This Sunday at Mass, see if you can spot the "c"atholic dissenter in the pews

From article, read it in full here (gay website):

Yellow Ribbon Campaign Seeks Catholic Support for Gay Rights

A new campaign from the Las Memorias Project, which works to prevent HIV among Latinos, asks Catholic parishioners to wear yellow ribbons to support LGBT rights.

The Yellow Ribbon Campaign seeks supportive Catholic leaders who will show support for LGBT people and opposition to the Catholic church's antigay policies by wearing a yellow ribbon during Sunday services throughout the summer. In an open letter, Las Memorias Project's Richard Zaldivar writes, "[T]here is a campaign by conservative bishops to challenge our movement for wellness and equality for members of our community. [They] are using the pews of the Catholic Church to promote a political agenda. Church should not be used for politics nor should it be to prevent wellness in our community.

So it seems that the big, bad, judgmental, Catholic Church is at it again and needs to be called out for their abusive anti-gay and hate filled policies! NOT! This type of foolishness really makes me laugh and yet, I can’t help but to have pity when I read this about movement's analysis of Catholic teaching. You see, I laughed because it’s almost comical that the people behind this whole “yellow ribbon” campaign haven’t the slightest idea nor an inkling of, what Catholic doctrine is, nor what it says. And that’s part that also makes me sad...Let me explain.

This article says that the group, Las Memorias Project, is campaigning against the conservative bishops challenge to their movement for wellness and equality. A look at Las Memorias’ website, will reveal that they mostly deal with the GLBT Latino community and devote much of their time to HIV/AIDS related work. According to their mission statement, they are:

“...dedicated to promoting wellness and preventing illness among Latino populations affected by HIV/AIDS by using the inspiration of The AIDS Monument as a catalyst for social change.”

Truth be told, I can admire this group for its outreach into the HIV/AIDS cross-section of America in order to help them through the difficulties that they encounter due to the disease. Honestly, a more noteworthy reason, I cannot find. But, to use that as the soapbox from which to slam the Church because it doesn’t agree (nor will it ever) with the homosexual lifestyle, well now, it seems I should clear a couple of things up. To begin with, let’s address, the elephant in the room. Let’s talk about the Catholic Church and homosexuals. That’s right, I went there.

If no other document was to be mentioned, one only need to look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church #2358-2359 where it says (with my emphasis):

“Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.”

In these 3 paragraphs, the Catholic Church lays out not only what the official teaching for homosexuality is but, it also states unequivocally that homosexuals 1) cannot be ignored, they too are children of God, 2) should not be unjustly discriminated against, 3) that they are called to live chaste lives (like all non-married heterosexuals) AND 4) to bind themselves to Christ’s sacrifice so that they may be able to attain the gift of eternity with God. But we also have other sources, let’s see what the Church said in 1975 when the document Persona Humana, which looked at sexual ethics from a Christian point of view – was published. In Section 8 we find (with my emphasis):

“In the pastoral field, these homosexuals must certainly be treated with understanding and sustained in the hope of overcoming their personal difficulties and their inability to fit into society. Their culpability will be judged with prudence.”

So, once again, the Catholic Church is reiterating that homosexuals MUST be treated with respect. Yup, sounds distinctly anti-gay to me.  >insert sarcasm here<

This is the reason that the pro-gay anti-Catholics really do crack me up. They start out by calling the Catholic Church intolerable and unaccepting of their agenda without ever having done any homework on WHY the Church teaches what it teaches. Indeed, how ridiculous! Do cut down the Church – if you must – only AFTER you know why it is that She states what She states, at least then there’s room for discussion and, perhaps, elucidation but, to unabashedly look down upon a religious institution’s teaching without ever really knowing or respecting why it teaches so is not only ignorant but cynically evil.

The director of this group also states that the Church is “using the pews of the Catholic Church to promote a political agenda.” Ok, let’s examine that accusation. What issues is the Catholic Church against that pro-gay activist might have a gripe against? The only two political hot buttons that come to mind that involve the Catholic Church are: the contraception mandate and gay marriage. So then, since contraception can’t be gripe of homosexuals, the main issue that they must have here has to do with same sex marriage. Another indicator that this is in fact the grievance that will manifest itself at a pew near you this upcoming Sunday is the fact that the heretical group Catholics for Equality and Social Justice are officially sponsoring this campaign against the truth. Let’s click on the link mentioned in the article for this group and see if they can shed some light on this matter.

 

Hmmmm…“Fortnight for Freedom?”

Sounds distinctly homophobic to me!!!      

Oh well, would you look at that. A pro-gay Catholic group. Just for fun, let’s see what their mission statement says (my rebuttal in red):

Catholics for Equality empowers pro-equality Catholics to put our faith into

ethical and effective political action on behalf of the LGBT community and their families.

Drawing on the rich tradition of Catholic social justice teachings, grounded in the Gospel message of Love (what about Divine Judgment for going against God’s Word? Methinks whoever wrote this mission statement forgot that close to 90% of the teachings we have of hell, damnation, Gehenna, etc., come directly from the mouth of our Blessed Lord Himself) , American Catholics are among the strongest supporters of equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) people of any religious group in the U.S. (so then, this makes it okay to go against Church teachings, right?)

Yet the official voice of the hierarchy increasingly advocates discrimination (uh, actually it doesn’t. What it does oppose is unjust discrimination and homosexual acts as quoted above) and opposes reasonable measures to secure basic freedoms for LGBT Americans (because homosexuals aren’t on T.V., in the music industry, nor are they in politics. They also can’t vote, can’t drive, can’t own a home, can’t start their own business, and they certainly can’t find jobs, right?).  Far too often, the anti-freedom voice of the hierarchy is portrayed as representing the moral values of American Catholics. (Far too often, the anti-Catholic voice of American “c”atholics is portrayed as represent the moral values of the Church’s hierarchy)

We believe this trend is a repudiation of Catholic belief (really? This repudiation is by-product of horrible catechesis coupled with heretical groups, such as yourselves, injecting venom into Christ’s One True Church) in the inherent dignity of every person. It further contradicts the American values of fairness and equality for all citizens under the law enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

Well, okay, so they didn’t reflect ANY of the Church’s teachings on homosexuality. Let’s check their FAQ and see…

Okay…Nothing really overtly Catholic here, let’s have a look over here…

Indeed, this IS the problem

AHA! There it is! These people are not Catholics, they’re just heretics who think gay marriage is a good thing and, in accepting that intrinsic evil, they’re promoting homosexual acts. Sorry, not Catholic. This group couldn’t be further from the Catholic Church’s teachings on sexual morality; instead of preaching chastity, they encourage “safe” sex for homosexuals via condoms and free clinical services. Instead of telling a person who has same-sex attraction to pray and join themselves with Christ’s message and suffering, they tell them that they have the right to THE SACRAMENT of marriage. What a joke.

So, now you know. If this weekend, you happen to see a fellow parishioner wearing a yellow ribbon, do ask them if they stand for or against the Church’s teaching on THE SACRAMENT of marriage. Quote them all of the aforementioned sources as well as Matthew 19:3-12 & CCC #1603. Ask them why they disagree with the AUTHORITY that Jesus invested upon His Church. Keep them on the subject and don’t let them wander into some other topic and, above everything else, do so with charity and kindness in your heart. Remember, this nominal Catholic that you are talking to is a fellow brother/sister-in-Christ and deserves respect. Also, you are doing this in order to correct them not to anger them, as 2 Thessalonians 3:15 states:

“Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.”

Pray for our misguided brothers and sisters that they may have, not only the strength, but the courage to fight evil and truly proclaim the truth found in Jesus. As well as to be humble enough to acknowledge the fact that the Catholic Church was the only Church that was solely entrusted to advance His message.

A Eucharistic retreat at Kamiti Maximum
Security Prison in Nairobi, Kenya

Nuns on a Bus = Nuns for heterodoxy = Nuns for hypocrisy

Let’s stop for a moment and pretend that the LCWR isn’t under current Vatican reproval for demonstrating lax leadership with Church doctrine and even encouraging heretical behavior. For argument’s sake, let’s also say that these “radicalized” feminist nuns aren’t radical nor feminists at all and that they take Catholic teaching at face value. Additionally, let’s assume – if just for a moment – that the LCWR is in 100% accord with the Church and that there is nothing wrong with the Sister’s works and ministries.

A group of women religious have recently decided to go on a 9 state bus tour. This group, called NETWORK, has gone off to these states to protest the Republican’s proposed budget which, according to NETWORK’s website, will "harm millions of people."  They are attempting to highlight the fallacies of Representative Paul Ryan's (a Catholic and primary author of the proposed budget) view of Catholic Social Teaching. Click here to see the head organizer of the Nuns on a Bus tour on MSNBC’s Ed Shultz show.

Because there's no better way to protest

2,000 years of authority and established

Church teachings then with balloons and posters.

Like I stated, let’s throw out all of the questionable actions that some of the American nuns are currently facing and let’s dig deeper into what these nuns are really doing. The organizer of this bus tour, Sister Simone Campbell, in the numerous interviews (also here) that she’s done about this bus tour, has greatly criticized Rep. Ryan’s take on Social Teaching; indeed, I could argue that she not only cuts him down but insists that Ryan’s personal interpretation is diametrically opposed to what the Church teaches. How ironic, the very same group of women religious which the Vatican says is misinterpreting Catholic teaching, is the very same group that has honed in on Rep. Ryan for abusing his office and falling into heterodoxy!  

The interesting thing about all this is the fact that Sr. Campbell isn’t much for orthodoxy herself. In June of this year while speaking at a Jesuit parish in Charlotte, she was hesitant to call herself pro-life. The Charlotte diocesan newspaper reported that:

…She has avoided framing social justice concerns as "pro-life" issues, she said, "because I don't want to be thought of as in (the pro-life) camp. Because of my pride, as opposed to my faith."

Canada’s National Post, quoted Sr. Campbell as saying that the current situation between the LCWR and the Vatican is,

“It’s a clash of monarchy versus democracy. It’s not about faith. It’s culture.”

In other words, the Vatican is a monarchy, which is bad and the sweet, innocent, dissident nuns are the democracy that represents the laity, which is good. Sorry Sister but that analogy is far from being apt. The Church isn’t a monarchy nor is it a democracy, it’s the body of Christ who has been given the AUTHORITY to proclaim what is and is not Church teaching; you either accept or reject the Truth as it is handed down from the Magesterium or, not. It’s really very simple, if you chose not to then, don’t question when a bona fide source of AUTHORITY of the Church calls you out on it.

Atthe very heart of the matter, herein lies true issue: while the majority of nuns do excellent charitable work in servicing their communities, the ultimate source of the fundamental truth of servicing others comes through Christ and FROM HIS CHURCH. I simply have to wonder, if I decided that I didn’t like the rules at my job and decided to skew them to conform to my views, how long would it be before I would have to look for a new job? However dedicated to her religious life, doing a few good things NEVER erases rejecting Christ and His Church.

But I digress. Back to the whole reason for this bus tour. In an interview with – of all people – Steven Colbert, Sr. Campbell stated that:

“[Ryan’s budget] undermines the whole fabric of our society.”

Well now, let’s be a little intellectually honest here. To begin with, there are A LOT of other issues which I think undermine our society, one of them being abortion. Hell, you can’t have a society without people, right? So that is why it simply dumbfounds me that this so-called nun would call out Rep. Ryan for his twisted belief on Catholic Social Teaching and yet have the audacity to accept an award for her work in the Healthcare Reform law by none other than pro-death and pro-gay marriage “c”atholic politician, Nancy Pelosi!

That’s right, the good Sister sees nothing wrong with Rep. Pelosi’s blatant mangling of Church teaching but, if it’s a lay Catholic politician attempting to inject his personal beliefs into a budget proposal, well then, this cannot stand! Oh no! How dare he, a simple lay person trying to interpret what the Church teaches? Sisters unite! It’s time to get on the bus against this monstrosity of a bill!

How hypocritical that she would receive an award for legislation that is currently FORCING, er, excuse me, “mandating” the Catholic Church to go against its core teachings on the evils of contraception and yet she and her ilk get in a tizzy when a Catholic politico uses doctrine to form a bill. In an interview with PBS, Sister Campbell was asked about then Senator Joe Biden, also a “c”atholic, and his faith, she said:

“…it’s been hard to talk about our faith in a public forum because we believe that it’s the living of our faith, that is the key issue. But what I’ve seen in Senator Biden is quite touching…he’s a man of real practical faith, problem solving engagement and, he’s smart too.”

A man of practical faith? Do tell then good Sister, where was his practical faith when he wholly endorsed gay marriage earlier this year? Correct me if I'm wrong but, wouldn't a man who practices his Catholic faith have to be (by its very nature) against gay marriage? Was Biden living out his faith in a public forum when he said he “fully understands” China’s need to force abortions upon Chinese women due to their one-child-only policy? Was it quite touching when Biden admitted that the Obama-Administration “screwed up” on protecting rights of conscience when they issued its controversial contraception mandate? Hey Sister, much like Rep. Ryan, I too am a lay Catholic but, even I can see that these issues – which apparently you don’t take to task – ARE ENTIRELY AGAINST CHURCH TEACHING. 

But here’s the real kicker. The GOP-backed Ryan budge is simply a proposal. Let me state that again…PROPOSAL. As in, not a law. As in, a good educated take on the subject. As in, hey this is our idea, where’s yours? Indeed, that is the question, did President Obama submit a proposal for a budget? Oh yeah, he did and it got voted down unanimously in the Senate 99-0! Well how about the Senate, surely the chamber that the Vice President is head of must’ve submitted a budget, right? Oh yeah, that’s right, over the past 3 years, THEY HAVE FAILED TO PRODUCE A BUDGET. In case you’re wondering, that's over 1,130 days without one. I guess it's better NOT to have a viable and working budget than one with hints of Catholic doctrine in it, the less fortunate are much better off this way, right Sister?

 

As stated in the beginning, if we rejected all of the accusations of flaccid adherence to Catholic teaching that are being put against the LCWR, what are we left with? Let’s reconcile: we have a Catholic politician who is against abortion and gay marriage and has attempted to insert part of Catholic teaching into a bill in the public arena for all to see. We have, on the other hand, other “c”atholic politicians who are against Catholic teaching on marriage, the validity of life and the usage of contraception as well as having been negligent in passing a budget per the Constitution of the United States. The crux of NETWORK’s argument against Rep. Ryan is thus unsound.

They claim that such a budget bill will harm millions of people across the country yet, why no bus tour into 5 out of 9 Presidential battleground states against “c”atholic politicians who are for gay marriage? Why no bus tour into Presidential battleground states against “c”atholic politicians who are for abortion? Why no bus tour into Presidential battleground states against “c”atholic politicians who are in favor for the contraception mandate? If in fact part of Catholic Social Teaching is to treat everyone equally, well then Sister, consider yourself the true definition of not only a heretical nun but, a hypocrite as well. Say a prayer for these nuns that they may open their hearts to Jesus and His One True Church. 

Ironically, there is more hot air and less weight

in their arguement then there is in those balloons.

The Catholic Mass. Wherever, when ever and in perpetuity

 

From fallibleblogma.com:  There is an estimated (at least) 350,000 Catholic Masses celebrated every day on planet Earth. It is celebrated in every nook and cranny on the planet, by every race and nationality, and using every language. And each of these Masses is celebrated (generally) using the same scripture readings and the same prayers.

Every single one of these 350,000 Masses is actually doing exactly what Jesus said to do in scripture (Luke 22:19, 1 Cor 11:23-29) when he said “Do this in memory of me.” Catholics live that out as a Church over 350,000 times a day. That means there are 4 priests saying those precise words, “Do this in memory of me,” every single second of every single day.

Every one of these Masses is literally and continually making present Christ’s (once and for all) sacrifice on Calvary for all mankind. At any second you can join your own prayers to one.

When you participate in a Catholic Mass, you are participating in the same celebration as these other 350,000 daily Masses all over the world (you wanna talk about a “mega-church”?). We are all joined in the same readings and prayers and we partake of the same, specific Eucharist. And the rest of the time, when we are living out our faith outside of Mass, there are (literally) a billion other Catholics around the world continually offering it up on our behalf.

Now that’s unity (John 17:11). That’s communion.

Perversion of Catholic Doctrine, undone.

In my job of scouring the interwebz for false proclaimations against the Chruch and the Truth, I happen to stumple across this YouTube vid. The author of the video makes certain statements that I feel need to be explained only because of the way in which he twists the Truth of the Church in order to satisfy his selfish wants.

The author starts out by quoting the Catechism of the Catholic Church #1643 and he goes on to say that:

"...the Catholic Church fundamentally rejects divorce, pre-martial and extra-marital sex, birth control, abortion and, any means of intercourse which would not result in having a child."

Well let's see...the Catholic Church rejects divorce, um, yeah -  I don't know too many people who get married with the projected outcome of getting a divorce. Since it's obvious that during the course of "your studies in your religion" you missed some important notes, let me give you a refresher as to why the Catholic Church doesn't allow divorce. Matthew Chapter 19, verses 4 through 9 Christ says the following to the Pharisees who are attempting to entrap him :

"He said in reply, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate." They said to him, "Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss (her)?" He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery."

Notice how Jesus - who fulfills the Law - says that, unless the marriage is unlawful, it is binding because that is how it was meant to have been from the beginning. Interesting, in just these 5 verses we not only prove that divorce is against what Christ taught BUT, in the same manner as Canon Law, only an unlawful marriage recognized by the Church can be annuled.

The author goes on to state that pre marital and extra marital affairs are wrong, duh. These two things are an offense to chastity (I'll deal with that one soon enough) and are to be avoided. He also mentions birth control and abortion; I'm not going to get into defending these two latter topics, instead, I'll provide a link to Humane Vitae because it's obvious that the author, during the course of "his studies in his religion," must've missed that class.

As for the Catholic Church rejecting "any means of intercourse which would not result in having a child," it once again boggles my mind that this person who has "studied his religion" and quoted from the Catechism, totally missed the VERY LAST PARAGRAPH OF THAT SECTION. Paragraph #1654 states:

Spouses to whom God has not granted children can nevertheless have a conjugal life full of meaning, in both human and Christian terms. Their marriage can radiate a fruitfulness of charity, of hospitality, and of sacrifice.

So...where exactly does it say that sex is only okay sans doggy-style?  Continuing on, he states that unless sex is only done within the confines of marriage with only one person, then you are intrinsically disordered, let's see what the Catholic Church says about chastity. Buckle up cuz I'm about to school this author.

CCC# 2337-2345 states in part:

Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality...becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman...

...Chastity has laws of growth which progress through stages marked by imperfection and too often by sin... 

...Chastity is a moral virtue. It is also a gift from God, a grace, a fruit of spiritual effort...

So, if you have pre-marital sex or, extra-marital sex, you have most certainly sinned and thus have become intrinsically disordered, that is, naturally against what you were made to be by the Creator. But, there is forgiveness that can be found if you repent, try to live a chaste life and devote yourself to Christ and his sacrifice at the cross. As this section says, it is through self-mastery that we can govern our passions and find peace.

The author also makes mention that, homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered and, to quote him, "this is the same kind of wording that it [the Catholic Church] uses for many other sexual acts." What are these acts? Here's a quick list that you can find in paragraphs #2351 though #2356 of the Catechism:

Lust
Masturbation
Fornication
Pornography
Prostitution
Rape

Why are these intrinsically disordered? Because they hold you back from being the person that God has made you to be. I don't know about you but, I personally don't think being a rapist is a calling from God nor do I think that becoming a prostitute or rubbing one out is the epitome of human excellence.These are stumpling blocks that will lead you away from sanctification and towards alienation from God. These are the things that not only violate human dignity but impede the Truth of God's grace from being recognized and affirmed by us as God's creatures.

And then we come to the authors main thesis; since law makers allow for all of these sexual acts to exist in society, then we should also allow for gay marriage to exist as well. Really? Is this really what this kid is saying? Let me get this straight: since the secular world allows for intrinsic evils to exists, what the Hell! Let's go ahead and add one more evil to the list! After all, what's one more evil on top of all of the other evils, right? >insert facepalm here<

This is the most idiotic, sophomoric and asinine reason for gay marriage I've ever heard. Think about it, what this author is saying can be summed up in the following manner: the Catholic Church catagorizes certain sexual acts as unnatural, homosexual acts happen to be one of them. However, society says it's okay to commit these certain sexual acts, therefore, the Catholic Church should allow for gay marriage because their very own definition of marriage, and what is sexually immoral, is at odds with what the secular world defines it as! (Someone must've forgotten Mark 12:17, especially in light of CCC# 1603)

My favorite line from this author is right near the end when he states:

"Therefore, Catholic lawmakers should either submit a bill redefining marriage along the Catholic Church's lines or, they should allow gay marriage to pass."

The Catholic position needs no legislation because you can't legalize common sense. Think about it, the Church says that divorce is bad but, the secular world says it's okay; nevermind the fact that divorce (more often then not) creates shattered homes. The Catholic Church has always held that birth control is wrong, yet the secular world embraces it; nevermind that over 50% of women who get an abortion were using contraception when they concieved - talk about a crap shoot. The Catholic Church says that homosexual acts are an offense to human dignity and homosexuals are called to live a chaste lifestyle, the secular world says that it's just fine; nevermind the fact that homosexual men are the biggest group of HIV and syphillis infections year after year. The Catholic Church says pornography is sexually immoral, the secular world states that it's good and healthy nevermind the fact that 56% of all divorces have one spouse that is addicted to pornography.

You see when you fall into sin, you fall away from God and when you do fall, the devil inevitably takes you toward another sin to further seperate you from the Truth, so deep will the Adversay take you that before long you either won't know right from wrong or you'll be too spiritually weak to recognize the contrary. I would ask - and I will pray for - the author to look beyond his preconcieved, perhaps indoctrinated, views of who and what the Catholic Church really is. Because the question really isn't whether or not the Catholic Church accepts you, it's whether or not YOU accept the Catholic Church.

Protestant Snake Handler believes handling a snake is the work of God

Read article here.

"It is the closest thing to heaven on earth that you could get," he said. "You can feel God's power in the flesh."

Guess he's never heard of the Mass nor the Eucharist.

Vatican: Dissident Nun's book not in conformity with Catholic teaching!

Read the actual press release from the Vatican here.

It boggles my mind. It really does. How is it possible, however remote, that this woman can call her self a Catholic? Additionally, how is it possible, that this nun completely forgot (or chose to forget) BASIC CATHOLIC TEACHINGS of sexual morality? I as a lay faithful who is truely in love with our Mother Church, I can easily see that what this woman wrote is not only against what our Church teaches but, is completely at odds with Christianity itself.

I will use the press release and the Catechism to prove my point. The press release states that Mercy Sister Margaret A. Farley states on page 236 of her book, Just Love: A Framework for Christian sexual ethics, that:

"Masturbation… usually does not raise any moral questions at all. … It is surely the case that many women… have found great good in self-pleasuring – perhaps especially in the discovery of their own possibilities for pleasure – something many had not experienced or even known about in their ordinary sexual relations with husbands or lovers. In this way, it could be said that masturbation actually serves relationships rather than hindering them. My final observation is, then, that the norms of justice as I have presented them would seem to apply to the choice of sexual self-pleasuring only insofar as this activity may help or harm, only insofar as it supports or limits, well-being and liberty of spirit. This remains largely an empirical question, not a moral one"

Wow, where to start? To begin with, notice how female masturbation is something good to be discovered by some women since they may have never discovered it with their husbands or lovers before...or lovers before...OR LOVERS. WTF? What the Sister here is implying is that a woman should be free to "sexually find herself" since a man - whether committed or a one-night stand - may not be able to sexually satisfy her. So, instead of preaching the teaching of chastity (we'll get to that in a moment), she instead chooses to wax lyrical about pre-marital sex and the selfish pleasures to found within it. I don't want to come off as a prude or as being "out of touch" with the real world here people but, it seems to me that as an authoritative figure of the Church, it's her job it's her duty to hold fast to the teachings of the One True Faith!

Methinks the good Sister forgot what the Catechism says in regards to chastity. According to the CCC #2352:

"Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action. The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose." For here sexual pleasure is sought outside of "the sexual relationship which is demanded by the moral order and in which the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love is achieved."

How such a beautiful and simple a statement could even be misconstrued and undermined by a heretic "c"atholic nun, is beyond me. Clearly, Sister Farley is more interested in testing the limits of established Church teaching instead of promoting them.

Another interesting quote from her book is found on page 295, she states:

"My own view… is that same-sex relationships and activities can be justified according to the same sexual ethic as heterosexual relationships and activities. Therefore, same-sex oriented persons as well as their activities can and should be respected whether or not they have a choice to be otherwise"

On page 293 she states, with regards to homosexual unions:

"Legislation for nondiscrimination against homosexuals, but also for domestic partnerships, civil unions, and gay marriage, can also be important in transforming the hatred, rejection, and stigmatization of gays and lesbians that is still being reinforced by teachings of ‘unnatural’ sex, disordered desire, and dangerous love."

Oh where, oh where could we find out what the Church says about homosexual acts? Oh, yeah! That's right, it's in the Catechism just 5 paragraphs down from #2352! It says (with my emphasis):

"Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved."

According to wikipedia, Sister Farley earned her Ph. D. in 1973 from Yale Divinity School which means that 5 years before I was born, this woman (appearently?) knew more about Catholicism then me, it would seem though that I can easily say with 100% certainty that when it comes to sexual ethics, I and anyone who just read this, is light years ahead of Sister Farley in the area of sexual ethics within Catholicism. I would encourage everyone to read the link above because it goes on to discuss how Sister Farley views divorce and remarriage as well as her thoughts on the indissolubility of marriage; I wonder, if the good Sister believes that a marriage - which is a Sacrament - can be dissolved if a person "changes" or is no longer commited, can the Sacrament of Baptism also be undone? How about the Sacrament of Confirmation, surely we can renege and refuse to accept the chrism from our Confirmation - because we have more power then what the Holy Spirit endowed us with, right? Thanks, Sister Farley, the Devil must truly be proud of all your hard work.

Anti-Catholic propaganda continues...

According to the New York Times; the Church is in the wrong for dismissing abusive priests!

Read the full article here.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York authorized payments of as much as $20,000 to sexually abusive priests as an incentive for them to agree to dismissal from the priesthood when he was the archbishop of Milwaukee...

...a document unearthed during bankruptcy proceedings for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and made public by victims’ advocates reveals that the archdiocese did make such payments to multiple accused priests to encourage them to seek dismissal, thereby allowing the church to remove them from the payroll.

A spokesman for the archdiocese confirmed on Wednesday that payments of as much as $20,000 were made to “a handful” of accused priests “as a motivation” not to contest being defrocked. The process, known as “laicization,” is a formal church juridical procedure that requires Vatican approval, and can take far longer if the priest objects. 

I personally think that a key fact that is missing here is that $20,000 is less, on average, of what a priest makes per year. Take into account that in some dioceses priest have to pay rent or mortgage for Church property as well as their own bills and expenses, and what we have here is chump change in light of the fact that these sexually abusive priests where "paid out."

The fact that the writer of this article mentioned but failed to go into detail the about the lengthiness of the laicization process is a bit telling, especially due to the fact that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1988, 17 years before becoming Pope, actually made it easier to laicize priest who are accused of wrongful conduct!

An employer paying out an employee for wrongfull misconduct isn't cause for scandalization, unless of course, it's the Catholic Church that's doing it, right? This goes to show just how far some anti-Catholics will go in order to paint the Church and Her works in a negative and destructive light.