have no mandate, they have no authority, they have no accountability. And they speak very, very definitively about what it means to be Catholic, and they’re followed by so many people." LINK Subnote that The Catholic Register recently embedded a Salt+Light video webcast to its website - a team working in collusion? LINK
5. M. Swan, "'Nasty' LifeSite allegations are harmful to Mexican group cause", Catholic Register, May 21, 2010. LINK
6. Catholic Press Association, Fair Publishing Practices Code, Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada, 2004 Code. LINK
7. The Rapid Development of the Holy Father John Paul II to those Responsible for Communications, pt. 5, para. 13, January 24, 2005. LINK For an analysis of the relationship between the Catholic press and the hierarchy (albeit dated), see W.J. Thorn and B. Garrison, "Institutional Stress: Journalistic norms in the Catholic Press", Review of Religious Research, September 1983, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 49-62.
1. "Seeking Truth" (editorial), Catholic Register, June 10, 2010. LINK
2. "Pontiff sends greetings to Catholic media convention", ZENIT, June 2, 2010. LINK
3. This scandal has been exposed at LifeSite News and the blog SoCon or Bust.
4. On this point, The Catholic Register takes its cue from the likes of Fr. Thomas Rosica (CEO at Salt+Light TV) and, his good friend, Archbishop James Weisberger. The latter recently stated: "These bloggers who claim to be more Catholic than anyone - I think first of all they’re not part of the church, they’re not Catholic in the sense that they have no mandate, they have no authority, they have no accountability. And they speak very, very definitively about what it means to be Catholic, and they’re followed by so many people." LINK Subnote that The Catholic Register recently embedded a Salt+Light video webcast to its website - a team working in collusion? LINK
5. M. Swan, "'Nasty' LifeSite allegations are harmful to Mexican group cause", Catholic Register, May 21, 2010. LINK
6. Catholic Press Association, Fair Publishing Practices Code, Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada, 2004 Code. LINK
7. The Rapid Development of the Holy Father John Paul II to those Responsible for Communications, pt. 5, para. 13, January 24, 2005. LINK For an analysis of the relationship between the Catholic press and the hierarchy (albeit dated), see W.J. Thorn and B. Garrison, "Institutional Stress: Journalistic norms in the Catholic Press", Review of Religious Research, September 1983, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 49-62.
16 June 2010
PRO-LIFE BLOGGER HOME VANDALIZED
My friend and pro-life blogger Al at Is Anybody There? just had his home vandalized. Evidence indicates the perpetrator to be a pro-abortionist. Al just posted this at his blog:
UPDATE / 24 June 2010: Al just posted an update. The incident was reported in Dubuque's Telegraph Herald here.
The battle to defend life is personally heating up. Someone here in DBQ decided they didn't like what I am doing so they decided to vandalize my home... While waiting for the police, I found out the rest of the details... On the back side of the home facing the neighbor's house across the drive someone wrote "support aboration (sic)" in black. Below that in black was "baby killer"... [it] was also written on there in green a couple times, along with "fu" which I think we both know what that means. Up in a corner was an "is" as well. After telling her about my pro-life involvement etc, the police officer said that it probably was intentional harassment... It probably has to be someone who knows what I do with this blog...Please go visit this Great Defender of the Unborn and show him your support. LINK
UPDATE / 24 June 2010: Al just posted an update. The incident was reported in Dubuque's Telegraph Herald here.
10 June 2010
TH2 AFTER A DAY OF WORK
I came across this video some time ago and forgot about it. The notorious LarryD just posted a modified version, reminding me again of this classic in Commie cheese, which (incidentally) accurately portrays yours truly after a day of labour and toil.
Strange... why aren't my friends returning my phone messages anymore?
Strange... why aren't my friends returning my phone messages anymore?
07 June 2010
NOVALIS PUBLISHERS: DISSEMINATING DISSENT
Today we see in a truly terrifying way that the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from outside enemies, but arises from sin within the Church.
- Pope Benedict XVI, 11 May 2010 [in transit to Portugal]
I. BACKGROUNDER. Novalis is Canada's most prominent publisher of "Catholic" books and periodicals. Indeed, its website says that it is Canada's "most important religious publisher". It's general philosophy is outlined in its History page:
Novalis wishes to express the Christian faith in modern society in an accessible and comprehensible manner. As a publisher, Novalis provides original and affordable works which enable the readers to know more about their Christian heritage and to better live their faith in a changing world. Novalis also wants to help men and women to face the challenges of today's world by supporting their values. Always attentive to the needs of Christian communities, Novalis also has a mission of service: to create and publish resources which will enable people to better understand their faith and to integrate this faith into their daily life.(TH2 emphasis)
Notice three things at the outset: [i] Novalis works to "express the Christian faith", which is a generality, instead of the more specific Catholicism. Novalis publishes particularly for Roman Catholics, but there is an air of ecumenical relativism in that statement. It also wishes to make things "accessible" and "comprehensible", which, obviously, is jargon suggesting that pre-Vatican II Catholicism was old fashioned, too complicated and rigid for today's modern Catholic, who is implied to be too stupid to understand the "ineffable" aspects of the Faith; [ii] In the phrase "supporting their values" we can see a subtle promotion of an dissenting individualism irrespective of Catholic teaching. Why not support Catholic dogma as such? But, of course, this would go against the "spirit" of Vatican II social justice leftism implicit to Novalis, as will be evidenced below; and [iii] Novalis wants Catholics "to better understand their faith". TH2 argues that this is absolutely not the case, as a majority of its books and publications are penned by heretics and apostates (see below) who, by definition, maliciously work to corrupt Catholic minds and thereafter rally to subvert the Faith.[2]
II. HISTORICAL CONTEXT. Novalis was founded in Ottawa, Ontario in 1936 by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI). OMI itself was founded in 1816 by Saint Eugene de Mazenod (1782-1861) and was a response to the deleterious effects of the French Revolution on Catholicism.[3] Under Bishop Joseph-Bruno Guigues (1805-1874) of the OMI, the College of Bytown was founded in 1848, becoming the College of Ottawa in 1861, today known as the University of Ottawa.[4] Due to the commencement of public funding in 1965, ecclesiastical and secular components of the university were separated, the former becoming St. Paul University, still federated with the University of Ottawa and entrusted to OMI.
III. ST. PAUL UNIVERSITY: LOONEYTOWN. St. Paul University (Université Saint-Paul) is a "Pontifical University", one of four such institutions in Canada.[5] A Pontifical University is established directly by the Holy See and under its direct authority, granting degrees (mainly) in Canon Law, Sacred Theology, Sacred Scripture and Philosophy. A look at the St. Paul University website, however, shows that it has taken little (if any) notice from Rome in recent years. It is pedestrian to get an idea of the shenanigans occurrent at St. Paul University by reading the aims of its Faculty of Theology:
It is also worthwhile to mention that, just last year, the Faculty of Theology hosted two revealing events. The first involved hosting the National Conference of the Feminist Catholic Network for Women's Equality (June 2009), a group that promotes women's ordination. The second event was entitled "Vatican II and Canada" (October 2009). This was advertised/endorsed by the Archdiocese of Ottawa. Keynote speakers included Canada's most notorious heretic, Gregory Baum (see below), and Bishop Remi De Roo, now a Enneagram teacher (evidencing that this poor fellow has gone bonkers). The usual papal potshots and antinomianisms spewed from the mouths of these two weasels.[7]
Bishop Remi "Fric" De Roo (left) and Gregory "Frac" Baum (right) at the "Vatican II and Canada" bash. Notice: De Roo not in clerical garb. Baum is an ex-priest but was never laicized. This dynamic duo played a large role in drafting the Winnipeg Statement (September 27, 1968), an issuance by the Canadian bishops rejecting the encyclical Humanae vitae by Pope Paul VI [8]. To this day the Canadian bishops have obstinately refused to retract this document. Its infamous Paragraph 26 is responsible for leading Canadian Catholics down the road of nonchalant antinomianism, which in turn has steered them (since 1968) to the widespread occurrence/acceptance of abortion, euthanasia, homosexualism, divorce and other anti-life/anti-family/anti-Catholic issues.[9]
IV. NOVALIS MOVES TO BAYARD CANADA. Now despite the fact that St. Paul himself would do cartwheels if he came across the abovementioned crap, St. Paul University must be mentioned here because it was, until recently, home base for Novalis, thereby showing the putrid pseudo-intellectual atmosphere that gave life to the heretical publications disseminated therefrom (see below). Then in October 2008, a press release was issued indicating Novalis' move from St. Paul University to Bayard Canada. In this issuance, Fr. Dale M. Schlitt, OMI, then Rector of St. Paul University, was quoted (in July 2008) as saying:
V. BOOKS. Considering the abovementioned, let us now venture down the rabbit hole and take a look at a suite of materials published by Novalis.
GREGORY BAUM is Canada's reigning heresiarch. No ifs, ands or buts. The damage this guy has done in 40+ years is mind boggling. Let it be known that the great Monsignor Vincent Foy agrees, stating that Baum "has done more to help destroy the Church in Canada than any other person" (not, however, according to Novalis). As indicated above, Baum (then an Augustinian priest) worked like a busy beaver behind the scenes to get the Winnipeg Statement out in 1968. In 1976 he founded the Catholic New Times with the (now) ex-nun Mary Jo Leddy. It was a bi-monthly newspaper that spread misinformation on Catholic doctrine and advocated a cornucopia of Marxisms.[13] That same year Fr. Baum was suspended by Archbishop Philip Francis Pocock (Toronto). He entered into a civil marriage with an ex-nun in 1978 (now divorced) and thereby was automatically excommunicated (latae sententiae). With his teaching (University of Toronto, McGill University), speaking engagements and copious writings, Baum has - over the decades - advocated the whole gamut of anti-Catholic ideas, thinkers and movements (e.g. contraception, against priestly celibacy, homosexualism, Marxism, radical philosophers, social justice, liberation theology). A darling of the brown nosing liberal elite, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1990.
Novalis has four of Baums books on deck at their website. Amazing Church examines Catholic social teaching over the last 50 or so years, described by Baum as an "extraordinary evolution". Contrarily, TH2 would say devolution. Novalis goes on to describe Baum's message of "a Catholicism truly at the service of humanity". Notice the inversion: Religion (God) is to serve us rather than humanity serving God - the elevation of the immanent over the transcendent. Religion and Alienation, according to Novalis, "challenges a new generation of readers to discover the Gospel as a message of human rescue and liberation from the many prisons that we create for ourselves". Interesting that Novalis fails to mention that, in this "contemporary classic", Baum writes approvingly (in full chapters) of Karl Marx (1818-1883, father of Communism) and the German idealist philosopher G.W.F. Hegel (1770-1831, one of Marx's inspirers) amongst others. Signs of the Times is a collection of essays, divided into two sections: "religious pluralism" and "economic injustices". Baum, says Novalis, "takes a critical look at the signs of the times. The result is a contextual theology that takes its historical location seriously and responds to the challenges addressed to it." Eh? What? The Theology of Tariq Ramadan is Baum's latest book, where he (says Novalis) "assesses the theological insights of Ramadan and presents their points of connection with Catholic social teaching. An insightful, groundbreaking, rare approach to Catholic/Muslim insight and theological dialogue that finds common ground and some surprising areas of theological convergence". Liberals around the world love Tariq "stealth Jihad" Ramadan, a cause célèbre "public intellectual" now based at Oxford University. Ramadan is a so-called "progressive Muslim" thinker and international leftists are so excited by this seeming bon vivant that he has even been hailed as Islam's "Martin Luther".[15] What is not well known is that Ramadan is a doubletalking opportunist, saying certain things to Islamic audiences, extolling something absolutely different to mesmerized Western followers. He has been accused of anti-Semitism and even refused to condemn the stoning of adulterers as dictated by Islamic law.[16] That Greg has a man crush for Tariq evidences, once again, that bizarre alliance between liberal progressives and Mohammedism as an enemy against Christian civilization. It is the classic case of Lenin's "useful idiot".
HANS KÜNG is the world's most famous heretic. He is an international celebrity, the Leif Garrett of babybooming liberal Catholics. A Swiss Catholic priest who today dresses and poses like a male model (see book covers), his license to teach theology was revoked in 1979 by the Holy See. Why? One reason was his 1974 book On Being a Christian, published by Novalis, who refer to it as an "important work". In this text Küng denied the following: [i] Christ's divinity, [ii] Christ's bodily resurrection, [iii] miracles in the Gospels, [iv] that the Mass is a representation of Christ's crucifixion at Golgotha, and [v] that Christ founded an institutional Church. Küng opposes papal infallibility and, at the time when his teaching license was removed, he called Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (a colleague) the "regressive grand inquisitor of the post-Vatican Council period". After becoming Pope, in September 2005 Benedict XVI agreed to meet with Küng (the latter requesting the meeting), where they spoke on various matters for four hours. Extreme kindness and mercy on the part of His Holiness. What does Küng do afterward? He continued with his vilification against the Pope. Just last April he opined that "there is no denying the fact that the worldwide system of covering up cases of sexual crimes committed by clerics was engineered by the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Cardinal Ratzinger"[17] Novalis also publishes Küng's two volume memoirs, My Struggle for Freedom and Disputed Truth. Novalis writes that, in these works, we see "one of the most important theologians of our time... a moving picture of Küng's... struggle for a Christianity characterized not by the domination of an official church but by Jesus; he has "the voice of a prophet concerned for the future". Out of all its releases, that Novalis (a supposedly "Catholic" publisher underwritten by a religious order) issues Küng's books is the most despicable.
JOAN CHITTISTER is the most appalling heretical "nun" in the English speaking world. For over thirty years she has waged a war against the Church's stance on women's ordination, abortion, contraception, homosexuality and so forth. You name it - if its heretical or trendy in the secular arena (e.g. social justice, nature worship, Eastern syncretism) Joan advocates it. Today she operates her campaign via her self-aggrandizing website Benetvision, with the subtitle: Joan Chittister: a point of view with the future in mind. Here you can find her books and videos, go on retreats and learn about "gender justice". Now, of course, there are a myriad number of (you know) social-justice-anti-war-protestor-health-care-obsessed-nature-worshipping-new-age nuns these days, constituting the habitless hordes. But what makes Joan the jet setter different and popular is her combinatorial boundless energy, unmitigated defiance and nonchalant condescension against anyone who poses legitimate questions at variance with her internationalist gnosticism. You get a taste of this by reading a recent interview she gave in Canada.[18] Clearly, Novalis is in enamoured with this heretic as they publish seven of her books.
For Chittister's In the Heart of the Temple, Novalis describes her as "a visionary spiritual voice for over three decades comes a prophetic manifesto for the preservation of our world. The book "combines the spiritual practices of the Rule of St. Benedict with the contemporary struggle for social justice, feminism, and ecology... highly provocative". For The Breath of Soul, she is called "a great spiritual giant". A giant alright... in the sense of being a manifest heretic. Women in the Bible are turned into modern feminists with The Friendship of Women and The Story of Ruth (with J.A. Swanson). The latter is a "text for women seeking wholeness in a world struggling with issues of faith and gender." Notice the emphasis on "struggle" and not reconciliation, let alone the Reconciler impaled on a Cross. The Gift of Years "reveals how old age rewards us with wisdom", though TH2 would argue that Joan missed this train. There is also her treatise on syncretism, Welcome to the Wisdom of the World, which "presents the insights of others from different cultures throughout history who have grappled with the same kinds of life questions that plague us here and now. Through stories and wisdom literature from major religious traditions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - Chittister highlights practical, universal truths and deftly shows how each spiritual tradition brings a special gift to the art of living a meaningful, spiritually aware life". Novalis even publishes Uncommon Gratitude, a book she co-authored with Rowan Williams, the fake Archbishop of Canterbury. What else is there to say?
RAYMOND LAHEY was formerly the bishop (aged 69) of the Diocese of Antigonish in the province of Nova Scotia. Pope Benedict XVI accepted his letter of resignation on September 26, 2009.[19] Soonafter he was arrested and charged with the possession and importation of child pornography.[20] As of June 7, 2010, his book The Rosary of the Virgin Mary [LINK] is still listed on the Novalis website: Lahey, says Novalis, "has written this book in order to help Canadian Catholics... to pray the Rosary in the way the Pope has suggested." So the question, then, is this: Why is this book still listed for sale by Novalis some eight months after his arrest? In case Lahey's book is later removed from the Novalis website (in response to this article), TH2 has taken screenshots of the appertaining pages and embeds them directly below.
Left to Right: Raymond Lahey / Cover of Lahey's The Rosary of the Virgin Mary / Two screenshots from Novalis website advertising Lahey's book (click images to enlarge). Note that the first screenshot leaves empty the "Author" section.
VI. ESSAY COLLECTIONS. Want more bang for your buck? Novalis can accommodate as it has two books with essay/article compilations from a wide latitude of (mostly obscure) heretics.
In Changing Habits, Novalis summarizes [TH2 fisks]: "Women's religious orders have given shape to [i.e. become obsessed with] education, healthcare, and social work in Canada [borrrrrrinnnng], transforming themselves [into habitless hussies] while at the same time helping transform [i.e. Marxize] the world beyond the convent walls. In this comprehensive collection of essays from leading scholars [ya right] and members [i.e. heretics] of religious orders, Elizabeth Smyth [editor, "over-arching themes related to gender and ethnicity link the entire collection"] presents a remarkable [i.e. pathetic] story of achievement [i.e. apostasy], despite incredible odds and often in direct collision [i.e. defiance] with state as well as Church officials. Included in this book are works of Canadian as well as international female scholars, historians, sociologists, and theologians." So, then, let's line them up:
Intersecting Voices: Critical Theologies in a Land of Diversity, says Novalis [TH2 fisks], explores "Canada's unique contribution to critical theology [i.e. heresy, apostasy], where academic skills [rooted in the Marxist critique of society] apply Gospel values [minus morality] to understanding contemporary social issues [excepting the most important issue of abortion]. The result is an assessment of the most challenging issues in current theology and contemporary social critique."[26] So, then again, let's check out a few of the contributors:
One Hundred Great Catholic Books (Don Brophy, editor) seems like an interesting text. Novalis states that it is the "penultimate collection of must-reads for Catholics!". Fine. We can read extracts from SS. Athanasius, John Cassian, Hildegard of Bingen, Thomas More, Ignatius of Loyola and Teresa of Avila. There is also Dante, Blaise Pascal, Cardinal Newman, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Sigrid Undset, J.R.R. Tolkien, Evelyn Waugh, Flannery O'Connor and Pope John Paul II. Sounds good. Ah!, but what's this? Also included in the compilation is the aforementioned Hans Küng and the Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutiérrez. The latter is the principal theorist of Marxist-driven liberation theology - responsible for much violence in South America during the 1970s and 1980s.[32] What is most astonishing is that Ron Rolheiser is included in the mix. Are you kidding me? Is Novalis saying that Fr. Rolheiser's liberal wishy-washy non-judgmental kitsch is on par with the great St. Hildegard? Is Novalis saying that Rolheiser, who writes glowingly of Malcolm X, has written a "great Catholic book" comparable to Cardinal Newman's Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent ? [33] Are you kidding me?
VII. PERIODICALS. Two periodicals published by Novalis require assessment.
Novalis' synopsis of THE ECUMENIST necessitates fisking [TH2 analysis in bolded square brackets]: Founded over 45 years ago by Gregory Baum [what a surprise!], Canada's preeminent Catholic theologian [i.e. preeminent heresiarch], the Ecumenist is dedicated to understanding [read: providing misinformation and liberal twists on...] the relationship of theology, society and culture. It encourages the development of "critical theology," [read: Marxist-Frankfurt School critiques] that is, theology committed to analyzing our society and culture (including religious culture) to expose and counter their dehumanizing trends [...all from an antinomian perspective]. The Ecumenist seeks to be faithful to the good news announced by Jesus Christ [minus His moral teachings] and the social teaching of the Catholic Church [minus that personal responsibility stuff] and remains open to dialogue with other Christians, members of the world's religions [relativism] and people of good will [excluding, of course, orthodox, traditionalist Catholics]. It hopes to outline a theology that speaks to the great and often terrible events of our times [such as the continual publication of this abominable periodical], including war [read: anti-Americanism], the Holocaust [blame it on Pope Pius XII], colonialism [there would have been no Canada without colonialism, you idiots], the ecological crisis [histrionic bucolicism, Ludditism], the rise of feminism [hatred of men, children], and the globalization of the free market system [note the standard liberal omission on abortion]. It has adopted the Church's teaching on the "preferential option for the poor" [with the standard contempt for the middle class] and seeks to analyze church and society from the perspective of the marginalized and oppressed [i.e. victim vs. oppressor, struggle, classic Marxist Manichean dualism]. The Ecumenist also hopes to inspire people to resist evil [i.e. capitalism], to organize themselves in solidarity with the poor [form study groups, write articles, give TV interviews, but (hypocritically) never getting out in the real world to objectively help the poor], and to dedicate themselves to living their lives in the service of the common good [...as defined by aging and desperate liberal Catholics who still believe utopia can be achieved on Earth]. Articles in The Ecumenist often address issues in broader society, such as the economy [anti-free market], religious pluralism [syncretism], international development [NGO crap], AIDS [prophylactic promotion], the ecological crisis [elevation of the created over the Creator], women's issues [lesbianism], and workers' rights [syndicalism]. It often republishes important celestial [!] documents on these topics produced by conferences of bishops, religious communities and individual thinkers [specifically those apostates warring against the Pope]. It also addresses issues specific to the Roman Catholic Church, including [here comes that word...] structures of authority, women's ordination [they just never give up, it ain't gonna happen, la la la la la la...], ethics [moral autonomy of the self], ecumenical and interfaith dialogue [sorry, B16 beat you to it with the Anglican thing - and now he's got the Russian Orthodox on deck], teachings on sexuality [promiscuity], and the magisterium [notice no capital M]. The Ecumenist features some of the most dynamic [i.e. liberal-leftist] and interesting [i.e. snorefest] religious scholars writing today. The articles are presented in an accessible fashion that is perfect for scholars, students, church leaders as well as lay Christians [and other suckers who unwittingly get shafted on a quarterly basis]. [34]
Are you ready for some cheese? Then let's CELEBRATE! Let's "Renew the face of the earth". Let's have "a cosmic Easter". Shall we dance?
Says Novalis:
VIII. SUNDAY MISSAL. TH2 is not going to furnish a detailed analysis of Novalis' despicable excuse for a Missal. Rather, my interest lies in the pithy blurbs (in the Novalis Missal) prefacing each Sunday of Ordinary Time, Advent, Christmas and Easter. Yes, these mini-essays contain all the expected politically correct linguistics (e.g. Eucharist not capitalized, God/Jesus printed as "him" instead of Him, "catching people" instead of "fishers of men", "humankind", and so forth). The focus here, rather, is on the authors of these tracts. So let's take a look inside Novalis' 2009-2010 Sunday Missal:
A corollary of the cornball liberal Catholic vision is, of course, its cornball art (an increasing number of Catholic teenagers laugh at it upon observation - and rightly so). Accordingly, let's take a break and have some fun by perusing the corny graphics displayed in a recent Missal published by Novalis.[47]
IX. THE ENEMY WITHIN. On December 8, 2008 Bayard Canada issued another press release stating that Joseph Sinasac was to become the new Publishing Director at Novalis. He is quoted therein as saying:
That Sinasac was selected is again no surprise, as previously he was editor/publisher at The Catholic Register (for 13 years), with a leftist orientation. Individuals with Canadian Catholic newspapers (like The Catholic Register), Salt+Light Television, Novalis, and the Canadian Bishops Conference - all these apparatchiks hobnob with one another so there is a lot of revolving doors being spun as they continue with their subtle, slow-motion undermining of Catholic dogma in Canada. What plausibly got Bayard Canada very excited about Sinasac was that, on October 31, 2008 (about 6 weeks prior to their press release), he wrote approvingly in The Catholic Register of Novalis' 2008 release Disputed Truth: Memoirs II by the aforementioned heretic Hans Küng. Said Sinasac:
The aforelisted Rogues Gallery compiled by your friendly neighborhood TH2 are not known by most Canadian Catholics. But neither should they be expected to know them - they have lives to live, children to raise. Unfortunately, however, they are trustful that - what they read in their Missal at Sunday Mass or when they purchase that book from Novalis ("the leader in children's and religious publishing in Canada, reaching millions of readers each year"), they are getting knowledge, catechesis and spiritual nourishment from purportedly authentic Catholic writers adhering to Tradition, loyal to the Magisterium. But this is absolutely not the case as the abovementioned blatantly evidences. Novalis likes to drape itself in authentic Catholicity, but this is just window dressing. For example, its website provides links to various Catholic periodicals, like the leftist Western Catholic Reporter and even the neo-Marxist New Catholic Times. But a link to Catholic Insight (the only orthodox Catholic magazine in Canada absolutely loyal to the Pope and consistent on matters of dogma; edited by my hero Fr. Alphonse de Valk) is nowhere to be found. Interesting. Without a doubt, Novalis is a wolf in sheep's clothing because they do, indeed, disseminate dissent in an underhanded manner. Subtlety is in operation here.
On this pernicious subtlety used by heretics and apostates, the Lord of History spoke to His apostles:
X. CONCLUSION. Make no mistake: As a publisher of books, periodicals and materials written and managed by heretics and apostates, NOVALIS constitutes itself to be an enemy of the Roman Catholic Church... an enemy within.
NOTES / REFERENCES
1. Novalis releases approximately 50 books per year, both in English and French. International readers should know that Canada is a bilingual country. English is the principal language for most of Canada. French-speaking Canadians are mainly from/in Quebec, a formerly devout Catholic province, now overlorded by the religions of socialism and nationalism. Anti-clericalism therein is a provincial sport.
2. Novalis publishes materials (books periodicals music, videos) in the following areas: "biographies/history", "personal & spiritual", "social issues", "spirituality & prayer", "theology & faith", bibles/scripture studies", "books for children 0 to 6", "morals & religious education", "churches & communities", "pastoral & liturgical" and "sacramental preparation". Novalis also publishes its Sunday Missal, used in many Canadian parishes (discussed in main text).
3. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate played a large role in missionary activities in western and northern Canada. See Catholic Encyclopedia for a history of this order. LINK see also the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate website for a history of the life and trials of St. Eugene de Mazenod. LINK
4. Guigues was the first bishop of the Diocese of Bytown (Ottawa), from 1847 to 1874. He entrusted the College of Bytown/Ottawa to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. A history of the University of Ottawa (College of Bytown) is given in a timeline. LINK
5. The other three are: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (Toronto, Ontario); Regis College, University of Toronto; and the Faculté de Théologie et de Sciences Religieuses, Université Laval (Québec).
6. Check out these beauties by Heather Eaton: “Feminist or Functional Cosmology? Ecofeminist Musings on Thomas Berry's Functional Cosmology,” Ecotheology, 1998, 5/6, pp. 73-94; "Liaison or Liability: Weaving Spirituality into Ecofeminist Politics", Atlantis, 1997, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 109-122; and her magnum opus: Introducing Ecofeminist Theologies (London: T & T Clark International, 2005).
7. See P.B. Craine, "Ottawa's Saint Paul University to Feature Dissidents Gregory Baum and Bishop Remi De Roo", LifeSite News, October 1, 2009. LINK; P.B. Craine and S. Jalsevac, "Vatican, 'Conservative' Catholics Undermining Vatican II: Gregory Baum at Ottawa's Saint Paul University", LifeSite News, October 29, 2009. LINK In 2002, the former Servite priest John Huels was identified for sexually abusing a teenage boy. At the time, he was Vice Dean at St. Paul University and a Professor of Canon Law. For this see H.H. Hitchcock, "Influential Priest-Canonist is Abuser of Member of Bishops Review Board", Adoremus Bulletin, September 2002, vol. VIII, no. 6. LINK
8. See Msgr. V. Foy, "Tragedy at Winnipeg: The Canadian Catholic Bishops' Statement on Humanae vitae", Challenge, vol. 14, 1988. LINK
9. Paragraph 26 reads: "Counsellors may meet others who, accepting the teaching of the Holy Father, find that because of particular circumstances they are involved in what seems to them a clear conflict of duties, e.g., the reconciling of conjugal love and responsible parenthood with the education of children already born or with the health of the mother. In accord with the accepted principles of moral theology, if these persons have tried sincerely, but without success to pursue a line of conduct in keeping with the given directives, they may be safely assured that, whoever chooses that course which seems right to him does so in good conscience." And lo, the floodgates were opened...
10. Bayard Canada, "Novalis moves from Saint Paul University to Bayard Canada", October 1, 2008. LINK
11. Ibid.
12. The Augustinians of the Assumption (also called the Assumptionists) was founded by Fr. Emmanuel d'Alzon (1810-1880) in France in 1845. LINK Its inspiration and "Rule of Life" is based on St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Doctor of the Church.
13. Catholic New Times became defunct in 2006. Not to be confused with the website New Catholic Times. LINK The latter expounds the same claptrap, operated by babybooming "social justice" fossils well aware that the end is nigh.
14. Baum's Religion and Alienation: A Theological Reading of Sociology was first published by the Paulist Press (another heretical publisher) in 1975. The 2006 edition by Novalis (calling the book "seminal") is revised and updated, with additional material.
15. See P. Donnelly, "Tariq Ramadan: The Muslim Martin Luther?", Salon Magazine, February 15, 2002. LINK Subnote that Ramadan's grandfather formed the "Muslim Brotherhood" and his father set up militant/"soft" Mohammedan centres throughout Europe.
16. For example, see I. Buruma, "Tariq Ramadan Has an Identity Issue", New York Times Magazine, February 4, 2007. LINK
17. H. Küng, "Church in worst credibility crisis since Reformation, theologian tells bishops", The Irish Times, April 16, 2010. LINK Küng joined the ranks of the New York Times and the like, using disinformation and lies in accusing Benedict XVI with involvement in the scandal, which has been totally refuted with something called objective facts. For example, see the article by Fr. Thomas Brundage, "Update: Milwaukee church judge clarifies case of abusive priest Father Murphy", Catholic Anchor, March 29, 2010. LINK A devastating response to Küng's article came from George Weigel, "An Open Letter to Hans Küng", First Things (On The Square), April 21, 2010. LINK
18. "Dissident Nun Sister Joan Chittister - The LifeSiteNews Interview", Lifesite News, February 15, 2010. LINK
19. B. Lazzuri, "Bishop Raymond Lahey resigns", The Antigonish Casket, October 2009. LINK
20. K. Laidlaw, "Anger, betrayal in Antigonish", National Post, May 29, 2010. LINK
21. No surprise that the congregation was influenced by the cosmic pantheism of Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1995), liberation theology and feminist spirituality.
22. This conference was held at the University of Calgary from June 13 to 16, 2002. LINK
23. See gushing article on Leonard by S.M. Dabu, "A woman of distinction: St. Ellen Leonard", Catholic New Times, April 10, 2005. LINK
24. "Crazy Mary" = Mary Daly, "Radical Elemental Feminist". For Daly's depraved worldview, see S. Bridle, "No Mans Land: An Interview with Mary Daly", EnlightenNext Magazine. LINK
25. Sister McKenna is also author of a revisionist history of the congregation: Charity Alive: Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, Halifax, 1950-1980 (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1998).
26. The aforementioned ex-nun Mary Jo Leddy wrote the Forward to this book, and ex-priest Gregory Baum (see main text) also contributed an article.
27. H.G. Wells (not the science fiction writer), The Christic Center, Life-Giving and Liberating (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004), p. 16. Subnote that Orbis/Maryknoll have been publishing heretical texts for decades.
28. H.G. Wells, "Trinitarian feminism: Elizabeth Johnson's wisdom Christology", Theology Today, October 1995. LINK
29. These publications/titles (and more) are provided in Dickey-Young's Curriculum Vitae at the Queens University website. LINK
30. Genesis 1:28.
31. See D.J. Hall, "Stewardship as Key to a Theology of Nature" In: ed. R.J. Berry, Environmental Stewardship (New York: T & T Clark, 2006), ch. 11, p. 136.
32. See G. Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation, trans. C. Inda and J. Eagleson (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1988). Originally published in 1971. By order of Pope John Paul II, on August 6, 1984 the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (headed by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger), issued its Instruction on Certain Aspects of the "Theology of Liberation". Part VI, Paragraph 10 reads: "Concepts uncritically borrowed from Marxist ideology and recourse to theses of a biblical hermeneutic marked by rationalism are at the basis of the new interpretation." LINK
33. Rolheisher (a Canadian) also belongs to the Oblate of Mary Immaculate (OMI). Syndicated in many Catholic newspapers around the world, Rolheisher's "In Exile" column has for years been polluting the minds of Catholics with his touchy-feely politically correct "Catholicism". He is also President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. His message at the website says: "We seek to be a place that heals rather than divides, a place where conservatives and liberals are equally at home, a place that respects everyone regardless of race, language, clerical status, or gender, a place that models how people can get along". LINK Now isn't that special. TH2 fisks two of Rolheiser's recent columns here and here.
34. To get an idea of the kind of crap published in this periodical, see C. Lind, "Ecojustice: Past and Present", The Ecumenist, Summer 2008. LINK The socialistic pantheism advocated in this article is betrayed with this statement: "Instead of thinking the environment is merely the backdrop for the central human drama and a resource for its continuation, an ecojustice approach centres human life and activity within the web of all life and activity." Nature worship, plain and simple.
35. B. Gasslein, Editorial, Celebrate!, September-October 2009. LINK
36. B. Gasslein, Editorial, Celebrate!, March-April 2010. LINK
37. See note 42 for a similar paganization of Easter by a writer for the Western Catholic Reporter.
38. One outlet is Fernwood Publishing, which "produces critical non-fiction that inform, enlighten and challenge readers.. our goals are not merely economic, but also political. In confronting issues of race, class, gender and sexuality... it is our hope that we can be part of the process of change... We are not afraid to take risks in this regard". LINK Some titles: [i] Beyond Canada: Animal Rights, [ii] Beyond the Profit System, [iii] Global Capitalism in Crisis and Poverty, [iv] Regulation & Social Justice: Readings on the Criminalization of Poverty, [v] The Global Fight for Climate Justice and (TH2s fav) [vi] Zapatistas: Rebellion from the Grassroots to the Global. Another publisher (more so in a radical environmentalist vein) is Woodlake Books, wherein you can find such titles as: [i] Darwin, Divinity and the Dance of the Cosmos: An Ecological Christianity, [ii] Creative Worship, [iii] Ecofootsteps to the Cross: A Lenten Resource and [iv] Provoking the Gospel of John, which "spurs efforts to provoke pastoral leaders and religious educators to look for new and lively readings of John, and challenges them to experiment with interpretive tools such as embodied ensemble exploration." LINK
39. Sunday Missal, 2009-2010 (Toronto: Novalis Publishing Incorporated, 2009), pp. 280, 482.
40. T. Rosica, “Senator Edward Kennedy’s funeral: On mercy and misery”, Salt+Light Television (online), September 3, 2009. LINK TH2 analyses Fr. Rosica's histrionics here.
41. J.-H. Westen, "Salt and Light's Fr. Rosica says LifeSiteNews is Doing the 'work of Satan'", LifeSite News, September 14, 2009. LINK
42. J. Gunn, "Light a Lenten candle this Earth Hour, A carbon fast reflects the true meaning of the Lenten season", Western Catholic Reporter, March 15, 2010. LINK TH2 fisks Gunny here.
43. K. Gilbert, "Nun Volunteering as Abortion Clinic Escort in Illinois", LifeSite News, October 23, 2009. LINK
44. TH2 highlights the Sr. Donna Quinn scandal here.
45. C. LeBlanc, "Orange wave crashes in Antigonish", The Antigonish Casket, June 2010.
46. On CBT, the psychotherapist A. Samuels (University of Essex) wrote letter to a newspaper: "The science is inadequate, the methods naive and manipulative... a coup, a power play by a community that has suddenly found itself on the brink of corralling an enormous amount of money", The Guardian, October 12, 2007. LINK For EMDR see J. Herbert et al., "Science and pseudoscience in the development of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: Implications for clinical psychology", Clinical Psychology Review, 2000, vol. 20, no. 8, pp. 945-971. "Existential Therapy" is rooted in the nihilistic/Nazi/Marxist philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) and Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980).
47. All images taken from Novalis' Sunday Missal, 2009-2010, op. cit., pp. 32, 101, 125, 145, 147, 154, 291, 320, 325, 387, 402, 493, 605.
48. Bayard Canada, "Bayard Canada appoints new Publishing Director for Novalis", December 8, 2008. LINK
49. J. Sinasac, "Küng vs. the Vatican: Who Really Won?", The Catholic Register, October 31, 2008. LINK
50. Matthew 16: 6,12.
51. A. Goodier, The Public Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ (London: Burns Oates & Washborne Limited, 1932), vol. 1, p. 462.
52. J.H. Newman, On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine (Kansas City, MI: Sheed and Ward, 1961), p. 77. Originally published in 1859.
53. J.H. Newman, The Arians of the Fourth Century (London: Longmans, Green and Company, 1890), Appendix, Note 5, pp. 455-456. Republished from the uniform edition of 1871.
II. HISTORICAL CONTEXT. Novalis was founded in Ottawa, Ontario in 1936 by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI). OMI itself was founded in 1816 by Saint Eugene de Mazenod (1782-1861) and was a response to the deleterious effects of the French Revolution on Catholicism.[3] Under Bishop Joseph-Bruno Guigues (1805-1874) of the OMI, the College of Bytown was founded in 1848, becoming the College of Ottawa in 1861, today known as the University of Ottawa.[4] Due to the commencement of public funding in 1965, ecclesiastical and secular components of the university were separated, the former becoming St. Paul University, still federated with the University of Ottawa and entrusted to OMI.
Left to Right: St. Eugene de Mazenod / OMI Insignia / Bishop Joseph-Bruno Guigues.
III. ST. PAUL UNIVERSITY: LOONEYTOWN. St. Paul University (Université Saint-Paul) is a "Pontifical University", one of four such institutions in Canada.[5] A Pontifical University is established directly by the Holy See and under its direct authority, granting degrees (mainly) in Canon Law, Sacred Theology, Sacred Scripture and Philosophy. A look at the St. Paul University website, however, shows that it has taken little (if any) notice from Rome in recent years. It is pedestrian to get an idea of the shenanigans occurrent at St. Paul University by reading the aims of its Faculty of Theology:
Rooted in the Roman Catholic tradition, embracing other religious traditions such as Ukrainian Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, Jewish, and inserted in a multicultural context, the Faculty of Theology offers an ideal setting of openness and respect as faith seeks understanding for an intelligent reflection on the major questions of our time, questions such as women’s place in the Church and in society, globalization, religious conflicts, genetic research, etc. (TH2 emphasis)This synopsis has radical-leftist-politically-correct-egalitarianism written all over it. Let us take one of its staff members, for example: Heather Eaton has a doctoral degree in "Theology and Ecology". She teaches three courses: "Feminist Ethics and Liberation Theologies", "Feminist Theologies and Spiritualities" and "Religion, Culture and Diversity". A glance at her publication list shows it to be a litany of radical feminist nature-worshipping pantheisms.[6]
It is also worthwhile to mention that, just last year, the Faculty of Theology hosted two revealing events. The first involved hosting the National Conference of the Feminist Catholic Network for Women's Equality (June 2009), a group that promotes women's ordination. The second event was entitled "Vatican II and Canada" (October 2009). This was advertised/endorsed by the Archdiocese of Ottawa. Keynote speakers included Canada's most notorious heretic, Gregory Baum (see below), and Bishop Remi De Roo, now a Enneagram teacher (evidencing that this poor fellow has gone bonkers). The usual papal potshots and antinomianisms spewed from the mouths of these two weasels.[7]
Bishop Remi "Fric" De Roo (left) and Gregory "Frac" Baum (right) at the "Vatican II and Canada" bash. Notice: De Roo not in clerical garb. Baum is an ex-priest but was never laicized. This dynamic duo played a large role in drafting the Winnipeg Statement (September 27, 1968), an issuance by the Canadian bishops rejecting the encyclical Humanae vitae by Pope Paul VI [8]. To this day the Canadian bishops have obstinately refused to retract this document. Its infamous Paragraph 26 is responsible for leading Canadian Catholics down the road of nonchalant antinomianism, which in turn has steered them (since 1968) to the widespread occurrence/acceptance of abortion, euthanasia, homosexualism, divorce and other anti-life/anti-family/anti-Catholic issues.[9]
IV. NOVALIS MOVES TO BAYARD CANADA. Now despite the fact that St. Paul himself would do cartwheels if he came across the abovementioned crap, St. Paul University must be mentioned here because it was, until recently, home base for Novalis, thereby showing the putrid pseudo-intellectual atmosphere that gave life to the heretical publications disseminated therefrom (see below). Then in October 2008, a press release was issued indicating Novalis' move from St. Paul University to Bayard Canada. In this issuance, Fr. Dale M. Schlitt, OMI, then Rector of St. Paul University, was quoted (in July 2008) as saying:
We have been working with Bayard Canada for many years now. From the beginning of our discussions, we sensed the real desire by Bayard Canada to continue the mission of Novalis thereby assuring it a dynamic and promising future... This transaction with allow the University, which has been responsible for Novalis for more than 70 years, to pursue its foremost mission on teaching and research.[10] (TH2 emphasis)Fr. Marcel Poirer, AA, President of the Board of Directors for Bayard Canada, stated:
By virture of being owned by a religious congregation, Bayard Canada can now make the objectives entrusted to it by Saint Paul University its own... In changing hands, Novalis will be managed by a publisher whose own roots will allow for the continuity of the Novalis tradition and, in doing so, safeguard its character.[11] (TH2 emphasis)Novalis is a trademark of Bayard Canada (based out of Toronto and Montreal), which has marketed and distributed for Novalis since 2000. Bayard Canada is also a sister company of Bayard France, a multi-national company. Bayard Canada itself is owned by the Augustinians of the Assumption (AA), a Québec City based congregation.[12] At its homepage, Bayard Canada states that it is:
...the leader in children's and religious publishing in Canada, reaching millions of readers each year. Bayard Canada is dedicated to the printed word and devoted to helping a broad audience of children, teens, adults, and seniors explore and understand the world around them. Publishing in both French and English, Bayard Canada is able to build communities of readers across the country with a mission to foster imagination and reflection. (TH2 emphasis)
HANS KÜNG is the world's most famous heretic. He is an international celebrity, the Leif Garrett of babybooming liberal Catholics. A Swiss Catholic priest who today dresses and poses like a male model (see book covers), his license to teach theology was revoked in 1979 by the Holy See. Why? One reason was his 1974 book On Being a Christian, published by Novalis, who refer to it as an "important work". In this text Küng denied the following: [i] Christ's divinity, [ii] Christ's bodily resurrection, [iii] miracles in the Gospels, [iv] that the Mass is a representation of Christ's crucifixion at Golgotha, and [v] that Christ founded an institutional Church. Küng opposes papal infallibility and, at the time when his teaching license was removed, he called Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (a colleague) the "regressive grand inquisitor of the post-Vatican Council period". After becoming Pope, in September 2005 Benedict XVI agreed to meet with Küng (the latter requesting the meeting), where they spoke on various matters for four hours. Extreme kindness and mercy on the part of His Holiness. What does Küng do afterward? He continued with his vilification against the Pope. Just last April he opined that "there is no denying the fact that the worldwide system of covering up cases of sexual crimes committed by clerics was engineered by the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Cardinal Ratzinger"[17] Novalis also publishes Küng's two volume memoirs, My Struggle for Freedom and Disputed Truth. Novalis writes that, in these works, we see "one of the most important theologians of our time... a moving picture of Küng's... struggle for a Christianity characterized not by the domination of an official church but by Jesus; he has "the voice of a prophet concerned for the future". Out of all its releases, that Novalis (a supposedly "Catholic" publisher underwritten by a religious order) issues Küng's books is the most despicable.
RAYMOND LAHEY was formerly the bishop (aged 69) of the Diocese of Antigonish in the province of Nova Scotia. Pope Benedict XVI accepted his letter of resignation on September 26, 2009.[19] Soonafter he was arrested and charged with the possession and importation of child pornography.[20] As of June 7, 2010, his book The Rosary of the Virgin Mary [LINK] is still listed on the Novalis website: Lahey, says Novalis, "has written this book in order to help Canadian Catholics... to pray the Rosary in the way the Pope has suggested." So the question, then, is this: Why is this book still listed for sale by Novalis some eight months after his arrest? In case Lahey's book is later removed from the Novalis website (in response to this article), TH2 has taken screenshots of the appertaining pages and embeds them directly below.
VI. ESSAY COLLECTIONS. Want more bang for your buck? Novalis can accommodate as it has two books with essay/article compilations from a wide latitude of (mostly obscure) heretics.
In Changing Habits, Novalis summarizes [TH2 fisks]: "Women's religious orders have given shape to [i.e. become obsessed with] education, healthcare, and social work in Canada [borrrrrrinnnng], transforming themselves [into habitless hussies] while at the same time helping transform [i.e. Marxize] the world beyond the convent walls. In this comprehensive collection of essays from leading scholars [ya right] and members [i.e. heretics] of religious orders, Elizabeth Smyth [editor, "over-arching themes related to gender and ethnicity link the entire collection"] presents a remarkable [i.e. pathetic] story of achievement [i.e. apostasy], despite incredible odds and often in direct collision [i.e. defiance] with state as well as Church officials. Included in this book are works of Canadian as well as international female scholars, historians, sociologists, and theologians." So, then, let's line them up:
- Rosa Bruno-Jofre / Queen's University: Writes on the Missionary Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart and Mary Immaculate: "their vows were invented for the patriarchal system: 'poverty to control women materially, chastity to control their bodies, and obedience to control their minds.'"[21] Clearly, Bruno-Jofre is your typically unhappy and unrepentant radical feminist. Perhaps she needs a hug.
- Jacqueline Gresko / Douglas College: At a conference entitled Unsettled History: Reconceiving the West through Women's History, Gresko was on panel addressing this topic: "Western Women's History after the Fur Trade: Other Ties and Other Dynasties". Sounds like "Lilith Fair" for feminist herstorians.[22]
- Ellen Leonard / University of St. Michael's College: Founding member of Catholic Network for Women's Equality (link above), formerly known as Canadian Catholics for Women's Ordination.[23] Leonard also gave a tribute to the recently deceased Crazy Mary.[24]
- Heidi MacDonald / University of Lethbridge: Hey, why not take her History 4070 class: Gender, Class and Region in Twentieth Century Canada. Zzzzzzzzzzz. Thank you Frankfurt School.
- Elizabeth McGahan / University of New Brunswick: Hey again, why not take her GEND 2001 class: Gender in Religion. Course readings: Movie Stars and Islamic Moralism in Egypt or The Catholic Earth Mother: Dorothy Day and Women's Power in the Church. Fun stuff.
- Mary Olga McKenna / Mt. St. Vincent University: Outlining the history of the Sisters of Charity at Halifax, McKenna maintains that, after adopting a socialistic-feministic stance after Vatican II, the sister's (by 2000) "feminine consciousness and vision were at an all time high". High on what? [25]
Intersecting Voices: Critical Theologies in a Land of Diversity, says Novalis [TH2 fisks], explores "Canada's unique contribution to critical theology [i.e. heresy, apostasy], where academic skills [rooted in the Marxist critique of society] apply Gospel values [minus morality] to understanding contemporary social issues [excepting the most important issue of abortion]. The result is an assessment of the most challenging issues in current theology and contemporary social critique."[26] So, then again, let's check out a few of the contributors:
- Harold Wells / University of Toronto: writes "on Christology". This is what he writes in another book: "Christ is not a simple criterion of truth... christology is too controversial and must be done in a critical relation to the question of praxis." [27] Note that "praxis" is a favourite word of wannabe postmodernists. And why should I reflect on his "Christology" when he approves of the "trinitarian feminism" of Elizabeth Johnson? For example: "One finds in Johnson and other trinitarian feminists women of courage who are willing to challenge the power structures of their own churches and to bring rigorous criticism to major components of historic theologies, women whose minds and spirits have been nourished by a tradition that fundamentally evokes their loyalty."[28] Whatever. Harold, obviously, is a "sensitive" guy. The girls just must love him.
- Pamela Dickey-Young / Queens University: writes "on theological method and critical theologies". Well, one can easily understand where she is coming from by reading some of her other publications: "Diversity in Feminist Christology", "Neither Male nor Female: Christology Beyond Dimorphism", etc. She also supervised an essay composed by one of her students, entitled: Abstinence and Marriage in Contemporary Evangelical Protestantism: An Analysis Using Bisexual Theory. Yikes! Here is another one: The Goddess Ungendered: Gender and Performativity in Wicca and Goddess Spirituality [29]. Yikes again!
- Douglas Hall / McGill University: writes "on historical shifts in frameworks". This rascal is responsible for popularizing the false notion that God's injunction to "subdue the earth"[30] is evil, and that human beings are not really higher/superior to the natural world: "Christianity on the whole aided and abetted the whole process by openly supporting the notion of human mastery"[31]. Accordingly, we have in Hall another "useful idiot" to be used by environmental nature worshippers. Interestingly, Hall does not mention that modern science (i.e. subduing nature) developed only in the Christian West (see my The Origins of Science).
One Hundred Great Catholic Books (Don Brophy, editor) seems like an interesting text. Novalis states that it is the "penultimate collection of must-reads for Catholics!". Fine. We can read extracts from SS. Athanasius, John Cassian, Hildegard of Bingen, Thomas More, Ignatius of Loyola and Teresa of Avila. There is also Dante, Blaise Pascal, Cardinal Newman, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Sigrid Undset, J.R.R. Tolkien, Evelyn Waugh, Flannery O'Connor and Pope John Paul II. Sounds good. Ah!, but what's this? Also included in the compilation is the aforementioned Hans Küng and the Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutiérrez. The latter is the principal theorist of Marxist-driven liberation theology - responsible for much violence in South America during the 1970s and 1980s.[32] What is most astonishing is that Ron Rolheiser is included in the mix. Are you kidding me? Is Novalis saying that Fr. Rolheiser's liberal wishy-washy non-judgmental kitsch is on par with the great St. Hildegard? Is Novalis saying that Rolheiser, who writes glowingly of Malcolm X, has written a "great Catholic book" comparable to Cardinal Newman's Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent ? [33] Are you kidding me?
VII. PERIODICALS. Two periodicals published by Novalis require assessment.
Novalis' synopsis of THE ECUMENIST necessitates fisking [TH2 analysis in bolded square brackets]: Founded over 45 years ago by Gregory Baum [what a surprise!], Canada's preeminent Catholic theologian [i.e. preeminent heresiarch], the Ecumenist is dedicated to understanding [read: providing misinformation and liberal twists on...] the relationship of theology, society and culture. It encourages the development of "critical theology," [read: Marxist-Frankfurt School critiques] that is, theology committed to analyzing our society and culture (including religious culture) to expose and counter their dehumanizing trends [...all from an antinomian perspective]. The Ecumenist seeks to be faithful to the good news announced by Jesus Christ [minus His moral teachings] and the social teaching of the Catholic Church [minus that personal responsibility stuff] and remains open to dialogue with other Christians, members of the world's religions [relativism] and people of good will [excluding, of course, orthodox, traditionalist Catholics]. It hopes to outline a theology that speaks to the great and often terrible events of our times [such as the continual publication of this abominable periodical], including war [read: anti-Americanism], the Holocaust [blame it on Pope Pius XII], colonialism [there would have been no Canada without colonialism, you idiots], the ecological crisis [histrionic bucolicism, Ludditism], the rise of feminism [hatred of men, children], and the globalization of the free market system [note the standard liberal omission on abortion]. It has adopted the Church's teaching on the "preferential option for the poor" [with the standard contempt for the middle class] and seeks to analyze church and society from the perspective of the marginalized and oppressed [i.e. victim vs. oppressor, struggle, classic Marxist Manichean dualism]. The Ecumenist also hopes to inspire people to resist evil [i.e. capitalism], to organize themselves in solidarity with the poor [form study groups, write articles, give TV interviews, but (hypocritically) never getting out in the real world to objectively help the poor], and to dedicate themselves to living their lives in the service of the common good [...as defined by aging and desperate liberal Catholics who still believe utopia can be achieved on Earth]. Articles in The Ecumenist often address issues in broader society, such as the economy [anti-free market], religious pluralism [syncretism], international development [NGO crap], AIDS [prophylactic promotion], the ecological crisis [elevation of the created over the Creator], women's issues [lesbianism], and workers' rights [syndicalism]. It often republishes important celestial [!] documents on these topics produced by conferences of bishops, religious communities and individual thinkers [specifically those apostates warring against the Pope]. It also addresses issues specific to the Roman Catholic Church, including [here comes that word...] structures of authority, women's ordination [they just never give up, it ain't gonna happen, la la la la la la...], ethics [moral autonomy of the self], ecumenical and interfaith dialogue [sorry, B16 beat you to it with the Anglican thing - and now he's got the Russian Orthodox on deck], teachings on sexuality [promiscuity], and the magisterium [notice no capital M]. The Ecumenist features some of the most dynamic [i.e. liberal-leftist] and interesting [i.e. snorefest] religious scholars writing today. The articles are presented in an accessible fashion that is perfect for scholars, students, church leaders as well as lay Christians [and other suckers who unwittingly get shafted on a quarterly basis]. [34]Are you ready for some cheese? Then let's CELEBRATE! Let's "Renew the face of the earth". Let's have "a cosmic Easter". Shall we dance?
Celebrate! is Canada’s only pastoral magazine. In 2008, it officially expanded to become the full-colour, 40-page pastoral magazine with the liturgical heart... The heart of this award-winning magazine is “Feasting at the Two Tables,” offering resources for liturgical preparation, tips for lectors, and commentary on the readings of each Sunday. Pastors, homilists, musicians, lectors and RCIA teams use “Feasting” to prepare for their ministry.You can find articles on "cutting edge issues", initiation, "children’s spirituality", book reviews, administration, ministry to the sick. There is also the column called "Connections - deep ones - between our ministerial life and the life of those to whom we minister." Now that's just downright creepy. Notice also the "our" and the "we". It's all about "us", "we", "I", "our" and the "me" in this periodical. You get an idea of this horizontal-worship "we are the world" nonsense by reading a piece from Bernadette Gasslein, the editor:
I wonder how people who aren't familiar with our internal workings experience us. Do they find our demands as strange as the labyrinthine workings of the health care system? When people approach us for sacraments or with other needs, do they find bureaucrats or pastors?[35] (TH2 emphasis)Notice the self-pity-nobody-knows-I-am-a-martyr complex: "I wonder how people who aren't familiar with our internal workings experience us". Woe is me. This is so common amongst babybooming liberal Catholics. "Do they find bureaucrats or pastors?" Answer: bureaucrats. Here's an extract from another editorial:
This consciousness of responsibility for creation needs to become part of our ecclesial consciousness, for all creation shows the presence of God. All creation speaks resurrection, both the fire of a newborn planet and the new fire that ignites the Easter candle. Take Earth Day seriously - a kind of Easter feast for the planet ! Celebrate its 40th anniversary on April 22. Since it falls within the Easter season, connect it with the Easter mysteries. Check out the possibilities for action at [...Earth Day website]. [36] (TH2 emphasis)Notice how they see themselves: "our ecclesial consciousness" - this subterfuging phraseology is the mode by which they transmogrify the laity (i.e. themselves) into "priests". It is one reason why at many Canadian parishes these days you will find one or two of these self-righteous-busybody SS Liturgical Committee Officers acting as gatekeepers, ordering the priest around, pontificating throughout their petty pharisaical fiefdoms. Moreover, we see in this quote that homely nature-worshipping paganism that mocks the holy time of Easter.[37] It is, then, no surprise that the Celebrate! website provides links to neo-Marxist publishers.[38] And, what a shocker! There is even a link to St. Paul University. The contributors to Celebrate! (even the magazine's name with that exclamation mark reeks of aging hippie cheese) reads like a who's who of totalitarian lay liberal liturgists. And what's this? The aforementioned Bishop Lahey was once an editorial advisor.
VIII. SUNDAY MISSAL. TH2 is not going to furnish a detailed analysis of Novalis' despicable excuse for a Missal. Rather, my interest lies in the pithy blurbs (in the Novalis Missal) prefacing each Sunday of Ordinary Time, Advent, Christmas and Easter. Yes, these mini-essays contain all the expected politically correct linguistics (e.g. Eucharist not capitalized, God/Jesus printed as "him" instead of Him, "catching people" instead of "fishers of men", "humankind", and so forth). The focus here, rather, is on the authors of these tracts. So let's take a look inside Novalis' 2009-2010 Sunday Missal:
- Bernadette Gasslein: Aforementioned editor of Celebrate! For April 3 (Easter Vigil) she writes: "Today we celebrate that the universe is reborn in Christ, and we too are reborn". This prioritizing of the "universe" before the human person ties in with her bent towards animism (as above). For September 5 (23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time) Gasslein politicizes the Gospel, with an underhanded shot at President George W. Bush: "What does it cost to enters God's household?... Know the cost, Jesus warns, or risk being foolish, like... a politician who leads a nation into war without first determining whether the nation can afford it."[39] Whatever, muffin.
- Fr. Thomas Rosica: CEO at Salt+Light Television, good friend of Gregory Baum and enemy of Catholic bloggers.[40] He has accused LifeSite News of doing "the work of Satan" because they criticized the public Mass for Senator Ted Kennedy, an unrepentant enabler of abortion.[41]
- Joseph Gunn: Neo-Marxist at Citizens for Public Justice. In his "Journey to Justice" column (Western Catholic Reporter), Gunny (like Bernadette Gasslein, as above) wrote a piece that turned the holy time of Easter into a vulgar nature worshipping extravaganza.[42]
- Sr. Mary Ellen Green: New Age nun belonging to the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters (Wisconsin) who has taken a vow of Perpetual Habitlessness. Go to their website and visit their "Mound Center" where they have both indoor and outdoor labyrinths (standard gnostic "spiritual tool" used by hippie apostate nuns all around North America). It is also well to remember that just last year Sr. Donna Quinn of the same Sinsinawa Dominicans acted as a "clinic escort" to women going for abortions.[43] The mighty Al at Is Anybody There? gave excellent coverage to this scandal.[44]
- Joseph Vorstermans: Director at Intercordia Canada, a "non for profit university" offering courses in "Social Justice/Peace Studies". Politically correct vision to: "develop cultural sensitivity, practical real world skills and a more compassionate worldview". Its "Statement about Spirituality" reads: "Since no single spirituality conveys the totality of the human experience, each person’s faith can be enriched through learning and dialogue across difference." Fair enough - an non-judgmental ecumenical egalitarianism. But why is Vorstermans writing for a so-called "Catholic" Missal, with the (supposedly) implied purpose being to draw others to the One True Faith, namely the Catholic Church? But, of course, this is anathema to Novalis.
- Michael Dougherty: Co-chair of the "Social Justice Committee" of Sacred Heart Cathedral of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Writes "Just Society" column at the Yukon News. Enough said
- Susan Eaton: At Antigonish in Nova Scotia, she is very much involved with the New Democratic Party (NDP) - Canada's socialist pro-abortion political party.[45]
- Sr. Barbara Bozak: Member of the habitless Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambery. No Jesus, Mary and Joseph here. Directly affiliated with the Collaborative Center for Justice. Standard "social justice" crap - environmentalism, anti-war protesting, United Nations, "changing unjust social structures". Nothing on pro-life issues, of course.
- Patrick Doyle: Counselller-Psychotherapist with the following "therapeutic orientations": [i] Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT), [ii] Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and [iii] "Existential Therapy". Professional psychotherapists have castigated all three techniques as belonging to the realms of pseudo-science, profiteering and charlatanism.[46]
A corollary of the cornball liberal Catholic vision is, of course, its cornball art (an increasing number of Catholic teenagers laugh at it upon observation - and rightly so). Accordingly, let's take a break and have some fun by perusing the corny graphics displayed in a recent Missal published by Novalis.[47]
I have long respected Novalis and look forward to embarking on a new and challenging adventure in Catholic publishing in Canada. This country, and the Church in Canada, deserves a flourishing and lively Catholic publisher to enrich its intellectual and spiritual life.[48]
That Sinasac was selected is again no surprise, as previously he was editor/publisher at The Catholic Register (for 13 years), with a leftist orientation. Individuals with Canadian Catholic newspapers (like The Catholic Register), Salt+Light Television, Novalis, and the Canadian Bishops Conference - all these apparatchiks hobnob with one another so there is a lot of revolving doors being spun as they continue with their subtle, slow-motion undermining of Catholic dogma in Canada. What plausibly got Bayard Canada very excited about Sinasac was that, on October 31, 2008 (about 6 weeks prior to their press release), he wrote approvingly in The Catholic Register of Novalis' 2008 release Disputed Truth: Memoirs II by the aforementioned heretic Hans Küng. Said Sinasac:
...the church needs people like Kung even when they are wrong and disagreeable. Sometimes they can also be right.[49]It is this debonair attitude that is most telling. The bloated self-confidence, the suave endorsement of a manifest heretic (i.e. Küng) with no worry for repercussions (after all, many Canadian bishops agree with Sinasac and Bayard Canada did give him the job), plus the presumption that the heresy of "Catholic" Leftism has won the day.
The aforelisted Rogues Gallery compiled by your friendly neighborhood TH2 are not known by most Canadian Catholics. But neither should they be expected to know them - they have lives to live, children to raise. Unfortunately, however, they are trustful that - what they read in their Missal at Sunday Mass or when they purchase that book from Novalis ("the leader in children's and religious publishing in Canada, reaching millions of readers each year"), they are getting knowledge, catechesis and spiritual nourishment from purportedly authentic Catholic writers adhering to Tradition, loyal to the Magisterium. But this is absolutely not the case as the abovementioned blatantly evidences. Novalis likes to drape itself in authentic Catholicity, but this is just window dressing. For example, its website provides links to various Catholic periodicals, like the leftist Western Catholic Reporter and even the neo-Marxist New Catholic Times. But a link to Catholic Insight (the only orthodox Catholic magazine in Canada absolutely loyal to the Pope and consistent on matters of dogma; edited by my hero Fr. Alphonse de Valk) is nowhere to be found. Interesting. Without a doubt, Novalis is a wolf in sheep's clothing because they do, indeed, disseminate dissent in an underhanded manner. Subtlety is in operation here.
On this pernicious subtlety used by heretics and apostates, the Lord of History spoke to His apostles:
Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees... Then they understood that He had not said beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.[50]Archbishop Alban Goodier, SJ (1869-1939) commented on this instructive warning of Our Lord:
It was not so much their opposition that He feared for His own, it was their [Pharisees'] subtlety. Before the Pharisees had blamed Him for His miracles and other good deeds; He knew this would not take His friends away from Him. Now this morning [the Pharisees] had come with an affected simplicity, a show of desire to know the truth, an appeal to the prophets, a zeal for tradition, a respect for law and order and obedience to the powers that be; and all this, He knew, would be likely to affect His own more than any open enmity. Like leaven, unless they were careful, it would spread unconsciously among them.[51] (TH2 emphasis)To this deplorable situation at Novalis, Canadian Catholics cannot expect any oversight or correction from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). It is not going to happen. The apostasy therein is ongoing, and they will not investigate Bayard Canada, or specifically the Assumptionists, owning most of its shares. The same applies to Canadian Catholic mass media and institutions (i.e. newspapers, publishers, television, websites, seminaries, universities, teachers unions, etc.), now utterly infested with heretics and apostates. To be sure, the situation since the issuance of the Winnipeg Statement (the post-Vatican II period in general) is analogous to the domination of the Arian heresy after the Council of Nicea (ca. 325). Cardinal John Henry Newman observed:
The body of bishops failed in their confessional Faith... there was nothing after Nicea, of firm, unvarying, consistent testimony, for nearly sixty years. There were untrustworthy Councils, unfaithful bishops; there was weakness... misguidance, delusion, hallucination, endless, hopeless, extending into nearly every corner of the Catholic Church. The comparatively few who remained faithful were discredited and driven into exile; the rest were either deceivers or deceived.[52]Elsewhere Newman wrote:
The episcopate, whose action was so prompt and concordant at Nicæa on the rise of Arianism, did not, as a class or order of men, play a good part in the troubles consequent upon the Council; and the laity did. The Catholic people, in the length and breadth of Christendom, were the obstinate champions of Catholic truth, and the bishops were not. Of course there were great and illustrious exceptions; first, Athanasius, Hilary, the Latin Eusebius, and Phœbadius... speaking of the laity, I speak inclusively of their parish-priests (so to call them)... on the whole, taking a wide view of the history, we are obliged to say that the governing body of the Church came short, and the governed were pre-eminent in faith, zeal, courage, and constancy... It was mainly by the faithful people that Paganism was overthrown; it was by the faithful people, under the lead of Athanasius and the Egyptian bishops, and in some places supported by their Bishops or priests, that the worst of heresies was withstood and stamped out of the sacred territory.[53]
At the Novalis blog, Sinasac writes this:
The Church in Canada, for its part, needs somewhere it can go to find authentic Canadian catechetical and spiritual resources... So I'm throwing this question out to you: What should a Catholic publisher publish?
Mr. Scampers provides the answer:
NOTES / REFERENCES
1. Novalis releases approximately 50 books per year, both in English and French. International readers should know that Canada is a bilingual country. English is the principal language for most of Canada. French-speaking Canadians are mainly from/in Quebec, a formerly devout Catholic province, now overlorded by the religions of socialism and nationalism. Anti-clericalism therein is a provincial sport.
2. Novalis publishes materials (books periodicals music, videos) in the following areas: "biographies/history", "personal & spiritual", "social issues", "spirituality & prayer", "theology & faith", bibles/scripture studies", "books for children 0 to 6", "morals & religious education", "churches & communities", "pastoral & liturgical" and "sacramental preparation". Novalis also publishes its Sunday Missal, used in many Canadian parishes (discussed in main text).
3. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate played a large role in missionary activities in western and northern Canada. See Catholic Encyclopedia for a history of this order. LINK see also the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate website for a history of the life and trials of St. Eugene de Mazenod. LINK
4. Guigues was the first bishop of the Diocese of Bytown (Ottawa), from 1847 to 1874. He entrusted the College of Bytown/Ottawa to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. A history of the University of Ottawa (College of Bytown) is given in a timeline. LINK
5. The other three are: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (Toronto, Ontario); Regis College, University of Toronto; and the Faculté de Théologie et de Sciences Religieuses, Université Laval (Québec).
6. Check out these beauties by Heather Eaton: “Feminist or Functional Cosmology? Ecofeminist Musings on Thomas Berry's Functional Cosmology,” Ecotheology, 1998, 5/6, pp. 73-94; "Liaison or Liability: Weaving Spirituality into Ecofeminist Politics", Atlantis, 1997, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 109-122; and her magnum opus: Introducing Ecofeminist Theologies (London: T & T Clark International, 2005).
7. See P.B. Craine, "Ottawa's Saint Paul University to Feature Dissidents Gregory Baum and Bishop Remi De Roo", LifeSite News, October 1, 2009. LINK; P.B. Craine and S. Jalsevac, "Vatican, 'Conservative' Catholics Undermining Vatican II: Gregory Baum at Ottawa's Saint Paul University", LifeSite News, October 29, 2009. LINK In 2002, the former Servite priest John Huels was identified for sexually abusing a teenage boy. At the time, he was Vice Dean at St. Paul University and a Professor of Canon Law. For this see H.H. Hitchcock, "Influential Priest-Canonist is Abuser of Member of Bishops Review Board", Adoremus Bulletin, September 2002, vol. VIII, no. 6. LINK
8. See Msgr. V. Foy, "Tragedy at Winnipeg: The Canadian Catholic Bishops' Statement on Humanae vitae", Challenge, vol. 14, 1988. LINK
9. Paragraph 26 reads: "Counsellors may meet others who, accepting the teaching of the Holy Father, find that because of particular circumstances they are involved in what seems to them a clear conflict of duties, e.g., the reconciling of conjugal love and responsible parenthood with the education of children already born or with the health of the mother. In accord with the accepted principles of moral theology, if these persons have tried sincerely, but without success to pursue a line of conduct in keeping with the given directives, they may be safely assured that, whoever chooses that course which seems right to him does so in good conscience." And lo, the floodgates were opened...
10. Bayard Canada, "Novalis moves from Saint Paul University to Bayard Canada", October 1, 2008. LINK
11. Ibid.
12. The Augustinians of the Assumption (also called the Assumptionists) was founded by Fr. Emmanuel d'Alzon (1810-1880) in France in 1845. LINK Its inspiration and "Rule of Life" is based on St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Doctor of the Church.
13. Catholic New Times became defunct in 2006. Not to be confused with the website New Catholic Times. LINK The latter expounds the same claptrap, operated by babybooming "social justice" fossils well aware that the end is nigh.
14. Baum's Religion and Alienation: A Theological Reading of Sociology was first published by the Paulist Press (another heretical publisher) in 1975. The 2006 edition by Novalis (calling the book "seminal") is revised and updated, with additional material.
15. See P. Donnelly, "Tariq Ramadan: The Muslim Martin Luther?", Salon Magazine, February 15, 2002. LINK Subnote that Ramadan's grandfather formed the "Muslim Brotherhood" and his father set up militant/"soft" Mohammedan centres throughout Europe.
16. For example, see I. Buruma, "Tariq Ramadan Has an Identity Issue", New York Times Magazine, February 4, 2007. LINK
17. H. Küng, "Church in worst credibility crisis since Reformation, theologian tells bishops", The Irish Times, April 16, 2010. LINK Küng joined the ranks of the New York Times and the like, using disinformation and lies in accusing Benedict XVI with involvement in the scandal, which has been totally refuted with something called objective facts. For example, see the article by Fr. Thomas Brundage, "Update: Milwaukee church judge clarifies case of abusive priest Father Murphy", Catholic Anchor, March 29, 2010. LINK A devastating response to Küng's article came from George Weigel, "An Open Letter to Hans Küng", First Things (On The Square), April 21, 2010. LINK
18. "Dissident Nun Sister Joan Chittister - The LifeSiteNews Interview", Lifesite News, February 15, 2010. LINK
19. B. Lazzuri, "Bishop Raymond Lahey resigns", The Antigonish Casket, October 2009. LINK
20. K. Laidlaw, "Anger, betrayal in Antigonish", National Post, May 29, 2010. LINK
21. No surprise that the congregation was influenced by the cosmic pantheism of Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1995), liberation theology and feminist spirituality.
22. This conference was held at the University of Calgary from June 13 to 16, 2002. LINK
23. See gushing article on Leonard by S.M. Dabu, "A woman of distinction: St. Ellen Leonard", Catholic New Times, April 10, 2005. LINK
24. "Crazy Mary" = Mary Daly, "Radical Elemental Feminist". For Daly's depraved worldview, see S. Bridle, "No Mans Land: An Interview with Mary Daly", EnlightenNext Magazine. LINK
25. Sister McKenna is also author of a revisionist history of the congregation: Charity Alive: Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, Halifax, 1950-1980 (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1998).
26. The aforementioned ex-nun Mary Jo Leddy wrote the Forward to this book, and ex-priest Gregory Baum (see main text) also contributed an article.
27. H.G. Wells (not the science fiction writer), The Christic Center, Life-Giving and Liberating (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004), p. 16. Subnote that Orbis/Maryknoll have been publishing heretical texts for decades.
28. H.G. Wells, "Trinitarian feminism: Elizabeth Johnson's wisdom Christology", Theology Today, October 1995. LINK
29. These publications/titles (and more) are provided in Dickey-Young's Curriculum Vitae at the Queens University website. LINK
30. Genesis 1:28.
31. See D.J. Hall, "Stewardship as Key to a Theology of Nature" In: ed. R.J. Berry, Environmental Stewardship (New York: T & T Clark, 2006), ch. 11, p. 136.
32. See G. Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation, trans. C. Inda and J. Eagleson (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1988). Originally published in 1971. By order of Pope John Paul II, on August 6, 1984 the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (headed by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger), issued its Instruction on Certain Aspects of the "Theology of Liberation". Part VI, Paragraph 10 reads: "Concepts uncritically borrowed from Marxist ideology and recourse to theses of a biblical hermeneutic marked by rationalism are at the basis of the new interpretation." LINK
33. Rolheisher (a Canadian) also belongs to the Oblate of Mary Immaculate (OMI). Syndicated in many Catholic newspapers around the world, Rolheisher's "In Exile" column has for years been polluting the minds of Catholics with his touchy-feely politically correct "Catholicism". He is also President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. His message at the website says: "We seek to be a place that heals rather than divides, a place where conservatives and liberals are equally at home, a place that respects everyone regardless of race, language, clerical status, or gender, a place that models how people can get along". LINK Now isn't that special. TH2 fisks two of Rolheiser's recent columns here and here.
34. To get an idea of the kind of crap published in this periodical, see C. Lind, "Ecojustice: Past and Present", The Ecumenist, Summer 2008. LINK The socialistic pantheism advocated in this article is betrayed with this statement: "Instead of thinking the environment is merely the backdrop for the central human drama and a resource for its continuation, an ecojustice approach centres human life and activity within the web of all life and activity." Nature worship, plain and simple.
35. B. Gasslein, Editorial, Celebrate!, September-October 2009. LINK
36. B. Gasslein, Editorial, Celebrate!, March-April 2010. LINK
37. See note 42 for a similar paganization of Easter by a writer for the Western Catholic Reporter.
38. One outlet is Fernwood Publishing, which "produces critical non-fiction that inform, enlighten and challenge readers.. our goals are not merely economic, but also political. In confronting issues of race, class, gender and sexuality... it is our hope that we can be part of the process of change... We are not afraid to take risks in this regard". LINK Some titles: [i] Beyond Canada: Animal Rights, [ii] Beyond the Profit System, [iii] Global Capitalism in Crisis and Poverty, [iv] Regulation & Social Justice: Readings on the Criminalization of Poverty, [v] The Global Fight for Climate Justice and (TH2s fav) [vi] Zapatistas: Rebellion from the Grassroots to the Global. Another publisher (more so in a radical environmentalist vein) is Woodlake Books, wherein you can find such titles as: [i] Darwin, Divinity and the Dance of the Cosmos: An Ecological Christianity, [ii] Creative Worship, [iii] Ecofootsteps to the Cross: A Lenten Resource and [iv] Provoking the Gospel of John, which "spurs efforts to provoke pastoral leaders and religious educators to look for new and lively readings of John, and challenges them to experiment with interpretive tools such as embodied ensemble exploration." LINK
39. Sunday Missal, 2009-2010 (Toronto: Novalis Publishing Incorporated, 2009), pp. 280, 482.
40. T. Rosica, “Senator Edward Kennedy’s funeral: On mercy and misery”, Salt+Light Television (online), September 3, 2009. LINK TH2 analyses Fr. Rosica's histrionics here.
41. J.-H. Westen, "Salt and Light's Fr. Rosica says LifeSiteNews is Doing the 'work of Satan'", LifeSite News, September 14, 2009. LINK
42. J. Gunn, "Light a Lenten candle this Earth Hour, A carbon fast reflects the true meaning of the Lenten season", Western Catholic Reporter, March 15, 2010. LINK TH2 fisks Gunny here.
43. K. Gilbert, "Nun Volunteering as Abortion Clinic Escort in Illinois", LifeSite News, October 23, 2009. LINK
44. TH2 highlights the Sr. Donna Quinn scandal here.
45. C. LeBlanc, "Orange wave crashes in Antigonish", The Antigonish Casket, June 2010.
46. On CBT, the psychotherapist A. Samuels (University of Essex) wrote letter to a newspaper: "The science is inadequate, the methods naive and manipulative... a coup, a power play by a community that has suddenly found itself on the brink of corralling an enormous amount of money", The Guardian, October 12, 2007. LINK For EMDR see J. Herbert et al., "Science and pseudoscience in the development of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: Implications for clinical psychology", Clinical Psychology Review, 2000, vol. 20, no. 8, pp. 945-971. "Existential Therapy" is rooted in the nihilistic/Nazi/Marxist philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) and Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980).
47. All images taken from Novalis' Sunday Missal, 2009-2010, op. cit., pp. 32, 101, 125, 145, 147, 154, 291, 320, 325, 387, 402, 493, 605.
48. Bayard Canada, "Bayard Canada appoints new Publishing Director for Novalis", December 8, 2008. LINK
49. J. Sinasac, "Küng vs. the Vatican: Who Really Won?", The Catholic Register, October 31, 2008. LINK
50. Matthew 16: 6,12.
51. A. Goodier, The Public Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ (London: Burns Oates & Washborne Limited, 1932), vol. 1, p. 462.
52. J.H. Newman, On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine (Kansas City, MI: Sheed and Ward, 1961), p. 77. Originally published in 1859.
53. J.H. Newman, The Arians of the Fourth Century (London: Longmans, Green and Company, 1890), Appendix, Note 5, pp. 455-456. Republished from the uniform edition of 1871.
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