NU-CHURCH HIPSTER CONFERENCE: REJOICE, YE LIBERAL CATHOLICS

"Vatican II: 50 Years On, The New Evangelization"

3-5 May 2012, Sheridan College, Oakville, Ontario

Sponsored by the Canadian Forum on Theology and Education
As advertised at the New Catholic Times

PROBING THE THEOLOGICAL DEPTHS...

• "Prophets of the Earth and Universe"

• "What’s it all about Alfie? Curriculum in a Catholic school"

REFLECTIONS & REMINISCES ON LITURGICAL INNOVATIONS...

• "will address the legacy"

Okay, let's go in for the kill...

I. Don't know about the reader, but this writer always has enjoyed shooting fish in a barrel. Or would that be fishes in a barrel? Anyhow, the proliferation of heretics these days has topped off that barrel, so somebody has to do it. Perhaps some would deem this pleasure of mine perverse. Know, however, that perversion resides with those persons who, while claiming assent with Catholic doctrine, advocate notions manifestly inconsistent with it, as borne out with objective facts. According to my favourite dictionary, perverse means a "turning away from what is right or good... corrupt, incorrect, improper... obstinate in opposing what is right, reasonable, or accepted... wrongheaded... arising from or indicative of stubbornness".[1] Admittedly, this lowly compiler has the propensity for stubbornness and, yes, even to be an outlandish smartass. Yet identify any error regarding dogma in this blog and I will correct it, wholeheartedly submitting to the authority of the Church. For penance I'd even be willing to be Joy Behar's pool boy for a month.

II. So what specifically is the Canadian Forum on Theology and Education? Reportedly, it started as "high school forum" in 1979, recommencing anew in 2007. In essence, it's an annual get-together of lesser light heretics who actually think that the Vatican takes them seriously. If you check out the CFTE website and click the "contact" link, the listed address (in St. Catharines, Ontario) is the same as the headquarters for the New Catholic Times. NCT claims itself to be "the only online Pan-Canadian Catholic independent magazine". This, apparently, is a fancy way of saying it has a site on the internet. Given that NCT is probably the most radical of Canadian Catholic media outlets, and that the CTFE "forum" is advertised on the NCT website, it's rather pedestrian to forecast what the aforementioned boomerfest will entail. A little hindcasting shows that a past speaker was one Diarmuid O'Murchu who, as of 2006, was under investigation by the CDF.[2] He is author the book Quantum Theology (1997) and occasional blogger for the National Catholic Reporter. His latest blog post: "The new stage of psychic evolution".[3] O'Murchu's spiel is the usual Process Theology twaddle, disproven for decades now, by the likes of Monsignor Fulton Sheen, that is, in his earlier academic works. Nonetheless, to spare any potential suckers out there from blowing 400 smackers to party with the Nu-Church hipsters at the Atheneum Plastique, figured I'd give a kind of "heads up" overview as a public service.

III. So here we go... Some teasing at the CFTE website:

What does it mean to be Church today?... Theologians and bishops continue to recognize Vatican II as the most significant event in Catholic history in over 400 years... As an ecumenical council is the highest teaching authority in the Catholic Church.... The Second Vatican Council urged the Church to recognize itself in the achievements of society, such as human rights, democracy and religious pluralism. At the same time the Council urges us to resist the dark side of progress: individualism, instrumental thinking, the unregulated market system, and the neo-colonial exploitation of the Third World. Social solidarity is in decline, while indifference to the common good grows... Vatican Council II was a new way of thinking and a new way of being for the Church. It showed that the Church can and must be part of the world for which Jesus died.

Now this stuff is just fantastic. So much here. One could have a field day. Right now, however, I have not the energy to write a detailed analysis thereof. What can be said is that this is emblematic verbiage of the Nu-Church hipster demographic: mainly 60+ years in age, grey hair (if colouring not utilized), plaid apparel and a penchant for wanting to "get involved". You see, these types are increasingly becoming cognizant that time is running out, and the 50th anniversary of Vatican II is only a stark reminder of the clock ticking toward midnight. That gallery of V2 superstars are now reconsidering the victory they prefigured was theirs. The aggiornamento has steered off course, not within sight down range along the revolutionary horizon. Case in point is Pope Benedict: Summorum Pontificum, SSPX negotiations, et cetera. Forsooth, what can the Nu-Church hipsters do to reclaim that which was theirs? Well, they can have a "forum"...

IV. The CFTE forum is to be constituted of five sessions: (i) "Why the Council Matters", (ii) "the historical context, the personalities, issues, debates, and politics of the Council with some focus on the Canadian participants", including Remi "Enneagram" De Roo and his boyfriend Greg Baum, facilitator of the Winnipeg Statement, (iii) "on education, on the church, etc. - and the issues and challenges they have generated", (iv) "session will be panel-like in its format", (v) "will address the legacy, the future, the potentialities, the pitfalls, and the crises of SVC". The star speakers of the show are two. First, Michael Higgins: writer/columnist for the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, and Commonweal, contributor to the CBC and TV Ontario... you get the idea. Second up is Jessica Taylor:

...PhD candidate in Theology at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California. She did her B.A (Theology) at St. Paul’s and M.A at Ottawa... During her time in Ottawa she facilitated Positive Space workshops for the University of Ottawa’s Center for Equity and Human Rights. Jessica brings to her presentations a commitment to social justice and feminist principles.

You get the idea. Ummm... ahhhh, don't forget the retreats and workshops. Here's a suite of "themes" to be addressed [TH2 comments in bolded square brackets]:

• Educating for Justice. [standard issue, zzzzzzzzzzz]

• The New Cosmology: The New Story. [admixture of religion and science, just like the pagans of old, confusion of natural with supernatural, no distinction between immanent and transcendent, blurring poles of dualisms into one, etc.]

• Using Stories and Games to Teach and Learn [hee hee hee hee, it's playtime kids]

• Catholic Education: It's how we do it not what we teach. [note how the manner of teaching as such, i.e. "how we do it", overrides the word, thought, "not what we teach", cf. Goethe's Faust: "In the beginning was the Deed", Marxist primacy on action, and so forth]

• Teilhard, Thomas Berry, Diarmuid O’Murchu, Rosemary Ruether, Miriam McGillis, Maureen Wild: Prophets of the Earth and Universe. [heretics, charlatans, a cornucopia of pantheism, feminism, nature worship, Gaia and so on]

• What's it all about Alfie? Curriculum in a Catholic school. [I have no bloody idea what this is all about]

Oh my, there will even be a "nutrition break" during the Friday morning session. Wonder if they'll be serving springwater spritzers and celery sticks with the Geritol? Sounds deeeeelicious. One other thing necessitating a note: nighttime entertainment for the Nu-Church hipsters is to be provided by Bollywood actor/dance superstar Jeetendra. He's got the moves...

V. Let's return to the New Catholic Times, specifically it's head honcho Ted Schmidt. If any of you Catholic Canucks haven't before heard of this character, it's about time you did. He's got a long history of activism, one of those careerists that does the circuit around the country, polluting minds with "workshops" on social justice and allied subjects. At the website with the http "renewedpriesthood.org", or at the publisher Seraphim Editions, you will find his book Journeys to the Heart of Catholicism. Go to the sites, read reviews (note reviewer names, affiliations) and it's a rather simple exercise to understand what's going on. Catholic Insight calls Schmidt a "dissenting gadfly".[4] Here's an example of Ted in action at a Toronto Star column last year:

The central teaching of Vatican II was a radical paradigm shift from hierarchy to communion. A new root metaphor - People of God - now defined the church as an absolutely egalitarian people, a communion, a discipleship of equals. Baptism, not holy orders, was the central sacrament. The Spirit was given not to a tiny clerical and celibate elite but to all the baptized.[5]

Okay, he's a Protestant or a Conciliarist or a follower of Schillebeekx's idea of the "Democratic Rule of the Church"[6] or whatever. Next:

Poll after poll, however, indicates that Catholics are ignoring head office. Demands to end mandatory celibacy, advance women in every church role available to men, a new sexual ethic, etc. have only increased.[7]

Okay, Teddy wants married priests, further feminization in the Church and a free reign of polymorphic sexual activity. What else do we have here?:

In his 26 years as pope [John Paul II], no priest was made bishop who did not follow the hard Roman line on the role of women, birth control and abortion... In the 45 years since the dust was blown off an antiquated institution, lay people, particularly in strong democratic countries, took to the new reforms with gusto. This would radically change under the authoritarian John Paul II and his German enforcer, Josef Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.[8]

Okay, Teddy wants women priests, contraception, is a pope basher and, obviously, takes a pro-abortion stance. Evidence for the latter comes from the NCT website itself. On July 5, 2010 it posted an article by Daniel McGuire of Marquette University, also "president of the Religious Consultation on Population, Reproductive Health, and Ethics". The paper is entitled "Hierarchy, Sex and Power - a primer on educating bishops". It was originally printed in Conscience,[9] a periodical published by Catholics for Choice.

VI. So, then: Does the abovementioned qualify for manifest heresy? The editorial board at the Catholic Register doesn't think so...

VII. We could, I guess, let Schmidt the fossilizing Modernist criminal whine and cry all he wants. The biological solution looms and such V2 remnants are now well aware of the disinterested and dreaded march of time. Hence the undercurrent of desperation in his Toronto Star commentary. Thing is, Schmidt and his ilk always have readily available venues to spew their heretical nonsense, they populate (however sporadically) various influential positions within the Church's structure and, most notably, it does not take many of these enemies within the Catholic Church to effectuate changes for the worse. If this paltry number of heretics and apostates want change hard enough... if they have the will and wherewithal, they will get what they want, they will get their desired revolution, pending God's permission or any interdiction He deems necessary. As the late Primate of Poland Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński spoke: "Certain historical developments are willed by the Lord of History, and they shall take place. Many other developments, mostly minor, that same Lord is willing".[10] In this context, it's disheartening that a significantly larger number of Catholics in Canada, silently attentive to the infection within, have yet to rise up in a substantial way, to overwhelm the Modernist blowhards. No need to be intimidated by these geriatrics. If a real challenge was posed against the Modernists, you would be surprised at how quickly they would cower. It's the "sleeping giant" scenario, you know. And there isn't even a need to use "shock and awe" tactics, as is done in this space.

VIII. In light of this situation, TH2 now asks himself this question: Why did the editor at the Catholic Register recently publish a column by the radical Ted Schmidt?[11] Opinion commentary at CR, "Canada's Catholic News Source", is supposed to be more reputable than the antinomian tripe dished out at NCT, yes? But Ted Schmidt?! Heck, even Bentley and his latte leftism was tolerable, though he seems to have disappeared. Schmidt's piece was a typical liberal routine in selectively extracting quotes from papal encyclicals to justify a vulgar socialism. Standard fare with the Nu-Church hipsters. Thus we can disregard that noise for now. Instead, let us focus: "Why?", I asked myself again. I pondered. I ruminated. I cogitated. I ate a cheese sandwich and thunk some more. Still, no solution to the conundrum. So, then, tell us, Mr. O'Leary: Why did you publish an article by a pope-bashing, pro-abort, antinomian Catholic and demonstrated radical? Eh, hotshot? Certainly, you must know these facts. Tell us what you know about the world. I'm interested. Come on, Mr. Publisher/Editor, tell us. I'm very interested. Justify it.

IX. But the story doesn't end there. It's that unspoken, ongoing ruse that's been in effect for weeks, for months, for years, for decades. For example, last November reporter Shiela Nonato wrote a puff piece on the apostate Mary Jo Leddy, her views on "a more just society" and so forth. Let it be known that Leddy, along with excommunicated priest Greg Baum, founded the now defunct Marxist Catholic New Times, of which Schmidt was also an editor (not to be confused with the online NCT). This former habitless hussy abandoned the Sisters of Sion because - get this - "vocation is about where the heart is".[12] Golly gee, how charming. Was that a reference to Wesley's "religion of the heart"? Or, perchance, a throwback to the pietism of Jakob Spener's Pia desideria? But why, Miss Nonato, do you feed us this crap? Purpose please? Then there's associate editor Michael Swan. I can remember as far back as the 1990s when this individual was maligning persons or subject matter with any tinge of orthodoxy, let alone his current skewed reporting. Last month: "Cremation, green burials becoming more popular". Not even going to comment on that one. The situation was the same when Joseph Sinasac was CR editor some years back. Now he's Publishing Director at Novalis, Canada's main Catholic publisher. Here's an extract from the current issuance of "From the Publisher" at the Novalis website: "Exciting New Books... As always, best-selling spiritual writer Joan Chittister plays a major role in our line-up. You'll love Happiness, the beloved Benedictine nun's reflection on its true meaning". Chittister is a notorious heresiarchess. Look her up... the obscenities circling around inside my skull right now. What is really disturbing here is the nonchalant way all this stuff is dished out, as if there's nothing wrong or inconsistent with Catholic doctrine.

X. Be it the Register's publishing of Schmidt or Novalis' dissemination of books by Chittister and Baum, there is a malevolence at play here, hushed, where weasels work behind the scenes. A secret gateway is opened, permitting radicals to enter and thus corrupt souls. An analogy would be like malware or a virus program that covertly runs in your computer's background. For instance, you open up the latest issue of the Catholic Register and read a text from one of B16's general audiences or an absorbing column by Peter Stockland. But then you start to notice little things: the inclusion of those always questionable CNS reports, the bombardment of reports on whatever form of "justice", "human rights" and "climate change", the editorial slant toward Statism, the emphasis on NGO work for the poor over and above spiritual works of mercy, an approving book review of that author who has that just perfect left-liberal tilt. Not too much. Not too little. Do you ever notice these little things? I do - and it pisses me off. Then there was Sinasac's recent appearance on Salt + Light TV, talking about all the wonderful books Novalis has to offer. Buy why, TH2 queries again, didn't Apostasy Joe mention the many books by Joan Chittister sold by Novalis? Is she not, as he recently wrote, a "best-selling spiritual writer"? Does she not play "a major role in our line-up"? Then why not mention The Blueberry Muffin on Canada's "Channel of Hope"? An excellent venue for advertising to a wide audience, yes? Big bucks to be had, yes? What's there to hide?

XI. Does the reader see what's happening? It's a confluence of truth and error, of good with evil, without identifying real distinctions between them and, therefore, stealthily affirming error and evil. C.S. Lewis: "...then she understood the devilish cunning of the enemies' plan. By mixing a little truth with it they had made their lie far stronger".[13] It all happens little by little, week after week, a phrase here and a sentence there, report after report, book upon book, and the purveyors of this subcutaneous malignancy, leaving things unsaid, quietly hope that nobody will excavate into the subsurface, take notice of the contagion and then challenge them. When have they ever been challenged? Do they actually believe themselves accountable? So it's the subtlety. That's the poison - and it must be pinpointed and called out for what it is. Which leads to these further questions: Who the hell are these people? Why do they permit and facilitate heresy? Do they even know that they're doing the devil's handiwork? If not, why are they even allowed to wield such positions in Catholic publishing? Do they actually think any Canadian Catholic with a modicum of orthodoxy doesn't understand what's going on here? This must stop. Accordingly, the virus has be purged, the stables need cleaning, this ideational sewage must be flushed out. The time for diplomacy and dilly dallying with enemies of the Church is over.


NOTES / REFERENCES

1. Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (Toronto: Thomas Allen & Son Limited, 1977), p. 856.

2. "Priest's Australian lectures cancelled over CDF investigation", CathNews, June 30, 2006. See also "Critiquing Diarmuid O'Murchu's 'New World Order'", Catholic Online, April 16, 2006. Authors not indicated.

3. D. O'Murchu, "The new stage of psychic evolution", National Catholic Reporter, April 29, 2011.

4. D. Dooley, "Pre-history of Humanae vitae", Catholic Insight, vol. VI, no. 7, July/August 1998. For more of Schmidt's antics (e.g. promotion of homosexuality, attack on priestly celibacy) see: CI Staff, "Promoting Spong", Catholic Insight, vol. 11, no. 6, June 2003; and A. de Valk, "The anti-Catholic New Times", Catholic Insight, vol. VIII, no. 4, April 2005.

5. T. Schmidt, "The Roman Catholic Tragedy", Toronto Star, April 4, 2010.

6. cf. E. Schillebeekx, Church, The Human Story of God (New York: Crossroads Publishing Company, 1990), pp. 190, 228.

7. T. Schmidt, op. cit.

8. Ibid.

9. D.C. Maguire, "Hierarchy, Sex and Power: A Primer on Educating Bishops", Conscience, vol. XXXI, no. 1, pp. 18-23.

10. Quoted in M. Martin, The Keys of This Blood (New York: Touchstone Books, 1990).

11. T. Schmidt, "Justice, equity and a living wage", Catholic Register, November 15, 2011.

12. Quoted in D. Gibeau, "Mary Jo Leddy leaves Sisters of Sion after 30 years", National Catholic Reporter, May 6, 1994.

13. C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle (London: The Bodley Head, 1967), p. 96.

NU-CHURCH HIPSTER CONFERENCE: REJOICE, YE LIBERAL CATHOLICS

THE ONLY GOOD CATHOLIC... IS A DEAD CATHOLIC

...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 17

9:00 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 Daily

TUESDAY OCTOBER 18

7:30 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 Daily

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 19

7:30 am - Morning Prayer and Mass
7:00 pm - Perspectives Daily

THURSDAY OCTOBER 20

7:30 am - Morning Prayer and Mass
7:00 pm - Perspectives Daily

FRIDAY OCTOBER 21

7:30 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 agency
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.

Hope 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.

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...

That would be Edmonton's Archbishop Richard Smith.[20] Image was nicked from the CCCB website. Not sure if it's an appropriate picture to put on its site. It looks as though he's operating some form of heavy equipment. If the machine is a bulldozer, it's unlikely he'll be wielding it to clear away the Nu-Church hipsters from the D+P offices in Montreal. My hunch is that +Smith will forming a circumambient earth berm at Star Chamber headquarters so as to inhibit entry of outsiders rightly suspicious of the machinations existent therein. Why is this asserted? Well, in the first place, he uses the word "vibrant": Development and Peace is "a vibrant institution that operates within our Catholic identity". Echoes of SV2-speak. Strike 1. He further claims the "vast majority of people in our country" are grateful for the "great gift" that is Development and Peace. Can this statement be substantiated? Please provide statistics to corroborate the "vast majority". Was a poll conducted? My experience is that few Catholics know of D+P, and that only by a donation envelope when ShareLife time comes around. Furthermore, don't forget the aforementioned low percentage of regular Mass attendance. If upwards of 70 percent of Catholics don't attend Mass (a vast majority), how are they to even know about D+P? Strike 2. Next, more flower talk about the never ending CCCB/D+P interactions regarding a supposed resolution to the controversy. Both are "working together very well", there is "mutual understanding", the "bishops of Canada as a whole appreciate what Development and Peace is. We want it to continue and that's the bottom line".[21] Strike 3, you're out.

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).

THE ONLY GOOD CATHOLIC... IS A DEAD CATHOLIC