Still Running Off at the Keyboard

CONTACT THE POPE - STOP THE WAR

That's the war in Iraq. This website is devoted to people who believed only John Paul II could stop the war, and apparently they contacted him to make it happen.

FRANCISCAN SISTERS AT CLARE'S WELL

in Annandale, Minn. are creating circles of peace where they can gather together with friends and family to send out loving energy to the world, since we are all one.

They want us to "let go of judgment and all critical thought". I guess they have taken their own advice, since they want to be channels of peace to those who worship God in a different way, and seem to think this sitting in a circle and meditating will accomplish this.

Apparently they have lost the ability to recognize the difference between Jesus and a flower:

An image or object for the center as a focus point.
(e.g. image of Jesus, a candle, flowers, statue, globe)

They believe sticks talk ;) :

Talking stick, this can be a branch from an evergreen tree,
a decorated stick, feather, a stone, a small bowl, or
something that can be easily passed from person to person.
(In many traditions, a talking stick is used to keep order in
assemblies. Only the person who holds the stick may speak
and the rest reverently and attentively listen.)

Someone should use the stick to "talk" to them in a convincing way about the First Commandment.

Maybe they need the stick for stirring the dozing to life:

Leader invites everyone to sit in the circle and enter into silence. Let go of all critical judgmental thoughts. Image peace and love for the entire world including anyone you consider enemy. Listen to a greater wisdom written in your heart. Awaken your heart to compassion. With each in-breath bring in peace and with each out-breath send out peace and love to the universe. Remain in silence for 15-20 minutes.

I wonder if the universe is laughing?


UPDATE

The sisters are practicing Rosicrucian Christianity instead of Catholicism and don't appear to even know it.

The following quote comes from Rudolf Steiner's book Theosophy

If a man approaches a fact in the world around him with a judgment arising from his previous experiences, he shuts himself off by this judgment from the quiet, complete effect which this fact can have on him. the learner must be able each moment to make himself a perfectly empty vessel into which the new world flows. Knowledge is received only in those moments in which every judgment, every criticism coming from ourselves, is silent...As long as he obliterates himself the other flows into him...One should obliterate within oneself the gauge of good and bad, of stupid and clever, which one is accustomed to apply, and try without this gauge to understand persons purely through themselves...one should suppress the judgment and, free from criticism, lay oneself open to impressions...And one should extend this even to one's thought world. One should suppress in ONESELF that which prompts this or that thought and allow only what is outside to produce the thoughts....the habitual exercise of selfless, spiritual accessibility in man is transformed into the power of seeing in the spiritual worlds.

(p. 200-203)

That is how one achieves clairvoyance...by suspending critical judgment (otherwise known as discernment of spirits) and even thought itself so that the "other" flows in. That is what the nuns are promoting. Spirit channeling. Spiritualism. A direct violation of the First Commandment. And they are teaching this to other unsuspecting Catholics who do not know what they are up to and trust them.

Where is their bishop?

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

THE PEACE ABBEY MULTI-FAITH RETREAT CENTER IN BOSTON

had a Dec 24 : Christmas Eve: Dedication of the SACRED COW - Animal Rights Peace Memorial A life-size bronze statue of Emily will be unveiled at her burial site sacred cow immortalized in bronze and named Emily. What, no gold?

There is a picture here of the multi-faith peace chapel together with the peace prayers of the 12 religions. Jesus came in last.

Lavendar House for people with cognitive disabilities is part of the Peace Abbey. Why "Lavendar"?

Peace Abbey grew out of the Assisi event:

The Peace Abbey traces its roots to Lewis Randa's attendance at the Day of Prayer for World Peace which took place in Assisi, Italy during the UN International Year of Peace, 1986. For the first time in history, the leaders of the twelve major religions gathered to pray for Peace on Earth.
The event took place on sacred ground at the Basilica of Saint Francis, and was the occasion for the handing down of the prayers for peace. The Sacred Office of Peace, which these prayers comprise, is the text around which we established and maintain our fellowship as well as pursue our global peacemaking.

Upcoming event:

25th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony honoring Oscar Romero of El Salvador co-sponsored with St. Patrick's Catholic Church of Natick.

Will this take place beside the bronze cow? The April 2 and 3 events announced on the same webpage are about this cow.

The prayer to the cow is on this page. Scroll down to "Taken from Chapel Prayer Book - April 4, 2003":

Emily, I did not know you. You were in the hospital when I visited the Abbey for the first time.

Today I felt your presence in Lewis remembering you. I saw and touched and smelled your blanket from India and I visited your grave. I will return to the Abbey with children, one will be named Emily.

In the mean time and forever, may God bless abundantly everyone who knew you and learns of you in the future and bless all whom they know and will know until this blessing includes everyone who has lived, is living or will be living in the entire world.

The peace abbey supports a Catholic U.S. military deserter.

Blogger Mark Sullivan gave the Peace Abbey a fisking in October 2002.

The cow was still alive then.

BABY BODY PARTS IN THE STREET

A reader sent in the link to this LifeSite story about a broken sewer line near an abortion facility:

A car dealership employee working next door to the clinic said she saw what she is convinced were baby body parts. "Whether it's legal or not, it's not right," Maribeth Smith said, as reported by click2houston.com. "This whole area is nothing but raw sewage and bloody pieces. There were little legs coming out from one side."

?????????????????????????

Tikkun.org

Context??? Anyone???

You will find this at the website:

HERTS
FIELD, DANIEL
Organization: VINEYARD ST ALBANS, peacemaker
Email: daniel@pine50.fslife.co.uk

I am a reasonably well known hairdresser in the UK. I am now a messianic jew but am 100% multi faith. I know God is in us all and we are all one source underneath our personalities, egos and fears. I am a member of The Vineyard Chirch in St Albans Hertfordshire UK. I am helping with the Jerusalem Concert this spring 2003 andfeel I am part of The Peacemaker Community. I am in contact with Pam Perry of Creative Health Network UK and USA, Hiroshi Kato of Future Trust UK.and James Twyman, peace troubadour/author and facilitator ,(Emmisary of Love), (Emissary of Light) (The Prayer of St Francis) and (The Beloved Disciple). I am being 'used' to help set up a Beloved Community in Shropshire UK. and am being guided to set up a London based Beloved Community. I am being guided this January 2003 as one of three people in the world by James Twyman as a facilitator in 'Soul Resonance' I can now 'see' into people's soul through their eyes and they can 'see' their's through mine, I 'know' we are one and one is all! Joshua Field and his Peacemaker concerts. My son Joshua just 16 now but since the age of just 6 has been a channel used by the spirit to express God's love and peace directly past the ego into our very souls via Gods music. He has been asked to play the piano at the Jerusalem Concert and is also going to a peace conferance in The Bahamas with James Twyman. He is considered a so called 'physic child'! Joshua, I and my extensive network of like minded souls are available to help where we can in any peacemaker initiatives anywhere in the world. Address: 50 PINE GROVE , BROOKMANS PARK , HERTS AL97BW, United Kingdom. Home: 01707654627. Date Entered: 07/14/2002. [Directory ID: 157].

JACK PARSONS AND MEDJUGORJE

This is an occult website that gives a timeline for Jack Parsons, follower of Aleister Crowley and scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Calif. From the website:

Between the second and fourth of March, 1946, Parsons recorded in a letter to Crowley what he described as "the most devastating experience of my life. I believe it was the result of the IXth Degree working with the girl who answered my elemental summons. I have been in direct communication with one who is most Holy and beautiful, mentioned in The Book of the Law. I cannot write the name at present." Secretly he did write her name. He called her Babalon. [Hence the latter-day "BVM" apparitions of Fatima, Lourdes and Medjugorje (read: strife-torn Bosnia) which, though ostensibly benign, caused "the most devastating experience of Parson's life" and ushered in the current wave of "UFO/ET" phenomenology via the soon afterward Roswell crash, Ken Arnold and George Adamski (et al) sightings -- giving birth to the modern "UFO" mythos. All this from the apocalyptic "great whore of Babylon." -B:.B:.] The one identified in The Book of the Law is the Egyptian goddess Nuit. In Liber 49 Babalon says she is the incestuous daughter of Nuit and Horus. Her avatar on earth is the Scarlet Woman. Babalon is not mentioned in The Book of the Law. The Scarlet Woman is.

FR. JOZO

This link will take you to a page in the website of Jacqueline Ripstein, where you will find:

Bring an edition of Our Lady of the Universe into your home,each piece has been blessed by Father Jozo

There is something else interesting in the website. It says:

Man has created turmoil in the land around Medjugorje, and now man must restore order and heal the wounds.

That is a great description of chaos magick. Create disorder, then step in and offer the solution which will put the creators in charge.

ROSSLYN SANCTUARY

San Francisco Bay Area Thelemic Community
Rosslyn Coven of the Hawk & Jackal
San Francisco, California

This is an OTO group, obviously.

Check out the links, and don't miss the Knight Templar True Research Sources.

FR. JOZO ZOVKO

From America weekly magazine (scroll down), a report on the priest who has written the prayer to go with painting of Our Lady of the Universe for James Twyman's website:

National Shrine Bars Medjugorje Priest from Celebrating Mass
Jozo Zovko, the Franciscan priest most widely connected with Medjugorje, the site of the reported Marian apparitions in Bosnia-Herzegovina, has been told he may not celebrate Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Shrine officials said the action was taken after receiving information from the priest’s home diocese of Mostar-Duvno in Bosnia-Herzegovina that his priestly faculties had been revoked. The church has never declared the Medjugorje visions to be authentic, and the Vatican has discouraged official Catholic pilgrimages to Medjugorje. But the Vatican has allowed lay-organized pilgrimages accompanied by priests to visit Medjugorje.

Then there is this website which presents an opposing opinion.

And there is this testimonial.

said the Pope's collaborator, Krystyna Gregorezyk...

Pope's collaborator? I've never heard of her.

There is another testimonial here

How can his superiors make these endorsements for a priest who is involved in Catharism? It boggles the mind!

Adding to the confusion is this website which has a long article which says in part:

According to the 1998 book "The Medjugorje Deception" by E. Michael Jones, Zovko has been accused of sexually molesting several women making the pilgrimage there. The allegation was repeated in a Nov. 14 article in the Wanderer, a Catholic weekly, and in leaflets handed out by protesters at appearances by Zovko in Boston this week.

Petta said Zovko would not be available for comment, and attempts to reach Zovko through other supporters were unsuccessful.

"There is no credibility at all to the allegations of sexual abuse. It just doesn't exist," Petta said, adding that Zovko is "a holy man" and a "very, very charismatic and powerful priest."

This website outlines the sexual abuse charges.

It certainly looks as though there are opposing factions over there.

JACQUELINE RIPSTEIN

A reader sent in the link to the website of the artist who painted Our Lady of the Universe.

Ok, you younger readers out there, is this what is commonly called "Goth", or does the lack of black lipstick toss her out of that category?

This page showcases her technique.

MORE ON JAMES TWYMAN

Take a look at this image of Our Lady of the Universe. The image is unsettling. Her neck is too long. Her feet are not in evidence. Her nose is too long. She does not appear either compassionate or friendly. She looks like an avenging angel. The world beneath her seems to be on fire.

The artwork was done by Jacqueline Ripstein and is copyrighted. Catholic visionary depictions are never copyrighted. They are given to the world by the powers of Heaven.

James Twyman uses this creepy image on his Order of the Beloved Disciple website. Notice also that the Hail Mary is cited, as is Fr. Joso's Prayer.

Fr. Joso is Catholic priest Fr. Jozo Zovko who has written the prayer of Our Lady of the Universe.

Twyman also uses this image to market his CD's.

Twyman claims a vision of the Blessed Virgin on "Apparitions Hill" in Medjugorje. The first chapter of his second book, which continues the story of the Emissaries of Light--the Indigo Children I've been blogging about--which is contained in his first book. The first chapter of the book is online here, and it describes the vision.

Twyman worships the divine feminine, or Divine Mother, in the form of the Blessed Virgin Mary, though he claims to be following the tradition of the Bogomils and Cathars with his The Beloved Community.

The articles on Fatima indicated the Hindus were also worshipping the Mother when they had a ceremony on the altar at Fatima.

And there is The Mother worship at Pondicherry, India, where the Matrimandir is the central focus of a community that bloomed in the desert, much like the community in Scotland, Findhorn, where some serious contact with disembodied spirits takes place.

Twyman's book is published by Findhorn Press.

CHARTA OECUMENICA

The Conference of European Churches and the Council of European Bishops' Conferences signed a joint set of Guidelines for the Growing Cooperation among the Churches in Europe. As the website states:

To the Conference of European Churches belong almost all Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican, Old-Catholic and independent churches in Europe. In the Council of European Bishops' Conferences are represented all Roman Catholic Bishops' Conferences in Europe.

The Charta states:

I. We Believe in "One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church" (1. Called Together to Unity in Faith)

II. On the Way Towards the Visible Fellowship of the Churches in Europe (2. Proclaiming the Gospel together, 3. Moving towards one another, 4. Acting together, 5. Praying together, 6. Continuing in dialogue)

III. Our Common Responsibility in Europe (7. Participating in the building of Europe, 8. Reconciling peoples and cultures, 9. Safeguarding the creation, 10. Strengthening community in Judaism, 11. Cultivating relations with Islam, 12. Encountering other religions and world views)

The document was signed April 22, 2001 at Strasbourg, by Metropolitan Jeremie, President of Conference of European Churches and Cardinal Vlk, President of Council of European Bishops' Conferences.

The passage under item #5 above, "Praying together" indicates the movement intends "to deepen the spiritual fellowship among the churches." It admits that:

In some churches reservations subsist regarding praying together in an ecumenical context. But we have many hymns and liturgical prayers in common, notably the Lord's Prayer, and ecumenical services have become a widespread practice: all of these features of our Christian spirituality.

How far do they intend to take this? Ecumenical services with the Orthodox, and with some Protestant communities is certainly possible. With other Protestant communities there is a vast difference in beliefs. Consider the current controversies among the Anglicans. But what is most shocking is this ecumenical blend including Old Catholics. Ecumenical activities with at least some Old Catholics involve gnosticism.

Consider:

Gnostics and Templars by Bishop T. Dionysus, an essay taken from Gnostic Gnews. Note the phrase in the third paragraph: "the development of the Gnostic Catholic Church out of the Old Catholic "Wandering" Episcopate."

The fourth paragraph makes it clear just where this is headed: "In Crowley's 1912 c.e. Manifesto for his Mysteria Mystica Maxima Lodge of O.T.O. there is an explicit claim to possess within the Order 'the wisdom and the knowledge of' the Gnostic Catholic Church.'

Then there is the Thelem,a Lodge Calendar for November 1998 e.v. website where David Nicholls' obituary indicates: "A second degree O.T.O. initiate under the magical name of Frater Triskaideka, he came to the O.T.O. early in 1994 e.v. as a deacon in the Old Catholic Church, and his occult studies retained a characteristic element of Christian mysticism even as he whole-heartedly blazed his unique path as a devoted Thelemite."

It isn't just the Gnostic Catholic Church that comes under the Old Catholic umbrella. The History of the Liberal Catholic Church begins:

Established in England in 1916 through a reorganization of the former Old Catholic Church in Great Britain, the new movement quickly spread to other countries, and in 1918 adopted its distinctive name, THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC CHURCH. Its Episcopal succession is derived from the Old Catholic Church of Holland through Archbishop Arnold Harris Mathew and his Auxiliary, Bishop Frederick Samuel Willoughby...Archbishop Mathew ordained a number of Theosophists to the Priesthood, knowing that they were Theosophists and knowing about their philosophy.

But it doesn't stop there. Gerald Gardner: The History of Wicca: Essays tells us that the founder of modern Wicca Gerald Gardner was associated with the Old Catholic Movement and was a friend of Aleister Crowley and associated with the Ordo Templi Orientis.

An Independent Old Catholic denomination in the UK is forming "household church" groups of up to "20 Christians, coming together for worship and fellowship." This church does not own church buildings. How is the priesthood that is so closely associated with Catholicism handled in this group?

In any case, what is most eye-popping of all is the website of Mary Ann Collins (A Former Catholic Nun) dated December 2004, and titled "Transubstantiation (the Eucharist)". This is quite an essay. Collins does not believe the bread and wine change to the Body and Blood of Christ. Rather she believes it is a metaphor. But that's the least of worries. She tells us that:

Sometimes a Catholic priest (or Orthodox priest) becomes a satanist. And sometimes a satanist priest finds a way to become ordained as a Catholic (or Orthodox) priest.

Quoting an email message she says came from Christian minister Bill Schnoebelen, she writes:

"In Anton LaVey's official biography, 'The Devil's Avenger,' by Burton Wolfe, it is stated that LaVey was consecrated an Orthodox bishop by a Greek Orthodox bishop in exchange for the bishop being made a satanic priest.

"Alex Sanders, the 'King of the Witches,' also sought, and received, Holy Orders and was made a bishop.

"Aleister Crowley was consecrated a bishop in the Old Roman Catholic Church from the succession of Archbishop Joseph Rene Villatte.... His Orders...are regarded by the Vatican as being 'valid but illicit.' I have a letter to that effect from Franz Cardinal Seper, who at that time was the head of the Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith."

Then she adds:

Note that both Crowley and Schnoebelen were ordained in the OLD Roman Catholic Church. Its members say that they have the same Apostolic succession as the regular Roman Catholic Church.

What role are these heretical sects playing in the Conference of European Churches, and thus in this Charta Oecumenica? What role do they play in the ecumenical services being attended by the members of this newly formed joint venture?

An article at swissinfo gives an answer:

Swiss churches have signed an ecumenical charter on closer cooperation in Europe--the first such document since the 11th century. The text of the Charta Oecumenica which was drawn up in 2001, speaks of the need for Christian unity in Europe. ...Representatives of ten Christian denominations in Switzerland signed the document at an inter-confessional gathering in the church of St. Ursanne in northwest Switzerland. ...

The document dates back to a European ecumenical gathering in Strasbourg, France, and aims at a common approach to spreading the Christian faith. It was drawn up by representatives of the Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox traditions.

Sunday's service...was presided over by Fritz-Rene Muller, bishop of the Old Catholic Church. Representatives of the ten members of the community of Christian churches in Switzerland signed the document at the close of the service.

At least one Orthodox denomination has withdrawn from this endeavor:

The Georgian Orthodox Church:

The Georgian Orthodox Church in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia has decided to leave two major ecumenical bodies--the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC), both based in Geneva.

The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the holy synod of the church on 20 May, following strong pressure from Georgia's leading monasteries against further participation in the international ecumenical movement. The sudden decision of the synod came as a surprise even to those who had campaigned against the church's membership of the WCC.

It is the first time that an Orthodox church has taken the decision to leave the WCC or CEC. The decision of the Georgian church, according to some observers, will strengthen anti-ecumenical movements in other Orthodox churches.

The article spells out the difficulties the Orthodox find with these movements:

The concerns most often cited by Orthodox critics of the international ecumenical movement and the WCC include what they claim are its vague ecclesiological concepts, and concern about developments in what they describe as "Western Protestantism" including the endorsement of women priests, the revision of Christian views on homosexuality, as well as use of inclusive language for the Bible.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

A FINAL THOUGHT FOR FEB. 14

sent in by a reader who claims it is an old Chinese proverb:

"There is no economy if you go to bed early in order to save candles and the result is twins!"

Hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day.

IS THIS THE 2012 MYSTERY SOLVED ?

From India Daily comes a story linked by Novus Ordo Watch:

The earth has entered a seismically active period when weakness in earth’s crusts start breaking apart, volcanoes erupt, plate collisions cause major earthquakes, mud volcanoes erupt and geysers come out in different parts of the world with much higher frequency. This results in volcanic eruption, mudslides, Tsunamis, mega earthquakes and more.

According to the Russian scientists, the number of earthquakes in the earth has increased exponentially over the past few years, a phenomenon not seen in modern human history.

According thousands of years old Mayan civilization, this kind of period come after thousands of years. The ancient civilization warned that around 2012 the world would face major calamities from natural disasters and other factors. They used planetary positions and interferences as well as sun signs.

CHECK OUT ROD DREHER'S ASH WEDNESDAY COLUMN

He spares no words in castigating the state of Catholic men, bishop, priest, and lay, and issues a call to arms. This is what I had hoped Bishop Burke was going to be a sign of--the return of courageous men who would fight for right, and defend the defenseless. As my post of Lee's email below indicates, once again I'm sadly disappointed.

Hat tip to a reader who sent in the link.

E-MAIL FROM LEE PENN - BISHOP BURKE

A few blogs down is one titled "The Courage of a True Leader" which links a LifeSite article about Bishop Burke's support of pro-life and family issues. We need some good news, and especially about bishops. He looked to me like one of the good guys.

Now comes this email from Lee Penn which I would like not to be true, but...

=========================================

Lee writes:

A collection of four stories about a neo-con RC hero. Forward or blog this as you wish:

----------------------------------------
First, this:

Several days ago, I saw the following story about Archbishop Burke and his prediction of a pending persecution:

St. Louis Archbishop Warns of Upcoming "Persecution" over Abortion and Homosexuality

Here are some quotes from the story, with my commentary interspersed in square brackets:

Money quotes, with emphasis added:

"the archbishop stated clearly in a meeting held by the diocesan pro-life office, "When we go to vote, we must take into consideration all of the stands politicians make. But procured abortion, that has to be our first question."

[Comment: yeah, right. Torture, aggressive/pre-emptive war, looting Social Security, shredding the Bill of RIghts. and transferring the wealth of the nation to the corporate class are all just "prudential judgment." Abortion, however, is DOCTRINAL.]

"In his diocesan paper Burke wrote, 'There is a tendency to accept same-sex relationships because we do not want to deal with the embarrassment and hurt of recognizing same-sex attraction as disordered,' he said. 'The fact that our American culture more and more fails to make any distinction between same-sex attraction and heterosexual attraction does not justify our failure to make the distinction, respecting God's gift of human life in its integrity and helping others to attain the perfection to which we are called as true children of God.' "

[ Comment: And from this, we can assume that there are no pederasts, pedophiles, ephebophiles, and practicing homosexuals among the priests in his jurisdiction ... and that the Bishop has been forthcoming in dealing with survivors of clergy abuse. Yeah, tell me another one.]

[ Comment: And just today, I got my confirmation of my suspicions ... see the following stories.]

"It's intimidating because we live, as our Holy Father says, in a society of a culture of death where people want to convince us that everything should be convenient and comfortable and they don't like to hear a voice which says 'this isn't right', he said."

[ But when abuse survivors and writers and trial lawyers tell the Corporation that the Scandal is a great evil, and that what the Hierarchy has done "isn't right," these critics are just out for the money, and are motivated by anti-Catholic bias and the desire to subvert Church Teaching.]

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Story # 2:
The foregoing should get you ready for this story:

Here is a story from the St. Louis alternative press about him, including the revelation that he let a transsexual become a nun - with Vatican knowledge:

riverfronttimes.com Bishop Takes Queen 2004-08-25


Here is the key part of the story, with my emphasis added:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But it was his gathering of fringe religious orders to the diocese that alienated many priests.

"He brought in any number of people -- hermits we called them, or consecrated virgins and religious orders of one and two and three people," says the priest who requested anonymity. "They were just -- forgive me for saying so -- but to most of us they were wackos. They're just psychologically not well equipped, and he brought these people in because theologically they agree with him."

At times his theological allegiance with these orders placed Bishop Burke in some compromising positions. Most striking, perhaps, was the case of Sister Julie Green, a member of the Franciscan Servants of Jesus:

"Julie Green is living a lie!" writes Mary Therese Helmueller in an October 25, 2002, letter to Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Papal Nuncio to the United States. "[She] is a transsexual, a biological male. He is really Joel Green, who had a sex operation to make him physically appear as a woman.... I fear that The Church in America will suffer another 'sex scandal' if Julie Green continues to be recognized as a Catholic Religious Sister, and if Bishop Raymond L. Burke receives his final vows, as a religious sister, on November 23rd, 2002."

Montalvo forwarded the letter to Burke, who on November 20, 2002, replied to Helmueller. "With regard to Sister Julie Green, F.S.J., the recognition of the association of the faithful which she and Sister Anne LeBlanc founded was granted only after consultation with the Holy See," he writes. "These are matters which are confidential and do not admit of any further comment.... I can assure you that Sister Julie Green in no way espouses a sex change operation as right or good. In fact, she holds it to be seriously disordered. Therefore, I caution you very much about the rash judgments which you made in your letter to the Apostolic Nuncio."

Adds Burke: "I express my surprise that, when you had questions about Sister Julie Green, you did not, in accord with the teaching of our Lord, address the matter to me directly."

Green and the Franciscan Servants weren't the only controversial religious order with which Burke allied himself. In the late 1990s, the bishop combined the parishes of St. Mary and St. James in Wausau, Wisconsin. The two parishes formed the Resurrection Parish at what was formerly St. James' Parish.

St. Mary's was sold. Burke then asked the conservative Latin-rite religious order, Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, to perform the Tridentine Mass at what was formerly St. Mary's. In February 2002, the order's superior, Monsignor Timothy Svea, pleaded guilty to exposing himself to and molesting teenage boys.

"What never really got any attention was that Bishop Burke brought them in," says a second priest who asked not to be named. "That's really a sore point for a lot of people in Wausau."

----------------------------------------------------------------
Who could make this stuff up?

The response of the Nuncio and the Bishop to the complaint was so typical.

Here, as an instance, is what happened to me 3 years ago:

In January 2002, I wrote to Abp. Levada, my Diocesan (I live in San Franciso) asking that he disassociate himself and the Archdiocese from the United Religions Initiative (URI). I got a prompt "thank you for sharing" reply from him, with a note that the letter had been copied to URI board member Fr. Gerry O'Rourke ... Levada's man in charge of ecumenism and interfaith affairs. A week later, I got a call from O'Rourke, and received a long, weepy, growly Irish tongue-lashing from him. Evidently, it was my fault for complaining ... but the Archdiocese is ever more deeply involved in URI.

Moral of the story: complain to the Corporation about an abuse - whether it be sexual abuse, or liturgical abuse, or theological error - and the default response of the Temple Masters is to castigate the complainant.

=======================================
Story #3:

But hey, you might say, Story #2 is from a liberal underground paper, and they hate the Church and want to promote decadence.

Very well, have it your way. Here is corroboration from Roman Catholic Faithful, a very conservative organization that exposes hierarchical corruption:

AMDG Spring 2003.pub
This is from the Spring 2003 issue of AMDG, the magazine issued by Roman Catholic Faithful. On p. 24, you will find the following item -- again, I have put some of it in bold:

Quote:

"TRANSSEXUAL NUN IN WISCONSIN DIOCESES

In January, 2003, a concerned parishioner from St. Paul, Minnesota notified us that a transsexual (man to woman) had been a religious Catholic sister for 18 years, ten years in the Milwaukee Diocese under Bishop Weakland in a women's Franciscan order. Then in 1993 this transsexual nun went to the LaCrosse Diocese under the Bishop and received permission to found his/her own religious Catholic Women's Order called "Franciscan Servants of Jesus". On October 4, 1997 Bishop Raymond L. Burke elevated the order and was going to hear the final vows of Sr. Julie Green (Joel Green) on November 23, 2003.

The concerned parishioner sent copies of all papers that had been collected on Sister Julie to various authorities in Rome, but received no reply. Finally, the parishioner went to Rome and only when publicity was given to the case, was any action taken by the Church. Bishop Burke commented in a letter dated January 27, 2003 that unfortunately the situation had been publicized, denied that Sister Julie became a nun or was the mother superior of the religious order, and that "…such a person has been unable to emit valid vows except to the sex of his or her birth".

According to the Arlington Catholic Herald dated January 23, 2003 an article by John Norton of Catholic News Service, "After years of study, the Vatican's doctrinal congregation has sent Church leaders a confidential document concluding that 'sex-change' procedures do not change a person's gender in the eyes of the Church." "

So the underground paper was not making it up ...

==========================================
Story #4:

Back, then, to the underground paper .... they did a LONG story about ++Burke's dealings with abuse survivors.

riverfronttimes.com Immaculate Deception 2004-08-25

"But some members of Raymond Burke's former flock paint a far different portrait of the erstwhile bishop of La Crosse. If cases of clergy sex abuse were few and far between, they say, it was because Burke was a master at keeping a lid on them. Several victims who claim they were abused by priests in La Crosse tell Riverfront Times they were stonewalled by Burke, who declined to report their allegations to local authorities. And while some of his fellow church officials nationwide were reaching hefty settlements with victims, Raymond Burke was unyielding in his refusal to negotiate with victims' rights groups. He declined to make public the names of priests who were known to have been abusive, and he denied requests to set up a victims' fund. Most strikingly, Riverfront Times has learned, while bishop in La Crosse Burke allowed at least three priests to remain clerics in good standing long after allegations of their sexual misconduct had been proven -- to the church, to the courts and, finally, to Burke himself.

His critics say Burke's ability to conceal the diocese's dirty laundry was abetted by Wisconsin's unique civil code, which makes it virtually impossible for someone to sue the church for the actions of an individual priest.

"He stands with his fellow bishops in Wisconsin as having had the ability to just rebuke and ignore our victims," says Jeff Anderson, an attorney in St. Paul, Minnesota, who specializes in clergy abuse cases. "He has a long history of making pastoral statements that they care, that they want to heal, that they want to help. They are very long on words, but very short on actions."

"We don't exist, for him," seconds Peter Isely, a Wisconsin leader of the national Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). "Loyalty to the church is of the highest order for him, and his response to victims' claims has been lethargic and slow and reluctant and bureaucratic and impersonal."

Then again, if success is measured in money saved and avoidance of scandal, Raymond Burke possesses a sterling record. At a time when dioceses are reaching million-dollar settlements with individual victims and filing for bankruptcy, Burke reported in January 2004 that between 1950 and 2002 the Diocese of La Crosse paid out a grand total of $15,807.38 to victims seeking counseling for clergy sexual abuse."

There is lots more ... go read the whole thing.

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And consider all this as a sign of the state of the Roman Catholic Church in these times.

And remember again that Burke is seen by many conservative Catholics as proof that a new, orthodox generation of bishops is being put in place - gradually - by the Vatican.

Kyrie eleison.

Lee

AN A AND E WEEKEND

Thirteen minutes of heaven preceeded a sudden plunge into Dante's Inferno--30 minutes of desperately seeking melody followed by a most welcome intermission, then once again a visit to the netherworld before closing with something fit for the ear.
That was the Cleveland Orchestra Program for Saturday, Feb. 13 which included:

- Frederick Chopin - Nocturne in A-flat major, Op32, No. 2, Grande valse brillante, Op. 18 (orchestrated by Igor Stravinsky)

- Magnus Lindberg - Concerto for Orchestra (U. S. Premiere)

INTERMISSION

- Oliver Knussen - Violin Concerto, Op. 30 (Recitative - Aria - Gigue) William Preucil, violin (Preucil would be excellent if he had something fit to play, to work with)

- Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34 (Alborada - Variations - Alborada - Scene and Gypsy Song - Fandango of the Asturias

Conductor - Oliver Knussen

(NOTE TO SELF: If Lindberg or Knussen are on the program, stay home and rent DVD.)

This was the first time I have ever been at a concert where some of the audience withheld applause. I was part of that "some of the audience." So was the couple next to me. The standing ovation didn't happen. In Cleveland. The home of the standing ovation.

If anyone is interested, there is a biography of Lindberg here, including details about the prestigious award he has recently been given. (What were the judges thinking?) The bio includes one little tell-tale word--"Modernism". Nuff said. (Select concert programs more carefully in the future, Carrie! Don't let a pretty name [Stravinsky] cloud your judgment.)

That was Saturday.

Today I joined my Red Hat Society group at lunch and at the play Thoroughly Modern Millie performed in Akron at E. J. Thomas Hall. This one was worth a standing ovation. There were only five performances of the show with a Broadway touring company including live orchestra. The singing was fantastic, the acting superb, the costuming excellent (How do they change 'em that fast?), the sets clever and movable. They had to be. There were 19 scene changes. If the company turns up in your town, don't miss it.

SR. LUCY DIES

A reader has just sent in an article announcing Sr. Lucy's death.

From Reuters at CNN:

LISBON, Portugal (Reuters) -- Lucia de Jesus dos Santos, the last of three children who claimed to see the Virgin Mary at Fatima and who revealed a vision the Catholic Church said foretold the attempt to kill Pope John Paul II, died on Sunday, the Church said.

Dos Santos, 97, who later became a nun, was the eldest of the shepherd children who in 1917 told of seeing apparitions of the Virgin Mary six times. She died at her Carmelite convent at Coimbra in central Portugal.

BISHOP OPPOSING BISHOP ?

A reader sent in this story from the Tablet:

Lay sermons permitted, Vatican tells Swiss bishops. Proposals by Swiss bishops to allow lay theologians to give sermons and Protestants to receive Communion have met with the approval of the Curia in Rome, Bishop Amédée Grab, president of the Swiss bishops' conference, said this week. ...

Accusations that the declarations were against canon law and contradicted last year's Vatican edict that only priests could give sermons, were quick to follow. Pro Ecclesia, a conservative Catholic group, said it looked very much as if, shortly before setting out for Rome, the Swiss bishops were determined to "present the Vatican with a fait accompli". It was also reported that Austrian and German bishops had berated the Swiss bishops at the annual liturgical conference (for bishops in German-speaking countries, including South Tyrol and Luxembourg) in Augsburg at the end of January for "pressing ahead of the world Church" on such matters.


Can anyone confirm or deny this?

According to the article "The Swiss bishops' conference has now declared that the assistants (who hold university degrees in theology) are to be allowed to preach during Mass and baptise whenever a priest was not available." Preach "during Mass" means that a priest is available. Why then is there any need for this?

According to the article, the Swiss bishops received permission for these practices at their ad limina visit. "The head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, had told the Swiss bishops that in emergency cases lay theologians could hold a "brief sermon-like discourse" or a meditation based on the Mass for the day..." "Emergency cases" implies no priest available. If a priest is saying Mass, what possible reason for a lay homily could there be?

Of course if your objective is to teach the laity a new religion, there would be plenty of reason, wouldn't there? Is it just a coincidence that the Swiss Grand Lodge Alpina has turned up in an investigation of Guenonian Traditionalism?

Perhaps the above article should be read in the light of this article, which mentions the Old Catholic service that was held when the charter was signed.

FR. RYAN ST. ANNE SCOTT

has made the Chicago Tribune:

His followers know him as Father Ryan St. Anne Scott, bishop of the independent Holy Rosary Abbey, currently housed in a converted home for the mentally ill in this western Illinois city.

For more than 15 years, the gregarious Scott--divorced and a convicted felon--has moved his troubled abbey around the Midwest, drawing small bands of disenchanted, mostly elderly, Catholics who long for the Latin mass of their youth.


But time after time, Scott and his followers have parted acrimoniously after battling over property, money and theology. Roman Catholic officials in at least four states have publicly warned that Scott is not a legitimate priest and that the baptisms, weddings, funerals and other ceremonies he conducts are not sanctioned by the church.


Those warnings are now being echoed by the Peoria diocese, which has advised Roman Catholics in western and central Illinois not to attend mass or receive sacraments or counseling from Scott.

There are a lot more details in the article which covers this man's checkered career through numerous shrines and abbeys. The article closes with his claim of being gang raped at St. John's Cathedral in Milwaukee.

Thanks to a reader for sending it in.