In the April
25th episode of “The Vortex”, Michael Voris recounts a recent
scandal involving Cardinal Pell:
…First, in a televised debate
on Australia’s leading national TV network, right in the middle of prime time a
couple of weeks ago, Sydney’s Cardinal Pell was debating arguably the world’s
most high profile atheist and biologist Richard Dawkins.
…Cardinal Pell stunned the
Catholic world here by saying that homosexual civil unions were acceptable.
…He began with a good defense
of the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of marriage but then seemed to be clearly
heading down the road of saying “BUT CIVIL UNIONS ARE WELL AND GOOD”.
Voris
points out that the Cardinal had been cut off by the moderator, and was unable
to complete his thoughts; still,
…to date, there has not been
any sort of clarification from the Cardinal’s office of what he meant or even
any recognition that what he said may have easily been misconstrued to mean
something other than what the Church teaches.
The Church has been quite clear
that whether the legal issue is so-called marriage OR civil unions, the MORAL
issue remains the same. Homosexual acts can never be approved of as a good
thing. And therefore any accommodation for them in law, be it marriage or civil
unions, is evil.
Voris
points out another instance of scandal:
Again, here in Australia,
Bishop Anthony Fisher of Parramatta just this past month published an article
written by the former general master of the Dominicans – a well-known dissident
– supporting homosexual civil unions. The bishop sent this article in his personal
newsletter to his clergy, causing a shockwave in his diocese among the faithful
he came to learn of it.
The letter itself extols
marriage, “sexual difference and its potential fertility”, and does mention
that homosexual marriage “is
impossible”. But then the author adds this statement (my emphasis):
This is not to denigrate
committed love of people of the same sex. This too should be cherished and supported, which is why
church leaders are slowly coming to
support same sex civil unions. The God of love can be present in every true
love.
In
addition, Michael Voris mentions Archbishop Vincent Nichols’ recent statement
(and subsequent
back-pedaling) which also endorsed homosexual “unions” as a matter of law, and
Cardinal Archbishop of Milan Carlo Martini’s book
which contains statements opposing the Church’s teaching on homosexuality.
These are not trivial errors, and as Voris says,
…[O]ne has to wonder: with big
name bishops and archbishops and cardinals around the world being so vague,
ambiguous, and apparently double-speaking on the issue, what the heck is going
on.
There appears to be an open
disobedience on the part of members of the hierarchy towards what is crystal
clear teaching that is established and restated by the magisterium. This is
causing no end of upset and pain for the faithful. It calls into doubt in their
minds the truths of the faith. If they are told to obey this and obey that – but
members of the hierarchy are free to not only doubt or disagree with the
Church’s teachings, but moreover, disagree or use squishy language in such an
open and public fashion like Prime Time TV shows, authoring books, and issuing
statements and reprinting articles – the faithful rightfully wonder, where does
that leave them.
…It’s discouraging enough trying
to evangelize the world, but when the efforts are submarined by leaders, it
doesn’t exactly paint a picture of a glorious renewal of the faith anytime
soon. Why Church leaders don’t seem to understand this is a great source of pain
and confusion on the part of the sheep.
[See
the 2003 Vatican document on legalization of homosexual unions here.]
In the
second “Vortex” on homosexuality (April 26), Voris stands in front of St.
Joseph’s Catholic Church, where, he tells us
 |
| St. Joseph's Church, Sydney |
Since 1972 every Friday night
at 8pm, a Mass has been going on here celebrating not the sacrifice and
re-presentation of Our Blessed Lord to the Father for the redemption of the
world and the forgiveness of sins, but rather, the celebration of
homosexuality.
Forty years. Forty long and
miserable years; untouched, unchallenged, permitted…
It is popularly known by those
who would have a concern that these “masses” are held each week. And that
includes the Archdiocese of Sydney. The masses are said by a mix of priests
from both the archdiocese as well as a smattering of various religious orders, most
prominent of which is Missionaries of the Sacred Heart…
…[T]his blasphemy has been allowed
to continue for so long, that an entire culture has grown up here: a “gay”
Catholic culture. The New Town Gay Catholics promote a Gay Rosary, riddled with
homosexual “mysteries”.
Among their mysteries: a
celebration of what they say are the gay partnerships of King David and
Jonathon; Ruth and Naomi; and most disgusting and offensive of all, Our Lord
and Lazarus. There is also a decade dedicated to meditating on the blessings of
being homosexual as shown in the gospel account of Our Blessed Lord
encountering the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus.
After
describing such atrocities in several different countries, and noting that the
US has its own share of this kind of blasphemy, Michael Voris notes:
As one blogger recently put it,
there is no way the Church can expect to be taken legitimately in its teachings,
as long as its leaders allow this kind of activity to continue.
Two things that faithful
Catholics can do about these sorts of scandals: first, make reparation by
offering sacrifice for the sins of others. Remember that the supreme maxim of
Christianity is that the innocent pay for the guilty.
The second thing we can do is
spread the news of a fantastic group called COURAGE, an approved apostolate for
Catholics who struggle with same sex attraction…
And make sure we continue to
pray for our leaders.
Vortex: April 25, Civil Union Confusion
Vortex: April 26, Old Sins in New Town
The "gameplan" of the Marxists who wish to destroy our system of government was well thought out decades ago. Destroy the moral fiber of the nation AND destroy the moral fiber of the Holy Roman Catholic Church which is in reality the most formidable enemy of Marxism. Those are but two, but the most critical two, of the tactics put in place in the 40's.
ReplyDeleteHollywood, the media, and Congress have been intentionally infiltrated by athiests and those who support the homosexual agenda. All three of those entities have had a profound effect on attacking the Judeo-Christian ethic upon which this nation was founded and which is critical to its on-going survival.
Similarly the Church was intentionally infiltrated, with help from fellow travelers in the hierarchy, with homosexuals. There is ample evidence of that and the effects in terms of abuse of boys by members of the clergy are well known. A side benefit in addition to eroding the moral foundation of the Church was the devastating economic impact it has had on the Church. That made the Church even more prone to "playing ball" with immoral, socialist civil administrations in order to cut its financial losses.
The Marxists knew from the beginning, and it has been proven true, that a physical attack on both our nation and the Church would not be productive but that internal decay through the injection of immorality from within would be very effective. The Marxists were patient. They knew that destruction of the nation and the Church would take a long time to accomplish. But having decayed from within rather than collapsing from outside assault would be difficult if not impossible to repair.
Pray for our Nation and our Church.
Hi Jay:
ReplyDeleteIsn't this just so dismaying? I really have to hand it to the work Michael Voris does. I love his passion and tell-it-like-it-is style. Regarding the Cardinal Pell scandal (to some of us, at least), did you happen to see that the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science has posted on their website an article that our own Remnant editor, Michael Matt, wrote on just this topic from a traditional Catholic point of view. It's a great article, of course. But reading the comments section was a real eye opener for me. Of course all the comments are from fellow atheists and Dawkins followers, but sad to read. So many prayers needed for conversions. Here's a link:
http://richarddawkins.net/articles/645746-richard-dawkins-has-a-point-your-eminence
I will admit to liking Cardinal Pell. He has long been a Defender of the Faith; he has particularly incensed the rainbow sashers and has been known to refuse Holy Communion to activists who come to Mass and demand it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the decades of fighting that particular battle with little open support has worn him out.
"Nilk" - good to hear that about Cardinal Pell, from someone in the neighborhood. I thought he was one of the "good guys", too. I guess everyone can have a bad day! I know I wouldn't do well in a live debate.
ReplyDeleteThe Herald Sun on April 4th, 2012 reports that Cardinal Pell has publicly argued against homosexual marriage:
ReplyDelete"Marriage is a union that is publicly recognised, honoured and supported because of its unique capacity to generate children and to meet children's deepest needs for the love and attachment of both their father and their mother... When we equate same-sex relationships with marriage, it further undermines our understanding of family by wrongly implying that biological connectivity of children with their parents and siblings is not important."
Cardinal Pell was cut-off mid-sentence and no reasonable judgements can be made until some clarification of this is published. Most likely he will issue a circular or write something in his column for the Catholic Weekly here in Sydney.
Michael Voris has been extremely unfair in passing this judgement on two strongly-orthodox Bishops, and in several of his videos he has gotten his basic facts plainly wrong.
1.) Cardinal Pell did not found Campion College (The Campion Institute did)
2.) Cardinal Pell does not support same-sex marriage or civil unions.
3.) Bishop Fischer does not support these either.
4.) Cardinal Pell is attempting to get the "gay-mass" congregation in Newtown to reconcile themselves with the church, rather than dispersing them.
Thanks for the info about Cardinal Pell, Mr. Hartely - it is heartening! Michael Voris did try to give Cardinal Pell the benefit of the doubt, saying that he had been cut off in mid-sentence; but that no clarifying statement had been made. I do hope that the cardinal does make another statement about the issue.
ReplyDeleteMartin,
ReplyDeleteOne thing I don't understand about your fourth remark -- Cardinal Pell is attempting to get the "gay-mass" congregation in Newtown to reconcile themselves with the church, rather than dispersing them. -- is why one should attempt reconciliation before the judgment of wrongdoing.
Too often we seem not to see a clear judgment against wrong actions. Too often we see negotiations (as if between equals) which do not call into view the clear wrongdoing noticed.
We spend far too much time discussing the manner of dressing the wound, and far too little time stopping the bleeding.