...and that is the inevitable, final objective to which enemies of the Catholic Church would steer should they secure complete political control over a society. History is rife with such cases. A prime example would be the French Revolution. Think of Robespierre and his thugs during the Reign of Terror. Think of the thousands of Catholics slaughtered, including and especially priests and nuns. The monarchy was extinguished. Propagandists and pamphleteers hailed the dawning of a new age minus the impediments of the Catholic religion. These so-called "Rationalists" instituted a new calendar so as to efface from history the birth year of The Lord of History, the temporally climactic reference point for all that was, is, and shall come to be in human affairs. France was turned upside down. The doctrine of Marx and global Communist Revolution in the twentieth century were the evil consequents.I. Now let's make a quantum leap from the late 1700s and set course for the 1960s. We had the Countercultural Revolution - hippies galore, frenzied paganism, the celebration of Eastern philosophies and lifestyles, fashionable anti-Western political posturing, proletarianization of the middle class, contempt against all forms of authority, riots on the streets of Europe and America, Soviet insurgency and aggression, British and North American academia infiltrated by ideologies of the Frankfurt School - all of it in one way or another inspired by Marxism. At its essence and in its effects, the whole movement was an Antinomian Revolution, a rejection and overthrow of traditional morality, ethics and law. The Western World was turned upside down. The changes really started to take shape in the 1970s and, by this second decade of the twentieth first century, moral relativism has become an absolute in the West, normative and nonchalantly accepted. Morality, that pertaining to right and wrong, to good and evil actions and ideas, to the treatment of one's neighbour, of what makes man man, of human life as such - these have been more or less vanquished in the political arena. They've been crushed in the courts and academia, mocked in the mainstream media and entertainment industry, subjugated by the culture as a whole. This is evidenced by consistent attacks on the family as the cornerstone of society, the dissolution of the standard of marriage between one man and one woman, the rise of belligerent and politically savvy homosexual groups, the unconcerned approval and use of whatever form of contraception, euthanasia disguised as compassion, the mechanistic dehumanization and destruction of life through embryonic stem cell research or in vitro fertilization, and the worst - millions of human beings "lawfully" murdered by abortion, for convenience sake, for lack of personal responsibility, for economic reasons or because some physical aspect of the child in utero does not satisfy some subjectively predetermined criterion.
II. History demonstrates that, when a crisis such as the abovementioned arises, it is the Catholic Church that loudly declares its "No!" to the spirit of the world and then goes about challenging whatever force it is that works, sometimes unknowingly, toward the ruination of society. Take, for instance, the Kulturkampf in late-nineteenth century Germany. Between 1871 and 1891 Prussian leader Otto von Bismarck, allied with anti-clerical Liberals and select Conservatives (Freemason involvement too), instituted policies to oppress Catholics, the aim being to quash their political and socio-cultural influences. Some of these policies included, or resulted in: suppressing the Catholic press, banning religious orders (Jesuits notably), making civil marriage compulsory, halting government subsidies, police coercion, empty parishes, seminary closures, no religious protections in the constitution, state-appointed clerics and school teachers, no Catholics in government positions. Resisting bishops, priests, nuns, monks and laymen were removed from positions, imprisoned and/or in exile.[1] Yet this persecution enlivened Catholics to fight back. Not with violence. They rallied en masse and got behind the Church and the Center Party which, by the late 1870s, had a significant presence in parliament, and hence political clout to offset Bismarck's discriminatory policies. From then on governments couldn't form without the Center Party. Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn made some very interesting observations on this "culture war":
Old liberalism in Europe also had the tendency to enter into various alliances and combinations. On the one hand it preached an extreme liberalism in the economic field, but on the other it merged with nationalism which, in Europe, has an ethnic connotation. Bismarck derived his main support from the National Liberals... Ethnic nationalism was always anti-Catholic, anti-Papal - with the exception of Irish and Polish nationalism - and above all this animosity played into the hands of the old liberals. Since they hated anything they called "dogmatism", they were... opposed to religious orthodoxy and above all to Rome. Bismarck's Kulturkampf pleased nationalists, old liberals and national liberals almost equally... Given these alliances and connections it is not surprising that old liberalism became illiberal. If one is solemnly convinced that all strong stands, all orthodoxy, all absolutes in thought are evil, then indeed one becomes inclined to show hostility to all representatives of "absolutism" (religious, political, philosophical, or otherwise) and, if one had the chance, to persecute them methodically and mercilessly... Owing to their [liberals'] intellectual appeal they had a near monopoly in the universities and acquired an iron grip on the press, theater, and the entire intellectual life. Thus they could painfully discriminate against their conservative and Christian opponents.[2]Keep that long quotation in mind as this article proceeds, especially what I italicized, since it applies to the present circumstance.
III. Back to the future: Today the proponents of secular humanism, those enemies from without, are stepping up attacks on the Church on all fronts. This isn't just occurring in a single country, but throughout Europe and the Americas. What is different from the recent past is the militancy and bravado by which they launch whatever assault. They're strident, "in your face" in extremis. Consider the modern day atheist, for instance. Look at the maliciousness of a P.Z. Myers who, with debonair and glee, desecrated the Eucharist and made it into a public spectacle.[3] You just know this guy has as many personal problems as he does Twitter followers. Think of how Christopher Hitchens assailed Mother Teresa in his fatuous and offensively titled book The Missionary Position, let alone other things. I am constantly astonished that many conservatives consider this pickled Trotskyite to be a serious voice on culture and world affairs. Then there's the likes of Richard Dawkins and Steven Hawking who, because they are scientists, think they're also competent to pronounce on matters theological. One need not be an expert on Dun Scotus' notion of haecceitas to realize that any metaphysical notion Dawkins or Hawking may expostulate upon are but the half-assed musings of paralogic dilettantes. Yes, these individuals are cruel or just plain nut jobs. Yet they're very serious. The danger posed is that, via an always acquiescent mainstream media, they do have significant sway in the public square. Such are examples of enemies from without. Let's now consider the enemies within, a more crucial matter.
IV. The Second Vatican Council closed at the end of 1965 and ever since the evidence is incontrovertible that the "smoke of Satan" has interpenetrated the Catholic Church: the Protestantized decimation of the liturgy à la Bugnini and company; Conciliarism and apostasy in the episcopal conferences; en masse defections from the priesthood, if many priests weren't already Marxized by Liberation Theology or riding the Proportionalist wave; scores of nuns dropping their habits, opting instead to become social workers or aficionados of New Age esoterica; feminization in the seminaries and the ascendency of the insidious Lavender Mafia; cataclysmic declines in Mass attendance; happy clappy catechesis which worked only to actuate a population explosion of "cafeteria Catholics"; manifest heresy taught at Catholic schools and universities, endorsed in Catholic newspapers and periodicals; and the proliferation of that class of mostly nameless, apostatic, lay bureaucrats: chancery office ladder climbers and layabouts, $ocial ju$tice groups robbing pew sitters blind, parish busybodies on power trips - right out of a bloody Kafka novel. And there is no question that the Gen-Xers got shafted big time after the Modernist criminals took control in the early seventies. Authentic, traditional Catholicism was stolen from them. Hijacked, they were. This writer is of that generation. Certainly not a good Catholic boy, he still remembers at Mass some hippy prancing down the aisle while jingling his tambourine. Even improperly catechized at that young, inexperienced age he thought: "This is $%@&!#& ridiculous". The Millenials who followed are effectively oblivious to the catastrophe that eventuated. Two generations lost - just like that (snap fingers).
V. Things have effectively been turned upside down in the sense that much of the Church's leadership and its piggybacking careerists actually work against the Church, loyal priests/nuns and those lay Catholics endeavouring to be faithful. To borrow Kuehnelt–Leddihn's phrase, what we have here are "alliances and connections" between parties within the Church structure having agendas at variance with the Magisterium (witness the antagonism to Summorum Pontificum) and/or favoured priorities elevated too high above the essentials (e.g. the amorphous definition poverty over and above the precise reality of abortion). What is bizarre, let alone blood boiling, is that these Hijackers of the Faith keep telling us that the Church is "vibrant", that Catholicism must be made more "relevant", despite the obvious post-Vatican II calamity delineated just above. If not deliberately operating to misdirect souls, these bureaucrats, so fearful of offending anyone, appear totally unaware to both the implosion occurring within and escalating attacks from without. Not only is Islamic persecution of Christians ramping up in the Middle East, Africa and points beyond, Western secular democracies are faster than ever enacting laws, imposing numerous strictures - all pointing in a direction to the eventual criminalization of Catholic belief with its correlated thought, word and deed. Harsh punishment soon follows, as history attests. Every day in the news - a report here or an editorial there - tells of a gradual build-up, one item at a time, of eventual all-out anti-Christian onslaught. How long before some critical threshold is reached whereupon all of Hell's ferocity is allowed to run rampant into the arena of human affairs? As during the Kulturkampf, do we see today that same heroism and willingness to fight for the Faith in our bishops? Do we see these aspects in those careerists who earn their livelihoods from whatever structure within, or association with, the Catholic Church?
VI. Not in Canada. In fact, a reversal has taken place, a veritable alternation in the Overton Window. What was 45 years ago considered Catholic "policy" is today castigated as "radical", even "unthinkable", now that the dissidents hold the reigns. So fire up some Orville Redebacher, grab a smoke, turn down the lights and draw the curtains because now we come to the main event so as to demonstrate the ongoing Canadian Catholic catastrophe. It so happened last month that crack in the space-time continuum reopened as the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops held its Annual Plenary Assembly at Cornwall, Ontario (October 17-22). The city's website says that "Cornwall is a great place to live and work... check us out !" Well, then, let's do...
VII. A few days before things got going some preparatory spin was necessitated to lull Catholics into thinking happy thoughts. Who better to do that than the Star Chamber's General Secretary, Msgr. Patrick Powers? He's known at this space as the Magic Man, and for good reason. Quite a bag of tricks did he offer to dazzle and, er, misdirect. What better way to give an impression to "average Catholics" of CCCB (cough) transparency than to announce on October 12 that parts of the then upcoming plenary were to be broadcast on (oh no) Salt+Light TV? Abracadabra:
When we come together as a plenary, we get a unique view of where the church is today and where it is that our shepherds would like to lead us. I think that average Catholics in Canada have never really had a chance to even understand what goes on at a plenary meeting of the bishops or how that happens or how that takes place.[4]Now I read this statement and think, firstly, Monsignor is a genius. Why? Because the "average Catholic" couldn't give a rats ass about the combinatorial inertness and dreariness consociated with a Star Chamber get-together. Has anyone checked Mass attendance statistics lately? A good barometer of Catholicity, yes? Circa 1990, 38% of Canadian Catholics attended Mass once a week or more, dropping to 32% from 1995-2000, declining even lower to 29% from 2005-2008.[5] There's "vibrant" for ya. Accordingly, it would not be unreasonable to conclude that most "average Catholics" in Canada are "cafeteria Catholics" more so interested, not in Sunday Mass, but rather Sunday afternoon football or the latest gossip about Dancing With the Stars.
VIII. The second thing TH2 thunk is that the Magic Man's conjuration was articulated in a way such to make it as if a real window was to be opened into the nitty gritty aspects of the meetings and discussions. In actuality, that crack in the space-time continuum was just that... a crack. No panoramic view. Nothing about the really important issues was disseminated via the techno-luvvies at S+L. Reportedly, there were 12 hours in total broadcast time.[6] So let's now take a gander at the broadcast schedule[7] to assess content. Open Sesame:
MONDAY OCTOBER 179:00 am - Morning Prayer and Mass
10:15 am - Opening Prayer and President's Report by Bishop Pierre Morissette of Saint-Jerome, Quebec
2:00 pm - Reflection on Sacramentum Caritatis (on the Eucharist as the source and summit of the Church's life and mission) by Archbishop Robert Le Gall, OSB, of Toulouse, France
7:00 pm - Perspectives DailyTUESDAY OCTOBER 187:30 am - Morning Prayer and Mass
9:30 am - Reflection on Verbum Domini (on the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church) by Archbishop Robert Le Gall, OSB, of Toulouse, France
7:00 pm - Perspectives DailyWEDNESDAY OCTOBER 197:30 am - Morning Prayer and Mass
7:00 pm - Perspectives DailyTHURSDAY OCTOBER 207:30 am - Morning Prayer and Mass
7:00 pm - Perspectives DailyFRIDAY OCTOBER 217:30 am - Morning Prayer and Mass
11:15 am - Closing remarks by the outgoing CCCB President and President-elect, followed by the closing prayer
Goodness gracious, Catholic peoples, what's going on here inside the magical cave that is the Star Chamber? Well, let's see... First: Morning prayer and Mass all week. But one can tune into EWTN for that. Rats! You can't do that if you're a Bell subscriber. Recall: earlier this year EWTN was abruptly scratched from the Bell channel line-up and evidence points to some complicit monkey business between Bell Canada and S+L's money honey St. Joseph Communications (owned by the Gagliano family) as being the reason for EWTN's sudden departure from the Canadian airwaves. Anyhow, give each Prayer/Mass slot, say, an hour. Thus the sum is 5 hours. Second: there is Perspectives for each broadcast day, which is specifically a S+L studio program. Give 30 minutes per program. Thus the sum is 2.5 hours. Cumulative tally so far: 5 hours + 2.5 hours = 7.5 hours out of a total of 12 hours. That leaves 4.5 hours for the remaining transmission time which included two talks by Abp. Le Gall, so increase that 7.5 hour duration more so to matters not directly related to Catholic Church in Canada. The miniscule remainder pertained to the "report"/closing remarks of outgoing CCCB President +Morissette and the President-Elect, to be touched upon below.IX. The point of that tedious breakdown? An example of the Salt+Light TV smiley face filtration process. It may be a "unique view", but it didn't cut the mustard in my baloney sandwich. Also, don't forget that the Magic Man and Salt+Light's CEO have been buddies since their days in Rome. So when we read that "the collaboration is made possible by a $250,000 investment in computers and technological infrastructure at the CCCB's Ottawa secretariat"[8] you have to wonder if the big money came from la famiglia Gagliano because, as some of you may know, S+L is the Star Chamber's spin machine. There is no real distinction between the two. It's all in the family and, considering recent controversies, this is evidential of Kuehnelt-Leddihn's "alliances and connections" that wage battle against Catholic orthodoxy. But was all that expenditure worthwhile? The CCCB website claims it received greater than 4000 hits for live-streaming and repeats at a minimum 17 minute visitation time.[9] When this blogger tuned in the video player was displaying real-time hits in the teens, so these site stats seems suspect. As of this writing, Site Analytics have yet to upload CCCB data for October 2011. I will check things out when they become available.
X. Sanitized snippets were not only served up by our pals at Salt+Light. Star Chamber headquarters also did some sterilization of its own with its issuances of briefs on subjects covered at the plenary. There was the obligatory topics of immigration[10] and, more interestingly, ecumenism. "Bishop Pierre Morissette, President of the CCCB, emphasized that ecumenism is not an option, but a mission intrinsic to Catholic identity. A number of bishops present shared the results of ecumenical dialogues in their own dioceses".[11] The oft implemented phrase I really like is "the fruits of ecumenical dialogue". You got that right. Now let's be clear on this: outside Rome, ecumenism is a multi-decadal industry that hasn't produced anything considerable in terms of bringing people in search of truth into the Catholic Church. For the shysters who thrive in this multi-national venture, it's all about "common ground" which, firstly, is a euphemism for grovelling accommodation (i.e. watered-down Catholicism) and, secondly, an excuse for some fruitless conference in Dubai with the haute cuisine, an open bar and a steady supply of Mesopotamian muffins for the guys. To repeat: a multi-decadal industry... since V2. You will recall in the New Testament that Jesus was very specific about conversion, not submission to the signs of the times. Real ecumenism (if that word must be evoked) involves, to use a prime example, the Anglican Ordinariate, initiated by Pope Benedict - and, man-o-man, do we badly need the Rome-inclined Anglo-Caths. It was an ingenious strategic move on B16's part in that he by-passed the entrenched ecumenaucracy and "went direct", so to speak. He had to. What other option was there? And the episcopal conferences, including the CCCB and friends, had nothing whatsoever to do with bringing the Anglicans back home. In fact, bishop's conferences are fighting against it. One reason is that reverent liturgy is indirectly being re-introduced to Catholics who for years have been subject to Protestantized, me-centred Masses, let alone the utter torture endured with the discordant abominations "composed" by Haugen, Haas, Shutte and the rest in that cornball outfit. If you been reading Damian Thompson's blog, The Magic Circle in the UK have been doing their darnedest in putting up roadblocks to those Anglican's desiring to cross the Tiber. As Thompson put it: "blame lies with the slow-acting Bishops of the Benzodiazepine Rite based in Eccleston Square".[12] When applied to ecumenism as such, blame can also go the inutile inexactitudes extolled by the bishops at the NavCanada Centre in Cornwall. Meetings. Discussions. Reviews. Reports. Incessant talk. Words are empty without action.
XI. One other matter before we descend into the maelstrom. It involves the "new" Roman Missal, which becomes obligatory this November 27, the First Sunday of Advent. Now I don't know about your parish, but those in my area have not provided much notification, if at all (recently, I've resorted to doing the church-search thing because liturgical abuses for parishes in my area are becoming more frequent and intolerable - but that's another story). You'd think that (at least), after Ms. Parish Tyrant got her desired applause after reading the "announcements", she'd speak about the upcoming changes. Nada. This is mentioned because one gets the impression from +Morisette's plenary address that the wheels are all greased and everything is set to go: "This is a wonderful moment in the life of our Conference - the launching of the English-language version of the third typical edition of the Roman Missal".[13] Launch it you may, yet preparation for the pew sitters was a dismay, at least in my part of town. Indeed, there appeared to be a kind of self-congratulatory revelry merely in getting the Missal completed: "All of us are proud of the new Missal that our Conference has published for the Church in Canada. Its excellence and quality..."[14] and so on. Well, if you've been reading analyses conducted by The Vox, matters aren't exactly par excellence. And lookeee here: "Among the principal suppliers [of the Missal] are the Gagliano family who own St. Joseph Communications".[15] Don't forget to add SJC's ownership of the Salt and Light Media Foundation. Hey, it's all in the family, "alliances and connections": CCCB, S+L TV... and one other acronym that rhymes. Guess who? Mark: 3, 2, 1, 0, Jump! And so we start our descent...
XII. Story time: Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall... no, that won't do. Again: It was a dark and stormy night... nope. Ummm: In the beginning was the Deed... no way. Goethe's poetizing on the last 400 years of German philosophy is definitely a no no. Okay, one more time. Here we go:
Once upon a time there was a Canadian Catholic agencyHope you will excuse that atrocious attempt at poetry. You must understand that, after three years of irrefutable evidence and CCCB inaction, poetry seems the only way to characterize the situation regarding Development and Peace's "partnerships" with pro-abortion groups. Facts don't work. Transparency exists not. D+P is still collaborating with 50+ pro-abort groups and God knows what others. It isn't saying.
Worked, it did, in the ambiguous area of "social justice".
For two score and a little more
It received unearned charitable donations
In amounts millions galore, kept in store
All the while Hippies and Marxists demanding more and more.
To help the poor and downtrodden in distant lands always was its claim
Tis came to light three years ago it had a bane
The evidence was plain to anyone sane
That Development and Peace deserved the blame.
It collaborates with groups that worship Moloch
Caring not that its actions controverted Rome
For it considers this world an immanentist home
All beneath the starry celestial dome.
XIII. So to celebrate the ending of Whitewash Year No. 3 CCCB then-president +Morrisette stated in a formal address that the plenary will - wait for it... "review and discuss... major reports", one by the "Standing Committee" for D+P. Oh my, a revelation for the ages! Then he really broke out into bureaucratic song. Segue:
I urge the members of both our Conference as well as Development and Peace to find the means to continue working together, to strengthen and improve collaboration, and to renew a common witness... I am confident that our Conference's Standing Committee will prove an effective way for us Bishops to move forward in accompanying and renewing Development and Peace in its work and mission.[16]Just gorgeous. Artistically ambiguous. A masterpiece of circuitous enunciation. Absolutely nothing of substance communicated in 64 words. All hail circumlocution. Is the "unique view" of CCCB on-goings of which the Msgr. Powers spoke? Then we have this lovely little ditty from another CCCB brief:
The Most Reverend John A. Boissonneau, Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto and Chair of the Standing Committee on CCODP, outlined the work accomplished by the committee during its first year, including its collaboration with the Liason Committee that has been established by the CCODP National Council. Bishop Boissonneau echoed the same message of the media release... "both committees are pleased with the constructive and positive nature" of their joint efforts.[17]Well, why no detail about these "efforts"? And speaking of "both committees", read what the Magic Man invoked just prior to last years' plenary. Hocus pocus:
Both committees have worked extremely well and they have excellent results to report... Members of the ad hoc committee were genuinely astonished at the level of complete cooperation that became evident early in their work on the part of CCODP... They will have a report for the plenary where absolutely all the issues have been looked at... something quite wonderful... [will result]... I would say the results of the reports of these two ad hoc committees will go a very long way to establishing a climate of confidence.[18]Verbosity October 2010 equals verbosity October 2011. Nothing. Moreover, it is important not to forget the Magic Man's golden rule of escape hatches. It's something quite wonderful. Presto! ...
There will always be questions that arise, not only at CCODP but at any Catholic organization... They have to be looked at and they usually turn out to be not quite what they appear to be.[19]To repeat: the man is a genius.
XIV. This year the Star Chamber gots a new prez. Thusly, by way of formal introduction, say hello to Mr. Big...
XV. Yet maybe we should pause for a minute. Maybe us Taliban Catholics are overreacting. Perchance, as Mr. Big said, we shouldn't be "panicky and worried", that we should return "back to a fundamental trust in our process, trust in our structures and trust in our bishops". It would be worthwhile, he continued, "to step back and take a breath and look at gently and simply at what the bishops are asking for and simply trust the bishops and the leadership of Development and Peace to move forward on this".[22] After all, the bishops approved a national pastoral plan on life and the family at the plenary.[23] But, then, TH2 ponders: Will this plan have a real trickle-down effect into the neo-Marxist agenda of Development and Peace? Is the plan just a palliative attempt to quell outsiders that happen to be staunchly pro-life? What's wrong with being as such? We also have in the new CCCB president a refusal to approve of graphic abortion imagery at life marches.[24] Debate for and against there has been, though a shepherd going out of his way to blog his disapproval? Something not right there. Still, let's give more leeway. We should, moreover, even ruminate upon the remarks of Mr. Big's fellow posted Westerner, Calgary's Archbishop Fred Henry. Perhaps, he acuminates, D+P critics are overly subject to "hysteria", "anger" and "misinformation". Must overcome my inner Taliban Catholic and realize the "revisioning" of Development and Peace "is not going to be an easy process", that there will be "bumps in the road".[25] Fair enough. But, again, TH2 ponders: Why is +Henry saying D+P can fund its partners without the approval of the local bishop? One argument is that turmoil in the respective country/diocese disallows contact with the bishop. Seems likes an excuse more than a reason. Something not right here. What is even less right, or nefarious more specifically, is that Freddy is on record as saying it's just fine and dandy for D+P to fund pro-abort groups.[26] Really?
XVI. Okay, grinding my teeth now. But once again, overreaction perhaps. Just accept this is all an ordinary matter of internal Church affairs, the situation will eventually work its way out, "renewal" will come, the glacial pace toward full resolution is typical of Catholic politics, and that the bishops are caught in the middle. Indeed, members of Development and Peace have in the last months been complaining that, since the abortion controversy came to light, Canada's bishops have been encroaching on their "democratic" operations. Even ex-directors of D+P have accused the bishops of "draconian measures", a "total takeover".[27] My inner Taliban Catholic is subdued... almost. There is something still overriding, confirming my presentiments. Enter Star Chamber media relations director Monsieur René Laprise. Voila! Read the broadside he delivered to the Editor-in-Chief of LifeSite News:
We regret to inform you that your request has been denied and you will not be granted access to this year's meeting. The leadership of our Conference has expressed serious concerns over the manner in which positions have been taken by your organization. Our Executive Officers in turn have indicated that the CCCB Media Relations Officer should exercise caution in dealing with your organization.[28]So there you have it. LifeSite News banned. The Devil has exposed its fangs. The Star Chamber is drawing a line in the sand and digging in. Mr. Big's bulldozer at the ready. In 2009 the CCCB was saying it wanted "frank and transparent dialogue" with LSN. Evidently, that was said to save public face, without intention of follow through if matters got to the guts. According to the Media Advisory, the Cornwall plenary "welcome[d]... accredited representatives from the media".[29] Interesting that. Think for a second, if some politician barred a particular member of the media from a press conference. Bloody murder would be screamed from the rooftops. In expected fashion, Mr. Westen took the rejection with humility. He had driven for five hours to Cornwall and, right after attending Mass with the bishops at the NavCan Centre, was notified of the rejection by M. Laprise. Reportedly, an e-mail notification was sent to him on October 14, but wasn't received, "lost in cyberspace" apparently. Nota bene: October 14 was a Friday, right before the weekend and just prior the first day of the plenary, Monday October 17. A dirty trick, downright nasty, wouldn't you say? Just imagine the smirks emanating from the lads after Mass. Just imagine the schadenfreude-inspired laughs had at NavCan's "Jet Set Pub" that night. Wonder if they toasted the event with a few bottles of Dos Equis - Stay thirsty, my friends. Corresponding perfectly to that beautifully vicious biblical phrase, what we have here is the situation of a dog returning to its vomit.
XVII. What the ban did demonstrate is that LSN's reporting is having a considerable effect. Resultantly, those dwelling within the Star Chamber's inner sanctum are getting nervous and uppity. And this effect has to do with facts. So as a counteraction an attempt is made to disqualify the facts by disqualifying LSN as a legitimate media organization, be it through diversion or vilification, which are standard countermeasures taken by the Antinomian Left whenever cornered by unassailable facts. Thus Spinmeister Laprise stated that there are "serious concerns over the manner in which positions been taken by your organization". Did you see it? Look closely: concern over position. Not the facts, which are self-evident, whether extracted from websites of groups funded by D+P or other sources. Those facts, on record, are quite plain in showing that 50+ of these groups support abortion and/or condom use. Last I recall, these are inconsistent with Catholic teaching. Let alone the undergirding Marxist ideologies of these groups. It also appears that D+P heavies dispatched members to the Catholic Register website to perpetuate falsehoods about LSN's journalistic aptitude. CR articles commonly have just a few comments per article, if at all. However, the com boxes were flooded with many pro-D+P supporters after a October 20th report on the LSN ban. Read this accusation from a certain "Paul McGuire":
Lifesite was barred from the Bishop's Conference because they have consistently shown that they are unable to convey a fair and balanced message. They are not journalists and when they compare themselves to legitimate news sources they do the Canadian media a disservice.[30]Hmmmm. Wonder if he's associated with Development and Peace? Do you see how these types ascribe the "not journalist" label without facts, sources, references, logical deduction, reasoned argumentation or whatever? It's simply a name calling routine to render LSN's reporting as null and void because they've been caught red-handed.
XVIII. Not to diminish the transgressions against life issues, it still must be underscored that Development and Peace is a big time money operation that has rode the Vatican II wave for 40+ years. It's been a fun ride as a "charitable organization", yet this three-year long scandal is a big time threat both to its cash flow and the reputations of those in the upper echelons, who for years were - via the CanCath MSM - portrayed as champions to the poor in underdeveloped countries. We're talking millions here. A look at the Canada Revenue Agency website demonstrates the point. Total Assets: $20,329,373; Total Revenue: $29,826,259; Total Expenditures: $31,224,030, with $477,375 devoted to "Professional and consulting fees" and a whopping $6,841,409 for unspecified "Other Expenditures". Moreover, a recent report by MoneySense magazine doesn't help D+P's public face. It ranked last in "overall charity efficiency" out of the top 15 Canadian charities involved with international aid and development.[31] Speaking of big money to be had, recall that D+P asked its supporters to send money to Fr. Raymond Gravel for assistance in his $500K lawsuit against LifeSite News. If this pro-sodomite heretic wins the case, he's "willing to donate a significant amount to Development and Peace".[32] Not only this, both the English and French Canadian Superiors of the Jesuits are on board in support of D+P.[33] Recall again: "alliances and connections".
XIX. Considering the last three years complacency, and now antagonism, then, all of the CCCBs happyspeak about "renewal" is obviously a non sequitur. However pleasant sounding and supposedly humbling its appeals to the Pope and the Magisterium may seem, the apostatic Star Chamber and its collusive lackeys at S+L and D+P are obfuscating adversaries within the Roman Catholic Church. There's been some speculation about the bishops being divided over the D+P abortion controversy. Given the LSN ban, this hypothesized 50-50 split seems highly unlikely. Maybe a few bishops are uncomfortable with this situation - and other issues too, but they're not speaking out, itself speaking volumes, and it is this silence as such that is disturbing. As I've previously written, they've been de-balled by Political Correctness, certainly not interested in throwing a wrench in the Conciliarist machine. The dream is for the dismantling and dissolution of the CCCB, but that will not happen anytime soon. Responses for now appear only to be the basics: stop supporting/disseminating any proposal, program or document produced by the CCCB, cancel your subscription to Salt+Light TV, donate zero dollars when the Development and Peace envelope appears, demand a retraction of the Winnipeg Statement with whatever form of communications media, contact the nuncio or the Vatican directly (don't even try the chancery office), and wait and see if the "biological solution" is going to have any real effect. A depressing assessment, true. But what other ways are there (save prayer) to confront this 180 degree inversion, not just with respect to recent scandals, but the Canada-wide circumstance for the last 4+ decades? I'm open to suggestions.
XX. This inverse situation is so surreal that maybe an analogy can better explain. Ever seen the 1968 film The Planet of the Apes? If you remember, the storyline had it that mute humans lived in a state of servitude to a race of talking monkeys.[34] The humans are portrayed as primal hunter gatherers whereas the apes apparently formed an advanced culture. The apes lived in cities, wielded rifles, domesticated horses, established a government, law courts and institutes of learning. Also, they had a religion started by a kind of messiah. At film's start, rocket ship commander Colonel George Taylor (played by Charlton Heston) and his fellow astronauts crash land on this strange planet. Eventually, they're caught and incarcerated by the apes. Upon capture, Taylor is shot in the neck, rendering his vocal chords and thus speech useless. Accordingly, he blended in with the mute indigenous humans and so the apes assumed Taylor was mute as well. Especially fascinating about the film is the three-tier caste system. The Orangutans are the politicians, clerics, lawyers and administrators (hold power). The Chimpanzees are the intellectuals and scientists (justify power). The Gorillas are the police and military (enforce power).
XXI. Analogizing, then, the simians run the show (for now anyway) and Canadian Catholics (faithful priests, religious, laymen) are the oppressed, effectively muted, humans. Metaphorically - and for arguments sake, who would be the power-wielding Orangutans? They would be: bishops who target and ban a pro-life journalist/editor; a media outfit that snuggles up to a province's unashamedly pro-abortion Catholic Premier, that is, hoping to reap greater influence by making connections with the right people; bishops who, though without the authority, bar Communion on the tongue because of some overhyped, unsubstantiated health scare. Metaphorically, who would be the power-justifying Chimpanzees? They would be: a prominent publisher that that sells books by manifest heretics such as Hans Küng, Joan Chittister and Gregory Baum; an Ontario cleric that justifies embryonic stem cell research; the foundation that invites an atheistic, anti-Catholic bigot to lecture on the Gospel; the feminist professor at an Catholic university (with seminarians) who preaches pantheism and associated crap; the newspaper editor that prints articles in favour of women's ordination and provides a website link to the pro-aborts at Amnesty International. Metaphorically, who would be the power-enforcing Gorillas? They would be: the browbeating trustee who disguisedly implements a homosexual agenda into schools, regardless of Catholic teaching and reasoned objections from parents; the heretical priest that sues a pro-life news agency for quoting his own anti-life words; the cleric who sends numerous unsolicited e-mails to harass a blogger desirous of reverent liturgy. This is just a small selection.
XXII. Do you see? Everything is upside down. Think about it. I mean REALLY think about what's going on here. It's a nightmare, like we have crash landed on The Planet of Apes. The superstructure is collapsing all around and, except for the occasional squeak of protestation here and there, nothing is being done to prevent the immanent implosion. It's a madhouse, I tell you... a madhouse. When is that sleeping giant going to wake up?
NOTES / REFERENCES
1. Cf. M. Spahn, "Kulturkampf", The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910), vol. 8.
2. E. von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Leftism, From de Sade and Marx to Hitler and Marcuse (New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House Publishers, 1974), pp. 193-194.
3. See "Minnesota professor encourages theft and desecration of Eucharist", Catholic News Agency, July 11, 2008.
4. Quoted in D. Gyapong, "Salt + Light to offer plenary coverage", Prairie Messenger, October 12, 2011.
5. "Notes on International Mass Attendance", Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
6. "Live broadcasting by Salt+Light Television, CCCB, October 31, 2001.
7. "2011 CCCB Plenary Assembly: Broadcast live on Salt and Light Television", CCCB, October 13, 2011
8. D. Gyapong, op. cit. (note 4).
9. See note 6.
10. "Bishops of Canada reflect on immigration, receive reports on CCODP", CCCB, October 20, 2011
11. "Fruits of Ecumenical Dialogue and the New Evangelization", CCCB, October 21, 2011
12. D. Thompson, "Still no London church for the Ordinariate. Why?", The Telegraph, October 12, 2011.
13. "Launching of the English-language edition of the Roman Missal", CCCB, October 18, 2011.
14. Ibid. See also "President delivers report and New English-language edition of the Roman Missal launched", October 18, 2011.
15. See note 13.
16. "Report of the CCCB President", CCCB, October 17, 2011.
17. See note 10.
18. Quoted in D. Gyapong, "Life and family issues and CCODP on bishops' plenary agenda", BC Catholic, October 21, 2010.
19. Ibid.
20. See "Conference elects new president; Archbishop of Toulouse reflects on Church's mission in New Evangelization, CCCB, October 19, 2011 and "Message by new President, Archbishop Richard Smith", CCCB, October 21, 2011.
21. Quotes taken from D. Gyapong, "Bishops express confidence in CCODP renewal", Catholic Register, October 25, 2011.
22. Ibid.
23. Cf. D. Gyapong, "Bishops approve strategy to take lead on life and family issues", BC Catholic, October 27, 2011.
24. Cf. J.H. Westen, "Alberta bishops boycott March for Life over graphic images", LifeSite News, March 17, 2011.
25. See note 21.
26. P.B. Craine, "D&P could fund foreign partners without permission of local bishop: Calgary bishop", LifeSite News, October 20, 2011.
27. P.B. Craine, "D&P ex-directors slam bishops over pro-life reforms", LifeSite News, October 12, 2011.
28. Quoted in P.B. Craine, "LifeSiteNews banned from public sessions of Canadian bishops' meeting", LifeSite News, October 17, 2011.
29. "Media Advisory, Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops Plenary Assembly", CCCB, September 26, 2011.
30. Find this comment at CR's website: D. Gyapong, "D&P controversy heats up at bishops' plenary", Catholic Register, October 20, 2011.
31. See report by P.B. Craine, "D&P ranks last for 'overall charity efficiency' ", LifeSite News, July 14, 2011.
32. Quoted in P.B. Craine, "D&P supporters rally funds for Fr. Gravel in $500,000 lawsuit against LifeSiteNews", LifeSite News, October 14, 2011.
33. M.C. Hoffman, "Jesuit leadership defends pro-abortion organization denounced by Mexican cardinal", LifeSite News, June 6, 2011.
34. The Planet of the Apes film was based on the 1963 science fiction novel La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle (1912-1994).
