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.

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)
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:



  • 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]
  • 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?

Says Novalis:
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]
The abovementioned list consists of just 9 out of 38 contributors. TH2 does not have the stomach to provide a snapshot of the remaining 29. Nonetheless, the reader gets the idea (i.e. leftist-liberal types, social justice fanatics, New Age weirdos, parish tyrants, careerists, etc. minus orthodoxy).

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:
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:
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.


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35 comments:

Celestine said...

Once again, an excellent and most enjoyable analysis, TH2! However, do allow me to apologize on behalf of my countrymen for inflicting Chittister and Rolheiser upon Canada. We're really sorry.

TH2 said...

Thanks, Celestine. Much appreciated.

Though you need only to half apologize:) Although based in the States these days, Rolheisher is originally from the Canadian west. So, I must apologize to you guys south of the border.

Helen said...

Very informative, TH2. Thank you(and "Mr. Scampers", can't forget him, ahem) so much for sifting through the nonsense. Love the captions to the illustrations... better than a visit to the "Museum of Modern Art" or MOMA as it's called here in Nannytown.

Anonymous said...

You're a talented writer. It was worth the wait.

TH2 said...

Helen: It was a lot of fun adding those captions. Glad you found it informative.

Anonymous: Thank you for the compliment.

Al said...

Reading over this I couldn't help but think that if you just change the name, this could apply to more than 1 "Catholic" publishing company down here in the lower 48. In particular I am thinking of Doubleday's Image* imprint & esp Sheed & Ward, which despite the claims on their website, is NOT "continuing its founders' original vision".

S & W brags about publishing books by Hans Kung, Edward Schillebeeckx,Daniel Berrigan, Andrew Greeley, Rowan Williams, & of course, Satan's little blueberry muffin, Joan Chittister. This from the same company that once published works by Jacques Maritain & G.K. Chesterton. In fact, Sheed's works are no longer being published by the publishing house he founded. But S & W is publishing the Priests for Equality Inclusive Bible.

That they are owned by Bayard didn't surprize me either. The US branch is just as bad. Some years ago they took over a magazine that I subscribed to when it began, "God's Word Today"> When they took over it went so downhill that I finally let my subscription lapse.

Fortunately we have a few good Catholic publishers out there, like Ignatius Press (who publishes some of Ward's works).

* Since Image was a part of a secular publishing company, its fall in the 70s is somewhat understandable.

PS: Grazie for the mention of my blog.

TH2 said...

Al: For me, the most tragic is Sheed & Ward - yes, once upon a time, great thinkers/writers were published with them (it?).

Did not know that Bayard had a US branch as well. Grazie back at ya for the info.

Lola said...

This sort of thing seems to be in everything 'Catholic'.

I was recently interested in applying for a job at a University, "Catholic" at that.
The lady telling me of the job couldn't contain her Enthusiasm for the valuable research on "Women's Deaconate" and the History of Women in the Church.

I was so startled I forgot my standard, "St. Catherine of Sienna or St. Theresa of Avila"? (Not too many fans in Feminism for those two!)

Thank you for your work, and for the very pithy captions for the malarky 'art'.

TH2 said...

Thanks for dropping in, Lola. Reading about your recent inquiry at the university reminds me of one or two persons I know who underwent comparable experiences.

St. Cajetan is the patron saint of job seekers so I will ask him to intercede and help you along the way. I will pray for your search too, though I suspect that Cajetan has more clout in the heavenly abode than myself :)

Al said...

TH2, Yup Bayard is at it down here as well, with the same bizzare logo that makes absolutely no sense to me.

TH2 said...

LOL on your logo comment, Al... you're right. Looks something like a Picasso... weird and overrated.

Mary said...

Your research is appreciated, TH2. A similarly pernicious outfit in the states is
Twenty-Third Publications. A list of their authors, including your favorite Joanie "Babes" Chittister, is found here. I had the distinct displeasure of reading "Whole Community Catechesis" by Bill Heubsch, which was going to be, according to out DRE, "the model for adult catechesis in our parishes". My husband and I red-inked the whole horrible book. One of these days when I'm in a really bad mood, I'll highlight a few sections on my blog.

TH2 said...

Thanks for the links, Mary. Did not know about TT Publications. The heretical publishers I come across often (from the US) are Paulist Press and Maryknoll-Orbis. In Canada, there is but one dominating "Catholic" publisher, and that is Novalis.

Optimusmastro said...

Dude,..the fun part about 'scholars' such as Fr Hans Kung and Gregory Baum(who BTW is a great friend of my parish priest which should tell you something about my parish...)is that whenever they publish material nobody can figure out what the hell the thesis is! Fr Kung published a book last year on the 'prophet' Muhammed and I still can't figure out after reading it what his opinion is! THat's the danger when you subtract objective philosophy/critical thinking from any kind of academic endeavor,..you end up writing subjective crap without a thesis!

As for Gregory Baum,..He has spoken at my parish (I thought he was excommunicated?) regarding the changes to the Mass since VII. I brought my copy of Sacrosanctum Concilium and it almost acted as a heretic repellent,..needless to say he called me medieval, and closed minded!

Keep up the good work Heresy Hunter!

Peace.

TH2 said...

Thanks, Marco, for taking the time to write a detailed comment.

Re: Kung - This wind bag will be able to crawl out from under his rock and castigate and vilify for only a short time more. Time is running out for him, and Baum too, who (yes) is excommunicated.

Re: Greg at your parish - that he called you closed-minded and medieval (I would take that as a compliment, even though Baum meant it in a derogatory sense) just goes to show how heretics resort to name calling and diversion (standard tactics) instead of directly addressing the matter at hand, which they cannot because... well... their heretics.

If there is anything that so hurts Our Lord is when his specially consecrated ones, His priests, turn away from Him and try to undermine His Church. These two fossils will soon fade away, but the Lord of History commands that we pray for our enemies. We must - and may God have mercy on their immortal souls.

D Cummings McLean said...

Cherry-picking. As admirable as is your dedication to research, you are throwing the baby out with the bathwater here. I can understand why you don't like, say, St. Paul's, but it seems extreme to write off the entire Catholic Register and all Novalis.

Here's a challenge for you. I go to Sunday Mass in the Extraordinary Form every week. I write for the Catholic Register, and I have a book out with Novalis. See if you can find anything heretical in anything I've written for either.

Go for it.

Incidentally, why not write under your own name? Everyone you've mentioned above does.

TH2 said...

Ms. Cummings McLean:

Thank you for your criticism.

Published by CR and Novalis, you obviously have a stake in this matter, so your comment and its tone are not unexpected. If you touch a sensitive nerve, it will react.

The fact that Novalis published your book (I'll take your word for it no error exists therein) does not negate my thesis. Your book is about relationships, but also recall that Novalis has published works on marriage preparation that advocated proportionalism, etc.

So what that there are some books by Novalis that are not heretical? Big deal. That was not my focus. For years now it has been an open secret that Novalis publishes heresy/apostasy. It's just now, because of the "new media" (i.e. bloggers, internet), that the Canadian Catholic MSM (to which I include yourself) have to answer when somebody issues legitimate criticisms evidencing heresy.

"Cherry picking...baby out with the bathwater": You, apparently, do not seem to understand how heresy works. Read this quote from C.S. Lewis: "...and then she understood the devilish cunning of the enemies' plan. By mixing a little truth with it they had made their lie far stronger." And it this subtle mixing of heresy, slowly, gradually over time, that is the most dangerous. That is what has been happening in the last 40+ years (refer to my quotes from Cardinal Newman at the end of the piece). May I also recommend my article: On the Identification of Heretics

The fact that you (apparently again) can disregard prominent heretics like Baum, Kung and Chittister (and the massive damage they have done, and are doing to, the faithful) - as if it is of no relevance - expresses, in my view, naivety, or simply an unwillingness to face harsh reality.

But you don't have to take my word (obviously, you won't), but let me quote from recent comments made about Novalis/Catholic Register by Monsignor Vincent Foy (an intellectual giant, canonist and a loyal son of the Church):

"Given the wall of protection the Church raises to protect her sons and daughters from dangerous literature, it was a shock to me to read a recent book review of Disputed Truth, Memoirs II, by Hans Kung in the Catholic Register.... Research shows that Novalis has also published other works of heterodox teaching... The works of Hans Kung have done immense harm to the faith. Their errors have penetrated Catholic colleges and seminaries... The heads of Catholic universties are responsible for all media of communications over which they have control. It is their duty to see that nothing is taught that is incompatible with the Magesterium of the Church. They, and those who in any university teach subjects that deal with faith or morals, must make a solemn profession of faith (c. 833 of the Code of Canon Law)... n. 2497 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: 'By the very nature of their profession, journalists have an obligation to serve the truth and not offend against charity in disseminating information.'...I suggest that the Church, repository of the fullness of revelation, needs Hans Kung like it needs a dose of poison! What the Church needs is proclaimers and guardians of the truth."

You can read more of what he wrote
here

Dear Lady, you and your friends at Novalis and The Catholic Register have to realize that the "spirit" of post-Vatican II playtime is over - and you're going to have to deal with it. The Lord of History is cleaning up His Church.

You shall be included in my next Rosary intentions. I will ask Our Lady to aid you.

TH2

TH2 said...

Oh, one other thing I forgot to mention: I am under no obligation to reveal my name. So you know, I have never been, not now, nor intend to be, affiliated with any publisher, university or agency, etc. Not a careerist.

I have no personal axe to grind and have no stake in this. Just the facts ma'am... Just the guy down the street with whom the Canadian Catholic MSM look upon with contempt, assuming lack of qualification/knowledge.

D Cummings McLean said...

How could anyone in the Canadian Catholic MSM look upon you with contempt? We don't even know who you are. No name, no shame. If I looked upon you with contempt, we wouldn't be having this little conversation.

Quite obviously you have not been reading my work if you think I am an apologist for Baum, Hans Kung, Chittister or the "spirit" of Vatican II. Au contraire.

Meanwhile, I don't think either you or Father Foy could have read Joe Sinasac's review of Kung's most recent rambles all the way through or with any understanding. It is a sad irony that the only line heresy hunters picked up in Sinasac's review was his strained attempt to say something nice--as in general book reviewers try to do. If we love a book, we try to throw in some constructive criticism. If we hate a book, we try to say something nice. I have to admit I don't remember saying anything nice about Heather Eaton's book on eco-feminism, but Joe Sinasac is kinder than I.

Thank you for your prayers. What I object to is not your trashing of dodgy dinosaurs like Kung but your smearing of the Catholic Register and Novalis and, what the heck, Joe Sinasac, who is by no means "an enemy within." (Really, the mind boggles.)

Try to see this from my point of view. As a tradition-minded, orthodox, post-"spirit-of-Vatican-II" Latin Mass goer, I get a lot of flack from the more, shall we say, progressive elements. The fact that the Catholic Register and Novalis are willing to publish me is quite a relief to me as an author and a Canadian Catholic.

However, here you are banging into the heads of other tradition-minded people that the Catholic Register and Novalis are entirely, irretrievably bad. And this makes my life, speaking as an orthodox Catholic writer, more difficult because other orthodox people, if they accept your thesis, will reject me as some kind of looney lib simply because of my publishers. And therefore they will miss out on writing they might enjoy and joy in the slow resurgence of orthodoxy into the marketplace.

I suppose it's okay for Michael Coren, the latest columnist to join the Catholic Register ranks, because he is so well known for his views that the idea he could be some kind of arch-heretic is laughable, but it is not so nice for a younger writer like me.

Essentially what I am suggesting is that you not napalm the whole village without checking to see if any of your own troops are in it first.

D Cummings McLean said...

As I impatiently wait for my reply to appear, I realize that I might not have sent it properly. This time I will confine myself to stating that if you think I am a proponent of the Kungsian "spirit" of Vatican II, you don't actually read the Catholic Register, just secondhand reports from time to time. You can imagine my anxiety at the mistake--well, you could if you actually read my columns.

Also, what Msgr. Foy did not mention in his article about Joe Sinsac's review is that Sinasac feels that, having read Kung's book IT WAS HARD TO BE SYMPATHETIC to Kung. Here is a link to the actual review: http://www.catholicregister.org/book-reviews/kung-vs-the-vatican-who-really-won

Msgr. Foy is in his 90s, so he has an excuse not to have read or absorbed what Sinasac was really trying to say (i.e. that Kung is a not very likeable, resentful man with a bee in his bonnet about the Holy Father) before commenting. No younger commentator does.

I am amused by your advice that I read what a Protestant has to say about heretics. Low church Anglicanism is a-ok in your books, then?

TH2 said...

Ms. Cummings McLean. Do be patient. I am overloaded with work responsibilities right now and I will respond in due time.

TH2 said...

Have not forgotten. Just too busy. Response will come.

TH2 said...

Ms. Cummings McLean:

At the outset I state suspicion on the motives of someone from the Catholic MSM insisting that I respond to her comments, that you perhaps have been dispatched to engage in debate so as to fulfill whatever objective. My spidey senses are tingling - but just a little. Nonetheless, here are my responses to your comments (in separate comment blocks due to Blogger restrictions):

CM: "How could anyone in the Canadian Catholic MSM look upon you with contempt? We don't even know who you are. No name, no shame. If I looked upon you with contempt, we wouldn't be having this little conversation."

TH2: Incorrect. You missed the point. It's not about me, my reaction (whatever it may be) to that contempt (e.g. "little conversation"). It's the contempt I regularly witness against orthodox Catholics in general and their resultant frustrations, which are nowhere adequately/thoroughly addressed and/or expressed in the Canadian Catholic MSM, save blogs (recently) and Catholic Insight - just read the Letters to the Editor at Catholic Insight to get a sense of this ongoing frustration, of personal experiences, and so on. BLOT 1.

CM: "Quite obviously you have not been reading my work if you think I am an apologist for Baum, Hans Kung, Chittister or the "spirit" of Vatican II. Au contraire."

TH2: It was not asserted that you are "apologist" for these enemies of the Church. That was not stated. It is your own mental concoction, a reflex very likely due the fact that Novalis, as a publisher and promotor of these heretics, was being straightforwardly challenged - and no, I have not been reading your work. I am "quite obviously" uninterested (sorry, I guess TH2 is not "up on" the new wave of chic writers). You're going to have to find someone else to feed your ego. Apparently, you are making this whole thing about yourself (but your name/book was not indicated in the post), although because you have been (or are) retained by CR/Novalis - and since multitudinous evidences have now been furnished exposing heresy/apostasy endemic to these publishing bodies (whether subtle or blatant, also by others in addition to myself)... These are now forcing you to deal with the issue head-on, as it were. The conflict between authentic Catholicism and the heresy/apostasy advocated by and with those for whom you work has been made salient to your mind. Accordingly, the reasonable deduction is that you are taking my article on Novalis as a kind of existential threat upon yourself as a writer. I presented the facts, and commented upon them in a manner bluntly orthodox within the cold blue light of reason. How that affects you is not under my control. BLOT 2.

CM: "Meanwhile, I don't think either you or Father Foy could have read Joe Sinasac's review of Kung's most recent rambles all the way through or with any understanding. It is a sad irony that the only line heresy hunters picked up in Sinasac's review was his strained attempt to say something nice--as in general book reviewers try to do. If we love a book, we try to throw in some constructive criticism. If we hate a book, we try to say something nice. I have to admit I don't remember saying anything nice about Heather Eaton's book on eco-feminism, but Joe Sinasac is kinder than I."

[continued next block]

TH2 said...

TH2: Why should reviewers be "nice"? There is an obligation to be? Even if you "hate" the book? Are you kidding me? We're talking about theology and Church dogma here, not the ephemerous nonsense of post-modernist philosophy and literature. A review of a book on (strictly speaking) Catholic theology must address the ideas presented therein, intercomparing them with, and viewed within the light of, Church teaching, tradition, so forth. If the thesis presented is consistent with Catholic theology/philosophy/sociology/morality, then the idea(s) is correct, promising, fruitful, beneficial and so on. But it is not "nice". If it is inconsistent, then it is erroneous, wrong, false, but neither is "hate" involved. Why should this politically correct emotionalism be brought into the arena? For it has been this niceness, this false charity, this supposed "tolerance", which has permitted heresy to gradually permeate into the Church's inner workings. Give a heretic an inch and he'll take a mile. "Love", "nice", "hate", "kinder" - this is Oprah crap. And it is exactly this Oprah crap (i.e. dealing with heresy and apostasy in a touchy-feely-we-are-the-world manner) that has been the bane of Catholic journalism and book publishing for years. My experience also shows that people who treat heresy in such a manner do so in the hope of getting an approving wink from the intelligentsia of the prevailing ideology of the day. They want to be "accepted", to be part of "in" crowd. Old story. BLOT 3.

CM: "What I object to is not your trashing of dodgy dinosaurs like Kung but your smearing of the Catholic Register and Novalis and, what the heck, Joe Sinasac, who is by no means "an enemy within." (Really, the mind boggles.)"

TH2: You have a personal stake in this matter and therefore I deem your comments in the defence of your friends to be subjective in origin....When the Publishing Director of a supposedly "Catholic" book publisher prints and explicitly advertises works by manifest and very famous heretics, who themselves are explicit in their antagonisms against Church teaching and tradition; when this is permitted to continue for years; when this person writes approvingly of the world's most notorious heretic; when this agency publishes the books and periodical of a Marxist, excommunicated priest who to this day is on a world tour ideationally vandalizing all that is Catholic; when all kinds of social justice types, antinomians and New Agers (to the exclusion of conservative-minded Catholics) are allowed to write pathetic, infantile blurbs in the Sunday Missal; when it's "award winning" pastoral magazine is probably the most corniest, pathetic thing ever devised by clique of aging, hippy baby boomers; when almost every text on history, exegesis, theology, etc. published is liberal/leftist leaning; when I see my friends and relatives swallow all of this anti-Catholic crap (like little innocent babies), thinking it is authentic Catholicism, but thereafter affecting their lives in detrimental ways... and much, much more - then, yes, I say absolutely that Novalis and its controllers are enemies of the Catholic Church. The fact that you and your friends deem this of little import, that you are oblivious to the ramifications upon the faithful, is astounding, but not surprising given the current climate of dilettantism in the Canadian Catholic MSM. It is that very attitude which is most dangerous. That lack of courage, that fear, to call evil an evil. That pantywaist who sweeps things under the carpet, to ignore that quiet, hushed malevolence. It is the sin of omission. Yes, I say it again emphatically: Novalis is an enemy of the Roman Catholic Church. Period.

[continued next block]

TH2 said...

TH2 (continued): As for the Register - when I read editorial's condescendingly telling me that I, as a middle class consumer, am responsible for a bogus theory called "global warming", or its anti-free market platitudes, and its general socialist worldview; when I read Swan writing some puff piece on some obscure, radicalized Jesuit who wets his pants every time the term "liberation" is invoked; when I read the collarless Ron Rolheisher (minus the "Fr.") reducing Catholicism to a "denomination" as that "I'm OK you're OK" tripe effuses from his pen, and so forth - all of this communicates a leftist, politicized "Catholicism" that grovels for attention and "respectability" by the liberal secular world. BLOT 4.

CM: "Try to see this from my point of view. As a tradition-minded, orthodox, post-"spirit-of-Vatican-II" Latin Mass goer, I get a lot of flack from the more, shall we say, progressive elements."

TH2: Welcome to the party, pal. BLOT 5.

CM: "The fact that the Catholic Register and Novalis are willing to publish me is quite a relief to me as an author and a Canadian Catholic. "

TH2: Good for you. That's just great. Have a ball, drink a glass of milk, eat a cheese sandwich, drive a bus off a cliff. Whatever. With respect to being published by Novalis, I am glad to see that your conscious is clear. Mine wouldn't be. Why not try authentic Catholic publishers?... like Ignatius Press, etc. BLOT 6.

CM: "However, here you are banging into the heads of other tradition-minded people that the Catholic Register and Novalis are entirely, irretrievably bad. And this makes my life, speaking as an orthodox Catholic writer, more difficult because other orthodox people, if they accept your thesis, will reject me as some kind of looney lib simply because of my publishers. And therefore they will miss out on writing they might enjoy and joy in the slow resurgence of orthodoxy into the marketplace."

TH2: That's your problem. I have problems too - and deal with them when confronted as such. I suggest you do the same. "Slow resurgence in the marketplace"? Where? At Novalis? At the Register? At the Western Catholic Reporter? At the Prairie Messenger? In the US - yes. In Canada?...Spare me. BLOT 7.

CM: "I suppose it's okay for Michael Coren, the latest columnist to join the Catholic Register ranks, because he is so well known for his views that the idea he could be some kind of arch-heretic is laughable, but it is not so nice for a younger writer like me."

TH2: I have been an admirer of Coren since the mid-1990s, have a link to his site in my blog, and (in a previous post) highlighted that he is the exception at CR. Of course, he is also the token conservative - a real conservative Catholic with the gonads to tell it like it is. Although, he is a commentator, not part of the editorial board, where the principal approach/philosophy of the paper is controlled. It therefore follows that your comment here is a non sequitur. "...not nice for a younger writer like me": I repeat - it's not about you. Get over yourself. Read the header of this blog and you will see that this is not necessarily a "nice" place. If you want "nice"go to the Vox Nova blog. If you are unable to deal with adversarial positions or challenges, you are in the wrong business. BLOT 8.

CM: "Essentially what I am suggesting is that you not napalm the whole village without checking to see if any of your own troops are in it first."

TH2: My comments above sufficiently provide the answer this suggestion. BLOT 9.

TH2 said...

[continued]

CM: "This time I will confine myself to stating that if you think I am a proponent of the Kungsian "spirit" of Vatican II, you don't actually read the Catholic Register, just secondhand reports from time to time... well, you could if you actually read my columns."

TH2: I do read the Register, before in print form and now online - but certainly not to get reliable news and information on Catholic affairs. For this, I have a suite of other reliable Catholic news/information sites in my blog's link list. I visit the Register only to see what the apparatchiks and careerists are thinking. If deemed warranted, I post (or will post) on it. Once again: I do not take the time to read your columns (perhaps I will do so in the future). BLOT 10.

CM: "Also, what Msgr. Foy did not mention in his article about Joe Sinsac's review is that Sinasac feels that, having read Kung's book IT WAS HARD TO BE SYMPATHETIC to Kung. Here is a link to the actual review...Msgr. Foy is in his 90s, so he has an excuse not to have read or absorbed what Sinasac was really trying to say (i.e. that Kung is a not very likeable, resentful man with a bee in his bonnet about the Holy Father) before commenting. No younger commentator does. "

TH2: I read the review. It is linked up in note 49 in my article. Sympathetic? This does not override the concluding statement of the article, which I re-quote to refresh your memory: "the church needs people like Kung even when they are wrong and disagreeable. Sometimes they can also be right." If you think otherwise, then I venture to say that you live in a parallel dimension on the far side of the Milky Way galaxy. Re: Msgr. Foy - I really like how you try to nullify this great mind of the Canadian Church with the condescending inference that he does not possess all of his mental faculties due to old age. I may refer to Baum and Kung as "fossils", but this is meant in an ideational sense and the fact that their physical bodies are old - not that their minds cannot "absorb" information. Your inference betrays that typical MSM haughtiness. The great medieval historian/philosopher Etienne Gilson wrote as an octogenarian, however you will not find any of his books at Novalis. Incidentally, my latest copy of Catholic Insight (June 2010) has an article by Msgr. Foy. BLOT 11.

CM: "I am amused by your advice that I read what a Protestant has to say about heretics. Low church Anglicanism is a-ok in your books, then?"

TH2: It is well known, and is a common acceptation, that Lewis (as expressed in his writings) is a good friend of authentic Catholicism. Many orthodox Catholic writers indicate his influence on their thought. That you, apparently, are oblivious to this fact is, not "amusing", but rather (more intensely) hilarious. BLOT 12.

[END RESPONSE]

D Cummings McLean said...

Well, I had a good laugh despite my wish to be as kindly as Joe Sinasac. Obviously there's no point arguing with a guy who trusts to his tingling "spidey sense" instead of to actual knowledge.

I don't think we'll be seeing you in "First Things" any time soon, since this is hardly the writing, tone or spirit we need to reform the reform. I still find it significant that you make so free with the names and reputations of others without putting your own name and reputation on the line.

Since you are a big Lewis fan, I'll just suggest a quick meditation upon the dwarves in the "New Narnia" of "The Last Battle" who can only see the stable they'd been shut up in.

TH2 said...

As for my "tone" - that old ploy does not work anymore either. A good post of this matter is at:
http://skellmeyer.blogspot.com/2010/06/honoring-ides-of-christ.html

I thoroughly addressed all your comments and your having a "good laugh", of course, just once again verifies my main contention against the Canadian Catholic MSM.

Nice try.

Mary said...

TH2, you are a concert virtuoso, and I hold up my lighter to you.

If I were an "orthodox" writer, I can't imagine selling my work to such a publisher. Not only that, but I will not give one cent to publishers with the reputation you've cited.

TH2 said...

You know, Mary, I have no ill will toward her - and God bless her. But I have loudly called out the elephant in the room while everyone else, even those claiming to be of orthodox bent, are sticking their heads in the sand. The fact that Novalis publishes Kung, Chittister and an excommunicated, Marxist ex-priest (let alone the rest), while claiming itself to be authentically Catholic, is an absolute scandal.

Steve G said...

Hey TH2, have you seen the latest book off the Novalis press? It's called "Baptizing Harry Potter: A Christian Reading of J.K. Rowling". Do you know anything about it?

http://www.dioceseofyork.org.uk/news-events/news/news-from-the-diocese-of-york/01389.html

God bless,

Steve

TH2 said...

Hi Steve: Apologies.... this is my first hearing of the book. Last time I checked Joan Chittister's book "God's Tender Mercy" was profiled as a new release, mentioned in Novalis' Fall Publishing Letter (letter has since been removed since I posted about it).

Do not know anything about that book, but my guess is that it will soon receive a critical review (from an orthodox Catholic).

Keep up the excellent work at SoCon.

Vox Cantoris said...

Hey, what are Baum and De Roo doing with plastic water bottles?

Quick, somebody call Wiseguy...Hello, Winnipeg?

gaeliclass said...

 that parish should be reported to the local Bishop/Cardinal and to the Vatican.... Baum is excommunicated..-- the pastor has gone against the Pope himself ... ('the sweet Christ on earth).. by doing this..... dont let this lie...

gaeliclass said...

 Novalis is well well well known for its left leaning and often times erroneous publications-- you dont seem to be very well updated on what they really publish!

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