Roman Catholic Blog

"Sister" Carol Keehan - Grade 3 Cancer on the body politic of Holy Mother Church

Cancer can be classified into three different grades, per www.differencebetween.com.

Grade 1 is when cancer cells look alike like normal cells. In other words these are a slow growing cell which doesn’t show much symptoms of a cancer infection. A cancer infection if identified in this stage can be cured. This is also termed as early stage.

Grade 2 is when cancer cells start to appear different from normal cells. These are fast growing cells and are in the growing stage. If proper treatment is given at this stage, the disease can be cured. A cancer if unidentified in grade 2 could be termed as a stage where hope of curing is less or rare. A complete cure if guaranteed is only during the initial stages.

Grade 3 is when cancer cells are found to be immensely growing and is in the final stages of growth. This is when, the patient feels the pain in the parts of the body where cancer cell are grown. The pain will be severe and uncontrollable.

I see Sister Keehan as a Grade 3 cancer on the body politic of Holy Mother Church.

          "What Did CHA's Carol Keehan Know and When Did She Know It?

Register news analysis: As threats to religious liberty escalate, critics say it’s time to establish who truly speaks for the Church in the United States.

BY JOAN FRAWLEY DESMOND, National Catholic Register

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Feb. 10 confirmed that his administration was offering an “accommodation” to religious groups opposed to a controversial federal rule requiring private health plans to provide contraception and abortion services.

As reported in the media, church-affiliated employers would not have to directly cover those services; instead, their insurance plans would cover them.

The announcement prompted an expression of gratitude from Daughter of Charity Sister Carol Keehan, the president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, and a polite, but wary response from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which said they needed to study the proposed modification.

That evening, the bishops’ conference formally rejected the president’s “accommodation” as essentially meaningless.

For the rest of the weekend, amid a blur of news headlines and talking heads that offered conflicting judgments, the faithful in the pews struggled to determine what, if anything, had changed regarding the administration’s policy.

The contrasting responses from the CHA leader and the USCCB have left Catholics and the general public confused about who speaks for the Church on a matter of grave institutional concern and whether the Obama administration exploited a lack of clarity about that matter.

The dueling positions have fueled questions about the basis of Sister Carol’s endorsement: USCCB officials and health-care experts have since confirmed that the government has not issued any binding regulations that legally override the controversial contraception mandate finalized by the Department of Health and Human Services on Jan. 20.

Subsequent media coverage and interviews suggest that while the White House cleared its talking points with Sister Carol in advance of the president’s public address, the USCCB had been excluded from the administration’s deliberations.

..................................................

Who Speaks for the Church?

The confusion and possible institutional damage generated by Sister Carol’s public endorsement have led some Catholic experts in the health-care field to demand an accounting.

“On the basis of what information and what authority did she issue this endorsement? It’s embarrassing from a policy standpoint,” noted Paul Danello, an expert on civil and canon law issues in Catholic health care, who has received calls from Catholic hospitals worried about the implications of the HHS final rule.

“If the CHA board hasn’t authorized this, if she has no mandate from the USCCB, and if there are no legally binding documents, she is operating without any legal, governance or regulatory basis. That is a hell of a situation for a Roman Catholic nun that heads the Catholic Health Association to be in.”

.....

“It’s the right hand fighting against the left hand,” he said. “Who is speaking for the Church here? The Church needs to get its house in order.”"

For the full story please see:http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/what-did-catholic-health-associations-sister-carol-know-and-when-did-she-kn/

 _______________________

 

George Niederauer's Last Hurrah = the Death of Catholic Hospitals?

 

I used to think that when his tenure as Archbishop of San Francisco ended this year, that the greatest harm done to the Roman Catholic Church by George Niederauer would have been caused by his years as Rector at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo.

In that capacity, he oversaw the indoctrination of an untold number of priests, albeit while in formation. The most serious forms of heresy have always had their origins with ill-trained or disobedient clergy. One has only to think of Audius, Arius, Donatus Magnus, Lucifer Calaritanus, Montanus, Pelagius, Priscillian, Valentinus, Apollonaris, Macedonius, Nestorius, Henry of Lausanne, Jan Hus, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, John Calvin (seminarian), jansen, Zwingli, Knox, Loisy, Tyrrell, Hans Kung, etc…..

 

Nonetheless, with his 75^th birthday fast approaching and his departure as Archbishop of Babylon by the Bay imminent, George Niederauer has undertaken a decision of truly MOMENTOUS proportions.

 

(Hat tip to Cal Catholic Daily)

 Catholic Healthcare West becomes Dignity Health

By Andrew S. Ross

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

www.sfgate.com

You may have noticed in Tuesday's Chronicle three large display ads on separate pages headlined "Dignity is."

It's "something you are born with," one ad says. "Taking care of your body, mind and spirit," says another. And in the last one: "60,000 people committed to delivering superior care."

Those 60,000 people used to work for San Francisco-based Catholic Healthcare West, but as of Tuesday are employed by Dignity Health.

The new name is just one of the changes occurring at the not-for-profit hospital chain, the fifth largest in the country, with 40 full-service hospitals in California, Arizona and Nevada, and 150 ancillary clinics.

While continuing to focus on the needs of poor and underserved communities, the changes are intended to "position ourselves for growth in a changing health care environment," said a statement announcing the name change. "Growth plans anticipate expanded partnerships, which will include both Catholic and non-Catholic care centers.

Significantly, the new entity, which describes itself as nondenominational, is loosening its traditional ties to the Catholic Church.

A more secular board of directors - just two of the nine members are sisters of religious orders - replaces the more heavily Catholic layers of management under which CHW operated since its founding in 1986. Fifteen of its 40 hospitals are non-Catholic, a number likely to increase as the network expands.

"The new structure and name enable us to grow into a national system, welcoming both Catholic and non-Catholic care centers into the system, while respecting the identity and integrity of each," the statement said.

While the changes were made in consultation with the Catholic Church and approved by San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer(above), the Catholic affiliation has in the past been an obstacle to making deals with potential partners.

Lloyd Dean, CEO of Catholic Healthcare West, and now Dignity Health, told Kaiser Health News: "One of the things when we get down to what I'll call the real discussions as they confer with their boards is, 'What does the future mean if we're a non-Catholic entity? Will we have to become Catholic? What will be the Catholic influence?' "

One thing that will not change: some of the services that are off-limits to both Catholic and non-Catholic facilities in the network. According to Dignity Health's Statement of Common Values, "direct abortion is not performed. Reproductive technologies in which conception occurs outside a woman's body will not be part of (the) services. This includes in vitro fertilization."

Given the major changes occurring in the U.S. health care system, however, we can expect to hear a lot more about Dignity Health's plans "for more integrated care to enhance quality and reduce costs."

"There's a lot of consolidation going on, both for efficiency gains, which the announcement emphasizes, but also to get more market power," said Colin Cameron, who teaches health economics at UC Davis. "It's not clear yet what going national does for them, but there should be some economies of scale."

Dignity Health, which as CHW recorded $10.6 billion in revenue in 2011 - has three hospitals in the Bay Area - St. Francis Memorial and St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco and Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City - and Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz. It did not provide details of its expansion plans, except, in the words of a spokeswoman, "like many organizations nationwide, we are talking to a number of potential partners."

Dignity did announce a $1.8 million investment in electronic medical records over the next five years. Before the name change, it was one of 26 hospitals chosen by Medicare for a pilot program, funded by the Affordable Health Care Act, aimed at reducing the high rate of health complications and hospital readmissions among elderly patients.

While profitable, its "overall operations have been burdened" by the amount of Medicaid reimbursements it depends on, plus the low-cost or free medical services it provides, according to a recent Standard & Poor's report.

"CHW is an excellent hospital-operating company," said Walter Kopp, president of Medical Management Services, a consultancy in San Anselmo that works with hospitals and medical groups. "The changes could help it serve more people, and open doors to working with more doctors, which is just what the health care reform act wants hospitals to do."

"The manner in which health care is delivered and organized in the United States is changing," Dean said. "It is our intent to be a solution to the nation's health care crisis - regardless of the eventual outcome for the Affordable Care Act."

 

And the name, Dignity? "It reflects who we are and what we stand for," said Sister Judy Carle (pic above), vice chairwoman of Dignity Health's board of directors. "The value of dignity is embedded in our culture. Our mission, vision and values were all formed out of the recognition of the inherent integrity of each person."

 ___________________________________

The paragraph to “zero” in on is this:

"A more secular board of directors - just two of the nine members are sisters of religious orders - replaces the more heavily Catholic layers of management under which CHW operated since its founding in 1986. Fifteen of its 40 hospitals are non-Catholic, a number likely to increase as the network expands."

The question that must be asked is WHY? Why would a Board of Directors with “heavy Catholic layers of management” give up their power, or more properly delve their authority to a less catholic Board of Directors?

The news media has reported this as a business decision, claiming that money is the root of this evil.

 

I don’t know. This is all strangely reminiscent of the devolution of catholic universities in the late 1960s from real control by respective Catholic Religious orders to real control by lay boards of directors!

 A news release from Dignity claims that:

“Under the new governance structure, Dignity Health is a not-for-profit organization, rooted in the Catholic tradition, but is not an official ministry of the Catholic Church…”

 

Their use of the phrase “rooted in catholic tradition” is the same newspeak you will find in the mission statements of many “Catholic” colleges and universities.

The late Jesuit Father Vincent Miceli (pic above) once opined that the purposefully changed corporate nature of most Catholic Universities from control by religious orders to effectual secular control in the 1960s was the largest transfer of Church property to secular usage since the dissolution of monasteries in England under Tudor King Henry VIII in 1536.

If the transference of authority happening with Catholic Hospitals is in reality the first step to a much broader secularization effort,

 

then Archbishop Niederauer (pic above) will be remembered not as a

 

St. John Fisher or a St. Thomas More,

but rather like the heretic Thomas Cranmer.

Where is a Mary Tudor when you need her?

(figuratively speaking of course.)

 

Fresno has a new bishop.

El Paso Bishop Ochoa named to lead

Fresno Diocese

The Fresno Bee

Thursday, Dec. 01, 2011 | 09:08 AM Modified Thu, Dec 01, 2011 09:26 AM

Pope Benedict XVI has named 68-year-old Bishop Armando X. Ochoa of El Paso, Texas, as Bishop of Fresno, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno reported on its website this morning.

Ochoa succeeds Bishop John Steinbock, who died Dec. 5.

Armando Ochoa was born April 9, 1943, in Oxnard. He studied at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1970.

According to a Wikipedia entry about Ochoa, he served at three parishes in Los Angeles before becoming an administrator of Sacred Heart Parish in Lincoln Heights in 1984. He was named an auxiliary bishop for the Los Angeles archdiocese in 1987, and appointed bishop of the El Paso diocese in 1996.

________________

Bishop Ochoa at a "Mass at the Border."

_____________________

Question??? 

Does this mean we can foresee the establishment of a "Tepeyac Institute" in Fresno akin to what exists in the Diocese of El Paso?

Fight On St. Xavier University! Fight On!

Now Obama's NLRB

 tells a church school

 it's not religious

 enough

By: Ken Klukowski | Special to The Washington Examiner | 08/29/11 8:05 PM

"It's not enough for President Obama's National Labor Relations Board to target the Boeing plant in South Carolina. Now the NLRB thinks it can tell a church school when it's not religious enough.

Most people have heard by now of NLRB's unprecedented decree that Boeing Co. cannot build a new airline production facility in South Carolina.

But Obama's NLRB is also claiming the authority to dictate labor policies and order union elections at Catholic universities if they are not religious enough.

St. Xavier University was founded in 1846, the oldest Catholic school in Illinois. Its corporate member is a Catholic body with the "powers for the governance of" St. Xavier, that "links the University to the [Catholic] Church and makes it an officially recognized member of the Church."

St. Xavier's Board of Trustees must have at least four nuns from the order (Sisters of Mercy) that founded the school, and, according to its bylaws, its governing body must "ensure [St. Xavier] continues its educational and religious mission."

After quoting these sources and many others, NLRB's regional director concluded in true Orwellian fashion that "the evidence establishes" that St. Xavier is "a secular educational institution or university."

To support this astounding conclusion flying in the face of the facts (not to mention common sense), NLRB claimed a 1979 Supreme Court affirms this authority.

Yet that case -- NLRB v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago -- actually says the complete opposite of what Obama's NLRB claims.

In an instance of deja vu, the Supreme Court in Catholic Bishop considered a challenge to an NLRB order asserting authority over lay teachers at Illinois Catholic high schools. (Sound familiar?)

NLRB claimed that it had no authority over a church but that it possessed power over church-related bodies that are not purely religious, such as schools. The court considered whether the National Labor Relations Act granted NLRB such power.

Noting the religious mission of Catholic schools, the Supreme Court declared, "Good intentions by government ... can surely no more avoid entanglement with the religious mission of a school" than legislation the court previously struck down as unconstitutional violations of religious liberty.

Turning to the facts of that case, the court reasoned, "The church-teacher relationship in a church-operated school differs from the employment relationship in a public ... school. There is no escape from conflicts flowing from [NLRB's] exercise of jurisdiction over teachers in church-operated schools and the consequent serious First Amendment questions that would follow."

The court then noted that nothing in the law's language suggested NLRB has power over any church-affiliated organizations. The court invoked one of the most basic principles of American law, that a federal statute "ought not to be construed to violate the Constitution if any other possible construction remains available."

Accordingly, the court held that federal law did not give NLRB the power it was claiming, so the court need not consider whether to strike down that provision. Instead, it held NLRB lacked any legal jurisdiction to judge the schools' religiosity, and vacated NLRB's order.

Far from authorizing NLRB's action against St. Xavier, the ruling does the opposite of affirming the government has no such power over church schools. NLRB's contrary assertion is a frightening power grab that must be taken to court.

So economic and social conservatives now have a common problem. Obama's NLRB is being wielded as an instrument of unfettered federal power. Congress and the courts must act to end this imperial overreach.

Examiner legal contributor Ken Klukowski is director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council and a member of the faculty at Liberty University School of Law."

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/2011/08/now-obamas-nlrb-tells-church-school-its-not-religious-enough#ixzz1WYFtCXtb

Bishop Tod Brown's Last Laugh?

 

Turning 75 this November, and that being the mandatory retirement age for a Roman Catholic Bishop - Bishop Brown doesn't have time to build his new multi-million dollar {Protestant Barn} Cathedral in Costa Mesa, perhaps Bishop Brown can just buy an existing Protestant Barn?

 

From the L.A. Times blog...

"O.C. diocese to explore purchase of Crystal Cathedral site

July 6, 2011 | 11:23 am

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange has expressed interest in the Crystal Cathedral property, a spokesman said Wednesday.

"We really have no sufficient space or a facility to accommodate the 1.2 million Catholics in Orange County," said Steve Bohannon, a diocese spokesman.

That coupled with Bishop Tod D. Brown's concern that the Garden Grove property could become anything else but a place of worship is why he has authorized a law firm and other advisers to look into the purchase of the property, Bohannon said. 

So far, two parties have offered to purchase the Crystal Cathedral property for $46 million. The first is Greenlaw Partners, an Orange County-based real estate developer, which would build apartments on the property. Chapman University filed an offer Tuesday, and would like to use the property as a health sciences center. Both offers allow the Crystal Cathedral Ministry to lease back core buildings, including the landmark cathedral.

The Crystal Cathedral filed for bankruptcy in October, citing more than $50 million in debt. Bohannon said no formal offers have been made, and the diocese is only looking at options regarding the property."

SEE: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/07/oc-archdiocese-to-explore-purchase-of-crystal-cathedral-site.html

Archbishop Sheen on "Intolerance"

 

"America, it is said, is suffering from intolerance.

It is not.

 It is suffering from tolerance of right and wrong,

 truth and error,

 virtue and evil,

 Christ and chaos.

Our country is not nearly so much overrun with the bigoted as it is overrun with the broadminded…

 

In the face of this broadmindedness,

what America needs is intolerance."

 

~ Archbishop Servant of God Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)

Bishop Brown Wants to Stay Longer?

Hat Tip to California Catholic Daily.

SEE: http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticlePrintable.aspx?id=db1a01f3-3ef0-4f9e-9cea-8a8aa499192a

 

 

Should "he be allowed to stay on five more years so he can see the completion of the diocese’s new multi-million-dollar Cathedral of Christ Our Savior in Santa Ana?"

 

Published: May 18, 2010

5 more years for Bishop Brown?

Alternative weekly reports leader of Orange diocese wants to stay on past his 75th birthday

Orange diocesan Bishop Tod Brown has asked the Vatican to allow him to serve five more years beyond the mandatory canonical retirement age of 75, the alternative newspaper OC Weekly reports.

Bishop Brown turns 75 on Nov. 11, 2011, but, according to OC Weekly, he was written a letter to Pope Benedict XVI asking that he be allowed to stay on five more years so he can see the completion of the diocese’s new multi-million-dollar Cathedral of Christ Our Savior in Santa Ana.

“Sources tell the Weekly that [Bishop Brown] has already written a letter to Pope Benedict XVI asking that his mandatory retirement be delayed five more years, a letter already in the possession of the U.S.'s apostolic nuncio, Pietro Sambi,” wrote Gustavo Arellano in his OC Weekly blog NavelGazing. “God knows what excuses His Excellency gave His Holiness, but insiders at Marywood say [Bishop Brown] desperately wants to build a new cathedral up the street from South Coast Plaza, a project for which he already bought a million-dollar home to replace his current eleven-room, two-story abode. He thinks that the proposed Christ Our Savior Cathedral will be his lasting legacy to the Orange diocese…”

Arellano, a longtime critic of Brown in his columns, has broken numerous stories critical of the bishop over the years that proved to be accurate. In a telephone interview with California Catholic Daily, Arellano said his well-placed sources “have never guided me wrong,” and vouched for the accuracy of his item about the bishop seeking to serve five years beyond his canonical retirement age.

In 2004, OC Weekly reported that “the Diocese of Orange is aggressively moving forward on plans to build a multimillion-dollar cathedral.” In an update, the alternative weekly said, “Now sources say the diocese is negotiating with Brea-based Shea Homes for a new multimillion-dollar home near the proposed cathedral site. The home's first occupant: Bishop Tod D. Brown.”

“The residence is one of 156 homes under construction at the Armstrong Ranch, a gated community in Santa Ana's South Coast Metro, near the 90-acre property where Christ Our Savior Cathedral will stand,” reported OC Weekly. “Brochures for Armstrong Ranch show that the humblest housing option -- what Shea Homes refers to as its ‘Flotman Residence’ -- includes two stories, four bedrooms, three and a half baths, a breakfast nook, an office, a butler's pantry, and a three-car garage. Starting price: $1.1 million. Armstrong Ranch sales representatives aren't shy about the connection. One bragged to a Weekly researcher that the bishop is already in escrow.”

The Los Angeles Times also reported in 2004 that the planned new cathedral would seat 2,650. “Though an architect hasn't been selected, plans submitted to Santa Ana city officials give a rough outline of the project, which includes 100,000 square feet of building space,” reported the Times. “Under the cathedral would be a 45,000-square-foot undercroft designed to house crypts. A 30,000-square-foot parish hall is planned next to the cathedral, along with a 24,000-square-foot building for offices and residences.”

Although not explicitly saying so, the website of the diocese’s current cathedral, Holy Family Cathedral in Orange, makes note of its impending fate: “The day will come when Holy Family Cathedral will no longer be THE cathedral for the Diocese of Orange, but we will continue to have a vibrant and faith filled community.”

______________________

He wants to leave a legacy..... Who is he emulating?????

 

Cardinal Mahony and his Protestant barn?!

or maybe....

Bishop Cummins and his "Cathedral" in Oakland?

ccccc

by their fruits you shall know them.....

Resurrectionists, La Salettes, Jesuits

As their membership dwindles, religious orders withdraw priests from parishes, at least two California dioceses affected

Citing a shortage of priests in the Congregation of the Resurrection, Fr. Michael Danek, provincial superior for the order in the United States, has announced that Resurrectionist fathers will be leaving parishes in the San Bernardino diocese in July.

The diocesan newspaper Inland Catholic BYTE reported that priests of the Congregation of the Resurrection will be turning back Blessed John XXIII (formerly Resurrection Parish) in Fontana, and St. Thomas Moore Parish in Rialto to the diocese “after years of pastoral care.”

“Both parish locations were notified of the province’s difficult but necessary decision in early December,” said the BYTE. “A statement made by the Provincial Superior for the USA Province Very Rev. Michael Danek, C.R., noted that a scarcity of priests in the congregation made it difficult for adequate pastoral leadership to continue at Blessed John XXIII.”

Citing Fr. Danek’s statement, the BYTE reported, “The level of priests available to minister to the congregation’s parishes in the United States was characterized as reaching a ‘challenging level.’”

In the meantime, the diocese “has begun to make plans for the pastoral care of the parish during this time of transition,” said the diocesan newspaper.

The departure of the Resurrectionists marks the second time in recent months the San Bernardino diocese has lost priests from religious orders staffing parishes. Also effective in July, the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette will transfer the pastoral care of two parishes in San Bernardino’s High Desert back to the diocese, the BYTE reported late last year.

The La Salettes are turning back Our Lady of the Desert Parish in Apple Valley and St. Paul Parish in Lucerne Valley to the diocese. The move comes after more than 16 years of service to High Desert parishes by the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette. The religious order will continue to administer St. Christopher’s Parish in Moreno Valley, and may be assigned an additional parish in the Moreno Valley area in the future.

Fr. Antonio Max Abuan, pastor of both Our Lady of the Desert and St. Paul’s, “will take a health sabbatical from February through mid-June 2010,” the BYTE reported.

The San Bernardino diocese is not the only California diocese affected by the withdrawal of religious order priests from its parishes. In a February letter to fellow Jesuits in the California Province, provincial Fr. John P. McGarry announced that the Society of Jesus would be withdrawing priests serving in parishes in Mammoth Lakes, which serves all of Mono County, and in Ogden, Utah. The California Province of the Society of Jesus includes California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah.

The Jesuits informed Stockton Bishop Stephen Blair that the society would no longer provide a priest to pastor St. Joseph’s parish in Mammoth Lakes.

Two Jesuit priests serving at St. Mary’s parish in Ogden, Utah, will be leaving the Salt Lake City diocesan parish on Aug. 3. Also affected will be St. Henry’s parish in Brigham City, Utah. “On the same date (Aug. 3), the California Province will conclude its sponsorship of Saint Henry Parish,” wrote Fr. McGarry in his February letter.

See the full article at: http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=732157be-8dd7-4a77-86b3-1908bbdd3a53

More Maniacal Mahony Madness

Be careful it may not be Holy Water!

"Why is Cardinal Mahony

 promoting such speakers?"

Group calls for picketing at LA archdiocese’s 2010 Religious Education Congress, calls it ‘dissent-fest’

ANAHEIM, March 15 /Christian Newswire/ -- "Our committee is calling all Catholics to come join us and oppose Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony's latest dissent-fest," says Kenneth M. Fisher, chairman of Concerned Roman Catholics of America, Inc. (CRCOA). "He's going to make tens of thousands of Catholics hear Faith-subverters, the kind who get people to defy the Church on abortion, homosexuality, contraception, New Age practices and ordination of women."

Fisher announced that on Saturday, March 20, 2010, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., his group will picket Cardinal Mahony's annual Religious Education Congress, the world's largest training event for Catholic schoolteachers. (The Congress will be at the Anaheim Convention Center, March 18-21. The Saturday protest will be outside the Center's main exhibit hall. CRCOA will supply picket signs to picketers.)

"Many of the presenters aren't objectionable, and Cardinal Mahony does have a few well-known 'token' orthodox Catholic speakers,” Fisher said. “But he's also bringing in speakers with long track records of dissent from Catholic doctrine.

"Cardinal Mahony's pro-gays, women-priest advocates, New Agers and anti-Pope rebels will tell Catholic educators what to teach," Fisher warned. "Then the teachers will go home and infect countless innocent Catholic children with those errors."

Fisher said CRCOA members will hand out flyers that expose speakers who dissent from the Church's doctrines. Here are examples of some of Cardinal Mahony's 188 speakers:

A non-Catholic, far left, pro-contraception speaker who's said we don't need to ban aborting babies and who's advised U.S. senators and representatives on how to get believers to vote for pro-gay, pro-abortion Democrats

A laicized priest who dissents from "a wide range of Church teachings" and wants women priests and women bishops

A nun who called Catholic doctrine against non-marital sex "a fixation."

A Catholic priest who told the 2005 REC that "we" need "public models" of "healthy gay priests for Catholics to reflect on."

"Why is Cardinal Mahony promoting such speakers?" Fisher asked. "Shouldn't a cardinal make sure his speakers are loyal to the Church?"

Fisher invites faithful Catholics to join CRCOA's peaceful, prayerful protest by calling him at: 714-491-2284 or e-mailing him at [email protected].

For the full story see: http://calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=1736afa6-2dc1-49b4-8011-ff09a5604e2a

Wither the Legion?

Legion of Christ responds to

founder's alleged children

Father Marcial Maciel, the late founder of the Legion of Christ.

Mexico City, Mexico, Mar 4, 2010 / 06:56 pm (CNA/EWTN News).

- The Legionaries of Christ released two statements today responding to the dramatic revelations by a woman and her three sons who claim to be the wife and children of Fr. Marcial Maciel. During an interview in front of a large television audience in Mexico, Blanca Estela Lara Gutiérrez and her sons charged that Fr. Maciel, the founder of the Legion of Christ, led a parallel life.

The interview coincided with a visit to Mexico made by Father Álvaro Corcuera L.C., currently the director of the Legion of Christ.

During the interview, Lara Gutiérrez said that she met Fr. Maciel in 1970, when she was 19 years old. Maciel was 56 at the time. He told her that his name was “Raúl Rivas” and that he was a widower.

Though they never officially married, Lara Gutiérrez said that Fr. Maciel had two children her and adopted a third whom she had from a previous relationship. The children were registered as Omar, José Raúl, y Cristian González Lara.

During the long interview, which was rebroadcast in Spanish on Thursday by CNN for viewers in Latin America, the three children gave intensely dramatic details about how they were sexually abused as children by “Raúl Rivas.” They also spoke of how they came to know their father’s real identity and how they reacted to the accusations presented to the Holy See against Fr. Maciel.

“In recent years, the Legionaries of Christ have gradually come to know, with surprise and great sorrow, hidden aspects of the life of Fr. Maciel. We confirm our commitment to act in truth and charity. We renew our request for forgiveness from the affected people for all of the suffering this has caused and for the ensuing scandal,” added the statement.

.........

The same statement made public a letter that Fr. Carlos Skertchly, L.C. wrote to Raúl González Lara on January 12, 2010.

“At this time, it is impossible for Fr. Álvaro Corcuera to come to Mexico to meet with you as you requested, so he asked me as his representative to be available to meet with you and listen to you,” Fr. Skertchly informed him in the letter.

“Our intention as members of the congregation of the Legionaries of Christ is to do whatever is possible to uncover the truth about our founder’s life, to look for the best solutions—in a spirit of gospel charity—to the complex situations that are presenting themselves, and to reach out pastorally to all of the people who have suffered or who may be affected by it.”

Fr. Skertchly also recounted his interaction with Raúl González Lara, writing, “On January 8 in the afternoon, I received your phone call, in which you confirmed your request, affirming that ‘if you give me the money ($26 million), I will keep quiet about the truth,’ and you asked for a response by January 13 at the latest,” the letter continues.

“In no way can we accede to your request for money in exchange for silence. While we value all of the pain and suffering that you have shared with us, and we deplore the evil of scandal that may follow, we will never accept petitions of this sort, which are also illicit. We prefer to seek and face the truth, no matter how painful it may be,” affirmed Fr. Skertchly.

See the full article at:

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/legion_of_christ_responds_to_founders_alleged_children

__________________________________________________

Money quote:

We prefer to seek and face the truth, no matter how painful it may be....

If this becomes the "watchword" of the "new" Legion, perhaps they can survive?