Kudos to Anna Maria College - Cancels Victoria Kennedy Commencement Speech

Kudos to Bishop McManus, who takes his vocation to protect the flock very seriously.

A small Catholic college that invited Victoria Reggie Kennedy to speak at its spring commencement has rescinded the offer under pressure from the Worcester bishop, who described her apparent political views as out of line with Catholic teachings.Anna Maria College in Paxton, west of Worcester, released a statement today placing the decision at the feet of Bishop Robert J. McManus and saying it still believes Kennedy is an appropriate choice.

But now they know, she isn't. And every student in the school now knows, along everyone who reads story.

"However, the statement continued, “after hours of discerning and struggling with elements of all sides of this issue, the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees decided with deep regret to withdraw its invitation.”

Alicia Savo, Anna Maria’s student government president, said she that while she had been excited to hear Kennedy speak, she trusts the bishop’s judgement in the matter.“I feel bad that they had to disinvite her, and she took it very decently,” Savo said. “But I don’t think the bishop would have said he didn’t think it was a good idea unless it wasn’t a good idea. I understand where he’s coming from.”

Deo Gratis.

It takes a tremendous dose of humility to tether yourself to truth when you have to do it "with deep regret".

I don't know any practicing Catholic who doesn't regret having to forbear things (or people) we think are appropriate choices. Surrendering our own discernment to those whose guidance is in harmony with the Magisterium, in spite of our regret, is the key that unlocks the mystery.

You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

It doesn't look like freedom or feel like freedom when we deeply regret withdrawal or forbearance, but it is.

I really get a kick out of the urban legends about people who act in harmony with the Magisterium even when we regret we can't act in accordance with our own desires. I suppose the legends come from a generation of priests who did not (and do not) teach the discipline, personal sacrifice it takes to accept God's commandments and how to live by them.

Anna Maria, a independent liberal arts college with 1,100 students, is deeply entwined with the diocese; last night, its president attended a dinner with McManus. Its statement notes that “as a small, Catholic college that relies heavily on the good will of its relationship with the Bishop and the larger Catholic community, its options are limited.”

Amen brother. Amen.

Mrs. Kennedy put out her own statement:

“He has not consulted with my pastor to learn more about me or my faith,” read the statement. “Yet by objecting to my appearance at Anna Maria College he has made a judgment about my worthiness as a Catholic. This is a sad day for me and an even sadder one for the Church I love.”

The facts are, there is a very long and public record to base judgments upon, including her husband's funeral where she used the Sanctuary of the Catholic Church to promote dissent from Church teaching with a long list of speakers and prayer petitions that repudiated Church teaching.

I am sad for Mrs. Kennedy. The church she loves only exists in her mind. It's a figment of her imagination. She and her husband's family have been exploited by disordered prelates who have spent their vocation maligning the teachings of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church Christ established - misleading good, kind, naive but uncatechized Catholics like herself.

Mrs. Kennedy is suffering from the same affliction that her husband suffered. She believes she can publicly lead the masses into sin and meet with the Bishop to tell him privately she would never commit such atrocities. That's about as worthless to Christ as the innocent cry of Hitler from the bunker that other people carried out the plans he laid.

The Bishop is committed to responding to her public witness, and not just for the sake of those led into committing murder through her witness, but for Mrs. Kennedy - who will be held accountable on her day of judgment for all those she is misleading.

She is not alone. Every one of us has walked a mile or two in those moccasins. God doesn't permit us to kid ourselves for too long. At some point, He comes moseying on up the road to lead us to truth. You can lead a horses ass to the water, but you cannot make us drink. That we have to do on our own. He is praying for us.

Anyhoo - here's an amusing little piece of this story:

Patrick Whelan, president of the national Catholic Democrats and a longtime acquaintance of the bishop, said he had spoken in-depth with McManus and found him adamant on the issue.“He’s always been very warm with me, but he struck a combative tone about this from the first moment: ‘I am not happy about this; it has put me in a very difficult position,’” said Whelan, who also is a pediatric specialist at Harvard Medical School. The bishop, he added, invoked what he believed were Kennedy’s positions on divisive social issues, including abortion, gay rights, and health coverage for contraception.

Whelan also said the bishop took responsibility for his decision during their conversation.“I said, ‘I’m sure you must be under a lot of pressure from people in the conservative camp’ -- I was trying to express some empathy -- and he reacted very sternly to that too,” said Whelan. “He said, ‘this is my decision and mine alone, and nobody’s pressuring me to do this.’ But then he did add, ‘sometimes it’s lonely at the top.’ ”

First of all, who is Whelan in this scenario that he is put in a difficult position?!!Is this chumley stumping for speaking engagements within the Catholic Church for democratic political cronies who repudiate Church teaching?

There is no such thing as a 'conservative camp' in the Institution of the Catholic Church. The camps are divided into those who promote obedience to Church teaching and those who promote disobedience. The Kennedys and Whelan are the latter. Bishop McManus is the former.

Viva Christo Rey.

Fr. Z on Catholic Democrat Cronies Patrick Whelan, Steve Krueger and Suzanne Morse

The old "Voice of the Faithful" characters, some of whom are operating the remnants of (the jailbird pedophile pimp) Eric McFadden's "Catholic Democrats" organization, are the subject of discussion over at Fr. Z's.

Just how deeply sycophantic are the political toadies of the group Catholic Democrats?



Fr. Z fisks the most recent activities of McFadden's "Catholic Democrats": marketing abortions in the abortion healthcare package.

I think there's some police detectives in Columbus, Ohio who have some answers to how sychopantic and psychotic Eric McFadden's group can get. It isn't pretty underneath the subterfuge.

Men who push promiscuity to women have some hefty reasons to keep the abortion industry harvesting their prey.

The "women's liberation" movement liberates them from making child support payments.

McFadden's co-founder in "Catholic Democrats", Patrick Whelan, has picked up Suzanne Morse, former "communications manager for Voice of the Faithful". Shortly after Eric McFadden's arrest, Whelan recycled the initiative and recruited Former Executive Director of Voice of the Faithful.

Their most recent debauchery is the same old meme: They've cracked the code of the Catechism of the Catholic Church - it's the treatise of the Republican National Committee and we're all secret agents.

They are worked up about the interchange between Bp. Tobin of Providence and pro-abortion Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI). The group Catholic Democrats want abortion as part of health care and therefore they can’t stand Catholic bishops who speak out when "Catholics" support abortion.

The tactic of Catholic Deomcrats is to turn this into a political issue. For example, if the Republican Party has a pro-life (anti-abortion) plank, and if a Catholic bishop speaks out when a pro-abortion Democrat supports abortion rights… therefore… try to follow now… therefore the Bishop is actually supporting the Republican Party. See? See? Wasn’t that easy? Great reasoning.

Catholic Democrats are political hacks. They might be Democrats, but they sure aren’t Catholics.

Father's comments are in bold~

From the Catholic Democrats website:

November 24, 2009

Support Congressman Kennedy and Health Care Reform

Call Bishop Tobin Today

I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish—where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source—where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials—and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.
– President John F. Kennedy, September 12, 1960, Houston Texas, The Greater Houston Ministerial Association

[What a misguided and damaging speech that was. What comes to mind is the phrase: "But for Wales?"]

Dear Friends,

This past Sunday, it was reported that Rhode Island Bishop Thomas Tobin had barred his Congressional representative, Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), from receiving Holy Communion in the diocese in early 2007, a sanction that remains in place today. [This is mendacious. Bp. Tobin has not imposed any sanction or censure on Rep. Kennedy – though he probably should. He requested in private discussion that the Congressman not receive. That is not the same as a "sanction". The Bishop did not "bar" him. But that is not to the purposes of this group, who will lie for the sake of their message.] We are asking you for your help in responding to this action and to the bishop’s disparagement of Representative Kennedy’s Catholic faith [I believe that Rep. Kennedy disparaged his own Catholic faith by his actions and public statements.] that occurred in the course of a public dispute that preceded this recent revelation.

[Watch this. You can see how Catholic Democrats try to drag this who thing over into the sphere of mere politics.] Bishop Tobin has made no secret of his preference for the Republican positions on a variety of social issues. A majority of Catholics hold views similar to Congressman Kennedy, [And this is another problem: They think morality can be determined by majorities.] namely that constructive measures to decrease the number of abortions [No… I think Catholic Democrats actually want abortion to be paid for by tax-payer dollars.] are a more Christian and effective approach than the vague criminalization threats of the past. [This issue of "criminalization" must be discussed at length elsewhere. For now, they are just using it as a scare tactic.] Catholic Democrats believes that Bishop Tobin’s [wait for it…] personal political views are driving actions that are not only hurtful to Catholics in Rhode Island but also to the larger Church [ ROFL! Sure! I bet they do! The last thing they want is strong bishops.] – as well as fueling the political divisions across our country.

This public conflict is deeply regrettable, particularly at a time when our country is debating national health care reform. [And Catholic Democrats want abortion to be paid for.] In the midst of this historic opportunity, that would help millions of people in need, Bishop Tobin returned to a divisive path. Building on his sanction [Again, it was not a sanction. It was a request.] in 2007, the bishop recently issued a public letter that only added to the polarization of the health care debate when faith, reason, and civility [What in his letter was a violation of "faith, reason, and civility"? Quotes, please?] are called for, particularly from our pastoral leaders. [But remember: If the Bishop takes a position, then he is not being "pastoral". "Pastoral" is where you let liberals do what they want.]

Do visit Fr. Z and read the rest of his excellent dissection.

At the end of the day, they fire the salvo that Bishop Tobin is carrying out the orders of the Republican party and Whelan and his recycled VOTF group are crusaders for those suffering political oppression - and so they're recruiting people to take Bishop Tobin under siege.

Last I checked, "Catholic Democrats" was not registered with the Secretary of State in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, though they claim on their website to have officers and a 'treasurer". Ergo, they're either a handful of clowns with bupkis, making like their somebody important in politics without two nickels to rub together - or somebody is giving them money they're not reporting to the IRS and paying taxes upon.

I'll have to check back with the SOS office here in Mass and see if there's any status change.

To me, the paper trail on this group should be under the nose of Cardinal George's committee to govern the use of the word "Catholic".

***UPDATE

I reviewed the status of Catholic Democrats of Massachusetts.

If you look at the website, Patrick Whelan lists himself as the "Director" and Mary Beth Saffo is listed as the "Treasurer".

Here, he lists himself as the "President" of Catholic Democrats with Steve Kruger as the Executive Director.

We can be reached at:

Catholic Democrats
PO Box 290331
Boston, MA 02129

However, if you check the corporate database of the Secretary of State and run a wordsearch for the entity "Catholic Democrats" or scroll down to do a search for Patrick Whelan and Steven Krueger or Mary Beth Saffo under individuals operating a business in Massachusetts, it's a bust.

BTW -- If you check out this page on the Catholic Democrats site, you'll find this:

Through the "Issues" section of its website, Catholic Democrats shows how the positions of the Democratic Party are consistent with Catholic Social Teaching.

Thorough our "Get Local," we connect Catholic Democrats with our local chapters.

We look forward to working with the Obama administration.

Patrick Whelan, President
Steven Krueger, Executive Director

The Obama Administration working with "Catholic Democrats" leaves a lot of questions about rounding up people to attack a Catholic Cardinal.

Whelan and McFadden co-authored an article called "Politicking in Catholic Churches" at the beginning of their "Catholic Democrat" initiative. It seems Whelan has taken down every reference and link to McFadden on his "Catholic Democrat" website.

In any event, politicians and administrations waging war against the Catholic Church have long been using McFadden, Whelan and a handful of others to do their dirty work for them.

"Catholic Democrats" on who killed George Tiller

"Catholic Democrats" is claiming Fr. Pavone, George Weigel and Deal Hudson killed George Tiller.

Leaders of several abortion organizations put out statements condemning the violence. Among them was Fr Frank Pavone, a conservative political activist who had a high profile during the recent controversy at Notre Dame. He said, "We at Priests for Life continue to insist on a culture in which violence is never seen as the solution to any problem."

Fr Pavone might have stopped there. But in an email circulated to his supporters, he listed a series of similar murders that occurred during the 1980s, and said, "The point should not be missed that the killings of other abortionists and their staff ... occurred in an environment in which there was a lot of frustration over the pro-abortion initiatives of President Clinton. Now, there is similar frustration regarding the Obama Presidency and its support of abortion. This is not to blame our Presidents for someone's misguided actions. But neither should we miss what may be emerging as a pattern: when hope diminishes that the government is going to do something to protect the vulnerable, the temptation to take the law into one's own hands increases."

More to the point is the culpability that people like Fr Pavone himself have for this kind of violence, and the fury provoked among conservatives toward President Obama by the extreme language about Democrats and abortion. Despite the expressed intent of President Obama to work collaboratively to decrease the numbers of abortions, Fr Pavone and many other activists with Republican sympathies have condemned the President using the most insulting imaginable terms.

Fr Pavone has also joined conservative political writers like George Weigel and Deal Hudson in a campaign to have the editor of the Vatican newspaper, Giovanni Maria Vian, fired from L'Osservatore Romano because he expressed support for the abortion reduction message President Obama issued week before last at the Notre Dame Commencement.

Interesting thesis. When you raise an objection against moral evils, you are the cause of them.

Think of the possibilities. This could blow the lid off of the real causes of war - it's Bryan Hehir. Opposing the death penalty, causes lethal injections to be administered in prisons. Abraham Lincoln inspired the Klu Klux Klan. SNAP caused sexual abuse.

This thesis could also explain Whelan's co-partner who founded Catholic Democrats with him, Eric McFadden. McFadden was caught running a large prostitution ring, recruiting minors to carry out the tricks and visiting prostitutes himself up to four times a day. Whalen and McFadden must have had a lot of conversations inside of Catholic Democrats opposing the sexual exploitation of women.

I really wonder how his ideas carry over into his pediatric medical practice. Medical lectures could be the leading cause of childhood diseases.

My favorite analogy is posted over at Inside Catholic in the comment section:

Untitled
June 02nd, 2009 | 10:35am
Blaming the pro-life movement (which correctly labels abortionists as pro-abortion) for Dr. Tiller’s murder would be the equivalent of blaming Al Gore for the deeds of the Unabomber, since Gore’s book “Earth in the balance” was found among Ted Kaczynski’s belongings. Dr. Whelan’s comments are absurd.

Gore could be causing global warming.

We could go on reductio ad absurdum ad infinitum.

Tiller decapitated infants alive. He was the worst kind of sociopathic serial killer. The prolife movement is going to continue to oppose the legality and the people who are in the business of providing them - even if when it is Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley .

Catholic Democrats go after Maryanne Glendon

Father Z has the story.

#

Catholic Democrats is another initiative started by Eric McFadden of Catholics for Kerry/Hillary’s outreach director and various other apostasies. McFadden and Whelan were partners in the venture until just shy of McFadden’s arrest for being, among other things, the largest pimp (including minors) in Ohio.

When McFadden departed for the big house, a local Boston character named “Steve Krueger” joined Whelan’s initiative. Krueger, was executive director of…drumroll…...Voice of the Faithful.

It’s two people with venom for the teachings of the Church who have been attacking anyone willing to stand up for the Church’s tenets, sticking to their pipe dream that some day, we’ll be intimidated by them.

Even the USCCB is losing their palate for their drivel and tactics.
Comment by Carol McKinley — 29 April 2009 @ 7:44 pm

Whatever you do, go over to Inside Catholic and read John Zmirak's Anybody Need a Used Laetare Medal?



It's absolutely priceless.

Also, You'll love the very funny want-ad for a recipient of a certain Laetare medal on Craig's List.


Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall in Jenkin's office?

More on Father Newman

Michael Paulson's article here. Father Newman's complete letter is in the article. It's a keeper.

His bishop is, as one would expect, frantic about the money this will cost him and is hurling the snowballs.

By the way, what's a crystal clear indication that a shepherd has taken on the dynamics of a wolf?

He's thwarting Rome.

But bishops differ on whether Catholic lawmakers — and voters — should refrain from receiving Communion if they diverge from church teaching on abortion. Each bishop sets policy in his own diocese. In their annual fall meeting, the nation's Catholic bishops vowed Tuesday to forcefully confront the Obama administration over its support for abortion rights.

There's only one problem with these bishops, their "beliefs". Including their apparent belief that McCarrick was the real pope.

The bishops however, had not been given the whole story at their Denver retreat. Cardinal McCarrick withheld the text of a definitive memorandum from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith not only from the public, but also from the bishops themselves. In that document Cardinal Ratzinger said that pro-abotion politicians, after appropriate warnings, "must" be refused
communion. Bishop Vasa confirmed that the crucial instruction from Rome, which had been written expressly for the Denver meeting, was not given to the bishops.

Vasa said, "As I recall, Cardinal McCarrick made reference to some letter, but I did not see a copy of the letter at the meeting. I don't know if the committee writing the 'Statement,' entitled 'Catholics in Political Life,' was given a
copy of the letter." However the Interim Report, presented to the bishops for their use in drafting the statement suggested the opposite, warning against refusing anyone communion.

A recent letter from the Vatican's Cardinal Ratzinger verified his leaked memorandum was authentic and in fact Church Doctrine. The letter also noted that the memo was "very much in harmony with the general principles" of his
memorandum. The Ratzinger letter did not however condone the misleading slant of the Interim Report which strongly favored never denying communion. The Catholics in Political Life Statement while it did leave the decision to deny communion up to local bishops, clarified that that must be done "in accord with the established canonical and pastoral principles." Of note, Cannon 915 states that those "who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to communion."

Is this confusing? "The Catholics in Political Life Statement while it did leave the decision to deny communion up to local bishops, clarified that that must be done "in accord with the established canonical and pastoral principles." Of note, Cannon 915 states that those "who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to communion."

These poor clueless Bishops have translated this as the Church saying they must comply with Canon 915 unless of course, they don't want to.

Take off your tin foil hat.

What the Church is saying is, if there is a situation where a soul has expressed private repentance and made a vow to amend their lives and does not further work the proabortion agenda, discretion is of course, applied, in spite of the fact that the public may not have yet seen the fruit of this conversion.

Another example of this golden parachute would be a young man and woman living together prior to marriage, whom the priest has guided and worked with and they finally agree to live as brother and sister until they can arrange to move back with mommy and daddy. Everyone in the congregation may not be privy to this conversion and the priest uses his discretion as he is in conversation with them and they are open to his counsel.

Kralis asked Bishop Vasa why McCarrick might have given conflicting information to the bishops. "Do the U.S. bishops now teach that it is correct for one Bishop to deny John Kerry the Eucharist while another Bishop, perhaps in a diocese just 10 miles away, mandates his 'ministers of Holy Communion' to give Kerry the Eucharist?"

Vasa replied, "I answer to the Holy See, I don't answer to the USCCB. The June memorandum of Cardinal Ratzinger should have a greater impact on the decision of individual bishops in their own dioceses than the 'Statement' of the USCCB, which seems to give broader latitude to the judgment of the bishops."

Bishops who are differing on whether voters and lawmakers should refrain from receiving Communion are not in communion with the Catholic Church, and one ought to mosey on down the road if they are at all interested in their own salvation and that of their children.

Guess who's back!!! The Ghost of Thwarting Catechism Past.

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said she had not heard of other churches taking this position in reaction to Obama's win. A Boston-based group that supports Catholic Democrats questioned the move, saying it was too extreme.

"Father Newman is off-base," said Steve Krueger, national director of Catholic Democrats. "He is acting beyond the authority of a parish priest to say what he did. ... Unfortunately, he is doing so in a manner that will be of great cost to those parishioners who did vote for Sens. Obama and Biden. There will be a spiritual cost to them for his words."

Steve Krueger, of the peculiar (and now defunct) "Voice of the Faithful". (Now I get the "no room at the table" sound bite. Steve went out in a blaze of glory when he repeated that he wanted "a seat at the four-sided table" until it was too weird to process, even for VOTFers.)

A man who has attended St. Mary's for 18 years said he welcomed Newman's message and anticipated it would inspire further discussion at the church.

"I don't understand anyone who would call themselves a Christian, let alone a Catholic, and could vote for someone who's a pro-abortion candidate," said Ted Kelly, 64, who volunteers his time as lector for the church. "You're talking about the murder of innocent beings."

By the way, 90% of Father Newman's flock seeks the Sacrament of Confession if their soul is not in a state of grace. Ninety percent.

This is a priest and a spiritual father that loves Christ more than he loves himself. A rare jewel.