An interesting analysis of Pennsylvania’s political geography from the Daily Kos PA-Sen and Gov: Western PA
Actually the full title should be the rest of PA outside Metropolitan Philadelphia. But mostly I’m writing about Western PA. Which is generally important in PA politics and maybe even more so in the Governor’s race in 2010.
…
There some small steel cities in the valleys and a few small towns and then there are a lot of rural areas. The valleys flood. Johnstown, in Cambria county would be the most famous example. It didn’t just flood in 1889, it also flooded several other times including 1936. This is the reason for the tax at Pennsylvania state stores. Western PA is still very much an ethnic Catholic area. My mother remembers that after Vatican II, the churches went from Latin to Polish, Croat, Slovak, Romanian and Czech. No one under 50 could understand the mass. The French and Indian war is the major source of historical tourism. Steel and Coal mining used to be big, but not anymore.
Central PA-East of Bedford County to the Susquahanna and Lancaster County has a large concentration both conservatives and Anabaptists (Brethren and Mennonite folk.) Moravians, on the other hand are in the Northeast around Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. The more common names in Lancaster and Dauphin county include Schlosser, Royer, Stoltzfus (or Stoltzfoos), Myer and Hartmann.
Demographically Pennsylvania is full of Seniors with the second oldest population in the country, and Union members. Pennsylvanians join the National Guard and Reserve in higher than average numbers…
WARSAW (Reuters) – Fewer Poles attend church services every week or have confidence in the papacy than a decade ago but levels of religious belief remain very high in Poland, according to a survey published on Thursday.
Poland is probably the most religiously observant country in Europe and its churches are generally packed on Sundays, in strong contrast to the empty or half-empty pews commonly found in many other parts of the continent.
The poll, published in the Rzeczpospolita daily, showed 37 percent of Poles go to mass every Sunday, down from 42 percent in 1998, but the number of people going to church on a less regular basis showed a small increase.
Confidence in the papacy has slipped to 80 percent from 91 percent in 1998, when Polish-born Pope John Paul II led the Catholic Church, the poll showed. German-born Pope Benedict XVI took over the church in 2005 after John Paul’s death.
The poll, conducted by the Institute of Sociology attached to Warsaw’s University of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, showed 81 percent of Poles count themselves religious believers, against 86 percent in 1998.
A further 11 percent still feel attached to Catholic traditions even if they are not sure about belief, it said. Only three percent described themselves as non-believers, unchanged from 1998.
In line with church teachings, more than two thirds of Poles are opposed to abortion, up slightly from 1998, and more than half oppose divorce, also up from 11 years earlier.
“Poles are not abandoning (religious) belief… but are distancing themselves from systematic religious practices,” Slawomir Zareba, the professor and priest who organized the poll, told the newspaper.
The Catholic Church played a key role in preserving a strong sense of national identity among Poland’s 38 million people during decades of atheistic communist rule.
I saw this coming seventeen years ago as friends complained about clergy focusing on politics rather than the spiritual life, including from the pulpit. Back then Sunday attendance was still de rigueur — people actually questioned you if they didn’t see you at Sunday Mass. The children of those people are now foregoing ecclesiastical marriages and church attendance.
I also predict that the Church will loose more and more adherents as the new crop of clergy coming out of Polish seminaries forego the hidden wife/girlfriend for the hidden boyfriend. There has been a seed change in many of the seminaries.
The Polish Church’s focus on politics and its internal hypocrisies will have a far greater affect on attendance and adherence than membership in the E.U. and migration will ever have. It is too bad really. In cases like this the Church only has itself to blame.
From the Young Fogey, Metropolitan Jonah of the OCA speaking to the ACNA Inaugural Assembly on the issue of Church Unity. More here.
What will a full ecumenical reconciliation take?
My take, the PNCC is 99.9% of the way there. While our discussions with Rome are exactly, as Met. Jonah posits, an effort at mutual understanding, discussion with OCA would have real purpose.
I work with a lot of very reasonable, hard working, excellent folks. They put their heart and soul into their work and are not beholden to the political elite. It is one wonderful aspect of the civil service merit system (there’s a lot of bad too), i.e., a glaring lack of hacks. The same is true of the people at the top, while appointed politically, they generally serve with dignity and do so responsibly, carrying out the mission of the agency.
In studying the sociology of bureaucracy you learn that those at the top can do little to change the bureaucracy, and what they can do is often on the fringes, externals as it were. The best leaders enable the workers in the bureaucracy, providing them with the means to carry out the mission more efficiently and effectively. They don’t shy away from change, but make change organic. The bad leaders are the ones who take advantage or who actually think they can rule with an iron fist.
Interestingly, the bureaucratic system often changes the leader to a far greater extent than the bureaucracy is changed by them. The leaders take an ownership interest, and the best leaders meld in, adopt the bureaucracy, because the bureaucracy adopted them.
All that being said, somewhere near the top lie the “true believers,” the hacks, political mercy hires, and other assorted hangers on. If you want to have fun with these folks, tell them what you believe. The true believers proudly carry the “conservative” or the “egalitarian” card with honor (their brand). It is their badge of courage.
When engaged in conversation I love to mention my libertarian streak. This sort of pronouncement takes folks completely off guard because they either don’t know what it means, or they only know it as a caricature. The twisted facial expressions are priceless. It’s really great with the egalitarian crowd because they so believe that they know what’s best for each person and culture. That comes with so much baggage, so many preconceived notions (prejudice really), that their heads practically explode when you say that people are best off when left to determine their own fate.
Lesson One: Begin your adventures in New York’s political lunacy by telling everyone you’re a libertarian.
Lunacy 101b — Use the bigotry of power.
As you may know, New York’s Senate is split with 51 Republican/Republican sympathizer votes and 51 Democrats. Both sides are vying to control the Senate floor. There is no tie breaking vote because we do not have a lieutenant governor. He became governor when the last one resigned, and New York’s Constitution make no provision for replacing the lieutenant governor.
The struggle for control is best exemplified in the fight over the Speaker’s Chair. In the past few days the Democrats snuck in and took control before the Republicans could get there. The reverse happened in the days prior. The Democrats made a big show of placing females in the Speaker’s chair, they being guarded in their position by the Sergeant-At-Arms.
I don’t think anyone noticed this angle, or at least I haven’t read it anywhere, but isn’t that simple bigotry and prejudice on display. They placed women in the spot because the other side wouldn’t dare to physically push them out of their position at the rostrum. They basically determined that “traditional” deference to a woman (and aren’t the Democrats supposed to be the party of equal rights and so forth) would win the day. So to Senators Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Diane Savino, thank you for your portrayal of the “weaker-sex” and for allowing the nice burly Sergeant-At-Arms to protect you.
Lesson Two: Enhance New York’s political lunacy through the exploitation of a person’s sex for political gain.
Lunacy 101c — Agree that you’re a libertarian too.
I actually love what’s happening in the State Senate for several reasons. First, it has created a lot of rubrical fun in relation to parliamentary procedure. The geeky parliamentarians (or here) among us are in heaven and have been weighing the relative merits of Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure versus Robert’s Rules of Order. Second, and most importantly, nothing is getting done.
I kept waiting for some distinguished veteran lawmaker — somebody who knows that this will be his or her final term in the chamber — to burst into tears, collapse to the floor and call out for heaven’s punishment to fall on the chamber immediately.
I include that for the sheer humor, and because it would be interesting to see (both the call and the actual punishment), but more to the point:
So that was bad. But what happened in Thursday’s faux session was even worse — rock bottom.
Instead of a procedural rugby match, we witnessed a much more genteel flouting of the governor’s renewed call for a productive special session. The Democrats gaveled in and gaveled out in three minutes, and then left the chamber. Then the Republicans and breakaway Democrat Pedro Espada Jr. arrived, and repeated the exercise in about 150 seconds. Amazingly, no legislation was passed.
It wasn’t “A Chorus Line” or “Cats,” but it was a carefully choreographed show designed not for value or entertainment but to allow both sides to avoid another car-crash spectacle. This elaborate gavotte was obviously worked out in advance by both parties, who have otherwise failed to agree on anything in two and a half weeks.
To be clear: As time-sensitive legislation languishes, the only matter that both sides can find common ground onNot necessarily true. Both sides signed the necessary paperwork to assure that legislators continue to get paid. Priorities you know. is that they don’t want to look like bozos. When their collective vanity is at stake, they’re willing to take immediate and decisive action.
That’s really the best part in all of this. Not “Amazingly, no legislation was passed,” but ‘Thankfully, no legislation was passed.’ Nothing is happening. No more freedoms are being taken away and the so called “time-sensitive legislation,” which is merely authorization for local tax increases (because in New York the State has to grant authority to local governments to do local business), isn’t getting passed.
The euphemisms for authorizing tax increases is wonderful. They call it “home rule messages” or “noncontroversial pieces of legislation.” It should be controversial and failure to do these things means that hard choices will have to be made. I hope they argue forever, and in true New York form are returned to office to keep arguing. Government would do nothing, no tax increases, no more invasive legislation for the common good, and then…
Lesson Three: New York’s political lunacy would be best enhanced through the forcible conversion of everyone into libertarians.
The Polish musical group Dżem as a song from their album Lunatics entitled “Lunatics All around Me” which I have translated for you. Enjoy….
Evil dreams have no illusions
The dreams all men fear
Blackest night, the city sleeps
No one can wake up
A cat on the roof, a rat in the gutter
The moon tempting in a white garment
No green light
Ref: The lunatics surround me Ooo!
Apartment buildings casting black shadows
and like a white tear, an empty open window
The Lunatics flee
The Lunatics flee
In love with you
From around that same window
I see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing
Translated by Dcn. Jim
Sen to zło, nie ma złudzeń
Sen ogarnął wszystkich ludzi
Czarno wokół, miasto śpi
Nikt nie może się obudzić
Kot na dachu, szczur w kanale
Księżyc kusi mundurki białe
Zielonego światła brak
Ref: Lunatycy otaczają mnie O, o, o !
Bloki czarne cień rzucają
A z otwartych, ślepych okien jak łzy białe
Lunatycy uciekają
Lunatycy uciekają
Zakochani w sobie
Wokół same lustra otaczają ich
Nie widzą nic nie, nie słyszą nic, nic nie czują
The 2009 Official [Roman] Catholic Directory is out, and the numbers are in:
The number of patients served in Catholic hospitals and the number of clients assisted by Catholic charitable agencies went up. Fewer baptisms, first Communions, confirmations and marriages were performed in Catholic churches last year. The number of Catholic parishes and elementary schools in the U.S. continues to decline.
While numbers are great, and I work with statistics and reports all day, you have to really understand what they mean before you can give them any credence.
The Directory speaks of Catholic hospitals and charitable organizations as if they are — Catholic. For the most part they are no longer so. Vasectomies, a tubal ligation — as available in a Catholic hospital as in any other — as well as other “services” that would fail to meet the standards of Catholic teaching. The hospitals play a game of “separating” sections of hospitals into Catholic and non-Catholic floors, or areas, as if this somehow justifies everything.
In the same way, institutes of Catholic charity have become less and less Catholic at the behest of government and large donors, who hold the purse.
Of course the Catholic hospital and charitable organization is a construct carried forward from the days where sisters, brothers, and a few lay people worked in these institutions, dispensing Christian charity. In our minds we see old films with sister and the priest bedside in the hospital. All very quaint, all from a better time. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. These organizations are completely tied to government and big donor funding; and he who pays the bill calls the tune — a tune distinctly non-Catholic.
By the way, that loss of dedication to ethics as outlined by the Roman Church plays out in the faithful. The contraceptive mentality and adherence to secular norms is chiefly responsible for “Fewer baptisms, first Communions, confirmations and marriages.”
The totals for priests, permanent deacons and diocesan seminarians each experienced a small increase in the 2009 book. There were more students in Catholic colleges and universities; in private, Catholic-run high schools and elementary schools; and in high school religious education programs.
A good sign in terms of vocations. Again, as to colleges and universities, I would venture to say that there is not even one, of any renown, left that is truly Catholic (Steubenville folks – you’re not on par with the big boys). The recent Notre Dame scandal is just one example (see here, here, and here for others). Universities gave up their Catholic character long ago.
And at 68.1 million, an increase of nearly 1 million over the 2008 directory, Catholics continue to make up 22 percent of the U.S. population.
Which seems odd in light of the statement in the first paragraph regarding the decrease in Roman Catholic parishes. If there are these many more people where are they going to church? The point is that while there are more people who self-identify as Roman Catholic, and go through the ritual of joining, the pews in many parishes are empty. The parishes that are full are more likely suburban and affluent — places where minorities don’t fit and can’t get to on a Sunday. See Church attendance studies by Hadaway, Marler, and Chaves at How many North Americans attend religious services (and how many lie about going)? from Religious Tolerance:
Hadaway, Marler, and Mark Chaves counted the number of people attending four Protestant churches in Ashtabula County, OH, and in 18 Roman Catholic dioceses throughout the U.S. In their 1993 report they stated that actual attendance was only about half of the level reported in public opinion surveys: 20% vs. 40% for Protestants, and 28% vs. 50% for Roman Catholics.
They later returned to Ashtabula County to measure attendance by Roman Catholics. They physically counted the number of attendees at each mass over several months. They concluded that 24% of Catholics in the county actually attended mass. They then polled residents of the county by telephone. 51% of Roman Catholic respondents said that they had attended church during the previous week. Apparently, most were lying.
The post goes on to say:
The more than 2,100-page Official Catholic Directory, also known as the Kenedy directory after its New Jersey publishers’ imprint, P.J. Kenedy and Sons, is due out June 17. Catholic News Service obtained an advance copy of the statistical summary compiled from annual reports provided by the nation’s 209 [Roman Catholic] dioceses and archdioceses…
The numbers reported are interesting but, the value of the numbers is compromised when they do not truly represent allegiance to the both the letter and the spirit of what it means to be Roman Catholic among all the elements in the report. Certainly, the number of parishes, clergy, and religious represents the face of committed Catholics. The number of followers, and the extent of conformity among hospitals, charities, colleges, and universities may not be accurately represented. Adherence to the call of faith is more than numbers, or as Jesus said (John 4:23-24):
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him.
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
For what is called the first in Oshkosh history, a married person will be ordained a “Catholic Presbyter,” to serve the new Emmaus Ecumenical Catholic Community.
Thomas Altepeter, pastor of Emmaus, will be ordained to the priesthood at 6 p.m. Friday at First Congregational Church, according to information from the Christian community and Stan Kline, chairman of the Emmaus Steering Committee. Altepeter will be ordained by Bishop Peter Hickman, presiding bishop of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion. Also present will be Rev. Frank Krebs, vicar for the Midwest region of the ECC; and George von Stamwitz, ECC chancellor. The ordination ceremony is open to all.
…
“There are many ways to express the Catholic faith, some which are not in full communion with Rome,” Altepeter said. “The ECC and the Polish National Catholic Church are two examples. As a member of the ECC, Emmaus shares common theology, sacramental and liturgical traditions with the Roman Catholic Church. Our deacons, priests and bishops participate in the same historic apostolic succession as do those of the Roman Catholic Church.”
This is the second recent article where the PNCC has been mentioned by folks who report on or are part of the ECC. It should be noted that while the ECC calls itself Catholic what it is is no more than another congregation ‘affirming’ whatever its members want to do.
Gregory Holmes Singleton writes on the Church’s website:
…if we are to honor our diversity there are Catholic perspectives and not a singular Catholic perspective. That is true whether we are talking about the Church Catholic writ large, the Ecumenical Catholic Communion, or a given congregation. Lest anyone think that the plurality of perspectives indicates that —anything goes,—
The unique part of Catholicism is an agreement on core issues, and the fact the the Church is indeed open to all who wish to come and pray (the real definition of diversity). The Churches that are Catholic agree that core issues are infallibly defined dogmas (by the Church, not just one bishop), Liturgy, and Tradition. Those things are not changeable in their essence. We cannot have ‘alternate marriages’ or women priests any more than we can use beer and pretzels for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (which discussion we had in my R.C. seminary days focused on exploring the differences between things that are licit vs. valid). We cannot have a liturgy that consists of banjo picking and hymn singing alone. We cannot say that Jesus was just a fun guy who faced down evil rulers.
No first here. The ECC is yet another anything goes Protestant denomination catering to the whims and desires of its flock. They define dogma as whatever may go at the moment.
The ECC appears to be headed by a former American Baptist pastor who somehow obtained “orders” through the Mathew line. They seem to have a strong tie to CORPUS.
Fair warning: although they seem to relish grouping themselves with the PNCC don’t be fooled, there is no relationship there. PNCC parishes in Wisconsin are listed here.
On the issue raised above regarding married (male) clergy, not something infallible, merely a discipline in Catholic Churches. Having married and celibate clergy vs. primarily celibate clergy doesn’t make one Catholic. Adhering to defined, infallible dogma and Tradition does.
Fr. Robert Hart of the Continuum Blog has an interesting article on the “Dutch Touch” and Anglican Orders. In The Dutch Touch: A study in irrelevance he says:
Frankly, Saepius Officio, written in 1897 by the Archbishops of England (Canterbury and York) said everything that needed to be said in defense of our Orders, and the best summary anywhere is that of Bicknell.
As for the subject of the Infusion itself, it is a relic of an innocent age of ecumenical hope, that innocence and hope that would suffer destruction for the official Anglican Communion in 1976. If the Infusion may help someday between orthodox Anglicans of the Continuum and Rome or, restart some ecumenical relations with the Polish National Catholic Church, then maybe it will not have been a big wasted effort after all.
Until such a time, who cares?
Two observations: First, I think that ecumenical contact between orthodox Anglicans and the PNCC would be a fine thing. We offer the Declaration of Scranton as a point of unity between national churches, and as a structural building block in accord with the National Church philosophy expounded by Bishop Hodur.
The interesting thing about the word continuum is that it means a connection that surpasses the here and now. At core it is a continuation of a Church’s traditions, practices, and character (of course only important if they are Catholic in character and in fact). I have said before, including to local clergy of the TAC, swimming the Tiber will eventually lead to the dissolution of everything that you are. Simply put, the weight of the Roman Church will subsume the TAC and any other Continuum Church that joins it, just as Anglican Use parishes will disappear within two generations.
I also think that there is another issue that gets lost in the whole swimming the Tiber spirit within the TAC, “Is that what your people really want? Just as among clergy some will say yes, but I believe that a majority will see what I see, that ‘who they are’ will slip away.
My second observation, and I congratulate Fr. Hart for making the point, is “who cares.” That is really the point if your Church believes itself to be Catholic. Like the Orthodox Churches we need to place less emphasis on what Rome thinks of us and more on what we think of ourselves (and no emphasis on what some over-the-top on-line R.C. pundits and detractors think of us). The full body of Catholic Churches are, in their varied external manifestations (those whose ecclesiology, polity, and praxis are Catholic), the totality of the Church, which is truly universal.
Let me preface my comments by saying that, in general, clergy in the PNCC are married. The PNCC has had married clergy since the Holy Synod of 1921. Some of our clergy have the gift of celibacy and have lived so all their lives.
That said, I did want to delve into the issues and the drama surrounding the Rev. Alberto Cutié, a former Roman Catholic priest, who left the Roman Church to join the Episcopal Church. If you want to read the details of the drama you can look here (and here, here, here, and here).
I think my readers know my position in regard to forced celibacy. It is wrongheaded and dangerous. It involves a demand on the Holy Spirit for gifts the Spirit gives freely to those whom He chooses. Forcing a promise from a priest without the necessary grace inevitably leads to all sorts of negative consequences, for the priest, for those around him, and in particular for the victims these men reach out to in an attempt to fill the void in their lives. The victims are more often than not left behind as damaged goods.
Here’s how I see the rights and wrongs in this case:
The right
Rev. Cutié did the right thing in leaving the active Roman Catholic ministry and in making a commitment to the woman (Ms. Ruhama Buni Canellis) he was illicitly involved with. He did right in treating her with dignity. He could have used her and cast her off as so many clergy do. He could have abandoned her to financial settlements his bishop would arrange. Rather he regained some shred of honor in not treating her like yesterday’s dirty laundry.
The wrongs
He used another human being: He did wrong in using her in the first place, and that’s what it was, using another person. Holding a position of power and prestige, with broad license to reach out to his community, he put his self interests first – not because he entered into a relationship, but because he entered into a relationship dishonestly. He failed to judge by any positive standard: honor — no, vows to his bishop — no, sin — no, his office — no, his people — no, his God — no. All that mattered was that he fulfill his need to ‘get some action.’ This was selfish, abhorrent, and based on his position — abusive. Again, he recouped a bit in so far as he finally committed to her, but the start shows a certain attitude toward the world. ‘I do it because it feels good;’ without regard for any objective standard of right and wrong.
He left the Catholic faith: He left for a form of Protestantism that’s so out there you can’t even call it Christian anymore. Sure it still has some of the words right, it uses a few of the books, but the essential marker in his new denomination is ‘We believe in anything we define as feeling good.’ The National Post’s religion blog, Holy Post, describes Rev. Cutié’s philosophy this way:
Father Cutié had worked to show the church was in touch with modern concerns.
Which is why he seems to fit in this new denomination. This statement means that he, like his denomination, believes nothing really, except whatever may happen to be a modern concern. Yesterday it was green jobs, today Adam Lambert’s sexuality, tomorrow… who knows.
I’m not saying that he belongs in the Roman Church, but if Catholicism, core Catholicism were of any value to him it would have played out differently. If he had any concern for objective truth he would know that he is in need of repentance for the wrongs he committed against his bishop, his people, his vows, and Ms. Canellis. Rather than glory and center stage, he would have made his commitment to Ms. Canellis, and would have gone into prayerful seclusion. Emerging, I’m sure he could have reached out to other Catholic Churches for acceptance. That would have been the choice made by a person caught in his situation who was Catholic in his attitudes, in his core.
Living for modern concerns will leave Rev. Cutié empty in the end. If the National Post article had said: Father Cutié had worked to show the church was in touch with the truth much of the outcome would be different. Rather, what Rev. Cutié is left with is this: What is modern is what is today. If his commitment to Ms. Canellis is to mean anything it will have to set aside today, because tomorrow’s today won’t be marked by a lovely young woman in a bikini on Miami Beach. Today may be marked by the spotlight, but tomorrow’s today will be marked by a failing congregation in a broken down parish, a congregation of needy sheep with their small problems and petty sins. Tomorrow’s today’s will leave Rev. Cutié not quite the cutie anymore and perhaps then he will understand that there are truths that surpass today, a relevancy that is eternal.
WARSAW: Poland’s powerful Roman Catholic Church is urging it’s huge flock in the country to use the European Parliament election this week to pick lawmakers who reflect church values.
More than 90 percent of Poles are Catholic and Polish bishops recently called on ‘all faithful to choose people in the elections who fully represent the point of view of the Church regarding ethical and social questions, in particular the protection of human life, marriage and the family.’
‘In this way, each one of us can contribute to the renewal of the Christian face and culture of Europe,’ the top clergy said, highlighting their opposition to abortion, in vitro fertilisation, euthanasia and gay marriage.
‘Obviously the church thinks it is it’s obligation to take a position in the debate,’ sociologist Jacek Kucharczyk from the independent Institute of Public Affairs (ISP) think tank in Warsaw told AFP.
‘Nevertheless, many Poles who define themselves as Catholics do not accept the church’s involvement in politics,’ he added. ‘They don’t like to have priests indicate candidates that a Catholic should support.’ During Poland’s 2001 parliamentary elections, Poles voted en masse for the leftist ex-communist party and for ex-communist Aleksander Kwasniewski as president in 1995, instead of Poland’s Solidarity union legend Lech Walesa, a devout Catholic. Kwasniewski won a second term in 2000…
To sum up, it seems that the Roman Catholic Church finds it difficult to respond to new challenges which arise from the development of democracy in eastern Europe and of the desire of those countries to join European institutions. The Church still uses the discourse of conflict, inherited after communist times, when the Church built its unique position, at least in the Catholic countries like Poland. Moral monopoly and direct influence on the state and the law are still its main aims. The pluralistic model is not particularly popular among the Church representatives and, consequently, the result of their activities is creation of boundaries dividing the society along religious lines. On the other hand the Church is very slow in reforming itself in such a way that would be more flexible and better adapted to the rules of the market and ideological competition. Consequently the Church is loosing its popular support and its influence, and often relies on the old methods of ideological polarisation and the discourse of conflict to win its cause.
Among my friends and acquaintances in Poland, this rings true. Their children have no attachment to the Church. They see the Church as a force organized for the purpose of political gain. What they truly seek is an enrichment of the inner life of the soul, from which the fruitful decisions the Church advocates for will come. But that’s a long process, the building of a society from within. It seems easier to pound the pulpit and demand the vote under penalty of hell. Just the sort of thing Fr. Hodur and the Catholics of Scranton rallied against in 1897.
I’ve just sent letters to Members of Congress on the Appropriations Subcommittee that deals with foreign aid letting them know I oppose the President’s request for $2.7755 billion in military aid to Israel for FY2010. Israel routinely violates the U.S. Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act by using U.S. weapons to commit human rights violations against Palestinians. Join me in taking action to oppose more military aid going to Israel by clicking here.
While numbers are great, and I work with statistics and reports all day, you have to 
I’m not saying that he belongs in the Roman Church, but if Catholicism, core Catholicism were of any value to him it would have played out differently. If he had any concern for objective truth he would know that he is in need of repentance for the wrongs he committed against his bishop, his people, his vows, and Ms. Canellis. Rather than glory and center stage, he would have made his commitment to Ms. Canellis, and would have gone into prayerful seclusion. Emerging, I’m sure he could have reached out to other Catholic Churches for acceptance. That would have been the choice made by a person caught in his situation who was Catholic in his attitudes, in his core.
I’ve just sent letters to Members of Congress on the Appropriations Subcommittee that deals with foreign aid letting them know I oppose the President’s request for $2.7755 billion in military aid to Israel for FY2010. Israel routinely violates the U.S. Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act by using U.S. weapons to commit human rights violations against Palestinians. Join me in taking action to oppose more military aid going to Israel by