Anti-Catholic Bigotry at Grammys

Larry Busacca Getty Images

This photo of Nicki Minaj was taken at the Grammys in 2012.

I have one question: What if she had shown up with a man who painted his face and hands black?

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the media to call this out for the bigotry that it is. 

I really miss the days when people had enough decorum to not disrespect the world religions.  It was called tolerance.  Now, intolerance and bigotry rules, especially when it pertains to anything Catholic.

Update: Bill Donohue of the Catholic League has more:

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on what happened last night at the Grammys:
Nicki Minaj, fresh off looking like a fool with Madonna at the Super Bowl, showed up last night on the red carpet at the Grammys with a guy dressed like the pope. This was just a prelude of what was to come.

Minaj’s performance began on stage with a mock confessional skit. This was followed by a taped video depicting a mock exorcism. With stained glass in the background, she appeared on stage again with choir boys and monks dancing.

Perhaps the most vulgar part was the sexual statement that showed a scantily clad female dancer stretching backwards while an altar boy knelt between her legs in prayer. Finally, “Come All Ye Faithful” was sung while a man posing as a bishop walked on stage; Minaj was shown levitating.

None of this was by accident, and all of it was approved by The Recording Academy, which puts on the Grammys. Whether Minaj is possessed is surely an open question, but what is not in doubt is the irresponsibility of The Recording Academy. Never would they allow an artist to insult Judaism or Islam.

It’s bad enough that Catholics have to fight for their rights vis-à-vis a hostile administration in Washington without also having to fend off attacks in the entertainment industry. The net effect, however, will only embolden Catholics, as well as their friends in other faith communities.

Contact Barb Dehgan, VP, Communications and Media Relations, The Recording Academy: barbd@grammy.com

---

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Cardinal Puljic of Sarajevo faces eviction after "Kangaroo Court" decision



Vinko Cardinal Puljic of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina



This post has been updated.  Go to the bottom:
***********************************

Croatian Catholics in Bosnia-Herzegovina face continued persecution.  The exodus of Croats from that region has been a concern for the Holy See... fewer Croats in BiH = fewer Catholics.  I can't imagine why they would flee to neighboring Croatia where kangaroo courts aren't making goofy decisions like this one.  From Catholic Culture.  Emphases mine in bold; my comments bracketed in red.

A court in Bosnia-Herzegovina has demanded that Cardinal Vinko Puljic vacate his residence, saying that the property belongs to the family of a former member of the Yugoslavian secret police [which took property from... everyone else, including the Catholic Church].

“They can enter over my dead body,” the defiant cardinal announced.

The residence in the center of Sarajevo had been the property of the Catholic Church since it was built in 1895 [there you have it], but the former Communist authorities took possession, reserving one apartment within the building for a secret-police officer. During the war that followed the collapse of the Yugoslavian Communist regime, the officer fled, leaving behind a cache of surveillance equipment.

The secret police in Communist-era Yugoslavia were known for their hostility to the Catholic Church [d'ya think there are elements of that era left within "the system"?]. There is evidence that the equipment left in the officer’s apartment had been used to spy on leading priests of the Sarajevo archdiocese. Some bugs were discovered in the cardinal’s bedroom [nice].

The Episcopal conference of Bosnia-Herzegovina condemned the court’s ruling, saying that it was “the culmination of a long practice of rulings against individuals and institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

This is deserving of the Kangaroo Court award:

It seems the eviction date, which was set for November 17th, has been postponed to December 13th.


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Archbishop Dolan calls out the New York Times for anti-Catholic bigotry...

I'd say he told 'em off pretty good! 

Go to Archbishop Timothy Dolan's blog and read, "More from the Times"

Unlike the old days when the media was in full control of information, these days, you can't just shut a blogging bishop up by not presenting his views.  Of course, the NY Times, which advocates "tolerance" of every group except the Catholics it constantly persecutes, would never dismiss a rarely written letter of objection by the sitting archbishop.

Archbishop Dolan actually has a tag for the New York Times at his blog, so I'm sure it won't be the last time he takes them on.  But, as he pointed out previously, no one could keep up with the frequency with which they put out trashy, anti-Catholic stuff. 

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Jewish friend of Papal Household Preacher likens attacks against Church and Pope to anti-Semitism

Note:  This post was edited to include the full homily because of the fact that some media outlets were taking that which was quoted by Fr. Cantalamessa, from a Jewish friend, out of context.  How anyone can read that the attacks against the pope were being compared to the Holocaust is beyond me.  That's not what was said at all.  It's about stereotyping people and assigning collective guilt versus individual guilt.

Was it prudent to use the comparison? Father Z thinks not. Also, Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman has made a statement to say Father Cantalamessa was not speaking as a Vatican official, adding that such a comparison could "lead to misunderstandings and is not an official position of the Catholic Church".  I'm only seeing this in news reports, but have not seen any kind of press release.

The Good Friday homily of the Papal Household Preacher, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, was released and is available at Zenit in full.

Father Cantalamessa's Good Friday Homily


"We Have a Great High Priest"

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 2, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is the homily delivered today by Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the Pontifical Household, at the celebration of the Lord's passion in St. Peter's Basilica. The liturgy was presided over by Benedict XVI.

* * *

"We have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God": Thus begins the passage from the Letter to the Hebrews that we heard in the second reading. In the Year for Priests, the liturgy for Good Friday enables us to go back to the historical source of the Christian priesthood. It is the source of both the realizations of the priesthood: the ministerial, of bishops and presbyters, and the universal of all the faithful. This one also, in fact, is founded on the sacrifice of Christ that, Revelation says, "loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father" (Revelation 1:5-6). Hence, it is of vital importance to understand the nature of the sacrifice and of the priesthood of Christ because it is from them that priests and laity, in a different way, must bear the stamp and seek to live the exigencies.

The Letter to the Hebrews explains in what the novelty and uniqueness of Christ's priesthood consists, not only in regard to the priesthood of the old Covenant, but as the history of religions teaches us today, in regard to every priestly institution also outside of the Bible. "But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come [...] he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Hebrews 9:11-14).

Every other priest offers something outside of himself, Christ offered himself; every other priest offers victims, Christ offered himself victim! Saint Augustine enclosed in a famous formula this new kind of priesthood in which priest and victim are the same thing: "Ideo sacerdos, quia sacrificium": priest because victim."[1]

* * *

In 1972 a famous French thinker launched the thesis according to which "violence is the heart and secret spirit of the sacred."[2] In fact, at the origin and center of every religion there is sacrifice, and sacrifice entails destruction and death. The newspaper "Le Monde" greeted the affirmation, saying that it made of that year "a year to mark with an asterisk in the annals of humanity." However, before this date, that scholar had come close again to Christianity and at Easter of 1959 he made public his "conversion," declaring himself a believer and returning to the Church.

This enabled him not to pause, in his subsequent studies, on the analysis of the mechanism of violence, but to point out also how to come out of it. Many, unfortunately, continue to quote René Girard as the one who denounced the alliance between the sacred and violence, but they do not speak of the Girard who pointed out in the paschal mystery of Christ the total and definitive break of such an alliance. According to him, Jesus unmasks and breaks the mechanism of the scapegoat that makes violence sacred, making himself, the victim of all violence.

The process that leads to the birth of religion is reversed, in regard to the explanation that Freud had given. In Christ, it is God who makes himself victim, not the victim (in Freud, the primordial father) that, once sacrificed, is successively raised to divine dignity (the Father of the Heavens). It is no longer man that offers sacrifices to God, but God who "sacrifices" himself for man, consigning for him to death his Only-begotten Son (cf. John 3:16). Sacrifice no longer serves to "placate" the divinity, but rather to placate man and to make him desist from his hostility toward God and his neighbor.

Christ did not come with another's blood but with his own. He did not put his sins on the shoulders of others -- men or animals -- he put others' sins on his own shoulders: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24).

Can one, then, continue to speak of sacrifice in regard to the death of Christ and hence of the Mass? For a long time the scholar mentioned rejected this concept, holding it too marked by the idea of violence, but then ended by admitting the possibility, on condition of seeing, in that of Christ, a new kind of sacrifice, and of seeing in this change of meaning "the central fact in the religious history of humanity."

* * *

Seen in this light, the sacrifice of Christ contains a formidable message for today's world. It cries out to the world that violence is an archaic residue, a regression to primitive stages and surmounted by human history and -- if it is a question of believers -- a culpable and scandalous delay in becoming aware of the leap in quality operated by Christ.

It reminds also that violence is losing. In almost all ancient myths the victim is the defeated and the executioner the victor.[3] Jesus changed the sign of victory. He inaugurated a new kind of victory that does not consist in making victims, but in making himself victim. "Victor quia victima!" victor because victim, thus Augustine describes the Jesus of the cross.[4]

The modern value of the defense of victims, of the weak and of threatened life is born on the terrain of Christianity, it is a later fruit of the revolution carried out by Christ. We have the counter-proof. As soon as the Christian vision is abandoned (as Nietzsche did) to bring the pagan back to life, this conquest is lost and one turns to exalt "the strong, the powerful, to its most exalted point, the superman," and the Christian is described as "a morality of slaves," fruit of the mean resentment of the weak against the strong.

Unfortunately, however, the same culture of today that condemns violence, on the other hand, favors and exalts it. Garments are torn in face of certain events of blood, but not being aware that the terrain is prepared for them with that which is shown in the next page of the newspaper or in the successive palimpsest of the television network. The pleasure with which one indulges in the description of violence and the competition of the one who is first and the most crude in describing it do no more than favor it. The result is not a catharsis of evil, but an incitement to it. It is disturbing that violence and blood have become one of the ingredients of greatest claim in films and video-games, that one is attracted to it and enjoys watching it.

The same scholar recalled above has unveiled the matrix that sparks the mechanism of violence: mimicry, that innate human inclination to consider desirable the things that others desire and, hence, to repeat the things that they see others do. The "heard" psychology is that which leads to the choice of the "scapegoat" to find, in the struggle against a common enemy -- in general, the weakest element, the different one -- a proper artificial and momentous cohesion.

We have an example in the recurrent violence of youth in the stadium, in the bullying in schools and in certain square manifestations that leave behind destruction and debris. A generation of youth that has had the very rare privilege of not knowing a real war and of never having been called to arms, amuses itself (because it is about a game, even if stupid and at times tragic) to invent little wars, driven by the same instinct that moved the primordial horde.

* * *

However there is a yet more grave and widespread violence than that of youth in stadiums and squares. I am not speaking here of violence against children, of which unfortunately also elements of the clergy are stained; of that there is sufficient talk outside of here. I am speaking of violence to women. This is an occasion to make persons and institutions that fight against it understand that Christ is their best ally.

It is a violence all the more grave in as much as it is often carried out in the shelter of domestic walls, unknown to all, when it is not actually justified with pseudo-religious and cultural prejudices. The victims find themselves desperately alone and defenseless. Only today, thanks to the support and encouragement of so many associations and institutions, some find the strength to come out in the open and denounce the guilty.

Much of this violence has a sexual background. It is the male who thinks he can demonstrate his virility by inflicting himself on the woman, without realizing that he is only demonstrating his insecurity and baseness. Also in confrontations with the woman who has made a mistake, what a contrast between the conduct of Christ and that still going on in certain environments! Fanaticism calls for stoning; Christ responds to the men who have presented an adulteress to him saying: "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her" (John 8:7). Adultery is a sin that is always committed by two, but for which only one has always been (and, in some parts of the world, still is) punished.

Violence against woman is never so odious as when it nestles where mutual respect and love should reign, in the relationship between husband and wife. It is true that violence is not always and wholly on the part of one, that one can be violent also with the tongue and not only with the hands, but no one can deny that in the vast majority of cases the victim is the woman.

There are families where the man still believes himself authorized to raise his voice and hands on the women of the house. Wife and children at times live under the constant threat of "Daddy's anger." To such as these it is necessary to say courteously: dear men colleagues, by creating you male, God did not intend to give you the right to be angry and to bang your fist on the table for the least thing. The word addressed to Eve after the fault: "He (the man) shall rule over you" (Genesis 3:16), was a bitter forecast, not an authorization.

John Paul II inaugurated the practice of the request for forgiveness for collective wrongs. One of these, among the most just and necessary, is the forgiveness that half of humanity must ask of the other half, men to women. It must not be generic or abstract. It must lead, especially in one who professes himself a Christian, to concrete gestures of conversion, to words of apology and reconciliation within families and in society.

* * *

The passage from the Letter to the Hebrews that we heard continues saying: "In the days of his flesh, with loud cries and with tears he offered prayers and supplications to Him who could save him from death." Jesus felt in all its crudity the situation of the victims, the suffocated cries and silent tears. Truly, "we do not have a high priest who cannot suffer with us in our weaknesses." In every victim of violence Christ relives mysteriously his earthly experience. Also in regard to every one of these he says: "you did it to me" (Matthew 25:40).

By a rare coincidence, this year our Easter falls on the same week of the Jewish Passover which is the ancestor and matrix within which it was formed. This pushes us to direct a thought to our Jewish brothers. They know from experience what it means to be victims of collective violence and also because of this they are quick to recognize the recurring symptoms. I received in this week the letter of a Jewish friend and, with his permission, I share here a part of it.

He said: "I am following with indignation the violent and concentric attacks against the Church, the Pope and all the faithful by the whole world. The use of stereotypes, the passing from personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt remind me of the more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism. Therefore I desire to express to you personally, to the Pope and to the whole Church my solidarity as Jew of dialogue and of all those that in the Jewish world (and there are many) share these sentiments of brotherhood. Our Passover and yours undoubtedly have different elements, but we both live with Messianic hope that surely will reunite us in the love of our common Father. I wish you and all Catholics a Good Easter."

And also we Catholics wish our Jewish brothers a Good Passover. We do so with the words of their ancient teacher Gamaliel, entered in the Jewish Passover Seder and from there passed into the most ancient Christian liturgy:

"He made us pass
From slavery to liberty,
From sadness to joy,
From mourning to celebration,
From darkness to light,
From servitude to redemption
Because of this before him we say: Alleluia."[5]

* * *

Notes

[1] St. Augustine, Confessions, 10, 43.
[2] Cf. R. Girard, La Violence et le Sacré, Grasset, Paris, 1972.
[3] Cf. R. Girard, Il sacrificio, Milano 2004, pp. 73 f.

[4] St. Augustine, Confessions, 10, 43.
[5] Pesachim, X, 5 e Meliton of Sardi, Easter Homily, 68 (SCh 123, p. 98).

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Please encourage post office on Mother Teresa stamp; atheists attempting to derail

From CatholicVoteAction.org:

A group called the Freedom from Religion Foundation is now spreading lies about Blessed Mother Teresa accusing this holy nun of having a ‘darker side,’ and calling her a ‘polarizing Roman Catholic figurehead.’


That’s why we decided to act swiftly and make sure this anti-Mother Teresa campaign doesn’t gain any more momentum.


The groups now protesting the new stamp never protested other stamps honoring Gandhi, or even Martin Luther King, Jr. who proudly understood his fight for civil rights to be rooted in his Christian faith.


What is plain is that these groups not only dislike Mother Teresa, they despise the Catholic Church. They simply cannot stomach the thought of the United States Postal Service honoring a Catholic nun who spoke out against abortion, contraception, and against the atheistic materialism of the west.


In her famous 1994 speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, Mother Teresa closed with these words:

“From here, a sign of care for the weakest of the weak - the unborn child - must go out to the world. If you become a burning light of justice and peace in the world, then really you will be true to what the founders of this country stood for. God bless you!”

Please go to here and sign the form to encourage the Postmaster General to stand by his decision. 

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George Weigel: The Natural Law = Bigotry? Please.

Excellent read over at the Denver Catholic Register by George Weigel.   I'll start you out here and you'll have to follow the link to finish the article:

The Natural law= bigotry? Please.

On Nov. 3, Ken Cuccinelli was elected attorney general of Virginia in a landslide. His 15 percent margin of victory strongly suggests that Old Dominion voters were unimpressed by a shrill Washington Post editorial published on Oct. 30, which opined that Mr. Cuccinelli “would likely become an embarrassment for the commonwealth” as his “affability and quick wit … have tended to mask his extremist views.”

What, you ask, were those “extremist views”? Well, the Post’s indictment—in an editorial titled “Mr. Cuccinelli’s bigotry”—centered on the fact that candidate Cuccinelli had described homosexual behavior as contrary to “natural law” and had further suggested that natural law was a useful guide to public policy. Mr. Cuccinelli did not propose to prosecute, much less jail, every gay and lesbian between the Potomac River and the North Carolina border, and no sane person thought he intended to do so. Yet the Post’s anonymous editorial writer described Mr. Cuccinelli’s appeal to natural law as a “retrofit (of) the old language of racism, bias, and intolerance in a new context.”

Baloney. What’s being retrofitted here is old-time anti-Catholic bigotry, tarted up in the guise of tolerance and extended to those who think there are moral truths built into the world and into us—truths that we can grasp by reason.

Ken Cuccinelli is a serious, practicing Catholic. He’s also a sophisticated politician who knows that you don’t argue public policy in the public square on the basis of uniquely Catholic theological premises. Rather, you make your arguments in a public vocabulary, accessible to all. That’s the grammar and vocabulary of the natural moral law: the basis on which Thomas Jefferson argued the case for American national independence, Martin Luther King, Jr., promoted the civil rights of African Americans, and John Paul II passionately and effectively defended the religious and political rights of all.

Was Jefferson a bigot when he staked America’s claim to independent nationhood on “self-evident” moral truths derived from “the laws of nature?” Was King a bigot when, in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he argued that “an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law”? Was John Paul II a bigot when, at the United Nations in 1995, he suggested that the truths of the natural moral law—“the moral logic which is built into human life”—could serve as a universal “grammar” enabling genuinely cross-cultural dialogue? Please.

Continue reading George Weigel's article at the Denver Catholic Register



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Responses to Maureen Dowd's anti-Catholic op-ed piece

You may recall Maureen Dowd's recent profoundly ignorant, anti-Catholic op-ed in the New York Times as a piece that never would have gotten past the editors if it had been about any other religion. Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York responded with a straightforward op-ed piece of his own, which was declined by "Hell's Bible". 

The Anchoress has a great followup piece:

• Dowd: Which are miserable nuns? – UPDATED

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Archbishop Burke on Golden Compass review; Fr. Euteneuer again calls for firing of reviewer

I'm still catching up on some things. Also, some things were a little later coming than I expected. I had looked for a press release from Human Life International with Fr. Tom Euteneuer's plea to the USCCB to fire Harry Forbes over the review of The Golden Compass, which has since been pulled. A press release is available and it is ablaze. From the HLI website. Emphasis in bold, mine:

Fr. Euteneuer asks Bishops to Fire Scandalous Movie Reviewer

FRONT ROYAL, VA — The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, STL, president of Human Life International, (HLI) today called on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to fire Harry Forbes, director of the Office for Film and Broadcasting of the Conference, for his positive reviews of immoral or anti-Catholic films on the Conference’s Catholic News Service (CNS).

Father Euteneuer said, “I refuse to believe that Harry Forbes, who gave such glowing remarks to the homosexual promo film Brokeback Mountain and the atheist indoctrination flick The Golden Compass, speaks in the name of our bishops. An employee who shames our bishops with reviews of this sort should be fired. He now has a track record and is not worthy to be a public spokesperson for any Catholic let alone the national conference of bishops. I urgently ask the bishops to correct this anomaly at the headquarters and restore the dignity of the conference, which has been sullied by this man.

“There seems to be a decades-old pattern of embarrassment on the part of some USCCB subordinates and other lay officials when it comes to the teachings of the Catholic Church. All too often these scandals involve matters of homosexuality. In 1987 we had the document ‘The Many Faces of AIDS’ which was problematic on the use of condoms, then in 1997 the scandalous document ‘Always our Children’ so distorted Catholic teaching that it had to be rewritten after its release.”

Father Euteneuer continued, “Then in December, 2005, Forbes’s review of Brokeback Mountain with its original ‘L’ rating for ‘Limited’ had to be corrected and reclassified as ‘O’ for ‘Morally Objectionable.’ The bishops have been embarrassed by their staff like clockwork for almost 20 years. Now, in December 2007, the bishops have had to withdraw Forbes’s review of The Golden Compass from CNS after publication. After major scandals involving homosexual clergy, do we really need their movie reviewer now tiptoeing around hostile atheism?

“Let Harry Forbes be the sign that the bishops can break the cycle of subtle and overt dissent among their subordinates. They should show him the door and require all other employees to take an Oath of Fidelity. That will separate the wheat from the chaff,” concluded Fr. Euteneuer.

Archbishop Raymond L. Burke speaks out

In the St. Louis Review, Archbishop Burke talks about The Golden Compass in his December 14, 2007 weekly column under a section entitled, "Pastoral direction in a relativist society". In that section Archbishop writes (emphases mine in bold; my comments in red and in brackets):

Respect and obedience toward our pastors in the Church is a particular challenge in today’s society, which views everything in relation to what each individual thinks and wants. Pastors who have the solemn responsibility to teach and uphold the truths of the faith, that is, the objective reality of our relationship with God, with one another and with our world, become very unpopular and are openly rejected when they fulfill their responsibilities toward the flock in their care.

The secular media, which reflect very much the relativism rampant in our society, view the pastoral authority of the Church as extremism. When the Holy Father, the bishops and parish priests enunciate the Church’s teaching on the inviolable dignity of innocent human life, for example, they are labeled "the religious right." Easily enough, secular thinking enters the Church, remaking pastoral authority according to its own image while, at the same time, ridiculing and even resisting any firm teaching or discipline given by the Church’s pastors. [Not your way, Lord - my way. Or, another way, "non serviam"]

Recently, the pastors in our nation have cautioned the faithful, especially parents, regarding the film "The Golden Compass." Through George Henry, superintendent of Catholic education in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, parents and teachers were warned that the author of the books ("His Dark Materials," by Philip Pullman) from which the movie is drawn is an avowed atheist who has a particular hatred of the Catholic Church.

As archbishop, I caution all Catholics regarding the atheistic and antiCatholic nature of Pullman’s writings, upon which "The Golden Compass" is based. If you wish further and more in-depth information, I recommend the publication of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, "The Golden Compass: Agenda Unmasked," which can be obtained through the League’s website, http://www.catholicleague.org/. I also commend the book by Peter Vere and Sandra Miesel, "Pied Piper of Atheism: Philip Pullman and Children’s Fantasy," published by Ignatius Press (http://www.ignatius.com/).

Before concluding, I wish also to correct an erroneous statement made in a commentary in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, titled "After ruckus over its roots, ‘Compass’ film mollifies some" (Dec. 8, 2007, p. A23). The commentary claims that the Catholic bishops of our nation viewed the film and praised it. The statement is false. A most defective review of the film was published by Catholic News Service. The review has by now been removed from the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The review was not based on a viewing of the film by bishops and was not endorsed by the bishops.

I call to mind something Pope Benedict XVI said to the Austrian bishops in a 2005 ad limina visit. I do go back to this several times yearly as it is so applicable today. For whatever reason, when we expect our bishops to be vocal, they are silent. Jesus didn't exemplify going with the flow. Rather, he demonstrated the need to be counter-cultural, which is precisely what Archbishop Burke and Fr. Euteneuer are doing. That Pope Benedict would say these words to the Austrian bishops (and it really fits many of our own bishops in the US), I don't think it is my perception, but in certain cases, an unfortunate reality.

Dear Brothers in the Episcopate, you are well aware that there are topics concerning the truth of faith and especially moral doctrine that are not being adequately presented in catechesis and preaching in your Dioceses and that at times, for example, in youth ministry in the parishes or associations, are not being confronted at all or are not being clearly addressed as the Church wishes.

I give thanks to God it is not like this everywhere. However, perhaps those responsible for preaching fear that here and there people might drift away if they spoke too clearly.

Yet experience generally shows that it is precisely the opposite that happens. Be under no illusion. An incomplete Catholic teaching is a contradiction in itself and cannot be fruitful in the long term. The proclamation of the Kingdom of God goes hand in hand with the need for conversion and love that encourages, that knows the way, that teaches an understanding that with God's grace even what seems impossible becomes possible. Only think how the teaching of religion, catechesis at various levels and preaching can be gradually improved, deepened and as it were completed.

Other:

Lifesite News: Archbishop Burke Calls USCCB Film Office Review of 'Golden Compass' "Most Defective"

Both photos shown above were taken while Fr. Euteneuer and Archbishop Burke were visiting Assumption Grotto. Related photo posts:

Fr. Tom Euteneuer celebrating a Novus Ordo Mass - ad orientem

Fr. Tom Euteneuer at Grotto: Helpers of God's Precious Infants Retreat

Accumulative photo post of Archbishop Burke's visit



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USCCB Pulls Review of the Golden Compass; Denver Bishop criticizes review

This is highly unusual and it did not happen this way with Brokeback Mountain. The USCCB has pulled the review of the Golden Compass.

I am heading out the door to Assumption Grotto's Latin Novus Ordo - Advent Rorate Mass this evening, but want to lead you to Tom Peters excellent and detailed coverage of the removal of that review.

Mark Shea also has a good commentary on this subject.

Abp Chaput of Denver is now included in a growing list of bishops displeased with the review and warning Catholics. From Lifesite News:

Denver Archbishop Chaput Criticizes USCCB Film Office Movie Review of Golden Compass

By John-Henry Westen

DENVER, December 11, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In the December 12 issue of The Denver Catholic Register, Archbishop Charles Chaput makes a thinly veiled criticism of the positive review of 'The Golden Compass' put out by the Office of Film of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). That USCCB review first posted November 29, a week prior to the film's debut on Dec. 7, was withdrawn yesterday, without explanation.

In his review of the film, Chaput writes that "The aggressively anti-religious, anti-Christian undercurrent in "The Golden Compass" is unmistakable and at times undisguised." He adds, "The idea that any Christian film critics could overlook or downplay these negative elements, as some have seemed to do, is simply baffling.'

That line bears directly on the positive review for the controversial film by USCCB Office for Film and Broadcasting Director Harry Forbes and his colleague John Mulderig.

The now-pulled USCCB review said, "this film -- altered, as it is, from its source material -- rates as intelligent and well-crafted entertainment." The USCCB review dismissed moral concerns over the film's content stating: "Whatever author Pullman's putative motives in writing the story, writer-director Chris Weitz's film, taken purely on its own cinematic terms, can be viewed as an exciting adventure story with, at its core, a traditional struggle between good and evil, and a generalized rejection of authoritarianism."

The Forbes-Mulderig review even suggested: "To the extent, moreover, that Lyra and her allies are taking a stand on behalf of free will in opposition to the coercive force of the Magisterium, they are of course acting entirely in harmony with Catholic teaching. The heroism and self-sacrifice that they demonstrate provide appropriate moral lessons for viewers."

Chaput joins a growing number of U.S. bishops who have openly condemned The Golden Compass.

However, according to insider reports there is heated discussion taking place among bishops over the controversy. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported Friday that an inside source revealed that the debate over the film was "truly over the top" on the USCCB listsev, a private discussion board for Bishops and their aides.

Archbishop Chaput concludes his review saying, "I'll certainly be encouraging my own friends to put their Christmas cash to better use. In fact, maybe the most cynical and insulting thing about "The Golden Compass" is that its makers would offer this cold, angry, anti-religious fable as "holiday fare" in the midst of a season built around the birth of Jesus Christ."

Read Archbishop Chaput's full review of 'The Golden Compass' here:

Sympathy for the devil: thoughts on 'The Golden Compass'

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Golden Compass Bends a Needle at Box Office

The compass tried hard to head financially north, but it's not looking good. The needle is visibly bent.

Golden Compass Executives had anticipated that opening weekend would pull in 30-40 million at the box office. While it topped the box-office this weekend, it netted only 26.1 million this weekend for the opener, with only 8.8 million on opening day. It cost $180 million to make. Emphases in all of these quotes are mine...

Rolf Mittweg of New Line Cinema, which released Compass, concedes that the religion controversy might have had an effect. But he points out, "Historically, that tends to be ineffective — look at The Da Vinci Code. No one was supposed to see that, either." - Source: USA Today - Dec 9, 2007

Compare that to Chronicles of Narnia which raked in 65 million on the weekend it opened. Pullman, the author of His Dark Materials, upon which the first book in the trilogy The Golden Compass is based, has publicly criticized C.S. Lewis' works. In fact, Pullman loathes Narnia:

I loathe the 'Narnia' books," Pullman has said in previous press interviews. "I hate them with a deep and bitter passion, with their view of childhood as a golden age from which sexuality and adulthood are a falling away." He has called the series "one of the most ugly and poisonous things" he's ever read..

The numbers in the coming weeks will probably make or break whether movies based on the second and third books are made. That is where it will be far more difficult to conceal the anti-religion/anti-Catholic nature of His Dark Materials.

NOT ANTI-RELIGIOUS, BUT ANTI-RELIGIOUS?

Ok, which is it? Christians are upset because it is anti-religion. Promoters dance around the question of whether it is anti-religion. At the same time, the anti-religious, are upset that the movie has been sanitized of the anti-religion. The UK's National Secular Society - an organization of atheists, agnostics, and other non-believers, has this on their site about The Golden Compass (my emphasis in bold and in red)

On the day of the premiere of The Golden Compass, Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society (of which Philip Pullman is an honorary associate), commented:

“We knew from the beginning that the producers of this film intended to leave out the anti-religious references. We think this is a great shame – the fight against the Magisterium (Pullman’s thinly-disguised version of the Catholic Church) – is the whole point of the book. Take that away and the most original and interesting element of the story is lost.

The director, Chris Weitz, has said that he needed this initial film to be financially successful in order to be able to make the next two in the series. It is the next two that would be the real problem if the scripts were to be true to the books, because it is the later books that bring the anti-religious themes to the fore. However, if the franchise takes off, perhaps the makers of the subsequent movies can be a little braver than they have been with the first one.

OK - now, I understand. Perhaps declaring, "My books are about killing God" is not the best sales pitch. But, we are glad he was true to himself in making that declaration so we could all be very clear about his agenda.

In the meanwhile, Catholics can only hope that at least one or two movie reviewers at the USCCB will be looking for new work, where they can review each movie, "purely on its own cinematic terms".


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Golden Compass book sales up 500% with movie opener

In my last post on the Golden Compass I shared with you how disoriented the USCCB movie reviewers were in their assessment. They basically dismissed the main concern (noted by the Catholic League among others), that children who see Pullman's movie, will want Pullman's books (a trilogy). Those books are not sanitized of blatant anti-Catholicism and blasphemy. They say:

Most moviegoers with no foreknowledge of the books or Pullman's personal belief system will scarcely be aware of religious connotations, and can approach the movie as a pure fantasy-adventure.

Right! That's why Pullman's book sales, on which this is all based, are up 500%.

Those who wrote that so-called catholic review on behalf of our Bishops need to be fired, plain and simple. The USCCB needs to get a backbone and write a retraction, not make minor tweaks. It should be published far and wide.

I pray more bishops will speak up individually, as Bishop Listecki has.


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Golden Compass leaves USCCB movie reviewers disoriented

I'm sorry to say that I had long lost my confidence in the USCCB movie rating system years ago. It just came across to me as something that went along to get along.

The initial rating of Brokeback Mountain in 2005 was the final straw for me. The rating was changed to morally offensive (O) from limited adult audience (L) only after a big stink was made. I thought they should clean house back then and get people in there that truly understand Catholicism, and Catholic virtue. If it counters our faith, even from a virtue standpoint, it ought not be receiving a positive rating. There are few movies these days that should get any kind of favorable rating, yet the opposite is the norm. It's an example of just moving along with the world.

Relativism has reared it's ugly head once again from The United States Conference of Bishops Office for Film and Broadcasting. This time it involves the A-II (adults and adolesence) rating and review of The Golden Compass, which, sarcastically as sit sounds, should have just followed through by telling people to grab a bag of popcorn and enjoy the show! What were they thinking?!?! And, why should they continue to be paid by the USCCB for their disoriented reviews?

In US Bishops asked to Fire Chief Film Critic over Glowing Reviews for "Brokeback" and "Compass" (LifeSite News) are the following snippets:

Fr. Tom Euteneuer, the President of Human Life International, has called on the US Bishops to fire Forbes and his subordinate John Mulderig who co-authored the review of The Golden Compass. The HLI leader was incredulous that the USCCB review could recommend the film for children despite the fact that it admits the film has "occult elements" and carries a "sprit of rebellion".

"The fact that these gentlemen could recommend this movie to children is just abhorrent to me. I really do believe these guys should be fired," Fr. Eueneuer told LifeSiteNews.com. "Whatever happened to rejecting Satan and all his empty work and empty promises."

The USCCB review notes the great artistry of the film, but such is no reason to approve of it warned Fr. Euteneuer who has taken part in exorcisms. "St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11 that the devil comes dressed as an angel of light. And this is very clearly what is happening. They have taken an atheistic work and dressed it up as something good for kids."

Noting Forbes' former scandalous positive review of Brokeback Mountain, Fr. Euteneuer said, "The fact (the USCCB) didn't fire him at that time is what leads to this kind of thing. When you don't rebuke irresponsibility in using an office to spread errors then it leads to more irresponsibility."

In addition, the same article reads:

Pete Vere, who has a written book on the author of The Golden Compass, spoke with LifeSiteNews.com about the USCCB review. "Several bishops have spoken to me about this review and they are horrified at what has been done in their name," Vere told LifeSiteNews.com. "Certainly the USCCB has to revisit its rules for issuing movie reviews." Vere's book co-authored by Sandra Miesel, Pied Piper of Atheism: Philip Pullman and Children's Fantasy, is to be released by Ignatius Press before Christmas.

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League did not waste any time going after the reviewers. Sentence by sentence, he challenges them (do read the entire article in the link for details).

New Line Cinema (or as Curt Jester called it - "New Lie Cinema") mad use of the "positive review" from the USCCB. With a little twisting and snipping/joining of words it appeared that the USCCB fully endorsed The Golden Compass (read Curt Jester's post for the original story and updates).

Oh, how the Father of Lies seems to be indulging all the way around in this one.

ADDITIONAL POSTS:

Te Deum: The Golden Compass: Agenda Unmasked

CNA: Golden Compass promoters trying to advertise in Catholic press

Lifesite News Update: Ad Agency Pitching 'Golden Compass' Ads to Catholic Diocesan Papers Halts Ads

AmP: Quick update on the Golden Compass controversy

AmP: More proof that New Line Cinema is trying to advertise the Golden Compass in Catholic publications

Amy Welborn on New Line Cinema's attempt to advertise in Catholic publications

More from author Amy Welborn on The Golden Compass

Fr. Martin Fox: Golden Compass author - 'My books are about killing God'

Jimmy Akin: Philip Pullman is a Liar

Ignatius Scoop: Bishop Listecki warns against "The Golden Compass"

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More info on The Golden Compass

There is a preview of the December 2007 edition of This Rock magazine - a Catholic apologetics periodical.

Please go to my original post on The Golden Compass and it's anti-Catholic undercurrents and see the edit near the bottom.

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The Golden Compass: Agenda Unmasked

There is an atheist children's author, and his aim is to make atheists of your children. The first book of Philip Pullman's, His Dark Materials trilogy called The Golden Compass, is about to hit the big screen this December.

The Catholic League's Bill Donohue appearing on The World Over Live with Raymond Arroyo, asked Catholics and Christians to stay away from this movie, and the related books. Don't give Philip Pullman your money on the basis that you want to judge for yourself. The Pulllman trilogy books are clearly anti-Catholic and use words common to the Catholic faith to depict evil. "The Magisterium" is considered the bad force, with evil priests and cardinals.


The Catholic League has put out a booklet which details the problems with the movie and the books in order to better inform Catholics now, before the movie hits the big screens in December, and before parents are tempted to buy the trilogy in books. The movie has been sanitized to some extent of anti-Catholic content, but the books have not. Actress Nicole Kidman, who is Catholic, justified acting in the movie on the basis that the anti-Catholic material was removed or modified (which is only partly true since obvious Catholic symbols and words are used in a sinister context). Nicole Kidman seems not to think too far ahead at how children and parents will get sucked into buying the anti-Catholic books after they see the movie!!!!

What's the big deal? Get the booklet from Catholic League and find out.


Related blogposts:

Fr. Ray Blake: Kidman - Film not anti-Catholic (she's kidding)

American Papist: "Golden Compass" is pointing towards anti-Catholicism

Liberty Minnie: Consumer Alert on "The Golden Compass"

Catholic Family Vignettes: "The Golden Compass" - no sense of direction?

A British writer, Peter Hitchins, says of children's author Philip Pullman, "This is the most dangerous author in Britain". Author Amy Welborn, who wrote De-coding DaVinci, contrasts "His Dark Materials" trilogy work with the skills of Catholic writer J.R.R. Tolkein.

EDIT NOV 7, 2007: There is an excellent write-up in the periodical, This Rock and published at catholic.com. Here is one example (this is based on the book series, not the movie, which children are certainly going to desire reading after seeing the movie, which is somewhat sanitized of the anti-Catholic, pro-atheist agenda).

6. Why should parents be concerned about the film and the books?Because of the film and the wide audience Pullman’s books have, Catholic parents should be aware of how Pullman uses the literary genre of children’s fantasy to undermine the Christian faith and promote atheism. The major problems fall into these general categories:

• Blasphemy against the Judeo-Christian concept of God


• Depiction of Catholic Church as evil, and religion in general as obscurant


• Promotion of the occult


• Endorsement of relativism as an acceptable system of belief


• Heretical portrayal of the human person

To read the entire review, see these two links:

PREVIEW - This Rock 12-2007: The Golden Compass (Part 1 of 2)
PREVIEW - This Rock 12-2007: The Golden Compass (Part 2 of 2)

ADDITIONAL BLOG LINKS:

Jimmy Akin: Phillip Pullman is a Liar

Fr. Martin Fox: Golden Compass Author, "My books are about killing God"

Ignatius Scoop: Bishop Lisecki warns parents about Golden Compass

Amy Welborn: Happy?

Dads.Org compiles atheistic and anti-Christian quotes from Pullman


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BOYCOTT: Miller Beer sponsors anti-Christian event

Bloggers: Spread this news please!!!

If Miller Beer had sponsored an ad which took a poke at Martin Luther King, they would be considered racist. If they sponsored an ad which took a poke at the Torah, they would be considered anti-semitic. If they sponsored an ad which took a poke at Ramadan, they would be considered anti-muslim. Any such thing would probably spark an investigation by the government. But, if you want to take a poke at Christians and Catholics, that's perfectly fine.

NOT!!!

The Catholic League has called for a boycott of Miller Beer because of their sponsorship of an ad which trashes the Last Supper. This is not only offensive to Catholics, but Christians everywhere.

It gets worse. Bill Donohue sent a followup letter to the executives of Miller with pictures of the highly immoral event which they are sponsoring this Sunday.

Original boycott explanation by Catholic League

Followup boycott info by Catholic League

EDIT: Miller Brewing Co. sells beer under a number of names of which I was unaware. Among dozens of specific names, they include the following:

Fosters
Red Dog
Icehouse
Leinenkugel's
Henry Weinhard's
Olde English

More newscoverage:

Boycott of Miller Beer Launched Because of Sponsorship of Sadomasochistic, Anti-Christian Gay Parade (Lifesite News)

Catholic Group Boycotts Miller over anti-Christian Event (Crosswalk)


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