The Real Scrooge this Christmas? Cardinal George and the Pro-Birth Agenda

Lifeluber Pete Subkoviak on HuffPo -

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, until recently under the leadership of Chicago's own Cardinal Francis George, officially opposes health care reform (Merry Christmas, the poor and forgotten of America). This, my friends, is crazy.

They don't oppose the legislation because it fails to cover all Americans, or because it specifically excludes legal and illegal immigrants, most of whom are Catholic. Their reasoning is that of course, some how, some way, abortions might be paid for by the federal government; this despite the fact that the legislation and a related executive order signed by President Obama maintain federal prohibitions on funding abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the mother's life -- restrictions that have been in place since 1976.

Like so many of my generation, I'm a lapsed Catholic, and every so often the actions of the Church remind me why I cannot in good conscience support an institution that is prioritizes the facade of piety over the well-being of its followers. The systematic cloaking of child abuse is a most egregious example, but opposing the expansion of health care for poor Catholics is pretty darn harmful too. I have to say that in my experience the people of the Catholic faith are wonderfully good, but the bishops, cardinals and Vatican rarely lift a finger for their followers.

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Pope Says Okay to Condoms for Rent Boys

via CNN.com

Pope Benedict XVI's possible shift on condom use is a "significant and positive step forward," the head of the United Nations anti-AIDS campaign said, welcoming the potentially historic remark.


"This move recognizes that responsible sexual behavior and the use of condoms have important roles in HIV prevention," UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe said in a statement.

"This will help accelerate the HIV prevention revolution," he said Saturday.
The Roman Catholic Church firmly opposes artificial contraception, including condoms.

The pope caused a firestorm of protest last year when he spoke out against condoms as a way of controlling AIDS during a trip to Africa, the continent hardest hit by the disease.

 

"You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms," the pope told reporters in March 2009. "On the contrary, it increases the problem."

But he outlined a possible exception in remarks published Saturday.

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Barcelona Welcomes Family Values Pope With a Big Gay Kiss - VIDEO

Pope attacks gay marriage in Spain, gays kiss in protest (Reuters)

Stinkbomb Alert - Catholic Charities "adjusts" benefits cuz of those damned gays

Same-sex marriage leads Catholic Charities to adjust benefits

via Washington Post, by William Wan

Employees at Catholic Charities were told Monday that the social services organization is changing its health coverage to avoid offering benefits to same-sex partners of its workers -- the latest fallout from a bitter debate between District officials trying to legalize same-sex marriage and the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.

Starting Tuesday, Catholic Charities will not offer benefits to spouses of new employees or to spouses of current employees who are not already enrolled in the plan. A letter describing the change in health benefits was e-mailed to employees Monday, two days before same-sex marriage will become legal in the District.

"We looked at all the options and implications," said the charity's president, Edward J. Orzechowski. "This allows us to continue providing services, comply with the city's new requirements and remain faithful to the church's teaching."

Catholic Charities, which receives $22 million from the city for social service programs, protested in the run-up to the council's December vote to allow same-sex marriage, saying that it might not be able to continue its contracts with the city, including operating homeless shelters and facilitating city-sponsored adoptions. Being forced to recognize same-sex marriage, church officials said, could make it impossible for the church to be a city contractor because Catholic teaching opposes such unions.

After the council voted to legalize gay marriage, Catholic Charities last month transferred its foster-care program -- 43 children, 35 families and seven staff members -- to another provider, the National Center for Children and Families.

Orzechowski said Monday that the change in health benefits will be the last move necessary in response to the legislation.

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Who's That Queer

Brought to you by Pistol Pete

Mychal F. Judge, OFM (born Robert Emmet Judge on May 11, 1933; died September 11, 2001) was a Roman Catholic priest of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, Chaplain of the Fire Department of New York, the first recorded victim of the September 11, 2001 attacks and is oftern referred to as "the Saint of 9/11."




Upon hearing the news that the World Trade Center had been hit by hijacked jetliners, Judge rushed to the site. He was met by the Mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, who asked him to pray for the city and its victims. Judge administered last rites to some lying on the streets, then entered the lobby of the World Trade Center north tower where an emergency command post was organized. There he continued offering aid and prayers for the rescuers, the injured and dead.

When the south tower collapsed at 9:59 AM, debris went flying through the north tower lobby, killing many inside, including Judge. Father Judge's body bag was labeled "Victim 0001," recognized as the first official victim of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Former President Bill Clinton was among the 3,000 people who attended his funeral, held on September 15 at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Manhattan. It was presided over by Archbishop Edward Egan. Clinton said his death was "a special loss. We should live his life as an example of what has to prevail."

There have been calls within the Roman Catholic Church to canonize Judge to Sainthood. While there is no indication that Rome is seriously considering this, several churches independent of Rome, most notably the Orthodox Catholic Church of America, have declared him a saint.

Following his death a few of his friends and associates revealed that Father Judge was gay — as a matter of orientation rather than practice, as he was a celibate priest. According to fire commissioner Thomas Von Essen: "I actually knew about his homosexuality when I was in the Uniformed Firefighters Association. I kept the secret, but then he told me when I became commissioner five years ago. He and I often laughed about it, because we knew how difficult it would have been for the other firefighters to accept it as easily as I had. I just thought he was a phenomenal, warm, sincere man, and the fact that he was gay just had nothing to do with anything."

Judge was a long-term member of Dignity, a Catholic LGBT activist organization that advocates for change in the Catholic Church's teaching on homosexuality. On October 1, 1986, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued an encyclical, On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, which declared homosexuality to be a "strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil."In response, many bishops, including John Cardinal O'Connor, banned Dignity from diocesan churches under their control. Judge then welcomed Dignity's AIDS ministry to the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, which is under the control of the Franciscan friars, thereby partially circumventing the Cardinal's ban of Dignity. Judge disagreed with the Vatican regarding homosexuality, though by all accounts, he remained celibate. Judge often asked, "Is there so much love in the world that we can afford to discriminate against any kind of love?"

Source: Wikipedia