Cardinal George defends decision to defund pro-gay ‘marriage’ immigrant group

From: LifeSiteNews.com

After a group of eight Catholic Democrats published an open letter in the Chicago Tribune Monday criticizing Cardinal Francis George for threatening to withhold charitable funding from an immigrant group that recently came out in favor of same-sex “marriage,” the cardinal fired back in a statement, calling the letter’s signers cynical and “intellectually and morally dishonest.”

The Chicago diocese’s Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) had been contributing between $25,000 and $30,000 each year to several member groups of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) to aid humanitarian efforts in poverty-stricken neighborhoods.

But since CCHD funding agreements are contingent on recipients not supporting agendas contrary to the Catholic faith, Cardinal George recently notified member groups that CCHD will be unable to provide any more funding unless the groups sever ties with the ICIRR and publicly renounce support for gay nuptials.

In their letter, the Catholic Democrats had accused Cardinal George of using poor immigrants as “pawns in a political battle.”

On Wednesday, Cardinal George responded via a statement posted to the Diocesan website, explaining that ICIRR left the Catholic Church no choice but to withdraw funding after violating the terms of their contract.

“Donors to the CCHD give to this anti-poverty organization with the understanding that their money will be passed on to organizations that respect the teachings of the Catholic faith,” wrote the cardinal. “Organizations that apply for funds do so agreeing to this condition.”

“On May 23,” continued the cardinal, “the ICIRR board broke faith with its member organizations when it publicly supported so called ‘same-sex marriage.’ For its own political advantage, it introduced a matter extraneous to its own purpose and betrayed its own members, who were not consulted.”

Added Cardinal George, “The CCHD had no choice but to respect the unilateral decision of the ICIRR board that effectively cut off funding from groups that remain affiliated with ICIRR.”

The cardinal had harsh words for the Catholic Democrats who signed the open letter, writing, “It is intellectually and morally dishonest to use the witness of the Church’s concern for the poor as an excuse to attack the Church’s teaching on the nature of marriage.”

Added George, “Those who signed the open letter in the Tribune proclaimed their adherence to the Catholic faith even as they cynically called upon others to reject the Church’s bishops. The Church is no one’s private club; she is the Body of Christ, who tells us he is ‘the Way, the Truth, and the Life.’

Because the signers of the letters are Catholic, they know that in a few years, like each of us, they will stand before this same Christ to give an account of their stewardship. Jesus is merciful, but he is not stupid; he knows the difference between right and wrong. Manipulating both immigrants and the Church for political advantage is wrong.”

He reminded the letter signers of Catholic teaching on marriage, quoting Pope Francis, who wrote last month, “…marriage should be a stable union of man and woman…this union is born of their love, as a sign and presence of God’s own love, and of the acknowledgement and acceptance of the goodness of sexual differentiation, whereby spouses can become one flesh and are enabled to give birth to a new life.”

“In other words,” wrote Cardinal George, “when it comes to marriage and family life, men and women are not interchangeable. The whole civilized world knows that.”

The cardinal said the Church is not turning her back on Chicago’s immigrant poor, and will continue to serve them through organizations that do not oppose the Catholic faith on matters of morals and doctrine, including Priests for Justice for Immigrants, Sisters and Brothers of Immigrants, and the Archdiocesan Office for Immigrant Affairs and Immigration Education.

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League praised Cardinal George for taking a principled stand.

“Everyone knows that the Catholic Church has a long and proud history of immigrant outreach,” Donohue wrote in a statement. “Everyone knows that the Catholic Church, like virtually every religion in the history of the world, believes marriage should be confined to one man and one woman. It should come as no surprise, then, that Catholics who financially support pro-immigrant organizations expect that their contribution will not fund entities that reject Church teachings on marriage.”

Donohue dismissed the “angst” of the handful of Democratic Catholic politicians who penned the open letter, calling it “contrived.”

“As Cardinal George said … organizations that apply for CCHD funding do so knowing that they are expected to respect Church teachings,” Donohue wrote. “No one forces them to apply; they are free to secure funds elsewhere. But when they violate their agreement, and are called out for doing so, they should not pretend to be victims.”

Added Donohue, “If Cardinal George denied funding to a pro-immigrant organization that was aligned with racist or anti-Semitic causes, he would be heralded as a champion of human rights. But because the issue is gay marriage, he is condemned. The politics are so transparent that it’s making a joke of those promoting it.”

Cook County Commissioners John Fritchey and Larry Suffredin; Chicago aldermen James Cappleman, Patrick O’Connor, Proco “Joe” Moreno, and Danny Solis; City Clerk Susana Mendoza; and retired Cook County Judge Maureen Durkin Roy, all Catholic Democrats, had signed the le

Media Won’t be Sad to See Benedict Go

From: Media Research Center

It will be interesting to see if the media soften their almost uniform hostility to Pope Benedict XVI in the few remaining weeks of his papacy. It’s doubtful, since resigning his office won’t make Joseph Ratzinger any less Catholic. And his real sin, in liberal eyes, is just being too Catholic.

When the long, vigorously orthodox pontificate of John Paul II came to an end in 2005, liberals in and out of the Church hoped the next Pope would roll over on their most cherished issues: women priests, married priests, homosexuality and abortion. To say that Ratzinger’s selection was a disappointment is an understatement.

Since then, the media have maintained a relentlessly hostile narrative about Benedict XVII, his positions, his statements and his past. There are far too many incidents to include them all, but here is a quick list of highlights.

Extreme Conservative 
Even before he became Pope, then-Cardinal Ratzinger was called “God’s Rottweiler” for his unapologetic defense of Catholic orthodoxy. Just two weeks before Ratzinger’s elevation to succeed John Paul II in April 2005, ABC’s Charlie Gibson said, "German-born Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is also mentioned, but his extreme conservative views and his age might be his undoing when votes are cast in the Sistine Chapel.”

Gibson’s misgivings were echoed again and again around the networks. Despite an ABC/Washington Post survey that found that 81 percent of U.S. Catholics approved of the selection, CBS’s John Roberts said, "Many Catholics...found nothing to celebrate." Roberts’ colleague Mark Phillips called the new Pope an “archconservative” and “the most polarizing figure in the Catholic Church.”

Journalists continued to play up Benedict’s conservatism, and continued to misunderstand his relationship to actual Catholics. Prior to the Pope’s 2008 visit to the United States, CBS’ Harry Smith asked Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George to "Explain the difference between the private man and the public Pope that some Americans are maybe even a little unsure or fearful of." ABC’s Dan Harris said Benedict was "sometimes controversial," a "hard-liner" for "strenuously condemning divorce, homosexuality, and abortion." The Pope, Harris said, is "more conservative than many American Catholics." Certainly more conservative than any American Catholics Harris might know.

In the event, the papal visit was a tremendous success. Massive and enthusiastic crowds greeted the Pontiff across the United States, leaving reporters mystified. ABC reporter Claire Shipman said "many Catholics are rethinking their views of [Pope] Benedict XVI." According to Shipman, "most [U.S.] Catholics" thought, at the time of his selection, that Benedict "might clash with American values."

But of course, what Shipman meant was “media values.” And Benedict never stopped clashing with those.

In December, 2008, Time magazine’s Jeff Israely wrote, with the Christmas season upon us, there is growing proof that the 82-year-old Pope is also quite willing to play the part of Scrooge to defend his often rigid view of Church doctrine.”

Hitler Youth
Perhaps NBC’s Katie Couric was looking for other ways to raise red flags about the newly installed Benedict XVII on April 20, 2005, when she asked liberal Father Andrew Greeley if Cardinal Ratzinger’s “past associations … will create a rift between Christians and Jews, and what can he do to fix that?”

Those past association are: As a German boy during World War II, Ratzinger was forced to join the Hitler Youth, and was then drafted into the German Army. He quickly deserted and was eventually captured by the Allies.

The connection, plus his defense of orthodoxy, makes it easy for liberals to deride him as a Nazi. And they have.

In 2009, one Allison Kilkenny used a Huffington Post blog to spew hate at the Church and the Pope, ostensibly over Catholic opposition to gay marriage. “In addition to preying on the fears and prejudices of the unenlightened masses, I have no tolerance for tax-exempt pyramid schemes that take money from poor people to build golden houses in Italy for a decrepit former Nazi youth, who now wears a funny hat and occasionally blathers in a dead language about hating gay people, suppressing women, and always -- always -- refusing to wear condoms.”

In 2011, in a public interview with Bob Balaban at the Hamptons Film Festival, left-wing activist and actress Susan Sarandon told an audience that she had sent a copy of a book to Pope John Paul II. She then said: “The last Pope, not this Nazi one we have now.”

In 2012, perpetually apoplectic liberal talk radio host Mike Malloy ranted, “You child-raping sons of bitches in the Catholic Church, I am so sick of all of you – especially your priests and your bishops and your scum, the Nazi Pope, I am so sick of all of you.”

Guilty Until Proven Innocent 
In 2010, The New York Times published a series of articles about Benedict as seeking to protect the church at the expense of children's safety in various incidents of abuse in Germany, Ireland and here in the United States. The Times reported that as Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Benedict oversaw the transfer of a priest accused of abuse in the 1970s and 1980s to another parish where he again worked with children after he began therapy for his problems. A March 24, 2010 article, since heavily questioned, about a Wisconsin priest allowed to remain in the priesthood even after he abused 200 deaf boys from the 1950s through the 1970s placed the blame squarely on Benedict. The reporting was incomplete and biased. Ratzinger’s role in decision making about abusive priests was overstated. But there is no overstating the media feeding frenzy over the story.

During a two month period in 2010, the Times itself ran 64 stories on the allegations. Interestingly, the Times was far less curious in 2012 about similar questions regarding its incoming CEO, former BBC chief Mark Thompson.

The broadcast networks weren’t any less eager, broadcasting 26 stories about the allegations during Holy Week, 2010. In 18 of those stories reporters used language that presumed Ratzinger’s guilt.

ABC, CBS and CNN highlighted an American Catholic priest publicly calling for Benedict to resign over the charges. They called Father James Scahill "outspoken," "brave" and "gutsy." What they didn’t say is that Scahill is a leftwinger who dissents from Church orthodoxy on a number of issues, and has been honored by Voice of the Faithful, a liberal groups that, among other things, calls for an end to priestly celibacy.

At the Huffington Post, once columnist called for Benedict to be arrested, saying that “If Roman Polanski can be arrested on sexual abuse charges after 32 years of hiding, so can the Pope, holy or not.” Another asked if the Pope can be fired, calling the Church “diseased.”

The hits just keep on coming, right through 2012, when Benedict was attacked for once again defending traditional marriage in a “holiday hate speech.” Benedict will probably miss a lot of things about being Pope, but his portrayal in the media won’t be one of them.

Catholic Bishops Unanimous ‘In Our Vigorous Opposition to This Unjust and Illegal Mandate

From: CNSNews.com

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold most of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—AKA Obamacare—sets the stage for an historically unprecedented confrontation between Roman Catholics and the federal government over whether Catholics remain free to exercise their religion in the United States of America.

The court’s decision leaves untouched the “preventive services” provision in the legislation under which the Department of Health and Human Services issued a regulation that will require virtually all health-care plans in the United States to cover sterilizations, artificial contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs.

On June 14, the Catholic bishops of the United States—representing dioceses from Los Angeles to New York, from New Orleans to Chicago, from Miami to Seattle, and from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco—unanimously adopted a document that cited their “vigorous opposition to this unjust and illegal mandate.”

Because the Catholic Church holds that sterilization, artificial contraception and abortion are morally wrong, and because the individual mandate in Obamacare will force virtually all individuals in the United States to purchase government approved health-care plans, Obamacare—as upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday—will require all Catholic laypersons in the United States to buy health insurance plans that violate the teachings of their faith.

The HHS regulation will also require Catholic hospitals, universities and charitable organizations to purchase health insurance plans that violate the Catholic faith.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius—a Catholic who has been ordered by her archbishop not to take Holy Communion until she recants her position in favor of legal abortion and goes to confession—has given most employers until Aug. 1 to comply with this regulation. She has allowed religiously affiliated non-profit organizations (such as Catholic hospitals, schools, and charities)  that do not currently cover sterilizations, artificial contraceptives, or abortifacients an additional year--until Aug. 1, 2013--to comply with the mandate and then violate the teachings of their faith.

Forty-three Catholic dioceses and institutions—including the archdiocese of Washington, D.C., St. Louis and New York, the University of Notre Dame and Catholic University—have filed lawsuits against the sterilzation-contraception-abortifacient mandate arguing that it violates the First Amendment right to free exercise of religion.

Since the Catholics filed their lawsuits, President Obama has boasted about the contraception mandate in public speeches.