A change up...

The diocese has thrown a monkey wrench into what my sources reported about St. Patrick's new pastor. It seems Rev. James E. McGahagan, M.S. from Exhaltation of the Holy Cross in Hanover Township will be the new replacement. I have no new news on Father Connor and the situation at the cathedral, but when I do, I'll let you all know.

Meeting at the Diocese...

So yesterday a bunch of liberal politicians met with "high ranking" diocese officials (I wonder how many of them are clergy?) about the PA State Legislature's silly attempt to force the Church to deal with unions. Nice how we have separation of Church and State and yet the dems still try to control labor within the Church.

Obama promises to kill more babies!

As if it isn't easy enough to get an abortion as it is, Hussein Obama has promised his baby eating comrades to end opposition to the abomination once and for all!

Abortions for everyone!

9 months pregnant and decide against having it at the last minute? No problem!

Think your baby might be a retard and want to get rid of it with no consequences? Go ahead!

If you don't think Obama is an evil disciple of Hell, think again.

Obama’s Abortion Bombshell: Unrestricted Abortion Over Wishes of Individual States a Priority for Presidency

By Peter J. Smith

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 10, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Barack Obama, the presumptive pro-abortion nominee of the Democratic Party, has plans to reward the allies that helped him topple Hillary Clinton from her throne by making total unrestricted abortion in the United States his number one priority as president.

In light of Obama’s recently achieved status as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Focus on the Family’s CitizenLink has decided to remind its supporters that almost one year has passed since Obama made his vows to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund that abortion would be the first priority of his administration.

“The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act,” Obama said in his July speech to abortion advocates worried about the increase of pro-life legislation at the state level.

The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) is legislation Obama has co-sponsored along with 18 other senators that would annihilate every single state law limiting or regulating abortion, including the federal ban on partial birth abortion.

The 2007 version of FOCA proposed: “It is the policy of the United States that every woman has the fundamental right to choose to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy prior to fetal viability, or to terminate a pregnancy after fetal viability when necessary to protect the life or health of the woman.”

Obama made his remarks in a question-and-answer session after delivering a speech crystallizing for abortion advocates his deep-seated abortion philosophy and his belief that federal legislation will break pro-life resistance and end the national debate on abortion.

“I am absolutely convinced that culture wars are so nineties; their days are growing dark, it is time to turn the page,” Obama said in July. “We want a new day here in America. We’re tired about arguing about the same ole’ stuff. And I am convinced we can win that argument.”

Besides making abortion on demand a “fundamental right” throughout the United States, FOCA would effectively nullify informed consent laws, waiting periods, health safety regulations for abortion clinics, etc.

Furthermore, medical professionals and institutions that refused abortions also would lose legal protections. FOCA would expose individuals, organizations, and governments - including federal, state, and local government agencies - to costly civil actions for purported violations of the act.

“Thirty-five years after Roe, abortion supporters, like Senator Obama, are dismayed that abortion remains a divisive issue and that their radical agenda has not been submissively accepted by the American public,” states Denise M. Burke, vice president of Americans United for Life.

“Rather than confronting legitimate issues concerning the availability and safety of abortion, they choose to blatantly ignore the concerns and interests of everyday Americans, as well as the growing evidence that abortion hurts women.”

Hillary Clinton, once the longtime Democratic front-runner and anticipated abortion president, conceded defeat last Saturday to Obama, who captured the nomination from her after a long and bitter campaign.

Obama has won the crucial endorsement of abortion activist Frances Kissling, who broke from the ranks of other radical feminist leaders earlier this year to endorse Obama, saying Obama, not Clinton, would better use the bully pulpit of the presidency to accomplish their aims and end the culture wars over abortion.

Lucky Us!

Well, you all know how I LOVE to break news.

So here it is:

Father Charles Connor, recently the pastor of St. Peter's Cathedral in Scranton has been reassigned to my parish - St. Patrick's in Wilkes-Barre. Oh. St. Boniface too. But that doesn't matter cuz it'll be closing soon.

Father Charles P. Connor, the Historian of the Diocese of Scranton, received his early education in Saint Rose School, Carbondale, Penna. He is a graduate of the University of Scranton, where he also received his Master's Degree in United States History. In 1979, he received his PH.D, in United States History from Fordham University, New York City.

He served as Adjunct Professor of History at the University of Scranton, and his articles have appeared in numerous scholarly journals and Catholic publications. His column OUR CATHOLIC HERITAGE appears in each issue of The Catholic Light, official newspaper of the Diocese of Scranton. Two of his books have been published by Ignatius Press, San Francisco: Classic Catholic Converts in 2001, and DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH IN WORD AND DEED in 2003.

Father has co-produced several series for the Eternal Word Television Network, including: The History of the Catholic Church in the United States, Historic Catholic Converts, Defenders of Faith in Word and Deed, Doctors of the Church, The Catholic Priesthood through the Ages, Therese of Lisieux: The Saint for the Third Millennium, and most recently, The Sacraments through the Ages. He has appeared several times as the guest of Mother Angelica on her nationally syndicated program, MOTHER ANGELICA LIVE, as well as with Marcus Grodi on the Journey Home, and THE WORLD OVER, E.W.T.N's national news program.

Father Connor received a PH.D in Philosophy from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, and an S.T.B and M.A. in Theology from the Gregorian and Angelicum Universities in Rome, where he received his priestly formation at the North American College.

Ordained a priest of the Diocese of Scranton in 1990, he served for ten years as Assistant Pastor of Saint Patrick's Parish in Scranton. He has served as Pastor of Saint John the Evangelist Parish in Susquehanna, Penna., and Saint Rose of Lima Parish in Carbondale, Penna.

Most recently he was the pastor at Saint Peter's Cathedral in Scranton.

Hopefully he will be with us for a good long time, smacking down heretics.

A Normal Occurence

I was going to post the entire address of his Eminence Cardinal Castrillion Hoyos to the Latin mass Society of England and Wales, but I thought I would keep it simple and post just the meat and potatoes:

"Let me say this plainly: the Holy Father wants the ancient use of the Mass to become a normal occurrence in the liturgical life of the Church so that all of Christ’s faithful – young and old – can become familiar with the older rites and draw from their tangible beauty and transcendence."

Makes you smile, don't it? Maybe not the guitar strumming, Haugen/Haas lovin', omigod the priest turned his back on me liberals, but the rest of us, oh yes!

How sweet it is.

Interview with Cardinal Hoyos on Gregorian Rite

Damian Thompson has a piece on his blog about Card. Castrillon Hoyos’ words in London recently.

Father Z's emphasis and comments.

Posted by Damian Thompson on 15 Jun 2008 at 18:04

Yesterday Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, announced in London that Pope Benedict wishes to introduce the "Gregorian Rite" – meaning the former Tridentine Rite – to every parish in the Western Church.

The Pope wishes to introduce the ‘Gregorian Rite’ to every parish

This was such a huge announcement that many Catholics can hardly believe their ears. I was one of four journalists present. Here are edited extracts from the press conference, in which the Cardinal completely demolishes liberal interpretations of Summorum Pontificum:

Elena Curti (The Tablet): Your Eminence, I’d like to ask what you make of the response of the Bishops of England and Wales to the Pope’s Motu Proprio.

Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos: I think it’s a good one. There are some probems because it’s a new way of celebrating liturgy and they need time to prepare priests and catechists on the content of the Extraordinary Form.

Reuters: In some parts of the world there seems to be resistance on the part of local bishops to allow the faithful their full freedom to celebrate the Extraordinary Form. What do you recommend that the faithful do?

CC: To be informed. Many of the difficulties come out because they don’t know the reality of the Gregorian Rite – this is the just [correct] name for the Extraordinary Form, because this Mass was never prevented, never. Today for many bishops it is difficult because they don’t have priests who don’t know Latin. Many seminaries give very few hours to Latin – not enough to give the necessary preparation to celebrate in a good way the Extraordinary Form. Others think that the Holy Father is going against the Second Vatican Council. That is absolute ignorance. The Fathers of the Council, never celebrated a Mass other than the Gregorian one. It [the Novus Ordo] came after the Council … The Holy Father, who is a theologian and who was in the preparation for the Council, is acting exactly in the way of the Council, offering with freedom the different kinds of celebration. This celebration, the Gregorian one, was the celebration of the Church during more than a thousand years … Others say one cannot celebrate with the back to the people. This is ridiculous. The Son of God has sacrificed himself to the Father, with his face to the Father. It is not against the people. It is for the people …

Damian Thompson (Telegraph): Your Eminence, would the Holy Father like to see ordinary parishes in England with no knowledge of the Gregorian Rite introduced to it?

CC: Yes, of course. We cannot celebrate this without knowledge of the language, of the signs, of the ways of the Rite, and some institutions of the Church are helping in that way. [So, introduce so as to teach the faithful. This reminds me of what the Council asked, namely, that pastors teach their flocks to sing and speak in Latin and their mother tongue. Both. So, now, it is also both uses!]

DT: So would the Pope like to see many ordinary parishes making provision for the Gregorian Rite?

CC: All the parishes. Not many – all the parishes, [All. All. All. Say it with me.] because this is a gift of God. He offers these riches, and it is very important for new generations to know the past of the Church. This kind of worship is so noble, so beautiful – the deepest theologians’ way to express our faith. The worship, the music, the architecture, the painting, makes a whole that is a treasure. The Holy Father is willing to offer to all the people this possibility, not only for the few groups who demand it but so that everybody knows this way of celebrating the Eucharist in the Catholic Church.

Anna Arco (The Catholic Herald): On that note, would you like to see all the seminaries in England and Wales teach the seminarians how to celebrate in the Extraordinary Form?

CC: I would like it, and it will be necessary. We are writing to the seminaries, we are in accord that we have to make deep preparation not only for the Rite, but for [teaching] the theology, the philosophy, the Latin language …

DT: What would be the practical steps for ordinary parishes [to prepare for the Gregorian Rite]?

CC: If the parish priest selects an hour, on Sundays, to celebrate the Mass, and prepare with catechesis the community to understand it, to appreciate the power of the silence, the power of the sacred way in front of God, the deep theology, to discover how and why the priests represents the person of Christ and to pray with the priest. [This also harks to why I say SP is such a gift to priests. In changing the priest’s own view of Mass and himself as a priest saying Mass, the parish will be affected.]

EC: Your Eminence, I think many Catholics are rather confused by this new emphasis on the Tridentine Rite, mainly because we were taught that the new Rite represented real progress, and many of us who have grown up with it see it as real progress, [buzzzz] that there are Eucharistic ministers, women on the sanctuary, that we are all priests, prophets and kings. This new emphasis to many of us seems to deny that.

CC: What is progress? "Progredire", means [offering] the best to God… I am surprised, because many young people are enthusiastic with the celebration of the Gregorian Rite …

EC: In the Motu Proprio, the Pope’s emphasis is on one Rite and two forms, and he describes the Tridentine Rite as "extraordinary". Extraordinary therefore means exceptional, not something that we celebrate every Sunday.

CC: Not "exceptional". Extraordinary means "not ordinary", not "exceptional." [Slap. This is, of course, correct.]

EC: Should it therefore supersede the new Rite? Should we go back? [Note the cliche… "go back". For these folks this is a zero sum scenario.]

CC: It is not going back: it is taking a treasure which is present, but was not provided. … But it takes time. The application of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council took years. It takes time to understand the deep profundity of the old Rite. The Holy Father is not returning to the past; he is taking a treasure from the past to offer it alongside the rich celebration of the new Rite. The second Eucharistic prayer of the new Rite is actually the oldest one [in the Church’s entire liturgy]. It’s not a matter of confrontation but of fraternal dialogue.

DT: Will there be a clarification of the Motu Proprio?

CC: Not exactly a clarification of the Motu Proprio, but of matters treated in the Motu Proprio, such as the calendario, ordinations to the sub-diaconate, the way of using vestments, the Eucharistic fast. [WHEN?]

DT: What about the "stable group"?

CC: It’s a matter of common sense … In every bishop’s household there are maybe three or four persons. This is a stable group … It is not possible to give two persons a Mass, but two here, two there, two elsewhere – they can have it. They are a stable group.

DT: From different parishes?

CC: No problem! This is our world. Managers of enterprises don’t live in one place, but they are a stable group.

The Old Mass Everywhere?

The traditional Latin Mass – effectively banned by Rome for 40 years – is to be reintroduced into every Roman Catholic parish in England and Wales, the senior Vatican cardinal in charge of Latin liturgy said at a press conference in London today.

In addition, all seminaries will be required to teach trainee priests how to say the old Mass so that they can celebrate it in all parishes.

Catholic congregations throughout the world will receive special instruction on how to appreciate the old services, formerly known as the Tridentine Rite.

Yesterday’s announcement by the senior Vatican cardinal in charge of Latin liturgy, Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, speaking on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI, will horrify Catholic liberals, including many bishops of England and Wales.

The Pope upset the liberals last year when he issued a decree removing their power to block the celebration of the old Mass. Yesterday’s move demonstrates that the Vatican intends to go much further in promoting the ancient liturgy.

Asked whether the Latin Mass would be celebrated in many ordinary parishes in future, Cardinal Castrillon said: “Not many parishes – all parishes. The Holy Father is offering this not only for the few groups who demand it, but so that everybody knows this way of celebrating the Eucharist.”

The Cardinal, who heads the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, made his comments as he was preparing to celebrate a traditional Latin Mass at Westminster Cathedral yesterday, the first time a cardinal has done so there for 40 years.

In the traditional rite, the priest faces in the same direction as the people and reads the main prayer of the Mass in Latin, in a voice so low as to be virtually silent. By contrast, in the new rite the priest faces the people and speaks audibly in the local language.

Cardinal Castrillon said that the reverent silence of the traditional rite was one of the “treasures” that Catholics would rediscover, and young worshippers would encounter for the first time.

Pope Benedict will reintroduce the old rite – which will be known as the “Gregorian Rite” - even where the congregation has not asked for it. “People don’t know about it, and therefore they don’t ask for it,” the Cardinal explained.

The revised Mass, adopted in 1970 after the Second Vatican Council, had given rise to “many, many, many abuses”, the Cardinal said. He added: “The experience of the last 40 years has not always been so good. Many people have lost their sense of adoration for God, and these abuses mean that many children do not know how to be in the presence of God.”

However, the new rite will not disappear; the Pope wishes to see the two forms of Mass existing side by side.

Such sweeping liturgical changes are certain to cause intense controversy. At a press conference, a journalist from the liberal Tablet magazine, which is close to the English bishops, told the Cardinal that the new liturgical changes amounted to “going backwards”.

Following last year’s papal decree, liberal bishops in England and America have attempted to limit the takeup of the old Mass by arguing that the rules say it should only be reintroduced when a “stable group” of the faithful request it. But Cardinal Castrillon said that a stable group could consist of as few as three people, and they need not come from the same parish.

The changes will take a few years to implement fully, he added, just as the Second Vatican Council had taken a long time to absorb. He insisted that the widespread reintroduction of the old Mass did not contradict the teachings of the Council.

New Vicar for Pocono!

Well it seems that Rev. Andrew Sinnott, the current pastor at St. Patrick's and St. Boniface churches, Wilkes-Barre is off to a new post: Episcopal Vicar for the Pocono Region.

No new pastor has as yet been named.

Now, in this period of church closings, look for one of these two to close. My money is on St. Boniface. The school there recently closed, they have canceled their bazaar, and with the other 5 churches within walking distance, there is really no reason to keep it open.

St. Pat's has it's problems as well, but with a brand spanking new $100,000 heating and cooling system, they would be crazy to close it. I also happen to know Bishop Martino loves the place.

So we'll see.

More "art" making news!

College Displaying Crucifix in Rectum Got Millions in Tax Dollars
By Keriann Hopkins
CNSNews.com Correspondent
June 10, 2008

(WARNING: This story contains graphic descriptions of artwork that is offensive.)

(CNSNews.com) - Federal taxpayers are subsidizing a college in New York whose art school is currently displaying works that include a drawing of a man with a crucifix coming out of his rectum, a drawing of a man with a rosary coming out of his rectum, and rosaries decorated with penises.

Over the last eight years, at least $4.6 million in federal tax dollars have been provided to the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, which is displaying the controversial artworks. Some of the money has come in the form of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Most of the $4.6 million in federal tax dollars that has gone to Cooper Union over the last eight years has been given to the school's engineering and science programs. But Cybercast News Service has learned that the National Endowment for the Arts has given the school's art program more than $122,000 during that same period.

The NEA awarded the grants because, in its words, they "(enrich) our Nation and diverse cultural heritage by supporting works of artistic excellence, advancing learning in the arts, and strengthening the arts in communities throughout the country."

According to the NEA's Web site, the art school received:

-- $17,000 in 2001, $20,000 in 2002, and $10,000 in 2003 to support and expand a community arts partnership (CAP). This money went to provide pre-college studio art classes to the community "outside of the academic setting."

-- $400 in 2002 for design arts.

-- $45,000 in 2006 to support the school's Saturday Outreach Program, and its Outreach Track. These projects provide high school students with free visual arts education.

-- $10,000 in 2004.

The NEA grants did not go directly to fund Cooper Union's "best of" student art exhibition, which includes the controversial drawings of student Felipe Baeza that depict a man with an erection and a halo over his head; a man with a rosary hanging from his rectum; a man with a crucifix extending from his rectum, and a man with his pants down over an angel holding two rosaries with penises attached to them.

Cooper Union is a private institution that provides full-tuition scholarships to all enrolled students. Like most private universities, it uses federal grants for research projects and for funding education programs.

Federal grants to Cooper Union over the last eight years went mainly to the school's engineering program. According to the federal government's Web site, the grants included:

-- $22,537 from the U.S. Department of Education
-- $62,445 from the U.S Air Force
-- $1.1 million from the National Science Foundation
-- $7,175 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology

The college also received $2.8 million for student financial assistance programs, mainly in the form of Pell Grants.

Matt Barber, policy director for cultural issues at Concerned Women for America, said that since money is "fungible" it did not matter what program the federal tax dollars were directed toward. Money that is obtained for one purpose, he said, typically frees up other money that can then be used for other purposes.

The Cooper Union Web site boasts that since 2000, the engineering school received funding from NASA, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the National Security Agency, the City of New York Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Energy and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Calls to Cooper Union were directed to press officer Jolene Resnick, who directed Cybercast News Service to a news release that said: "The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art End of Year Show is curated by faculty of the schools of architecture, engineering, and art, as it has been for more than 40 years. Hundreds of student works are shown annually without censorship -- a tradition at the school since its founding by Peter Cooper 150 years ago."

The student art exhibit runs until June 10.