Moral Equivalency Is Often The Logic Of Fools: Kevin Birnbaum, editor/associate publisher of Northwest Catholic magazine, is shocked that the 'My Body, My Choice' slogan of pro-abortionists is being used by those who resist vaccination.

"This pandemic has highlighted how unavoidably interconnected we are. In a world where an airborne virus is killing millions, where hospital beds are scarce and herd immunity is urgent, our choices have consequences far beyond our own bodies.

So if you're a Catholic who finds yourself aligned with those using a pro-abortion slogan to drown out the pleas of the Vicar of Christ to love your neighbor by getting vaccinated, perhaps Respect Life Month is a good time for some serious prayer and self-examination."

Baloney!

Abortion is a grave sin. Not getting a covid shot isn't a sin at all. To be vaccinated or not is a medical decision and has nothing to do with Catholic theology. To imply otherwise is disingenuous at best. There is a great deal of conflicting information about effectiveness of vaccines as well as serious side effects, especially for healthy young adults.

Northwest Catholic often pushes liberal narratives which have little to do with genuine faith. Shame on them. (posted 10/7/21, permalink)

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Driving Away The Faithful: One of the Prime Directives of business is Don't Piss Off Your Customers. In an era of dramatically declining Catholic worship, the current tone-deaf pope seems to have never heard of that one.

Pope Francis has issued a new motu proprio restricting the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, declaring that the Vatican II's new Mass, or the Novus Ordo, is the "unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite." This declaration "has caused anger and anguish amongst may faithful Catholics, both lay and clerical."

Brian McCall, editor-in-chief of Catholic Family News, commented, "The Motu Proprio is an unjust law and therefore no law at all. It is an act of violence. It exceeds the authority of the lawgiver (as even Benedict XVI admitted in 2007) and is contrary to the common good. It utterly fails as a law."

Dr. Maike Hickson, a journalist whose work appears in LifeSite News tweeted, "Pope Francis' promotion of former collaborators of (child-abusing former Cardinal) McCarrick, and his collaboration with (fame-whore and LGBT activist) Fr. James Martin is divisive. His undermining of Catholic doctrine is. He has immensely wounded the Catholic Church. And now he goes after those who try hard to hold on to the Faith."

Tucker Carlson once wrote (about political dynasties), "Maybe all dying institutions devolve this way, from an insistence on intellectual rigor to a flabby preoccupation with appearances. It happened in the Episcopal Church, once renowned for its liturgy, now a stop on architectural and garden tours. Only tourists go there anymore." (posted 7/28/21, permalink)

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Cowardly Bureaucrats: The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has walked back a plan to restrict Communion to public figures who are pro-abortion - such as President Biden. "We are no longer proposing a national policy" regarding who may present themselves for Communion, Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Indiana's Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese told conference delegates. Biden's administration has - presumably with his assent - undertaken several steps to liberalize federal abortion funding in the U.S. and abroad this year.

"In May, the administration released a proposed fiscal year 2022 budget that omitted reference to the 1976 Hyde Amendment which banned federal funding for most abortion procedures. The president had supported its use until his 2019 campaign for the Democratic Party nomination." Biden has no moral center, his "Catholicism" is simply a political convenience. That's true of other CINO - Catholic In Name Only - politicians, including Nancy Pelosi, the Cuomo brothers, Dick Durbin, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell. The whole lot of them should be excommunicated.

Don Surber quipped, "The bishops need to tell Cafeteria Catholics that the cafeteria is closed." Soon.

So, America's spineless Catholic bishops decided that pro-abortion President Joe Biden can continue to receive Communion despite rejecting key church teachings. They abrogate their principles and take the easy way out - hardly the stuff of saints and martyrs, who should be their inspiration. Meanwhile, a 'Catholic Vote' survey of regular churchgoers found that 74% believe that Biden should not receive Communion. What's more, 83% of Catholics who regularly attend Mass said that by endorsing positions such as abortion that are contrary to Vatican doctrine, politicians "create confusion and disunity."

The bishops did agree to prepare a document that would lay out the conditions under which Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, including President Biden, may be denied Communion. But that document won't be available until November and approval would require two-thirds of the bishops' vote.

The timing of this was most interesting, as we just received a plea from the Archdiocese of Seattle, telling us they need more money. Probably to enable and increase homelessness and promote the resettlement of unassimilable "refugees," as they've been doing for years. Well, there will be no more money from us, Archbishop. We vote with our wallets.

Seventeen-hundred years ago, St. John Chrysostom said, "The road to hell is paved with the bones of priests and monks, and the skulls of bishops are the lampposts that light the path." Sadly, it's still true. (posted 6/21/21, permalink)

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It Pays To Advertise: Whether you're selling Oldsmobiles or religion, a billboard will increase recognition. The top billboard was painted directly on the brick wall of this New Orleans building in a January 1941 photograph:

St. Patrick's Church is the second-oldest Catholic parish in New Orleans, located upriver from the French Quarter at 724 Camp Street in what is now the Central Business District. The parish was founded in 1833, and the current structure was completed in 1840. The church, a National Historic Landmark, is one of the nation's earliest and finest examples of Gothic Revival architecture. Part of the church is barely visible at the right of the photograph.

Novenas to St. Jude - the patron saint of lost causes - were popular in the 1940s. Medicine was relatively primitive in those days and there was a lot of hopelessness among sick people and their families. Novenas to St. Jude are now held periodically at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in New Orleans.

The 1942 Oldsmobile line spanned quite a price range. The Special Club Coupe was priced at $893, while the 98 Custom Cruiser 8 four-door phaeton was priced at $1,575. Only 119 Phaetons were produced in 1941. The most popular model was the Dynamic Cruiser Club Sedan featuring torpedo fastback styling. Priced at $954, 46,885 found buyers in 1941. Mossy Motors is still in business, selling Buick and GMC vehicles. (posted 5/28/21, permalink)

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Church Stats: A recent issue of Northwest Catholic magazine provided information on its Catholic community. The focus is on western Washington; eastern Washington is served by the Diocese of Spokane.

Washington state has a population of 7,170,351. 78% of the population (5,576,950) lives in western Washington. The Seattle Archdiocese, which serves western Washington, claims a Catholic population of 590,000 people. Catholics represent about 10.6% of western Washington's population. This is similar to figures I've seen for Oregon.

When I was growing up in 1950s Philadelphia, 25-30% of the population was Roman Catholic. This was a typical percentage for other large mid-Atlantic and New England cities, due to the large number of Irish and Italians who immigrated to these Northeastern cities in the 19th and 20th centuries. Recent data indicate that, nationally, about 20% of people identify as Catholic; how many are active, practicing Catholics is troubling - less than 22% of all self-identified Catholics attend Mass on Sundays. Overall, more Americans now say they attend religious services a few times a year or less (54%) than say they attend at least monthly (45%).

St. James Proto-Cathedral in Vancouver, WA

Western Washington currently has 144 parishes and 25 missions, served by 181 active priests. There are 80 retired priests, some of whom help out in parishes. These numbers illustrate the severe shortage of priests in the Archdiocese. When I was growing up in Philly, it was not uncommon for every parish to be staffed by 3-5 priests in residence. Each parish often had 20-35 nuns on staff. The Seattle Archdiocese has a total of 285 nuns - active and retired. In the 1950s, there were over 300 parishes in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. Each had their own elementary school, staffed primarily by teaching nuns. Additionally, there were 25-30 Catholic high schools and almost a dozen Catholic colleges. The Seattle Archdiocese has 72 Catholic schools serving 20,000 students and staffed by 1,600 teachers. Most of these are high schools.

As of 2018, there were 37,302 Catholic priests in the U.S., down from a peak of 58,000 in 1965. Last year, there were 1,108 marriages in the Seattle Archdiocese, 4,878 infant baptisms and 2,395 deaths. It's a good sign that baptisms are outpacing deaths by a goodly amount. (posted 4/24/21, permalink)

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A Sermonette For Good Friday: The late Archbishop Fulton Sheen, in a piece titled: 'The Seven Last Words', wrote, "My favorite is the Second, 'This day you will be with Me in Paradise.' Archbishop Sheen relates a legend surrounding Joseph fleeing with the Holy Family into Egypt. Along the way they stop at an inn and Mary asks for a basin of water to bathe the Baby Jesus. The innkeeper's wife senses the identity of the Holy Infant and asks that her baby afflicted with leprosy could be bathed in the same water. Mary consents and the baby is healed.

He is Dismas, the thief hanging on the right side of Christ. [For an unknown reason], he sees a cross and adores a Throne, he sees a condemned man and invokes a King: 'Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.' In all that delirium of man's revolt against God, no voice was lifted in praise and recognition except the voice of a man condemned.

It was a cry of faith in Him whom every one else had forsaken, and it was only the testimony of a thief. Christ turns to him and speaks, 'This day you will be with Me in Paradise.' No one before was ever given such a promise, not Moses or John not even Magdalen or Mary! (That is why Christ's head leans towards His right on crucifixes.)

It was the thief's last prayer, perhaps also his first. He knocked once, sought once, asked once, dared everything and found everything. Christ unlocked the keys of Paradise and won a soul. His escort into Heaven was a thief. May we not say that the thief died a thief, for he stole Paradise?" (posted 4/2/21, permalink)

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Nuns Having Fun ...

... in Dodgem bumper cars.

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Excommunicate Him And Every Other Abortion-Promoting CINO In Government: Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, who also serves as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said that President Joe Biden "should stop defining himself as a devout Catholic" because his abortion views stand in direct opposition to the teachings of the Catholic Church. If Biden is a Catholic, he a Catholic In Name Only.

Although people have given this president power and authority, he cannot define what it is to be a Catholic and what Catholic moral teaching is. What he is doing now is usurping the role of the bishops and confusing people. He's declaring that he's Catholic, and is going to force people to support abortion through their tax dollars. The bishops need to correct him, as the president is acting contrary to the Catholic faith."

Former Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput has argued that Biden should be denied Holy Communion. (posted 2/19/21, permalink)

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Worth A Read: Abyssus Abyssum Invocat is a blog written by 97 year-old retired Catholic Bishop, Rene Henry Gracida. He is Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, TX.

Bishop Rene Gracida was a courageous WWII airman, monk, friend of Pope John Paul II and, according to Raymond Arroyo, the "Savior of EWTN." He is not afraid to share his opinions on the state of Catholicism, politics & religion and the flaws of the Catholic hierarchy.

Recently, the bishop posted some interesting thoughts about President Trump's many accomplishments.

Bishop Gracida makes several postings each day and his writing is thoughtful and thought-provoking. I highly recommend his blog. (posted 12/22/20, permalink)

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The Church Won't Rebuke This Moron Because They're So Hard Up For Priests: In early September, a Jesuit priest at The Church of St. Francis Xavier in New York City, led his congregation in a "prayer for racial justice," accepting the controversial concept of "white privilege" as a reality. He asked the faithful if they were willing to "transform our Church culture."

"Fr. Kenneth Boller S.J., the local pastor at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, had photos of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and drug-addled criminal George Floyd - black people killed in recent months - on display at what appeared to be a side altar."

He then asked his congregation a series of questions, disguised as a prayer that did not mention God or Jesus Christ. Things like: "Do you affirm that white privilege is unfair and harmful to those who have it and to those who do not? Do you affirm that white privilege and the culture of white supremacy must be dismantled where it is present?" And: "Therefore, from this day forward, will you strive to understand more deeply the injustice and suffering white privilege and white supremacy cause?"

This is Liberation Theology and Virtue Signaling at its worst - a Jesuit who probably lived his whole life marked with privileges: free education, free lodging, free transportation, free food, free vacations, free medical insurance, free retirement - paid by parishioners and his Jesuit order. Another Commie priest.

Jesus taught that all are equal in the eyes of God. And if you won't take Jesus' word for it, consider the late, great Little Richard, who said - in the 1973 documentary film 'Let The Good Times Roll' - that he was dedicating his performance "to you - the black, the white, the red, the brown and the yellow - because I believe that we are God's Bouquet for children to love." Woooooooo!

White Privilege is a faux social construct invented by the far left. The only "privileged" white Catholics I know about are Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who got her hair done at virus-closed San Francisco beauty salon and Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney, who kept Philadelphia's restaurants locked down while he dined out in Maryland with no social distancing and no mask.

In related news, Kevin Birnbaum, editor of Northwest Catholic magazine from the Seattle Archdiocese wrote in the September 2020 issue, "It's bad to use the slogan 'All Lives Matter' as a rebuttal to 'Black Lives Matter' and a refusal to confront the (yes, systemic and institutional) injustices that have prompted that cry - including centuries of chattel slavery, Jim Crow laws, redlining, a racialized war on drugs and mass incarceration.'"

Ol' Kevin was following in the footsteps of his boss, Paul D. Entienne, Archbishop of Seattle, who wrote in reference to George Floyd's death and the deaths of other blacks at the hands of police, "These deaths are tragic, and they expose a symptomatic and deep-seated connection between institutional racism and the continued erosion of the sanctity of life. If we do not respond appropriately as a society, we will be tacitly acquiescing to the ongoing killing of unarmed black men." Yeah ... well, black-on-black murder rates and the disproportionate number of black abortions indicate that Black Lives Matter is an empty slogan, which remains meaningless until the black community practices what it preaches. (posted 9/10/20, permalink)

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Nun Wagons: Last month, car blogger Jesse Bowers posted a photo of a group of nuns in a dark-colored 1964 Ford Country Sedan 9-passenger station wagon. A sister standing outside the Ford is being presented with the keys to the convent's new ride.

Catholic nuns riding in large station wagons were a common sight in Catholic-heavy East coast cities such as Philadelphia. The wagons were usually dark in color - brown, navy or black. Most wagons were nine-seaters and the three skinniest nuns (usually young and low in seniority) were crammed into the rear-facing back seat.

There was a famous episode of 'All in the Family' episode when Archie Bunker got into a car accident and "hurt" his back. He thought that he could sue and collect some money. Archie searched the phone book for the best Jewish lawyer and hires the firm of Rabinowitz, Rabinowitz and Rabinowitz. At first he protests when he got one of the "gentile" lawyers in the firm. When he finally got one of the Rabinowitzes, the elderly lawyer refused the case because there was a "station wagon full of nuns" that testify Archie was lying about what happened.

An article in the New York Times told the tale of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd who traded their 1929 Chevrolet woodie station wagon for a brand new full-size 1977 Chevrolet wagon. It was a straight-up swap with no money involved. The old woodie, which the nuns had named Brigid. GM hauled Brigid off to their Sloan Museum in Flint, Mich., for display. According to the article, "Brigid was one of Chevrolet's first six-cylinder suburban cars to be built with its passenger area covered by a wooden frame."

In 1966, when I first began working and Rohm & Haas' Plastics Engineering Lab, I had no children. My co-workers targeted me as a sucker for their kids' various candy drives and school raffle tickets. My brother was still in Catholic grade school in Philadelphia and, when he was under pressure to sell raffle tickets for a new car drawing, I told him to give me two books of tickets. I collared every co-worker who had ever hustled me to buy their kids' stuff and made them buy a raffle ticket or two. When the raffle was held, I found out two things:

1. The vehicle raffled was a station wagon.
2. The winners were the nuns at the parish's convent.

My coworkers found out and were a bit resentful. They thought The Fix Was In. Maybe it was.

In July, 1981, we put our two kids - then ages 14 and 10 respectively - on an airplane, traveling from Portland to Philadelphia to visit my mom. When it was time to come home, they couldn't because President Reagan had just fired all the striking air-traffic controllers - an act which caused air travel delays for months. They were on a wait-list for days. When they finally got a flight out, my mom drove them to the airport in her turquoise 1976 Datsun B210. Along the way, the Datsun broke down near a convent. My mom knew one of the nuns and ran to the convent door seeking help. My kids hitched a ride in a big station wagon full of nuns (plus my mom) to the airport, while my brother stayed behind to get the Datsun towed to a repair shop.

Sadly, there aren't many nuns anymore. (Nuns in the U.S. have declined from a peak of nearly 200,000 in 1965, fewer than 45,000 today.) And there aren't many station wagons either. (In 1960, wagon sales represented about 15% of total sales for the low-priced three. Today, wagon sales represent around 1% of total light vehicle sales.)

Maybe that's not a coincidence. (posted 3/26/20, permalink)

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Defrauding The Faithful: Every year, Catholics around the world donate tens of millions of dollars to the Pope. Bishops exhort the faithful to support the weak and suffering through the Pope's main charitable appeal, called Peter's Pence.

What the Catholic Church doesn't advertise is that most of that collection, worth more than $55 million annually, goes toward plugging the hole in the Vatican's own administrative budget, while as little as 10% is spent on charitable works.

"The use of Peter's Pence donations mostly to plug the budget deficit is particularly sensitive for Pope Francis, who began his pontificate by calling for a "poor church for the poor," and has continually emphasized the church's mission to care for and advocate on behalf of the most vulnerable."

Meanwhile, a fund "in which the Vatican's Secretariat of State has invested tens of millions of euros has links to two Swiss banks investigated or implicated in bribery and money laundering scandals involving more than one billion dollars. The fund is under investigation by Vatican authorities. That fund, Centurion Global Fund, made headlines that it used the Vatican assets under its management to invest in Hollywood films, real estate, and utilities, including investments in movies like 'Men in Black International' and the Elton John biopic 'Rocketman'."

Rod Dreher observed, "So, money that Catholics from around the world give yearly to support charitable work close to the heart of the Pope have actually been financing a biographical movies about rock star and gay rights crusader Elton John."

Crisis Magazine added, "They say the homosexual scenes in the new Elton John biopic are the most titillating ever in a mainstream movie. Less discussed, perhaps, is the fact that ordinary Catholic pew-sitters paid for it via their Peter's Pence donations to the Pope." (posted 12/16/19, permalink)

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Smarter Than God? The latest Pew Research Report points out a lot of troubling trends, including that Millennials appear to have become the first generation in U.S. history to be majority non-Christian - mostly unbelievers and generically 'spiritual people'.

"The religious landscape of the United States continues to change at a rapid clip. In Pew Research Center telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular," now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009." It should be noted that 1.5 million people in the U.S. identify as Wiccans.

Both Protestantism and Catholicism are experiencing losses of population share. Currently, 43% of U.S. adults identify with Protestantism, down from 51% in 2009. And one-in-five adults (20%) are Catholic, down from 23% in 2009. Meanwhile, all subsets of the religiously unaffiliated population – a group also known as "religious nones" – have seen their numbers swell. Self-described atheists now account for 4% of U.S. adults, up modestly but significantly from 2% in 2009; agnostics make up 5% of U.S. adults, up from 3% a decade ago; and 17% of Americans now describe their religion as "nothing in particular," up from 12% in 2009."

Over the last decade, the share of Americans who say they attend religious services at least once or twice a month dropped by 7%, while the share who say they attend religious services less often (if at all) has risen by 7%. More Americans now say they attend religious services a few times a year or less (54%) than say they attend at least monthly (45%).

Furthermore, the data show a wide gap between older Americans (Baby Boomers and members of the Silent Generation) and Millennials in their levels of religious affiliation and attendance. More than eight-in-ten members of the Silent Generation (those born between 1928 and 1945) describe themselves as Christians (84%), as do three-quarters of Baby Boomers (76%). In stark contrast, only half of Millennials (49%) describe themselves as Christians; four-in-ten are religious "nones," and one-in-ten Millennials identify with non-Christian faiths.

Eighty-one percent of people born between 1928 and ’45 (The Silent Generation) attend church at least monthly. Only 49% of Baby Boomers attend church at least monthly.

67% of Gen Xers (born 1965-80) identify as Christians, but only 46% attend church at least monthly. Less than half (49%) of Millennials (born 1981-98) identify as Christians, but only 35% attend church at least monthly. 40% of Millennials are unaffiliated with any religion.

Two percent of Americans are Jewish, 1% are Muslim, 1% who are Buddhist, 1% who are Hindu, and 3% who identify with other faiths (including, for example, people who say they abide by their own personal religious beliefs and people who describe themselves as "spiritual").

"Religious nones" now make up fully one-third of Democrats. And about six-in-ten people who identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party say they attend religious services no more than a few times a year.

My opinion is that too many people today feel smarter than God and cannot relate to the old-fashioned Deity as described in the Bible. Church isn't cool; organized religion is boring. Others have adapted 'climate change' (Gaia, Mother Earth, etc.), political activism or general intellectual agnosticism, inspired by the smugness and group-think found all over the internet.

I also believe that people do not pray as often they used to. In a sermon he preached a decade or so ago Father Matthew O'Leary of the Seattle Archdiocese stressed the importance of daily prayer. He cited a study of troubled priests that showed their difficulties began when they stopped praying. His message: "If you pray every day, you'll stay out of trouble." (posted 11/1/19, permalink)

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Pope Frank's Punishment. Or Chaput Kaput: A Twitter poster named Mark noted, "For the last 100 years every Archbishop of Philadelphia was made a Cardinal. Except Chaput." That's kind of sad because Archbishop Chaput was instrumental in cleaning up the remnants of the clergy sex scandal in Philadelphia.

Mark pointed out that this is a message in itself. And for the Pope to meet with fame-whore and LGBT activist, Fr. James Martin S.J., after Archbishop Charles Joseph Chaput's letter of rebuke goes to show what is happening and who has power and who doesn't. Chaput has taken positions against same-sex marriage and questioned the upbringing of children of same-sex couples. He has said that same-sex couples cannot show children that their parents love each other in the same way that opposite-sex couples can.

Archbishop Chaput is now 75 and speculation is that he is being forcibly retired by Pope Francis in the near future. On September 20, 2019, the archdiocese confirmed that Chaput had tendered his resignation to Pope Francis.

I guess 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' will soon be an approved hymn. And Judy Garland will be sanctified and named patron saint of gays. (posted 10/16/19, permalink)

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Pay No Attention To What Francis Says: Pope Francis doesn't like the idea of capital punishment. I'd rather pay attention to Pope Pius XII, who wrote, "The State does not dispose of the individual's right to life. In this case it is reserved to the public power to deprive the condemned man of the enjoyment of life in expiation of his crime when, by his crime, he has already disposed himself of his right to live."

In related news, satire site The Babylon Bee reported that Pope Francis has proclaimed that the death penalty is still morally permissible for people who drive slowly in the left lane.

The Bee noted that the decision has angered some conservative Catholics, who favor applying the death penalty in wider circumstances. "What about that guy who brings his guitar to a party and totally ruins everyone's good time?" one traditional Catholic asked. "Or those people who insist on making small talk while in line at the grocery store?" It is unknown whether Pope Francis will also call for the death penalty for people who wake the whole neighborhood up mowing their lawns at 8:00 am on a Saturday morning, but "sources close to the Pontiff state he's leaning toward the affirmative." (posted 8/14/19, permalink)

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Is The Pope Catholic? I just dunno anymore. Recently, Pope Francis basically said that there was no 'multiplication' of loaves and fishes: it was just sharing. Yeah, well maybe Jesus just stashed some boxes of Franzia White Zin in a basement at Cana. Perhaps the paralyzed dude just had a charley horse and Lazarus wasn't really dead; he had just popped a few Ambien.

A modern day miracle would be if Pope Francis' foot was inexplicably removed from his mouth.

Nicolás Gómez Dávila once wrote, "The religious situation gets worse by the day because the faithful are not theologians, and the theologians are not faithful." (posted 7/3/19, permalink)

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Misguided Principles: In the April 2019 issue of Northwest Catholic magazine, an article listed the Catholic Principles of Migration, claimed to be the "church's position on migration is rooted in the Gospel and the rich tradition of Catholic social teaching. Five principles to help formulate migration-related policy were outlined in 'Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope', a joint pastoral letter of the Catholic bishops of the United States and Mexico." It was interesting to me that Mexico (which has quite harsh policies for illegal immigrants) and America (which struggles with an invasion of illegal immigrants) could agree on a joint statement. It is puzzling that Canada's bishops didn't participate, even though the country has its own immigration problems.

Here are the five principles (my comments are listed in bold typeface):

1. Persons have the right to find opportunities in their homeland. All persons have the right to find in their own countries the economic, political, and social opportunities to live in dignity and achieve a full life through the use of their God-given gifts. In this context, work that provides a just, living wage is a basic human need. If immigrants are working, why do they need so much charitable and government assistance? It should be noted that 57.4% of Mexican immigrants are on some kind of welfare. Percentages are alarmingly high for all Hispanics from Central American countries. By comparison, welfare among English and German immigrants are 6.2% and 10.3% respectively.

2. Persons have the right to migrate to support themselves and their families. The church recognizes that all the goods of the earth belong to all people. Sounds like something Karl Marx would have said.

When persons cannot find employment in their country of origin to support themselves and their families, they have a right to find work elsewhere in order to survive. Sovereign nations should provide ways to accommodate this right. Sovereign nations have the duty to put the needs of their own citizens first.

3. Sovereign nations have the right to control their borders. The church recognizes the right of sovereign nations to control their territories, but rejects such control when it is exerted merely for the purpose of acquiring additional wealth. More-powerful economic nations, which have the ability to protect and feed their residents, have a strong obligation to accommodate migration flows. Only if it is the will of the people of said nation. One such nation, the United States, has a $22 trillion dollar national debt. It continues to grow because the expenditure on so-called entitlements and social services far exceeds its income. My back-of-the-envelope calculation indicates that illegal immigrants cost taxpayers over $800 billion annually. No wonder our national debt is out of control.

It should be noted that today's illegal immigrants are carefully coached on the ways of working the 'safety net' to maximize the government benefits obtained. Some of this coaching is provided by the Archdiocese of Seattle.

4. Refugees and asylum-seekers should be afforded protection. Those who flee wars and persecution should be protected by the global community. The global community - does this include China? India? And other prominent members of the global community - such as Mexico, by the way - who have very strict immigration laws?

This requires, at a minimum, that migrants have a right to claim refugee status without incarceration and to have their claims fully considered by a competent authority. And until the "competent authority" has time to determine if such claims are valid, these alleged 'refugees' need to be locked up - for the protection of legitimate citizens. Or, better yet, require all applications for asylum, or any other request to enter the U.S. be made at our Embassy in their home country. They can wait there until they get a hearing.

5. The human dignity and human rights of undocumented migrants should be respected. Regardless of their legal status, migrants, like all persons, possess inherent human dignity that should be respected. Often they are subject to punitive laws and harsh treatment by enforcement officers from both receiving and transit countries. Government policies that respect the basic human rights of the undocumented are necessary. Baloney. 'Undocumented migrants' is a euphemism for Illegal Aliens. They are lawbreakers and, therefore, criminals.

Recently, Donald Trump tweeted, "Mexico is doing nothing to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our Country. They are all talk and no action. Likewise, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have taken our money for years, and do Nothing."

The number of illegal immigrants daily crossing the U.S. border has hit a decade-long record of 4,100, said border commissioner Kevin McAleenan. Agency projections have border apprehensions on pace to exceed 100,000 this month - an increase of more than 30%. By comparison, at the height of the last border crisis, in May 2014, agents apprehended more than 68,800 illegal immigrants that month."

The unrestricted flow of illegals is bankrupting the U.S. It is already negatively affecting citizens (native-born and naturalized and immigrants who have played by the rules and are legal residents.)

The late Richard John Neuhaus, a prominent Catholic priest, philosopher and author wrote, "Our God-given duties begin with those to whom we are most proximate and have the greatest influence: our family, friends, neighbors, church and the wider community that is our nation. American Christians in 2014 are specially called to serve our nation, to seek its material and spiritual health, to help it fulfill its global duties, and to strive to align it with God's purposes of holiness, justice and peace whenever possible." In other words, charity begins at home. Family first. (posted 4/12/19, permalink)

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Toss Them Out: Nine alleged-Catholic Senators, including Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell - both Washington State Democrats, voted against giving medical treatment to babies that survive abortion. They not only support abortion but infanticide of abortion survivors.

All nine should be publicly excommunicated for promoting infanticide. (posted 3/1/19, permalink)

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The Future Of Catholicism? Father Matt Fish wrote that "working for the Catholic Church in America in 2019 feels something like working for Blockbuster Movies in 2005. We're still arguing about how we should display the DVDs, and meanwhile our current model and customer base is about to collapse.

Simply put: every diocese is full of parishes that have much smaller, now mostly older, congregations, in aging buildings with less money, and in a few short years we will hit the bell curve with both people and money. And we're barely talking about it. Our schools are closing, and those that remain are becoming "private" schools for those who can afford them, as we struggle to understand what "Catholic Identity" means for a student body, most of whom do not attend Sunday Mass. The average knowledge of the faith in most Catholic communities is at a low point, though it will probably get worse.

Meanwhile, the practice of the Sacrament of Reconciliation has virtually disappeared, as have other traditions that had culturally marked Catholics in the past. No need to expand the laundry list. And the parishes and communities that are doing well are precisely exceptions that prove the rule. The point is, rather, how are we (especially Church authorities and leaders) not talking about this, addressing it, figuring out a plan?"

He added, "If you believe I'm exaggerating, just ask your diocese for the data from the last 40 years on weekend head-counts, offertory, and sacramental numbers. The change will shock you. And the numbers are about to hit an even steeper curve. … What we have here is the dying, if not decomposition already, of a large, once impressive, Catholic culture. What is needed is the birth and growth of a new Catholic culture. How the two relate I do not know." Me neither.

Of course, this is the opinion of only one priest but there are a lot of signs that he's on to something. Many parishes in big cities have closed; some reports attribute this to aging congregations mixed with a flight to the suburbs. The parishes being closed are usually 80 to 100 years old and neighborhood demographics have changed substantially during that time. Some parishes I know are actually expanding, so it's difficult for me to assess the condition of the American Catholic congregations overall.

Less than 22% of all self-identified Catholics attend Mass on Sundays, according to one study. Sixty years ago, that number was close to 75%.. Even worse is the ever-increasing shortage of priests. More than 20% of U.S. parishes do not have a resident priest or pastor. It used to be common for priests to visit the sick in hospitals. I've never encountered one during my various hospital stays over the past 13 years. I guess it's due to the shortage. But interestingly, I was visited on more than two occasions by a very nice Episcopal hospital chaplain while hospitalized in Portland.

Two years ago, I suggested remedies for the Catholic priest shortage. None have been implemented. (posted 2/25/19, permalink)

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"The Road To Hell … is paved with the bones of priests and monks, and the skulls of bishops are the lamp posts that light the path," said St. John Chrysostom, 4th Century Archbishop of Constantinople.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, head of the archdiocese of New York is refusing to excommunicate Democrat New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from the Catholic Church even after Cuomo signed into law new rules that permit babies to be aborted up to the day of birth. That's infanticide. When asked whether Communion should be denied to Cuomo at Mass, Dolan said such questions make him "restless," and he'd be "uncomfortable going into that" pastoral issue. Earlier, Cardinal Dolan had criticized President Trump's efforts to enforce immigration laws, claiming that the president "is not Christian."

Like her fellow nominally Catholic governor Andrew Cuomo, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, who is also nominally Catholic, supports legislation making abortions legal up until the moment of birth. Virginia has proposed similar legislation; its Democratic governor - a physician - has no problem with killing babies as they are born.

Judy McLeod wrote, "Cardinal Dolan, the governor and mayor are part of the deepening rot in the city known as The Big Apple. The cardinal, sitting elephant-like on Christian hearts and souls, will never excommunicate his buddy Gov. Cuomo. Though the current pope would never do it, it is Cardinal Dolan who should be excommunicated as well."

Rorate Caeli tweeted, "The case for the immediate excommunication of extreme abortion maniac Andrew Cuomo is so clear that the only explanation for Dolan's refusal to act is some kind of quid pro quo in favor of our corrupt hierarchy." Last week, a journalist asked Pope Francis why people are leaving the Catholic Church. "Hypocrites," the pope answered, possibly referring to himself. And/or Cardinal Dolan.

And, while on the subject of infanticide, it should be noted that Senator Patty Murray, D-WA and an alleged Catholic, blocked the unanimous passage of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, a bill which would have required doctors to provide medical care to babies born alive during failed abortions. After Murray objected to the bill, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-IA, lamented on the Senate floor that this body "can no longer unanimously condemn murder."

J.J. Sefton wrote: "Patty Murray effectively killed a Ben Sasse bill that would protect children who survive the abortion murder process. It was brought up for unanimous consent but the shambling, bespectacled Moe-Howard-looking sack of lipids objected." And he posted a remarkable Photoshopped image of the obnoxious Murray.

When will Seattle Archbishop James Peter Sartain man up and excommunicate Patty Murray? (posted 2/5/19, permalink)

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Is This Some Kind Of New Religion? The Church of England has encouraged its clergy to create baptism-style ceremonies for transgender people to welcome them into the Anglican faith.

"As a central part of the new service, called the Affirmation of Baptismal Faith, the minister lays their hands on the candidate or candidates, addresses them by name, and prays for them."

"This new guidance provides an opportunity, rooted in scripture, to enable trans people who have "come to Christ as the way, the truth and the life," to mark their transition in the presence of their Church family which is the body of Christ." Well … ummmm ... good luck with all that. (posted 12/18/18, permalink)

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Proving The Obvious: A new study has demonstrated a high correlation between the proportion of homosexuals in the Catholic priesthood and the incidence of sexual abuse by the clergy. The study, conducted by Father Paul Sullins, a Catholic University sociologist, found that the percentage of homosexual men in the priesthood has risen sharply.

"In the 1950s, the homosexual presence within the American Catholic priesthood was estimated to be roughly twice that of the overall population; by the 1980s, it was eight times the level of the overall population. To buttress this estimate, the study notes that the number of young priests who reported encountering a homosexual subculture in the seminary doubled between the 1960s and 1980s." (posted 11/9/18, permalink)

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Serious Greatness: Catholic blog Rorate Caeli opined that "Pius XII was the last truly great Pope." I remember him. He was a stern, dogmatic man - he didn't smile much or joke around. I don't think Pius XII would have approved of some of the casual dress at Mass these days, the off-the-cuff, situation-ethics approach to Christianity and the theologically-questionable, off-handed comments made by Pope Francis. Or rainbow flags. Or the Velvet Mafia.

Pope Pius XII has gotten a bum rap by certain "historians" who claim he was a secret Hitler sympathizer. Actually, Pope Pius saved numerous people from the Nazis during the war, maintaining links with the German Resistance and appointing several prominent Jewish scholars to posts at the Vatican to protect them. He deftly kept Mussolini from invading Vatican City. He was a staunch anti-Communist and would probably be appalled by the socialist pronouncements of the current Pontiff.

In 1953, Joshua Lionel Cowen, founder of Lionel Trains, had an audience with Pope Pius XII after presenting him with some Lionel electric trains and accessories for "the poor boys of Italy." Pius posed for photographs with a few of the trains, including a now-iconic Santa Fe diesel locomotive. While he seemed pleased, I doubt the pope ever played with the trains after Cowen left.

Popewise, it's been downhill since Pius XII. (posted 10/24/18, permalink)

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The First Four Words … 'Pope Urges Clean Up …' sounded good until I read the entire headline: 'Pope Urges Clean Up Of Plastic Waste From Oceans'.

Francis called this an "emergency." Pedophilia in the Catholic church, apparently not so much. The Pope said efforts to fight plastics litter must be waged "as if everything depended on us."

He's worried about plastic in the oceans when young boys and adolescents are being scarred for life by the actions of those we are supposed to revere and turn to for guidance Anything to change the subject from the pedophiles who've taken over the Church, I guess. "Pay no attention to those sex abuse scandals over there: I'm dealing with a plastic straw crisis!"

In related news, American Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who's been implicated in the Pennsylvania abuse cover-up, gave a Sunday homily on the current crisis in the Church. At least one parishioner "had the courage to shout "Shame on you!" during this tepid utterly unworthy sermon."

This week, the pope tweeted, "Sister Water, simple and useful for life like nothing else on our planet. Precisely for this reason, care for water sources and water basins is an urgent imperative." (At first, I thought Sister Water was a nun.) This week, near the water in Florida, two Chicago-area priests were "charged with Lewd and Lascivious behavior and Indecent Exposure after being caught performing a sexual act inside a car parked on a Miami Beach street."

Remember Ezekiel 25-26: "There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them."

Perhaps Ezekiel 31 is a prophesy: "Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God."

Father Michael Orsi, a Catholic priest parochial vicar of St. Agnes Church in Naples, Florida, wrote, "Some bishops and some cardinals have to go. Maybe the pope has to go, too. Because when you start telling people 'Who am I to judge?', that's where the problem is. Nobody wants to make a judgment anymore of what's right or what's wrong."

Earlier this week, Pope Francis said that silence is the best response to people who ask you about credible claims that you covered up for a sex abuser.

The Pope is stonewalling. Angels are weeping. (posted 9/4/18, permalink)

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J'Accuse: In an 11-page written testament, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, former apostolic nuncio to the United States has accused several senior prelates of complicity in covering up Archbishop Theodore McCarrick's allegations of sexual abuse, and has claimed that Pope Francis knew about sanctions imposed on then-Cardinal McCarrick by Pope Benedict XVI but chose to repeal them. Archbishop Viganò calls on Pope Francis and all of those implicated in the cover up of Archbishop McCarrick's abuse to resign, including the smooth and unctuous Cardinal Donald Wuerl, McCarrick's successor as Archbishop of Washington D.C.

Archbishop Viganò stated that Pope Francis "knew from at least June 23, 2013 that McCarrick was a serial predator," but although "he knew that he was a corrupt man, he covered for him to the bitter end." Never before has a former papal ambassador accused a sitting pope of complicity in what would amount, if true, to a criminal cover-up.

Monsignor Jean-François Lantheaume, the former first counsellor at the apostolic nunciature in Washington D.C., has said that Archbishop Viganò, told "the truth" in his statement.

Viganò's multi-page document portrays a Church whose highest echelons are dominated by old men who apparently don't believe, or at least don’t take all that seriously, what the Catholic Church has taught about human sexuality for two millennia. And others who are willing to cut corners to protect their decadent brethren.

The blog 'Rorate Caeli' tweeted, "A house divided against itself cannot stand. The Catholic Church will either be completely homosexual or will condemn homosexual acts as the grievous sins they are. It can either be the Catholic Church or the Gay Church, it cannot be both at the same time."

Most recently, the focus has been on abuse allegations in Pennsylvania. But the sexual abuse scandal is much wider than that. I was reminded of that fact when I read of the death this week of Thomas J. O'Brien, Bishop of Phoenix from 1982 to 2003.

In 2002, Maricopa County (AZ) prosecutors initiated a grand jury investigation into charges of sexual abuse by Catholic priests in the diocese of Phoenix. Bishop O'Brien was a target of that investigation for allegedly covering-up allegations against other priests. The prosecution ended when the bishop admitted he had sheltered abusive priests. O'Brien agreed to cede his authority over diocesan sexual abuse policy in exchange for immunity from indictment for obstruction of justice. Less than two weeks after signing the sexual abuse agreement with prosecutors, O'Brien struck and killed a man. He resigned as Bishop several days later. He was eventually found guilty of leaving the scene of a fatal accident after a three-and-a-half-week-long trial. O'Brien was sentenced to four years' probation and 1,000 hours of community service, and required to surrender his driver's license for five years.

In 2017, it was announced that a civil lawsuit was filed against O'Brien over allegations that he sexually molested a boy on several occasions.

As a Catholic, I am appalled at these unending reports of abuse. I first posted about the sexual abuse by clergy in the Philadelphia Archdiocese in 2005. Back then I wrote, "I would say that the time is ripe for a schism - a complete break from an old, corrupt Church and a movement to start a Reformed Catholic Church based on true Christian principles. Something not seen since the Reformation." In 2018, things are riper than ever. (posted 8/30/18, permalink)

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Diluting Christianity: Kyrgyzstan Catholic Bishop Athanasius Schneider, when asked about the Catholic Church's call on nations to be "humanitarian" in dealing with illegal migrants, said, "The phenomenon of this so called "immigration" represents an orchestrated plan, prepared for a long time by the international powers to change radically the Christian identity of European populations. These powers are using the enormous moral potential of the Church and its structures to achieve more efficiently their anti-Christian and anti-European objectives. Towards these ends, the very concept of humanism and even the Christian commandment of charity are being abused." (posted 7/17/18, permalink)

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Book Review: 'To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism' by Ross Douthat

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The Irish And Abortion: Ireland is no longer the land of leprechauns, shamrocks and St. Patrick. Perhaps it never was. The Irish Republic was fictionalized and sanitized for American consumption in 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People' and a lot of old Barry Fitzgerald movies, such as 'The Quiet Man'. Or 'Going My Way' where Fitzgerald played elderly, curmudgeonly Catholic pastor, Father Fitzgibbon.

Once deemed "the world's most Catholic country," Ireland now has a population that is struggling in their relationship with Catholicism. Even though 84% of Irish claim to be Catholic, only about 18% of people in the Irish Republic regularly attend Mass, indicating a wide margin between those who claim to be Catholic and who are actively practicing. In 1984, nearly 90% of Irish Catholics attended weekly Mass.

In May 2018, Ireland voted decisively to repeal one of the world's more restrictive abortion bans, "sweeping aside generations of conservative patriarchy" and "dealing the latest in a series of stinging rebukes to the Roman Catholic Church," according to the New York Times.

Ireland now allows unrestricted abortion up until 12 weeks into pregnancy. In the past three years alone, Ireland has installed a gay man as prime minister and has voted in another referendum to allow same-sex marriage. The Irish may not have leprechauns anymore but they still have fairies.

By the time all the votes were counted, the 'yes' camp had taken more than 66% of the vote. About 64% of voters turned out. "Today is a sad day for Ireland and for people who believe in genuine human rights," said Cora Sherlock (no relation … as far as I know), deputy chairwoman of one of Ireland's biggest anti-abortion groups. "The struggle to defend the most vulnerable has not ended today, it's just changed. ... There's no doubt Ireland will be on the same slippery slope that other countries have gone down. Abortion works incrementally in the legal system, it becomes more widespread as the laws are loosened to allow for more and more cases." In an earlier interview, Cora opined that many Irish people "are in a dreamland if they think that there could never be sex-selection abortions, abortion on demand in Ireland or that babies with disabilities might be aborted."

The NY Times framed the election as a rejection of Catholic legacy. "The Church lost much of its credibility in the wake of scandals involving pedophile priests and thousands of unwed mothers who were placed into servitude in so-called Magdalene laundries or mental asylums as recently as the mid-1990s." Maybe. But the increased secularism of the Western world hasn't helped.

As to Ireland's slippery slope forecast by Ms. Sherlock, I would add that when Roe-v-Wade became U.S. law 45 years ago, abortion was promoted as an answer to unfortunate and tragic circumstances (rape, mother's life jeopardized, pregnant, severely-retarded women and the like). And, the aborted tissue was presented as nothing more than a group of cells - almost like one's appendix. But legalized abortion quickly became a form of birth control for the lazy and the careless. Later, "partial birth abortions" took the spotlight. This barbarous practice appalled many moderates who were formerly pro-abortion.

So-called pro-choice supporters frame abortion as "a women's health issue." Baloney. In most cases, abortions are not performed for health reasons. They are done to remove an inconvenient child. Meanwhile, scientific advances have made many early-term fetuses viable. Medical technology has vastly improved since 1973 and fetuses can now survive as early as 20 weeks - less than five months into the pregnancy.

The use of ultrasound has shown the public that very young and tiny fetuses look like babies, not blobs of protoplasm. The new queasiness over abortion is not simply due to increased efforts by the pro-life movement. Rather, it is because ordinary people now realize that abortion has run amok and the "tissue samples" being destroyed are, in actuality, children. Or near-children.

Regardless of how you feel about early abortion, after five months, it's a baby. As liberals like to say about climate change: "The science is settled." And, as scientific prenatal technology improves, the threshold of fetal survival will continue to drop.

Dr. Desmond Kelly of Westport, County Mayo, Ireland wrote, "Abortion is a final act. Its repercussions reverberate. Pregnancy is temporary and for mothers unwilling or unable to nurture their child there are thousands of couples willing to care for such children." (posted 5/28/18, permalink)

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Is The Church Catholic Anymore? Western civilization and its traditional churches have lost their moorings. In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI said that the spiritual crisis overtaking the West is the most serious since the fall of Rome near the end of the fifth century. He was right. Here are some recent signs:

I'm not recommending a return to the Middle Ages, when a simple visit to a Catholic confessional might have produced a harsh penance requiring a quick change into sack-cloth, ashes and sturdy sandals for a lengthy pilgrimage to St. James shrine in Spain. I am suggesting that Catholic and other Christian churches toss aside moral relativism and tacit approval of perversion and return to the basic principles of Christianity. (posted 5/16/18, permalink)

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In Decline: An updated survey from Gallup, which it has conducted every 10 years since 1955, shows that only 39% of Catholics and 45% of Protestants attend church weekly. Back in 1955, about 75% of Catholics went to Mass every week. For Protestants, about 42% went to church weekly.

Church attendance has remained pretty steady for Protestants - although they are fewer in number now than in 1955 - but church attendance for Catholics has declined dramatically and, as Gallup reports, continues to fall. In 1955, Gallup found only 2% of the U.S. claimed no religious identity. In 2016, the same survey found that proportion had grown 10 times, to 20%.

The steepest drop for Catholics occurred between the 1950s and 1970s, caused by the upheaval of Vatican II's liberal reforms. Many, including me, are sick and tired of 'Kumbuya' folk music and "invented" ceremonies, that turn every low Mass into a time-wasting crap-songfest, excessive hand-holding, hugging and other creepy detritus.

Catholic church attendance in the United States fell an additional 6% between the pontificates of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, the sharpest drop in decades. The largest decline is among older Catholics - 40 years-old and up, who are dismayed by the contrast between conservative Benedict and liberal Francis, who is known for making startling off-the-cuff remarks about moral questions. And wants us to be more like socialists. American Catholics between the ages of 50 and 59 saw the sharpest decline in Mass attendance between the pontificates of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, dropping from 46 to 31%.

It is not just American Catholics: Ross Douthat wrote that record numbers of Italian Catholics "took steps to disaffiliate from the Church in 2015. In Brazil, the decline of Catholic numbers steepened in the Francis era, with nine million fewer Brazilians identifying as Catholics in 2016 than just two years before. Likewise Australia: What had been a gentle decline in Catholic identification under John Paul and Benedict has accelerated in the 2010s."

Overall, American Catholic churches lost 5% of their membership during the last decade, and the decline would have been much steeper if not for the offsetting impact of Catholic immigrants from Latin America, primarily Mexico. But Mexi-centric parishes alienate many traditional Anglo Catholics, with the Spanish language Masses, unfamiliar ceremonies and celebrations. Some find more traditional parishes elsewhere; others simply drift away.

It has often been pointed out that Latinos won't volunteer to help out with parish duties/activities the way Anglos do/did. Based on discussions I've had with various parishioners in parishes throughout the U.S., 'Latinos' is too broad a classification. For example, Cuban immigrants are and have been great supporters of parishes, both financially and volunteer-wise. On the other hand, Mexicans fail to provide much in the way of volunteers or money. One usher I spoke to characterized the difference as "twenties versus dollar bills" in the collection plate.

There are other problems as well:

• Today's Catholic churches are noted for lengthy, rambling, poorly-written homilies. I wish all sermons were restricted to five minutes. If you can't get your point across in that time, you're trying to cover too much ground. Or bloviating. George Burns once said, "The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending … and to have the two as close together as possible."

• The seemingly never-ending sexual abuse crisis was engendered by a hierarchy that has too often blamed the victims, not dealt with perpetrators in a swift and decisive manner, and the image of the clergy that has been tarnished by scandal.

• A worsening shortage of priests has reduced pastoral interaction with parishioners. While the number of priests in the United States more than doubled to 58,000, between 1930 and 1965, since then that number has fallen to less than 37,000. More than half of these priests are 70 or over. Between 1965 and 2002, the number of seminarians dropped over 90% - from 49,000 to 4,700. Only 548 new priests were ordained last year and more than two-thirds of the 600 seminaries that were operating in 1965 have closed. More than 20% of U.S. parishes do not have a resident priest or pastor.

• More than ever there is the irresistible appeal of secular hedonism to healthy, well-educated populations. People are busy - with work, hobbies, etc. - and no longer consider church as a "social outlet" as in the past. Social media has become the new social outlets. Writing in the New York Times, funeral director Thomas Lynch noted that "times formerly spent in worship or communion are now spent shopping or Web-browsing or otherwise passing time. Many Americans are now spiritual tourists without home places or core beliefs to return to."

• Twenty percent of Americans now have no religious identity. In 1955, Gallup found only 2% of the country claimed no religious identity. In 2016, the same survey found that proportion had grown ten-fold.

• Modern society offers too many non-judgemental shades of gray. William Donohue of the Catholic League wrote, "The ascendancy of moral relativism - the denial of moral absolutes - has engulfed society. The nation's cultural elites are responsible for this outcome, including, sadly, some religious leaders."

Possible answers can be found by examining those churches which are thriving. Most are conservative. The number of Mormons - a religion with conservative values - in the United States increased by nearly 50% between 2000 and 2010. Looking at churches which are not thriving reveals that most are liberal, changing-with-the-times ones, such as the Anglican Church. Episcopalians have one of the lowest church attendance figures of all Christian denominations. But they are trendy - a New York Episcopal church offers an annual Gay Pride Disco Celebration with a mirrored disco ball, music and a disco diva to lead their music ministry.

Of Catholic parishes, David Warren wrote, "More-or-less all the 'New Mass', adaptive, modernist congregations are declining, with churches closing every day. And more-or-less all the 'Old Mass', rigid, traditionalist churches are growing, in congregations and vocations both. Those 'dinosaurs' out there are also having lots of children. It seems to me that the Holy Spirit is sorting us out, after all."

Perhaps a return to its traditional, conservative roots will turn the tide for the Catholic Church. (posted 4/24/18, permalink)

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Hell, Yes! Pope Francis has declared, "There is no Hell, there is the disappearance of sinful souls … those who do not repent and cannot therefore be forgiven disappear." But, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of Hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into Hell, where they suffer the punishments of Hell, 'eternal fire'. The chief punishment of Hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs."

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Breaking The 'Render To Caesar' Rule: The Archdiocese of Seattle is running a series of 'Know Your Rights' workshops which seem to me to be tailored for immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. Last week, one was held at St. John the Evangelist Church in NE Vancouver, WA - about a 10 minute drive from my house.

The event, presented in Spanish, was attended by about 300 people, which was "held in the church sanctuary, with kids spilling out to the foyer and other rooms to watch a movie so their parents could concentrate on the presentations."

Immigration lawyer Larkin VanDerhoef "offered advice for immigrants on dealing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including:

• If immigration officers come to your door, they must have a warrant signed by a judge. Demand to see the warrant, but don't open the door. The officials can slide it under the door.

• If an immigration officer stops you on the street, you don't have to answer questions."

This is why I am rethinking my participation in the Archdiocese's Annual Catholic Appeal. I don't want my money used to facilitate lawbreaking. America is a nation of laws; had I known about this event in advance, I would have contacted ICE and alerted them. (posted 3/12/18, permalink)