Boston Archdiocese is Again Highlighted in the Vortex

My initial thoughts are here. An update has been posted at Bryan Hehir Exposed that you don't want to miss. MaryAnn Kreitzer has a post HERE. Janet Baker posts here thoughts HERE.

I'll have my update some time before the weekend is over!

Madoff, O'Malley and the Three Headed Dog Cerebus

Ray Neary has written an article on the situation inside of the Boston Chancery under Cardinal O'Malley's leadership that is posted at Renew America:

A Pact with the Devil

Ray Neary is a gentleman, a man of integrity and valor. What he says in this article very much needs to be said in the public square. There is a problem with honesty in the regime at 66 Brooks Drive that is manifesting itself in many ways. The diocese is in the hands of the corrupt as the Cardinal is off taking pictures of himself to post on his blog in every corner of the earth.

There is much weakness at 66 Brooks Drive and there needs to be a coup of the coup. This is not the time to be faint of heart or weak in character.

Governance and Structural Problem in the Archdiocese of Boston

Please see important updates to the governance and structural changes Cardinal O'Malley is implementing in Boston.

I wholeheartedly agree with this assessment of my friends and colleagues at Boston Catholic Insider.

Rumors are also flying again that these folks would work on combined fund-raising across a new entity, combining fund-raising across what are separate corporate entities, Catholic Foundation, Catholic Schools, Catholic Charities, and the Clergy Fund.....If this is true, then it suggests an even graver crisis of governance in Boston than we thought previously, and a surrender of fund-raising to Jack Connors’ cronies. Fr. Erikson, the Vicar General, to whom this position supposedly reports would be rendered even more mute and ineffective, and it makes Chancellor McDonough even more powerful.   That surrender of all fund-raising to Connors and his cronies would put the Cardinal Archbishop in a position of being captive to Jack’s money, and effectively put the Cardinal’s and all archdiocesan decision-making under the control of Connors.  Do the expressions “shadow archdiocese” or “shadow archbishop” come to mind for anyone?  Connors had previously been referred to by the Boston Globe as the “pope of Catholic power brokers.” 

How did the luminaries in Archdiocese of Boston position themselves to be the watchmen?

For the past few days, I outlined how the stories about rape end with leading questions about how it feels to have somebody rub their hands all over a vagina, how those leading questions bring the natural questions children have about 'what sex is', and how these situations are the exact environments pedophiles look for to plant themselves into to recruit victims.

Here is something I haven 't highlighted.

The program was written by prostitutes and witches - literally written by prostitutes and witches by a groups organized to demoralize sexuality, including wanting to see prostitution legalized.

How did Cardinal O'Malley and the Chancery thugs react to the objections?

They said 'so what' and painted parents as fringe.

I review my response to that in this post.  Enjoy.

Meanwhile, here are a few more questions:

What's your instinct about the lifelong effects on their ability to enjoy sex after years of telling children to think of sexuality as something a boogeyman is going to steal from them at any moment and learn how to be combative?

What's the plan to transition children traumatized about what sexuality is to understanding that men and sex are not boogymen so that they can enjoy a healthy sex life with their husband/wife?

Who would be foolish enough to hand their children over for 'safety' to the exact people who got caught shuffling pedophiles and threatening and tormenting people who step forward to complain?

If you remember what happened, once the children got beyond the threats of their abuser and told the people they trusted - their parents and relatives, the the internal code of silence and protecting the good old boys manifested itself.  

How did the Bishops ever accomplish hijacking a situation where they are complicit in creating the unsafe environments for children to position themselves as the go-to people for children to report sexual abuse?

With the Boston Archdiocese saying they are catching pedophiles, have they ever divulged to anybody in any parish the identities of the pedophiles they catch?  Are they the people volunteering to teach Talking about Touching?    Is it your children's piano teacher and soccer coach and they haven't told you?

Call Anthony Rizzutto's office and see if you can get a list of names of people they claim they are catching, what parishes they are from and their occupations.

The diocese keeps the identities of the pedophiles away from parents who can protect their own children.  This was the problem and they twisted the fix to give the more power to control the situations - not less.

The policy where they were taking the ability to protect children away from Catholic parents has been replaced with a policy where they  have taken the ability to protect children away from Catholic parents.

Get it?

You would  think Catholics would see the lunacy but the majority of them went right along with it - in spite of their instincts and knowing the situation created more opportunities for perverts than there ever was before.

Part of the problem is, Catholics who want to 'be somebody' in the Catholic Church need to sit at swanky events beside the Cardinal to claw their way up the ladder of power.  They need to make nice with the Bishop and this comes above the safety of children.

Nothing has changed about this dynamic.

When parents put the evidence on the table and rounded up experts to testify to the dangers to local and national Catholic leaders, most people who could do something about it retreated to silence.

Think about this for a minute.

They were made aware that the Cardinal put Deacon Anthony Rizzutto in charge a program written by whores and witches and knowingly gave his consent to recruiting people who have no problem with promoting sex to children (VOTF) to "implement the program",  including Larry Kessler who promotes this book to youth.

The code of silence cultivated inside of the Catholic Church has been bred for centuries.   We have generations of Catholics who will sit beside a Cardinal who would so such things to children and make nice with him because they value their seat at the table more than they value the children victimized.

The last priest standing who refuses to hand over the children to this madness is being threatened.

There is no rhyme or reason why Fr. Mullin cannot use an approved program that gives resources to parents to protect their children - except that the Cardinal does not want the authority to be given to parents and prefers the system with folks like Larry Kessler in charge the ideas of children the how it feels when somebody rubs your genitalia and a go home and do it safe environment program.

Spread the word.

Panic at 66 Brooks Drive

Boston Catholic Insider has an eye-opening post about the conflicts of interest in the sale of Caritas to Cerebus.

I want to say for the record that the purpose of exposing the corruption in the Chancery of Boston is because the Deposit of Faith is in the hands of the corrupt whose intentions are perverting it.

Our children and the next generation have a right to learn their faith and we have a duty to free our faith from the bondage being executed by Cardinal O'Malley and his henchmen.

Our priests, our Sacraments, the salvation of souls is under siege.

Have you ever watched the movie Romero?

If you haven't, pick it up and watch it.

I'm embedding a part of the movie that I believe to be germane to the work here in Boston of the many bloggers who are giving up their time to expose the corruption in Boston.  It's in Spanish but you will not need a translation.





It is reported in the comments section of Boston Catholic Insider that Chancellor Jim McDonough is rumored to be shelling out 200,000 dollars to stop bloggers from publishing what is going on in the Chancery in Boston.

Could this be true?

Good luck dude.  If you stop that one, we'll get another.  And another.  And another.

Go ahead and block access to the website.  We will email.

If you shut that down, we will head to the post office and buy a bushel of stamps and send it snail mail so you better make plans to post an information nazi at every parish mailbox.

If you try to bankrupt us by burying us in lawyers and motions, other people are ready to take over speaking the truth in the public square at a moments notice.   We will not miss a nanosecond of exposing the corruption and perversions of our Faith.  The bullying. The persecutions.   All will be followed publicly on the internet.

Boston is at ground zero for driving the Catholic religion underground in the United States and there is no stopping the people who intend on chronicling it.

A word to the wise:

Our children have a right to the authentic faith.   Fr. Bryan Hehir and his Kennedy School of Government and B.C. Roundtable cronies are stealing our religion.  You are erecting a false church, with false teachings. You are misleading souls and you are not going to do it under the radar.

We don't care about the buildings and we don't care about the money.  Put our hospitals into the hands of an attorney general who has said publicly that Catholics should not be permitted to work in hospitals emergency rooms.   Steal our Holy Relic and the Archbishop won't even mention it until there is outrage in the pews.

We don't have an Archbishop Romero here in Boston but you are not going to get away with doing what you are doing without people shouting from the rooftops that what you teach and preach is false and what you are doing is anathema.

If God is not behind the wind at our backs, we will falter but if He is, you will find yourselves in a conflict with God.  Good luck with that.

Go ahead and try to stop us.

Knock yourselves out.

A Come to Jesus Meeting with the Enemy Within the Archdiocese of Boston

Boston readers will want to check in to Bryan Hehir Exposed for an update on Fr. Erikson's outreach attempts to get the team to come to the Pastoral Center for a Come to Jesus Meeting.

The bloggers have released their emails to Fr. Erikson.   Do take the time to read them. They are quite powerful and uplifting.

The objectives of the proposed meeting have been, and remain, elusive.

Frankly, I think the Cardinal and his Cabinet are underestimating the interests and objectives of Catholics who see this period in the history of the Archdiocese, as one commenter rightfully characterized it, as "the turn the tables over in the Temple moment".

Clericalism that pervaded a period in history where Cardinals and their underlings coddled perverts and pedophiles is one and the same with the clericalism that pervades the current administration in the Cathedra of Boston: The bullying of clerics and lay people who want sexually active priests defrocked, and priests teaching sexual promiscuity removed.

We are up to our neck in bullies running the Archdiocese of Boston.  Fr. Hehir's 40 year history of dissent now being cataloged at BHE is a threat to this administration.  The Pope appears to be ignorant of what is going on in Boston due to the corrupt at the Vatican, whom everyone knows is an obstacle to getting the truth in front of the Pope.  The corrupt continue to be successful in shielding and protecting the sexual (and abortion) mafioso on the ground in every diocese.

This is not acceptable reform.

ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE.


Fr. Erikson writes:

Good morning,

The objective of the meeting is to have a frank conversation about what is the best way to serve Christ and His Church.  I believe there is much on your blog that is untrue and harmful to individuals and to the Body of Christ. I know of your convictions based on what you write in the blog. I hope our conversation would give you a broader frame of reference for future blog entries.   I anticipate Fr. Hehir, myself and, perhaps, one or two of my colleagues from the Pastoral Center being present for this meeting.

Blessings,

Fr. Erikson

In a conference call with the bloggers last evening, (a few of whom want to move forward with the meeting with the archdiocese), I was frank about the font of skepticism springing forth from my interpretation of Fr. Erikson's email and the history of how the Cardinal handles meetings when people of good faith present him with trails of evidence of dissent and scandal.

I know of your convictions based on what you write in the blog. I hope our conversation would give you a broader frame of reference for future blog entries.  

Actually, I think we know the convictions of the Cardinal and his team of advisors based upon what he writes on his blog, says in the newspaper and the power structure he has set up based upon these convictions.

What is the basis for any frame of reference that they are interested in bringing dissenters into conformity with the teachings of the Church so that those being taught misguided precepts will be brought into a state of grace?    I don't see a shred of evidence there is consideration on the table regarding the objective to remove dissenters putting rings on their noses of practicing Catholics and leading them onto the road of perdition.

What we are after ( i.e., getting these misguided Catholics onto the road to salvation), has not been part of the tactical reforms coming out of the Chancery.


For example, when Fr. Hehir was a participant in the Booty Call Conference with Bishop Lynch (who for some "strange" reason was not removed from his position when a complaint of unwanted sexual misconduct was brought forth against him - the zero tolerance of unwanted sexual misconduct doesn't apply to Bishops policy) - the Cardinal called a chit in at the Vatican so he could post an entry on his blog about what an asset Fr. Hehir is to him and to Mother Church.   It was an indirect and cowardly insult to the truth being chronicled at BHE.

Nobody would argue that Ted Kennedy, God rest his soul, inherited the right to a dignified private funeral in the Catholic Church.  Instead, we got a political event in the Sanctuary sanctifying abortion and sexual immorality. Not to mention a lot of talk about "mercy" to grant themselves license to give a podium to the cast of characters - characters who have misled hundreds of thousands of people to their spiritual and physical death.   They lined up Kennedy's family and approved testimony riddled with dissent and witness that the funeral, worthy of Catholic saint, with the Catholic Cardinal blessing the event, was the fruit of  how Ted's played out 'faithfulness' to the precepts of the Catholic Church.

Catholics pointing out that the damages of this charade would be the false conviction that spending your life working for the "freedom" to decapitate infants alive does not impede our salvation - he dismissed as people doing a disservice to the Church,  as he did when we released information that he had set up an abortion business through Caritas.

Meanwhile, as reported on Boston Catholic Insider, back at the Archdiocese of Boston clericalism dude ranch, priests selling sex in Catholic Sanctuaries are flourishing and empowered.   Fr. Austin Fleming's and Fr. Hehir's ideas are seen as so consistent with truth, as the Cardinal sees it, they are given their own gig at BTCV.     Fr. Cuenin, Fr. Josoma, Fr. Ron Coyne and other dissenters are Cardinal O'Malley's circle of advisors.

We have had meetings.

In fact, I have personally asked several times for a meeting with Fr. Hehir and have been declined.

We have sent letters and faxes.

We have taken the trail to the Nuncio.

We have sent the trail to the Vatican.

What was the result?

Cardinal O'Malley was appointed by the Pope to "fix" another diocese and Fr. Hehir was given a podium to receive an honor at the Vatican.

Ladies and gentleman, the time for meetings has passed.

We do not have the structures in place to remove priests and administrators who are selling sex and abortion inside of the Catholic Church.  

Unity with people who sell sex and abortion inside of the Catholic Church is not all it is cracked up to be, actually.     In fact, the Lord himself has set the enmity between us.    We are not going to overcome the enmity in some cheap meeting where Boston bloggers are lined up to listen to their "broad perspectives" about  how they want us to blog.  

They're hoping we will sell the grace that left a trail of Precious Blood on the Via Dolorosa for a chance to smoke a peace pipe up the Chancery with the people leading souls into the crevices of Dante's Inferno?

Thanks but no thanks.

Get to a parish where the truth is taught and the Sacraments administered to faithfully so that we can remain in a state of grace.  Strap yourselves onto the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord because the battle within has just begun and the seas are about to get rough.

If you don't get the gist of what I think about a meeting with Fr. Hehir and Fr. Erikson to listen to what they think, I introduce Nancy Sinatra to get the point across in a little jingle:





Are you ready boots?



Have a fantastic weekend!

Modifications to Canonical Penalties Coming from CDF on Raping Children and Ordaining Women

As everyone in the pipeline knows by now, the Vatican is revising norms that cover the sexual abuse of minors.

These norms extend the statute of limitations from 10 years after the victims 18th birthday to 20 years.

Frankly, I don't understand the reaction of Catholics yahooing this change.  In terms of any kind of meaningful and serious reform, it is a dud.

Instead of scrutinizing the behavior of wayward priests making perfectly clear their ideas of human sexuality and celibacy are flawed and immoral, and ferreting out who among their employees is running around in the woods groping unsuspecting people or spending the collection money at the Copley Plaza and Brooks Brothers with a homosexual partner they are shacking up with - we are lengthening the time people can file a claim an additional ten years?

Can somebody please enlighten me as to why we are applauding this nonsense?


If anything, this has a negative impact on encouraging legitimate victims of priest abusers to come forward as early as possible, thereby giving the abuser an additional ten years to abuse.

This makes conducting any kind of serious criminal investigation to gather up witnesses and material facts, difficult and improbable.


Personally, given the experiences trying to report the conduct of Cardinal O'Malley's administration making profits by killing children (the process every bit as corrupt as when they were coddling rapists), I find this development ridiculous if not reprehensible.

Furthermore, isn't anyone conscious enough to see they are erecting a kangaroo court process by removing priests and handing out cash without any kind of determination of the validity of the claim?  

You cannot conduct an investigation with any kind of reasonable diligence after a statute has run. If you could, the Commonwealth would be doing it. That is the purpose of a statute of limitations. 

I maintain (and there will be more on this later) that Cardinal O'Malley has hired a Massachusetts prosecutor who is violating Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct. Specifically, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 3.1.

Cardinal O'Malley is setting up a kangaroo court that operates with reckless disregard for truth.  Rather than statements of fact, they are giving opinions under circumstances where time has made it impossible for witnesses to recall what happened.   Because there is no material substance of facts, Cardinal O'Malley's kangaroo court is libeling, defaming, slandering and destroying the vocations of many innocent men.

Meanwhile, back at the clericalism dude ranch, people are running out of the woods screaming and hundreds of thousands of dollars are missing from coffers at the parish level under dubious circumstances. 

Are we foolish enough to be pacified that they are giving victims of people like Maciel another ten years to come forward instead of owning up to the clericalism and coverups that are every bit a part of the dynamic inside of the Vatican as they ever were (if not worse)?

There has never been, and is not now, any serious effort to scrutinize the behavior of their own employees when complaints cross their desk.

This was, and remains, the flaw inside of the Catholic Church.

Let's have the decency not to applaud the fix that can take any and every priest out of service for a boodle of cash to any enemy of the Church at any given moment.

We are nowhere near, and in fact have yet to embark upon catching perverts and sociopaths and firing them inside of the Catholic Church.  All we are doing is permitting the sociopaths at the top of the hierarchies to take more victims.

One good (and amusing) piece of news though - the new edicts make ordaining women and other sins against the Eucharist, the faith and Sacraments as serious as abusing children.

From Fr. Z

This means that sins considered to be "less serious" will be officially subject to the same judicial procedures that were previously reserved in canon law only for sins against the Eucharist, the sacrament of Penance and sexual abuse of minors.  ["less serious"?  For example?]

Sins such as the attempted ordination of women to the priesthood and the "crimes against the faith" of heresy, schism and apostasy, [Those seem pretty serious to me!] that have until now been investigated by the CDF only on an extraordinary basis will fall under their official jurisdiction, thus clearing up any confusion as to where cases must be reported. In other words, it formalizes procedures that may have been followed in practice, but were never made official.

According to the July 8 Notimex report, possession and distribution of child pornography will also be declared "serious sins" and, in cases in which they have been found guilty in civil courts, perpetrators could be sentenced without a canonical trial.

The modifications should be promulgated in the coming days, bearing the signature of the prefect of the CDF, Cardinal William Levada, and accompanied by notes explaining the changes and the history of the legislation.

There is bad news and goods news with this development.

The bad news is, the Cardinals and Bishops currently holding office disobey and obstruct the edicts of the Catholic Church.

The good news is, the deposit of faith is further strengthened. The priestly raping souls is every bit as serious as raping their bodies.

And some day, there will be people who will carry out the edicts of the Catholic Church. Perhaps not in our lifetime. But, these are the days when we huff and we puff and we blow down their house of cards while building up on the internet, in Our Lady's Cavern, in our homes and in our own little communities wherever they may be.

Grab something and defend the faith. Hold onto your hat in the gale force winds.

Treat yourself to this Michael Voris youtube: "It's time to put away your kleenex...It's time for heroes, not sissies and crybabies."




I'm working on a post on the Caritas situation that should go up over the weekend. Meanwhile - have a great day and a fabulous summer weekend.

Fr. Dominic Menna - Another Victim of the Catholic Witch Hunts

Fr. Gordon MacRae who writes at These Stone Walls, Musings From Prison of a Priest Falsely Accused has posted a story that really isn't all that 'musing.

The Exile of Fr. Dominic Menna

Fr. Menna, an 80 year old priest, fell victim to a nefarious pastime of collecting free cash from the Archdiocese by "remembering" abuse from 50 years ago.

You see, if you say it happened 50 years ago, there is no possible fact finding mission that can take place. The Archdiocese simply takes the priest out of commission and hands over the cash. There are no civil nor canonical rights for priests.

People who pull these kinds of stunts really make it difficult (if not impossible) to drum up trust and empathy for real victims.

“It’s a terrible thing to have happen,’’ he said. “I mean, the man is 80 years old. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet.’’

A woman who was at a church bingo game and declined to be identified because she has children in the parish’s school said she was shocked and confused.

“My kids loved Father Menna,’’ she said. “Why now?’’

Mary O’Toole, 56, of Quincy, who has been a parishioner nearly 20 years, said she was hesitant to believe the allegations because they were coming so long after the alleged abuse.

“I like him. I’ve met him and he doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who would do that,’’ she said.

If you're not sick to your stomach yet, here are a couple of quotes from the mafioso at the Chancery:

Lynch declined to comment on the circumstances or location of the alleged sexual abuse, citing the privacy of those involved and the integrity of the investigation.

They are all about privacy and integrity these folks are - right-o.

 O’Malley said in the statement. “I remain committed to doing everything possible to protect our children, to further the healing process and to rebuild trust.”

Just ask the guy who had run out of the woods last week at the park and ride.

He's doing everything possible except doing an investigation on which priests are sexually active and finding out with whom. In the absence of exiling the sexually active mafia, he is victimizing innocent priests with this dog and pony show.

Pray for our priests.

Diocescan "Outreach"

Boston Catholics following the shenanigans at the Boston Chancery were surprised to see last week's development of the Moderator for the Curia posting in the comments section at BryanHehirExposed:

To the author(s) of this blog:

You have made many statements and assertions in the text of your blog that call for comment and engagement by the leadership of the Archdiocese of Boston. We are open to entering into serious and sincere discourse with individuals who have the confidence to identify themselves and engage in civil discourse with respect for all individuals involved. Such has not been the case with your blog. We have reached out to you before. I am reaching out to you again. You do not identify yourselves and you regularly engage in disrespectful, discourteous and inaccurate attacks including consistently inappropriate and cruel disparagement of Fr. J. Bryan Hehir. Should you be interested in coming forward for thoughtful and respectful conversation on issues that matter to you, we would be happy to reciprocate such courtesy.

Fr. Richard Erikson
Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia

To wit blogger Joe Sacerdo responded:

Fr. Erikson,
Thank you for your comments. Time does not permit a thorough response at this moment, so let me just ask for now if you could let us know any specific points or things we have posted here that you, Fr. Hehir, or the Archdiocese believe are factually incorrect. We do make mistakes occasionally (mostly with spelling), and if there are any factual inaccuracies, they will be immediately corrected. Almost always when we ask this question, it turns out that there was not a factual error, but instead it was a complaint that the actual actions or words of the person described in the blog didn’t look so good presented publicly along with a logical interpretation of those facts. We will respond with a more thorough response separately. Readers, please do feel free to comment with your thoughts as well.

Several readers also responded in the comments section, testifying to what is well-known to grassroots prolifers and Catholics who want faithful doctrine taught in the archdiocese working hands on in the trenches: Since the day of Cardinal O'Malley's arrival in Boston, there has been a zealous effort by thousands of Catholics to engage in courteous and respectful conversation with the Cardinal and his Administration about dissent we want silenced. In seven years, if they were serious, we'd have a report or two that was positive, wouldn't we.

Here are some of the comments from people who have tried that route:


"While I appreciate your trying to initiate a meeting, I have to agree with Catholic Mom that Father Erikson’s sincerity is in question here when he says “we are open to entering into serious and sincere discourse …”

Several of us – and I’d bet many others – have tried repeatedly over the years to contact the cardinal with problems and not even gotten a response to our requests for meetings or for action to be taken on problems.

Now all of a sudden since this blog started they’ve turned over a new leaf? I’m afraid it’s motivated more by a sincere desire to stop the negative publicity."

another:

"As a very active Catholic mother and former employee of the archdiocese (I left because I could no longer live on the salary), I know many people who would be anxious to hear any story where such a person were not taken for a fool or treated like an enemy. You get a patronizing letter from Fr. Kickham but not only will nothing be done about the error, you’ll find whoever you brought to their attention with new gig on BCTV (literally happened with the Concord Pastor). What is frightening is, this is the complete opposite of how errors were handled under Cardinal Law."

and another:

"Catholic Mom — don’t give up. I have had the very same experience. When I was younger, I witnessed something very wrong on the part of a priest, and was naive enough to believe that once the authorities understood the facts, all would be taken care of. Ha! I will never, ever, forget reading the eyes of the authority sent to “clean things up” and seeing that it was not the evidence in front of him that he was judging, but the strength and quality of the threat I represented."

That has been the rude awakening for all of us. Sadly, this includes raping children. As far as I am concerned, nothing has changed with this flaw. We see the evidence clearly, that they continue on a path of not righting wrongs but rather seeing whether you will expose them and/or give them argita.

Up until this point in time, the strategy for "outreach" to people who want the perversion of teachings of the Church to be stopped has been to lull them into a state of complacency with flattery and an appointment to some kind of a "committee" to "study" the problem and come up with a solution with a team of experts they put into place to get "consensus". Of course, the objective of this exercise turns out to be the ages old strategy distracting an effective grassroots leader and wasting his or her time in meetings where they've stacked the committee with people who will frustrate any kind of solution for as long as you are willing to give up your precious time to meet with them.

First, they pretend your ideas are epiphanies the likes of which 2000 years of Christendom has never heard about. You are so important and smart, you see, the Bishop needs you. You are an invaluable resources to a Catholic Bishop, they've got to rush you right onto a committee.

Meanwhile, they kill the momentum of something effective by taking a grassroots the effective leader out of their leadership role. They undermine the unity of the apostolate and mission by making character assassinations against other grassroots leaders. You're not one of "those people", you are a person who can sit down and have respectful conversations about things that matter to you. You get lots of flattery and invitations to swanky events. Wow, you're almost a Catholic Saint.

Eventually, like this poor fool, rational people learn their game.

Coakley said yesterday that he persuaded parishioners and students from Tufts University, which abutted Sacred Heart, not to occupy the church to prevent its closing. Instead of becoming a protester, he said, he took the advice of archdiocesan officials to join the pastoral council and work through the system.

"I did the wrong thing," Coakley said in his resignation letter to the Rev. Robert T. Kickham, O'Malley's secretary. "I misled my parishioners and was fooled by you and others that I could somehow help make a difference by serving" on the pastoral council.

"They were very, very effective at wearing us down and making us go away," he said.

Take heart. Here's a comment from BHE that demonstrates the new game in town:


"Disrespectful, discourteous?
Many of us have been getting dirt under our fingernails living The Faith as revealed through time and the Magisterium for many many years. We have seen liturgical abuse and scandal so frequently we have hardened our resolve.

I and many others don’t need you to “reach out to us.” We need you to do your job and give fraternal correction to your peers rather than show up indignant smelling of clericalism.

Pope Benedict has energized us faithful. We now see order where there was chaos, we see true Charity where there was patronizing nicety, and we see Truth where men like Fr. Hehir toyed with it for political gain for a generation.

Many Catholic observers are now suggesting that a full-on assault on the Church in America is coming soon. I’d suggest that your Pentagon is in Rome, not Braintree.
And your troops? You’ve found them."

Amen to all that.

When you stand up and say, enough is enough - pretty soon people will be joining your side. The public discontent grows and grows. Soon enough, a new revolution is at hands and there is nothing your oppressors can do to stop it.

They better stalk up on the antacids. The gig is up.