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Current Events, Media

The Diocese of Toledo Heats-up

The decades old murder case against the Rev. Gerald Robinson, a 68-year-old Roman Catholic priest is finally going to be tried. The Rev. Robinson and other Toledo priests were alleged to be part of a satanic cult that sexually abused young girls as part of satanic worship rituals. The killer(s) who performed the ritualistic murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl (she was strangled, stabbed in the torso in the form of a cross, and covered with altar linens) may finally be brought to justice.

Here’s an excerpt from the story at Spero News.

The Pahl case was cold, even though Robinson had always been a prime suspect, until Vercellotti passed the victim’s letter on to the Attorney General’s office in September 2003 after having concluded that Catholic officials had been too slow to respond. Robinson has not faced any sexual abuse charges, however.

Police subsequently requested the diocese to release all documents in Robinson’s file and received three pages in return. It was only after a warrant was issued that the diocese released over 100 documents relating to the priest. According to reports, the local police came to believe that the diocese was less than forthcoming with its cooperation. A local priest and critic of the diocese, Rev. Stephen Stanberry, said that Bishop Leonard Blair had assured fellow priests in 2004 that his diocese had fully cooperated with investigators, however.

Police and diocesan officials deny any complicity in stalling the outcome of investigation into this and other cases of alleged sexual abuse and rape on the part of clerics. A gag order issued by a Lucas County judge is cited by County prosecutors and Robinson’s defense for refusing to comment further. Some observers cite the Roman Catholic Church’s influence in the Toledo region, where one in four residents is Catholic, as a reason why investigations into alleged sexual abuse might have been placed on the back burner by police.

You can read more at the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Oh, by-the-way, the Toledo Diocese, headed by Bishop Leonard Blair, is the very same that has been closing churches and condemning people for founding a PNCC Parish.

It also appears that the Rev. Robinson paid attention to the Poles of Toledo. The Ely Times and County reports that:

Robinson was the Roman Catholic chaplain at Mercy Hospital and a popular priest in this blue-collar city of about 300,000, where a quarter of the residents are Catholic. He was especially well-liked in Polish neighborhoods because he delivered some sermons and heard confessions in Polish.

…

Jack Sparagowski, a parishioner at an inner-city church where Robinson used to celebrate Mass on Easter weekend, set up a legal defense fund that raised $12,000. Some family members and supporters put their houses up to post a $400,000 bond.

“For someone to commit murder, you have to have a violent streak,” Sparagowski said. “I’ve never heard Father raise his voice or show any expression of anger. The whole thing seems so bizarre.”

It’s sad that these people, having been given so little attention over the years, and having their parishes consistently closed, form attachments to priests like this. This is one of the most common pitfalls among some ethnics. Someone shows up and says a few nice words in their language, appears to actually care about their traditions, thoughts, and feelings, and they fall for it.

One of the greatest problems is priests like that who develop cults of personality. They prey upon the weakest and most disaffected, using psychological tactics to take advantage of people, families, and children. It appears Mr. Sparagowski (point of clarification: one of the people working to form a PNCC parish in Toledo), and some of his friends, have fallen for the ploy.

Then again, isn’t that what satanism is all about —“ working to destroy the faith of believers. Build up a grand faí§ade and then take hope and love away all at once.

May our Lord and His blessed mother protect these people!

Current Events, Media,

More Easter Surprises – objectifying women is OK!

From LifeSite News:

Catholic Notre Dame to Allow Vulgar —Vagina Monologues—: Local bishop —deeply saddened— by decision by priest university president. By Gudrun Schultz

NOTRE DAME, Indiana, April 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) —“ The University of Notre Dame will continue to allow the controversial play —The Vagina Monologues— to be performed on campus, despite the plays’ explicit sexuality, obscenity and anti-Catholic content. The script contains graphic accounts of female sexual encounters, one involving the seduction of a young teenage girl by an older woman.

Holy Cross Father John I. Jenkins, university president, spoke against the play in January, saying it was antithetical to the Catholic identity of Notre Dame, and that repeat performances on campus would suggest that the university endorsed the content and message of the play.

But in a statement yesterday Fr. Jenkins granted permission for the play to continue on the grounds of academic freedom, saying, —the creative contextualization of a play like ‘The Vagina Monologues’ can bring certain perspectives on important issues into a constructive and fruitful dialogue with the Catholic tradition.—

Bishop John M. D’Arcy, whose diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend includes Notre Dame, had asked that the performances be ended. He said he was —deeply saddened by the decision.— In his statement Bishop D’Arcy referred to his February comments on the play, when he said it —reduces sexuality to a particular organ of a woman’s body separate from the person of the woman, from her soul and her spirit.—

I just do not see how a play that objectifies can be a starting point for a “…constructive and fruitful dialogue with the Catholic tradition” unless the Catholic tradition is something other than it purports to be. There is objective good and objective evil. The dignity of the whole person is the only “starting point”.

A line from Bishop D’Arcy’s statement:

I am deeply saddened by the decision of Father John Jenkins, CSC, to allow the continuing sponsorship of the Vagina Monologues by Notre Dame, the School of Our Lady.

Yes, I would imagine that our Lady is saddened as well.

Please feel free to E-mail the Congregation of the Holy Cross, of which Fr. Jenkins is a member, and the University of Notre Dame is a part, to express your feelings.

Current Events, Media,

For Easter – priests quitting, church closings, more…

Bishop Joseph Adamec of the Altoona-Johnstown, PA Roman Catholic Diocese is at it again, just in time for Easter. This time he’s forced a conservative priest out of the priesthood while protecting the Lavender Mafia.

Citing anti-gay stance, outspoken priest quits by Susan Evans of The Tribune-Democrat

LILLY —” Even after a priest sexually abused him when he was in high school, John Nesbella of Lilly came back to the church.

And when Nesbella became a priest, and his strong stance against homosexuality in the priesthood drew venomous mail from his colleagues, he kept the faith.

But now, at age 43 and after being banned for the past year from publicly performing any priestly duties, the outspoken and controversial Cambria County priest is taking off his collar.
John Nesbella has resigned from the priesthood.

—This is the end of a sad tale of how wicked so-called Catholic priests and bishops drove me and a few other priests out because we dared to speak up about the corrupt brotherhood of homosexuals in the priesthood,— he said.

Officials at the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese declined to comment on Nesbella’s resignation.

—It’s a personal decision,— diocese spokesman Rob Egan would only say.

Nesbella has been a conservative standard-bearer and a favorite of conservative lay leaders in the diocese.

In 2005, Nesbella was the second Altoona-Johnstown priest in three years to be placed on a leave of absence for protesting diocese policies.

Before him, James Foster, an outspoken Ebensburg priest who often locked horns with Bishop Joseph Adamec on the issue of homosexual priests, was placed on leave in 2003.

Nesbella was placed on leave after suing the diocese, claiming abuse by a priest who is now deceased. That lawsuit is still pending.

His resignation from the priesthood follows more than four years of turbulence in the diocese over allegations of sexual abuse of minors by gay priests.

Since the sex scandal erupted nationally in January 2002, the Altoona-Johnstown diocese has settled 13 lawsuits for $3.7 million. More than a dozen sex-abuse suits are pending.

Before that, the diocese’s single major sex-abuse scandal was the 1994 trial of since-defrocked priest Francis Luddy, who was accused of sexually abusing young boys.

But Nesbella sees homosexuality in the priesthood as more than a financial liability.

He calls it —the immoral mess we have in our church— and says he warned Bishop Adamec.

—Last year I met with him and said, ‘You’re wrecking the church,’ — Nesbella said in an interview Tuesday with The Tribune-Democrat.

…

Biretta tip to the Young Fogey who is correct. The Rev. Nesbella has a lot of discerning to do.

Bishop Adamec is also the Bishop who imposed a gag order on his priests.

Priests say bishop issues gag order by Gill Donovan

Under penalty of excommunication or suspension, a Pennsylvania bishop imposed a gag order for all his priests, forbidding them from voicing public disagreement with diocesan policy.

Speaking on condition their names not be revealed, some priests told The Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown that the gag order had been issued by their bishop, James Adamec of Altoona-Johnstown, Pa., several months ago. The diocese is located some 80 miles from Pittsburgh.

The priests said that Adamec imposed the order after priests were publicly critical about possible church closings and about the way the diocese handled a 1994 sexual abuse lawsuit.

In that suit, Adamec was criticized for paying more in attorney fees than to the victim of abuse by now-defrocked priest Francis Luddy. The diocese refused the paper’s request for comment on the gag order.

…

…and is the same Bishop who oversaw the closing of various parishes including the parish of St. John the Baptist in Northern Cambria, PA. St. John the Baptist is the parish where the Holy Altar was torn out and disposed of in a dumpster. Check out the pictures of this tragedy and the full story.

NORTHERN CAMBRIA – PENNSYLVANIA, USA Parishioners of St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church feel betrayed by what some term a desecration after the church’s nearly century-old altar was ripped out, broken apart and tossed into a Dumpster.

Diocese officials are embroiled in the consolidation of six churches into a new Prince of Peace parish with two churches, the current St. John and four other churches will be closed.

“It is desecration, not only of a holy object, but also a desecration of our feelings because this focus of the practice of our faith has been so cavalierly destroyed despite our objections,” said parishioner Monica Wadium. The Philadelphia Avenue resident traces her family membership in the church to her grandparents.

But the Rev. Gerard Connolly, who serves as parish priest at St. John, 811 Chestnut Ave., and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, defended the destruction of the altar that, one expert says, would cost $15,000 to $50,000 to replace.

Connolly said the altar stone, a sacred object was removed and put in storage before the altar, a mixture of horsehair reinforced with steel, was discarded.

The altar was to be taken to a landfill and buried. The Two devotional altars also were dismantled and discarded, Connolly said.

“What is the reason for renovating St. John?” Wadium asked. “There is no church law, or even directive, that states our altar had to be destroyed. It was an integral part of our cburch architecture and the pride and joy of our community.”

Michael Rose, author of “The Renovation Manipulation,” a book written to help congregations stop cosmetic changes, said they often are done at the whim of Catholic heirarchy and not always necessary.

“It was priceless to the community,” he said about the altar during a telephone interview from his office in Cincinnati.

“I have seen pictures of it and can tell you it was a major work of art.”

Wadium said the altar was put in when the church was built in 1903. She said the immigrant families were poverty-stricken but filled with faith and struggled to make the altar the central focal point of St. John.

Rose said he was outraged the bishop in Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese allowed the removal. He said the bishop is charged with protecting the sacred patrimony of the church, its physical heritage.

But Connolly said the altar had not been updated since Vatican II, a meeting of bishops in Rome during the mid-1960s. He said it was a necessary change.

As word started spreading in the tightly knit Catholic community about the altar’s fate, more members came forward.

More than a dozen St. John parishioners feel betrayed by Connolly and the diocesan bishop, the Most Rev. Joseph Adamec.

…

Media

Be wise as serpents and as harmless as doves

With the recent media hubbub surrounding Christian beliefs, I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on the words of Matthew 10:16:

I am sending you out as sheep among wolves; be wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. But beware of men…

The three most recent stories are:

Prayer doesn’t help (see my previous post: The Statistical Validity of Prayer)

Look, Jesus walked on ice, not water (see: Scientists offer cold-snap theory for walking on water)

The —Gospel of Judas— (see: Acadia prof in on open secret. Gospel of Judas has axe to grind and it grinds it, says Evans)

As people of faith we will be constantly challenged by naysayers and unbelievers. So we must be wise.

Wisdom does not come from offering ‘scientific’ or even factual refutation of the claims made by unbelievers. They won’t believe us anyway. We must have the wisdom that is the gift of God, wisdom to see with the eyes of faith. We must also have the weakness to acknowledge that:

If the world hate you, know ye, that it hath hated me before you. If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

If unbelievers wish, they could just call us stupid (see George Carlin’s jokes about God). But calling us stupid would make them seem rude. They need to point the finger and ‘prove’ that faith is silly.

By doing so they prove to themselves that their unbelief is well founded, they turn those whose roots are planted in rocky soil to their unbelief, and they damage the young who are being introduced to the faith thus supporting their unbelief.

We live among the wolves of the world as sheep. We are commanded to be harmless because the world can only scoff at the harmless. At the same time we must be wise and abide in the Lord’s presence as His witnesses. We must be wise enough to teach the neo-catechumens that what the world offers is not the truth; that the truth lives in the Church. That Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.

Media

The Statistical Validity of Prayer

Statistics are valid to the extent that they measure something measurable.

Case in point is today’s report, which the media is trumping up to say, as today’s headlines say: Prayer does not heal the sick, study finds

Of course those perusing the headline will draw their conclusions from the headline itself. That’s because we assume science can provide all the answers. Certainly, good science can provide a lot of answers. However, bad science and badly designed studies prove nothing.

To wit, those who read the story will see that the study’s authors report that their study proved nothing (except for the fact that they have some money in their pocket):

But the study “did not move us forward or backward” in understanding the effects of prayer, admitted Dr Charles Bethea, one of the co-authors and a cardiologist at the Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City. “Intercessory prayer under our restricted format had a neutral effect,” he said.

From a real simplistic perspective: Were all patients in the study groups equally sick with equal pre-existing lifestyles and habits? Was the prayer genuine? Does God answer prayers to meet our will or to bring about His own will? Hmmmm… gets fuzzier.

If I create a room in which an absolute temperature of zero Celsius is maintained, and I put a glass of pure water in it, it will freeze. I can control the room, the temperature, the water, and all the conditions of the study. As studies become less defined, with fewer and fewer controlled inputs, as this one is, the results become merely speculative.

God is God and faith in Him is our privilege. I continue to pray.

That the Deity is incomprehensible, and that we ought not to pry into and meddle with the things which have not been delivered to us by the holy Prophets, and Apostles, and Evangelists.

No one hath seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. The Deity, therefore, is ineffable and incomprehensible. For no one knoweth the Father, save the Son, nor the Son, save the Father. And the Holy Spirit, too, so knows the things of God as the spirit of the man knows the things that are in him. Moreover, after the first and blessed nature no one, not of men only, but even of supramundane powers, and the Cherubim, I say, and Seraphim themselves, has ever known God, save he to whom He revealed Himself.

God, however, did not leave us in absolute ignorance. For the knowledge of God’s existence has been implanted by Him in all by nature. This creation, too, and its maintenance, and its government, proclaim the majesty of the Divine nature. Moreover, by the Law and the Prophets in former times and afterwards by His Only-begotten Son, our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, He disclosed to us the knowledge of Himself as that was possible for us. All things, therefore, that have been delivered to us by Law and Prophets and Apostles and Evangelists we receive, and know, and honour, seeking for nothing beyond these. For God, being good, is the cause of all good, subject neither to envy nor to any passion. For envy is far removed from the Divine nature, which is both passionless and only good. As knowing all things, therefore, and providing for what is profitable for each, He revealed that which it was to our profit to know; but what we were unable to bear He kept secret. With these things let us be satisfied, and let us abide by them, not removing everlasting boundaries, nor overpassing the divine tradition.

An Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, John of Damascus, Book I, Chapter I

Media

Borders bans newspaper

The Buffalo News ran a story today on the local Borders Books and Music outlets and their refusal to carry a community newspaper. See: Borders bans local magazine. The flap is over that newspaper’s reprinting of the famous Danish cartoons. Here’s the key reason:

A Borders spokeswoman said the company declined to sell the Amherst-based publication this month out of concern for the safety of employees and customers.

I’m just wondering if Borders peruses all the publications it carries to assure that they do not offend anyone’s sensibilities. I imagine that Borders carries the Satanic Verses. As a matter of fact they do —“ in hardcover and paperback. I’m also pretty sure that the Western New York Border’s outlets carry a lot of stuff Christians, Jews, and others might find offensive.

If they decide to be sensitive to all I think their business model will collapse.

Then again, when you’re working from a perspective of fear, anything is allowable. Just remember, unless you’re a dhimmi anything you say and do is offensive.

Media

Church of Mandisa

Check out the post at blogs4God about Mandisa Hundley and the poor reception her performance on American Idol received last night.

Last night Mandisa sang a Christian themed top 40 song, the Mary Mary hit Shackles (Praise You). I haven’t watched American Idol, but my wife got going on it this season and … I’ve gotten pulled in.

Mandisa is a Christian and a Gospel singer. She has a fantastic voice and a presence as a performer that is just great. I hope she wins.

The interesting thing, from my perspective, is the commentary by Paula Abdul and host Ryan Seacrest. They kept bringing up the term (meant to be a positive) the ‘Church of Mandisa’

Well, what did anyone expect from these Hollywood types? The show is called ‘American Idol’. It’s all about the idolization of a person; their looks, the way they fit the media paradigm. Saying the ‘Church of Mandisa’ is their backhanded attempt at saying hey Mandisa, you’re cool, just like us. If they had said: ‘Mandisa, God gave you a wonderful gift’ the earth would have split open.

Frankly, shows like American Idol, that focus on the cult of personality, build more than churches. They build basilicas to the self.

Current Events, Media, Political

Getting closed out on adoption?

There is an interesting article in the Buffalo News today regarding the Roman Catholic Church and adoption services.

Buffalo has two venerable institutions that have provided adoption services forever, Catholic Charities and the Father Baker Homes (Baker-Victory). Just an aside, Baker-Victory was founded by Fr. Nelson Baker who has been declared venerable by the Holy See.

As you may know, the states provide some funding for adoption services and the process of adoption has changed over the years. Catholic groups who wish to provide adoption services, with government funding, must abide by state guidelines, including “non-discrimination” provisions that require them to provide adoption services to homosexuals.

The Church has clearly stated that allowing homosexuals to adopt would be “gravely immoral” and “would actually mean doing violence to these children.”

I agree.

Part of the duty of the Church is to look after and defend those who cannot speak for themselves (children, the poor, the elderly, and the unborn). It must also hold society accountable for what is right and proper according to natural law and God’s plan for humanity.

The real key is whether the Church’s cozy relationship with government must end.

Catholic institutions generally provide a better level of service and as the article states, are professional at their job. As in the business world, Catholic organizations who provide quality and professional services will make out better than organizations that do the job poorly or simply rely on a token infusions of money from the government. These institutions can well stand on their own, provide services legally, and not kowtow to immoral government regulations.

Some pertinent parts of the article Catholic agencies face dilemma are as follows:

Vatican stance against allowing same-sex couples to adopt children conflicts with state anti-bias law

A 3-year-old Vatican document that condemns the adoption of children by gay couples appears to put some area Catholic human service agencies at odds with state anti-discrimination laws.

The document characterizes the adoption of children by same-sex couples as “gravely immoral.”

Some states, including New York, prohibit discrimination against gay couples trying to adopt children.

Catholic Charities of Boston already decided to pull out of adoption services because it was unable to reconcile church teaching with Massachusetts law.

In this area, two Catholic agencies – Catholic Charities of Buffalo and Baker Victory Services in Lackawanna – appear to face the same dilemma.

“This is one of our seminal services. We’ve been doing it since we started,” said Dennis C. Walczyk, chief executive officer of Catholic Charities of Buffalo. “If it ever came to that point with us as it had in Boston, my hope would be that there could be a reconciliation between the teachings of the church and the regulations that govern adoption.”

State law now bans Catholic agencies providing foster care adoption services from discriminating against same-sex couples, adoption and legal experts say.

State law is a law. It is not the Law. What we should be seeking is not a ‘reconciliation of teachings’ but rather an acknowledgment by the State that the Church not be coerced.

All Catholic human service agencies comply with state adoption regulations, and no statewide policy on same-sex adoptions has been discussed, said Dennis Poust, spokesman for the New York State Catholic Conference, the church’s lobbying arm in Albany.

But exceptions should be made, he said.

“We certainly feel the church ought to be exempt from any requirement to place children in same-sex households,” he explained.

Bishop Edward U. Kmiec of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has not commented publicly on the decision in the Archdiocese of Boston or its effect here.

Through diocesan spokesman Kevin A. Keenan, Kmiec said Catholic Charities fully complies with state guidelines on adoptions.

The adoption program, Keenan added, may be reviewed at some point.

Now?

…

“We’re not in a position to question their belief systems, but they would have to comply with the laws and regulations that the county requires,” said Pat Dietrich, adoption supervisor for the county Social Services Department. “By law, we can’t differentiate between a same-sex couple and a heterosexual couple.”

A policy prohibiting same-sex foster care adoptions “would be contrary to the law,” said Rudy Estrada, a lawyer with Lambda Legal, a national organization that handles gay and lesbian civil rights litigation.

Estrada said he wasn’t aware of any such policies at Catholic agencies in this state.

No Mr. Estrada, a law, not the Law.

Agencies lack official policies

The heads of Catholic Charities of Buffalo and Baker-Victory Services, nonetheless, expressed concerns about the fate of their foster care adoption programs, funded in part with state contract money and, therefore, subject to anti-discrimination laws.

…

“So far, this has not been an issue with us,” said James Casion, chief executive officer of Baker Victory Services. “We don’t currently have a policy [on same-sex adoptions]. It’s not come up. I guess we hadn’t really thought about it. . . . If the bishop makes a proclamation about it, it will be law then. Whatever the bishop says will be the position.”

Catholic Charities also does not have a policy on same-sex adoptions.

Casion noted that the state has made religious exemptions in other cases, and he was optimistic that a resolution could be reached.

“They don’t require that we provide birth control for people who ask us,” Casion said. “They’ve allowed us to maintain a particular posture as long as the clients’ needs are met.”

Actually, the states are trying to require Catholic institutions to provide “emergency contraception” and are reaching well above and beyond in forcing certain issues onto faith based organizations. All in the name of money.

Some professionals in the adoption field expressed concern that the Vatican teaching could lead other Catholic agencies to drop high-quality adoption programs.

“I hope that this doesn’t start some kind of sweep throughout the country,” said Judith O’Mara, director of adoption and foster care at Baker Victory Services.

Erie County handles most of its foster care adoptions in-house and contracts with several agencies for the rest.

Losing the services of Catholic Charities and Baker Victory Services “would certainly be difficult for us,” Dietrich said.

“They’re both fine agencies, and they’ve both been involved in adoption programs for many years.”

Ms. O’Mara is wrong. It should sweep through this country as fast as possible. I hope she understands that she needs to have the children’s best interests at heart. Placing a child in a, dysfunctional at its core, homosexual home is not in their best interest.

I love it when people who get their take home pay from a Catholic institution begin this process of questioning the beliefs of their employer. Suddenly they realize that unlike other employers, the bottom line is different. It’s eternal.

Current Events, Media

Someone left the door open… The malfeasants are taking over

94 Year Old Jesuit Priest Commanded to Stop Saying Traditional Latin Mass!

From the St. Joseph’s News Service:

Santa Clara, California: Shocking information was revealed today, that a 94 year old Jesuit Priest who is retired to the Sacred Heart Jesuit Retirement Facility in Los Gatos, California, has been “commanded” by his immediate superior, Rev. John Martin, to stop saying the Traditional Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at a small private chapel in Santa Clara, California.

Father Phillip Bourret, S.J., a retired Jesuit Missionary to China has, in recent years, returned to the practice of saying the Immemorial Mass. This was the Mass for which he was ordained nearly 70 years ago. He remains a hard working priest in the service of Our Blessed Savior, and though retired, continues to minister to souls wherever and whenever he is needed.

A small independent chapel, which is used by retired priests to provide the Holy Mass, welcomed Father Bourret to celebrate his private Mass in their chapel once a week on Tuesdays. He had started devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (A Traditional Devotion of the once orthodox Jesuit Order) with Mass and Novena as a simple way of providing for the spiritual needs of a few individuals who were fortunate enough to attend his Mass.

…

Father John Martin had the unmitigated audacity not only to command the old priest to stop saying the TLM but applied the sanction that he would be SUSPENDED if he disobeyed the perverse command.

You can contact Fr. Martin here:

Sacred Heart Jesuit Center
Rev. John Martin, SJ
300 College Ave.
Los Gatos, CA 95030
Phone 408-884-1756

Or better yet, E-mail the Provincial Office.

Ban of Easter Bunny draws unwanted attention to St. Paul

From the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Easter Bunny’s gigantic ears must be burning now that he’s gotten the boot from St. Paul’s City Hall.

The story of the bunny’s eviction from the lobby of the City Council offices is the talk of the town on public airwaves, in skyways and on Web sites throughout the country. Even Fox’s Bill O’Reilly asked about it.

Those who agreed with the decision to pull “Happy Easter” messages kept a relatively low profile; several city employees who applauded the move asked to remain unidentified.

…

The items included a cloth rabbit and pastel-colored eggs bearing the “Happy Easter” message. They belonged to one of the council secretaries and were not bought with city money. The secretary has also put up decorations inside the City Council lobby to celebrate fall, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day for at least a decade.

“My issue was not about the rabbit or the egg, it was the sign on the door that said, ‘Happy Easter,’ ” Terrill said Thursday. “We talk about diversity, respect, inclusion. When you put that on the front door of a government office, it could be offensive to someone who’s a Muslim, a Jew, an atheist, what have you. That’s my job to bring it to someone’s attention.”

…

“As much as I believe in the separation of church and state, I think it’s an overreaction,” Thune said. “This makes everyone look foolish, to ban the bunny.”

He said producers for “The O’Reilly Factor” called to inquire.

Lantry said her decision was not about “being politically correct” but that government shouldn’t advance the cause of religion with Easter signs.

Note to self, find the church of the happy-slappy Easter Bunny so I can attend the early morning chocolate bunny and egg liturgy.

The City can happily go about its business of removing ridiculous decorations any time it likes, with my blessing. As a matter of fact, thank you! Let’s end the commercialization of the most sacred day of the year.

Second note to self, remember to be insulted by anyone who finds my beliefs insulting, most especially Muslims who feel so insulted they have to pronounce death sentences on Christians.

San Francisco City Government Calls Catholics ‘Hateful, Discriminatory, Insulting, Ignorant’

From LifeSiteNews:

Top Cardinal is “decidedly unqualified”, says resolution
By John-Henry Westen

SAN FRANCISCO, March 22, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In one of the most startling attacks on the Catholic Church coming from a governmental body in the United States in half a century, the governing body of the city of San Francisco – the Board of Supervisors – voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a non-binding resolution blasting the Catholic Church for its opposition to homosexual adoption…

Uh, remember that separation of Church and State thingy? And you are interfering in and commenting on Church matters because…? Oh yes, that’s it, political hypocrisy.

Current Events, Media

A church closes – more is lost

The following is an excerpt from East Bay Newspapers on the closing of St. Casimir’s Parish in Warren, Rhode Island.

St. Casimir’s Church closure still pains Warren parishioners

Tough void to fill

A small community is what brought former St. Casimir parishioner Barbara Godek to St. Thomas the Apostle Church. But it also took her time to find a new parish, and the warmth of the church she spent 45 years of her life at was one of the many things she lost when it closed its doors late last year.

“Finding a church, it’s like buying a pair of shoes. You try on a few but they just don’t seem to fit,” Ms. Godek said.

Another thing lost was the Divine Mercy Novena Sunday group that consisted of nearly a dozen Rosary women —” Ms. Godek’s fondest memory. But the group is inactive in other church’s and she finds no place puts as much emphasis on prayer as St. Casimir’s once did.

“We didn’t mind praying hours after hours for different things and different people. You don’t get that at other churches,” Ms. Godek said.

Members of the church’s Rosary Society were close. They met the Sunday after Easter for the Divine Mercy Novena, which celebrates a picture of Christ said to spawn miracles. People in Poland placed the photo in their homes during wars in hopes of sparing their family from bombings.

The Rosary Society, the feasts, the Polish music, the smiles, the prayers and the sermons remain simple memories.

“It’s sad and it was a very difficult thing,” Ms. Godek said. “We lost so much at one time that it was hard to cope with —” we’re like Moses in the desert.”

The simple faith of these people has been injured. Not only that, a community that practiced intercessory prayer is gone. It certainly won’t be reconstituted in the mega parishes with their focus on the bottom line. Yes, Ms. Godek, much has been lost. It’s just sad, discouraging…

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe (in me) to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

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