Still Running Off at the Keyboard

OPUS ANGELORUM AND THE PROBLEMS ON THE RIGHT

Richard Salbato, of Unity Publishing, has a new article about O.A. up at the Unity website. It's not encouraging. It reflects my own personal fears after investigating what material was available on the web about O.A. Since last fall an O.A. retreat was the cause of my leaving my parish, I have a personal stake in this. Here's a sample From the website:

- Attracted to the various retreats and days of recollection sponsored by the Opus Angelorum, the unsuspecting faithful are led more and more deeply into a spirituality which is quasi-Masonic in its degree-based structure--from the promise to the guardian angel at the lower end to the angelic consecration in the middle to the consecration of atonement at the upper level. The goal is to become an "alter angelus." Consecration requires a “spiritual marriage” with an angel that a name is assigned to probably from the list of names given to Bitterlich in her two months of revelations. No real need to quote some of these revelations as Rome investigated them and ruled on them. But consider that some of the nuns of Opus Angelorum advise people not to eat or even put garlic and onions together because garlic angels and onion angels fight with each other.

- The fast growth of Opus Angelorum over 20 years is due to great devotion to Adoration, very reverent priests at Mass, good Confessors, and both priests and nuns dress according to the old laws before Vatican II. The outward signs are good, just like Pius X Society, but the disobedience and secret rituals are the problems. It is hard for me to come to these conclusions since Father Wagner, retreat master out of Rome, is a personal friend of mine and a loving priest. But the facts are the facts. And although Father Wagner does not mention Bitterlich in his talks, I wonder what he does after he gets new members in the secret rituals and hidden teachings.

The number of families in the Parents' Association for Opus Angelorum Victims has risen to over 30. And although Rome issued a decree concerning the Opus Angelorum in June 1992, but the problems have not yet been solved, inasmuch as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith did not ban Opus Angelorum as the organization’s opponents had hoped. It only banned the writing and promotion of Bitterlich’s messages and its use in the order. This has not been obeyed at all as you will see below.

- One of the reasons I believe her apparitions are demonic is their similarity to Satanic Angels in other esoteric and accult literature. By making use of the occult practice of "mystical marriage with the angels" - an idea, by the way, which is traceable to the Jewish Gnostic Kabbala - Opus Angelorum was involved in a pertinacious way in violating the consciences of its members.

- In violation of the tradition of the Catholic Church all houses of priests and nuns are one and the same buildings. The nuns are the housekeepers and cooks of the priests, and their contact is too close, leaving many of the parents of members to imply that sexual activity is common. In violation of Catholic tradition final vows of the nuns (consecration) is secret and even the parents are not invited.

I have been in contact with Prof. Ingeborg Blumel who researched and wrote the articles on O.A. for "Culture Wars". She told me that the organization has split as a result of the decrees from Rome, some priests being willing to abide by the decrees and others refusing. Since she has lost touch with them, she was not able to tell me what name those who are still using the writings of the seer Bitterlich are known by. In any case, Opus Angelorum still uses the name and history of Gabriele Bitterlich openly on their website as of yesterday, and they are still secretive as my recent post on their retreats indicated.

Knowing what I do of the occult, and after reading what Richard Salbato has written, I would approach this organization with extreme caution.

2007 CATHOLIC BLOG AWARDS RESULTS

have been posted. Amazingly, someone voted for this one. Thanks, whoever you are. I sure never expected to make the list!

"WE ARE CHURCH"

Think about how many times we've been told that since Vatican II. Well, don't take it too seriously when the bishop proposes to close the church, especially if you live in New York, because in New York suddenly the bishop is the church and the "we" have no say at all:

YONKERS - One of the two men arrested Sunday for protesting the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York's decision to close his church said yesterday that he was "done" with organized religion, after a court appearance for him and a fellow parishioner.

Nuno Riberio, 29, of Yonkers was ordered to return to Yonkers City Court on April 23 with his own lawyer because he made too much money last year to qualify for a public defender.

He and Michael Costa, 19, also of Yonkers, refused to leave Our Lady of the Rosary Church on Lamartine Avenue on Sunday after it closed following its last Mass.

"I'm done with the church and I am done with organized religion. It's a lie," said Riberio outside court, where he and Costa are being prosecuted for trespassing.

Our Lady of the Rosary is one of 10 parishes being closed by the archdiocese.

Riberio and Costa were among eight people arrested this week in protests against the closings, including six people arrested Monday after an overnight vigil at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Harlem.

Riberio said that the church broke his will and that he planned to "stay Catholic at home."

I'm not disputing that there may be valid reasons for closing churches. But the emotional impact of that decision, displayed in this article, shouldn't be dismissed by using the police to get things the bishop's way, and particularly not when a scandal has caused the laity to distrust the bishops in general. A whole lot more finesse was called for, and the bishop just comes off looking like a bully.

I wonder how many parishioners took note of the goings on and came to the same conclusion that Riberio expressed. We have 30% attendance on the average now. It can go lower.

Catholics identify with their local church. When something goes wrong, such as a heretical priest being installed or a retreat arranged that calls into question Catholic dogma, or the bishop arbitrarily decides to close the church and sell it, there is an emotional reaction. It feels too much like being abandoned by God when these things happen.

I can empathize with Riberio who says he will be Catholic at home. I've been there myself too many times to count.

But wait till the bishop or one of his pastors wants things to get done that he can't afford to pay for. Then I bet it will take two shakes of the puppy dog tail for him to get out the Catholic guilt to lay on parishioners so they will do his bidding. Suddenly he will expect them to take ownership of their parish church again. For some of us this only works so many times, and then we get jaded and start to think you want it done, go do it yourself.

THEY CALL THEMSELVES CATHOLIC ETHICISTS ??

Why Catholic kids come home from Catholic college no longer Catholic...

LifeSiteNews.com reports that two professors who teach ethics at the University of Detroit Mercy proudly display their pro-abortion stance:

Dr. [Gloria H.] Albrecht, an associate Professor of Religion and Ethics who “teaches business and economic ethics, feminist ethics and theology, and women's studies” according to UDM’s website, has an "I am Pro-Choice America" sticker, the current motto of the abortion lobby NARAL, on her name plate. Dr. Albrecht, who holds a S.T.M. (Masters in Sacred Theology) degree from St. Mary's Seminary (Baltimore) and joined the University in 1992, has also signed an endorsement of same-sex “marriage” with the homosexual advocacy group “Freedom to Marry”.

However, Dr. Elizabeth A. Oljar, Assistant Professor and Chair of Philosophy, whose “area of expertise is ethics” nuances her public abortion position with the bumper sticker atop her door: “JUST SAY NO TO SEX WITH PRO-LIFERS”. Dr. Oljar “teaches ethical theory, applied ethics, philosophy of law, political philosophy” and has been with UDM since 1996.

The article also links a picture of the door provided by Matt C. Abbott.

Dare we hope that the bishops, of whom Samuel J. Aquila is a shining example, who are beginning to take a stand on pro-abortion politicians, will eventually take action to oversee the Catholic colleges in their dioceses as well? I'm not ready to put money on it yet.

Contact addresses for the President of the University of Detroit Mercy and Cardinal Maida are posted at the LifeSite website.

NOMINATED FOR A GRAMMY IN BLUES AND DEDICATED TO CHRIST

Pop music star known for "The Wanderer", "Runaround Sue", and his spot on the album cover of the Beatles' "Sgt. Petter's Lonely Hearts Club Band" has a different message for the world:

Fame brought drugs and the fast life for many pop stars decades ago, but for the singer known as Dion it also came with an emptiness and a voracious hunger for more.

"I was always seeking," said Dion DiMucci, now 67 years old and a member of St. Jude Parish in Boca Raton.

"In the '60s, I used to pray, 'God, I want to know the truth. Why am I here? I am open and I am ready,'" he told the Florida Catholic, newspaper of the Palm Beach Diocese. "I had a powerful religious experience," he said. "It changed my life and I have never been the same since."

DiMucci believes that experience has given him the secret to peaceful living and a good life, and he wants to share his insights with men and teen boys.

So the artist, nominated for a Grammy (in the Blues category) for his latest album, "Bronx in Blue," does so at events in the Palm Beach Diocese, such as a Spiritual Rally for Men planned for March.

DiMucci tells the story of how he began to reap great rewards along with career success when he slowed down and began to pray and study the teaching of the church and Christ.

Read the rest of the story...

SNOW

The flakes have stopped falling for the moment and we're slowly digging out. Officially we've gotten 16 inches, and it's a little difficult to know where to put all of it when trying to clear driveway and sidewalk. The snow in the backyard is level at approximately 2 inches below the bench on the picnic table out there. There is a path across the deck. Making that path meant that the snow on the rest of the deck is above knee height. I've been listening to snowblower motors for the last two days. It was a constant buzz yesterday. It's been a few years since we've had this much snow, and we're sort of out of practice in dealing with it.

The schools were out of snow days after the cold snap that dropped wind-chill temperatures below zero, and forced the schools to close. With this storm, days will have to be added in June to make up for days missed.

In the news was a twelve-year-old boy who was playing near the road, apparently tunneling into the piled up snow, when the snowplow went by and buried him. His mother couldn't get him out and had to call 911 for help. The boy was taken to the emergency room, but will be ok.

I woke up wondering if the snow was nearing the furnace exhaust pipe that exits the house a couple inches above the foundation blocks. Checked it and found there was no problem. I wonder how long it would take for someone to succumb if the pipe were blocked by snow?

THE STATE OF THE CHURCH

"Crisis" magazine has devoted the entire current issue to a report on "The State of the Catholic Church in America Diocese by Diocese". Lots of statistics in there for you statisticians.

I looked it over last night, but haven't actually read the material yet. It does appear as though the smaller dioceses are healthy and larger ones not so healthy, making me wonder what is in store for parishes as we move toward megachurches. It also looks as though the Church is flourishing in the South and suffering in the Northeast.

Cleveland made the list in only one category, the one that ranked every American diocese. We're somewhere in the middle.

Thanks to a reader for letting me know the report is online.

Meanwhile, here in Cleveland, statistics came in the mail today and are also available on the Diocesan website. They show that the Sunday collection, all parishes combined, is up for 2006 over 2005, indicating to me that Catholics in my diocese have chosen not to demand accountability from the chancery. No surprise there.

I wonder what it would take for Catholics to take notice of the state of their diocese and actually get concerned about it? Clearly they are not doing so in Cleveland. One wonders what the bishop would have to do to actually get the laity's attention. Whatever it takes, they haven't done it yet here.

Merrily we roll along...

EXCOMMUNICATION

While American bishops waffle over giving Communion to politicians supporting abortion, the bishop of West Bengal is not afraid to excommunicate families who support the marriage of children, a common practice in the culture. Catholic News reports:

Indian Bishop Joseph Gomes and his West Bengal priests have banned at least a dozen Catholic families from the sacraments for three years after supporting marriage of children as young as six years old.

"We will not baptise children of guilty people and will prevent families from attending church functions," Bishop Gomes told Reuters in Kolkata.

Although women have to be 18 and men 21 to legally wed in India, child marriage is common in villages where deep-seated tradition has proved hard to change and law enforcement is poor.

At least 65 per cent of girls are married before 18 in India, government data shows, and activists say at least 150 cases of child marriage are reported every day.

Continue reading...

THREEFOLD ALLIANCE OF THE LIGHT

The working relationship between Jan Leene and Mrs. Henny Stok-Huizer, in the Netherlands, with Antonin Gadal is introduced here. The meeting of the three is said to have sealed the Brotherhood of of the Holy Grail, the Cathars and the Rosycross into an alliance.

The symbol of this Threefold Alliance of the Light contains the square, the circle, and the triangle as depicted here, and here.

The School of the Golden Rosycross is pictured here. Gadal became the president of the French section of the Dutch Association Lectorium Rosicrucianum which had been born in 1924 which offered a synthesis between faith and reason in the tradition of Jacob Boehme, Johann Valentin Andreae and others--a universal religion.

The Threefold Alliance of the Light expects there will one day be an awakening:

‘The Elder Brothers of mankind look forward to a mighty awakening which could cross the whole world like a storm. This awakening will require a complete renewal of life, an “imitation of Christ”, thus putting an end to the life centered on the ego and directed toward the earth.

The Alliance has placed a monument in Ussat-les-Bains in the Ariege valley--"a cubic granite monument, surrounded by a circle of stones" on one side of which is an inscription dedicating it to the Threefold Alliance of the Light: Grail, Cathars and Rosycross. This monument represents the currently existing gnostic community.

The website tells us that this "rough stone" must be carved into a "cubic stone" or a "philosopher's stone" by the candidate of the Mysteries, language reminiscent of the Masonic Blue Lodge.

Conquering the light is the goal of the Threefold Alliance. This conquering takes place apart from doctrinal considerations, making it appear that each man is a religion unto himself. Have shades of this thinking become part of the Charismatic movement?

Taking their clues from the Egyptian mysteries, Cathars seek to be born a second time after a season of endurance in the caves, likening it to the time Jonah spent in the belly of the whale.

The opposition to Catholicism is expressed again here.

The Middle Ages was a time of splendor and brotherhood, and the Universal Brotherhood was spreading its Temple of the Spirit far and wide. From the Cathars in Occitania, the Manicheans in Asia and Bulgaria, Rosicrucians in northern Europe and the Templars of the Middle East in Europe spread a pure Christianity – a true apostolic Christianity.

However the French Crown joined with the Pope to destroy the Temple of the Spirit; the crusade against the Cathars was called the ‘Albigensian Crusade’; there was an endless persecution of the Cathars during one hundred and twenty years; and there was the complete destruction of the Templars along with the destruction of their archives and ritual material; there were the ‘Sicilian Vespers of the absolute monarchy against Christian esotericism’.

The anticipated end of mankind is spelled out in the last webpage of this section:

Thus, the human soul, which has received from Lucifer his ego with the unquenchable thirst of the growing individuality, will be filled, drop by drop, with the divine love emanating from Christ.

When the human soul will have understood the full scope of its sacrifice and fulfilled its mission, the archangel Lucifer, liberated and brighter than ever, will have become again the god of the planet Venus, which has been kept for him since the beginning and for which he continues to have a burning nostalgia.

At this moment, Christ will be completely identified with the earth and with mankind. The black cross, symbol of sin, atonement and death, will have become the white cross, the cross of light, a shining sign of the resurrection from which the roses of eternal love are poured, like living, angelic, scented roses.

That is the hoped for final redemption of the Threefold Alliance of the Light. The reign of Antichrist?

BRIDAL MYSTICISM

In the Spring 2007 edition of "SCP Newsletter" Tal Brooke and Jonathan Rice explore the inroads sexual sin has made in the Protestant Evangelical community, and propose what might be the cause.

The article begins by taking note of the fall from grace of Jim and Tammy Bakker; Gordon MacDonald, President of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship; Ted Haggard, National Association of Evangelicals; and moves on to Paul Crouch and Paul Cain. Then the article asks the question:

could there have been some doctrinal leaven held in common among the exposed as closet homosexuals--a "higher" teaching beyond the simple Gospel that might explain how these leaders fell from grace?

The writers propose that the answer might be "The doctrinal leaven of bridal mysticism."

Given the horrendous homosexual scandal in the Roman Catholic Church, listening to what they have to say might be a good idea. According to the article:

Although I (Jonathan Rice) was raised near San Francisco in the 1960s and '70s, my first real exposure to blatant homosexual behavior was when I began attending an Assemblies of God college in 1981. To my alarm, almost every semester, several people were expelled for homosexual activities and, in 1984, one dropped out of school after voluntarily "outing" himself.

Yet why was this happening in a religious culture that forbids homosexuality and thinks of it as the greatest mark of depravity?

The more I have thought about it, the more I have realized that I have seen a pattern all along that may reveal the doctrinal source of the problem: bridal mysticism (now often called "the bridal paradigm").

Seen mostly in charismatic Christianity, men are forced to live within the tensions of a gender paradox. Originating in old-world bridal mysticism, peculiar in the past to some Catholic sects, adherents are taught to love the "passionate Bridegroom-Jesus" who has "fire in his eyes." While the New Testament uses bridal imagery only in a metaphoric way, in which the entire collective Church is the bride of Christ (helping us understand our unity and adoption by a Holy God), this teaching is then made to suggest that each individual believer, regardless of sex, is also a bride; thus making Jesus a personal husband and even lover. This is a huge leap from the traditional view of holiness of Christ and his clear message of purity to this strange bend in doctrine.

Those familiar with the charismatic world will know exactly what I'm speaking of here.

Bridal mysticism is seen in the writings of Teresa of Avila, of heretic Madam Guyon, of Saint John of the Cross, and Catherine of Sienna, according to the article. Visionary experiences go with their teachings. It is one thing for a woman who has dedicated her life to Christ and his Church to see in Christ her bridegroom, and even here it can go astray when the sexual act enters the spirituality. But what happens when a man takes up this mysticism? Does it emasculate him? That is what the article suggests, and it may even progress to the feminization of the entire church.

The idea of "sacred sex" has been proposed in at least one blog post in the Catholic cyberworld. Within marriage there may be a place for this. Outside of marriage there certainly is not. In either case there are pitfalls better avoided. Sacred sex is too much a part of the occult world to be finding a place in Roman Catholicism. The alchemical wedding is bridal mysticism used as a technique by those who wish to have power over others.

Amy Welborn takes up the topic in a post you can read here.

PROBLEMS ON THE RIGHT

Apparitions are very much a part of Catholicism on the right. Devotion to approved apparitions is one thing, but a whole host of mystics have sprung up and take the followers on a merry chase. Among them is the Little Pebble, William Kamm.

The Courier and Mail reports:

A SELF-proclaimed prophet who claimed to receive messages from the Virgin Mary began a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old follower he selected to be one of his "queens", a Sydney court has heard.

William Kamm, also known as Little Pebble, is accused of having sex with the girl when she was living with her family in a religious community he established at Cambewarra, near Nowra, on the New South Wales south coast.

Mr Kamm created the community, the Order of Saint Charbel, in the late 1980s and planned to take 12 queens and 72 princesses who would all conceive his children, the NSW District Court heard today.

Followers would meet on the 13th day of every month when Mr Kamm would receive messages from the Virgin Mary, Crown Prosecutor Sara Bowers said.

Continue reading...

Credit to Spirit Daily.

GREETINGS FROM SNOWVILLE

I hope Cupid packed his woolies!

THE CATHAR HOLY GRAIL

Grail spirituality, according to the Antonin Gadal website

goes from mouth to mouth, travels from tradition to tradition. It is the magic cauldron of the Celtic druids. It appeared in Persia, reappeared among the first Gnostic Christians and the Manicheans and then animated the medieval Gnosis.
It may be found in Wales (Glastonbury), in Fécamp and Bruges, on the Rhine river and above all in the Pyrenees, the North of Spain and the Languedoc.

The oldest evidence of the belief dates to 1150: "‘Perceval, the Story of the Grail’ by Chrétien de Troyes (1150–1191) and ‘Parzifal’ and ‘Titurel’ by Wolfram von Eschenbach (1170–1220)" unless one includes the work of Kyot from Provins who discovered Arab-Jewish parchments at Toledo University which are attributed to the Pagan Flegetanis. From Flegetanis comes a belief in a pure race as the guardians of the grail, and presumably the source of Hitler's beliefs, though the Gadal website does not make this claim.

Gadal links the Knights Templar with the Cathar grail:

The spiritual stream that flowed through all the manifestations of the Western mysteries, ever since the Druids, the Manicheans and the first Christians, had been passed to the Knights Templars and the Cathars.

The Quest of the Grail was a symbolic representation of the Cathar initiation. The Grail was the supreme goal of the Perfect Ones. It provided access to the domain of the Spirit and gave the power of healing and of consoling mankind.

The website doesn't explain the "access to the domain of the Spirit" but given the flow of heresy that is the history presented here, one might assume it involves some sort of spiritism.

Whatever the spirit source might be, Gadal believed the enemies of the Cathars wanted to destroy the Cathar religion of love because of it. This is the thought presented together with the picture of the birdbath--a birdbath very similar to that symbol used by the John Main Seminar website.

The Cathars, according to Gadal, believed the spirit source was symbolised by the Grail or sacred cup, possession of which insures immortality and perfect healing. Those who drink from the cup are forced to reveal themselves, and thus Judas drank at the Last Supper and then betrayed Christ.

The twelve nights of the round table (the Grail Knights) symbolize the twelve apostles. Yet the Grail is not a Christian symbol:

It has often been said that the Grail was a material symbol of the Christian faith!

But that is not in accordance with the wisdom of the Pyrenean Cathars, since they rejected all material symbols, limiting themselves to the simplest forms of worship.

Rather, the Grail represents a secret doctrine of the Temple of the Spirit or the Universal Brotherhood, established in Egypt by Hermes Trismegistus, continued by the Neoplatonists, and linked by St. John to Christ. This is the tradition carried on by the Knights Templars of the Grail, by the Cathars, and by the Rosicrucians.

Finally, the Grail turns into a stone from heaven that feeds the Knights Templar--a stone called “Lapis ex caelis”. Is this, then, the Emerald Tablet? In any case, the source of the stone is explained this way:

‘While Lucifer, ambitious and arrogant, full of immoderate desires, was cast out of heaven, when falling from heaven, he chipped the corner of a star: which fragments rolled within space and were stopped by the earth. Stone from heaven, pure and perfect stone since it fell from heaven; it was the Lapis ex Caelis of the Grail!

PROBLEMS IN THE CHURCH

The following comes from Fr. Paul Trinchard's book APOSTATES WITHIN: THE DEMONIC IN THE (CATHOLIC) AMERICAN CHURCH. It is one of many examples he gives:

Rule by confusion is a favorite tool of diabolically feminine leaders. They have abandoned allegiance to God and to his church in order to advance and/or preserve their sinful goals. In place of allegiance to God, they have substituted allegiance to people.

Lastly, we, the militantly orthodox, must realize we are at times dealing with "professional confusers." First of all, they will try to confuse us as to what we see. Secondly, they will try to confuse us about God's truth or the Church's true teachings. Then, they will try to confuse us about our convictions--trying to get us to see right as wrong and wrong as right. Finally, they often lead us to embrace currently popular lies by forcing us to follow their "experts" who wholeheartedly embrace currently popular lies--either in the form of truths as lies or lies as truths. (p. 70-71) (all emphasis in original)

That's a perfect description of chaos magick.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

GAMALIEL FOUNDATION

Their website indicates:

Four major organizing networks work throughout the United States: the Gamaliel Foundation, the Industrial Areas Foundation (both headquartered in Chicago), the Pacific Institute for Community Organizations and the District Action Resource Training group (in Miami).

They include churches across the ecumenical spectrum: Lutheran, Catholic, Methodist, UCC, Presbyterian, Baptist, Episcopal, AME, CGOIC, independent, etc. And in most locals they are in racially mixed organizations, with white; black and Hispanic constituents.

"San Francisco Faith" carried a letter on the Industrial Areas Foundation in October 2002. There you can read:

- Saul Alinsky, founder of the Industrial Areas Foundation...

- Most disturbing to the Catholic is that Alinsky taught his people's organizations Machiavellian political action--that "the ends justify the means," that "truth to an organizer is relative and changing," and that "you do what you can with what you have and clothe it in moral garments." (See Alinsky's RULES FOR RADICALS)

- This IAF "Magnificat" is offered as an example of how one is "to reflect on the Gospels in order to find the proper response to our own situation" when using a see-judge-act pedagogy of conscientization.

- The religious and family values of Catholics are used to spark a conversation between them and the IAF. The IAF then uses the relationship built from those values to introduce another set of values--those of the IAF.

- One writer from San Antonio, Ed Hinojosa, attributes the incredible attrition in his diocese of Hispanic Catholics to other religions as directly related to the degree the IAF has been promoted there. He writes: "MACC and the San Antonio chancery have created and spread comunidades de base or base communities through which liberation theology is taught, and in every parish where they have created them, there has been either bitter division or no response. Lay people have not accepted the liberationist teachings coming from the chancery. People get disillusioned and leave the Church."

Regarding those four points made in the SF Faith letter, I have the following comments:

- RULES FOR RADICALS is one of the books that constitute required reading for Gamaliel organizers. Doing what you can with what you have and then cloaking it in moral arguments amounts to a deceptive front costumed to be appealing to whatever the latest trend in the Church happens to be. For Catholics today, the latest trend is back to orthodoxy. Thus a promoter of Saul Alinsky-type activity would simply kneel before the Eucharist so as to look good to the gullible.

- See-Judge-Act pedagogy is the methodology of Pax Christi and the Sillon, two organizations that were involved with Polish communism. I blogged on them here.

- Liberation Theology has been condemned by Cardinal Ratzinger:

"An analysis of the phenomenon of liberation theology reveals that it constitutes a fundamental threat to the faith of the Church. At the same time it must be borne in mind that no error could persist unless it contained a grain of truth. Indeed, an error is all the more dangerous, the greater that grain of truth is, for then the temptation it exerts is all the greater."

- Fr. Paul Shindler, a member of the Gamaliel organization, is pastor of St. Bernard's parish and was the pastor of an El Salvadoran parish for ten years. He still makes trips back to the Central American parish periodically. He made one in January. St. Bernard's church is about as orthodox in its interior decoration as it is possible to be. There is an Hispanic community within the St. Bernard's parishioners.

I have been saying for some time that there are as many problems on the right as there are on the left. Those who would undermine the Church are shape-shifters. They will do what they have to do in order to accomplish their goals. Their goals are not the goals of the Church Christ founded and the Pope.

GAMALIEL.ORG

A number of priests in the Akron area were dues paying members of an organization called the Gamaliel Foundation in 2004. Specifically, those priests are:

Fr. Mike Matutz, St. Martha Catholic Church
Fr. Paul Rosing, Annunciation Catholic Church
Fr. Pete Coletti, St. Martha Catholic Church
Fr. Ralph Colleta, St. John Catholic Church
Rev. Joseph Kraker, St. Vincent Catholic Church
Fr. William Karg, St. Sebastian Catholic Church
Fr. Paul Schindler, St. Bernard Catholic Church
Fr. Jim Ragnoni, St. Anthony Catholic Church
Fr. Thomas McGovern, St. Matthew Catholic Church
*Fr. Richard Arko, St. Mary Catholic Church, Barberton
Fr. Richard Burchell, St. Augustine Catholic Church

*Fr. Richard Arko was put on administrative leave in 2004 after it was discovered that he and his housemate were growing marijuana in the rectory.

Mr. Tom Allio, of the Akron Catholic Commission is also a member.

The names can be seen on the list here.

Gamaliel Foundation's history is described briefly here, including a reference to Saul Alinsky:

This type of community organizing began in Chicago in 1938. Saul Alinsky created the "Back of the Yards Community Council". The organization operated in the shadow of Chicago’s stock yards. The community was beset with poverty, political corruption, gangs, disease, deteriorating housing and inadequate schools; but most of all it was beset with a sense of powerlessness. The organization successfully engaged people to change the conditions of the community. Its motto was, "We shall decide our own destiny." And to a large extent and for some time, they did just that.

The Gamaliel Foundation First Year Reading List for New Organizers, 2002, includes books by Saul Alinsky, RULES FOR RADICALS, and REVEILLE FOR RADICALS. Note that "Titles in bold print are required reading for first year organizers in the Gamaliel Foundation." (I wonder what's on the second year reading list?)

"Playboy" magazine interviewed Alinsky in 1972. The interview is online. The second question asked in the interview is noteworthy:

PLAYBOY: What was your own relationship with the Communist Party?

ALINSKY: I knew plenty of Communists in those days, and I worked with them on a number of projects. Back in the Thirties, the Communists did a hell of a lot of good work; they were in the vanguard of the labor movement and they played an important role in aiding blacks and Okies and Southern sharecroppers. Anybody who tells you he was active in progressive causes in those days and never worked with the Reds is a goddamn liar. Their platform stood for all the right things, and unlike many liberals, they were willing to put their bodies on the line. Without the Communists, for example, I doubt the C.I.O. could have won all the battles it did. I was also sympathetic to Russia in those days, not because I admired Stalin or the Soviet system but because it seemed to be the only country willing to stand up to Hitler. I was in charge of a big part of fund raising for the International Brigade and in that capacity I worked in close alliance with the Communist Party.

When the Nazi-Soviet Pact came, though, and I refused to toe the party line and urged support for England and for American intervention in the war, the party turned on me tooth and nail. Chicago Reds plastered the Back of the Yards with big posters featuring a caricature of me with a snarling, slavering fanged mouth and wild eyes, labeled, "This is the face of a warmonger." But there were too many Poles, Czechs, Lithuanians and Latvians in the area for that tactic to go over very well. Actually, the greatest weakness of the party was its slavish parroting of the Moscow line. It could have been much more effective if it had adopted a relatively independent stance, like the western European parties do today. But all in all, and despite my own fights with them, I think the Communists of the Thirties deserve a lot of credit for the struggles they led or participated in. Today the party is just a shadow of the past, but in the Depiession it was a positive force for social change. A lot of its leaders and organizers were jerks, of course, but objectively the party in those days was on the right side and did considerable good.

All of the priests listed above together with all of the non-Catholic members of the Gamaliel Foundation that are active in Akron, Ohio, belong to SCCOPE (Summit County Organizations Organized for Progress and Empowerment).

Once we called the followers of Saul Alinsky Communists. Now we call them Catholic priests. One of the priests listed wore the chasuble with a triangle on it that I blogged on last Sunday.

The Cleveland Diocese is sick. Being a member of it makes me feel dirty.

UPDATE

discoverthenetworks.org, "A Guide to the Political Left" reports on the Gamaliel Foundation saying:

The Gamaliel Network receives much of its funding from the leftist group Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). Yet according to the Roman Catholic Faithful website, GF's "goals and p[hilosophies are at fundamental odds with Church teaching." GF endorses "scriptural relativism" and "encourage[s] a wide range of scriptural interpretations."...

The Gamaliel Foundation receives grants from the Bauman Family Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and others.

Lord have mercy!

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

GAY CLEVELAND DIOCESE

Check out Diago's latest post at Free Republic. While you're there, be sure to take note of the triangles that seem to go with the rainbows.

SHOULD THE LIZARD BE A HAMSTER ?

The lizard joke that I blogged yesterday may in fact be a rip-off of the hamster story by W. Bruce Cameron copyrighted in 1999. It's nearly a word-for-word copy.

Or could the hamster be a rip-off of the lizard joke? Since I have no source for the lizard version, there is no way to know.

Well, in any case, apologies to whoever deserves it.

"THE SECRET"

Covered on "Larry King Live" last November. "The Secret" in this case is also the power of positive thinking.

You can learn "The Secret" from a free online course offered by Bill Harris.

Byron Katie will teach you "The Secret".

The tricks are available at Yagnas.

You can read testimonials to the success of "The Secret" at Outrageous Power.

Buy "The Secret" DVD here.

Dr. Tony Lamatta will teach you "The Secret" here.

THE HAZARDS OF PET OWNERSHIP

From the e-mailbox...

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LIZARD BIRTHING

If you have raised kids (or been one), and gone through the pet syndrome including toilet flush burials for dead goldfish, the story below will have you laughing out LOUD!

Overview: I had to take my son's lizard to the vet.

Here's what happened:

Just after dinner one night, my son came up to tell me there was "something wrong" with one of the two lizards he holds prisoner in his room.

"He's just lying there looking sick," he told me. "I'm serious, dad, can you help?"

I put my best lizard-healer expression on my face and followed him into his bedroom. One of the little lizards was indeed lying on his back, looking stressed. I immediately knew what to do.

"Honey," I called, "come look at the lizard!"

"Oh my! gosh," my wife diagnosed after a minute. "She's having babies."

"What?" my son demanded. "But their names are Bert and Ernie, Mom!"

I was equally outraged.

"Hey, how can that be? I thought we said we didn't want them to reproduce," I accused my wife.

"Well, what do you want me to do, post a sign in their cage?" she inquired. (I actually think she said this sarcastically!)

"No, but you were supposed to get two boys!" I reminded her, (in my most loving, calm, sweet voice, while gritting my teeth together).

"Yeah, Bert and Ernie!" my son agreed.

"Well, it's just a little hard to tell on some guys, you know," she informed me. (Again with the sarcasm, you think?)

By now the rest of the family had gathered to see what was going on. I shrugged, deciding to make the best of it. "Kids, this is going to be a wondrous experience, I announced. "We're about to witness the miracle of birth."

"Oh, gross!" they shrieked.

"Well, isn't THAT just great! What are we going to do with a litter of tiny little lizard babies?" my wife wanted to know. (I really do think she was being snotty here, too. Don't you?)

We peered at the patient. After much struggling, what looked like a tiny foot would appear briefly, vanishing a scant second later.

"We don't appear to be making much progress," I noted. "It's
breech," my wife whispered, horrified.

"Do something, Dad!" my son urged.

"Okay, okay." Squeamishly , I reached in and grabbed the foot when it next appeared, giving it a gentle tug. It disappeared. I tried several more times with the same results.

"Should I call 911," my eldest daughter wanted to know. "Maybe they could talk us through the trauma." (You see a pattern here with the females in my house?)

"Let's get Ernie to the vet," I said grimly.

We drove to the vet with my son holding the cage in his lap.
"Bbreathe, Ernie, breathe," he urged.

"I don't think lizards do Lamaze," his mother noted to him. (Women can be so cruel to their own young. I mean what she does to me is one thing, but this boy is of her womb, for goodness's sake.)

The Vet took Ernie back to the examining room and peered at the little animal through a magnifying glass.

"What do you think, Doc, a C-section?" I suggested scientifically.

"Oh, very interesting," he murmured. "Mr. and Mrs. Cameron, may I speak to you privately for a moment?"

I gulped, nodding for my son to step outside.

"Is Ernie going to be okay?" my wife asked.

"Oh, perfectly," the Vet assured us. "This lizard is not in labor. In fact, that isn't EVER going to happen... Ernie is a boy. You see, Ernie is a young male. And occasionally, as they come into maturity, like most male species, they um....um....masturbate. Just the way he did, lying on his back." He blushed, glancing at my wife. "Well, you know what I'm saying, Mr. Cameron."

We were silent, absorbing this.

"So Ernie's just...just...excited," my wife offered.

"Exactly," the vet replied, relieved that we understood.

More silence. Then my vicious, cruel wife started to giggle. And giggle. And then even laugh loudly.

"What's so funny?" I demanded, knowing, but not believing that the woman I married would commit the upcoming affront to my flawless manliness.

Tears were now running down her face. Laughing "It's just...that...I'm picturing you pulling on its... its...teeny little..." she gasped for more air to bellow in laughter once more.

"That's enough," I warned. We thanked the Vet and hurriedly bundled the lizards and our son back into the car. He was glad everything was going to be okay.

"I know Ernie's really thankful for what you've done, Dad," he told me.

"Oh, you have NO idea,"

Closed mouth, my wife agreed, collapsing with laughter.


2 - Lizards - $140...

1 - Cage - $50...

Trip to the Vet - $30...

Memory of your husband pulling on a lizard's winkie... Priceless!


Moral of the story - finish biology class - lizards lay eggs!

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Hopefully no one is totally scandalized that I blogged it on Sunday morning! Have a nice day!