The following comes from a Jan. 14 story in the Stockton Record.
The Catholic Diocese of Stockton will take the “painful but necessary” step of filing for bankruptcy Wednesday.
Four months after warning parishioners of the possibility, the diocese announced Monday that it will seek Chapter 11 protection.
Bishop Stephen Blaire said the decision was the only course open to the diocese in the wake of $32 million spent on settlements and judgments stemming from a rash of child sexual-abuse lawsuits over the past two decades.
Of that total, $14 million came directly from the diocesan budget, the balance from insurance companies.
Blaire estimated an addition $1 million had been spent in legal fees. Stockton will be the nation’s 10th diocese to file for federal bankruptcy court protection.
“Very simply, we are in this situation because of those priests in our diocese who perpetrated grave, evil acts of child sexual abuse,” the 72-year-old Blaire said. “We can never forget that those evil acts – not the victims of the abuse – are responsible for the financial difficulties we now face.”
The bankruptcy filing will take place in Sacramento at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, the same place the city of Stockton filed its Chapter 9 debt-adjustment plan 18 months ago.
Blaire said the diocese’s financial resources have been depleted and, with two legal cases pending, he and the diocese’s lawyers saw no other course open to them. Two additional lawsuits could be filed.
“I don’t know how we could resolve this without the bankruptcy process,” he said. “It is a very difficult thing. I never thought along these lines. It has forced us to take a look at everything we do, from how we are organized to the whole financial picture.”
He also pointed out that the diocese’s administrative arm – a $5 million-a-year operation – is the only entity seeking protection.
A decade ago, the diocese split off its other corporations, the individual parishes, the Catholic schools and other organizations.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests was quick to respond to the Stockton Diocese announcement.
“A bishop declaring bankruptcy is a convenient, self-serving dodge,” said Newport Beach resident Joelle Casteix, Western regional director of the group. “Despite this irresponsible decision, we hope that others who saw, suspected or suffered from clergy sex crimes and cover-ups in Stockton will step forward, call police, expose wrongdoers and protect kids.”
Blaire said he expects that to happen.
“During this procedure (in federal bankruptcy court), there will be a sufficient period of time for other victims to come forward,” he said….
To read the entire story, click here.
Bishop Stephen Blaire follows on Roger Cardinal Mahony’s footsteps. A true disciple.
Another one goes down, well when you wreckovate churches, have dancing girls, altar girls, giant puppets, felt banners, rock, jazz, mariachi masses, no tabernacle, only a meal not the Holy Sacrifice of The Mass, no kneeling, well the list could go on and on. Return The Traditional Latin Mass to its proper place and all will return to let us say NORMAL!!!!!
Um, Janek, the trajectory of abuse began while the Traditional Latin Mass was the only way Mass was said. Your argument isn’t very compelling.
I know those wronged have a right to restitution, but I believe that no amount of money will heal those who have been hurt by priests. Money will only complicate the situation in their hearts. People who win lotteries mostly end up broke and friendless. Only time with Jesus will heal all wounds. It does not cost anything.
Sorry Lisag those wounds DO NOT HEAL EVER….as someone who was a victim of physical abuse believe me they don’t heal…But you know what would be a real great first step, the complete pulverizing of the gay mafia within the Church and so-called Bishops like Blaire sent off to a monastery never to be heard/see from again
We have learned that victims who present themselves to Church authorities in a docile, deferential and non-demanding manner……who play nice…… will be tolerated but those who stand on an even level with the bishops and demand true justice will be treated as the enemy.
We have learned that the Church’s leaders from the papacy on down have grossly underestimated the impact their action and inaction would have and the mortal blow this would deal their credibility.
We have learned that some of the most morally compromised people in our society are lawyers who represent Church entities in sex abuse litigation.
We have learned that the clerical subculture than runs the institutional Church is fed by a highly malignant, narcissistic spirituality that requires a docile, controlled and compliant laity to survive.
We have learned that the passive-dependent relationship of the laity to the clergy, centered on sacramental rituals, has in general prevented little more than a passive, muted response from far too many “devoted” Catholics.
We have learned that the strident defense of the institutional Church is grounded in either an ignorance of the authentic meaning of “Church” as the People of God or worse yet, an arrogant rejection of it.
We have learned that blind orthodoxy has replaced courageous charity as the main focus of the papacy and hierarchy in our era. Those who profess their staunch but limited orthodoxy and total loyalty to the pope and Magisterium are concerned for their emotional security at the expense of charity towards victims.
We have learned that the Church has in fact, responded to the victims with charity and support in their demand for justice, but it is not the hierarchy but rather the fundamental Church, the People of God.
,We all know that the money has not and will not heal the wounds, but it has served to get the bishops’ attention. They may have been able to manipulate and intimidate the victims and in so doing denied them not only justice but charity, but they have had far less success manipulating the civil law process. More important has been the fact that through the discovery aspect of the legal process, the official Church’s files have been revealed to the public. Here we have discovered the truth of what has actually happened in chanceries and episcopal mansions. These files have provided objective and incontrovertible evidence of cover-up by bishops, religious superiors and even the Vatican. They have revealed an aspect even more disturbing than the cover-up: the almost total lack of pastoral or even human concern for the plight of the victims and their families. The files have revealed beyond question that the authority figures of the Catholic Church either would not or could not comprehend the unspeakable damage wreaked on bodies, emotions and souls by the clergy who actually abused, and the bishops, who ignored, stonewalled, lied and covered up the abuse.
Bishop Blaire is a terrible bishop, and, as “Gratias” points out, he is certainly not alone. Well, what now, dear Bishop? In fact, there are many things wrong with what is “Catholic” in the Stockton Diocese, and they do not all relate to the predations of homosexual clergy. You fight so vainly against Tradition, against teaching your flock about the true nature of the Catholic Church, its history, and its glorious mission. Yes, Salvation — that is where the train that you were chosen to drive is supposed to go. Is this where you place much, if any, of your attention? Do you protect your people from the evils of the media? Pornography? Illicit sexual relations of all kinds? Child abuse (of all kinds)? Nope. Instead, you worry about the minimum wage, the effect of “profit” on “workers” and other second-rate analyses of economics. Why not resign and go and work for the “poor” about whom you profess such concern? Yes, resign, and let the Pope appoint someone that worries about how the truth of God is taught, and how He is worshipped. Holy Father, look at the Stockton Diocese, and so many others, and stop the worldliness of your bishops. Direct them to be priests and to worship in a way that connects with all the Apostles, and with Mary, our spiritual Mother (and, while you are at it, let’s see precisely what She said in the Third Secret; it is as she directed).
Paying for the ‘Happy Priest’ Party
Church Militant TV has once again exposed the foundation of this scandal – which has cost the Church Time, Talent and Treasure – Needed to Help the World, and not pay to for allowing pederasts invited to infiltrate the system by those trying to destroy it from within.
Of particular relevance is the fact that often 25-40% of the payout is going to Attorneys – who were hired to sue the Church because the ‘leadership’ (Not All – but Far too many) were covering up for themselves and their Happy Pals.
Had WE (The Church) Reached Out to Help these (Mostly Boys – Abused by Homosex Pederasts) – Victims, many would not have been forced to turn to the ‘justice’ system.
But to admit the Truth would have been Humiliating & interfered with the party as seminaries like the ‘Pink Palace’ – And Validated the Church True teachings against such Evil,
Some (mostly anonymous homosexualist trolls) here are overjoyed at the situation, which not only helps Create Comrades (Most Homo-Anal Males & Male Prison Inmates were Molested as Boys) in the Happy Cause – but also pays for the Party to keep on going.
SEE
https://www.churchmilitant.tv/daily/?today=2014-01-14
Michael, maybe you can help me out here. I came into the Church two years ago at Easter although I have been attending Sunday Mass for about six years. I saw that churchmilitant video yesterday and I was floored. Even though I have been aware of the homosexual element among our clergy for a long time, this was over-the-top. How is it that this kind of thing is tolerated? Isn’t there some mechanism to investigate this and some authority to deal with it. Are these people that are supposed to be saving our souls going to be allowed to live and administer the sacraments for the rest of their live even though they are living in serious sin? Isn’t there anyone that cares? This Bishop tells the priest to keep his mouth shut or suffer reprisals and that is the end of it? Who is it that cares? Who is it that cares? Does our Holy Father care? This thing has hurt the Church for years and as far as I’m concerned always will because NOBODY CARES!! I think I am going to keep on being a good Christian and a good disciple of our Lord and going to Mass every day and become oblivious to what’s going on like most Catholics.
Gary O – Be of Brave Heart and as Pope Francis said – Pick Up the Cross and Carry it (as best you can) With Strength, even in Challenging Times
If it were Easy to be more than a CHINO (Catholic in Name Only), we would not be able to understand what a Great Gift ‘Free Will’ truly is.
I liken it to parents taking the training wheels off a child’s bicycle, and letting them ride free without running along side and making constant course corrections for them. Bad things can happen, and Great Ones Too, and Thank God that We Sinners have the chance to learn and Repent – via Confession.
Understand then that the Gift of Free Will is what allows Our Choice – including to fall prey to the prince of liars, who gets a really big kick out of taking ‘Priests’.
If you have never seen Father Barron’s ‘Word on Fire’ website or the great series ‘Catholicism’ – Do So. Something said in it about carrying precious things in earthen (thus breakable) vessels rang very true for me, That the vessel is weak and breakable does not lessen the precious nature of its contents.
As for “Nobody Cares” – You are wrong, although the lament is understandable… Even Our Lord on the Cross felt abandoned as so many Humans do- for a while.
I Care. Millions upon Millions of Catholics Care. But like a lot of ‘Cradle Catholics’ I used to think of the Church as a Solid Edifice that would weather any storm regardless of my small role in supporting it.
Not So – We Are Church, and our Priests are Called to be Holy Men, but they are not The Church – and when Some (estimates say 2-3%) Betray Us, It does not relieve Our Duty to the Church to be pillars of support for The Truth of Jesus – to the extent each and every one of us Frail Humans Can.
Gary – Welcome to the Church. Let me offer some advice that maybe Mr. Voris isn’t the best source of information and analysis.
Michael Voris seems pretty well informed, C&H. What is it that you find disreputable about him?
C & H – you are right, and this is one of the reasons why he is not permitted to use the word Catholic in his handle, as he used to.
YFC – The Bishop’s play the ‘You Can’t Use the Name Catholic’ card because it is the only card they can play when faced with Truth. They tried to play that card with victims of sex abuse and got sued – my old classmates, save the one poor soul who committed suicide, were among those finally vindicated after suffering years of mental agony beginning at the tender age of 7 years old.
I know because I was almost one of them – pixie haired tomboy that I was. I had just as big a mouth then as I do now, however, so things didn’t get past just freeeeking wierd and what else I don’t care to relive. The offending priest is dead now. Oddly, I happened upon a holy card of The Good Shepherd he’d given me during my latest move. A box of things my mother compiled for me before she died. Brought up a lot of bad memories.
So please, cut the ‘… that is why he isn’t permitted to use the word Catholic in his handle anymore,” smack about Michael Voris. If you care about kids like you say you do, I’d think you would back that man a thousand percent.
C&H why isn’t he the best source of advice, could it be that Mr. Voris pulls no punches and attacks the gay filth that has infected the Church. He exposes the corruption and will not talk the party line that come from the hierarchy. Tell me then who do suggest is going to give honest analysis of the complete collapse of the Church. … Me thinks that you just can’t stand the fact the Voris takes on the feminized Church and replaces with a strong masculine version. As I an admitted lesbian I can understand your hate for anything authenticly male and rejects the femi-nazism that has also corrupted the Church… May Mr. Voris lay apostolate grow until the gay corruption the Church is crushed
Heck, Canisius, I’d like to see the diocese respond to what they believe is so divisive on Michael Voris’s show so we can know their version of what the bleep is going on. But that will never happen. Truth it seems only comes out under force of threat.
40% of $660 million is what the attorneys who sued the LA archdiocese were promised.. = $264 million. As UCLA prof of law Stephen Bainbridge observes, speaking of the San Diego settlement case pending at that time: “In a diocese such as San Diego, there are hundreds of parishes, schools, orphanages, homeless shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, and so on, each ministering to numerous worshippers and even non-Church members. When the diocese faces mass tort liability, the assets and property of many parishes and other ministries that had no connection with any incident priest sex abuse are thus made available to satisfy the claims of sex abuse plaintiffs. Inevitably, execution of a judgment against such assets would impede, if not destroy, the ability of these ministries to serve the needs of their congregants. Indeed, the mere threat of liability might do so.” http://www.professorbainbridge.com
It all goes back to the Cardinals or Bishops who head up each Diocese.
Ultimately, everything “Catholic” falls under his authority.
His Priests also fall under his authority.
Some Diocese Bishops are guilty of aiding and abetting, and not adhering to the teachings of the Church.
Doctrine of the Faith includes: – – –
CCC: ” 1868 Sin is a personal act. Moreover, we have a responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them:
– by participating directly and voluntarily in them;
– by ordering, advising, praising, or approving them;
– by not disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so;
– by protecting evil-doers.”
Steve P. This one is really outrageous in light of the fact that the victims’ attorneys take cases on a contingency basis. The bishops are quick to accuse the victims’ lawyers of profiting from the lawsuits but what they don’t tell the public is just how much their own attorneys are being paid. No diocesan attorney is working “pro bono” and all are “high dollar” counselors. The bishops of this country have spent tens of millions of the lay faithful members’ donated dollars to pay their lawyers to stonewall all attempts at discovering the truth.
Michael and others,
Tomorrow I drive from Rocklord, MI to Detroit to visit Church MilitantTV’s studio and staff, from there I drive to Chicago and Joe and Ann Scheidler’s. Saturday afternoon I drive to Green Bay, WI and the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help. Sunday I fly back to John Wayne AP and home in Anaheim.
I will be on with Michael Voris on Mic’d up on Feb. 5 to futher expose the rotten Religious so called Education Congress.
Please pray for a safe trip and a successful one.
May God have Mercy on an amoral Amerika!
Viva Cristo Rey!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher, Founding Director
Concerned Roman Catholics of America, Inc.
Keep up the good work, Kenneth M! St Catherine of Siena would approve of your “un-silent approach” to the crises we face.
God speed, Kenneth! I look forward to the talk.
Kenneth Fisher, Thank you faithful servant! We will keep you in our prayers. Please expose the rot that is continually being allowed to take root and fester in the already wounded Mystical Body of Christ with the aid and comfort and permission of erring and lax shepherds. Keep up the good fight! Vaya con Dios!
Kenneth, many of us will not hear your pronouncements. Can you tell us on this site what a few of your gripes are about the LA REC? Very often you have named names, but never tell us what those people do or say that you think is wrong. It would help if you gave us more than headlines and one-liners. I hope by now that you are back attending a Catholic church instead of that group of schismatics that you told a year or two ago that you were attending. We will pray for a safe trip.
Bob One, I now see that you have also been hired as a professional Catholic to make fun sport out of Traditional Catholics who value “all” of the teachings of the Catholic Church. Yes, Bob there is definitely now enough evidence to visualize you as a cheering spectator in the Colloseum enjoying the strife and the suffering of Christians as a *new pride* of hungry lions is set loose to attack and devour. No amount of $$$ and no infiltrating social justice agenda is worth the loss of your own soul. Yes Bob One, It is even clearer that in order to appear benevolent you have only pretended to care about the poor and the downtrodden in the shameless capacity of an empty suited front running shill. Blessed Mother Teresa said the West is spiritually starved for God and you have shown more loyalty to the Communist ACLU than you have to the Catholic Church. Our Lady of Fatima warned about Russia spreading it’s errors. These errors are currently being spread from within the Church. Bob One, You are a *temporarily well paid* heartless agent of those errors. I say temporary because you chose to have your heaven being well paid only on earth. There will be a great day of reckoning for those who deliberately scattered Christ’s flock and then made fun sport of their sufferings on public websites. In the measure you have shown justice to “all” that same measure will be used against you for your disgraceful lack of love.
continued.
Who do you think hired him, Catherine?
AMDG says:
January 17, 2014 at 12:35 pm
Who do you think hired him, Catherine?
Taken from Wikipedia – AMDG
“The origin of the phrase AMDG is attributed to the founder of the Jesuits, Saint Ignatius of Loyola,who intended it to serve as a cornerstone sentiment of the society’s religious philosophy. The full phrase attributed to St. Ignatius is Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem or “for the greater glory of God and salvation of man.” It is a summary of the idea that any work that is not evil, even one that would normally be considered inconsequential to the spiritual life, can be spiritually meritorious if it is performed in order to give glory to God.”
ADMG – Good question and the answer is the father of lies via antagonistic bureaucracies. Also, let us ask Bob One if he considers it inconsequential to hide and protect heterodoxy or if Bob One considers it spiritually meritorious to make fun and cruel sport of the devastation in Christ’s vineyard? The current White House has it’s own paid Jay Carney handlers as well as many a diocesan chancery office or parish office too. Just ask Pope Emiritus Benedict XVI
“Nor is evil confined to overt acts like abuse. Lost in the hullabaloo over the recent book of interviews with the Pope (and in the reporting of an annual statement from Benedict XVI to the Vatican’s Curia) were profound, startling, and even prophetic words concerning the state of the Church. “The bureaucracy is spent and tired,” said Benedict in Light of the World. “It is sad that there are what you might call professional Catholics who make a living on their Catholicism, but in whom the spring of faith flows only faintly, in a few scattered drops.”
The words must be digested, and should be sent to every single bishop. Professional Catholics… making a living… in whom faith flows only faintly… Here the Pope was getting to the heart of what afflicts Catholicism, particularly in older countries. There are two Churches: the public, secular one, and the devotional one. It is the former one that is spent, tired, and not just unwelcoming to devotion but even antagonistic to it. Bureaucracy and a worldly approach are far too often witnessed in the cold businesslike atmospheres of diocesan (or parish) offices.”
Continued from January 17, at 9:00 am
Bob One, Your *new church* hides Tabernacles, Teachings, Communion rails, works of Sacred art, devotions, statues and reverence. Your *new church* tried to hide the EF before Summorum Pontificum. Your *new church* threatens to punish faithful priests who stand up for the faith. Your *new church* is on a precipice where it will no longer have to hide homosexual boyfriends of homosexual clergy at Christmas parties. This is your definition of “social justice for all” but this is NOT the definition of the Catholic Church that was founded by Jesus Christ.
Topic Churches Worth Driving to
Bob One says:
October 20, 2013 at 7:02 pm
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonpartisan non-profit organization whose stated mission is “to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States. If it didn’t exist, we would have to invent it. American values include everyone, not just the rich, white folks who are in the upper 1 %. If someone is hungry, we must feed them. If they are homeless we much provide shelter, if they are without a job we must train them and help them get a job, etc. In other words, we must be Catholic. Our new Pope has said that he wants to bring VII to its fruition and glory, to further what has hardly begun. We are on the precipice of a *new church* dedicated to justice for all, not just the rich.
Catherine, where do you get these ideas? I must assume that you speak in jest because none of it makes sense. I support all of the teachings of the Catholic church, and have never, not once, questioned any of those teachings. You have been upset for a long time because I pointed out that the teachings of the church and canon law allow the “local Ordinary” to specify where a Tabernacle can be placed. Three options are available: 1) Behind the altar, 2) on a side altar, like in St. Peter’s, or 3) in a separate chapel where people can find it easily and it is well decorated. Those are the rules. Different churches do it different ways. I suspect that nearly 98% of all churches have it behind the altar. I don’t understand your issue here. The ACLU isn’t a communist organization. It often goes after issues that are not consistent with Catholic values, but that does not make it communist. My assumption is that anything you don’t like must be evil, because only you have the right answers. By the way, who are you to judge if anyone is Catholic or not? Doesn’t doing that raise a question about your own values and beliefs about the Church?
Bob One really just doesn’t get it or care, Catherine. As long as there is a rule – and he’s covered – he seems okay and that’s the end of it. Not sure if he’s the same one who thought it was such a relief that Vatican II happened, because, gawwwwleee, we all thought we’d go to Hell for eating a hotdog on Friday. Or maybe missin’ mass on a Sunday.
No point discussing the reasoning behind self-discipline or mortifying oneself or giving something other than that which is required to God. Not if the boss says no. And I mean a priest or Bishop (talk about your clericalism). Our Lord is off in the side chapel where He belongs. IOW: Any explanation of meaning behind actions with some folks just shoots overhead like an imagined UFO.
But God bless you for trying.
“Catherine, where do you get these ideas? I must assume that you speak in jest because none of it makes sense. I support *all* of the teachings of the Catholic church, and have never, not once, questioned any of those teachings. ”
Bob One, I am not jesting. I care about my own soul and I do care about your soul. A starving soul needs Full, Nutritiously Truthful nourishment as Blessed Mother Teresa stated when she spoke about the many spiritually starving in the United States. I am also not surprised when you say that none of it makes sense to you. How could it? That blindness is the natural result of your choosing to serve the agendas of scheming men before first and only serving God. It is only when we faithfully serve God first, that we truly serve men. You not only do not question the teachings of the Catholic Church on CCD , you also do not defend them or impart them. Sadly, you are a template example of many of our many compromising shepherds. That in itself makes you a follower of lukewarm men. You do however impart a very secular coldness. If that is your goal, then congratulations Bob because you are certainly # “One” in achieving this goal by your generous giving of great satisfaction to the workings of the world. Your posts are proving yourself the insincere jester when you claim to care about justice for *all*. Bob One, How many pieces of silver are you being paid to show cruelty to Christ’s scattered sheep? You say you support *all* of the teachings of the Catholic Church but your posting actions prove quite differently.
“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” According to St. Augustine and St. Thomas, this beatitude corresponds to the gift of wisdom, which makes us taste the mysteries of salvation and see, so to speak, all things in God. The inspirations of the Holy Ghost, to which this gift renders us docile, gradually manifest to us the wonderful order of the providential plan even in those things, and at times especially in those things, which at first disconcerted us, in the painful and unforeseen events permitted by God for a higher good. ”
by Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.
Bob One, perhaps you have hit on something here. My mother suffered for many years with dementia, and developed a slight paranoia which when coupled with decreased inhibitions caused her to be very nasty with people around her including her family and caregivers. This would explain a lot of posts on CCC.
“My mother suffered for many years with dementia, and developed a slight paranoia which when coupled with decreased inhibitions caused her to be very nasty with people around her including her family and caregivers.”
YFC, You once wrote that your mother always supported you because she was told as a child that she would never amount to (nothing) anything. That post made me sad for both you and your mother. It helped me to understand why your mother was unable to guide you, but she did love you. This explained why your mother wanted to only see the best in you. YFC, You have shown disloyalty to God and you still cannot see it. When a person is habitually disloyal to God then it become very easy to show disloyalty to a mother who is not here to defend herself. Is your hatred for God’s truths so prevalent that you would use your own dear deceased mother as a weapon to attack those who are only asking you to be loyal to God? Your post has me now questioning if any of your stories about your mother are true because most honorable men would never use such an ugly disrespectful memory of their deceased mother merely as a vile weapon, not that they may not share that truth with those who also knew the wonderful side of her. In order to bring down those who are willing to care about your soul, you were more than willing to bring down the memory of your mother. May God have mercy on you and open your eyes.
I wonder how your mother would have reacted to those who would claim to be ‘caregivers’ or ‘family members’ only to tear the family apart and each individual limb by limb for progress’ sake. Or maybe feed her tainted food and then laugh out loud as she gagged only to mock every aspect of their upbringing, home, and family tree.
But whatever, the scenario seems a like CCD.
When Catholics say “I love you and I want you to get to heaven”…they really mean “Yo Mama…”
Bob One, tune into reality instead of blinding yourself with cover-up ‘pronouncements’ and maybe you’ll hear what Kenneth has to say. The so called pack of ‘schismatics’ is actually producing Catholics, young ones too unlike the Novus Ordo crowd that are so ill informed that they don’t even realize that mass used to be said in Latin. The same that you anticipate will meander back to get the ‘Into Heaven’ card after they’ve grown tired of a lifetime of sinning – no – after they become ill and broken and finally realize they don’t want to go to Hell despite the modern Church’s intimation that – hey – it might be empty.
Your rhetoric reminds me of when Our Lord proclaimed the Jews at the temple to be sons of the Devil. All they could do was look at the physical reality and growl that they were sons of Abraham all the while denying what Abraham taught, believed, and lived and died proclaiming. All the while trying to stone the Truth that was there in their midst.
God bless you, I hope you tune in. You could you know without betraying your cause.
Ann, “when Our Lord proclaimed the Jews at the temple to be sons of the Devil” He was speaking, as a Jew to the Pherasees who were also Jews. As the Church teaches, He was not condeming all, or even most, Jews of the time and certainly not the Jews of today. It’s important because anti-Semites sometimes misstate Gospel passages for their own bad ends causing confusion among Christians.
C&H: Our Lord was indeed speaking to the Jews of his time as a Jew. He was referencing those ‘Jews’ who use and adhere to the name Jew without ‘believing’ what Abraham taught and believed in – namely Jesus’s predicted coming. The Pharisees/Sons of the Devil, however, wanted an earthly King. (They wanted to keep their positions of power, too. And greatly resented the seeming little people understanding whereas they did not. Hence, “…’Surely, you are not saying that WE are blind.”)
That scenario is still playing out today as many Catholics ‘in good standing’ or ‘full communion’ are allowing all manner of nonsense to go on within the Church because ‘they’ want to bring about the union that Christ Himself prayed for. But in a HUMAN, let’s all get along, kind of way that doesn’t make waves for the message bearer. That’s why you are told that that particular lesson from the Bible doesn’t apply today. But, of course, it does apply. All of Christ’s lessons are timeless.
Christ, our teacher, didn’t go out politicking for said union or water down the Truth by saying, “If you like your sin, you can keep your sin.” All the while knowing that the moratorium on sin was pending and so the flock would be forced into His new plan.
No. He respected Truth. He respected and honored His creatures and the gift of our free will. He taught the Truth boldly and without compromise which is what precipitated his crucifixion. (I’ll bet He was called a hater by those who did like their sin and want to keep it.)
And yet there was no backpedal, redirect, reinterpretation on His part over what precisely He said. About anything.
to C&H cont:
There is backpedal today and intentional ambiguity because crucifixion scares the &%$#@ out of people. Especially Church leadership that talks a good talk that in essence means – we could be a lot more useful if we avoided Jerusalem and did what Judas said and feed the poor. But hey, without Christ to rebuke them directly, it sounds really good. And let’s not go down the redirect of thinking that we shouldn’t feed the poor, C &H. But Christ is here with us now and WE SHOULD HONOR HIM.
But what it bespeaks is a faithful who no longer holds faith in what Christ said – but rather what the reinterpretation of often cowardly men who love their position and doubt Christ and doubt His ultimate Power want us to believe.
Any attempt to actually preach the Gospel in its fullness is dismissed as being based in hate. Because it is easier and more effective to squelch the actual Gospel message by branding Catholics as homo-phobes and/or anti-Semites. (That’s politics, C&H, not religion)
And as you state, “…It’s important because anti-Semites sometimes misstate Gospel passages for their own bad ends causing confusion among Christians.” But it is also true that those who do not want the world to hate them, as Christ predicted of His true followers, would obfuscate and misuse Gospel passages to avoid the crucifixion Christ desires of us.
God bless.
Mcdermott, How about this happy hands priest party with kids: Chicago, Daniel Mark Holihan, 83, was one of 14 priests named in lawsuits the archdiocese settled in 2005 for an undisclosed amount.
Known to students at Our Lady of the Snows as “Happy Hands” Holihan — because of his habit of being suspiciously grabby during horseplay with children — he allegedly started abusing boys in 1968. Though restrictions were placed on him after he was accused of abuse in 1986, Holihan wasn’t removed from public ministry until 2002.
Why did our bishops so easily cave to the attorneys who filed lawsuits for those harmed by priests and other bishops? Why were there no trials set? Could it be that bishops were trying to shield others in the diocese or elsewhere? It seems the people in the pews have paid over and over for the poor advice given to the bishops when this all began, and then they chose to just fork over billions to the attorneys and victims! When reputable attorneys comment that probably half of these claims were bogus??? There are still priests who were thrown out of rectories with no evidence of wrongdoing except a phone call from an attorney. This is a grave injustice to our clergy, and to Catholics who will never be served by good priests who were wrongly accused. Bishops did not seem to care-just get rid of the accused! Perhaps someday the whole truth will be revealed. “The Wanderer” was exposing all this long before the ugliness broke in the early part of this century, and that newspaper was reviled by many in power in the Catholic Church; they were right all along! We must continue to pray for our priests, bishops, cardinals and especially Pope Francis, that they be shielded from the Evil One, and they are open to the graces of the Holy Spirit.
Bishops who did not turn over molesters to the civil authorities but moved them from Parish to parish so they could continue molesting children – have no excuse.
Sexual activity outside of marriage is a Mortal Sin.
CCC: “2389 Connected to incest is any sexual abuse perpetrated by adults on children or adolescents entrusted to their care.
The offense is compounded by the scandalous harm done to the physical and moral integrity of the young, who will remain scarred by it all their lives; and the violation of responsibility for their upbringing.”
Bishops had and have the authority to immediately STOP all abuse by those who work for them within their own Diocese.
Instead they let the devil have his way.
Don’t tell me that all Bishops do not know right from wrong.
anniem, There have been thousands of reports of sexual abuse by clergy in the United States. These reports span a period of more than fifty years. Although bishops often claim that there have been very few actual cases in their dioceses, when diocesan files are disclosed through the discovery process the documentary evidence has revealed that in fact, there have been reports of sexual abuse for decades.
There is documentary evidence of the 10,667 reports mentioned in the John Jay Study. Since the study was published hundreds of additional cases have been revealed from the same time period. There is documentary evidence available of about 20 cases of false and mistaken claims from the same time period. There is evidence of three false claims out of 800-850 claims from California.
Bishop Blaire was too busy being a political activist in the USCCB rather than managing his own Diocese.
Where are the Bishops going to teach that is is necessary to PAY our DEBTS, without which no other form of justice is possible?
COMMUTATIVE JUSTICE – – –
CCC: ” 2411 Contracts are subject to commutative justice which regulates exchanges between persons and between institutions in accordance with a strict respect for their rights.
Commutative justice obliges strictly; it requires safeguarding property rights, paying debts, and fulfilling obligations freely contracted.
Without commutative justice, no other form of justice is possible.
One distinguishes commutative justice from legal justice which concerns what the citizen owes in fairness to the community, and from distributive justice which regulates what the community owes its citizens in proportion to their contributions and needs.”
Many US Bishops involvement in politics rather than teaching the Faith in entirety is part of the problem.
US Cardinals and Bishops were wrong in aiding and abetting child molestation by a minority of Priests. And then moving them around so that they could abuse others who were unsuspecting.
“Very simply, we are in this situation because of those priests in our diocese who perpetrated grave, evil acts of child sexual abuse,” the 72-year-old Blaire said. “We can never forget that those evil acts – not the victims of the abuse – are responsible for the financial difficulties we now face.”
What about the Bishops who let them get away with the abuse?
Where is the accountability for aiding and abetting? Why don’t certain Bishops and Cardinal Mahony accept their full responsibility?
CCC: “1868 Sin is a personal act. Moreover, we have a responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them:
– by participating directly and voluntarily in them;
– by ordering, advising, praising, or approving them;
– by not disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so;
– by protecting evil-doers.”
So what are the alternatives for the good Bishop. Sell all the Churches in the diocese that were built by the sweat, toil and sacrifices of their respective parishioners? Dismantle the Catholic Church in Stockton? No! We love our faith and our Church and want it to persevere!
“good” Bishop?
There are other alternatives.
Sell the mansions they live in and live humbly in an apartment.
Sell all properties that are not essential in teaching the Word of God.
Pay as much as possible from the Bishop’s own acquired assets, leaving only enough for a humble existence.
Pay just fines to proven injured parties by monthly installments when there are not enough funds to pay reparation all at once.
Dodging just reparation via unnecessary bankruptcy is wrong.
Hey Gary O, It appears that Pope Francis is just following in the footsteps of his cherished friend Cardinal Martini. They both do not wish to Judge.
Consider the Two following stories – Versus the Complete Censorship of the Larry Brinkin Pederast Ring run out of the In-Human Rights commission n Frisco – What gets reported and about who is as Political as the lamesteam media gets:
Vatican comes under sharp criticism for sex abuse
The Vatican came under blistering criticism from a U.N. committee Thursday for its handling of the global priest sex abuse scandal, facing its most intense public grilling ever over allegations that it protected pedophile priests at the expense of victims.
Monsignor Charles Scicluna, the Vatican’s former sex crimes prosecutor, acknowledged that the Holy See had been slow to face the crisis but said that it was now committed to doing so. He encouraged prosecutors to take action against anyone who obstructs justice — a suggestion that bishops who moved priests from diocese to diocese should be held accountable.
“The Holy See gets it,” Scicluna told the committee. “Let’s not say too late or not. But there are certain things that need to be done differently.”
– See more at:
https://www.onenewsnow.com/ap/religion/vatican-comes-under-sharp-criticism-for-sex-abuse#.Utgq5ig5vdk
Authorities break up international pedophile ring
https://www.onenewsnow.com/ap/world/authorities-break-up-international-pedophile-ring#.Utgrgig5vdk
It would be nice if we looked at the facts before we slay the current Bishop of Stockton. Most of the cases of Priest-pedophilia that are being settled occurred in the 60-80’s. Bishop Blair was not the Bishop at that time. No matter how well he managed the diocese, it was going to end up in bankruptcy. He would have been smart if he had turned down the Pope’s request for him to be Bishop. I suspect that 90+% of the fault for the economic conditions cannot be put at his feet. He is just cleaning up someone else’s mess.
Yes, Bob One, you are spot-on: Bp. Stephen Blaire (spelled with an “e”, Bob One) was cleaning up for Card. Roger Mahony’s egregious dereliction of episcopal duty: but that is because he, Blaire was always a Mahony-crony. Blaire went to the now-infamous St John’s Camarillo and was selected to be auxiliary bishop by Mahony in 1990 in LA by Mahony himself. Mahony, and also the notably disgraced late Bp. George Ziemann, were two of co-consecrators (Mahony was principal), showing from whom Blaire took his inspiration. He was LA archdiocese vicar general from 1990-1999, until he was appointed to Stockton. However, in at least one case, in 2001, the case of Fr. Oscar A Pelaez, Blaire himself did not report a credible case of abuse to the police. It was later shown that Pelaez hadperpetrated multiple cases of abuse and was charged and convicted, sentenced to 6 yrs in state prison. So Bob One the claim that Blaire wasn’t responsible for “90% of the fault” is pretty doubtful to exonerate Bp. Blaire. At best, he was a stooge for Mahony, at worst, he was much much worse.
Oh, one more word on Bp. Blaire’s stellar record in Stockton, for whom Bob One’s and others shout accolades: All the above did not keep Blaire from getting awarded USF’s honorary degree just last year, in May 2013, and in fact he was the commencement speaker for the USF college of arts and sciences—Why? Because he is a good progressive, whatever his actual episcopal wreck-ord, er. record..
Thanks Steve. I didn’t know all of that about the Bishop’s background. But, I’m still not convinced that he isn’t cleaning up someone else’s mess, rather than a situation he created. It may be Cdnl. Mahoney’s as you say.
May 19, 2002 Newsweek article entitled “Gays in the Seminary”: quote of a recent alumnus: ‘ St. John’s may be one of the country’s gayest facilities for higher education. Depending on whom you ask, gay and bisexual men make up anywhere from 30 percent to 70 percent of the student body at the college and graduate levels.”
Bob One, where in the esteemed Documents of Vatican II is the authorization to change the placement of the tabernacle (“Tabernacle can be placed [according to]Three options are available: 1) Behind the altar, 2) on a side altar, like in St. Peter’s, or 3) in a separate chapel where people can find it easily and it is well decorated.” Please dont cite the oxymoronically-named “GIRM” (General Instruction for the Roman Missal): where in the great and mighty Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, is the declaration to move the tabernacle from its historic position of centrality in any church (dont cite St Peter’s in Rome: the exception proves the rule) to a “separate chapel”?
Steve, I used “Catholic Answers” when I looked up the church’s position on this issue. The quote I referred to is from that web site: The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy grants power to national conferences of bishops to adapt sacred furnishings to the needs and customs of their respective regions (Sacrosanctum Concilium 128).
The document referred to was the Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharist Mystery (Eucharisticum Mysterium), a post-conciliar document, issued by the Vatican following the Council. After recommending that the Blessed Sacrament ought to be reserved in a truly prominent location and one suitable for private prayer and devotion, the instruction states, “It is therefore recommended that, as far as possible, the tabernacle be placed in a chapel distinct from the middle or central part of the church, above all in those churches where marriages and funerals take place frequently and in places which are much visited for their artistic or historical treasures” (53).
One way this helps is if there are Masses close together. If you want to pray before the Blessed Sacrament after Mass, you can go to the side chapel and you don’t get rushed out as the people for the next Mass come in.
Bob One – Please provide a link on the Vatican web site to: ” Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharist Mystery (Eucharisticum Mysterium”.
I could not find it.
The USCCB has made several decisions that were never part of the Vatican II documents, and were never intended.
They include but are not limited to:
1. Removing the Altar Rail with kneeler so that communicants would have difficulty kneeling to honor God when receving Him. (Kneeling before the King of Kings.)
2. Receiving God in the hand rather than on the tongue.
3. Shaking hands with those near you during Mass, rather than using this one hour time to concentrate on our relationship with God – giving Him our undivided attention.
Over many years this lack of utmost respect has resulted in many Catholics who no longer believe that Christ in truly present in the Eucharist. And therefore they have no reason to remain Catholic.
Yes, Bob One, I know the ‘authorization’ to place the tabernacle in an a-traditional place was not actually in Sacro. Conc. of VII but in a mysterious post-conciliar document which was not therefore actually voted upon by even the ‘Council Fathers’. That is exactly the point. Now it did serve the wishes of Rah n er and Kun g and others who only believed in an existential not a substantial Presence. My point is how much of an ‘infallible’ Council is not actually part of the Council itself and how much of a break with the past this was.
And yet, Bob One, your assumption that 98% of Churches would have the Tabernacle behind the altar is not true. You have to literally HUNT for it in most Catholic Churches. Just like having to hunt for Truth.
The media (which completely Censors the Larry Brinkin Racist Pederast Rape Ring run out of the In-Human Rights commission in Frisco – just loves to publish the same facts when Pederasts Hurt the Catholic Church and its Children:
Former Stockton priest charged with child abuse
The Associated Press 01/14/2014 SAN ANDREAS, Calif.—A Roman Catholic priest who spent 39 years at parishes within the Diocese of Stockton has been indicted on criminal child molestation charges.
A Calaveras County grand jury indicted the Rev. Michael Kelly…
https://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_24909883/former-stockton-priest-charged-child-abuse?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com
On February 17, 1990, Blaire was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles. He received his episcopal consecration on the following May 31 from Archbishop (now Cardinal) Roger Mahony.
Stephen Blaire has been the Bishop of the Diocese of Stockton since January 18, 1999. He has had 14 years to get his Diocese in financial order.
He has been too busy with his political activism via the USCCB – advocating several things that have nothing to do with the Doctrine of the Faith.
If he had spent his time (and all Diocese Priests and employees) teaching the Faith according to the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” – there would be more faithful Catholics to bear financial responsibilities.
“The Diocese has not transferred any priests or deacons who have had credible allegations of sexual abuse lodged against them to any other diocese for ministerial assignment or residence since June 2002”. – per 2003 USCCB audit.
Do the math, Blaire was there.
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/usccb/audit2003/Section_II/stocktonca.htm
Topic Churches Worth Driving to – Bob One says: October 20, 2013 at 7:02 pm…
Good heavens, Catherine, you certainly are a good researcher!
They deserve to go bankrupt…you reap what you sow…if this bishop had defrocked these pederast’s many years ago, instead of playing “hide the pedophile”…they wouldn’t be in this financial lurch…
Bob One and others –
Stephen Blaire has been the Bishop of the Diocese of Stockton since January 18, 1999.
“The Diocese has not transferred any priests or deacons who have had credible allegations of sexual abuse lodged against them to any other diocese for ministerial assignment or residence since June 2002″. – per 2003 USCCB audit.
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/usccb/audit2003/Section_II/stocktonca.htm
As someone said: “Do the math.”
Do the math?…if Bishop Blaire had done the math, he wouldn’t be bankrupt…comprende?…paying to settle cases out of court, that cost an enormous amount of cash, doesn’t speak well for the stewardship of this diocese…”credible”?…what do you define as credible Dan?….Dan, why don’t you do the math, and tell us all why this diocese is in arrears ?…I won’t hold my breath…