Another Diocese Bans Michael Voris

UPDATE: thanks to Christine Niles for this comment:

Contact info for Diocese of Evansville: (812) 424-5536
Bishop Charles Thompson: cthompson@evdio.org 

We should each contact the diocese to let them know we are unhappy with their double standard. That won't necessarily change anything, but at least they are on alert that people are aware of the hypocrisy. 

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My friend “CK” reported to me a few weeks ago that some of his cohorts had been able to arrange a talk by Michael Voris at “The Centre” in Evansville, Indiana – MV will be there this coming Saturday, September 28.

But CK also tells me that a priest of that diocese reported to another correspondent:

 “…Just for your information, the bishop spoke about this at the priests' meeting earlier today. He instructed us that we are not to promote Mr. Voris' events, and that Mr. Voris is not to appear on diocesan property. I don't know the story behind the directive; I just know what the bishop has told us. We can talk about it more tomorrow, if you'd like. Peace!"

Well, of course it seems to be not all that unusual for MV to be banned from speaking on parish/diocesan property in various dioceses around the nation. But CK brings up this point about the Evansville Diocese:

So, it's okay for a known dissident, Sr. Joan Chittister, to "appear on diocesan property" but  not  Michael Voris, who is totally and completely orthodox and has support of certain bishops.  

The event CK was referring to occurred last April 12 and 13; here’s an excerpt from an eye-witness summary of what Sr. Joan discussed:

On April 12 and 13, the tri-state area had a nationally known guest speaker, Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B. Sister Chittister's speech on April 12 was entitled, "God: the Feminine in the Divine," and was funded by the Sisters of Benedict of Ferdinand, along with the Women of the Rule, a philanthropic circle sponsored by the Sisters.  

…I had the opportunity to listen to both of her speaking engagements, and I would like to quickly touch on one issue she indirectly mentioned and another that was a major focus of one of her speeches. Though the idea of women's ordination was never directly raised, there were vague references that questioned the sanity of male leadership in many areas.

…It has also become a popular myth in certain circles to commit a major error by implying that God is feminine, that God has a feminine nature or that God has both a feminine and masculine nature. This was a main focus during Sr. Chittister's Friday night presentation…

Now, of course, the Diocese of Evansville could claim – as happened recently in the Archdiocese of Detroit – that these talks were not held on Diocesan property. However, Sister Joan did get a mention in the Diocesan newspaper:

Dissident nun: IN

Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister Presentation at Monastery Immaculate Conception, April 13, 2 p.m., Ferdinand; Sister Joan Chittister will speak on “The Radical Christian Life: Rediscovering Benedictinism for Our Times,” question and answer period will follow; for more information contact Benedictine Sister Maureen Tobin at mtobin@benetvision.org or Greg Eckerle at geckerle@thedome.org.

The topic of MV’s presentation this Saturday will be: “Catholics Must Stand Up Against the Intrinsic Evil of Abortion”, and yet priests are not to promote the event! Oh yeah…that’s one of those issues we’re obsessing over…

Anyway, the reason MV is speaking on that issue is that a local hospital in Evansville performs abortions. And while the hospital is not itself a Catholic hospital (though that doesn’t make its practice of abortion any less egregious), the physician who does occasional abortions is alleged to be a "practicing" Catholic (in a neighboring diocese, though; not Evansville).

CK notes that:

The CEO of Deaconess Hospital's "Women's Clinic" is allegedly a practicing Catholic. This is where the terminations [abortions – the hospital’s official documents use the euphemism] are taking place.

The person who oversees all of the Deaconess Hospital agencies and/or affiliates is a former nun (OSB, as I understand it) and wrote the policy on Deaconess' position on pregnancy termination. From my source, this lady is also allegedly a practicing Catholic. The main "campus" for Deaconess Hospital is downtown Evansville.

My source also told me that the board members for Southwest Indiana Right to Life have spoken with our bishop on this situation.

So…liberal, progressive, modernist, dissident nuns: IN. Orthodox faithful Catholic layman: OUT.

Sounds like business as usual. But really, why in the world are Sr. Joan Chittister and her ilk allowed to speak anywhere that boasts of a Catholic affiliation?