We do have a good bishop

I haven't agreed with all of his stances, though they typically align with the American Bishops as a whole.  But as I said, I try not to be a 'my side or the highway type.' Likewise, he has never called out any pope since he became bishop, though he has given viewpoints that were clearly not in line with Pope Francis all of the time.  

When he was made bishop of the diocese, it stands to reason that the MSM jumped on it - because of his ethnicity.  But well beyond what he was born looking like, he has brought a bit of a revival to the struggling diocese.  The boom in those entering the Church, and the priesthood, since he came can't be missed.  

A big reason? Long and short, he actually treats the Faith like it is real.  He trained as an exorcist, which I think it especially awesome.  Because he comes from a family of doctors and scientists, it shows by living it out that the two are not opposed to each other.  He's also pretty traditional in his views.  Sometimes he goes so far as to celebrate the customs and practices of our Eastern Orthodox brethren.  Probably due to the presence of Orthodoxy in India. 

He is also about the most energetic bishop I've seen. To quote a  character in the miniseries Jesus of Nazareth, go into a town, cross a street, go into the market and there he is.  Once a few year ago my sons and I were walking down a sidewalk in Columbus and lo and behold, here came Bishop Fernandes walking toward us. No doubt by the end of the day he had been at about a dozen different places and events.  

He also values the past.  More than once he has spoken glowingly of things gone by, including here in the US.  As well as more traditional Catholicism it's worth mentioning.  Which is why this video is hardly surprising, but put against the modern Francis Era Church as a whole, it's a delight.  It's him reading the Declaration of Independence.  Just because and our 250th birthday and all. Which I think, to quote the cricket, is just swell:

It's worth noting that initially he was asked to read a portion of the Declaration, but decided himself to read the entire thing.  Which is a very Bishop Fernandes thing to do.  

When Catholics are the Left's best friend

Always comes to mind around Thanksgiving, as Catholics everywhere rush forth to pull the rug out from under the traditional Thanksgiving holiday customs and stories.  Remember, one of my core observations is that at any given time, with any topic under the sun, that thing we call 'The Left' can count on 1/3 of all who oppose it to join in a particular cause. 

Now, the Left is easy and pretty open to work with in this regard.  One of its most important tasks is to upend the Western tradition.  Call it evil, wrong, dumb.  Say we have been wrong about our history, our heritage, our heroes.  Anything.  Today labeling it with the unforgivable sin of colonialism, or imperialism, or racism, does the job since in our post-Christian age, forgiveness is passe.  Call something those things and it's as good as saying eradicate them now. 

But if you can't go that far, at least demand change, or say we ware wrong, the heroes were not, we've been lied to - anything that says the civilization we inherited is not real, is based on lies, was bad, whatever. 

Enter Catholics.  I've said the death of America began when we convinced ourselves that America had no right to be a WASP nation in terms of a common culture.  Even a WASP nation trying to assure everyone was free and had equal opportunities wasn't enough.  Apparently though China can have Chinese culture, and Japan Japanese culture, and Iran Islamic culture, and so on, America can't have a particular culture of its own.  

That was the context of learning what WASP meant when I was in elementary school.  There was a dark time in American history when America was a WASP nation - but then God said 'Let there be light', and our first non-Protestant was elected president!  Hurray!  One of the most significant events in American history, or so I learned in the day.  Catholics I knew back in the day, and even now, repeat that celebrated observation with gusto.  Often sprinkling it with allusions to old American Protestant bigotry against Catholics.  

Of course sane thinkers realized it would take no time to move from WASP to WASC, then WASR, and finally WASS real fast.  That's Protestant to Christian to Religious to Secular.  The Anglo-Saxon being a big thing then too, as Italians and Poles and Greeks were considered every bit the ethnic minorities in our country as Indians or blacks.  Of course today, as we chisel away at the remaining 'W' (white) part, anything from west of the Urals is part of White, and that has to go.

But this wouldn't be possible without the help of anyone not in the latest demographic designation that has to go.  And among those are Catholics - conservative Catholics, traditional Catholics, Catholics opposed to modern secular progressivism.  Because though they may despise and loathe and reject the Left's moves to overturn the West and America, they just can't resist at certain times of the year lending a helping hand. 

I first encountered that when I began visiting St. Blogs back in the mid-2000s.  It was heading into Thanksgiving that first year of my visits.  Most of the Catholic bloggers I followed were what you would call right of center.  But all of a sudden, I thought I was reading a secular progressive history book published by Pravda House.  I had no idea how wrong we were about the Thanksgiving story, even though it had been trounced for decades by that time.  I was stunned to see how worthless the Puritans were, or mean, or how those Protestants were really all about the slavery part, but a Catholic led the way.  Or how it was really Catholics who deserve credit for he real first Thanksgiving. 

And all those years ago, even then, I recognized the folly with this.  Is it wrong to go for accuracy?  To tell different sides of a story?  Well, no.  Depending on how you do it.  And depending circumstances. But there is a time and place.  I've said before there is nothing wrong with preaching against gluttony.  But I wouldn't advise it if you're in an anorexia ward in a hospital. 

In another age, if Catholics wanted to point out overlooked details, while not pulling the rug out from under the traditional story, celebration and events, no problem.  But I wouldn't do it now.  Because as I said, the Left is a patient and willing partner.  The only thing important is that you have someone - anyone - saying what America inherited, what we valued, what we celebrated, was wrong.  That's all. We can add the genocide and Nazi and racist filth later.  

That's why it's enough that even people not inclined to agree with the Left admit that some part of America we learned about was a lie all along.  Any part.  There will be plenty of others saying the same thing about other parts of the Western Christian Tradition.  And in the end, there will be quite a ledger of protests to justify the need to burn the whole thing to the ground - all signed by those who in most other cases are fighting like mad dogs to keep that from happening.

A full broadside assault on EWTN

Like many who entered the Catholic Church in the 2000s, EWTN was a big help to me, even if I never really had access to the network where I lived.  That used to bug Marcus Grodi that I had to watch EWTN on old video tapes since I lived in an area without it.  Nonetheless, I could visit the website and there was plenty of good things for someone trying to grope about for understanding Catholicism.  And sometimes I might catch an episode here or there.  Once on vacation, I saw Scott Hahn unpack the Sacrament of Reconciliation in a way that made sense to my Evangelical ears. 

That's not to say I was in love with the network.  Even in the day it seemed a bit 'corporaty' for my sensitivities, like a vast corporation rather than a ministry.  When we at CHNI went to the big memorial to Mother Angelica I was both impressed and a little squeamish.  Nonetheless, I felt the good far outweighed the bad. 

Which goes to show I would make a miserable Leftist.  For the Left, there is no outweighing the bad of rejecting sacred doctrines of the Leftist State.  You conform or else.  I have no doubt that EWTN has, like the Jesuits, changed over the years.  It is likely too Trump friendly for my taste, and perhaps focuses an inordinate amount of time criticizing Pope Francis.  Again, I don't know since it isn't available here, and I don't have cable anyway. 

Nonetheless, any support of Trump or any criticism of Pope Francis would incur the merciless and unyielding wrath of those left of center.  After all, it isn't just theology, sexuality, gender, bigotry, ideas of no personal responsibility, affronts to common sense and discrimination that the Left is peddling.  It's also helping us understand how unfair and prone to abuse such ideas as equality, forgiveness, looking beyond the past and reconciliation have been over the years.  So if you're on the Left, no need to reach out to understand or engage in some attempt at reconciling those who dissent from Leftwing conformity.  You go straight to executing the guilty verdict. 

So there is now a petition to get the Catholic bishops in the US to renounce EWTN and forbid any use of materials from the network.  You can look at the petition here, which has 10,000 signatures apparently.  

Will this do anything?  I don't know.  Most Catholics probably don't know much about it one way or another.  It's just symptomatic of the times.  These pushing the petition will likely be those coming after their fellow believers when the time comes.  They have made it clear if you don't get on the good ship Liberal, then they will gladly join the Left in punishing you to the fullest extent that they can, your relationship to Jesus or the Faith being of no consequence.

Has has the USCCB responded to the Nashville shooting?

That's United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for you Protestants out there.  I'm just wondering.  I looked and didn't find anything.  I saw some individual bishops say a few things.  But nothing from the USCCB that I could find.  I say that because:

You get the point.  The George Floyd response was the Johnny-come-lately of the bunch, a whopping six days after his death.  For others like the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting the official response was the same day. 

But unless I'm missing it, we're four days out and nothing.  Heck, they can join the transgender movement and insist the real victim was the shooter.  At least it would be something.  But right now I'm hearing a great big silence.  

At least Pope Francis reached out and offered his condolences.   If there has been a response from the USCCB I would happily concede the point.  Walking back on this post is a far better thing than there not being a response, and the implications of such a difference in reactions. 

UPDATE:  5:30 and all is not well.  It's now five days since the horrific Nashville church school shooting. And I've found nothing from our brave bishops.  Some individual bishops have spoken out.  But nothing like the above and other similar responses.  

UPDATE 2: It's Palm Sunday, that means six days since the shooting.  The press has all but dropped it.  The official transgender response is now '7 Victims' or, in some cases, only 1 real victim.  And those are the nice transgender activist responses.  I'm not giving up, but I'm beginning to doubt the bishops will respond at all.  Few national religious leaders have.  Those who have responded have avoided the obvious, or refused to call out the worst of the transgender rhetoric.   So we'll see.  

A major difference between Deacon Steven Greydanus and me

He sees the Pew Research study that finds Evangelicals have the highest disapproval rating among Americans today and appears to think Evangelicals are doing something wrong.  I look at America today, look at the same Pew Research study, and think Evangelicals are doing something right. 

I'm especially bothered that Catholics are held in the same high esteem as are mainline Protestant denominations.  Especially since I know what so many of those denominations no longer believe and what they now believe.  Which may account for their high esteem in our modern secularized pagan society.   

BTW, I understand that the approval rating is also due to the media culture's villainizing of Evangelicals.  In addition to that, you have the emerging Evangelical court prophets sucking up to the media by continually throwing their fellow Evangelicals under the bus.  

As a former Evangelical pastor, I used to joke that I was thankful for the Catholic Church.  After all, it was the one Christian tradition our pop culture hated more than Christians in general.  Since Pope Francis, however, that has changed.  If anyone has noticed.  Even the latest priest abuse story gets no more than a sideline mention.  It's largely look the other way or sing the praises of Pope Francis as far as the media establishment is concerned.  Again, given the core values and beliefs of our modern era, I'm not sure I would wear that fact as a badge of honor. 

"And Democrats have wasted no time getting their top priorities to the governor's desk. Within the first two months of the many-months long legislative session, Democrats passed their centerpiece tax plan, a bill to repeal the state's defunct 1931 abortion ban and legislation to create civil rights protections for LGBTQ people."

Bishop Barron responds to Roe

 Here:

Yep. Succinct and true.  We allowed, if not encouraged, America's womenfolk to abort over 60 million pregnancies in the course of a few generations in order to sustain our modern sex and drugs culture. And we did this despite the rise of AIDS and tens of millions of lives otherwise lost or ruined to our unchecked debauchery.  Of course women were already aborting pregnancies before Roe, and those numbers had been increasing.  They increased pretty much in line with our post-war acceptance of a post-Christian era that would see whatever good lessons we tried to learn from WWII corrupted by the promise of a rampant narcissistic world.  A world where life ends when I say so, but my life never ends because everything is everyone else's fault.  A paganized message oddly embraced by no small number of Christians. 

Bishop Barron gets to the point, nonetheless, and reminds us of the horror we've lived through.  A horror that, unlike a Second World War, has been easily ignored by so many. And unlike the Second World War, where the world at least tried to learn a lesson or two, even now we're seeing millions fight to make sure we learn nothing at all from our abortion culture.  We're seeing them fight to keep piling on the bodies of aborted babies to sustain a cultural decadence that has piled on its own bodies by the tens of millions.  

They say the very existence of the Jewish people is proof of God's existence.  If that's the case, then the very fact that our post-Christian society still exists is more than ample proof of this God's longsuffering grace. 

Our very Catholic president responds to the Roe decision

By pledging to fight like a mad dog to keep abortion as it was: Legal, unrestrained and allowable from conception to mere seconds before viable birth.   I'd like to say something about his Catholicism and how our abortion for sex culture is an affront to God and human decency.  But this is modern Catholicism.  Given our pope's priorities, I don't know how much footing I would have.  Suffice to say, President Biden is among those Catholics who believe the only acceptable way to live the Gospel is through the filter of modern, secular leftwing activism and worldviews.  

Speaking of Fred Phelps discussing gay rights

I saw this Twitter thread from Fr. James Martin regarding vaccines:  

You can feel the contempt and refusal to listen.  That Fr. Martin seems to adopt the 'Science is 100% right 100% of the time' principle also appears clear.  Which is odd.  I don't expect science to always be right.  I know it's been shocking for people to watch the scientific community 'make the sausage' when it comes to Covid.  The scientific community has been wrong about many things since this virus first popped on the scene.  Yet our modern sloganeering about science, which is based on anything but science, has given people a false sense of what actual science is all about.  And it ain't about always being 100% right 100% of the time. 

Of course those who choose to be vaccinated, or wear masks, or social distance, or stay home are fine with me. I completely understand and I support their right to take care of themselves as they see fit.  But we now know that you can get Covid even when vaccinated, and you can spread Covid even when vaccinated,  especially with Omicron.  And based upon one report where 167 fully vaccinated and 157 unvaccinated were in the ICU due to Covid, it's appears the old 'plague of the unvaccinated' slogan might be dead on arrival. As have so many claims made since the beginning of the Covid era. 

Therefore the decision to vaccinate is increasingly a decision for yourself and yourself alone.  To deny the obvious means you're only willing to deny the obvious, not 'follow the science'. And that makes me wonder how concerned you really are about the science, or vaccines, or even the people involved. 

Whatever the case, I'm glad he's not our priest.  I don't think I knew a Protestant fundamentalist pastor with such contempt for those in his church who wouldn't agree with him.  I wonder if that's what Pope Francis is thinking when he calls out fundamentalism. Nah. 

On the other hand, there is always hope:

Hardcore vaccine proponent Deacon Greydanus draws the line at dancing on the graves of the unvaccinated.  The call to whip it out and piss all over dead people who dared question the latest infallible science gets a Barthian Nein!  

I would have liked it if Deacon Greydanus actually admitted that some of the advocates for his side can be pretty wretched to the core.  After all, I notice how easy it is for some to find a single case of crazy opposition to the vaccines and use it to paint everyone who questions the vaccines the same color. 

Nonetheless, I'll take it.  Proud of Deacon Greydanus for calling out wretched, especially when it's someone clearly on his side.  Even if he doesn't go to great lengths to portray it that way. 

To celebrate Columbus Day

You could do worse than take a look at this fine post at The American Catholic.  I won't detract from remembering the good by focusing on the bad.  Just let it be known that as far back as my third grade year - 1975 - we learned the bad, and even the bad regarding Columbus, just the same.  We also celebrated the good.  At that stage, multiculturalism had not taken hold and we still learned that for all its sins, the Christian West was a net boon for the world.   Today we are told the opposite, and youngsters believe the opposite.  Where that will go I don't know.  But a sane and realistic - and dare I say, Christian - look back at Columbus and what he did might be a great way to stop the mental bleeding.

I will say something my boys pointed out, since in our neck of the woods our Democratic mayor and city council in Columbus have removed statues of Columbus.  Especially regarding those who substitute Columbus Day with National Indigenous Persons Day - isn't it odd they celebrate entire cultures who openly did what they're blasting Columbus for doing?  Clearly his problem wasn't slavery or imperialism or conquering people.  That was done aplenty in the Americas long before Columbus.  It must  be because he helped bring Christianity and the West to these shores, both of which the modern Left is now against.  Given the Left's zeal for abortion, it's obvious why those cultures' human sacrifice isn't something that keeps them from being celebrated, that's for sure. 

The deacon versus the priest

Apparently a priest has dared suggest that our problems are not due to a failure to conform to socio-political policy solutions and narratives.  

Instead, he's suggested it's our nation's rejection of Christ and the Gospel and abandoning God that's the problem.  Worse, he dared suggest that things like murder and lynching are bad because, well, it's bad to murder and lynch people irrespective of the skin colors involved.  This he says as opposed to our current sanctioned opinion that murder, while bad, can be made worse based on the skin color of those involved.  He even went on to say that the Civil War was fought by brave men in order to end the common practice of human slavery.  I mean, we all know people can only have one motivation at a time, and since it appears many in the North were worried about preserving the Union and - worse - didn't see slavery and racism the way our perfect generation does today, it couldn't have been about slavery (except the Nazi Southerners who only fought to preserve slavery and for no other reason).  He then dared to suggest we need some stats and data before we run about yelling Systemic Racism and White Privilege, and muses that there could be a different way to see the problems we're all witnessing.  Whew.  

Well, this just won't do, and deacon and film critic Steven Greydanus swooped in to correct the misguided priest who dared suggest such things:

So there you go.  The Civil War couldn't have been about anything but the worst things, you can't think our problems are connected to some universal rejection of Christ as opposed to failing to see the political and social solutions that stand before us, and what the hell is wrong with people who don't first consider ethnicity and skin color when thinking of the horrors of lynchings and other forms of death and violence?  Oh, and apparently White Americans don't think there's racism today.  Not sure how, but apparently it's true. 

Two different perspectives for Catholics in 21st Century America. 

As for the whole voting and being a Democrat, I'd guess you can be a faithful Catholic and vote for either Democrats or Republicans.  Exactly how that is possible is for others to say.  As long as you're consistent, however, that's fair.  

A seven year old observation about the Catholic Church

From a post about a Catholic diocese giving the green light for girl football players.  Read the post here.  I go into depth about that particular subject, knowing what I know of football and my son's participation in it (when they were having the same thing relative to a girl on their team).  That whole business seems to have died down right now.  The point of the Church's continual 'when the World speaks, we jump' approach, however, appears nowhere as strong as today - despite catastrophic results.  Sort of like saying 'we started a new game plan ten years ago and haven't won a game since ...  let's keep going with it!'.  Since it was seven year ago, and comparing where the church of the Pope Francis era has come, it's worth a look back and a reflection.

If only pro-choice Catholic politicians wore MAGA hats and had white skin

Then we'd be seeing a helluva lot more fire and brimstone than this from Catholic leadership.

Happy Thanksgiving

So much to do and say, but so little time.  Alas.  Suffice to say you can ignore anyone to the Left when they speak of Thanksgiving.  Leftist Christians, including Catholics, count there, too.  As I said, even among non-leftist Catholics, there has been a tendency to trash talk the Pilgrims.  Add to that the left's pathological hatred of anything in the Christian West, and it gets ugly.  And wrong.  Ironically, the Orthodox, who hold no brief of the United States in general (or all of Western culture), seem to give high fives and cheers to those Plymouth Puritans.

Here, good old Prager U. helps us remember what did and didn't happen, the parts left out, and what it was really all about.

I find it ironic, especially for Catholics, that so many will focus on the puritans and their puritanical ways (watch out we don't conflate puritanism with Victorianism some centuries later).  After all, in an age of rampant sex sins, sex crimes, sexting, child molestation, not to mention the depression, suicide, drug addiction and basic nihilism that his sweeping our nation, to take time out to begrudge the pilgrims their restrained ways is a bit like Hitler on his last day in the bunker screaming, "Dammit, I said wienerschnitzel!"

As I said, I don't intend to keep pounding the drums about the gathering clouds of racism, evil, tyranny, blasphemy, heresy and everything else besetting us, nor the idiocy and cowardice of those Christians who can't wait to embrace it in order to keep their positions of privilege at the latest Hollywood parties.  But the reaming that this wonderful holiday receives, a holiday that when remembered correctly could be worth so many lessons for an age in desperate need of horse sense, is still worth the shout out.

The Jesuit Review embraces Group Identity Politics

Yep.  That's the one minute explanation for why it is calling for Kavanaugh's nomination to be withdrawn.  Not even most Democrats have gone there, instead going for the FBI dodge.  But not the Jesuits.  They plunge in headfirst, embracing all of the group identity politics the Left can pray for:

What is different this time is that this nomination battle is no longer purely about predicting the likely outcome of Judge Kavanaugh’s vote on the court. It now involves the symbolic meaning of his nomination and confirmation in the #MeToo era. The hearings and the committee’s deliberations are now also a bellwether of the way the country treats women when their reports of harassment, assault and abuse threaten to derail the careers of powerful men.

You read right.  It's no longer about an individual or even stemming the tide of unlimited abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia.  It's about group identity and guilt based on genitals.  Note it doesn't even pretend to include non-women victims.  It makes you wonder how they venerate Jesus knowing He came as a man. 

It never ceases to amaze me how quick Catholic are to say, "Hey! Is that Satan over there?  Let's go!"  I mean, thank goodness the Left wasn't saying Jews are the group guilty by virtue of their demographic, or we'd have to rewrite our books about WWII.

Remember what I've said.  Any idiot can condemn the sins of the past.  But it takes a special idiot to see them repeated and embrace them the second time around.

BTW, reader Nate pointed out on another blog that it isn't just a case of ignoring the past, but ignoring the future.  How the fools of our nation are not seeing the problem with forgoing presumption of innocence based on demographic and group identity is beyond me.  It's like looking at panzer divisions along the Polish border on August 30, 1939 and saying you don't see a problem.

Archbishop Vigano: 1, Pope Francis: 0

So Pope Francis has moved from 'please, say no more' to 'silence is golden when you're accused by partisan hacks'.  That's the old 'appeal to hatred of conservatives' tactic.  See if the media jumps on that one.  It's starting to look bleak.  Especially since almost ever other day Archbishop Vigano appears to be vindicated one way or another.

Most Catholics are centering on the scandal, and that's good.  A goodly amount are appealing to prayer and fasting, reform and return to the fundamentals of the Faith.  All good.  A few are still trying to join Pope Francis's example of kill the messenger, but I think that's wearing thin.

A few will no doubt try to deflect.  I'm surprised more progressive/New Prolife/Seamless Garment Catholics haven't dragged Trump out of the closet for a good thrashing to take attention away from the ongoing train wreck that is Pope Francis's and his supporters' handling of the scandal.

We'll see.  With every passing day, Pope Francis goes a long way toward suggesting we have seen the problem, and it is him.  I'm willing to wait for evidence, but as it appears Pope Francis and his supporters are the ones who have all the cards evidence-wise, that's getting tougher and tougher to hold onto.

More on the sex abuse scandal latest

Rod Dreher takes a more mature and balanced look.  At the end of the day, it's looking ugly.  Pope Francis is still innocent.  But there is certainly reason for a full investigation.  Not an investigation that promises to drag anyone and everyone over ten miles of broken glass if they dare point to Pope Francis.  But one that seeks the Truth.  Most I hear are in two camps: they want the truth, or they're desperately trying to protect homosexuality, Pope Francis, and the status quo when convenient.  I'm going with the first camp.

The single best thing about Archbishop Viganò's accusations?

Many of the same individuals who spent the last year throwing due process, presumption of innocence and burden of proof out the window are all of a sudden worried about the same.  I've not seen so many people appeal to the importance of due process, actual evidence and presumption of innocence for some time.  Nice to see those old fads making a comeback.

From Mark during the Roy Moore kerfuffle:

Mark now, during the Pope Francis kerfuffle

He's not alone of course.  Many who are now ringing the 'but evidence!' bell even a month or two ago were happy with 'accuse, then destroy'.  Ah, where is Roy Moore when we need him?

Bonus points for Mark adopting CNN's headline framing the questions surrounding Pope Francis as a 'coup.'  That would be right up with the always fair and balanced National Catholic Reporter not too subtly calling it a putsch. That term should invoke memories of the infamous Beer Hall Putsch, which was the Nazis' premature coup attempt.  In other words, accusers of Pope Francis?  Think Nazi.  If you're not liberal, you're Nazi.  It works for the secular Left, why not use it in the Catholic Left just the same?

Again, I have a sneaky feeling that we're going to be seeing the same scandal erupt in another 20 years or so, since the emphasis seems more and more on protecting ideologies and personalities than, you know, protecting the innocent.

UPDATE: award for dumbest statement in the scandal may deserve to be taken away from Cardinal Chaput.  It could now belong to this clever advocate of post-modern ignorance, who seems to suggest the whole scandal is not due to rampant homosexuality or compromise with modernist approaches to sexuality, but rather due to that 'prissy' old talk about how sex was between a man and woman in marriage and not to be flaunted (you know, modesty and all).  Freud would be proud.  Some day Catholics are going to have to learn that a puritanical approach to sex is not - repeat NOT - the biggest problem the Church has.

UPDATE II: The sin and evil continue, as Archbishop Viano is called a liar, accused of being in bed with the Koch brothers (my favorite), and it's all a vast right wing conspiracy.  With childish attempts to deflect from any potential damaging accusations against Pope Francis.  The madness and insanity is enough to make a sane person think there must be something there.  If one of the commenters is correct, kudos to the president of Ave Maria University for saying, in a nutshell, we don't give a damn what Pope Francis is accused of, he's our guy, how dare anyone say anything.  Remember a week ago when thousands of assault and rape victims mattered?  Yeah.  Seems like ancient history now.

It's almost like the Catholic Church isn't in the middle of a horrible crisis

The San Jose Diocese buys a retirement home for its Bishop.  Price tag?  A whopping 2.3 million dollars.  Yep.  I believe the term is 'Bad Optics.'  Seldom in my life have I met an institution where so many in it go out of their way to live up to as many negative stereotypes as possible. 

Prayers for the Church, and the broader Christian Faith, are in order.

Rod Dreher continues to look at that elephant in the Catholic abuse scandal

Gender of victims from the report on Catholic sexual abuse

Here.  As the initial shock of the PA Grand Jury release settles among Catholics, it's not surprising bona fide pedophilia, or it involved consensual sexual relations between adult priests or seminarians, the overwhelming majority has involved activity of a homosexual appearance.
that moderate, progressive, left wing, New Prolife, and of course pro-homosexuality Catholics are circling the wagons around one of the more inconvenient truths to reemerge: that most of the abuse scandal of the Church has been decidedly male on male.

That we are willing to say we care about the victims beyond all consideration - except for looking into the ties to homosexuality - says much. It's not surprising of course.  When the AIDS epidemic exploded onto the world stage, the initial reports centered it largely in the gay community.  When suggestions were made that SOP be followed where new, unheard of diseases were concerned - like quarantine or mandatory questioning - the world said no.  That could turn people against the homosexual community and somehow scapegoat them.

One of my cousins was in the medical field in those days.  He had never seen anything like it.  For the longest time, they couldn't even question a patient about the possibility of being infected, let alone do any other exploratory procedures to discover any infection.  Even when we didn't know the extent of how it was transmitted, the emphasis was on not violating the concerns of the gay community, not on finding out how to stop the disease.  If those working with them were harmed as a result?  Eh.  So the thought that we're suddenly concerned about the victims but only if it means not looking in the direction of homosexuality shouldn't be surprising.

Am I saying the decision to avoid the usual protocol where new, unknown diseases are typically concerned caused the deaths of tens of millions?  No.  I'm saying whatever the result was of not following the usual procedures had no bearing on the decision to do it.  The decision to forgo business as usual was for the sole purpose of protecting homosexuals and their sensitivities.  If it would or wouldn't lead to a global pandemic was not accounted for, or it was accounted for and it was found a risk worth taking.

The same is happening now.  There is something strange about an era that will bury everything - our understanding of biology, the central concept of sexual procreation, the importance of family, God, the nature of humanity, the potential for a global pandemic, the possibility of endless millions dead, and now the chance that innocents in the thousands could continue to be assaulted - all at the foot of the altar to homosexual normality.  That's quite a bill we're willing to pay.  And yet we seem quite willing to continue paying it.  From Church leaders, and Christian ministers, to almost the entire society outside of the Church walls, we've said we will stand on our libidos, or at least the sexual desires of non-heterosexuals; we can do no other, so help us whoever.

Where it will go, we'll have to see.  I've learned our modern age's ability to ignore all the warning signs and more is one of our most significant distinctiveness.

Dark night of the Catholic soul

What can be said?  I didn't leave the Church because of this.  I left the Church because my family was losing faith in the Gospel that all too many within the Church no longer seemed to think was anything other than our personal opinion.  Given what we lost to become Catholic, that was a tough pill to swallow.  It was made tougher as we had a pope who increasingly acted as if the only unforgivable sin was not keeping up with the times.  We could have stayed in Protestantism with our 529s and our retirement funds and believed that.

As a Protestant, I noticed most of my clergy colleagues didn't jump on the pop culture and media bandwagon and beat up on the Church.  That's because we all knew that such things weren't unique to Catholicism.  There might not have been the feeling of widespread, systemic cover up that we saw in the Catholic scandal.  But we did have scandals.  The Orthodox Church is no different.
Fact is, we became Catholic in the early 00s, when the priest abuse scandal was being used to bludgeon the Church on a daily basis.

But nothing - nothing in my life, in my years as a vocational clergy, in my years looking deep into the heart of the Faith traditions our lives have gone through so much to follow - have I seen anything like this.  I'm at a loss.  I just don't know of any other institution or organization that has seen this much horrific, systemic, purposeful hellish sin.  Even Hollywood in the post-Weinstein era, with the casting coach on full display, pales in comparison. 

There is something truly demonic in all of this.  Some say it isn't Vatican II.  After all, the charges go back 70 years.  But who were the ones pushing the Church into the Second Vatican Council?  Perhaps it's the Church's belief that the Faith must follow the world that is at the root cause.  Perhaps there is this constant desire to rework the Faith to keep up with the Joneses.  Others are saying it's just clericalism.  It's nothing new, just another problem needing fixed.  I don't know.

I just know it is sickening.  It's so bad that the entire Faith of Jesus Christ gets a black eye or two with this one.  It's not enough for other traditions to point and say 'it's them!'  It drags the entire Gospel down into the pits.  

There is a way toward consolation of course.  Prayer and fasting are what is in order.  Also it's time for Catholics to ask if they are more interested in keeping up with the world, or actually saving the world.  How much more has to happen before we conclude the usual stuff isn't working?  How many have to turn their backs on the Faith, or walk away, or dismiss its importance for Christians to admit the obvious?  This might be the most egregious result of the modern way, but it's hardly the only result. 

I have no intention of skipping into the Orthodox church next Sunday as if all is right since this is not our problem.  It is our problem.  Because the Catholic Church is merely the most visible example of a religion that has long since lost its ability to bring the Gospel into the darkness of the world.  Rather, the world is increasingly bringing its darkness into the Good News of the Church.  We might think we're converting the world (assuming we don't consider this a breach of ethics), but I think the world has done a bang-up job converting us.

To paraphrase Warren Hollister's assessment of the Franciscan order, Christianity may continue to serve the world, minister to the world and even pray for the world, but I fear we've altogether ceased to inspire our own members, much less the world.