Saturday, August 14, 2004
THE STATE OF ACADEMICS
The fact that the University of California Press published the book described in this report sent in by a reader speaks more about the state of the University than it does about the material the book contains. The book was written by a transgendered author who discusses what appears to be various self-generated myths about the nature of sexuality that will strengthen the author's justification for her/his own confusion. But what it says between the lines is that our intellectuals are even more confused than the author. Where is a nation headed when the intellectual elite concern themselves with writing and publishing material like this?
RITUAL MURDER
A story from The Herald Online sent in by a reader.
It begins with a family grieving over the death of a six-year-old boy, and progresses through other ritual murders of children, and ritual murder of adults. The story is set in South Africa, but ends in London with the first ritual murder that took place there recently.
The murders are about body parts to be used in rituals by "bogus traditional healers." As our nuns turn toward indigenous religions, as URI courts the same, the time to look at what these religions practice has come. This seems to be evidence of a style of "healing" that is gruesome--unthinkable--but also that is taking place.
As witchcraft grows more popular in our nation, we should not blind ourselves to what it is willing to accept.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
SHEA'S (OR BOUGIS') TAKE ON A NOVUS ORDO WATCH POST
Scroll down to RadTrads Go Mad. where the blog links NOW post, and offers 28 or more comments.
Sparked my curiosity, naturally. Any time "RadTrads" are a topic of derision in Sheadom, I'm interested. The subject is the 1958 conclave which elected Pope John XXIII. An article at NOW claims Cardinal Siri was elected Pope Gregory XVII, but the announcement was never made.
It isn't the first time I've seen this claim, and usually the folks making it are marginalized by "mainstream" Catholics. I ran the website by a reader whose opinion I trust, and who was skeptical. So I did a little digging, and here's what I found.
From Fact Index:
Giuseppe Cardinal Siri (20 May 1906 - 2 May 1989) was a senior cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. As Archbishop of Genoa, he was one of the more conservative Catholic prelates of the Second Vatican Council. He had been raised to the cardinalate by Pope Pius XII.
It has been claimed that Siri was in fact elected to the papacy twice; in 1958 and 1963 (even announcing in the Papal Conclave that he wished to be known as Pope Gregory XVII) but that on both occasions when faced with threats that Catholics in the Eastern Bloc would face persecution on account of his fiercely anti-Soviet Union opinions in the event of his assuming the papacy, he declined the Papal Tiara, a not unknown occurrence. Given that the conduct of papal conclaves is strictly confidential and that any cardinal revealing the details would face instant excommunication, no documentary evidence has ever been proven to substantiate or disprove the widely claimed rumour.
Siri was a leading candidate for the papacy in both the August and October 1978 conclaves that followed the deaths of Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul I respectively. Media reports suggested that Siri in fact topped the first count of votes in the August conclave but ultimately was beaten by Albino Cardinal Luciani, who became Pope John Paul I. Following Luciani's death in the papacy, Siri was the leading conservative candidate against Giovanni Benelli, the leading liberal candidate. Vatican writers suggested that the eventual winner, Karol Wojtyla, who became Pope John Paul II was chosen as a compromise candidate between the two.
Though championed by conservative Catholics following the widespread rumours that he had actually been elected to the papacy in 1958 and 1963 (when the eventual winners were Angelo Cardinal Roncalli (Pope John XXIII) and Giovanni Cardinal Montini (Pope Paul VI)) Siri remaining in full communion with the Catholic Church and refused to support any sedevacantist conservative catholic organisation. He died on 2nd May 1989.
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That same report is given here at Nation Master
and here at WorldHistory.com.
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The most interesting place where this theory is not dismissed as "fringe" is at EWTN where I found the following question and answer:
Cardinal Siri
Question from Adam on 08-10-2004:
I recently read that a former FBI agent published a book that states that during the conclave of 1958, Cardinal Siri was elected by the Sacred College of Cardinals and took the name Gregory XVII. When the traditional smoke came out of the Sistine Chapel, many people thought that it was white. However, when the pope didn't appear on the balcony of St. Peter's, there was some confusion as to whether or not it was white or gray. A cardinal within the Sacred College told the press it was indeed white and that a pope had been chosen. However, later, no pope showed himself. According to this FBI agent, using declassified documents that were made after observing the conclave of 1958, French cardinals supposedly "vetoed" the election of Cardinal Siri, saying that this conservative pope might inadvertantly cause the assassination of many bishops behind the Iron Curtain because of his strong opposition to Communism. Anyway, this doesn't make sense to me. Once a Roman Pontiff is canonically elected and accepts the Throne of St. Peter, a bunch of French cardinals can't "veto" the election and call for another one. This has been causing me worry, since this FBI agent (who is not a Catholic, I believe) seems to be helping the case of the traditionalists who say that the elections of John XXIII and his three successors were invalid, and because of that, all their actions (Vatican II, the Novus Ordo Missae, decrees, constitutions, etc.) are to be ignored.
Thank and may God bless you.
Adam
Answer by Fr. Robert J. Levis on 08-10-2004:
Dear Adam, All this is new to me too. Be sure that the HOly Spirit is responsible for the election of the right priest to become the Pope. We must have faith that this always happens. Fr. Bob Levis
EDITORIAL FROM CHRISTIAN ORDER MAGAZINE
November 2000
THE GREATEST CONSPIRACY
THE EDITOR
A few months back, during social chit-chat which turned with predictable concern to the modern plague of clerical apostasy, a venerable member of the Society of Jesus recounted various word of mouth histories of Communist infiltration of the Jesuits. These included two men sent to join the Society in Italy and Spain by their respective national Communist Parties - the former having left to return to the Party in the early 1950s after more than a dozen years of study and actual ordination; the latter leaving the Society before ordination a decade ago. More disturbing still was the case of a prominent Jesuit seminary rector in Rome who, after being run over and killed, was allegedly found to be a member of the KGB. We pondered briefly all the imponderables of such infiltration as well as the domino effect it might have set in train, like: how many students were deformed by the seminary professor down the years; how many others, clerical and lay, they in turn, as priests, had corrupted; how many other seminaries and Orders were similarly infiltrated; and, above all, how many of the infiltrators and their warped progeny had risen to the episcopate.
In recent years this latter quandary in particular has emerged from the realms of much derided "conspiracy theory" to become a plausible contributory explanation for the otherwise inexplicable levels of corruption, negligence and indifference within Western episcopates. The fact that we will never precisely quantify the degree of infiltration and only rarely identify "plants" beyond all doubt, is no reason to ignore the reality. Besides, it's not as if we hadn't been warned. Ex-Communist and celebrated convert Douglas Hyde revealed long ago that in the 1930s the Communist leadership issued a worldwide directive about infiltrating the Catholic Church. While in the early 1950s, Mrs Bella Dodd was also providing detailed explanations of the Communist subversion of the Church. Speaking as a former high ranking official of the American Communist Party, Mrs Dodd said: "In the 1930s we put eleven hundred men into the priesthood in order to destroy the Church from within." The idea was for these men to be ordained and progress to positions of influence and authority as Monsignors and Bishops. A dozen years before Vatican II she stated that: "Right now they are in the highest places in the Church" - where they were working to bring about change in order to weaken the Church's effectiveness against Communism. She also said that these changes would be so drastic that "you will not recognise the Catholic Church."
Mrs Dodd, who converted to the Faith at the end of her life, was personally acquainted with this diabolic project since, as a Communist agent, part of her brief was to encourage young radicals (not always card-carrying Communists) to enter Catholic seminaries.
The following excerpts are taken from The School of Darkness by Bella Dodd:
The important thing, I said, was to love my fellow man.
This was the new creed, the creed of fellowship, and it was clear the world needed it badly. It was a fine phrase which kept some of the significance of the Cross even while it denied the divinity of the Crucified. It was a creed that willingly accepted pain and self-immolation; but it was skeptical of a promised redemption. I kept reassuring myself that I did not need the old-fashioned Creed any more. I was modern. I was a follower of science. I was going to spend my life serving my fellow men. (Chapter 3)
...communism [is] the most reactionary backward leap in the long history of social movements. It is one which seeks to obliterate in one revolutionary wave two thousand years of man's progress. (Chapter 4)
Describing a trip to Europe in 1930, she writes:
In Berlin we saw more pinched faces and more blatant lavishness. We were alarmed at the frank and open evidences of sexual and moral degradation flaunted in the night spots and exhibited to the tourists everywhere. The atmosphere of the city seemed charged as the air is before an electric storm. ...
The university [of Berlin] was torn with strife. Socialists, Communists, National Socialists were battling each other and jointly undermining those who regarded themselves as conservatives attached to their own country by the natural love of one's homeland. ...
...the intellectuals, the teachers, professors, and scientists were arrogant in their pride but lacked the inner strength to play a salutary role in that country's hour of need. Here were men of the highest intellectual achievements who were ready to attach themselves to the forces of violence. I did not then realize, as I now do, that for close to a century the educational world of Germany had been subjected to systematic despiritualization which could result only in the dehumanization now apparent. This made it possible for such despiritualized men to serve both the Nazi and later the communist power with a terrifying loyalty and efficiency. (Chapter 5)
As Dodd's communist world began to crumble around her, she sought out Bishop Sheen who prayed with her in a chapel of Our Lady.
On my way to the airport I thought how much he [Sheen] understood. He knew that a nominal Christian with a memory of the Cross can easily be twisted to the purposes of evil by men who masquerade as saviors. I thought how communist leaders achieve their greatest strength and cleverest snare when they use the will to goodness of their members. They stir the emotions with phrases which are only a blurred picture of eternal truths....I and others like me grasped with relief the fake certifude offered by the materialists and accepted this program which had been made even more attractive because they appealed for "sacrifice for our brothers." Meaningless and empty I learned are such phrases as "the brotherhood of man" unless they have the solid foundation of belief in God's Fatherhood. (Chapter 16)
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
Friday, August 13, 2004
VILLAGE VOICE FEATURES A STORY OF THE KABBALAH CENTRE
which is not exactly complimentary. A reader sent in the link, and it is also lilnked at Crux News.
KERRY CATHOLICS SAY BUSH IS THE "ANTI-CHRIST"
That is the headline for the Catholic League's News Release, sent in by a reader.
The article indicates the offensive argument was made on the website by Wayne Madsden. Here is the website. I couldn't find anything by Wayne Madsden, so perhaps they have cleaned up the website? There is a link at the top to the Catholic League article.
Sigh. This sure is an ugly presidential campaign.
FESTIVAL EROTIQUE
Scotland's contribution to the degradation of Western Civilization, (website contains lewd photos) will take place in September at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange. This will be a repeat of last year's event. Expect all manner of perversion including S&M.
Spirit Daily has linked an article in scotsman.com describing one of the featured clairvoyants at the festival, Dr. Tarona Hawkins, card reader for Princess Diana:
A spokesman for the festival said organisers had invited the clairvoyant as they wanted to represent every aspect of the adult industry.
"The organisers want to showcase as wide a range of contributors as possible to reflect all the people who are involved in this area of work," he said.
"It is not just about looking at DVDs and videos. It is a vast industry covering everything from leather clothes and sweets to home makeovers and even a sex witch.
"We had heard a lot about Tarona and we were really keen to get her up to the show, so we are delighted she agreed to attend."
He added that this year’s festival had double the number of contributors from last year and said organisers were expecting a similar increase in the crowds.
Blogger credit to a reader.
ACTOR WHO PLAYED BOTH MARY AND ST. PETER IN THE SAME PLAY
titled "Corpus Christi" has been charged with attempted sexual assault and possession of child porn, according to an article at WorldNetDaily sent in by a reader.
The article closes with this:
In a review of "Corpus Christi," Chicago Tribune writer Chris Jones said the play "strives to link homophobia with the persecutions suffered by Christ. ...
"This is an elegant, intelligent show that is so much in tune with authorial intention that it takes the script to new levels of theatrical and political dignity."
STATEMENT OF THE RECTOR OF THE FATIMA SHRINE
which has been posted at the Fatima Family Apostolate website has been sent in by a reader.
I would like to be able to believe that loyalty to the faith prompted this statement which is coming late to the foray in any case. It objects to the statement made by the press in Portugal. It claims that there will be no interreligious worship, but then it hints that at some time in the future there may be interreligious worship.
I am not convinced by it, coming as it does so long after it was needed, mentioning as it does, interreligious dialogue as a positive direction for the Church, and making use of those words "fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism." The statement attempts to marginalize even further Catholics who are trying to be faithful to the faith of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, to the historical precedence of Catholicism.
WICCA IN THE MILITARY
The growing trend is highlighted at ContraCostaTimes.com in an article sent in by a reader. The Air Force has the largest contingent, where Pagan, Gardnerian Wiccan, Seax Wiccan, Dianic Wiccan, Shaman and Druid are all recognized categories of religion. Dog tags may now identify a military person as Wiccan.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
DETAILS OF THE MURDER OF FR. FAUSTINO GAZZIERO
as he walked away from the altar at Santiago's Metropolitan Cathedral are given at this Blabbermouth.net website. There are photos linked in the story. I know nothing about the website. The little door on the upper right side will take you to some strange material. Take it for what you think it's worth.
MSGR. VINCENT WALSH
is mentioned in Flame Revival News Online, a Catholic website:
I then spoke to Fr. Daniel and some friends about revival and of wanting more of God, but nobody seemed interested in the Pentecostal revivals in Argentina, Toronto, Pensacola and England. Then I discovered there was a Catholic Revival in United States with Monsignor Vincent Walsh. I was impacted by Eddie's articles, Mons Walsh and Patti Gallagher that encouraged people to want more of God.
The reference here to "Toronto" is a reference to Toronto Blessing.
Holy laughter is also mentioned in connection with this ministry:
After this I received the holy laughter which is a true miracle because I cannot laugh a lot due to a sickness that I have, but now, when God visits me with His joy I don't stop of laughing. One day I was so drunk in the Holy Spirit I could not walk. I encouraged Father Daniel to contact Eddie and Flame Ministries. I wanted to be with Eddie and share all that was happening with us.
If you scroll way down on this website, you will find that Archbishop Hickey has spoken at a Flame event:
13th Annual Flame Congress - Entering the Mysteries of Light Sacred Heart Catholic College, Sorrento - January 24 to 26 2003 Free Evening Revival Rallies and Registered Daytime Sessions
Speakers: Archbishop Hickey. Bishop Don Sproxton. Fr Bob Carden OFM. Raymond de Souza. Eddie Russell FMI. Steve Peake FMI.
Next I looked at a website which opposes Pentecostalism/Charismatic Renewal. This is a Protestant website and is not favorable to Catholics. Here you will find a description of "Holy Laughter: Rodney Howard-Browne and the Toronto Blessing." The following passages come from this website:
Many churches are reporting spontaneous, uncontrollable laughter erupting from their congregations, even during times of solemn ceremony or messages from the pulpit. Some report uncontrollable weeping, falling to the floor in ecstatic trances, and animal noises such as barking like dogs and roaring like lions. Some stagger and reel like drunken people, unable to walk a straight line. For simplicity's sake, all these have come to be called "holy laughter," since laughter is the preeminent phenomenon displayed. In simple terms, it is physical manifestations in the form of virtually any expression attributed to absolute control by the Holy Spirit.
Proponents of these phenomena say they are evidence of a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in response to the people's desire to see a new sign from God -- the latest in manifestations of Holy Ghost power, such as took place at Azusa Street in Los Angeles at the turn of the century. They point to the Welsh Revival, the Cane Ridge Revival in Bourbon County, Kentucky in 1801, and to [Arminian] preachers like Charles Finney, to validate today's holy laughter experience.
Opponents say it is either a manifestation of the flesh, at best, or of demonic spirits at worst. Those who believe it is of God point to changed lives, deeper commitment to faith in Jesus, huge responses to the salvation message, a renewed strength and purpose for ministry, and all sorts of positive results. On the other hand, there are also reports of demonic oppression, suicidal feelings, and loss of faith after the holy laughter experience. ...
Berit Kjos, an expert on the education system and New Age philosophy, points out that one of the methods for bringing in the new global values is the removal of facts -- the removal of logical thinking -- so that people can't argue back from a basis of understanding. They will not have an objective framework from which to draw conclusions. Therefore, the education system is free to bring in all kinds of models for the new global spirituality from earth-centered cultures around the world. Those cultures are basically pantheistic and polytheistic. What we are seeing is a rise in animistic religions because the Biblical ethic and value system has been not only discarded, but forbidden to be discussed.
It doesn't take a lot of reading in the Flame Revival News Online, which I linked at the beginning of this blog, to discover that both the Catholic group and this opposition Protestant group are both talking about the same phenomena.
The history of Pentecostalism began on Azusa Street in Los Angeles in the early 1900s and followed in the footsteps of the Holiness Movement, and John Wesley. It is from that outburst that the Catholic Charismatic Revival has drawn its theology and practices. Prior to Vatican II it was anethema for a Catholic to participate in anything of this sort. Today we have a new and accommodating theology, and this theology has occult overtones.
One thing that invariably follows the manifestation of these phenomena in any congregation is the splitting of the congregation into opposing factions. Vincent Synan, the primary historian of Pentecostalism, documents this in his book THE CENTURY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
The phenomena associated with this Baptism in the Spirit are also seen in groups that do not believe in the Trinitarian God, such as those associated with witchcraft. Yet despite this checkered history, despite the fact that Msgr. Ronald Knox in his book ENTHUSIASM, documents the heretical source for these events, Catholics are seeing in these manifestations evidence that the Holy Spirit is blessing this theology.
CHARISMATIC RENEWAL AND TORONTO BLESSING
I came across an interesting website, a book by Bill Brundage.
The following passages come from Chapter 7:
I learned the charismatics were hungry for some teaching about the New Wave, resting in the spirit and the latest on healing and holy laughter. They seldom had outside speakers and had never had one willing to speak on the New Wave; that is, the Toronto Blessing.
A few of them had heard of Rodney Howard-Browne -- and an Australian Pentecostal came by a couple years ago, but a Catholic -- never! However, there is precedent from a highly respected member of the Catholic clergy: namely, Monsignor Vincent Walsh, author of A Key to Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church. He is currently pastor of Presentation Blessed Virgin Mary church in Wynnewood, Pa. "We’re in revival," Walsh says. "The Spirit’s fire was growing all over the world, and I wanted to catch some of this for the Catholic Church... when laughter, joy and the gifts of the Spirit broke out, I knew revival was in our midst."
Msgr. Walsh believes his Presentation Prayer Group was one of the first (if not the first) Catholic groups to minister "revival fire", Howard-Browne’s term for a renewal movement characterized by joy and laughter. "We hope what God does in our midst will touch the whole church," the priest says. He adds "Pentecostalism is here to stay. In the weekly Wednesday night meeting we are taken up into God’s presence. Prophecies come forth, people are slain in the Spirit, healings take place and many people burst forth in holy laughter."
This passage follows the letter near the bottom of the website:
This new anointing goes beyond laughter, just as charismatic renewal goes beyond praying in tongues. In a recent article in Charisma magazine, Monsignor Walsh says "Holy laughter makes prayer easier and invites the group to pray longer; the joy it brings lifts burdens and opens a person’s heart to God.
Here is Msgr. Walsh. Here is the church website of Msgr. Walsh's Presentation Blessed Virgin Mary Church.
From the Toronto Blessing website, here is a statement about Catholics experiencing the Laughing Revival:
November 11, 1997 - According to a report on the November 1997, Charisma magazine, Laughing Revival evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne has brought his phenomenon to the Presentation Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Philadelphia. More than 1,200 Catholics, many from far distances, attended the meeting in August. Charisma magazine noted that "Catholics laughed hysterically after they were hit with what Howard-Browne refers to as 'the joy of the Holy Ghost.'" The church's priest claims that the "revival" began at his Catholic church in 1994. Howard-Browne plans returns visits.
Msgr. Walsh has written a simplified version of John Paul II's book on the Theology of the Body according to Zenit, which according to the article has the approval of the Vatican Secretary of State.
There is a reference at the George Washington University website to Msgr. Walsh visiting with evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne. You will find it under the subheading "Transvestism, Queerness, and Religion". It reads as follows:
The nature/nurture question, long an issue of debate among queer theorists, is something that, interestingly enough, comes up quite a lot in Holy Laughter testimonials. There is great anxiety in the church as people grapple with the fact that instances of holy laughter seem to be contagious. While it is supposed to be something that is entirely a gift of the Holy Spirit, it tends to spread primarily through contact with congregations that manifest it. Monsignor Vincent M. Walsh describes his visit to a church where the well-known South American evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne was preaching about and among manifestations of Holy Laughter. The Monsignor returned to his parish and showed a tape of the revival to two “religious sisters,” and the sisters broke out into Holy Laughter.
Go to the website and take a look at what else is contained in this article titled "The Laughing Medusa" by Miranda Morris.
In the book linked at the beginning of this blog Bill Brundage mentions that "an Australian Pentecostal came by a couple years ago." There is a Catholic group in Australia called Flame Ministries International, run by Frank Tassone, a "Neo-Pentecostal Catholic Organization of Lay Evangelists/Preachers founded in Western Australia" according to their website, where you will find this statement:
At our 5th Annual Congress God moved in a new and awesome way bringing "The Baptism of Fire" and "The Toronto Blessing" manifest in one place. Those who were prepared to let God be God experienced this New Revival Anointing. Yet there were those present who experienced nothing. They just witnessed the phenomenon happening to those around them.
I don't know if this is the source of Brundage's reference or not, but it's certainly a possibility.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
CANADA GAGS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OF SPEECH
EWTN Reports:
Ottawa, Aug. 11 (LifesiteNews.com/CWN) - The legal counsel for both the Catholic Church in Canada and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada were asked to be present at a meeting with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in early March. Janet Buckingham, legal counsel for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), and Jennifer Leddy, legal counsel for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, were warned by revenue officials that should they become involved in "partisan" political activity during the then-upcoming 2004 federal election they would risk losing their tax-exempt status.
According to the federal agency, to avoid being "partisan" means not addressing issues on which the competing political parties have opposing views. Dawna Lynn Labonte, a media relations officer for the federal Minister of National Revenue, said that not only would churches be penalized for telling congregants to vote for a certain party or candidate, they would also be penalized for coming out strongly on an issue on which the parties were opposed, such as abortion or same-sex "marriage".
AUSTRIAN SEMINARY CLOSED
CNN reports the Austrian Seminary, where the recent scandal has taken place, has been closed by Opus Dei Bishop Klaus Kueng. Kueng pledges to do "whatever it takes to restore faith and credibility to Austria's scandalized church.
CRAIGE McMILLAN LECTURES THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
about what it will take to get the conservative vote. His suggestions include the following...from WorldNetDaily:
Many conservatives worry that the Democratic Party is nothing more than a loose-knit collection of social extremists intent on moving their particular agenda out into the mainstream, regardless of the cost to the rest of us. And at the top of that list is homosexuality. Conservatives see the Catholic Church facing bankruptcy and ruin because homosexuals infiltrated the seminaries and recruited their boy-lovers as students into the priesthood. These recruits took their newfound "wisdom" into the parish, where they perfected it on the alter boys.
We worry that the same thing could happen to public education if John Kerry is elected president. We don't want to send our 8-year-olds into NAMBLA-staffed, government quota-managed classrooms, where our kids can be "educated" about gay sex in public restrooms. The Kerry campaign could demonstrate its commitment to children and families by supporting a traditional marriage amendment and re-criminalizing homosexual behavior.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
AN ARCHBISHOP'S STORY
Or perhaps it should read "A Seminarian's Story." It could just as well read "The Story of the Cop of the Year."
The author of this story is Bruce Simpson, former police officer in Cheverly, Maryland, former Roman Catholic Seminarian, and currently Archbishop, Benedictine Order of St. John the Beloved, Old Catholic Church.
Did I mention that he is also homosexual?
The story is told at The Advocate. Among the surprises revealed there is this one:
In my second year in seminary, during the yearly formal review and meeting with the archbishop that took place in late November, I was asked why I had not married the girl that the press referred to as my having left when I went into the seminary. The archbishop had seen a couple of the "cop of the year enters seminary" newspaper stories that had been published after I first entered the seminary.
Being totally naïve and believing one should not lie to his bishop, I told him that my love was a man and not a woman. Then I heard some incredible lines come from the archbishop’s mouth. He said first, "Well, Bruce, I don’t know if I can ordain you now," while capping his pen. He went on to tell me that he did not believe the concept of celibacy applied to gay men, because celibacy denoted the lack of marital and sexual union between man and woman, not two men.
I had the feeling that the archbishop lacked even the faintest idea of what sexuality and human love was all about. This man is now James Cardinal Hickey, having been rewarded by Rome for his loyalty and ultraconservatism, but thankfully he is now retired and ineligible to vote for the next pope.
Archbishop Simpson reveals that while he was a Roman Catholic seminarian on summer assignment at the Cathedral of St. Matthew in Washington, D. C., he counseled a troubled lesbian woman who came to him for advice:
I answered her with what was in my heart and mind regarding her being a lesbian. I told her God did not care; He created gay people this way for His own reasons. I told her it was silly to blame God for her breakup just as it would be silly to blame God for all the divorces that happen in the straight world. I told her she was a good person and that she needed to get something to eat and drink at once, then come back to the cathedral and say a prayer of thanksgiving to God that she was who she was in this life.
The response seems to reflect his lifestyle just prior to entering the seminary, during the time that he was a police officer. His homosexual partner drove him to the seminary on the day he entered. What is surprising is that two years later, as this response indicates, he apparently had not changed his opinion of homosexuality.
He describes the difficulty a heterosexual seminarian had with life in the seminary:
I felt sorry for one of the men who was straight and who was born with classic all-American good looks. Blond, blue eyes, perfect height and weight, chiseled face: He drew a lot of attention in the showers. He was a great individual that I got to know slightly, and he told me once that he felt like he was a side of beef on sale at the local market. The guys never openly hit on him, but they didn’t have to in order to make this man uncomfortable. Finally, he left the seminary midyear.
You can see a picture of Archbishop Simpson here at Long Island Community Connection, an apparently gay website judging by the rainbow colors of the heading. Archbishop Simpson has been named "Humanitarian of the Year."
Speaking with Archbishop Bruce Simpson of the Order of Saint John the Beloved, the Old Catholic Church (OCC), is a revelation. Archbishop Simpson has only been living in Suffolk County for about a year now, but already has become one of the most recognized faces and most influential voices in the Long Island GLBT community. He was named as "Humanitarian of the Year" for 2001 by Outlook Long Island magazine. To that, Bruce responds, "I was totally unaware and shocked. I'm very grateful for Outlook LI magazine. Tom (Hroncich, the Editor in Chief) has always been very supportive of the Parish. He's done more than anyone else to help spread the word." Despite many people's beliefs that the United States is mostly a Protestant country, the Archbishop believes that at least a small majority of the population is Catholic (53 million Roman Catholics, 1 million Old Catholics), an figure that's only destined to grow with America's increasing Hispanic population. Not to be confused with the Roman Catholic Church, the Old Catholic Church split from Rome in 1889. Bruce was ordained as a Deacon for the OCC in 1995, became a priest in 1996, and was consecrated as a Bishop in 1999. As an Archbishop, he has responsibilities over his Diocese. Bruce is one of nine Archbishops of the OCC in the US Through his weekly sermons, Archbishop Simpson offers a much-needed comforting voice of traditional yet enlightened religious perspective to GLBT Long Island Catholics.
The article speaks of the painting on Archbishop Simpson's wall, including:
an illuminated manuscript/ portrait of the patron saints of the Byzantine army, Bacchus and Sergius. These two saints were well known to be gay lovers-- and to this day, they're still very popular.
If you read this article you will discover that Archbishop Simpson believes that "God is male and female, white, black, brown, and all the colors in between. And yes, gay and straight." He further adds:
He adds, "None of us are capable of understanding even the slightest portion of what God is, or what his plan is. We can only interpret based on ancient Scripture and the ideals that Jesus laid out. The greatest Commandment is 'Love one another like we love the Lord.' If we really followed that, there wouldn't be any hatred."
To which I can't resist commenting that there wouldn't be any sex, either.
Archbishop Simpson is back with his partner, Jack. They were united in a same-sex union in the Episcopal Church on their 20th anniversary together, and took a cruise together following the event.
Here is the website for The Benedictine Order of St. John the Beloved. There is no indication here that Brother Jack P. Bixler is Archbishop Simpson's partner, but the fact that he is assistant to the Archbishop tends to lead one to think that he is.
Archbishop Simpson has issued a statement discussing his opposition to the teaching of John Paul II on homosexuality:
Pope John Paul II has felt it necessary to go beyond his critical statements of preceding months against legislative efforts to legalize same-sex marriages. He has now issued a document titled “Consideration Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons” that will “outline a course of action for politicians and other lay people to oppose extending the rights accorded traditional couples.” The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, the ultra-conservative watchdog of Roman Catholic dogma, prepared this document. It is a clear declaration of war on the gay population of the world.
I wonder where he got this bit of information:
. It is interesting to note that in the 12th century, the Roman Catholic rite for same sex-unions also disappeared from view. Not much is known as to how often this rite was used, but it did exist.
Unfortunately the article doesn't tell us where it came from.
GNOSTIC MASS ON CHILEAN TELEVISION
Thelema Lodge, Ordo Templi Orientis, reports televised event in April 1996:
Thelema Lodge recently hosted a Gnostic Mass performance that was videotaped for broadcast on television in Chile. The Saturday morning mass on 24th February featured Casey Cummings as Priestess, with Michael Sanborn as Priest and Frater Maeldinas Emrys as Deacon. It was surprisingly well attended (for a morning event), especially considering that we also had good turnouts for the mass at Oz the previous evening, and the regular public mass the following day. Patrice (Pato) Livingstone of Luna Calipso Film & Television brought the video crew (Alessandra, Raul, and Miguel) to this specially arranged mass after having attended a regular Sunday evening service about a month earlier. Although the presence of a roving videocamera in the temple was certainly unusual, they were most respectful, and managed to achieve a high degree of intimacy without interfering. The novelty of the situation seemed to make it enjoyable for everyone, with the crew even passing their big camera back and forth so that they could each communicate at the end. The mass was followed by a video interview with the priest and then a late breakfast for the crew. Their footage is scheduled to appear in a Chilean news report about contemporary religious diversity sometime this autumn.
WOMEN BUDDHIST PRIESTS
A reader sent in this article from Religious News Online which indicates that female Buddhists are clamoring for ordination. Have they been hanging around Catholics too long, or did they get it from the Theosophists? (Actually, I suspect that both the Buddhists and the Catholics got it from the Theosophists!)
FATIMA
And John Vennari's article about the Hindu ceremony that took place there, is discussed in this report by Timothy Tindal-Robertson, titled "The Hindus in Fatima, 5th May 2004 and the grave misrepresentations in John Vennari's report", was sent in by a reader. This report, as the title indicates, objects to Vennari's account.
It seems to me that it suffers from the same shortsightedness that the author claims was John Vennari's downfall...namely, no interview with the rector of the shrine, and not present at the event. But I admit to scanning hastily, and may have missed a reference to the author's presence. In any case, pictures don't lie, and the Hindu accounts of the event did not object to Vannari's report.
So I'm not convinced by this article that John Vennari reported in error. Something at Fatima is still fishy. The new construction in the planning stages looks about as much like a Catholic church as does the local YMCA.
A reader sent this in along with an indication that it is being discussed at Bettnet.
MORE ARTICLES ON THE YELLOW CAKE SCANDAL
Here at MSN.
Here at The New Republic. This one indicates French companies owned the uranium mines, and Iraq wasn't their only customer.
And here at Chicago Sun Times. where you can read:
And what about John F. Kerry? Joe Wilson campaigned with Kerry in at least six states, and claims to have helped with the candidate's speeches. He was said to be a senior foreign policy adviser to the senator. As of Friday, Wilson's Web site, restorehonesty.com, was still wholly paid for by Kerry's presidential campaign. ...
First, contrary to what Wilson wrote in the New York Times, Saddam Hussein was trying to acquire uranium from Niger. In support of that proposition are a Senate report in Washington, Lord Butler's report in London, MI6, French intelligence, other European agencies -- and, as we now know, the CIA report, based on Joe Wilson's original briefing to them. Against that proposition is Joe Wilson's revised version of events for the Times.
This isn't difficult. In 1999, a senior Iraqi "trade" delegation went to Niger. Uranium accounts for 75 percent of Niger's exports. The rest is goats, cowpeas and onions. So who sends senior trade missions to Niger? Maybe Saddam dispatched his Baathist big shots all the way to the dusty capital of Niamy because he had a sudden yen for goat and onion stew with a side order of black-eyed peas, and Major Wanke, the then-president, had offered him a great three-for-one deal.
But that's not what Joe Wilson found. Major Wanke's prime minister, among others, told Ambassador Wilson that he believed Iraq wanted yellowcake. And Ambassador Wilson told the CIA. And the CIA's report agreed with the British and the Europeans that "Iraq was attempting to procure uranium from Africa."...
Saddam wanted yellowcake for one reason: to strike at his neighbors in the region, and beyond that at Britain, America and his other enemies. In other words, he wanted the uranium in order to kill you.
The obvious explanation for Wilson's deceit about what he found in Africa is that his hatred of Bush outweighed everything else. Or as the novelist and Internet maestro Roger L. Simon put it, "He is a deeply evil human being willing to lie and obfuscate for temporary political gain about a homicidal dictator's search for weapons-grade uranium."...
Some of us are on record as dismissing Wilson in the first bloom of his unmerited celebrity. But John Kerry was taken in -- to the point where he signed him up as an adviser and underwrote his Web site.
Does anyone come out of this not smelling like an outhouse?
As near as I can tell, this was a smear campaign against Bush. I wonder where George Soros was when this was taking place? Kerry lost my vote over abortion. But if that hadn't been reason enough to avoid him, this, on the surface, sure looks like it is!
Thanks to a reader for the links to these stories.
WHAT DO YOU READERS MAKE OF THIS ?
A reader sent in this story from the Toronto Sun:
In his 2003 State of the Union address, U.S. President George Bush cited British intelligence claims that Iraq had secretly imported uranium ore from Niger to make nuclear weapons.
Bush's claims were based on crude forgeries, previously rejected by the CIA.
Now, new information from European intelligence sources is detailing how the forgeries made their way from the Niger embassy in Rome to the White House. An FBI investigation of this outrageous scandal is said to be at a critical phase.
In a classic example of what intelligence professionals term "disinformation," a shady Italian intermediary, "Giacomo," was told a lady at the Niger embassy had "a gift" for him.
"Giacomo" has told The London Sunday Times he was given a sheaf of documents purporting to show Iraq had sought yellowcake uranium ore from Niger, a mineral used for nuclear fuel and weapons. "Giacomo" then reportedly passed them on to American agents. He says the Niger documents were given to him through SISMI, Italy's foreign intelligence service.
SISMI has long been notorious for far-right leanings.
Senior SISMI officers were implicated with celebrated swindler Roberto Calvi, the notorious P2 masonic lodge, and other extreme rightist groups. SISMI works hand in glove with U.S., British and other intelligence agencies.
In the 1960s and '70s, it was revealed that SISMI carried out numerous operations for the CIA, including bugging the Vatican, the Italian president's palace, and foreign embassies.
FROM THE MAILBOX
We need Catholic Radio in Cleveland. And we are very close to getting it!
There are over 15,000 radio stations in this country. Of these, over 1,500 are Protestant stations. Less than fifty are Catholic stations. In Cleveland, there are several Protestant religious stations and no Catholic stations.
The recent scandals have discouraged many Catholics in the Diocese of Cleveland. We can sit back and condemn those who have failed or we can step up and help carry the cross. Our Lord instructed us: Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Hail Holy Queen Communications has been offered a wonderful opportunity to purchase a radio station in Cleveland. Your prayers are desperately needed for this effort. Please visit the Hail Holy Queen Communications website to learn more about Hail Holy Queen and how you can support this effort:
http://www.hailholyqueen.org/
I have one more request. This e-mail is being sent to over 600 Cleveland Catholics. If everyone who receives this e-mail forwards it to 10 more Catholics and then those Catholics forward it to their friends and relatives, we can quickly spread this news to tens of thousands Catholics in the northeastern Ohio area.
Here is a chance to evangelize and do something very positive in our diocese.
Thank you for your help,
Dan Coyne
THIS IS THE MAN WHO WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT
and the man who wants to be Vice President. The team that vows to restore "Truth" to the Presidency according to the Washington Post. The team that believes the Bush administration has abandoned truth:
"The value of truth is one of the most central values in America, and this administration has violated" it, Kerry said in an interview with The Washington Post aboard the Democrats' campaign plane Friday. "Their values system is distorted and not based on truth."
Excuse me!! Kerry taking the high road on values? The candidate who thinks that life begins at conception, but women should have the right to murder it anyway? The candidate who seems to be able to say about abortion whatever the audience before him would like to hear? The candidate who simply ignores the truth that his own religion teaches? Who or what is the author of Kerry's "truth"? It certainly doesn't seem to be God. There are not a lot of other choices. But perhaps he makes his own truth as he goes along, placing it on some sort of sliding scale. Pluriform truth, perhaps. By such a definition, it is highly likely Bush does not believe in his truth.
Does he think we are daft? That we have sent our powers of analysis on a 3-month cruise only to return after the November election? Even as a sound bite this quote lacks credibility now. The quote is a month old. I guess we're not supposed to be resurrecting old news to apply to current campaign strategy.
WOMAN ATTACKED AS SHE ENTERED A CHURCH
Scotsman.com reports a 79-year-old woman was punched as she entered Our Lady of Assumption Church. Knocked to the floor unconscious, she was then repeatedly kicked and punched. She suffered severe bruising to her face. There is no reason given for the assault.
GRISLY TRADE IN HUMAN BODY PARTS
for use in Wiccan spells is the reason being given for the death of a ten-year-old boy who was found after he was attacked while searching for lost livestock in the hills near his home in northern Limpopo province, South Africa:
Ten-year-old Sello Chokoe was searching for stray livestock in hills near his home in the northern Limpopo province when his attackers struck, hitting him over the head with a blunt weapon, slashing off parts of his body and leaving him for dead, police said after the attack in late July.
Chokoe survived and spent more than a week in hospital in critical condition before he died, SABC national television reported yesterday.
Blogger credit to Crux News.
MARIA ESPERANZA
a seer well known to followers of apparitions, died recently. Did her predictions come to pass? Will this be a year of light as she foretold?
The bishops in her area have approved the Betania apparition that is associated with her according to Spirit Daily.
As with all apparitions, until the Church gives them full approval, they must be approached with a measure of caution, and even skepticism.
