A Catholic petition is circulating, asking Pope Francis to tell Barack Obama and Congress to defend Marriage, Life, the free exercise of religion and the poor (from the damaging policies based on “man-made climate change theory.”)
This petition also brings up several additional important points that we highlighted in red.
Your Holiness,
We are under attack by powerful organizations and politicians in the United States of America. Organizations and politicians who have distorted in public the true meanings of Marriage, Life and Freedom of Religion.
We humbly ask that when you visit President Obama on September 23, 2015 and address the U.S. Congress on September 24, 2015 that you implore each to:
Uphold and recodify in law, Marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
Defend the Life of the unborn child from death and dismemberment, sale of his/her body parts, defend all persons from “legalized” euthanasia and rescue our Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Yazidi brothers and sisters from the horrors of ISIS.
Uphold and recodify in law, the Free Exercise of Religion for their citizens.
Defend the Poor from damaging policies based on “man-made climate change theory” that for a decade, have raised the costs on products from automobiles to food to washing machines. These policies have put more products and services even further out of reach of the Poor. These same policies also have made it more difficult or impossible for many who have a higher income to be charitable to the Poor.
Your Holiness, our president and our politicians,(many of them dissenting Catholics on Marriage, Life and the Free Exercise of Religion) need to hear you on these moral issues. Catholics in the United States need and want to hear you and many non-Catholic Christians in the U.S. want to hear you on these issues.
We pray you will address these issues and that this message finds you well and in good health.
Rusty Reno has a fine essay over at First Things addressing the Kim Davis matter. I differ, however, with one paragraph therein. Reno writes: When the Supreme Court issued its decree, American civil law ceased to define marriage and instead became a law of civil unions, with the word “marriage” now having no real meaning. With that sort of reasoning, I might be able to wiggle my way toward signing licenses that say “marriage” but really mean “civil union.”
I wish the Supreme Court had only enshrined same-sex civil unions in law; such a ruling we might have lived with. But that is not what the Court did. Instead five justices imposed on marriage (true marriage, natural marriage, traditional marriage, whatever pleonastic phrase one wishes to use) the lie that marriage includes the union of two persons of the same sex. This judicially imposed lie is not a ‘little white…
Posted onOctober 21, 2014|Comments Off on Alinskyian agitators stir discontent in Ferguson, Missouri
“…the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) has given MCU the following national grants: $25,000 (2007-2008); $30,000 (2008-2009); $30,000 (2009-2010); $40,000 (2010-2011); $45,000 (2011-2012); $55,000 (2012-2013).”
By Stephanie Block
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Rev. Tracey Blackman, speaking on “webinar video” (below) about the Gamaliel Foundations’s activism in Ferguson,[i] said that the Gamaliel-involved clergy must be “protectors of the narrative” and that they would be the ones to tell what really happened in Ferguson.
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In an era when media regularly “shape” the news for their own political ends, we understand what Rev. Blackman means by a “narrative.” The facts – that a young Missouri man, Michael Brown, was shot and killed by a policeman or that “communities of color” suffer disenfranchizement, disproportionate unemployment, and substandard education – are rarely presented in unadorned form. They are “embroidered” with unsubstantiated claims. One hears from one source that “Michael Brown was weaponless and unresisting” and from another that “Michael Brown had gunpowder on his hands.” Eyewitnesses say he was shot despite having his hands in the air; eyewitness say he didn’t have his hands in the air.
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Gamaliel wants to be sure that its “narrative” is the one broadcast across the country – that Michael Brown was a victim of police brutality and a racist system that targets young black men. This narrative counters another that would dismiss Michael Brown’s neighborhood as violent, crime-riddled, disrespectful of the law, and trying to blame the police for its problems.
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In between these two “narratives” sits a frightened, long-suffering community with far more of its share of problems than anyone deserves.
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In true Alinskyian fashion, the Gamaliel Foundation is “rubbing raw the sores of discontent” to further its own ends. On the webinar, Rev. Blackman says that violence not coming from the men of Michael Brown’s neighborhood but from outsiders. That’s an important point to her – an example, she says, of what she means by “controlling the narrative.”
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Organizing the people of Michael Brown’s neighborhood for non-violent protest is also coming from “outsiders,” however. The Gamaliel local in St. Louis, Metropolitan Congeregations United (MCU), staged a Call to Action – an “organized resistence” of people joining “those already standing in Ferguson” – during October 10-13, calling it a “Weekend of Resistence.”
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People from around the country were asked to travel to Ferguson for an October 10 training in nonviolent resistence, in preparation for a march the following day. Gamaliel’s National Campaign Director wrote after the event that: “Luminaries, old guard civil rights leaders, and out-of-state activists poured into St. Louis for the Mass Mobilization on Oct 11-13, wanting to participate in, or organize, what they may be deem to be the latest incarnation of the civil rights movement.”[ii]
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Sunday, October 12 was designated as “Hands Up Sabbath.” The clergy of “faith communities” were asked to address speak about the issues of police brutality and racism, using materials specially prepared by a coalition of groups that include another Alinskyian organzing network, PICO. The “Hands Up Sabbath Toolkit” contains “reflections” and prayers for congregational use, such as a liberationist “Prayer Patterned after the Lord’s Prayer” with the stunningly twisted and telling petition: “May our will be done on earth and in heaven and in the church in the United States.” [emphasis added.][iii]
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Then, on Monday, Gamaliel called for clergy-led civil disobedience, with the plan being that many would go to jail, presumably gaining national media coverage by the act.
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Lastly, protestors encouraged the signing of a national petition directed at local county executive candidates. [iv] MCU’s – and Gamaliel’s – demands are that, whoever wins the election, will “within 30 days of taking office… hold a summit for the 90+ mayors of St. Louis County municipalities and all heads of law enforcement divisions. MCU wants the summit to focus on commitments from each mayor and police chief to implement community policing procedures, reform excessive traffic fines and abolishing the unjust debtor prison system, so that traffic violators, especially those of low income, are not being exploited to boost city coffers.”[v]
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Debtor prison? Boost city coffers? Really?
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Gamaliel rhetoric is inflammatory and rousing. One speaker on the webinar called the shooting of Michael Brown an act of genocide and that “Jesus was martryed in same manner as a lot of our black men… we have churches that are ready to get out there on the front line but other churches are ready to retreat and close their doors…as an organizer, I have to navigate that tension between those that are ready to be there.”
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Another, Rev. John Welch, chair of Gamaliel’s board of directors, said in response to a pointed question that it was not the role of clergy to be “peacemakers” but “developers of disturbance.”
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Is this a “narrative” that best serves a beleagured people or is there, perhaps, still another, yet to be explored? Is there “good news” that clergy might carry, petitioning God’s will rather than Gamaliel’s? Are there ways to help hurting people that don’t perpetuate structures of injustice?
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If Gamaliel were a purely secular political organization, such questions would make no sense. As an organization with clergy among its leadership and that is funded by religious institutions,[vi] these questions are not merely reasonable – they are long overdue.
[iv] Gamaliel petition, “After Ferguson, We Must Change Police and Court Practices in St. Louis County, To: County Executive Candidates Rick Stream and Steve Stenger:”
[v] Laura Barrett, “A Generational Divide Between Organizers in Ferguson,” Rooflines (Shelterforce blog), 10-15-14.
[vi] To give an example, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development has given MCU the following national grants: $25,000 (2007-2008); $30,000 (2008-2009); $30,000 (2009-2010); $40,000 (2010-2011); $45,000 (2011-2012); $55,000 (2012-2013).
Mary Landrieu’s ObamaCare Mistake Hurts Catholics and Louisianans.
The ad factually states how Mary Landrieu voted for ObamaCare and that it took away health plans, that she voted to block a resolution that she knew would have let you keep your health plan if you liked it and then features an audio clip of Landrieu affirming her support of ObamaCare even after all of these things became widely known. The ad wraps up with a request to call Mary Landrieu and ask her to change her position on ObamaCare.
Though the ad’s intent is to engage people to get Senator Landrieu to change her position on ObamaCare, it proves how damaging Landrieu’s continued support of this bad law has been to millions in the United States. She certainly should lose her seat in the U.S. Senate for deliberately hurting so many people with this law.
EWTN and many others have taken a courageous stand to defend our Religious Freedoms. Below is a statement from EWTN’s Chairman Michael Warsaw concerning their situation. Their fight is not over:
Dear Friend of EWTN,
As we prepare to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence and celebrate the founding of our nation on July 4th, we celebrate freedom!
In their monumental document, the founders declared an independent nation, throwing off the tyrannical rule that failed to recognize that governments should receive “their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
This restriction of individual freedoms is not just a history lesson, but a reality for American Catholics and others who object to the immoral and overreaching HHS Mandate. The HHS Mandate demands that contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortion-inducing drugs be provided for by all employers, including those who object to these life-denying practices.
Though we celebrate liberty this July 4th, EWTN and many other organizations are in an on-going effort to fight for the freedom to act according to our consciences. On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Hobby Lobby and similar for-profit employers cannot be forced to comply with the federal contraception mandate against their religious beliefs. While we rejoice in this victory we know that the fight for EWTN and others goes on.
We are also gratified that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta granted EWTN an injunction preventing the federal government from enforcing the mandate against the Network while we pursue our appeal before the courts. What does this mean for EWTN? It means that — for the present — we will not be required to pay penalties, up to $35,000 per day, for refusing to comply with the HHS Mandate. This is not a total victory, as we still have not been granted an exemption, only temporary relief. It is, however, certainly a significant step in the right direction!
As we stand for the rights of free citizens, protected by our constitution and endowed by our Creator, we must resist the indifference of the wider culture. We must be steadfast in prayer and hope! When we fight for freedom, we honor the many Americans who have served and died for the cause of liberty.
First and foremost, we must pray regularly that God might bless our efforts and give each of us the courage to stand for truth in the public square.
Second, we should not be afraid to speak openly about our opposition to the HHS Mandate.
Third, we should invite others to stand with us. EWTN and others may be the target of this restriction of freedoms today, but a dangerous precedent is being set to arbitrarily limit the liberty of others.
Finally, we can offer our support to the many individuals and organizations who are on the front lines of this debate, entrenched in court cases around the country.
As EWTN continues to stand firm in our conviction that we should not and cannot be forced by our government to violate our consciences, I thank you for your unwavering support. We have felt the power of your prayers; we have heard your voice added to ours! This 4th of July, please continue to help in this important battle, both through your prayers and your financial support…
Let us recognize, as our founding fathers did, that the right to follow one’s conscience is a foundational principle of a nation free from despotism and tyranny and that these rights come not from the government of man but from the hand of a loving God!
May God Bless You and our country!
Michael P. Warsaw, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Fr. Kenneth Walker, FSSP, was murdered on June 11, 2014 at the Rectory of Mater Misericordiae Parish in Phoenix, Arizona, where he served as assistant priest. Fr. Joseph Terra was also critically injured in the assault.
Fr. Walker comes from a large family. So, the travel expenses will be a great financial burden on them.
Click HERE to make a contribution to Fr. Walker’s funeral expenses fund.
We pray that God, the Creator and Redeemer will grant eternal rest to Fr. Walker, consolation to his family, consolation and recovery to Fr. Terra and consolation to the priests and parishioners of The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.
Friends, below is a petition letter to Pope Francis that we hope you will sign. We believe it is important that the Holy Father hear from his flock in America about our concerns as Catholic lay persons especially in grave matters.
Your Holiness,
President Obama is trying to force Catholic groups in the U.S. such as the ‘Little Sisters of the Poor’ to abandon their Catholic conscience and pay for services inconsistent with life and Catholic Church teaching.
President Obama is doing this through his unjust law popularly known by him as ‘ObamaCare’ and one of its directives known as the ‘HHS mandate.’
When President Obama meets with you on March 27, 2014, I humbly ask in the spirit of Matthew’s Gospel that you admonish him for his persecution of Catholic persons, businesses and others of good will who are suffering under his unjust law.
Also, in solidarity with my Middle Eastern Christian brothers and sisters and others of good will, I ask that you admonish President Obama for his support of their political persecutors.
Posted onJanuary 25, 2014|Comments Off on Pope Francis didn’t call capitalism “unfettered” or “a new tyranny:” it was created by a journalist
It wasn’t Pope Francis who called capitalism “unfettered” or “a new tyranny.” It was Reuters journalist Naomi O’Leary. Miss O’Leary induced this creation into the opening line of her November 26, 2013 story about Evangelii Gaudium.
Pope Francis did not write the word ‘capitalism’ nor did he call capitalism “a new tyranny” in his November 24, 2013 apostolic exhortation titled, Evangelii Gaudium. He actually calls ideologies and the oppression of persons they cause “a new tyranny.”
A PDF word search of Evangelii Gaudium reveals that the word capitalism isn’t even in the document. American media reports have said, “Pope Francis attacked unfettered capitalism as a new tyranny.” The Pope references tyranny but, what he calls “a new tyranny”are the resulting oppressions of what he calls“ideologies,” not capitalism. Therefore, the often repeated media line mentioned above does not exist in fact or by inference in Evangelii Gaudium as reported. Actually, the line was the creation of Reuters journalist, Naomi O’Leary on November 26, 2013.
Below is the excerpt from Evangelii Gaudium where the Pope uses the term “a new tyranny.” The words in red help to explain what the Pope means by tyranny (the use of quotations, parenthesis and bolding of words below is ours.):
56. While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the “gap”separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. This “imbalance” is the result of “ideologies” which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently, “they” (the ideologies) reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control. “A new tyranny” is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules. Debt and the accumulation of interest also make it difficult for countries to realize the potential of their own economies and keep citizens from enjoying their real purchasing power. To all this we can add widespread corruption and self-serving tax evasion, which have taken on worldwide dimensions. The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits. In this system, which tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits, whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a deified market, which become the only rule.
Note: Above, “(the ideologies)” was inserted by the writer of this article to define what is meant by “they.”
After reading the above excerpt with assisting quotations, parenthesis and bolding, it demonstrates that the “gap” separating persons from prosperity is the “imbalance” caused by the “ideologies” that “they” (the ideologies) create; “a new tyranny” (an ideology that even rejects the fair and just regulation of the marketplace so it can continue to oppress persons with its unjust laws and rules.) So again, what is really meant by “a new tyranny” is ideologies and the oppression of persons they cause… Read the rest of this article from Catholics for America and share it by Clicking HERE.
Posted onDecember 18, 2013|Comments Off on Egyptian Catholic Bishop counters 10 myths about the revolution, Muslim Brotherhood, Christian persecution and more
The following excerpt is from a story published by ‘Aid to the Church in Need.’ ‘Aid to the Church in Need’ is a Catholic charity helping Christians who suffer persecution worldwide:
Think Again: 10 Myths about Egypt’s Second Revolution
During a recent visit to the EU in Brussels, organised by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, the (Egyptian) Coptic-Catholic Bishop of Assiut, Kyrillos William Samaan (pictured above left) delivered the following report: “Think Again: 10 Myths about Egypt’s Second Revolution”.
In this document the Bishop responds to the more common queries about what is the nature of the situation in Egypt and what is reasonable to expect. These are responses he offered to EU policy-makers during the 17-19 September meeting and all remain relevant. The bishop referred to these questions as “myths” because of their power in the imagination of the people he met, and tries to dispel these myths at every opportunity. “We have to give the Egyptian constitution and the Egyptian people the chance they have been fighting for”, he said.
1. The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) represent the majority of Egyptians. In Europe we have Christian Democrats – are not the Muslim Brotherhood ‘Muslim Democrats’?
No. The MB, in its political party form, obtained only 12 (million) out of a possible 50 million votes in the elections of 2011. Their rate of support fell sharply to as little as 5% when the Morsi government eliminated a pluralist Parliament and replaced it with one in which they were the absolute majority, was stopped short from replacing 3500 judges by people they knew would uphold Sharia law over the existing more secular laws, and declared illegal the work of foreign-funded pro-democracy and human rights NGOs. The MB, however, has an important detachment of press officers abroad still propagating a message of massive support with little or no bearing on reality in Egypt. The above short list of exactions bears no comparison to any form of Christian Democracy as known in the West.
2. There are massive, peaceful pro-Morsi demonstrations still taking place and being suppressed.
They are an illusion fueled by the lack of presence of foreign correspondents outside Cairo. A few hundred supporters still gather intermittently but they have worked with broadcast media owned by well-known Sunni Sheiks, even using images of the anti-Morsi demonstrations labeling them as pro-Morsi. The demonstrations are not peaceful. Extremists have attacked police stations with rocket-propelled grenades (Kerdasa, Aswan, Menya) killing many policemen. Many MB members are on camera threatening Christians of genocide and raising Al-Qaeda flags in the sit-in areas. Dr. Morsi himself is recorded on video calling the Shia “filth worth only of extermination”. Protestors have also paid families to resist the calls of the police to clear the area or face being expelled.
3. There was a coup and there is now a military government.
It was not a coup, but the military supporting the will of 33+ million Egyptians demonstrating in the streets under the slogan “Food, Freedom, Social Justice and Human Dignity”.
The MB international spokespeople have insisted on isolating two events as if they were disconnected: the elections that brought Morsi to power and his removal from office. There is little mention of what happened in between: the dissolution of the nascent democratic structures such as the pluralist Parliament in favor of the Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly and the single-handed appointment of 13 MB regional leaders (out of 27). The interim government is not military. It is a civilian government and the army has no intention of taking up power. In February 2011, when Mubarak listened to the people and stood down, he surrendered the government to a military council who proceeded to organize elections and a civilian government was installed. The lesson learnt then is replicated now and the interim government is promising to have a new full government in 9 months, shorter again than the previous transfer of 15 months following Mubarak.
4. The Tamarod was organized by the military and pressured citizens to sign the petition.
No.Tamarod is a youth movement, which started in May 2013 and the timeline of events demonstrates that the collection of the 22 million signatures (with full identification) started well before the army decided to ask Morsi to listen to the people. The Tamarod set a 30 June deadline for Dr. Morsi to respond to the demands, which included calling for early presidential elections.
5. Egypt had bad elections and a bad Constitution. There is no sign this time that things will be better.
Yes and No. Yes, the elections could have been better; Morsi came to power with 12 million votes in an election with approximately 43% turnout of the 50 million registered voters. Moreover, the multiple claims of fraud taking place outside Cairo had no electoral tribunal for recourse (pre-filled ballots, repeated voter names, etc.). Elections can only be improved with a truly independent electoral body and tribunal. In addition, a controversial move of the MB was to first hold the presidential elections and only afterward address the Constitution. This effectively prevented the majority of Egyptians, not members of the winning political party, to participate in the Constitutional process. Lessons have been learnt. The new Constitution is now being drafted before elections, the Committee has a clear deadline in November, and it includes 50 Egyptians from all backgrounds, including Salafists and one former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, committed to “the creation of a constitutional Nation State, democratic and modern, founded upon a text approved by the nation supporting the separation of powers. Its current Article 3 defines “citizenship as the sole criterion of responsibility within society” (Source: interview of Mahmoud Azab, counselor for Dialogue to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University, La Croix 16sept2013).
6. There are waves of arrests against the MB; news media are being harassed.
Most MB members are free to live and participate fully in civil society. Judiciary mandates have been issued against individuals who have incited hatred and violence: committing murder (such as those caught on camera throwing youngsters off a roof in Alexandria), as well as perpetrating acts of violence against Egyptians, victimizing not only Christians but also the majority of Muslims. At the same time, the sources of funding used to buy weapons and explosives are also being investigated – and many lead to the MB.This is the origin of the order to banish the MB’s activities, as the investigation continues. The MB is constituted of several operating arms: political party, NGO, social services providers, etc. making the investigation difficult. As to the alleged media harassment, the broadcasting and social media units that were closed (seen abroad as news media), are rarely more than the medium of expression of well-known foreign Sheiks financing their own objectives. Al-Jazeera is Qatar-funded, largely like the MB, and in Egypt Al-Jazeera has never pretended to be impartial. Most of these broadcasters have little to do with what the West considers as free and responsible media, necessary to a democratic society. (These are facts and are proved with relative ease). Meanwhile, language barriers also play an important part in the misunderstanding abroad of what goes on in Egypt. Multiplying information sources is still the only way to overcome this challenge.
To read the rest of the story including myths 7, 8, 9 and 10 by Bishop Kyrillos click here.
