Posted on 08/07/2002 8:23:08 PM PDT by Antoninus
This book holds the key to a phenomenon which, to many, is also an enigma: Why are so many seminaries empty? Michael S. Rose has the courage — a courage that many Church leaders lack — of giving us the fearful but uncontestable answer: because vice has penetrated into many of them, and those who do not condone vice are excluded. True vocations are "disqualified."
Over the past two decades the Church has been rocked by scandal after scandal: pedophilia and homosexuality among priests and bishops especially. Such scandal is a nightmare for Church leaders, but too often their main or even sole concern is that this moral cancer should receive no publicity. This concern might be justified when such grave deviations from the moral law among clerics are few and far between. But when these scandals take on epidemic proportions, a different tack must be taken: Ezekiel says emphatically that it is the strict duty of the watchman to warn his flock of danger (Ezek., 3:16-21). Likewise, in his Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis de Sales writes, "…in charity we are bound to give the alarm whenever the wolf is found amongst the sheep." In other words, when evil and vice take over, the policy to suppress the truth cannot be justified. Today, the disease has indeed reached epidemic proportions; yet silence and cover up continue to be de rigueur for those in positions of authority in the Catholic Church. Woe to those who remain silent when it is their duty to confront evil!
Rose is no bishop; he is no pastor, but he has understood that "there is a time to speak" (Eccles., 3:7), and heart-breaking as it is, he blows the whistle. The picture is devastating but alas, true. In Goodbye! Good Men, Michael S. Rose bases his information on innumerable interviews with the victims of "political correctness." No one of good will could question the validity of his research and the many testimonies included within. Whoever reads this book will, upon closing it, feel a call to pray incessantly for our beloved Church, which has been invaded by ravenous wolves. We do well to remember that in the diabolical plan of spreading vice and error among the clergy, the Devil uses men to carry out his plans. In his book The Problem of the Present Time, Enrico Delassus gives us a key to the drama unfolding before our eyes today: "Remove priests from work, from the altar, and from the practice of virtue [and they] will become ambitious, intrigant, and perverse. The best blow that can be dealt to the Church is to attack her heart through corruption."
Indeed, as the wise Sancho Panza remarked, "the Devil never sleeps." It is time now for us "to wake up from sleep" as St. Paul urges us to do. Michael S. Rose is to be commended for his courage to write this startling exposé. This book is a must-read for those who realize how very late it is. The situation is grave but God will not abandon his Church: "The gates of Hell will not prevail."
ALICE VON HILDEBRAND, Ph.D.
New Rochelle, New York
February, 2002 Dr. Von Hildebrand is an eminent philosopher, Professor Emeritus at Hunter College in New York City, and author of The Soul of a Lion.
What do we know about any of these guys?I have ranked the known signatories in four categories from worst to best based on their known "gay friendliness."
GROUP A: BISHOPS WHO ALLOW THEIR PRIESTS TO CELEBRATE RAINBOW MASSES:
As per Dignity/USA:
Daniel Cronis (Hartford) allows his priests to celebrate Rainbow masses every Sunday at 5:00 p.m. in the Quaker Meeting House, 144 Quaker Lane South West Hartford, CT.Note that each of these bishops is in direct violation of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's 1986 pastoral letter, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, which reads in pertinent as follows:Oscar Lipscomb (Atlanta) allows his priests to celebrate Rainbow masses every Sunday at 8:30 and 11:30 a.m. at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (a Catholic church), 48 Martin Luther King Boulevard, Atlanta, GA.
Adam Maida (Detroit) allows his priests to celebrate Rainbow Masses every Sunday at 6:00 p.m. in the Sacred Heart Chapel at Margrove College, which is a Catholic college.
All support should be withdrawn from any organizations which seek to undermine the teaching of the Church, which are ambiguous about it, or which neglect it entirely. Such support, or even the semblance of such support, can be gravely misinterpreted. Special attention should be given to the practice of scheduling religious services and to the use of Church buildings by these groups, including the facilities of Catholic schools and colleges.GROUP B: BISHOPS WITH NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED "GAY-FRIENDLY" PARISHES As per St. Bernadette's Directory of Gay-Friendly Parishes:
John Vlazny (Portland) has no less than five nationally recognized gay-friendly parishes:GROUP C: BISHOPS NOT KNOWN AS "GAY FRIENDLY" BUT WHO DO NOT SUPPORT COURAGE:Koinonia Catholic Community - Portland
St. Andrew's - Portland
St. Philip Neri - Portland
St. Vincent de Paul - Portland
University of Portland - Portland
James Keleher (Kansas City)GROUP D: BISHOPS WHO SUPPORT COURAGE AND ARE NOT RECOGNIZED AS "GAY FRIENDLY".
Robert Morlino (Helena)
As per Courage:Raymond Burke (LaCrosse)
Daniel DiNardo (Sioux City)
Who knows if this is the time?
I would like to have someone explain to me why a plenary council is necessary simply to affirm fidelity to the Magisterium.
What are the powers of a plenary council? Despite the best wishes of those calling for it, what's our guarantee that it won't be hijacked and creatively interpreted by radicals, transformed into a "Declaration of Independence" for AmChurch?
CNS was unable to reach any of the eight for comment Aug. 6.So apparently before a Plenary Council can be called there has to be some sort of national debate.One of the recipients, Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly of Louisville, Ky., said he was not convinced that the bishops should call a plenary council at this time, "but I'm very willing to listen to the arguments in a debate over this."
THOSE we can name. Some have provided training in serpent-ism. Check the "liturgy club" in D.C. and other spots.
If that is the reality of the situation, then, by all means, make them declare it and let us end the charade.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia -
III. A plenary or national council may not be convoked or celebrated without the authority of the Apostolic See, as was solemnly and repeatedly declared by Pius IX (Coll. Lacens., V, 995, 1336). This has always been the practice in the Church, if not explicitly, at least from the fact that recourse could always be had to the Holy See against decisions of such councils. Now, however, express and special papal authorization is required. He who presides over the council must have the necessary jurisdiction, which is accorded by special Apostolic delegation. In the United States, the presidency of such synods has always been accorded by the Holy See to the archbishops of Baltimore. In their case, a papal delegation is necessary, for although they have a precedence of honour over all the other American metropolitans, yet they have no primatial or patriarchal jurisdiction. It is not uncommon for the pope to send from Rome a special delegate to preside over plenary councils.
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