Calgary church loses charitable status for its "non-partisan political activities"

A Calgary church has lost its charitable status in part because it spends too much of its time advocating on social issues such as abortion and marriage.

In October, the Kings Glory Fellowship Association, a non-denominational Protestant group, was told by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that for several reasons, including a lack of clarity on how it spends it money, they could no longer issue charitable receipts.

But the letter highlighted that the group spent more than 10% of its time on “non-partisan political activities and therefore strayed into activities “outside its stated purpose.” (Source)

God bless those folks for their dedication to proclaiming the Truth.  It's also nice to hear that Bishop Fred Henry came to the defense of this church. You

Father John Corapi's take on the Winnipeg Statement

In 2001, Father John Corapi, one of the best preachers of our time, gave a series of lectures in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  I really love Fr. Corapi.  He's right-on when it comes to Church teaching.  No wishy-washy-ness here. And he's so blunt.  He preaches the plain truth.  No sugar-coating.

During one of his lectures in Winnipeg, he spoke out boldly regarding the Winnipeg Statement, that infamous

Why are the feminists silent on polygamy?

You may have heard in the news that the B.C. government is struggling with the polygamy issue. Years ago, when same-sex marriage was being debated, pro-life leaders warned that polygamy would be the next can of worms to be opened. Liberal-leaning Canadians scoffed.  But it turns out we were right.

But the liberal-leaning Canadians don't seem to care.  They should, especially the feminists.  Polygamy is based on the idea that a man cannot be satisfied by just one woman.  That's very demeaning to the dignity of women.  In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says it quite plainly

2387  The predicament of a man who, desiring to convert to the Gospel, is obliged to repudiate one or more wives with whom he has shared years of conjugal life, is understandable. However polygamy is not in accord with the moral law." [Conjugal] communion is radically contradicted by polygamy; this, in fact, directly negates the plan of God which was revealed from the beginning, because it is contrary to the equal personal dignity of men and women who in matrimony give themselves with a love that is total and therefore unique and exclusive." The Christian who has previously lived in polygamy has a grave duty in justice to honor the obligations contracted in regard to his former wives and his children.

Like so many teachings of the Church, they are logical.  An atheist should be able to see this logic.  Why is it, then, that we don't hear feminists being outraged by polygamy?  Doesn't polygamy seem like a direct attack to the gains that feminists have made over the years?

I think part of the answer is that lefties don't tend to fight each other.  They have a code of silence whereby they overlook each others' sins.  But I wonder how much longer that can last on polygamy.

It's quite ironic that the Church, which some people consider to be discriminatory towards women, is more vocal in opposing polygamy that feminists!  

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This priest gets it

Buy this priest some plane tickets and have him criss-cross North America with this message. May God bless you, Fr. Bill Casey!

Wow! Vatican welcomes back Anglicans!

ROME (Catholic Online) - In an absolutely stunning announcement on the morning of October 20, 2009, the Holy See has, by Apostolic Constitution, provided the canonical vehicle for Anglican Christians to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church. Throughout the evening expectations rose throughout the world along with the fervent prayers of millions who have longed to see this day. Many Catholics have watched in prayer with hopeful, heartfelt longing for their Christian brethren in the Anglican Communion. Many Anglican Christians have suffered from the ravages of their community from within brought about by moves away from Christian orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Now,there is a way to the safe harbor of the Catholic Church.

This morning the Vatican offered a lifeline into the Ark of Peter for Anglican Christians who wish to avail themselves of the invitation.

Read the rest here.  This is a historic day!  Let us rejoice and praise the Lord!


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"Human Rights Commission" showing intolerance towards Church

One of Canada's Human Rights Commissions has decided to play God again. This time it's the Alberta Human Rights Commission (AHRC). It seems that nothing is beyond the reach of these kangaroo kourts. Nothing is too sacred or too logical to be questioned by these arbitrary commissions.

The latest incident involves a Catholic school teacher in Alberta that claims that she's suffering from "gender identity disorder" and that she must undergo a sex-change operation. Of course, such a rejection of the gender granted by God is a violation of Church teaching. From a purely secular standpoint, it's also a violation of plain common sense. When you have a problem of any kind, the only lasting solution comes from addressing the root of that problem. In this case, the teacher has a mental illness of some kind. Therefore, the logical and loving solution is to address the mental problem, not mutilate her body by making it look like a man.

As a result of her planned sex change, the teacher has been dismissed from the Catholic school board where she taught. She considers this to be a violation of her rights, and has filed a complaint against the school board. Unfortunately, the AHRC has accepted this complaint and will therefore hear arguments about it. The fact that they didn't reject this ridiculous complaint from the outset is very disturbing. It shows just how willing these commissions are to interfere in Church affairs.

I feel sorry for the teacher. I really do. Mental illness is not something that we should treat lightly or that we should scoff at. I have witnessed many people struggle with mental illness. It is extremely difficult to bear. Fortunately, it appears that the school board treated her kindly and respectfully when they let her go. The school board is well within its rights to decide who to employ.

The fact that the State is even considering the possibility of imposing its beliefs on the Church is extremely disturbing and intolerant. Canada is a diverse nation. It is not merely inhabited by the left wing extremists that run these commissions. These kangoroo kourts need to get in touch with reality and start being more tolerant of other peoples beliefs.

As for us Catholics, we better start moving our butts and make sure that our politicians understand that these commissions are unacceptable and violating the human rights they are supposedly intended to protect. If you don't act now, you're going to wake up someday and find out you're slave to the government's whims and fancies.

This incident also highlights the crucial fact that the true challenge for the Church in this day is to convert her own members. More damage is being inflicted on the Church in Canada today by Catholics than by any outsiders.

So before you go to bed tonight, look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself: "What concrete action will I take to propagate the true Faith within the Church?"  Don't go to bed until you've made a firm commitment.

Exclusive: Development and Peace approval rating at just 10%

Due to the high interest in our previous research regarding the approval rating of Fr. Rosica, Catholic Dialogue conducted an exhaustive enumeration of online articles related to the Development and Peace scandal.

The results show that only 10.1% of articles expressing an opinion on the issue were supportive of Development and Peace (D&P).  The remaining 89.9% were critical of D&P.  That's a staggering result.  In a democracy, you can rarely get 89.9% of the people to agree on anything.

For the purposes of this enumeration, the articles published by the two main opposing parties of the debate were excluded.  That meant leaving out close to 100 articles published by LifeSiteNews.com.  It also meant excluding articles by D&P, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) or individual dioceses (note: the number of articles from LifeSiteNews far exceeds the number of articles published by D&P, the CCCB or individual dioceses).  The enumeration was also limited to articles published between March 12, 2009 (when the first story about the scandal broke) and October 11, 2009.  Finally, only Christian sources were considered, almost all of which were Catholic.  This left more than 230 articles being published by parties that were not directly involved in the dispute.  

The overwhelming disapproval rate for D&P is a serious challenge that the bishops must address at their Plenary next week in Cornwall.  The vast majority of these articles were written by educated Catholics, some of them being clergy members, who applied fundamental moral teachings of the Church to the mounds of evidence compiled about D&P's partners. These are not renegades, schismatics or "ultraconservatives" (whatever that means).  They are mainstream Catholics who care deeply about the health of their Church.

Let's pray that the CCCB rolls up their sleeves next week and makes some major reforms to D&P.


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Exclusive: Father Rosica approval rating under 20%

Many of you are aware of the Father Rosica scandal that erupted over the past month.  You can read about it here.

Catholic Dialogue was interested in getting a broader sense of how Internet-literate Catholics were reacting to Fr. Rosica's unexplainable outburst.  To do this, we conducted extensive research on the Internet in order to see which way the wind was blowing.  Today, we are presenting these exclusive results.

Clearly, Fr. Rosica is facing serious headwinds in the court of public opinion.

The research revealed that 80.5% of all the articles that expressed an opinion on the controversy were opposed to Fr. Rosica's position, while only 19.5% supported him.  The methodology encompasses all online articles published on the Fr. Rosica controversy, but excludes "comments" posted on blogs, since these can easily be manipulated.

In case you're wondering, articles by LifeSiteNews represented a very small fraction of the articles published on this issue.  Excluding articles from LifeSiteNews, the disapproval rating for Fr. Rosica is still 79.8%.  

The disapproval of Fr. Rosica is widespread and broad-based.  It includes both men and women, laity and clergy.  They quote Church documents and Doctors of the Church.  They refer to authoritative statements by Vatican officials.  By all accounts, these are educated Catholics, well-versed in Scripture and the Catechism.  They do not seek personal glory or satisfaction.  They do not have any axe to grind.  They are merely seeking to denounce errors and injustices so that the Church in Canada may once again submit to Rome's authority.    

In theological terms, we'd say that the sensus fidelium is enabling the faithful to participate in Christ's prophetic office by denouncing error.  In layman's terms, we'd say that Fr. Rosica's behaviour doesn't pass the sniff test.

This doesn't bode well for Salt and Light's ratings.  But it is certainly good news in the battle for the soul of the Church, since the Internet reaches such a broader audience than a satellite cable network.  

The winds of change are blowing.  There is a growing sense that too many clergymen are lukewarm or outright dissenters.  The discontent among the faithful will be a powerful instrument to help the Church return to authentic Magisterial teaching in union with the Vatican.

Please pray for Fr. Rosica and all clergy. 

The ball is in your court, your Graces

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) caused quite a stir when they invited a dissenter to give two talks at their plenary assembly from October 19 to 23.  The outcry was so bad, that the CCCB asked the theologian in question, Richard Gaillardetz, to publicly explain the controversial views that he holds.  

In a series of posts, starting with this one, John Pacheco convincingly exposes Gaillardetz's errors and his obscure attempts at deceiving people that he is a faithful Catholic.  Gaillardetz's article was merely damage control, and Pacheco was not deceived.  He called upon the expertise of two renowned theologians who confirm that Gaillardetz is indeed in defiance of Church teaching in many respects.

So, dear bishops, the ball is in your court.  Why have you invited this man?  Will you un-invite him in order to avoid confusing and scandalizing the faithful?

Dear readers:  if you care about your Church and your bishops, you should ask your local bishop why they are inviting a dissenter to give them two lectures.

CCCB Declines Dialogue with LifeSite

Disturbing news from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). It goes like this:

1. In the spring of 2009, LifeSite and many other pro-life groups uncovered the names of about 40 pro-abortion groups in developing countries being funded by Development and Peace, the CCCB's official charity.

2. In June 2009, the CCCB issued a whitewash denial without addressing any evidence. They also chastized LifeSite for not engaging in "dialogue" with the bishops, even though LifeSite had sought to discuss the evidence with the bishops and Development and Peace before going public (they were brushed aside).

3. In July 2009, in response to the CCCB's request for more "dialogue", LifeSite offered to make a 15-minute presentation to the bishops at their plenary in mid-October.

4. On September 25, the CCCB denied LifeSite's request.

Now tell me, dear reader, how is one supposed to react to this apparently false overture for dialogue on the part of the CCCB?

The episcopacy is a fundamental institution of the Catholic Church.  We cannot survive without it.  However, many of the current incumbents aren't doing their job.  We desperately need them to return to Rome's teaching.  There are good bishops in this country.  We need them to speak up, lest the flock be totally disoriented and lost. 

The Catholic Church's Salvation: Tell it Like it Is

A great article by Suzanne Fortin highlighting the core of the problem with the Catholic Church in Canada and our bishops. Here is a key excerpt:

But the modernistic dissent doesn’t end at abortion. The weak response on the pro-life issue is symptomatic of the widespread reluctance to abide by and preach rudimentary Catholic philosophical beliefs, such as:

  • The ends do not justify the means.
  • The order of creation (e.g. men and women are complementary).
  • The hierarchy of truths.
  • The principal of non-contradiction.
  • Natural Truth can be known by reason alone.
  • The intrinsic evil of certain acts, and how they must always be rejected.

This has resulted in church elites distorting Catholic moral doctrine and sanctioning things like:

  • Inductions for post-viability fetuses who are terminally ill.
  • Legal recognition for same-sex unions.
  • Leaving the issue of contraception up to “one’s own conscience.”
  • Treating issues like the environment and poverty as equally important
    to fetal rights.

Read the whole article here.

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Canadian Bishops ask dissenter to give them inspiration

Have you heard?  The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has invited a well-known dissenting theologian to give two talks at their annual plenary meeting in Cornwall in October. His name is Richard Gaillardetz.



You will find the details of his dissent in this excellent post by John Pacheco and additional details in this article by LifeSiteNews.com.  Here's a brief summary of his "credentials". 

• He says it's okay for couples to co-habitate before marriage and to use contraception if their  conscience doesn't complain (sounds Winnipeg-Statement-ish)
  
• The ordination of women is okay.
• He teaches a distorted version of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
  
• Public revelation by God continues today.
• His respect for life is very suspect since he's part of President Obama's "Catholic Advisory Board," which the Catholic Civil Rights League said does not have a single member that agrees with Church teaching on life issues.
  
• He wonders whether the concept of divine revelation might be extended to the Islamic or Hindu scriptures (!!!!)

Moreover, his view of the Magisterium and the infallibility of Church teaching is extremely confused:

1.  It's possible for the Magisterium to err in matters of faith and morals. 
2.  He believes that an article of Faith can become tentative if it becomes “controversial."
3.  The degree of “reception” of Church teaching by the faithful is a “sign” of its infallibility.
4.  He says that the consensus of theologians is the determining factor for the discernment of the infallibility of the Magisterium.
5.  The obstinate denial of a definitive doctrine would not necessarily place one outside the Roman Catholic communion (very self-serving, don't you think?)

Does it disturb you that the CCCB would invite this man to give two lectures at their plenary?  What kind of message does it send to the faithful?  What does it tell you about the bishops?

If the CCCB invited him, they clearly don't object to his dissenting views.  Actually, it makes a lot of sense to me.  You see, the CCCB is mostly composed of dissenters.  We've observed this for many decades.  Tragic, but true.  

Of course, not all bishops are dissenters.  We have some very good bishops in this country.  However, they are few and far between.  Unfortunately, their minority status means that the overall direction of the CCCB is decided by the majority of dissenters. 

Gaillardetz brings a sense of legitimacy to the dissenting views of the CCCB majority, like a comforting reassurance that someone else thinks like them. 

The fact that virtually all Canadian bishops dissented from Humanae Vitae in writing is entirely consistent with Gaillardetz's point #1 above, namely that the Magisterium can make mistakes and therefore that the bishops don't have to follow the Pope.  This is especially true for controversial issues such as contraception, which was the main point of the dissent of the Canadian bishops more than 40 years ago.  Abortion is also quickly becoming optional teaching, as we've learned from the Development and Peace scandal and the Fr. Rosica rampage.  So Gaillardetz's view on #2 is also consistent with the CCCB's actions. 

Point #3 is also very useful for dissenters because they are well aware that most Catholics approve of contraception. Therefore, they like Gaillardetz's theory that a rejection of Church teaching by the faithful is a sign that that teaching was not infallible. It's like giving the faithful a special veto power over the Magisterium.

Point #4 gives the bishops their own special veto power over the Magisterium, since many bishops are theologians too.  Isn't that handy?

Finally, #5 makes dissenters feel comforted that they are not excluded from communion with the Roman Catholic Church for the extreme positions they've taken in points #1 to #4.

So, you see, it all makes sense. In these difficult times, where dissenting bishops are being questioned by Catholics who want to remain faithful to Rome, they have called upon a fellow dissenter for some reassurance.

Sadly, we rarely hear the good bishops speaking up these days.  They must feel very frustrated.  We must pray for their perseverance.  I hope they will gain the courage and strength to break their silence. 

That's the tragic state of our Church today. Please pray for our bishops.