U.S. Catholic Bishops Assail Parts of Health Care Plan

As more and more U.S. bishops speak out and make clear the real and permanent connection between the Catholic Church's pro-life teachings and the current health-care debate, the media spin and obfuscation from the new left-wing regime in D.C. is working to counteract their message.

That's why it's so important that you read what the bishops are saying about the linkage between the government's current health-care debacle and the pro-life teachings of the Catholic Church.

For example, check out this statement issued recently by the bishops of Kansas City, as well as this insightful commentary written by the redoubtable Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver.

And here's an interesting video to boot:

Top Ten Father Corapi Facts

A Crazy Little Thing Called "Hate"

I had figured that Michael Sean Winters' recent psychodrama in America Magazine — “The Boors Who Demean Ted Kennedy” — would have a brief shelf-life, as most such gimcrackery usually does, but I was wrong.

A related outbreak of foot-in-mouth disease has erupted on a blog written by a theologian named William D. Lindsey who, like Mr. Winters, excoriated my response to Sr. Maureen Fiedler's obit for Ted Kennedy ("He Made Me Proud to Be a Catholic"). He characterized my comments as "hating on Ted Kennedy" and being part of a wider "festival of hate."

Hate? Hate? Eh, not so much.

Upon scrutinizing Mr. Lindsey's complaints, I must say that I just don't see "hate" in the words and actions of the Catholics he attacks, such as Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, whom he accuses by name of joining in with those who are "shouting and threatening and jubilating at the thought of destruction of good people and good plans."

That kind of fatuous nonsense is reminiscent of a line from Alice in Wonderland:

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise; what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?"

Oh, yes, I do indeed. And it would appear that Mr. Lindsey inhabits a world very much like that which Alice describes.

(Thought Experiment: Read Mr. Lindsey's blog post for yourself and tell me who you think is doing all the shouting and threatening, etc., mkay? And, of course, if you'd really like to test the veracity of his accusations, why not join us in person on October 8th when we honor Archbishop Chaput for his stalwart defense of the Catholic Faith. Come meet the good archbishop in person, hear him speak, and see for yourself if he is anything even remotely like the cretin described in Mr. Lindsey's risible caricature.)

And if you wish to peruse Mr. Lindsey's fulsome fulminations regrding moi and the monks and faculty of Belmont Abbey College, simply scroll down past about 20 tedious paragraphs to the one which begins, "MIchael Sean Winters has dared . . ."

And be sure to take note of the loving terminology he uses to describe Catholics who speak up about things like, you know, abortion. Here are a few examples of the love being dished out on his blog:

"Ghouls and goblins now prancing around in the light of day, occupying center stage," "mobs," "exceptionally mean-spirited," "army of malicious fools," "maleficence," and, of course, the ever-popular epithets reserved especially for when one is speaking about pro-life men and women: "hate" and "hatred."

When one encounters such torrid rhetoric, so heavily freighted with invective, as this stuff is, you just have to wonder where all that rage is coming from. It sure isn't consonant with the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Even a theologian should be able to recognize that.

A Look at Senator Kennedy's Letter to the Pope

Portions of the personal letter which the late Senator Edward Kennedy sent to Pope Benedict XVI some months before he died have been published online.

Kennedy was, understandably, reaching out for some spiritual comfort and encouragement from the pope — something which the Holy Father duly assured him of in his letter of response. While some of the senator's comments, such as where he begs the pope to pray for him, are poignant and elicit my heartfelt sympathy, others I find somewhat . . . curious. In any case, today being the Lord's Day, I will continue to pray for the late senator in a special way, offering my Communion intention at Mass today for the repose of his soul.

Excerpts of the letter from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy that President Barack Obama delivered to Pope Benedict XVI earlier this year and an account of the pope's response, as read by Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington:

"Most Holy Father I asked President Obama to personally hand deliver this letter to you. As a man of deep faith himself, he understands how important my Roman Catholic faith is to me, and I am so deeply grateful to him. I hope this letter finds you in good health. I pray that you have all of God's blessings as you lead our church and inspire our world during these challenging times. I am writing with deep humility to ask that you pray for me as my own health declines.

"I was diagnosed with brain cancer more than a year ago and although I continue treatment, the disease is taking its toll on me. I am 77 years old and preparing for the next passage of life. I have been blessed to be part of a wonderful family and both of my parents, particularly my mother, kept our Catholic faith at the center of our lives. That gift of faith has sustained and nurtured and provides solace to me in the darkest hours. I know that I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith I have tried to right my path. I want you to know Your Holiness that in my nearly 50 years of elective office I have done my best to champion the rights of the poor and open doors of economic opportunity. I have worked to welcome the immigrant, to fight discrimination and expand access to health care and education. I have opposed the death penalty and fought to end war.

"Those are the issues that have motivated me and have been the focus of my work as a United States senator. I also want you to know that even though I am ill, I am committed to do everything I can to achieve access to health care for everyone in my country. This has been the political cause of my life. I believe in a conscience protection for Catholics in the health field and I will continue to advocate for it as my colleagues in the Senate and I work to develop an overall national health policy that guarantees health care for everyone. I have always tried to be a faithful Catholic, Your Holiness, and though I have fallen short through human failings, I have never failed to believe and respect the fundamental teachings of my faith. I continue to pray for God's blessings on you and on our church and would be most thankful for your prayers for me."

An account from the Vatican of the pope's response, according to McCarrick . . . (continue reading)

Senator Ted Kennedy Will Not Become a Mormon Any Time Soon

The late Senator Kennedy's funeral has not even taken place yet, and already someone who is either a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (a.k.a. Mormons), or someone who would simply like to embarrass them, has been making preparations to share the "restored gospel" with the senator in the afterlife. Read on, and you'll see what I mean.

One of the interesting and exotic features of the Mormon Church is its temple ritual of baptism for the dead. No, they don't baptize dead bodies. Rather, church members who possess "temple recommends" (a document which officially certifies them for up to one year as being worthy) are encouraged to visit any of the 130+ Mormon temples around the world and are themselves baptized on behalf of deceased persons, who may not have ever been Mormon in this life. (For additional info, see this Catholic Answers tract adapted from an article I wrote in 1989 about Mormonism's baptism for the dead).

Mormons sincerely believe that they can be baptized for deceased people who, the LDS Church teaches, are waiting in "spirit prison" for celestial Mormon missionaries to visit them, preach the gospel to them, and thus enable them — if the prisoner accepts the gospel message — to leave spirit prison and move upward along the path of eternal progression into the various levels of the celestial realm.

To wit, this comes from today's Salt Lake Tribune:

It's not certain whether the late Sen. Ted Kennedy would be more palatable to conservative Utah Republicans if he were a Mormon, but it appears someone tried to make that happen.

Just one day after Kennedy died, someone apparently posted his name on an LDS Church database to have him placed on the list to be posthumously baptized.

That posting was uncovered by researcher Helen Radkey, who has been critical of the church practice.

But, alas, Kennedy won't become a Mormon anytime soon. Whoever placed his name on the list was not authorized to do so, and the church's database security system put a block on it.

According to church policy, a person is not eligible to be baptized posthumously until a year after death. It also is against the policy for anyone to place someone's name on the list who is not related to that person.

The security system also is set up to catch the listing of famous people, like Ted Kennedy, who may be placed on the list as a hoax. (Source)

Some Follow-Up Comments on Yesterday's America Magazine Paroxysm

Cool Guys Don't Look at Explosions

And now for something completely different. Yesterday was a bit more hectic than usual. So here's some levity to change the pace.

The Spanish-Language Press Picks Up on the Kennedy-Fiedler-Madrid-Winters Kerfuffle

TODOS LAMENTAN SU MUERTE PERO HAY DIVISIONES POR SU APOYO AL ABORTO

Polémica en los medios católicos estadounidenses sobre la valoración de la figura de Ted Kennedy tras su muerte

La muerte del senador Ted Kennedy ha provocado la proliferación de artículos y valoraciones sobre su persona en los medios de comunicación católicos de Estados Unidos. Mientras que algunos articulistas ensalzan su figura, otros recuerdan que su constante apoyo a la legislación en favor del aborto le incapacitan para poder ser considerado como un buen católico. En ese sentido, Patrick Madrid y Fr. John Zuhlsdorf no han dudado en criticar un artículo de la Hna Maureen Fiedler en el National Catholic Reporter. . . . (continue in Spanish)

N.B.: One mistake they made (easily forgivable) is that they call me an "ex-pastor protestante," when, in fact, I am a cradle Catholic and have never been Protestant. Just for the record.

America Magazine Goes After Me for My Response to Sr. Maureen Fiedler

Well, I feel as if I've finally "arrived."

True, over the years, my name has been mentioned disparagingly a few times in the pages of America, but what appeared in its online edition today has reached a whole new level of invective (even by America's standards of invective).

I responded yesterday to Sr. Maureen Fiedler's obit piece on Senator Ted Kennedy in NCR ("He Made Me Proud to Be Catholic"), and my comments obviously hit a raw nerve among that community of disciples over at America, as evidenced by my being roundly chastised by one of their writers today.

Honestly, I don't think my remarks were in any way untoward, but clearly, that interlocutor disagrees. In just six irrate paragraphs, he manages to brand me me a "boor," a "loudmouth," "ignorant of history," "callous," "inhumane," "indecent," and "hateful" — all the while insinuating that my comments on this issue (and those of other pro-life people) are simply a "rant."

Kettle, meet Pot. Pot, meet Kettle.

Here's My Interview on Sirius/XM Radio on the Controversy at Belmont Abbey College

You can hear me interviewed every few weeks on Greg and Jennifer Willits' show, "The Catholics Next Door." I thought you might find yesterday's show of particular interest, because we got into a discussion about the current hassle that Belmont Abbey College is enduring as the result of its refusal to bend under pressure from the U.S. Government to force it to offer health-care coverage for contraception and abortion.

Keep in mind that Belmont Abbey College is a decidedly, determinedly Catholic college, and its president, Dr. Bill Thierfelder, has repeatedly made it clear that he would sooner shut down the college before the school would acquiesce to the demand to fund abortion and contraception for its employees.

Here's my interview, and here's the rest of the show's discussion, which happened after I was finished and which I find much more interesting than the interview. Click to play.

Do Not Text While Driving PSA

This is grim. But brace yourself and watch it anyway, because it might just save your life and the lives of those you love. If you have teenage children, sit down with them and make them watch this. Have them share it with their friends.

(courtesy of Colleen Hammond)

The further adventures of "Jaime Alberto Gonzales"

Although you probably know him as Fr. Marcial Maciel, "Jaime Alberto Gonzales" was allegedly one of the aliases he went by during his assignations with young Mexican women (queue to 7:00 for that). More details are available here and here, and for those who understand Spanish, these CNN videos provide fuller details, straight from a lawyer who's working this case. Start with this one:

My Response to Sr. Maureen Fiedler's Comments About Ted Kennedy's Passing

I just posted a response to Sr. Maureen Fiedler's NCR column about Ted Kennedy titled "He Made Me Proud to Be a Catholic"

Hopefully, my comment will be approved by the censors and will show up there soon. Just in case, though, I post it for you here.

Maureen, with all due respect, I can appreciate your nostalgia for the Kennedys, but I cannot understand why you would insist that Senator Edward Kennedy was a "champion of the welfare of 'the least of these'" among us. He was not.

At best, Mr. Kennedy was highly selective as to which of "the least among us" he would deign to defend. Case in point: Abortion. The senator established his record squarely on the extremist position of defending the legality of abortion.

Many are not aware that he was originally publicly pro-life (I comment on the details of his transformation from pro-life to pro-abortion here).

As a result of Ted Kennedy's indefatigable championing of the pro-abortion movement, tens of millions of the "least among us" — unborn girls and boys — were killed through abortion under his senatorial auspices.

Whatever his positive qualities may have been, and no doubt he had some, the tragic reality is that Senator Kennedy's long political career was squandered by his vociferous, relentless promotion of abortion. And that, sadly, will be his enduring legacy.

I agree with you that tears are appropriate upon hearing the news of this man's death, but not for the reasons you are crying them.

"Our goal was 3 to 5 abortions for every girl between the ages of 13 and 18"

This new documentary, "Bloodmoney," exposes in detail how the abortion industry extremists systematically "had a plan that sold abortion, and it was called 'sex education.' [We would] break down their natural modesty, separate them from their parents and values and become the sex experts in their lives so they would turn to us. When we could give them a logos birth control pill they would get pregnant on it or on a defective condom. . . ."

Draw Your Own Conclusions