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| Are the U.S. Catholic Bishops Pharisees or Shepherds? |
There's a story, perhaps apocryphal, about a conversation between Cardinal Ercole Consalvi, Secretary of State to Pius VII, and Napoleon Bonaparte which has the ring of truth. Apparently Napoleon told the cardinal he had the power to destroy the Church. The ironic answer from the prelate was, "If the bishops haven't been able to do it in the past 1800 years, how can you expect to succeed?"
From my lifetime perspective in the 20th and now 21st century, many of the U.S. bishops have devoted their "service" to doing all they can to compromise and undermine Holy Mother Church. Some, like Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and the admitted homosexuals are well known. Others, like Cardinal Blase Cupich, Wilton Gregory, Robert McElroy, Mark Seitz, Cardinal Bernard Law before them, etc. expose themselves by their evil actions. They are joined by the cowards and yes-men who seem to act more out of human respect and love of the comfortable life than love of God and their flocks. How many of our bishops care about saving souls? I fear they are few in number.
What a tragedy for the faithful! We want to respect our fathers in faith, but many are so contemptible we can only shake our heads and pray for the Holy Spirit to save us from these abusive and treacherous men we call "father."
Over the years, especially since the creation of the USCCB, in the 1960s from two separate organizations, the NCCB and USCC, the bishops have meddled in politics to the point that we have a deep church as well as a deep state. The church bureaucracy is every bit as damaging to the faith as the government bureaucracy is to the nation. Not only that, but the bishops seem oblivious to the biblical warning that "Love of money is the root of all evils." That they have been corrupted by the government's thirty pieces of silver is more and more evident, especially with regard to their position on illegal immigration.
One good shepherd, cancelled bishop Joseph Strickland, has addressed the issue of immigration from a truly Catholic perspective. I urge you to read his "open letter" in full. I'll offer just a bit:
The truth is that having a secure border and an orderly and lawful immigration process is indeed the most compassionate approach for migrants, and it helps to safeguard against the chaos and mass suffering that is happening at our borders now. However, it is a fact that bringing illegal foreign nationals to the country and the attempts to resettle them while sidestepping immigration law has brought great sums of money into the hands of these many bishops who now protest so loudly, and who are in reality present-day Judases who stand with outstretched hands for the thirty pieces of silver.
Bishop Joseph Strickland, cancelled! We find also as more and more of this situation comes to light that in many cases the money received has been routed to organizations that are pro-abortion, anti-family, and indeed, anti-Catholic. And now, when our recently-elected President steps in to stop these illegal activities, many bishops verbally attack him, and yet these same bishops spoke not a word against President Biden, who claimed to be Catholic, as he supported abortion and gender ideology, both opposed to Catholic teaching. What is especially telling is the finding that the USCCB used 90% of the collected federal funds for immigration resettlement, and less than 1% for pro-life activities. Although claiming that abortion is their preeminent priority, the USCCB has never collected money for pro-life activities. For example, we find that one Texas bishop funneled millions of dollars into organizations and activities to incentivize illegal immigration while actively working to squelch pro-life activities in his diocese.
Of course, you will never hear the bishops talk about "illegal aliens" breaking our laws to invade the country. They protect the security of their own chanceries and offices with locked doors and windows. (See how far you get without challenge at the massive USCCB offices in D.C.), but they encourage the border lawbreakers and even provide them free legal counsel to avoid capture and repatriation to their own countries.You will never hear most bishops address the injustice to the taxpayers who are expected to cover the billions in health care, education, housing, etc. while the bishops' "charity CEOs" grow rich from the charity industry. Take a look at the diocesan newspapers and see how the invasion at the border is framed.
In the last issue of the Arlington Catholic Herald (March 13-26), the front-page headline screamed, "Refugees at risk: Government policy shift threatens diocesan efforts to help those fleeing war, persecution."
Really?
How many of the thousands who streamed into the country every day during the Biden administrations were actually "refugees...fleeing war, persecution?" Most, about 80% are not eligible for "refugee" status. They come for economic reasons to be put up in hotels, given free cell phones and welfare benefits, and dispersed around the country to overwhelm local communities, bankrupt hospitals, degrade the education system, etc? How many unvetted criminals, sex traffickers, gang members, and drug pushers are now active in our local cities and towns with the help of Catholic Charities and their hordes of lawyers. And how many of our own veterans, our homeless citizens. the mentally ill, and the poor have been abandoned in favor of services to "refugees," i.e. illegal aliens?
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| Stephen Carattini, CEO of Arlington CC |
Stephen Carattini, president and CEO of Arlington's Catholic Charities calls the government's crackdown on Catholic Charities "perplexing and concerning." What is really "perplexing and concerning" is the bishops' enabling of criminal activity which results in benefitting dioceses to the tune of over TWO BILLION DOLLARS in federal grants during the past four years. And that doesn't take into account grants coming from state and local governments as well. How much of this money goes to salaries and administration? Some CC CEO's make close to half a million in salaries and benefits EVERY YEAR. Working for "charity" is lucrative indeed.
Check out my earlier posts here and here. And read the government report on the cost to taxpayers of the illegal alien invasion. There is a question of justice that the U.S. bishops conveniently ignore. Not only are the bishops guilty of injustice to those who deserve their first concern in the hierarchy of love, but they've enabled sex and drug trafficking by their encouragement of open borders. Read the American Spectator's article, U.S. Bishops' Hypocrisy on Human Trafficking. Three hundred thousand unaccompanied minors are missing. How many of those children were lost with the bishops' aid? How many are living with pedophiles and being sex trafficked? How many are dead? Reporter S.A. McCarthy describes the situation:
Since 2008, the USCCB has been paid over a quarter billion dollars to oversee the handling of unaccompanied migrant children; various branches of Catholic Charities have received a combined total of $213 million for their involvement in the program; other organizations, like Catholic Relief Services and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, have also been paid millions in taxpayer dollars for supposedly handling unaccompanied migrant children.
But the U.S. bishops and their “charitable” allies have done more than just deal with unaccompanied migrant children: they have encouraged, accelerated, and exacerbated the ongoing illegal immigration crisis overall. Records up to 2015 show that the USCCB and its affiliates netted roughly $2 billion in government funding for various immigrant and refugee “services,” including shuttling illegal immigrants deeper into the U.S. once across the border and equipping them with pre-paid cell phones and loaded debit cards.
The scripture passage that runs like an endless loop around my head is this declaration from Jesus to the pharisees:
But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban’ (that is, an offering to God )—then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this. (Mark 7:11-13)
The bishops have abandoned Catholic teaching on the hierarchy, i.e., order of love (ordo amoris) and its obligations. Ordo amoris is a clear and well-defined Catholic teaching. Our first duty is to God, the second to ourselves, the third to neighbor. But the duty to neighbor must also be rightly ordered. Our first neighbors are those in our own family, the parish, the larger local community, the nation, and, only then, those of other nations. The bishops have inverted this hierarchy putting the needs of every nation on earth above the needs of our own citizens and even our Catholic families. Our last obligation is to global humanity. "We are not obligated to everyone in the same way."
I'll end with an anecdotal story that happened to a close friend who told me about it. She was pregnant with her seventh child and her family was having trouble making ends meet. She made an appointment with a counselor from Arlington's Catholic Charities to request help in paying for the midwife. The "counselor" began to explore my friend's willingness to give the baby up for adoption. Adoption is another big money maker for CC. (Here's the breakdown for Arlington.) Giving up the baby for adoption was the only offer of "help." My friend's response? "What am I supposed to tell the other six children?" Let me repeat SHE RECEIVED NO HELP! How many illegals were resettled in Virginia that year with free delivery for their babies with the help of Catholic Charities. But help for my friend? That was the equivalent of "corban."
I wonder what God will say when the bishops stand before Him and have to answer for their actions! Their lawsuit against the government is one more blow to the taxpayers and Catholics in the pew. May God have mercy on them!
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us all.